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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Drama of the Forests
+       Romance and Adventure
+
+Author: Arthur Heming
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #18495]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It
+appeared to have wings, but it did not fly; and though it possessed a
+tail, it did not run, but contented itself with moving steadily forward
+on its long up-turned feet.  Over an arm it carried what might have
+been a trident, and what with its waving tail and great outspreading
+wings that rose above its horned-like head, it suggested . . .  See
+Chapter VI.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS
+
+_Romance and Adventure_
+
+
+
+BY
+
+ARTHUR HEMING
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR
+  WITH REPRODUCTIONS FROM A
+  SERIES OF HIS PAINTINGS OWNED
+  BY THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM
+
+
+
+
+
+GARDEN CITY, N. Y., AND TORONTO
+
+DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
+
+1921
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY
+
+DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
+
+
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION
+  INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
+
+
+PRINTED AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N, Y.. U. S. A.
+
+
+First Edition
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MR. AND MRS. DAVID A. DUNLAP
+
+WITH WHOM I SPENT MANY HAPPY SEASONS
+  IN THE GREAT NORTHERN FOREST
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    I.  ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE
+   II.  IN QUEST OF TREASURE
+  III.  OO-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO
+   IV.  OO-KOO-HOO PLAYS THE GAME
+    V.  MEETING OF THE WILD MEN
+   VI.  WILD ANIMALS AND MEN
+  VII.  LIFE AND LOVE RETURN
+ VIII.  BUSINESS AND ROMANCE
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It appeared to have
+wings . . . . . .  _Frontispiece_
+
+I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the merest glance
+
+Oo-koo-hoo's bill
+
+Oo-koo-hoo's calendar
+
+Going to the brink, we saw a "York Boat" in the act of shooting the
+cataract
+
+Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples upon the water
+
+The lynx is an expert swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water
+
+Next morning we found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket
+of snow
+
+The bear circled a little in order to descend. Presently it left the
+shadow
+
+Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot snowshoes
+
+As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow flying
+
+"There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to Winnipeg"
+
+"It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon"
+
+Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound
+
+After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over
+
+The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the year
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+It was in childhood that the primitive spirit first came whispering to
+me.  It was then that I had my first day-dreams of the Northland--of
+its forests, its rivers and lakes, its hunters and trappers and
+traders, its fur-runners and mounted police, its voyageurs and
+packeteers, its missionaries and Indians and prospectors, its animals,
+its birds and its fishes, its trees and its flowers, and its seasons.
+
+Even in childhood I was for ever wondering . . . what is daily going on
+in the Great Northern Forest? . . . not just this week, this month, or
+this season, but what is actually occurring day by day, throughout the
+cycle of an entire year?  It was that thought that fascinated me, and
+when I grew into boyhood, I began delving into books of northern
+travel, but I did not find the answer there.  With the years this
+ever-present wonder grew, until it so possessed me that at last it
+spirited me away from the city, while I was still in my teens, and led
+me along a path of ever-changing and ever-increasing pleasure, showing
+me the world, not as men had mauled and marred it, but as the Master of
+Life had made it, in all its original beauty and splendour.  Nor was
+this all.  It led me to observe and ponder over the daily pages of the
+most profound and yet the most fascinating book that man has ever tried
+to read; and though, it seemed to me, my feeble attempts to decipher
+its text were always futile, it has, nevertheless, not only taught me
+to love Nature with an ever-increasing passion, but it has inspired in
+me an infinite homage toward the Almighty; for, as Emerson says: "In
+the woods we return to reason and faith.  Then I feel that nothing can
+befall me in life--no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes)--which
+Nature cannot repair.  Standing on the bare ground--my head bathed by
+the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space--all mean egoism
+vanishes. . . .  I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty."
+
+So, to make my life-dream come true, to contemplate in all its
+thrilling action and undying splendour the drama of the forests, I
+travelled twenty-three times through various parts of the vast northern
+woods, between Maine and Alaska, and covered thousands upon thousands
+of miles by canoe, pack-train, snowshoes, _bateau_, dog-train,
+buck-board, timber-raft, prairie-schooner, lumber-wagon, and
+"alligator."  No one trip ever satisfied me, or afforded me the
+knowledge or the experience I sought, for traversing a single section
+of the forest was not unlike making one's way along a single street of
+a metropolis and then trying to persuade oneself that one knew all
+about the city's life.  So back again I went at all seasons of the year
+to encamp in that great timber-land that sweeps from the Atlantic to
+the Pacific.  Thus it has taken me thirty-three years to gather the
+information this volume contains, and my only hope in writing it is
+that perhaps others may have had the same day-dream, and that in this
+book they may find a reliable and satisfactory answer to all their
+wonderings.  But making my dream come true--what delight it gave me!
+What sport and travel it afforded me!  What toil and sweat it caused
+me!  What food and rest it brought me!  What charming places it led me
+through!  What interesting people it ranged beside me!  What romance it
+unfolded before me! and into what thrilling adventures it plunged me!
+
+But before we paddle down the winding wilderness aisle toward the great
+stage upon which Diana and all her attendant huntsmen and forest
+creatures may appear, I wish to explain that in compliance with the
+wishes of the leading actors--who actually lived their parts of this
+story--fictitious names have been given to the principal characters and
+to the principal trading posts, lakes, and rivers herein depicted.
+Furthermore, in order to give the reader a more interesting, complete,
+and faithful description of the daily and the yearly life of the forest
+dwellers as I have observed it, I have taken the liberty of weaving
+together the more interesting facts I have gathered--both first- and
+second-hand--into one continuous narrative as though it all happened in
+a single year.  And in order to retain all the primitive local colour,
+the unique costumes, and the fascinating romance of the fur-trade days
+as I witnessed them in my twenties--though much of the life has already
+passed away--the scene is set to represent a certain year in the early
+nineties.
+
+ARTHUR HEMING.
+
+
+
+
+THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS
+
+
+I
+
+ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE
+
+HER FATHER THE FREE TRADER
+
+It was September 9, 189-.  From sunrise to sunset through mist,
+sunshine, shower, and shadow we travelled, and the nearer we drew to
+our first destination, the wilder the country became, the more
+water-fowl we saw, and the more the river banks were marked with traces
+of big game.  Here signs told us that three caribou had crossed the
+stream, there muddy water was still trickling into the hoofprint of a
+moose, and yonder a bear had been fishing.  Finally, the day of our
+arrival dawned, and as I paddled, I spent much of the time dreaming of
+the adventure before me.  As our beautiful birchen craft still sped on
+her way, the handsome bow parted the shimmering waters, and a passing
+breeze sent little running waves gurgling along her sides, while the
+splendour of the autumn sun was reflected on a far-reaching row of
+dazzling ripples that danced upon the water, making our voyageurs lower
+their eyes and the trader doze again.  There was no other sign of life
+except an eagle soaring in and out among the fleecy clouds slowly
+passing overhead.  All around was a panorama of enchanting forest.
+
+My travelling companion was a "Free Trader," whose name was Spear--a
+tall, stoop-shouldered man with heavy eyebrows and shaggy, drooping
+moustache.  The way we met was amusing.  It happened in a certain
+frontier town.  His first question was as to whether I was single.  His
+second, as to whether my time was my own.  Then he slowly looked me
+over from head to foot.  He seemed to be measuring my stature and
+strength and to be noting the colour of my eyes and hair.
+
+Narrowing his vision, he scrutinized me more carefully than before, for
+now he seemed to be reading my character--if not my soul.  Then,
+smiling, he blurted out:
+
+"Come, be my guest for a couple of weeks.  Will you?"
+
+I laughed.
+
+He frowned.  But on realizing that my mirth was caused only by
+surprise, he smiled again and let flow a vivid description of a place
+he called Spearhead.  It was the home of the northern fur trade.  It
+was the centre of a great timber region.  It was the heart of a vast
+fertile belt that was rapidly becoming the greatest of all farming
+districts.  It was built on the fountain head of gigantic water power.
+It virtually stood over the very vault that contained the richest veins
+of mineral to be found in the whole Dominion--at least that's what he
+said--and he also assured me that the Government had realized it, too,
+for was it not going to hew a provincial highway clean through the
+forest to Spearhead?  Was it not going to build a fleet of steamers to
+ply upon the lakes and rivers in that section?  And was it not going to
+build a line of railroad to the town itself in order to connect it with
+the new transcontinental and thus put it in communication with the
+great commercial centres of the East and the West?  In fact, he also
+impressed upon me that Spearhead was a town created for young men who
+were not averse to becoming wealthy in whatever line of business they
+might choose.  It seemed that great riches were already there and had
+but to be lifted.  Would I go?
+
+But when I explained that although I was single, and quite free, I was
+not a business man, he became crestfallen, but presently revived enough
+to exclaim:
+
+"Well, what the dickens are you?"
+
+"An artist," I replied.
+
+"Oh, I see!  Well . . . we need an artist very badly.  You'll have the
+field all to yourself in Spearhead.  Besides, your pictures of the fur
+trade and of pioneer life would eventually become historical and bring
+you no end of wealth.  You had better come.  Better decide right away,
+or some other artist chap will get ahead of you."
+
+But when I further explained that I was going to spend the winter in
+the wilderness, that I had already written to the Hudson's Bay Factor
+at Fort Consolation and that he was expecting me, Spear gloated:
+
+"Bully boy!" and slapping me on the shoulder, he chuckled: "Why, my
+town is just across the lake from Fort Consolation.  A mere five-mile
+paddle, old chap, and remember, I extend to you the freedom of
+Spearhead in the name of its future mayor.  And, man alive, I'm leaving
+for there to-morrow morning in a big four-fathom birch bark, with four
+Indian canoe-men.  Be my guest.  It won't cost you a farthing, and
+we'll make the trip together."
+
+I gladly accepted.  The next morning we started.  Free Trader Spear was
+a character, and I afterward learned that he was an Oxford University
+man, who, having been "ploughed," left for Canada, entered the service
+of the Hudson's Bay Company, and had finally been moved to Fort
+Consolation where he served seven years, learned the fur-trade
+business, and resigned to become a "free trader" as all fur traders are
+called who carry on business in opposition to "The Great Company."  We
+were eight days upon the trip, but, strange to say, during each day's
+travel toward Spearhead, his conversation in reference to that thriving
+town made it appear to grow smaller and smaller, until at last it
+actually dwindled down to such a point, that, about sunset on the day
+we were to arrive, he turned to me and casually remarked:
+
+"Presently you'll see Fort Consolation and the Indian village beyond.
+Spearhead is just across the lake, and by the bye, my boy, I forgot to
+tell you that Spearhead is just my log shack.  But it's a nice little
+place, and you'll like it when you pay us a visit, for I want you to
+meet my wife."
+
+Then our canoe passed a jutting point of land and in a moment the scene
+was changed--we were no longer on a river, but were now upon a lake,
+and the wilderness seemed suddenly left behind.
+
+
+AT FORT CONSOLATION
+
+On the outer end of a distant point a cluster of poplars shaded a
+small, clapboarded log house.  There, in charge of Fort Consolation,
+lived the Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company.  Beyond a little lawn
+enclosed by a picket fence stood the large storehouse.  The lower floor
+of this was used as a trading room; the upper story served for a fur
+loft.  Behind were seen a number of shanties, then another large
+building in which dog-sleds and great birch-bark canoes were stored.
+Farther away was a long open shed, under which those big canoes were
+built, then a few small huts where the half-breeds lived.  With the
+exception of the Factor's house, all the buildings were of rough-hewn
+logs plastered with clay.  Around the sweeping bend of the bay was a
+village of tepees in which the Indian fur hunters and their families
+spend their midsummer.  Crowning a knoll in the rear stood a quaint
+little church with a small tin spire glistening in the sun, and capped
+by a cross that spread its tiny arms to heaven.  On the hill in the
+background the time-worn pines swayed their shaggy heads and softly
+whispered to that, the first gentle touch of civilization in the
+wilderness.
+
+Presently, at irregular intervals, guns were discharged along the
+shore, beginning at the point nearest the canoe and running round the
+curve of the bay to the Indian camp, where a brisk fusillade took
+place.  A moment later the Hudson's Bay Company's flag fluttered over
+Fort Consolation.  Plainly, the arrival of our canoe was causing
+excitement at the Post.  Trader Spear laughed aloud:
+
+"That's one on old Mackenzie.  He's taking my canoe for that of the
+Hudson's Bay Inspector.  He's generally due about this time."
+
+From all directions men, women, and children were swarming toward the
+landing, and when our canoe arrived there must have been fully four
+hundred Indians present.  The first to greet us was Factor Mackenzie--a
+gruff, bearded Scotsman with a clean-shaven upper lip, gray hair, and
+piercing gray eyes.  When we entered the Factor's house we found it to
+be a typical wilderness home of an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company;
+and, therefore, as far unlike the interiors of furtraders' houses as
+shown upon the stage, movie screen, or in magazine illustration, as it
+is possible to imagine.  Upon the walls we saw neither mounted heads
+nor skins of wild animals; nor were fur robes spread upon the floors,
+as one would expect to find after reading the average story of Hudson's
+Bay life.  On the contrary, the well-scrubbed floors were perfectly
+bare, and the walls were papered from top to bottom with countless
+illustrations cut from the London _Graphic_ and the _Illustrated London
+News_.  The pictures not only took the place of wall paper, making the
+house more nearly wind-proof, but also afforded endless amusement to
+those who had to spend therein the long winter months.  The house was
+furnished sparingly with simple, home-made furniture that had more the
+appearance of utility than of beauty.
+
+At supper time we sat down with Mrs. Mackenzie, the Factor's half-breed
+wife, who took the head of the table.  After the meal we gathered in
+the living room before an open fire, over the mantelpiece of which
+there were no guns, no powder horns, nor even a pair of snowshoes; for
+a fur trader would no more think of hanging his snowshoes there than a
+city dweller would think of hanging his overshoes over his drawing-room
+mantel.  Upon the mantel shelf, however, stood a few unframed family
+photographs and some books, while above hung a rustic picture frame,
+the only frame to be seen in the room; it contained the motto, worked
+in coloured yarns: "God Bless Our Home."  When pipes were lighted and
+we had drawn closer to the fire, the Factor occupied a quaint,
+home-made, rough-hewn affair known as the "Factor's chair."  On the
+under side of the seat were inscribed the signatures and dates of
+accession to that throne of all the factors who had reigned at the Post
+during the past eighty-seven years.
+
+
+A MIGHTY HUNTER
+
+After the two traders had finished "talking musquash"--fur-trade
+business--they began reminiscing on the more picturesque side of their
+work, and as I had come to spend the winter with the fur hunters on
+their hunting grounds, the subject naturally turned to that well-worn
+topic, the famous Nimrods of the North.  It brought forth many an
+interesting tale, for both my companions were well versed in such lore,
+and in order to keep up my end I quoted from Warren's book on the
+Ojibways: "As an illustration of the kind and abundance of animals
+which then covered the country, it is stated that an Ojibway hunter
+named No-Ka, the grandfather of Chief White Fisher, killed in one day's
+hunt, starting from the mouth of Crow Wing River, sixteen elk, four
+buffalo, five deer, three bear, one lynx, and one porcupine.  There was
+a trader wintering at the time at Crow Wing, and for his winter's
+supply of meat, No-Ka presented him with the fruits of his day's hunt."
+
+My host granted that that was the biggest day's bag he had ever heard
+of, and Trader Spear, withdrawing his pipe from his mouth, remarked:
+
+"No-Ka must have been a great hunter.  I would like to have had his
+trade.  But, nevertheless, I have heard of an Indian who might have
+been a match for him.  He, too, was an Ojibway, and his name was
+Narphim.  He lived somewhere out in the Peace River country, and I've
+heard it stated that he killed, in his lifetime, more than eighty
+thousand living things.  Some bag for one hunter."
+
+Since Trader Spear made that interesting remark I have had the pleasure
+of meeting a factor of the Hudson's Bay Company who knew Narphim from
+boyhood, and who was a personal friend of his, and who was actually in
+charge of a number of posts at which the Indian traded.  Owing to their
+friendship for one another, the Factor took such a personal pride in
+the fame the hunter won, that he compiled, from the books of the
+Hudson's Bay Company, a complete record of all the fur-bearing animals
+the Indian killed between the time he began to trade as a hunter at the
+age of eleven, until his hunting days were ended.  Furthermore, in
+discussing the subject with Narphim they together compiled an
+approximate list of the number of fish, wild fowl, and rabbits that the
+hunter must have secured each season, and thus Narphim's record stands
+as the following figures show.  I would tell you the Factor's name but
+as he has written to me: "For many cogent reasons it is desirable that
+my name be not mentioned officially in your book," I must refrain.  I
+shall, however, give you the history of Narphim in the Factor's own
+words:
+
+"Narphim's proper name remains unknown as he was one of two children
+saved when a band of Ojibways were drowned in crossing a large lake
+that lies S. E. of Cat Lake and Island Lake, and S. E. of Norway House.
+He was called Narphim--Saved from the Waters.  The other child that was
+rescued was a girl and she was called Neseemis--Our Little Sister.  At
+first Narphim was adopted and lived with a Swampy Cree chief, the
+celebrated Keteche-ka-paness, who was a great medicine man.  When
+Narphim grew to be eleven years old he became a hunter, and first
+traded his catch at Island Lake; then as the years went by, at Oxford
+House; then at Norway House, then at Fort Chepewyan, and then at Fort
+McMurray.  After that he went to Lesser Slave Lake, then on to the
+Peace River at Dunvegan, then he showed up at Fort St. John, next at
+Battle River, and finally at Vermilion.
+
+"The following is a list of the number of creatures Narphim killed, but
+of course he also killed a good deal of game that was never recorded in
+the Company's books, especially those animals whose skins were used for
+the clothing of the hunter's family.
+
+"Bears 585, beaver 1,080, ermines 130, fishers 195, red foxes 362,
+cross foxes 78, silver and black foxes 6, lynxes 418, martens 1,078,
+minks 384, muskrats 900, porcupines 19, otters 194, wolves 112,
+wolverines 24, wood buffaloes 99, moose 396, caribou 196, jumping deer
+72, wapiti 156, mountain sheep 60, mountain goats 29; and rabbits,
+approximately 8,000, wild fowl, approximately 23,800, and fish
+approximately 36,000.  Total 74,573.
+
+"Yes, Narphim was a great hunter and a good man," says the Factor in
+his last letter to me.  "He was a fine, active, well-built Indian and a
+reliable and pleasant companion.  In fact, he was one of Nature's
+gentlemen, whom we shall be, and well may be, proud to meet in the
+Great Beyond, known as the Happy Hunting Grounds."
+
+Thus the evening drifted by.  While the names of several of the best
+hunters had been mentioned as suitable men for me to accompany on their
+hunting trail, it was suggested that as the men themselves would
+probably visit the Post in the morning, I should have a chat with them
+before making my selection.  Both Mackenzie and Spear, however, seemed
+much in favour of my going with an Indian called Oo-koo-hoo.  Presently
+the clock struck ten and we turned in, the Free Trader sharing a big
+feather bed with me.
+
+
+THEIR SUMMER LIFE
+
+After breakfast next morning I strolled about the picturesque point.
+It was a windless, hazy day.  An early frost had already clothed a
+number of the trees with their gorgeous autumnal mantles, the
+forerunners of Indian summer, the most glorious season of the Northern
+year.
+
+When I turned down toward the wharf, I found a score of Indians and
+half-breed trippers unloading freight from a couple of six-fathom
+birch-bark canoes.  Eager men and boys were good-naturedly loading
+themselves with packs and hurrying away with them to the storehouse,
+while others were lounging around or applauding the carriers with the
+heaviest loads.  As the packers hurried by, Delaronde, the jovial,
+swarthy-faced, French-Canadian clerk, note-book in hand, checked the
+number of pieces.  Over by the log huts a group of Indian women were
+sitting in the shade, talking to Delaronde's Indian wife.  All about,
+and in and out of the Indian lodges, dirty, half-naked children romped
+together, and savage dogs prowled around seeking what they might
+devour.  The deerskin or canvas covers of most of the tepees were
+raised a few feet to allow the breeze to pass under.  Small groups of
+women and children squatted or reclined in the shade, smoking and
+chatting the hours away.  Here and there women were cleaning fish,
+mending nets, weaving mats, making clothes, or standing over steaming
+kettles.  Many of the men had joined the "goods brigade," and their
+return was hourly expected.  Many canoes were resting upon the sandy
+beach, and many more were lying bottom up beneath the shade of trees.
+
+The most important work undertaken by the Indians during the summer is
+canoe building.  As some of the men are more expert at this than
+others, it often happens that the bulk of the work is done by a few who
+engage in it as a matter of business.  Birch bark for canoe building is
+taken from the tree early in May.  The chosen section, which may run
+from four to eight feet in length, is first cut at the top and bottom;
+then a two-inch strip is removed from top to bottom in order to make
+room for working a chisel-shaped wooden wedge--about two feet
+long--with which the bark is taken off.  Where knots appear great care
+is exercised that the bark be not torn.  To make it easier to pack, the
+sheet of bark is then rolled up the narrow way, and tied with willow.
+In this shape, it is transported to the summer camping grounds.  Canoes
+range in size all the way from twelve feet to thirty-six feet in
+length.  The smaller size, being more easily portaged, is used by
+hunters, and is known as a two-fathom canoe.  For family use canoes are
+usually from two and a half to three and a half fathoms long.  Canoes
+of the largest size, thirty-six feet, are called six-fathom or "North"
+canoes.  With a crew of from eight to twelve, they have a carrying
+capacity of from three to four tons, and are used by the traders for
+transporting furs and supplies.
+
+Some Indians engage in "voyaging" or "tripping" for the traders--taking
+out fur packs to the steamboats or railroads, by six-fathom canoe, York
+boat, or sturgeon-head scow brigades, and bringing in supplies.  Others
+put in part of their time on an occasional hunt for moose or caribou,
+or in shooting wild fowl.  On their return they potter around camp
+making paddles or snowshoe frames; or they give themselves up to
+gambling--a vice to which they are rather prone.  Sometimes twenty men
+or more, divided into equal sides, will sit in the form of an oval,
+with their hair drawn over their faces that their expression may not
+easily be read, and with their knees covered with blankets.  Leaders
+are chosen on either side, and each team is supplied with twelve small
+sticks.  The game begins by one of the leaders placing his closed hands
+upon his blanket, and calling upon the other to match him.  If the
+latter is holding his stick in the wrong hand, he loses; and so the
+game goes on.  Two sets of drummers are playing continuously and all
+the while there is much chanting.  In this simple wise they gamble away
+their belongings, even to their clothing, and, sometimes, their wives.
+When the wives are at stake, however, they have the privilege of taking
+a hand in the game.
+
+The women, in addition to their regular routine of summer camp duties,
+occupy themselves with fishing, moccasin making, and berry picking.
+The girls join their mothers in picking berries, which are plentiful
+and of great variety--raspberries, strawberries, cranberries,
+blueberries, gooseberries, swampberries, saskatoonberries,
+pembinaberries, pheasantberries, bearberries, and snakeberries.  They
+gather also wild celery, the roots of rushes, and the inner bark of the
+poplar--all which they eat raw.  In some parts, too, they gather wild
+rice.  Before their summer holidays are over, they have usually secured
+a fair stock of dried berries, smoked meats and bladders and casings
+filled with fish oil or other soft grease, to help out their bill of
+fare during the winter.  The women devote most of their spare moments
+to bead, hair, porcupine, or silk work which they use for the
+decoration of their clothing.  They make _mos-quil-moots_, or hunting
+bags, of plaited _babiche_, or deerskin thongs, for the use of the men.
+The girl's first lesson in sewing is always upon the coarsest work;
+such as joining skins together for lodge coverings.  The threads used
+are made from the sinews of the deer or the wolf.  These sinews are
+first hung outside to dry a little, and are then split into the finest
+threads.  The thread-maker passes each strand through her mouth to
+moisten it, then places it upon her bare thigh, and with a quick
+movement rolls it with the flat of her hand to twist it.  Passing it
+again through her mouth, she ties a knot at one end, points the other,
+and puts it away to dry.  The result is a thread like the finest
+hair-wire.
+
+For colouring moose hair or porcupine quills for fancy work, the women
+obtain their dyes in the following ways: From the juice of boiled
+cranberries they derive a magenta dye.  From alder bark, boiled,
+beaten, and strained, they get a dark, slate-coloured blue which is
+mixed with rabbits' gall to make it adhere.  The juice of bearberries
+gives them a bright red.  From gunpowder and water they obtain a fine
+black, and from coal tar a stain for work of the coarsest kind.  They
+rely chiefly, however, upon the red, blue, green, and yellow ochres
+found in many parts of the country.  These, when applied to the
+decoration of canoes, they mix with fish oil; but for general purposes
+the earths are baked and used in the form of powder.
+
+From scenes such as I have described the summer traveller obtains his
+impression of the forest Indians.  Too often their life and character
+are judged by such scenes, as if these truly represented their whole
+existence.  In reality, this is but their holiday season which they are
+spending upon their tribal summer camping ground.  It is only upon
+their hunting grounds that one may fairly study the Indians; so,
+presently, we shall follow them there.  And when one experiences the
+wild, free life the Indian lives--hampered by no household goods or
+other property that he cannot at a moment's notice dump into his canoe
+and carry with him to the ends of the earth if he chooses--one not only
+envies him, but ceases to wonder which of the two is the greater
+philosopher--the white man or the red; for the poor old white man is so
+overwhelmed with absurd conventions and encumbering property that he
+can rarely do what his heart dictates.
+
+
+FAMILY HUNTING GROUNDS
+
+Don't let us decide just yet, however, whether the Indian derives more
+pleasure from life than does the white man, at least, not until we
+return from our voyage of pleasure and investigation; but before we
+leave Fort Consolation it is well to know that the hunting grounds in
+possession of the Indian tribes that live in the Great Northern Forest
+have been for centuries divided and subdivided and allotted, either by
+bargain or by battle, to the main families of each band.  In many cases
+the same hunting grounds have remained in the undisputed possession of
+the same families for generations.  Family hunting grounds are usually
+delimited by natural boundaries, such as hills, valleys, rivers, and
+lakes.  The allotments of land generally take the form of wedge-shaped
+tracts radiating from common centres.  From the intersection of these
+converging boundary lines the common centres become the hubs of the
+various districts.  These district centres mark convenient summer
+camping grounds for the reunion of families after their arduous labour
+during the long winter hunting season.  The tribal summer camping
+grounds, therefore, are not only situated on the natural highways of
+the country--the principal rivers and lakes--but also indicate
+excellent fishing stations.  There, too, the Indians have their burial
+grounds.
+
+Often these camping grounds are the summer headquarters for from three
+to eight main families; and each main family may contain from five or
+six to fifty or sixty hunting men.  Inter-marriage between families of
+two districts gives the man the right to hunt on the land of his wife's
+family as long as he "sits on the brush" with her--is wedded to
+her--but the children do not inherit that right; it dies with the
+father.  An Indian usually lives upon his own land, but makes frequent
+excursions to the land of his wife's family.
+
+In the past, the side boundaries of hunting grounds have been the cause
+of many family feuds, and the outer boundaries have furnished the
+occasion for many tribal wars.  The past and the present headquarters
+camping grounds of the Strong Woods Indians--as the inhabitants of the
+Great Northern Forest are generally called--lie about one hundred and
+fifty miles apart.
+
+The natural overland highways throughout the country, especially those
+intersecting the watercourses and now used as the roadbeds for our
+great transcontinental railways, were not originally discovered by man
+at all.  The credit is due to the big game of the wilderness; for the
+animals were not only the first to find them, but also the first to use
+them.  The Indian simply followed the animals, and the trader followed
+the Indian, and the official "explorer" followed the trader, and the
+engineer followed the "explorer," and the railroad contractor followed
+the engineer.  It was the buffalo, the deer, the bear, and the wolf who
+were our original transcontinental path-finders, or rather pathmakers.
+Then, too, the praise bestowed upon the pioneer fur traders for the
+excellent judgment shown in choosing the sites upon which trading posts
+have been established throughout Canada, has not been deserved; the
+credit is really due to the Indians.  The fur traders erected their
+posts or forts upon the tribal camping grounds simply because they
+found such spots to be the general meeting places of the Indians, and
+not only situated on the principal highways of the wilderness but
+accessible from all points of the surrounding country, and, moreover,
+the very centres of excellent fish and game regions.  Thus in Canada
+many of the ancient tribal camping grounds are now known by the names
+of trading posts, of progressive frontier towns, or of important cities.
+
+Now, as of old, the forest Indians after their winter's hunt return in
+the early summer to trade their catch of furs, to meet old friends, and
+to rest and gossip awhile before the turning leaf warns them to secure
+their next winter's "advances" from the trader, and once more paddle
+away to their distant hunting grounds.
+
+The several zones of the Canadian wilderness are locally known as the
+Coast Country--the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay; the
+Barren Grounds--the treeless country between Hudson Bay and the
+Mackenzie River; the Strong Woods Country--the whole of that enormous
+belt of heavy timber that spans Canada from east to west; the Border
+Lands--the tracts of small, scattered timber that lie between the
+prairies and the northern forests; the Prairie Country; the Mountains;
+and the Big Lakes.  These names have been adopted by the fur traders
+from the Indians.  It is in the Strong Woods Country that most of the
+fur-bearing animals live.
+
+
+MEETING OO-KOO-HOO
+
+About ten o'clock on the morning after our arrival at Fort Consolation,
+Free Trader Spear left for home with my promise to paddle over and dine
+at Spearhead next day.
+
+At noon Factor Mackenzie informed me that he had received word that
+Oo-koo-hoo--The Owl--was coming to the Fort that afternoon and that,
+taking everything into consideration, he thought Oo-koo-hoo's hunting
+party the best for me to join.  It consisted, he said, of Oo-koo-hoo
+and his wife, his daughter, and his son-in-law, Amik--The Beaver--and
+Amik's five children.  The Factor further added that Oo-koo-hoo was not
+only one of the greatest hunters, and one of the best canoe-men in that
+district, but in his youth he had been a great traveller, as he had
+hunted with other Indian tribes, on Hudson Bay, on the Churchill, the
+Peace, the Athabasca, and the Slave rivers, and even on the far-away
+Mackenzie; and was a master at the game.  His son-in-law, Amik, was his
+hunting partner.  Though Amik would not be home until to-morrow,
+Oo-koo-hoo and his wife, their daughter and her children were coming
+that afternoon to get their "advances," as the party contemplated
+leaving for their hunting grounds on the second day.  That I might look
+them over while they were getting their supplies in the Indian shop,
+and if I took a fancy to the old gentleman--who by the way was about
+sixty years of age--the trader would give me an introduction, and I
+could then make my arrangements with the hunter himself.  So after
+dinner, when word came that they had landed, I left the living room for
+the Indian shop.
+
+In the old days, in certain parts of the country, when the Indians came
+to the posts to get their "advances" or to barter their winter's catch
+of fur, the traders had to exercise constant caution to prevent them
+from looting the establishments.  At some of the posts only a few
+Indians at a time were allowed within the fort, and even then trading
+was done through a wicket.  But that applied only to the Plains Indians
+and to some of the natives of the Pacific Coast; for the Strong Woods
+people were remarkably honest.  Even to-day this holds good
+notwithstanding the fact that they are now so much in contact with
+white men.  Nowadays the Indians in any locality rarely cause trouble,
+and at the trading posts the business of the Indian shops is conducted
+in a quiet and orderly way.
+
+The traders do most of their bartering with the Indians in the early
+summer when the hunters return laden with the spoils of their winter's
+hunt.  In the early autumn, when the Indians are about to leave for
+their hunting grounds, much business is done, but little in the way of
+barter.  At that season the Indians procure their outfit for the
+winter.  Being usually insolvent, owing to the leisurely time spent
+upon the tribal camping grounds, they receive the necessary supplies on
+credit.  The amount of credit, or "advances," given to each Indian
+seldom exceeds one third of the value of his average annual catch.
+That is the white man's way of securing, in advance, the bulk of the
+Indian's prospective hunt; yet, although a few of them are sometimes
+slow in settling their debts, they are never a match for the civilized
+white man.
+
+When I entered the trading room I saw that it was furnished with a
+U-shaped counter paralleling three sides of the room, and with a large
+box-stove in the middle of the intervening space.  On the shelves and
+racks upon the walls and from hooks in the rafters rested or hung a
+conglomeration of goods to be offered in trade to the natives.  There
+were copper pails and calico dresses, pain-killer bottles and Hudson's
+Bay blankets, sow-belly and chocolate drops, castor oil and gun worms,
+frying-pans and ladies' wire bustles, guns and corsets, axes and
+ribbons, shirts and hunting-knives, perfumes and bear traps.  In a way,
+the Indian shop resembled a department store except that all the
+departments were jumbled together in a single room.  At one post I
+visited years ago--that of Abitibi--they had a rather progressive
+addition in the way of a millinery department.  It was contained in a
+large lidless packing case against the side of which stood a long
+steering paddle for the clerk's use in stirring about the varied
+assortment of white women's ancient headgear, should a fastidious
+Indian woman request to see more than the uppermost layer.
+
+Already a number of Indians were being served by the Factor and
+Delaronde, the clerk, and I had not long to wait before Oo-koo-hoo
+appeared.  I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
+merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face,
+that he was all his name implied, a wise, dignified old gentleman, who
+was in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to--a rare
+quality in men--especially white men.  Even before I heard him speak I
+liked Oo-koo-hoo--The Owl.
+
+[Illustration: I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
+merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face
+that he was all his name implied, a wise dignified old gentleman, who
+was in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to--a rare
+quality in men--especially white men.  Even before I heard him speak I
+liked Oo-koo-hoo--The . . .  See Chapter I]
+
+But before going any farther, I ought to explain that as I am
+endeavouring to render a faithful description of forest life, I am
+going to repeat in the next few paragraphs part of what once appeared
+in one of my fictitious stories of northern life.  I then made use of
+the matter because it was the truth, and for that very reason I am now
+going to repeat it; also because this transaction as depicted is
+typical of what usually happens when the Indians try to secure their
+advances.  Furthermore, I give the dialogue in detail, as perchance
+some reader may feel as Thoreau did, when he said: "It would be some
+advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of
+an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross
+necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; or
+even to look over the old day-books of the merchants, to see what it
+was that men most commonly bought at the stores, what they stored, that
+is, what are the grossest groceries."
+
+But while the following outfit might be considered the Indian's
+grossest groceries, the articles are not really necessaries at all for
+him; for, to go to the extreme, a good woodsman can hunt without even
+gun, axe, knife, or matches, and can live happily, absolutely
+independent of our civilization.
+
+As the Factor was busy with another Indian when the Chief entered--for
+Oo-koo-hoo was the chief of the Ojibways of that district--he waited
+patiently, as he would not deign to do business with a clerk.  When he
+saw the trader free, he greeted:
+
+"_Quay, quay, Hugemow_!" (Good day, Master).
+
+"Gude day, man Oo-koo-hoo, what can I do for ye the day?" amicably
+responded the Factor.
+
+"Master, it is this way.  I am about to leave for my hunting grounds;
+but this time I am going to spend the winter upon a new part of them,
+where I have not hunted for years, and where game of all kinds will be
+plentiful.  Therefore, I want you to give me liberal advances so that
+my hunt will not be hindered."
+
+"Pegs, Oo-koo-hoo, ma freen', yon's an auld, auld farrant.  But ye're
+well kenn'd for a leal, honest man; an' sae, I'se no be unco haird upon
+ye."
+
+So saying, the Factor made him a present of a couple of pounds of
+flour, half a pound of pork, half a pound of sugar, a quarter of a
+pound of tea, a plug of tobacco, and some matches.  The Factor's
+generosity was prompted largely by his desire to keep the Indian in
+good humour.  After a little friendly chaffing, the Factor promised to
+give the hunter advances to the extent of one hundred "skins."
+
+A "skin," or, as it is often called, a "made beaver," is equivalent to
+one dollar in the Hudson Bay and the Mackenzie River districts, but
+only fifty cents in the region of the Athabasca.
+
+Perhaps it should be explained here that while Oo-koo-hoo could speak
+broken English, he always preferred to use his own language when
+addressing the trader, whom he knew to be quite conversant with
+Ojibway, and so, throughout this book, I have chosen to render the
+Indian's speech as though it was translated from Ojibway into English,
+rather than at any time render it in broken English, as the former is
+not only easier to read, but is more expressive of the natural quality
+of the Indian's speech.  In olden days some of the chiefs who could not
+speak English at all were, it is claimed, eloquent orators--far
+outclassing our greatest statesmen.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo, having ascertained the amount of his credit, reckoned that
+he would use about fifty skins in buying traps and ammunition; the rest
+he would devote to the purchase of necessaries for himself and his
+party, as his son-in-law had arranged with him to look after his
+family's wants in his absence.  So the old gentleman now asked for the
+promised skins.  He was handed one hundred marked goose quills
+representing that number of skins.  After checking them over in bunches
+of ten, he entrusted twenty to his eldest grandson, Ne-geek--The
+Otter--to be held in reserve for ammunition and tobacco, and ten to his
+eldest granddaughter, Neykia, with which to purchase an outfit for the
+rest of the party.
+
+For a long time Oo-koo-hoo stood immersed in thought.  At last his face
+brightened.  He had reached a decision.  For years he had coveted a new
+muzzle-loading gun, and he felt that the time had now arrived to get
+it.  So he picked out one valued at forty skins and paid for it.  Then,
+taking back the quills his grandson held, he bought twenty skins' worth
+of powder, caps, shot, and bullets.  Then he selected for himself a
+couple of pairs of trousers, one pair made of moleskin and the other of
+tweed, costing ten skins; two shirts and a suit of underwear, ten
+skins; half a dozen assorted traps, ten skins.  Finding that he had
+used up all his quills, he drew on those set aside for his wife and
+son-in-law's family and bought tobacco, five skins; files, one skin; an
+axe, two skins; a knife, one skin; matches, one half skin; and candy
+for his youngest grandchild, one half skin.  On looking over his
+acquisitions he discovered that he must have at least ten skins' worth
+of twine for nets and snares, five skins' worth of tea, one skin worth
+of soap, one skin worth of needles and thread, as well as a tin pail
+and a new frying pan.  After a good deal of haggling, the Factor threw
+him that number of quills, and Oo-koo-hoo's manifest contentment
+somewhat relieved the trader's anxiety.
+
+A moment later, however, Oo-koo-hoo was reminded by his wife, Ojistoh,
+that there was nothing for her, so she determined to interview the
+Factor herself.  She tried to persuade him to give her twenty skins in
+trade, and promised to pay for them in the spring with rat and ermine
+skins, or--should those fail her--with her dog, which was worth fully
+thirty skins.  She had been counting on getting some cotton print for a
+dress, as well as thread and needles, to say nothing of extra tea,
+which in all would amount to at least thirty-five or forty skins.
+When, however, the Factor allowed her only ten skins, her
+disappointment was keen, and she ended by getting a shawl.  Then she
+left the trading room to pay a visit to the Factor's wife, and confide
+to her the story of her expectations and of her disappointment so
+movingly that she would get a cup of tea, a word of sympathy, and
+perhaps even an old petticoat.
+
+In the meantime, Oo-koo-hoo was catching it again.  He had forgotten
+his daughter; so after more haggling the trader agreed to advance her
+ten skins.  Her mind had long been made up.  She bought a three-point
+blanket, a small head shawl, and a piece of cotton print.  Then the
+grandsons crowded round and grumbled because there was nothing for them.
+
+By this time the trader was beginning to feel that he had done pretty
+well for the family already; but he kept up the appearance of bluff
+good humour, and asked:
+
+"Well, Oo-koo-hoo, what wad ye be wantin' for the laddies?"
+
+"My grandsons are no bunglers, as you know," said the proud old
+grandsire.  "They can each kill at least twenty skins' worth of fur."
+
+"Aye, aye!" rejoined the trader.  "I shall e'en gi'e them twenty atween
+them."
+
+In the goodness of his heart he offered the boys some advice as to what
+they should buy: "Ye'll be wantin' to buy traps, I'm jalousin', an'
+sure ye'll turn oot to be graun' hunters, Nimrods o' the North that
+men'll mak' sangs aboot i' the comin' years."  He cautioned them to
+choose wisely, because from henceforth they would be personally
+responsible for everything they bought, and must pay, "skin for skin"
+(the motto of the Hudson's Bay Company).
+
+The boys listened with gloomy civility, and then purchased an
+assortment of useless trifles such as ribbons, tobacco, buttons, candy,
+rings, pomatum, perfume, and Jew's harps.
+
+The Factor's patience was now nearly exhausted.  He picked up his
+account book, and strode to the door, and held it open as a hint to the
+Indians to leave.  But they pretended to take no notice of his action.
+
+The granddaughters, who had been growing more and more anxious lest
+they should be forgotten, now began to be voluble in complaint.
+Oo-koo-hoo called the trader aside and explained the trouble.  The
+Factor realized that he was in a corner, and that if he now refused
+further supplies he would offend the old chief and drive him to sell
+his best furs to the opposition trader in revenge.  He surrendered, and
+the girls received ten skins between them.
+
+At long last everyone was pleased except the unhappy Factor.  Gathering
+his purchases together, Oo-koo-hoo tied up the powder, shot, tea, and
+sugar in the legs of the trousers; placed the purchases for his wife,
+daughter, and granddaughters in the shawl, and the rest of the goods in
+the blanket.
+
+Then he made the discovery that he had neither flour nor grease.  He
+could not start without them.  The Factor's blood was now almost at the
+boiling pitch, but he dared not betray his feelings; for the Indian was
+ready to take offence at the slightest word, so rich and independent
+did he feel.  Angering him now would simply mean adding to the harvest
+of the opposition trader.  He chewed his lower lip in the effort to
+smother his disgust, and growled out with an angry grin:
+
+"Hoots, mon, ye ha'e gotten ower muckle already.  It's fair redeeklus.
+I jist canna gi'e ye onythin' mair ava!"
+
+"Ah, but, master, you have forgotten that I am a great hunter.  And
+that my son-in-law is a great hunter, too.  This is but the outfit for
+a lazy man!  Besides, the Great Company is rich, and I am poor.  If you
+will be stingy, I shall not trouble you more."
+
+Once again the Factor gave way, and handed out the flour and grease.
+All filed out, and the Factor turned the key in the door.  As he walked
+toward the house, his spirits began to rise, and he clapped the old
+Indian on the back good-naturedly.  Presently Oo-koo-hoo halted in his
+tracks.  He had forgotten something: he had nothing in case of sickness.
+
+"Master, you know my voyage is long; my work is hard; the winter is
+severe.  I am not very strong now: I may fall ill.  My wife--she is not
+very strong--may fall ill also.  My son-in-law is not very strong: he
+may fall ill too.  My daughter is not. . . ."
+
+"De'il ha'e ye!" roared the Factor, "what is't the noo?"
+
+"Never mind, it will do to-morrow," muttered the hunter with an
+offended air.
+
+"As I'm a leevin' sinner, it's noo or it's nivver," insisted the
+Factor, who had no desire to let the Indian have another day at it.
+"Come back this verra minnit, an' I'll gi'e ye a wheen poothers an' sic
+like, that'll keep ye a' hale and hearty, I houp, till ye win hame
+again."
+
+The Factor took him back and gave him some salts, peppermint,
+pain-killer, and sticking-plaster to offset all the ills that might
+befall him and his party during the next ten months.
+
+Once more they started for the house.  The Factor was ready to put up
+with anything as long as he could get them away from the store.
+Oo-koo-hoo now told the trader not to charge anything against his wife
+as he would settle her account himself, and that as Amik would be back
+in the morning, he, too, would want his advances, and if they had
+forgotten anything, Amik could get it next day.
+
+The Factor scowled again, but it was too late.
+
+While the Indians lounged around the kitchen and talked to the Factor's
+wife and the half-breed servant girl, the Factor went to his office and
+made out Oo-koo-hoo's bill, which read:
+
+  Fort Consolation    18 September 189-
+  Dr.
+        Advances to
+      Oo-koo-hoo and family
+    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX1111--164 M.B.
+  Hudson's Bay Company
+    per Donald Mackenzie, Factor
+
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's bill.]
+
+The Indian now told the trader that he wanted him to send the "Fur
+Runners" to him with supplies in ten weeks' time; and that he must have
+a "geese-wark," or measure of days, in order to know exactly when the
+Fur Runners would arrive at his camp.  So the Factor made out the
+following calendar:
+
+  Fort Consolation      18 September 189-
+
+  LNE   1111X111111X1
+  NRU   11111X111111X111111X111111X1111
+  NVER  11X111111X111111X111111X111111
+
+  Hudson's Bay Company
+    per Donald Mackenzie, Factor
+
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's calendar.]
+
+The above characters to the left are syllabic--a method of writing
+taught to the Indians by the missionaries.  They spell the words
+September, October, and November.  The 1's represent week days, and the
+X's Sundays.  The calendar begins with the 18th of September, and the
+crescent marks the 29th of November, the date of the arrival of the Fur
+Runners.  The Indian would keep track of the days by pricking a pin
+hole every day above the proper figure.
+
+Presently the Factor and I were alone for a few moments and he growled:
+
+"Whit d'ye think o' the auld de'il?"
+
+"Fine, I'll go with him, if he will take me."
+
+So I had a talk with the old Indian, and when he learned that I had no
+intention of killing game, but merely wanted to accompany him and his
+son-in-law on their hunts, he consented and we came to terms.  I was to
+be ready to start early on the morning of the 20th.  Then Oo-koo-hoo
+turned to the trader and said:
+
+"Master, it is getting late and it will be later when I reach my lodge.
+I am hungry now, and I shall be hungrier still when I get home.  I am
+growing . . ."
+
+"Aye, aye, ma birkie," interrupted the Factor, "I un'erstaun' fine."
+He bestowed upon the confident petitioner a further gratuity of flour,
+tea, sugar, and tallow, a clay pipe, a plug of tobacco and some
+matches, so as to save him from having to break in upon his winter
+supplies before he started upon his journey to the hunting grounds.
+Oo-koo-hoo solemnly expressed his gratitude:
+
+"Master, my heart is pleased.  You are my father.  I shall now hunt
+well, and you shall have all my fur."
+
+To show his appreciation of the compliment, the Factor gave him an old
+shirt, and wished him good luck.
+
+In the meantime, Oo-koo-hoo's wife had succeeded in obtaining from the
+Factor's wife old clothes for her grandchildren, needles and thread,
+and some food.  Just as they got ready to go, the younger woman, Amik's
+wife, remembered that the baby had brought a duck as a present for the
+Factor's children so they had to give a present in return, worth at
+least twice as much as the duck.
+
+The Factor and his family were by this time sufficiently weary.  Right
+willingly did they go down to the landing to see the Indians off.  No
+sooner had these taken their places in the canoes and paddled a few
+strokes away than the grandmother remembered that she had a present for
+the Factor and his wife.  All paddled back again, and the Factor and
+his wife were each presented with a pair of moccasins.  No, she would
+not take anything in return, at least, not just now.  To-morrow,
+perhaps, when they came to say good-bye.
+
+"Losh me!  I thocht they were aff an' gane," exclaimed the trader as he
+turned and strode up the beach.
+
+I inwardly laughed, for any man--red, white, black, or yellow--who
+could make such a hard-headed old Scotsman as Donald Mackenzie loosen
+up, was certainly clever; and the way old Oo-koo-hoo made off with such
+a lot of supplies proved him more than a match for the trader.
+
+
+THE BEST FUR DISTRICTS
+
+While we were at supper a perfect roar of gun shots ran around the bay
+and on our rushing to the doorway we saw the Inspector's big canoe
+coming.  Up went the flag and more gun shots followed.  Then we went
+down to the landing to meet Inspecting Chief Factor Bell.
+
+After supper the newcomer and the Factor and I sat before the fire and
+discussed the fur trade.  I liked to listen to the old trader, but the
+Inspector, being the greater traveller of the two, covering every year
+on the rounds of his regular work thousands upon thousands of miles,
+was the more interesting talker.  Presently, when the subject turned to
+the distribution of the fur-bearing animals, Mr. Bell took a case from
+his bag and opening it, spread it out before us upon the Factor's desk.
+It was a map of the Dominion of Canada, on which the names of the
+principal posts of the Hudson's Bay Company were printed in red.
+Across it many irregular lines were drawn in different-coloured inks,
+and upon its margins were many written notes.
+
+"This map, as you see," remarked the Inspector, "defines approximately
+the distribution of the fur-bearing animals of Canada, and I'll wager
+that you have never seen another like it; for if it were not for the
+records of the Hudson's Bay Company, no such map could have been
+compiled.  How did I manage it?  Well, to begin with, you must
+understand that the Indians invariably trade their winter's catch of
+fur at the trading post nearest their hunting grounds; so when the
+annual returns of all the posts are sent in to the Company's
+headquarters, those returns accurately define the distribution of the
+fur-bearing animals for that year.  These irregular lines across the
+map were drawn after an examination of the annual returns from all the
+posts for the last forty years.  Publish it?  No, siree, that would
+never do!"
+
+But the Inspector's remarks did not end the subject, as we began
+discussing the greatest breeding grounds of the various fur-bearers,
+and Mr. Bell presently continued:
+
+"The greatest centre for coloured foxes is near Salt River, which flows
+into Slave River at Fort Smith.  There, too, most of the black foxes
+and silver foxes are trapped.  The great otter and fisher centre is
+around Trout Lake, Island Lake, Sandy Lake, and God's Lake.  Otter
+taken north of Lake Superior are found to be fully one third larger
+than those killed in any other region.  Black bears and brown bears are
+most frequently to be met with between Fort Pelly and Portage La Loche.
+Cumberland House is the centre of the greatest breeding grounds for
+muskrat, mink, and ermine.  Manitoba House is another great district
+for muskrat.  Lynxes are found in greatest numbers in the Iroquois
+Valley, in the foothills on the eastern side of the Rockies.  Coyote
+skins come chiefly from the district between Calgary and Qu'Appelle for
+a hundred miles both north and south.  Skunks are most plentiful just
+south of Green Lake; formerly, they lived on the plains, but of late
+they have moved northward into the woods.  Wolverines frequent most the
+timber country just south of the Barren Grounds, where they are often
+found travelling in bands.  The home of the porcupine lies just north
+of Isle a la Crosse.  Forty years ago the breeding grounds of the
+beaver were on the eastern side of the Rockies.  Nowadays that region
+is hardly worth considering as a trapping ground for them.  They have
+been steadily migrating eastward along the Churchill River, then by way
+of Cross Lake, Fort Hope, to Abitibi, thence north-easterly clean
+across the country to Labrador, where few were to be found twenty-five
+years ago.  Don't misunderstand me.  I'm not saying that beaver were
+not found in those parts years ago, but what I mean is that the source
+of the greatest harvest of beaver skins has moved steadily eastward
+during the last forty years.  Strange to say, the finest marten skins
+secured in Canada are not those of the extreme northern limit, but
+those taken on the Parsnip River in British Columbia."
+
+
+WANTED, A SON-IN-LAW
+
+Next morning I busied myself making a few additions to my outfit for
+the winter.  Then I borrowed a two-and-a-half fathom canoe and paddled
+across the lake to Spearhead.  The town I had heard so much about from
+the Free Trader was just a little clearing of about three acres on the
+edge of the forest; in fact, it was really just a stump lot with a
+small one-and-a-half story log house standing in the middle.  Where
+there was a rise in the field, a small log stable was set half
+underground, and upon its roof was stacked the winter's supply of hay
+for a team of horses, a cow, and a heifer.
+
+At the front door Mr. and Mrs. Spear welcomed me.  My hostess was a
+prepossessing Canadian woman of fair education, in fact, she had been a
+stenographer.  On entering the house I found the trading room on the
+right of a tiny hall, on the left was the living room, which was also
+used to eat in, and the kitchen was, of course, in the rear.  After
+being entertained for ten or fifteen minutes by my host and hostess, I
+heard light steps descending the stairs, and the next moment I beheld a
+charming girl.  She was their only child.  They called her Athabasca,
+after the beautiful lake of that name.  She was sixteen years of age,
+tall, slender, and graceful, a brunette with large, soft eyes and long,
+flowing, wavy hair.  She wore a simple little print dress that was
+becomingly short in the skirt, a pair of black stockings, and low,
+beaded moccasins.  I admired her appearance, but regretted her shyness,
+for she was almost as bashful as I was.  She bowed and blushed--so did
+I--and while her parents talked to me she sat demurely silent on the
+sofa.  Occasionally, I caught from her with pleasant embarrassment a
+shy but fleeting glance.
+
+Presently, dinner was announced by a half-breed maid, and we four took
+our places at the table, Athabasca opposite me.  At first the talk was
+lively, though only three shared in it.  Then, as the third seemed
+rather more interested in his silent partner, he would from time to
+time lose the thread of the discourse.  By degrees the conversation
+died down into silence.  A few minutes later Mrs. Spear suddenly
+remarked:
+
+"Father . . . don't you think it would be a good thing if you took
+son-in-law into partnership?"
+
+Father leaned back, scratched his head for a while, and then replied:
+
+"Yes, Mother, I do, and I'll do it."
+
+The silent though beautiful Athabasca, without even raising her eyes
+from her plate, blushed violently, and needless to say, I blushed, too,
+but, of course, only out of sympathy.
+
+"The horses are too busy, just now, to haul the logs, but of course the
+young people could have our spare room until I could build them a log
+shack."
+
+"Father, that's a capital idea.  So there's no occasion for any delay
+whatever.  Then, when their house is finished, we could spare them a
+bed, a table, a couple of chairs, and give them a new cooking stove."
+
+Athabasca blushed deeper than ever, and studied her plate all the
+harder, and I began to show interest and prick up my ears, for I
+wondered who on earth son-in-law could be?  I knew perfectly well there
+was no young white man in all that region, and that even if he lived in
+the nearest frontier town, it would take him, either by canoe or on
+snowshoes, at least two weeks to make the round trip to Spearhead, just
+to call on her.  I couldn't fathom it at all.
+
+"Besides, Mother, we might give them the heifer, as a starter, for she
+will be ready to milk in the spring.  Then, too, we might give them a
+few ducks and geese and perhaps a pig."
+
+"Excellent idea, Father; besides, I think I could spare enough cutlery,
+dishes, and cooking utensils to help out for a while."
+
+"And I could lend them some blankets from the store," the trader
+returned.
+
+But at that moment Athabasca miscalculated the distance to her mouth
+and dropped a bit of potato on the floor, and when she stooped to
+recover it, I caught a glance from the corner of her eye.  It was one
+of those indescribable glances that girls give.  I remember it made me
+perspire all over.  Queer, isn't it, the way women sometimes affect
+one?  I would have blushed more deeply, but by that time there was no
+possible chance of my face becoming any redder, notwithstanding the
+fact that I was a red-head.  Ponder as I would, I couldn't fathom the
+mystery . . . who Son-in-law could be . . . though I had already begun
+to think him a lucky fellow--quite one to be envied.
+
+Then Mrs. Spear exclaimed, as we rose from the table:
+
+"Good! . . .  Then that's settled . . . you'll take him into
+partnership, and I'm glad, for I like him, and I think he'll make an
+excellent trader."
+
+Our getting away from the table rather relieved me, as I was dripping
+perspiration, and I wanted to fairly mop my face--of course, when they
+weren't looking.
+
+Together they showed me over the establishment: the spare bedroom, the
+trading shop, the stable, the heifer, the ducks and geese, and even the
+pig--though it puzzled me why they singled out the very one they
+intended giving Son-in-law.  The silent though beautiful Athabasca
+followed a few feet behind as we went the rounds, and inspected the
+wealth that was to be bestowed upon her lover.  I was growing more
+inquisitive than ever as to who Son-in-law might be.  Indeed, I felt
+like asking, but was really too shy, and besides, when I thought it
+over, I concluded it was none of my business.
+
+When the time came for me to return to the Hudson's Bay Post, I shook
+hands with them all--Athabasca had nice hands and a good grip, too.
+Her parents gave me a pressing invitation to visit them again for a few
+days at New Year's, when everyone in the country would be going to the
+great winter festival that was always held at Fort Consolation.  As I
+paddled away I mused:
+
+"By George, Son-in-law is certainly a lucky dog, for Athabasca's a
+peach . . . but I don't see how in thunder her lover ever gets a chance
+to call."
+
+
+LEAVING FORT CONSOLATION
+
+I was up early next morning and as I wished to see how Oo-koo-hoo and
+his party would pack up and board their canoes, I walked round the bay
+to the Indian village.  After a hasty breakfast, the women pulled down
+the lodge coverings of sheets of birch bark and rolling them up placed
+them upon the _star-chi-gan_--the stage--along with other things which
+they intended leaving behind.  The lodge poles were left standing in
+readiness for their return next summer, and it wasn't long before all
+their worldly goods--save their skin tepees and most of their traps,
+which had been left on their last winter's hunting grounds--were placed
+aboard their three canoes, and off they paddled to the Post, to say
+good-bye, while Amik secured his advances.
+
+Just think of it, all you housekeepers--no gold plate or silverware to
+send to the vault, no bric-a-brac to pack, no furniture to cover, no
+bedding to put away, no rugs or furs or clothes to send to cold
+storage, no servants to wrangle with or discharge, no plumbers to swear
+over, no janitors to cuss at, no, not even any housecleaning to do
+before you depart--just move and nothing more.  Just dump a little
+outfit into a canoe and then paddle away from all your tiresome
+environment, and travel wherever your heart dictates, and then settle
+down where not even an exasperating neighbour could find you.  What
+would you give to live such a peaceful life?
+
+"As I understand it," says Thoreau, "that was a valid objection urged
+by Momus against the house which Minerva made, that she had not made it
+movable, by which means a bad neighbourhood might be avoided; and it
+may still be urged, for our houses are such unwieldy property that we
+are often imprisoned rather than housed in them; and the bad
+neighbourhood to be avoided is our own scurvy selves."
+
+On their arrival, Amik at once set about getting his advances.  He was
+a stalwart, athletic-looking man of about thirty-five, but not the
+equal of his father-in-law in character.  Oo-koo-hoo now told the
+Factor just where he intended to hunt, what fur he expected to get, and
+how the fur runners could best find his camp.  As the price of fur had
+risen, the Factor told him what price he expected to pay.  If, however,
+the price had dropped, the Factor would not have informed the hunter
+until his return next year.  During the course of the conversation, the
+old hunter begged the loan of a second-hand gun and some traps for the
+use of his grandsons; and the Factor granted his request.
+
+In the meantime, the women called upon the clergyman and the priest and
+the nuns to wish them farewell, and incidentally to do a little more
+begging.  As they were not ready to go by noon, the Factor's wife
+spread a cloth upon the kitchen floor, and placed upon it some food for
+the party.  After lunch they actually made ready to depart, and
+everybody came down to the landing to see us off.  As the children and
+dogs scrambled aboard the canoes, the older woman remembered that she
+had not been paid for her gift of moccasins, and so another delay took
+place while the Factor selected a suitable present.  It is always thus.
+Then, at last, the canoes push off.  Amid the waving of hands, the
+shouting of farewells, and the shedding of a few tears even, the simple
+natives of the wilderness paddled away over the silent lake en route
+for their distant hunting grounds.
+
+Thither the reader must follow, and there, amid the fastnesses of the
+Great Northern Forest, he must spend the winter if he would see the
+Indian at his best.  There he is a beggar no longer.  There, escaped
+from the civilization which the white man is ever forcing upon the
+red--a civilization which rarely fails to make a degenerate of him--he
+proves his manhood.  There, contrary to the popular idea, he will be
+found to be a diligent and skilful worker and an affectionate husband
+and father.  There, given health and game, no toil and no hardship will
+hinder him from procuring fur enough to pay off his indebtedness, and
+to lay up in store twice as much again with which to engage next spring
+in the delightful battle of wits between white man and red in the Great
+Company's trading room.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+IN QUEST OF TREASURE
+
+THE PERFECT FOOL
+
+It was an ideal day and the season and the country were in keeping.
+Soon the trading posts faded from view, and when, after trolling around
+Fishing Point, we entered White River and went ashore for an early
+supper, everyone was smiling.  I revelled over the prospect of work,
+freedom, contentment, and beauty before me; and over the thought of
+leaving behind me the last vestige of the white man's ugly,
+hypercritical, and oppressive civilization.
+
+Was it any wonder I was happy?  For me it was but the beginning of a
+never-to-be-forgotten journey in a land where man can be a man without
+the aid of money.  Yes . . . without money.  And that reminds me of a
+white man I knew who was born and bred in the Great Northern Forest,
+and who supported and educated a family of twelve, and yet he reached
+his sixtieth birthday without once having handled or ever having seen
+money.  He was as generous, as refined, and as noble a man as one would
+desire to know; yet when he visited civilization for the first time--in
+his sixty-first year--he was reviled because he had a smile for all, he
+was swindled because he knew no guile, he was robbed because he trusted
+everyone, and he was arrested because he manifested brotherly love
+toward his fellow-creatures.  Our vaunted civilization!  It was the
+regret of his declining years that circumstances prevented him from
+leaving the enlightened Christians of the cities, and going back to
+live in peace among the honest, kindly hearted barbarians of the forest.
+
+Soon there were salmon-trout--fried to a golden brown--crisp bannock,
+and tea for all; then a little re-adjusting of the packs, and we were
+again at the paddles.  Oo-koo-hoo's wife, Ojistoh, along with her
+second granddaughter and her two grandsons, occupied one of the
+three-and-a-half fathom canoes; Amik, and his wife, Naudin, with her
+baby and eldest daughter, occupied the other; and Oo-koo-hoo and I
+paddled together in the two-and-a-half fathom canoe.  One of the five
+dogs--Oo-koo-hoo's best hunter--travelled with us, while the other four
+took passage in the other canoes.  Although the going was now up
+stream--the same river by which I had come--we made fair speed until
+Island Lake stretched before us, when we felt a southwest wind that
+threatened trouble; but by making a long detour about the bays of the
+southwestern shore the danger vanished.  Arriving at the foot of the
+portage trail at Bear Rock Rapids, we carried our outfit to a cliff
+above, which afforded an excellent camping ground; and there arose the
+smoke of our evening fire.  The cloudless sky giving no sign of rain,
+we contented ourselves with laying mattresses of balsam brush upon
+which to sleep.  While the sunset glow still filled the western sky, we
+heard a man's voice shouting above the roar of the rapids, and on going
+to the brink, saw a "York boat" in the act of shooting the cataract.
+It was one of the boats of "The Goods Brigade" transporting supplies
+for the northern posts of the Hudson's Bay Company.  As the craft
+measured forty feet in length and was manned by eight men, it was
+capable of carrying about seventy packs, each weighing about a hundred
+pounds.  But of these boat brigades--more in due season.
+
+[Illustration: Going to the brink, saw a "York boat" in the act of
+shooting the cataract.  It was one of the boats of "The Goods Brigade"
+transporting supplies for the northern posts of the Hudson's Bay
+Company.  As the craft measured forty feet in length and was manned by
+eight men, it was capable of carrying about seventy packs, each
+weighing about a hundred pounds.  But of these boat brigades . . .  See
+Chapter II.]
+
+After supper, when twilight was deepening, and tobacco--in the smoking
+of which the women conscientiously joined--was freely forthcoming, the
+subject of conversation turned to woodcraft.  Since it fell to
+Oo-koo-hoo, as the principal hunter, to keep the party supplied with
+game while en route, I was wondering what he would do in case he saw a
+bear and went ashore to trail it.  Would he himself skin and cut up the
+bear, or would he want the women to help him?  If the latter, what sign
+or signal would he use so that they might keep in touch with him?  But
+when I questioned Oo-koo-hoo, he replied:
+
+"My white son"--for that is what he sometimes called me--"I see you are
+just like all white men, but if you are observant and listen to those
+who are wiser than you, you may some day rank almost the equal of an
+Indian."
+
+Afterward, when I became better acquainted with him, I learned that
+with regard to white men in general, he held the same opinion that all
+Indians do, and that is, that they are perfect fools.  When I agreed
+with the old gentleman, and assured him he was absolutely right, and
+that the biggest fool I ever knew was the one who was talking to him,
+he laughed outright, and replied that now he knew that I was quite
+different from most white men, and that he believed some day I would be
+the equal of an Indian.  When I first heard his opinion of white men, I
+regarded him as a pretty sane man, but afterward, when I tried to get
+him to include not only his brother Indians, but also himself under the
+same definition, I could not get him to agree with me, therefore I was
+disappointed in him.  He was not the philosopher I had at first taken
+him to be; for life has taught me that all men are fools--of one kind
+or another.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO'S WOODCRAFT
+
+But to return to woodcraft.  Emerson says: "Men are naturally hunters
+and inquisitive of woodcraft, and I suppose that such a gazetteer as
+wood-cutters and Indians should furnish facts for would take place in
+the most sumptuous drawing rooms of all the 'Wreaths' and 'Flora's
+Chaplets' of the bookshops" and believing that to be true, I shall
+therefore tell you not only how my Indian friends managed to keep their
+bearings while travelling without a compass, but how, without the aid
+of writing, they continued to leave various messages for their
+companions.  When I asked Oo-koo-hoo how he would signal, in case he
+went ashore to trail game--when the other canoes were out of sight
+behind him--and he should want someone to follow him to help carry back
+the meat, he replied that he would cut a small bushy-topped sapling and
+plant it upright in the river near his landing place on the shore.
+That, he said, would signify that he wished his party to go ashore and
+camp on the first good camping ground; while, at the same time, it
+would warn them not to kindle a fire until they had first examined the
+tracks to make sure whether the smoke would frighten the game.  Then
+someone would follow his trail to render him assistance, providing they
+saw that he had blazed a tree.  If he did not want them to follow him,
+he would shove two sticks into the ground so that they would slant
+across the trail in the form of an X, but if he wanted them to follow
+he would blaze a tree.  If he wanted them to hurry, he would blaze the
+same tree twice.  If he wanted them to follow as fast as they could
+with caution, he would blaze the same tree three times, but if he
+desired them to abandon all caution and to follow with all speed, he
+would cut a long blaze and tear it off.
+
+Then, again, if he were leaving the game trail to circle his quarry,
+and if he wished them to follow his tracks instead of those of the
+game, he would cut a long blaze on one tree and a small one on another
+tree, which would signify that he had left the game trail at a point
+between the two trees and that they were to follow his tracks instead
+of those of the game.  But if he wished them to stop and come no
+farther, he would drop some article of his clothing on the trail.
+Should, however, the game trail happen to cross a muskeg where there
+were no trees to blaze, he would place moss upon the bushes to answer
+instead of blazes, and in case the ground was hard and left an
+invisible trail, he would cut a stick and shoving the small end into
+the trail, would slant the butt in the direction he had gone.
+
+If traversing water where there were no saplings at hand, and he wished
+to let his followers know where he had left the water to cross a
+muskeg, he would try to secure a pole, which he would leave standing in
+the water, with grass protruding from the split upper end, and the pole
+slanting to show in which direction he had gone.  If, on the arrival at
+the fork of a river, he wished to let his followers know up which fork
+he had paddled--say, for instance, if it were the right one--he would
+shove a long stick into either bank of the left fork in such a way that
+it would point straight across the channel of the left fork, to
+signify, as it were, that the channel was blocked.  Then, a little
+farther up the right fork, he would plant a sapling or pole in the
+water, slanting in the direction he had gone--to prove to the follower
+that he was now on the right trail.  Oo-koo-hoo further explained that
+if he were about to cross a lake and he wished to let his follower know
+the exact point upon which he intended to land, he would cut two poles,
+placing the larger nearest the woods and the smaller nearest the water,
+both in an upright position and in an exact line with the point to
+which he was going to head, so that the follower by taking sight from
+one pole to the other would learn the exact spot on the other shore
+where he should land--even though it were several miles away.  But if
+he were not sure just where he intended to land, he would cut a willow
+branch and twist it into the form of a hoop and hang it upon the
+smaller pole--that would signify that he might land at any point of the
+surrounding shore of the lake.
+
+If he wanted to signal his family to camp at any particular point along
+his trail, he would leave some article of his clothing and place near
+it a number of sticks standing in the form of the poles of a lodge,
+thus suggesting to them that they should erect their tepee upon that
+spot.  If he had wounded big game and expected soon to overtake and
+kill it, and if he wanted help to carry back the meat, he would blaze a
+tree and upon that smooth surface would make a sketch, either with
+knife or charcoal, of the animal he was pursuing.  If a full day had
+elapsed since the placing of crossed sticks over the trail, the
+follower would abandon all caution and follow at top speed, as he would
+realize that some misfortune had befallen the hunter.  The second man,
+or follower, however, never blazes trees as he trails the first hunter,
+but simply breaks off twigs or bends branches in the direction in which
+he is going, so that should it be necessary that a third man should
+also follow, he could readily distinguish the difference between the
+two trails.  If a hunter wishes to leave a good trail over a treeless
+district, he, as far as possible, chooses soft ground and treads upon
+his heels.
+
+When a hunter is trailing an animal, he avoids stepping upon the
+animal's trail, so that should it be necessary for him to go back and
+re-trail his quarry, the animal's tracks shall not be obliterated.  If,
+in circling about his quarry, the hunter should happen to cut his own
+trail, he takes great care to cut it at right angles, so that, should
+he have to circle several times, he may never be at a loss to know
+which was his original trail.  If the hunter should wish to leave a
+danger signal behind him, he will take two saplings, one from either
+side of the trail, and twist them together in such a way that they
+shall block the passage of the follower, requiring him to pause in
+order to disentangle them or to pass around them; and if the hunter
+were to repeat such a signal two or three times, it would signify that
+the follower should use great caution and circle down wind in order to
+still-hunt the hunter's trail in exactly the same way he would
+still-hunt a moose.  Then, again, if the hunter should wish to let the
+follower know the exact time of day he had passed a certain spot, he
+would draw on the earth or snow a bow with an arrow placed at right
+angles to the bow, but pointing straight in the direction where the sun
+had been at that precise moment.
+
+
+THE BEAR'S DEDUCTION
+
+Owing to their knowledge of wood-craft some Indians are very clever at
+deduction.
+
+On Great Slave Lake near Fort Rae an Indian cripple, named Simpson's
+Brother, had joined a party of canoe-men for the purpose of hunting
+eggs.  After paddling toward a group of islands, the party separated,
+finally landing on different isles.  They had agreed, however, to meet
+at sunset on a certain island and there eat and sleep together.  While
+at work several of the Indians saw Simpson's Brother alone on a little
+rocky islet, busily engaged in gathering eggs.  Toward evening, the
+party met at their rendezvous and took supper together, but strange to
+say, Simpson's Brother did not appear.  After smoking and talking for a
+while, some grew anxious about the cripple.  The Bear began to fear
+lest some mishap had befallen him; but The Caribou scoffed at the idea:
+he was sure that Simpson's Brother was still working and that he would
+soon return with more eggs than any of them.  The Bear, however,
+thought they ought to search for him, as his canoe might have drifted
+away.  But The Mink replied that if anything like that had happened,
+the cripple would certainly have fired his gun.  "But how could he fire
+his gun if his canoe had drifted away?" asked The Bear, "for would not
+his gun be in his canoe?"  So they all paddled off to investigate the
+mystery.  On nearing the island, they saw the Brother's canoe adrift.
+When they overhauled it, sure enough his gun was aboard.  They then
+landed on the little isle where the cripple had been at work and began
+calling aloud for him.  As they received no answer, some of the Indians
+claimed that he must be asleep.  The Bear replied that if he was asleep
+their shouting would have awakened him and he would have answered, but
+that now they had best search the island.
+
+So they divided into two parties and searched the shore in different
+directions until they finally met on the other side, then they
+scattered and examined every nook and corner of the place--but all in
+vain.  Some now contended that the others were mistaken, and that that
+could not be the island on which the Brother had been working; but The
+Bear--though he had not seen the cripple there--insisted that it was.
+They asked him to prove it.
+
+"The wind has been blowing steadily from the north," replied The Bear,
+"the other islands are all south of this one, and you know that we
+found his canoe adrift south of here and north of all the other
+islands.  That is sufficient proof."  Then he added: "The reason
+Simpson's Brother did not answer is because he is not on the island,
+but in the water."
+
+Again they all clamoured for proof and The Bear answered: "But first I
+must find where he landed, and the quickest way to find that place is
+to remember that the wind was blowing too strong for him to land on the
+north shore, and that the running swells were too strong for him to
+land on either the east or west sides, therefore he landed on the south
+side--the sheltered side.  Now let us go and see where he drew up his
+canoe."
+
+But one of the others argued that that would be impossible as Simpson's
+Brother was not such a fool as to act like a white man and drag his
+canoe over the rocks.  The Bear, however, persisted that there would be
+some sign, at least where the bow touched shore when the cripple got
+out, and that he, The Bear, would go and find it.  But first he would
+go and examine the nests to learn from which of them the cripple had
+removed the eggs.  Thus they would learn where he had been working; and
+the finding of the landing place would be made easier.  So The Bear set
+to work.  From the empty nests he soon learned where the cripple had
+been working, and after a careful search he presently found on a big
+rock a little white spot no larger than a man's finger nail.
+
+"There, my friends, is where Simpson's Brother landed, for that white
+mark is of gum and proves where the bow of the canoe bumped the rock."
+
+They then asked The Bear where he thought the cripple was, and
+pointing, he replied:
+
+"If we search long enough we shall find him in the deep water down
+there; for when Simpson's Brother was getting aboard his canoe, he
+slipped and in falling struck his head upon the rock; the blow stunned
+him, and without a struggle he slid into the water, and was drowned."
+
+When they had brought their canoes round and had peered into the deep
+water, true enough, they discovered the body on the bottom of the lake.
+Securing a long pole, they fastened a gun worm to one end and, reaching
+down, twisted it into the cripple's clothing and brought the body to
+the surface.  Sadly they placed it in the unfortunate man's canoe,
+towed the craft and its burden to the other island, and sent to Fort
+Rae for the priest, Father Roure, to come and perform the burial
+service.
+
+
+BEASTS WITH HUMAN SOULS
+
+Next morning we arose with dawn.  After a hearty breakfast of
+fish--taken from the gill-net that had been set overnight below the
+rapid--the work of portaging round the rapids was begun and by about
+ten o'clock was finished.  Noon overtook us near the mouth of Caribou
+River, up which we were to ascend on the first half of our journey to
+Oo-koo-hoo's hunting grounds.  About two o'clock we entered that stream
+and headed westerly toward a spur of mountains that lay about a week's
+travel away and through which we had to pass to gain our winter camping
+ground.  An hour later, as Oo-koo-hoo and I preceded the party,
+paddling up one of the channels caused by a number of large islands
+dividing the river into mere creeks, we chanced upon a woodland caribou
+bull, as it stood among the rushes in a marshy bend watching us from a
+distance of not more than forty yards.  As I crouched down to be out of
+the hunter's way, I heard him say:
+
+"I'm sorry, my brother, but we need you for both food and clothing, so
+turn your eyes away before I fire."  The next moment the woods echoed
+the report of his smooth-bore muzzle-loader--the kind of gun used by
+about 90 per cent. of the fur hunters of the forest.  Why?  Because of
+the simplicity of its ammunition.  Such a gun never requires a variety
+of cumbersome shells for different kinds of game, but with varying
+charges of powder and shot or ball, is ready for anything from a rat or
+duck to a bear or moose.
+
+Before bleeding the deer, Oo-koo-hoo did a curious thing: with his
+sharp knife he destroyed the deer's eyes.  When I questioned him as to
+his purpose he replied: "As long as the eyes remain perfect, the spirit
+remains within the head, and I could not bear to skin the deer with its
+spirit looking at me."  Though Oo-koo-hoo was in many ways a wise old
+man, he held some beliefs that were past my understanding, and others
+that, when I tried to analyze them, seemed to be founded on the working
+of a sensitive conscience.
+
+Hearing the report of the gun, the others hurried to the scene.  While
+the deer was being bled the old grandmother caught the blood in a
+pail--into which she threw a pinch of salt to clot the blood--as she
+wished to use it for the making of a blood pudding.  Then the carcass
+was loaded aboard Oo-koo-hoo's canoe, rather, indeed, overloading it.
+Accordingly, I accepted Amik's invitation to board his craft, and at
+the first good place we all went ashore to clear the ground for the
+night's camp.  There was a porcupine there, and though it moved but
+slowly away, my friends did not kill it, for they had plenty to eat,
+and did not want to be bothered with taking care of those dangerous
+little quills that the women dye and use to such good advantage in
+their fancy work.  As to the Indian method of dressing meat and
+skins--more anon, when we are finally settled upon the fur trail.
+
+That evening, while flames were leaping after ascending sparks, and
+shadows were dancing behind us among the trees, we lounged about the
+fire on packs and blankets and discussed the events of the day.  When I
+asked Oo-koo-hoo why he had addressed the deer in such a manner, he
+replied that it was the proper and regular way to speak to an animal,
+because every creature in the forest, whether beast, bird, or fish,
+contained the spirit of some former human being.  He further explained
+that whenever the men of the olden time killed an unusually large
+animal with an extra fine coat, they did not save the skin to sell to
+the trader, but burnt the carcass, pelt and all, and in that way they
+returned the body to the spirit again.  Thus they not only paid homage
+to the spirit, but proved themselves unselfish men.  He went on to say
+that from the time of the Great, Great Long Ago, the Indian had always
+believed--as he did to-day--that every bull moose contained the spirit
+of a famous Indian chief, that every caribou bull contained the spirit
+of a lesser chief, and so on down through the whole of the animal
+creation.  Bears, however, or rather the spirits animating them,
+possessed the greatest power to render good or evil, and for that
+reason the hunter usually took the greatest care to address Bruin
+properly before he slew him.
+
+It is no wonder that the Indians still retain such ideas when, as Lord
+Avebury says: "We do not now, most of us, believe that animals have
+souls, and yet probably the majority of mankind from Buddha to Wesley
+and Kingsley have done so."
+
+Another thing Oo-koo-hoo told me was that out of respect to the
+dignified spirit possessed by the bull moose, women were never allowed
+to eat of the head, nor was a moose head to be placed upon a sled upon
+which a woman had ever sat; for if that were done, bad luck would
+follow the hunter to the end of his days.  He knew of a hunter who on
+one occasion had been guilty of that irreverence; afterward, whenever
+that hunter would see a moose, the moose--instead of trying to
+escape--would indifferently bark at him, and even follow him back close
+to camp; and when that hunter would go out again, other moose would do
+the very same thing.  Moreover, the hunter was afraid to kill any moose
+that acted that way, for he well knew that the animal was simply
+warning him of some great danger that was surely going to befall him.
+So, in the end, the hunter fretted himself to death.  Therefore every
+hunter should take great care to burn all the bones of a moose's head
+and never on any account allow a woman to eat thereof or to feed it to
+the dogs.  In burning the head, the hunter was merely paying the homage
+due to so noble a creature.
+
+Again, a hunter might find that though he had formerly been a good
+moose hunter, and had always observed every custom, yet he now utterly
+failed to secure a moose at all.  He might come upon plenty of tracks,
+but the moose would always escape, and prove the efforts of an
+experienced moose hunter of no more avail than those of a greenhorn.
+In such a case, there was but one thing to do, and that was to secure
+the whole skin--head, legs, and all--of a fawn, stuff it into its
+natural shape, set it up in the woods, wait till the new moon was in
+the first crescent, and then, just after sundown, engage a young girl
+to shoot five arrows at it from the regular hunting distance.  If she
+missed, it was proof that the spirit had rejected the girl, and that
+another would have to be secured to do the shooting.  If success were
+then attained, the hunter might go upon his hunt, well knowing he would
+soon be rewarded by bringing down a moose.  Of course such ideas seem
+strange to us, but, after all, are we in a position to ridicule the
+Indians' belief?  I think not, if we but recall the weird ideas our
+ancestors held.
+
+The Indian, like the white man, has many superstitions, some ugly, and
+some beautiful, and of the latter class, I quote one: he believes that
+the spirits of still-born children or very young infants take flight,
+when they die, and enter the bodies of birds.  A delightful
+thought--especially for the mother.  For as Kingsley says of St.
+Francis, "perfectly sure that he himself was a spiritual being, he
+thought it at least possible that birds might be spiritual beings
+likewise, incarnate like himself in mortal flesh; and saw no
+degradation to the dignity of human nature in claiming kindred
+lovingly, with creatures so beautiful, so wonderful, who praised God in
+the forest, even as angels did in heaven."
+
+The forest Indian, however, is not content with merely stating that the
+spirits of infants enter birds; but he goes on to say that while the
+spirits of Indian children always enter the beings of the finest
+singers and the most beautiful of all the birds, the spirits of the
+children of white people enter the bodies of stupid, ugly birds that
+just squawk around, and are neither interesting to look at nor pleasant
+to listen to, but are quarrelsome, and thievish.  When I asked
+Oo-koo-hoo to name a few birds into which the spirits of white children
+entered, he mentioned, among others, the woodpecker--which the Indians
+consider to have, proportionately, the longest and sharpest tongue of
+all birds.  That reminds me of the reply I received from one of the
+characters in this book, when I wrote him, among others, requesting
+that he grant me permission to make use of his name, in order to add
+authority to my text.  Like others, he begged me to refrain from
+quoting his name, as he was afraid that the information he had given me
+might be the cause of the Hudson's Bay Company stopping his pension.  I
+had suggested that he refer the matter to his wife as she, too, figures
+in this story, and the following is part of his reply: "This being an
+affair between you and I--I have not consulted my wife.  For as you
+know, the human female tongue is very similar to that of the female
+woodpecker: unusually long, and much too pointed to be of any use."
+
+
+THE HONESTY OF INDIANS
+
+But to return to the Indian's reproach of the white man's dishonesty;
+when he states that the spirits of white children enter only those
+birds that are counted great thieves, one cannot wonder at it, for as
+far as honesty is concerned, a comparison between the forest Indian and
+the white man brands the latter as a thief.  Not only is that the
+private opinion of all the old fur traders I have met, but I could
+quote many other authorities; let two, however, suffice: Charles Mair,
+the author of "Tecumseh," and a member of the Indian Treaty Expedition
+of 1899, says:
+
+"The writer, and doubtless some of his readers, can recall the time
+when to go to 'Peace River' seemed almost like going to another sphere,
+where, it was conjectured, life was lived very differently from that of
+civilized man.  And, truly, it was to enter into an unfamiliar state of
+things; a region in which a primitive people, not without fault or
+depravities, lived on Nature's food, and throve on her unfailing
+harvest of fur.  A region in which they often left their beaver, silver
+fox, or marten packs--the envy of Fashion--lying by the dog-trail, or
+hanging to some sheltering tree, because no one stole, and took their
+fellow's word without question, because no one lied.  A very simple
+folk indeed, in whose language profanity was unknown, and who had no
+desire to leave their congenital solitudes for any other spot on earth:
+solitudes which so charmed the educated minds who brought the white
+man's religion, or traffic, to their doors, that, like the
+Lotus-eaters, they, too, felt little craving to depart.  Yet they were
+not regions of sloth or idleness, but of necessary toil; of the
+laborious chase and the endless activities of aboriginal life: the
+regions of a people familiar with its fauna and flora--of skilled but
+unconscious naturalists, who knew no science . . .  But theft such as
+white men practice was a puzzle to these people, amongst whom it was
+unknown."
+
+Another example worth quoting is taken from Sir William Butler's "The
+Wild North Land":
+
+"The 'Moose That Walks' arrived at Hudson's Hope early in the spring.
+He was sorely in want of gunpowder and shot, for it was the season when
+the beaver leave their winter houses and when it is easy to shoot them.
+So he carried his thirty martens' skins to the fort, to barter them for
+shot, powder, and tobacco.
+
+"There was no person at the Hope.  The dwelling-house was closed, the
+store shut up, the man in charge had not yet come up from St. John's;
+now what was to be done?  Inside that wooden house lay piles and piles
+of all that the 'Moose that Walks' most needed.  There was a whole keg
+of powder; there were bags of shot, and tobacco--there was as much as
+the Moose could smoke in his whole life.
+
+"Through a rent in the parchment window the Moose looked at all those
+wonderful things, and at the red flannel shirts, and at the four flint
+guns and the spotted cotton handerchiefs, each worth a sable skin at
+one end of the fur trade, half a six-pence at the other.  There was
+tea, too--tea, that magic medicine before which life's cares vanished
+like snow in spring sunshine.
+
+"The Moose sat down to think about all these things, but thinking only
+made matters worse.  He was short of ammunition, therefore he had no
+food, and to think of food when one is very hungry is an unsatisfactory
+business.  It is true that the Moose that Walks had only to walk in
+through that parchment window and help himself until he was tired.  But
+no, that would not do.
+
+"'Ah,' my Christian friend will exclaim, 'Ah, yes, the poor Indian had
+known the good missionary, and had learnt the lesson of honesty and
+respect for his neighbour's property.'
+
+"Yes; he had learnt the lesson of honesty, but his teacher, my friend,
+had been other than human.  The good missionary had never reached the
+Hope of Hudson, nor improved the morals of the Moose That Walks.
+
+"But let us go on.  After waiting two days he determined to set off for
+St. John's, two full days' travel.  He set out, but his heart failed
+him, and he turned back again.
+
+"At last, on the fourth day, he entered the parchment window, leaving
+outside his comrade, to whom he jealously denied admittance.  Then he
+took from the cask of powder three skins' worth, from the tobacco four
+skins' worth, from the shot the same; and sticking the requisite number
+of martens' skins in the powder barrel and the shot bag and the tobacco
+case, he hung up his remaining skins on a nail to the credit of his
+account, and departed from this El Dorado, this Bank of England of the
+Red Man in the wilderness.  And when it was all over he went his way,
+thinking he had done a very reprehensible act, and one by no means to
+be proud of."
+
+If it were necessary further to establish the honesty of the forest
+Indian, I could add many proofs from my own experience, but one will
+suffice:
+
+Years ago, during my first visit to the Hudson's Bay Post on Lake
+Temagami, when the only white man living in all that beautiful region
+was old Malcolm MacLean, a "freeman" of the H. B. Co., who had married
+an Indian woman and become a trapper, I was invited to be the guest of
+the half-breed Hudson's Bay trader, Johnnie Turner, and was given a
+bedroom in his log house.  The window of my room on the ground floor
+was always left wide open, and in fact was never once closed during my
+stay of a week or more.  Inside my room, a foot from the open window, a
+lidless cigar box was nailed to the wall, yet it contained a heap of
+bills of varying denominations--ones, fives, and tens, and even
+twenties; how much in all I don't know for I never had the curiosity to
+count them--though, at the time, I guessed that there were many
+hundreds of dollars.  It was the trader's bank.  Nevertheless, beside
+that open window was the favourite lounging place of all the Indian
+trappers and hunters who visited the Post, and during my stay a group
+of Indians that numbered from three or four to thirty or forty were
+daily loitering in the shade within a few feet of that open window.
+Sometimes, when I was in my room, they would even intrude their heads
+and shoulders through the window and talk to me.  Several times I saw
+them glance at the heap of money, but they no more thought of touching
+it than I did; yet day or night it could have been taken with the
+greatest ease, and the thief never discovered--but, of course, there
+wasn't a thief in all that region.
+
+But now that the white man has made Lake Temagami a fashionable summer
+resort, and the civilized Christians flock there from New York,
+Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Montreal, how long would the trader's money
+remain in an open box beside an open window on a dark night?
+
+
+TRACKING UP RAPIDS
+
+After breakfast next morning, while ascending Caribou River, we
+encountered a series of rapids that extended for nearly a quarter of a
+mile.  Here and there, in midstream, rocks protruded above the foaming
+water, and from their leeward ends flowed eddying currents of back
+water that from their dark, undulating appearance rather suggested that
+every boulder possessed a tail.  It was always for those long, flowing
+tails that the canoes were steered in their slow upward struggle from
+one rock to another; for each tail formed a little harbour in which the
+canoe could not only make easier headway, but also might hover for a
+moment while the paddlers caught their breath.  Then out again they
+would creep, and once more the battle would rage and, working with
+might and main, the paddlers would force the canoe gradually ahead and
+over into the eddy of another boulder.  Sometimes the water would leap
+over the gunwales and come aboard with a savage hiss.  At other times
+the canoes seemed to become discouraged and, with their heads almost
+buried beneath the angry, spitting waves, would balk in midstream and
+not move forward so much as a foot to the minute.  It was dangerous
+work, for if at any time a canoe became inclined across the current,
+even to the slightest degree, it might be rolled over and over, like a
+barrel descending an incline.  Dangerous work it was, but it was
+interesting to see how powerfully the Indians propelled their canoes,
+how skilfully they guided them, and how adroitly even the little
+children handled their paddles.  However, we landed safely at the head
+of the rapids, and upon going ashore to drain the canoes, partook of a
+refreshing snack of tea and bannock.  Then to the canoes again.  The
+aspect of the river was now very beautiful, beautiful enough to ponder
+over and to dream, so we took it easy.  While pipes were going we
+gazed, in peace and restfulness, at the reflections, for they were
+wonderful.
+
+After dinner we encountered another rapid, but though it was much
+shorter than the former, the current ran too strong to attempt the
+ascent with the aid of only paddles or poles.  The northern tripper has
+the choice between five methods of circumventing "white waters," and
+his selection depends upon the strength of the current: first,
+paddling; second, poling; third, wading; fourth, tracking; and fifth,
+portaging.  You are already familiar with the method of paddling, and
+also with that of portaging, and a description of poling will shortly
+follow.  Wading is resorted to only when the trippers, unprovided with
+poles, have been defeated in their effort to ascend with no other aid
+than their paddles.  Then they leap overboard and seizing hold of the
+gunwales drag the craft up the rapids before it can be overcome by the
+turbulent water, and either driven down stream or capsized.  Again,
+when the trippers encounter, in shallow water, such obstacles as jammed
+timbers, wading allows them carefully to ease their craft around or
+over the obstruction.
+
+When tracking their six-fathom canoes, or "York boats," or "sturgeon
+scows," the voyageurs of the north brigades use very long lines, one
+end of which is attached to the bow of the craft while to the other end
+is secured a leather harness of breast straps called _otapanapi_ into
+which each hauler adjusts himself.  Thus, while the majority of the
+crew land upon the shore and, so harnessed, walk off briskly in single
+file along the river bank, their mates aboard endeavour, with the aid
+of either paddles, sweeps, or poles, to keep the craft in a safe
+channel.
+
+In the present instance we had to resort to tracking, but it was of a
+light character, for the canoes were not too heavily loaded, nor was
+the current too strong for us to make fair headway along the rough,
+pathless bank of the wild little stream.  In each canoe one person
+remained aboard to hold the bow off shore with a paddle or pole, while
+the others scrambled along the river bank, either to help haul upon a
+line, or, in the case of the younger children and the dogs, simply to
+walk in order to relieve the craft of their weight and also for
+safety's sake, should the canoe overturn.  The greatest danger is for
+the steersman to lose control and allow the canoe to get out of line
+with the current, as the least headway in a wrong direction is apt to
+capsize it.
+
+With us all went well until a scream from the children announced that
+Ah-ging-goos, the second son, had fallen in, and anxiety reigned until
+the well-drenched Chipmunk partly crawled and was partly hauled ashore;
+and then laughter echoed in the river valley, for The Chipmunk was at
+times much given to frisking about and showing off, and this time he
+got his reward.
+
+But before we had ascended half the length of the rapids we encountered
+the usual troubles that overtake the tracker--those of clearing our
+lines of trees and bushes, slipping into the muck of small inlets,
+stumbling over stones, cutting the lines upon sharp rocks, or having
+them caught by gnarled roots of driftwood.  As we approached the last
+lap of white water the canoes passed through a rocky basin that held a
+thirty- or forty-yard section of the river in a slack and unruffled
+pool.  While ascending this last section, the last canoe, the one in
+which the old grandmother was wielding the paddle, broke away from
+Oo-koo-hoo, the strain severing his well-worn line, and away
+Grandmother went, racing backward down through the turbulent foam.
+With her usual presence of mind she exercised such skill in guiding her
+canoe that it never for a moment swerved out of the true line of the
+current, and thus she saved herself and all her precious cargo.  Then,
+the moment she struck slack water, she in with her paddle, and out with
+her pole, stood up in her unsteady craft, bent her powerful old frame,
+and--her pipe still clenched between her ancient teeth--with all her
+might and main she actually poled her canoe right up to the very head
+of the rapids, and came safely ashore.  It was thrilling to watch
+her--for we could render no aid--and when she landed we hailed her with
+approval for her courage, strength, and skill; but Grandmother was
+annoyed--her pipe was out.
+
+
+TRAVELLING AT NIGHT
+
+While we rested a few minutes, the women espied, in a little springy
+dell, some unusually fine moss, which they at once began to gather.
+Indian women dry it and use it in a number of ways, especially for
+packing about the little naked bodies of their babies when lacing them
+to their cradle boards.  The incident, however, reminds me of what once
+happened to an Indian woman and her eight-year-old daughter when they
+were gathering moss about a mile from their camp on the shore of Great
+Slave Lake.  They were working in a muskeg, and the mother, observing a
+clump of gnarled spruces a little way off, sent her daughter there to
+see if there were any berries.  Instead of fruit the child found a nice
+round hole that led into a cavern beneath the roots of the trees that
+stood upon the little knoll; and she called to her mother to come and
+see it.  On kneeling down and peering within, the mother discovered a
+bear inside, and instantly turning about, hauled up her skirt and sat
+down in such a way that her figure completely blocked the hole and shut
+out all light.  Then she despatched her child on the run for camp, to
+tell Father to come immediately with his gun and shoot the bear.
+
+To one who is not versed in woodcraft, such an act displays remarkable
+bravery, but to an Indian woman it meant no such thing, it was merely
+the outcome of her knowledge of bears, for she well knew that as long
+as all light was blocked from the hole the bear would lie still.  But
+perhaps you wonder why she pulled up her skirt.  To prevent it from
+being soiled or torn?  No, that was not the reason.  Again it was her
+knowledge of bears that prompted her, for she knew that if by any
+strange chance the bear did move about in the dark, and if he did
+happen to touch her bare figure--for Indian ladies never wear
+lingerie--the bear would have been so mystified on encountering a
+living thing in the dark that he would make never another move until
+light solved the mystery.  However, Father came with a rush, and shot
+the bear, and the brute was a big one, too.
+
+During the rest of the afternoon we found the current quite slack and
+therefore, making better headway, we gained Caribou Lake about an hour
+before sundown; and on finding a fair wind beneath a clear sky that
+promised moonlight, it was decided to sail as far down the lake as the
+breeze would favour us, and then go ashore upon some neighbouring isle
+for the balance of the night.  So two stout poles were secured and laid
+across our two large canoes as they rested about a foot apart and
+parallel to one another.  Then, the poles being lashed to the thwarts,
+a single "four-point" blanket was rigged horizontally to two masts, one
+standing in each canoe and both guyed with tump-lines, and leaning away
+from each other in order to spread the improvised sail.  Two canoes so
+rigged cannot only make good headway, but can with safety run before a
+very strong wind.  While Oo-koo-hoo's canoe was kept free, he
+nevertheless counted on having it towed, as it could then be cast off
+without a moment's delay in case of our coming unexpectedly upon
+tempting game.
+
+Supper was no sooner over than we were lying lazily in our canoes and,
+to the music of babbling water and foaming wakes, rushing toward the
+setting sun.  Soon twilight overtook us, and wrapping shadows about us,
+accompanied us for a while.  Next starlight appeared and with myriads
+of twinkling lanterns showed us our way among the now silhouetted
+islands.  Then the moon uprose and pushed a shiny head through the
+upper branches of the eastern trees.  At first it merely peeped as
+though to make sure we were not afraid; then it came out boldly in
+glory and quickly turning our wake into a path of molten gold, began to
+soar above the forest.
+
+For a while I could hear the childish prattle of the children and the
+crooning of Naudin as she hushed, with swaying body, her baby to her
+breast.
+
+Then even those gentle sounds died away as the little forms snuggled
+down beneath the blankets among the dogs and bales.  Occasionally a
+loon called to us, or an owl swooped, ghost-like, overhead, and as we
+passed among pine-crested isles, those weather-beaten old monarchs just
+stood there, and whispering to one another, shook their heads as we
+swept by.
+
+Then for a few moments a mother moose with her two calves stood knee
+deep in a water-lily bay, and watched us on our way.  But Oo-koo-hoo
+was now too drowsy to think of anything but sleep.  So hour after hour
+went by while the moon rose higher and higher, and circling round to
+the westward, began to descend in front of us.
+
+
+POLING UP RAPIDS
+
+Out of the east came dawn with a sweep of radiant splendour.  Still we
+sailed westward, ever westward, until the sun rose and through the
+rising mist showed us that the mouth of Caribou River opened right
+before us; then, happily, we landed on a little island to breakfast,
+and to drowse away a couple of hours on mossy beds beneath the shade of
+wind-blown pines.
+
+Besides shooting a few ducks and a beaver, and seeing a distant moose,
+nothing happened that was eventful enough to deflect my interest from
+the endless variety of charming scenery that came into view as we swept
+round bend after bend of that woodland river; at least, not until about
+four o'clock, when we arrived at the foot of another rapid.  This
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik examined carefully from the river bank, and decided
+that it could be ascended by poling.  So from green wood we cut
+suitable poles of about two inches in diameter and from seven to nine
+feet in length and knifed them carefully to rid them of bark and knots.
+Then, for this was a shoal rapids, both bowman and sternman stood up,
+the better to put the full force of their strength and weight into the
+work; the children, however, merely knelt to the work of wielding their
+slender poles; but in deep water, or where there were many boulders and
+consequently greater risk if the canoe were overturned, all would have
+knelt to do the work.
+
+Going bow-on straight for the mid-stream current, we plied our poles to
+good advantage.  Each man remembered, however, to lift his pole only
+when his mate's had been planted firmly in the river bottom.  Then he
+would fix his own a little farther ahead and throw all his weight and
+strength upon it, while at the same moment his companion went the same
+round.  Then he would firmly re-fix his pole a little farther up
+stream, and then once again shoved in unison.  Thus foot by foot we
+crept up stream.  It was hard but joyous work, for standing up in a
+canoe surrounded by a powerful and treacherous current gave us the
+thrill of adventure.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO VISITS BEAVERS
+
+All the canoes having mounted the white water, however, in safety, it
+was decided, though sunset was several hours away, to spend the night
+at the head of the rapids, as the place afforded an excellent camping
+ground and besides, the next day was Sunday, a day upon which all good
+trippers cease to travel.  While the canvas tepee, and my tent, too,
+were being erected, we heard the dogs barking and growling several
+hundred yards away, so Amik, slipping on his powder horn and bullet
+pouch, ran to investigate.  Presently the report of his gun was added
+to the din, then silence reigned; and when we went to see what had
+happened we found that the hunter had shot a two-year-old moose heifer
+that the dogs had bayed.  Then, as was her custom, Granny came with her
+pail to catch the blood, and to select the entrails she needed to hold
+it.  By supper time the moose had not only been skinned but the carcass
+dressed, too.  After the meal was over, Granny washed the entrails
+inside and out and then stuffed them with a mixture of blood and
+oatmeal that she had prepared and seasoned with salt, and hung her
+home-made sausages high up inside the tepee to let them congeal and
+also to be out of reach of the dogs.  In the meantime, Amik had made
+two frames, and Naudin and her daughters had stretched and laced into
+them, not only the moose hide, but the skin of the caribou as well; and
+when the meat was cut up and hung from the branches of a tree, it was
+time to sit around the fire and have our evening talk.
+
+But Oo-koo-hoo, slipping away in his hunting canoe, paddled up a little
+creek into a small lake in which he knew a colony of beavers lived.  He
+was gone about an hour and upon his return he told us about it.  On
+gaining the little mere, he, without removing his paddle from the
+water, propelled his canoe slowly and silently along the shore in the
+shadow of the overhanging trees, until a large beaver lodge appeared in
+the rising mist; and then standing up in his canoe--in order to get a
+better view--he became motionless.  Minutes passed while the rising
+moon cast golden ripples upon the water, and two beavers, rising from
+below, swam toward and mounted the roof of their island home.  Then,
+while the moonlight faded and glowed, other beavers appeared and swam
+hither and thither; some hauling old barkless poles, others bringing
+freshly cut poplar branches, and all busily engaged.  A twig snapping
+behind the hunter, he turned his head, and as he caught a vanishing
+glimpse of a lynx in a tree, he was instantly startled by a tremendous
+report and a splashing upheaval of water beside his canoe.  A beaver
+had been swimming there, and on seeing the hunter move, had struck the
+water with its powerful tail, to warn its mates before it dived.  The
+lynx had been watching the beaver.
+
+[Illustration: Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples
+upon the water and two beavers, rising from below, swam toward and
+mounted the roof of their island home.  A twig snapping behind the
+hunter, he turned his head, and as he caught the vanishing glimpse of a
+lynx in a tree, he was instantly startled by a tremendous report and a
+splashing upheaval . . .  See Chapter II.]
+
+"Did you bring back anything?"
+
+"No, my son," Oo-koo-hoo replied, "that hunting-ground belongs to an
+old friend of mine."
+
+
+WOODCRAFT OF TRAILING
+
+After a while the subject of woodcraft arose.  When I inquired as to
+how I could best locate the north in case I happened to be travelling
+on a cloudy day without a compass, the old hunter replied, that though
+he never used a compass, he found no difficulty in determining the
+north at any time, as the woods were full of signs.  For instance, the
+branches of trees had a general tendency to be less numerous and
+shorter on the north side, and the bark on the north side was usually
+finer in texture and of a smoother surface.  Also moss was more often
+found on the north side of vertical trees.  The tops of pine trees
+usually leant toward the southeast--but that that was not always a sure
+sign in all localities, as in some places the tree tops were affected
+by the prevailing winds.  The stumps of trees furnished a surer
+indication.  They showed the rings of growth to be greater in thickness
+on the north side.  When trees were shattered by lightning, the cracks
+more often opened on the south side for lightning generally struck from
+that direction.  Snow was usually deeper on the south side of trees on
+account of the prevailing northerly winds; and if one dug away the
+crust from around a tree they would come to fine, granulated snow much
+sooner on the north side, thus proving where the shadow usually fell.
+Furthermore, as the snowdrifts always pointed in the direction whither
+the wind had gone, knowing the direction of the prevailing winds, one
+had no trouble in locating the north even on the snow-covered surface
+of a great lake.
+
+The old woodman cautioned me that if, while travelling alone upon a big
+lake, I should be overtaken by a blizzard, in no case should I try to
+fight it, but stop right in my tracks, take off my snowshoes, dig a
+hole in the snow, turn my sled over on its side to form a wind-break,
+crawl into the hole with the dogs, and wait until the storm subsided.
+If a blizzard came head-on it was useless to try to fight it, for it
+would easily win; but if the wind were fair and if one were still sure
+of his bearings, he might drift with the wind, although at heavy risk,
+as the wind is apt to change its course and the tripper lose his way.
+There was always one consolation, however, and that was that the
+greater the storm the sooner it was over.  Another thing I should
+remember when travelling on a lake or over an open country, in a
+violent snow-storm--I should allow for drifting, much in the same way
+as one would if travelling by canoe.
+
+By that time, however, the women and children had gone to sleep upon
+their evergreen beds, while we three men continued to converse in
+whispers over the glow of the fading fire.  Next I asked Oo-koo-hoo in
+which direction men usually turned when lost in the woods--to the right
+or to the left?  He replied that circumstances had much to do with
+that, for the character of the country affected the man's turning, as
+it was natural to follow the line of least resistance; also it depended
+somewhat on the man's build--whether one leg were shorter than the
+other.  But though he had repeatedly experimented, he could not arrive
+at any definite conclusion.  However, when trying blindfolded men on a
+frozen lake, he noticed that they had a tendency to turn to the south
+regardless of whether they were facing east or west.  And he concluded
+by remarking that he thought people were very foolish to put so much
+faith in certain statements, simply because they were twice-told tales.
+
+Upon my questioning him as to how a hunter would act, if, for instance,
+he were trailing a moose, and suspected that he was being followed by
+enemies, say a pack of wolves, or strange hunters, he informed me that
+if that happened to him--that if he suspected some enemy were following
+his trail--he would not stop, nor even look around, but at the first
+favourable opportunity, when he was sure he couldn't be observed, he
+would leave the game trail, circle back a mile or so through the woods,
+and upon cutting his old track would at once learn what was following
+him.  Then if it were worth while he could trail his pursuers and,
+coming up behind them, could take them unaware.  But if all this
+happened on a lake or in open country, where he could not circle back
+under cover, he would suddenly turn in his tracks, as though upon a
+pivot, and without losing the least headway or causing a moment's delay
+in his pace, he would continue walking, but now in a backward
+direction, long enough to give himself ample time to scrutinize his
+distant trail.  By manoeuvring thus, he could study his pursuers
+without arousing their suspicion, for whether they were animals or men,
+the chances would be--if they were some distance away--that they would
+never notice that he had turned about, and was now inspecting his own
+tracks.
+
+As regards trailing game, whether large or small, he cautioned me to
+watch my quarry carefully, and instantly to become rigid at the first
+sign that the game was about to turn round or raise its head to peer in
+my direction.  More than that, I should not only remain motionless
+while the animal was gazing toward me, but I should assume at once some
+form that suggested the character of the surrounding trees or bushes or
+rocks.  For example, among straight-boled, perfectly vertical trees, I
+should stand upright; among uprooted trees, I should assume the
+character of an overturned stump, by standing with inclined body, bent
+legs, and arms and fingers thrust out at such angles as to suggest the
+roots of a fallen tree.  And he added that if I doubted the wisdom of
+such an act, I should test it at a distance of fifty or a hundred
+paces, and prove the difficulty of detecting a man who assumed a
+characteristic landscape pose among trees or rocks.  That was years
+before the World War had brought the word _camouflage_ into general
+use; for as a matter of fact, the forest Indians had been practising
+_camouflage_ for centuries and, no doubt, that was one reason why many
+of the Indians in the Canadian Expeditionary Force did such remarkable
+work as snipers.
+
+
+INDIANS IN THE WORLD WAR
+
+For instance: Sampson Comego destroyed twenty-eight of the enemy.
+Philip Macdonald killed forty, Johnny Ballantyne fifty-eight.  "One of
+their number, Lance-Corporal Johnson Paudash," as the Department of
+Indian Affairs states, "received the Military Medal for his
+distinguished gallantry in saving life under heavy fire and for giving
+a warning that the enemy were preparing a counter-attack at Hill
+Seventy; the counter-attack took place twenty-five minutes after
+Paudash gave the information.  It is said that a serious reverse was
+averted as a result of his action.  Like other Indian soldiers, he won
+a splendid record as a sniper, and is officially credited with having
+destroyed no less than eighty-eight of the enemy.  Another Indian who
+won fame at the front was Lance-Corporal Norwest; he was one of the
+foremost snipers in the army and was officially credited with one
+hundred and fifteen observed hits.  He won the Military Medal and bar.
+Still another, Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow, won the Military Medal
+and two bars.  He distinguished himself signally as a sniper and bears
+the extraordinary record of having killed three hundred and
+seventy-eight of the enemy.  His Military Medal and two bars were
+awarded, however, for his distinguished conduct at Mount Sorrell,
+Amiens, and Passchendaele.  At Passchendaele, Corporal Pegahmagabow led
+his company through an engagement with a single casualty, and
+subsequently captured three hundred Germans at Mount Sorrell.
+
+"The fine record of the Indians in the great war appears in a
+peculiarly favourable light when it is remembered that their services
+were absolutely voluntary, as they were specially exempted from the
+operation of the Military Service Act, and that they were prepared to
+give their lives for their country without compulsion or even the fear
+of compulsion."
+
+Many military medals were won by the Canadian Indians; Captain A. G. E.
+Smith of the Grand River Band of the Iroquois having been decorated
+seven times by the Governments of England, France, and Poland, and many
+distinguished themselves by great acts upon the battlefield.  "Another
+Indian to be decorated was Dave Kisek.  During the heavy fighting
+around Cambrai he unstrapped a machine gun from his shoulder and
+advanced about one hundred yards to the German position, where he ran
+along the top of their trench, doing deadly execution with his machine
+gun.  He, single-handed, took thirty prisoners upon this occasion.
+This Indian came from the remote regions of the Patricia district.
+Sergeant Clear Sky was awarded the Military Medal for one of the most
+gallant and unselfish deeds that is recorded in the annals of the
+Canadian Expeditionary Force.  During a heavy gas attack he noticed a
+wounded man lying in 'No Man's Land' whose gas mask had been rendered
+useless.  Clear Sky crawled to him through the poisonous fumes, removed
+his own mask, and placed it on the wounded man, whose life was in
+consequence saved.  Sergeant Clear Sky was himself severely gassed as a
+result of his heroic action.  Joe Thunder was awarded the Military
+Medal for a feat of arms of an exceptionally dramatic character.  He
+was separated from his platoon and surrounded by six Germans, each of
+whom he bayoneted.  George McLean received the Distinguished Conduct
+Medal in recognition of the performance of a feat which was an
+extraordinary one even for the great war.  Private McLean,
+single-handed, destroyed nineteen of the enemy with bombs and captured
+fourteen."
+
+And yet not a single Canadian Indian has claimed that he won the World
+War--not even Pegahmagabow, who shot three hundred and seventy-eight
+Germans.
+
+
+APPROACHING GAME
+
+But to return to the land of peace.  Of course, in attempting to
+deceive game, one must always guard against approaching down wind, for
+most animals grow more frantic over the scent than they do over the
+sight of man.  Later on, when I went hunting with Oo-koo-hoo, he used
+to make me laugh, for at one moment he would be a jolly old Indian
+gentleman, and just as likely as not the next instant he would be
+posing as a rotten pine stump that had been violently overturned, and
+now resembled an object against which a bear might like to rub his back
+and scratch himself.
+
+Often have I proved the value of the old hunter's methods, and I could
+recite not a few instances of how easy it is to deceive either birds or
+animals; but I shall mention only one, which happened on the borderline
+of Alaska.  I was running through a grove of heavy timber, where the
+moss was so deep that my tread made no sound, when suddenly rounding a
+large boulder, I came upon a black bear less than fourteen paces away.
+It was sitting upon its haunches, directly in the footpath I was
+following.  As good luck would have it, I saw him first, and for the
+fun of it, I instantly became an old gray stump--or tried to look like
+one.  Presently the bear's head swung round, and at first he seemed a
+bit uneasy over the fact that he had not seen that stump before.  It
+appeared to puzzle him, for he even twisted about to get a better view;
+but after watching me for about five minutes he contentedly turned his
+head away.  A few minutes later, however, he looked again, and becoming
+reassured, yawned deliberately in my face.  But by that time, being
+troubled with a kink in my back, I had to straighten up.  Then, strange
+to say, as I walked quietly and slowly round him to gain the path
+ahead, the brute did not even get up off his haunches--but such
+behaviour on the part of a bear rarely happens.
+
+Perhaps you wonder why I didn't shoot the brute.  I never carry a gun.
+For when one is provided with food, one can carry no more useless thing
+than a gun; so far as protection is concerned, there is no more need to
+carry a gun in the north woods, than to carry a gun down Broadway; in
+fact, the wolves of Broadway--especially those of the female
+species--are much more dangerous to man than the wolves of the Great
+Northern Forest.
+
+
+SUNDAY IN CAMP
+
+Next morning being Sunday, we did not strike camp, and the first thing
+the women attended to, even while breakfast was under way, was the
+starting of a fire of damp, rotten wood, which smoked but never blazed,
+and over which, at a distance of about four feet, they leant the
+stretched deerskins, hair side up, to dry.  Besides those, other frames
+were made and erected over another slow fire, and here the flakes or
+slabs of moose flesh were hung to be dried and smoked into what is
+called jerked meat.  The fat, being chopped up and melted in a pail,
+was then poured into the moose bladder and other entrails to cool and
+be handy for future use.  Of course, it would take several days to dry
+out the deerskins; so each morning when we were about to travel, the
+skins were unlaced and rolled up, to be re-stretched and placed over
+another fire the following evening.
+
+Sunday was pleasantly spent, notwithstanding that so many different
+religious denominations were represented in camp: for while old Ojistoh
+counted her beads according to the Roman Catholic faith, Amik and
+Naudin were singing hymns, as the former was an English Churchman and
+his wife a Presbyterian; but Oo-koo-hoo would join in none of it as he
+had no faith whatever in the various religions of the white men and so
+he remained a pagan.  Part of the day we spent in pottering about, in
+doing a little mending here and there, smoking, telling stories, or in
+strolling through the woods; as both Oo-koo-hoo and Amik were opposed
+to doing actual work on Sunday.  In the afternoon I turned to
+sketching, and my drawing excited so much interest that Amik tried his
+hand, and in a crude way his sketches of animals and birds were quite
+graphic in character.  One sketch I made, that of the baby, so pleased
+Neykia, that I gave it to her, and when she realized my intention she
+seized it with such eagerness that she crumpled and almost tore the
+paper; for as the Ojibways have no word to express their thanks, they
+show their gratitude by the eagerness with which they accept a present.
+
+That, however, reminds me of having read in one of the leading American
+magazines an account of a noted American illustrator's trip into the
+woods of Quebec.  While there he presented a red handkerchief to an
+Indian girl.  The fact that she snatched it from him, and then ran
+away, was to him--as he stated--a sign that she was willing to comply
+with any evil intentions he might entertain toward her.  Such absolute
+rot!  The polite little maid was merely trying to express her unbounded
+thanks for his gift.
+
+The only thing that interrupted our paddling the following day was our
+going ashore to portage around a picturesque waterfall where two huge
+rocks, on the very brink of the cascade, split the river into three.
+When we had carried up the canoes, we found the children making a great
+to-do about wasps attacking them; for they had put down their packs
+beside a wasps' hole; and old Granny, seeing the commotion, had put
+down her end of the canoe, and with disgust exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, my foolish people, always standing around and waiting for old
+Granny to fix everything!"  So saying, she pulled a big bunch of long,
+dry grass, and lighting it, ran with a blanket over her head, and
+placed the fire against the wasps' hole; in a moment they ceased their
+attack and utterly disappeared.
+
+We were now nearing the fork of Crane River, that in its three-mile
+course came from Crane Lake, on the shore of which was Oo-koo-hoo's
+last winter's camping ground; the men therefore decided that it was
+best for Amik to push on in the light canoe and get the two deerskin
+winter tepee coverings, as well as their traps, that had been cached
+there last spring; and then return to the fork of the river where the
+family would go into camp and wait for him.
+
+
+NEARING TRIP'S END
+
+Transferring most of the cargo to the other canoes, Amik and I provided
+ourselves with a little snack and started at once for Oo-koo-koo's old
+camping ground.  It appeared about a three-mile paddle to the fork of
+the river.  Nothing save the quacking of ducks rushing by on the wing,
+the occasional rise of a crane in front of us, the soaring of an eagle
+overhead, and the rippling wakes left by muskrats as they scurried
+away, enlivened our hurried trip.  We found the leather lodge coverings
+in good order upon a stage, and securing them along with several
+bundles of steel traps that hung from trees, we put all aboard and
+found we had quite a load, for not only were the tepee coverings bulky,
+each bundle being about two feet thick by four feet long, but they were
+heavy, too, for each weighed about a hundred pounds.  Then, too, the
+traps were quite a load in themselves.  I didn't stop to count them,
+but it is surprising the number of traps a keen, hard-working hunter
+employs; and they ranged all the way from small ones for rat and ermine
+to ponderous ones for bears.  Also we gathered up a few odds and ends
+such as old axes, an iron pot, a couple of slush scoops, a bundle of
+fish-nets, and a lot of old snowshoes.  Crane Lake, like many another
+northern mere, was a charming little body of water nestling among
+beautiful hills.  After a cup of tea and some bannock, we once more
+plied our paddles.
+
+Now it was down stream and we glided swiftly along, arriving at the
+confluence of the Crane and Caribou just before twilight and found
+smiling faces and a good supper awaiting our return.  How human some
+Indians are, much more so than many a cold-blooded white.
+
+Next day we wanted to make the Height-of-land portage for our camp.  As
+it meant a long, stiff paddle against a strong current for most of the
+distance, we were up early, if not bright, and on our way before
+sunrise.  This time, however, no rapids impeded us and we reached the
+portage on the farther shore of Height-of-land Lake, tired and hungry,
+but happy over a day's work well done.  It was a pretty little lake
+about two miles long, surrounded by low-lying land in the midst of a
+range of great rock-bound hills, and its waters had a whimsical fashion
+of running either east or west according to which way the wind struck
+it.  Thus its waters became divided and, flowing either way, travel
+afar to their final destinations in oceans thousands of miles apart.
+But the western outlet, Moose Creek, being too shallow for canoes, a
+portage of a couple of miles was made the following day, to the fork of
+an incoming stream that doubles its waters and makes the creek
+navigable.  When we camped that night the hour was late.  Then a
+two-days' run--the second of which we travelled due north--took us into
+Moose Lake; but not without shooting three rapids, each of which the
+Indians examined carefully before we undertook the sport that all
+enjoyed so much.  An eastern storm, however, caught us on Moose Lake
+and not only sent us ashore on an island, but windbound us there for
+two days while cold showers pelted us.  Another day and a half up Bear
+River, with a portage round Crane Falls, landed us on the western shore
+of Bear Lake at the mouth of Muskrat Creek--and there we were to spend
+the winter.
+
+There, too, I remembered Thoreau when he said: "As I ran down the hill
+toward the reddening west, with the rainbow over my shoulder, and some
+faint tinkling sounds borne to my ear through the cleansed air, from I
+know not what quarter, my Good Genius seemed to say,--'Go fish and hunt
+far and wide day by day,--farther and wider,--and rest thee by many
+brooks and hearth-sides without misgiving.  Remember thy Creator in the
+days of thy youth.  Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek
+adventures.  Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night
+overtake thee everywhere at home'."  And furthermore: "Let not to get a
+living be thy trade, but thy sport.  Enjoy the land, but own it not.
+Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and
+selling, and spending their lives like serfs."
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+OO-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO
+
+OUR WINTER CAMP
+
+Bear Lake was beautiful.  Its shores were fringed here and there with
+marshy reeds or sandy beaches; and its rivulets, flowing in and out,
+connected it with other meres in other regions.  At dawn moose and
+caribou came thither to drink; bears roamed its surrounding slopes;
+lynxes, foxes, fishers, martens, ermines, and minks lived in its
+bordering woods.  Otters, muskrats, and beavers swam its inrushing
+creeks; wolverines prowled its rocky glens, and nightly concerts of
+howling wolves echoed along its shores.  The eagles and the hawks built
+their nests in its towering trees, while the cranes fished and the
+ruffed grouse drummed.  Nightly, too, the owls and the loons hooted and
+laughed at the quacking ducks and the honking geese as they flew
+swiftly by in the light of the moon.  Salmon-trout, whitefish, pike,
+and pickerel rippled its placid waters, and brook-trout leaped above
+the shimmering pools of its crystal streams.  It was Oo-koo-hoo's
+happiest hunting ground, and truly it was a hunter's paradise . . . a
+poet's heaven . . . an artist's home.
+
+"What fools we mortals be!"--when we live in the city!
+
+The site chosen for the lodges was on one of two points jutting into
+the lake, separated by the waters of Muskrat Greek.  On its northwest
+side ran a heavily timbered ridge that broke the force of the winter
+winds from the west and the north, and thus protected Oo-koo-hoo's
+camp, which stood on the southeast side of the little stream.  Such a
+site in such a region afforded wood, water, fruit, fish, fowl, and
+game; and, moreover, an enchanting view of the surrounding country.
+Furthermore, that section of The Owl's game-lands had not been hunted
+for forty-two moons.
+
+Immediately after dinner the men began cutting lodge poles, while the
+women cleared the tepee sites and levelled the ground.  On asking
+Oo-koo-hoo how many poles would be required for the canvas lodge which
+he had kindly offered me the use of for the coming winter, he replied:
+
+"My son, cut a pole for every moon, and cut them thirteen feet in
+length, and the base of the tepee, too, should be thirteen feet
+across."  Then looking at me with his small, shrewd, but pleasant eyes,
+he added: "Thirteen is our lucky number.  It always brings good
+fortune.  Besides, most canoes are made of thirteen pieces, and when we
+kill big game, we always cut the carcasses into thirteen parts.  My
+son, when I have time I shall carve a different symbol upon each of the
+thirteen poles of your lodge; they shall represent the thirteen moons
+of the year, and thus they will enable you to keep track of the phase
+of the season through which you are passing."
+
+All the poles were of green pine or spruce.  The thin ends of three of
+the stoutest were lashed together; on being erected, they formed a
+tripod against which the other poles were leant, while their butts,
+placed in a circle, were spread an equal distance apart.  Over that
+framework the lodge covering was spread by inserting the end of a pole
+into the pocket of each of the two windshields, and then hoisting the
+covering into place.  Next the lapping edges, brought together over the
+doorway, were fastened securely together with wooden pins, while the
+bottom edge was pegged down all round the lodge with wooden stakes.  In
+the centre of the floor-space six little cut logs were fastened down in
+the form of a hexagon, and the earth scooped from within the hexagon
+was banked against the logs to form a permanent and limited fireplace.
+The surrounding floor space was covered with a layer of fir-brush, then
+a layer of rushes, and finally, where the beds were to be laid, a heavy
+mattress of balsam twigs laid, shingle-fashion, one upon another, with
+their stems down.  Thus a springy, comfortable bed was formed, and the
+lodge perfumed with a delightful forest aroma.  Above the fireplace was
+hung a stage, or framework of light sticks, upon which to dry or smoke
+the meat.  Around the wall on the inner side was hung a canvas curtain
+that overlapped the floor, and thus protected the lodgers from draught
+while they were sitting about the fire.  The doorway was two feet by
+five, and was covered with a raw deerskin hung from the top.  A stick
+across the lower edge kept the skin taut.  A log at the bottom of the
+doorway answered for a doorstep and in winter kept out the snow.  Now
+the lodge was ready for occupation.
+
+As there are six different ways of building campfires, it should be
+explained that my friends built theirs according to the Ojibway custom;
+that is, in the so-called "lodge fashion", by placing the sticks
+upright, leaning them together, and crossing them over one another in
+the manner of lodge poles.  When the fire was lighted, the windshields
+formed a perfect draught to carry the smoke up through the permanently
+open flue in the apex of the structure, and one soon realized that of
+all tents or dwellings, no healthier abode was ever contrived by man.
+Indeed, if the stupid, meddlesome agents of civilization had been wise
+enough to have left the Indians in their tepees, instead of forcing
+them to live in houses--the ventilation of which was never
+understood--they would have been spared at least one of civilization's
+diseases--tuberculosis--and many more tribesmen would have been alive
+to-day.
+
+On entering an Indian tepee one usually finds the first space, on the
+right of the doorway, occupied by the woodpile; the next, by the wife;
+the third, by the baby; and the fourth, by the husband.  Opposite
+these, on the other side of the fire, the older children are ranged.
+To the visitor is allotted the warmest place in the lodge, the place of
+honour, farthest from and directly opposite the doorway.  When the dogs
+are allowed in the tepee, they know their place to be the first space
+on the left, between the entrance and the children.
+
+While the two leather lodges of the Indians stood close together with
+stages near at hand upon which to store food and implements out of
+reach of the dogs and wild animals, my tepee, the canvas one, stood by
+itself a little farther up the creek.  Taking particular pains in
+making my bed, and settling everything for service and comfort, I
+turned in that night in a happy mood and fell asleep contemplating the
+season of adventure before me and the great charm of living in such
+simplicity.  "In the savage state every family owns a shelter as good
+as the best, and sufficient for its coarser and simpler wants," says
+Thoreau, "but I think that I speak within bounds when I say that,
+though birds of the air have their nests, and the foxes their holes,
+and the savages their wigwams, in modern civilized society not more
+than one half the families own a shelter.  In the large towns and
+cities, where civilization especially prevails, the number of those who
+own a shelter is a very small fraction of the whole.  The rest pay an
+annual tax for this outside garment of all, become indispensable summer
+and winter, which would buy a village of Indian wigwams but now helps
+to keep them poor as long as they live. . . .  But how happens it that
+he who is said to enjoy these things is so commonly a _poor_ civilized
+man, while the savage, who has them not, is rich as a savage?"
+
+Next morning, while roaming about the point, I discovered two well-worn
+game trails that, converging together, led directly to the extreme
+outer end of our point.  The tracks were the wild animals' highways
+through that part of the woods, and were used by them when they desired
+to make a short cut across that end of the lake by way of a
+neighbouring island.  Worn fairly smooth, and from three to five inches
+in depth, by from eight to ten inches in width, these tracks were
+entirely free of grass or moss.  In following them a few hundred paces,
+I could plainly recognize the prints of the moose, the bear, the wolf,
+and the fox; and a few smaller and lesser impressions with regard to
+the origin of which I was not so sure.  The trails were much like the
+buffalo trails one used to see upon the plains.  To my delight, my
+lodge door was not more than ten paces from that wild Broadway of the
+Wilderness.
+
+
+INDIAN POLITENESS
+
+After breakfast Oo-koo-hoo suggested that a "lop-stick" should be cut
+in honour of the white man's visit.  Selecting a tall spruce, Amik,
+with a half-axe in hand, began to ascend it.  When he had climbed about
+three parts of the way up he began to chop off the surrounding branches
+and continued to do so as he descended, until he was about halfway
+down, when he desisted and came to earth.  The result was a
+strange-looking tree with a long bare trunk, surmounted by a tuft of
+branches that could be seen and recognized for miles around.
+
+Cutting lop-sticks is an old custom of the forest Indians.  Such trees
+are used to mark portages, camping grounds, meeting places, or
+dangerous channels where submerged rocks lie in wait for the
+unsuspecting voyageur.  In fact, they are to the Indian what
+lighthouses are to the mariner.  Yet, sometimes they are used to
+celebrate the beginning of a young man's hunting career, or to mark the
+grave of a famous hunter.  When made to indicate a wilderness
+rendezvous, the meeting place is commonly used for the purpose of
+coming in contact with their nearest neighbours or friends, and halting
+a day or so, while upon their voyage to the post, in order to discuss
+their affairs--the winter's hunt, the strange tracks they have seen,
+the strange sounds they have heard, the raiding of their hunting
+ground, and the like.  Always at such meetings a fire is kindled
+regardless of the season, an ancient custom of their old religion, but
+used to-day more for the purpose of lighting pipes.  Beside the fire a
+post stripped of its bark is erected, and on it a fire-bag containing
+tobacco for the use of all hands is hung.  Around the fire the women
+and children spread a carpet of brush, upon which the men sit while
+conversing.  At such meetings one never hears two Indians talk at
+once--a fine example for white people to heed--nor do they openly
+contradict one another as the vulgar white man does, for such an
+offence would be considered, by the savage, rude--and the offender
+would be regarded as no better than a white man; for they believe
+themselves to be not only the wisest and the bravest, but the politest
+people in the world; and when one stops to compare the average Indian
+with the average white man in North America, one must grant that the
+savage is right.
+
+In relation to their politeness I can go beyond my own observation and
+quote the experience of Sir Alexander Henry--whom they called
+Coseagon--while he was held a prisoner.
+
+"I could not let all this pass without modestly remarking that his
+account of the beginning of things was subject to great uncertainty as
+being trusted to memory only, from woman to woman through so many
+generations, and might have been greatly altered, whereas the account I
+gave them was written down by direction of the Great Spirit himself and
+preserved carefully in a book which was never altered, but had ever
+remained the same and was undoubtedly the truth.  'Coseagon,' says
+Canassatego, 'you are yet almost as rude as when you first came among
+us.  When young it seems you were not well taught, you did not learn
+the civil behaviour of men.  We excused you; it was the fault of your
+instructors.  But why have you not more improved since you have long
+had the opportunity from our example?  You see I always believe your
+stories.  That is, I never contradict them.  Why do you not believe
+mine?'  Contradiction, or a direct denial of the truth of what another
+says, is among the Indians deemed extremely rude.  Only great
+superiority, as of a father to a child, or of an old counsellor to some
+boy, can excuse it.  Alaquippy and the other Indians kindly made some
+apology for me, saying I should be wiser in time, and they concluded
+with an observation which they thought very polite and respectful
+toward me, that my stories might be best for the white people, but
+Indian stories were undoubtedly best for Indians."
+
+Furthermore, if we compare the philosophy of the red man and the white,
+we find that just because the white man has invented a lot of asinine
+fashions and customs, a lot of unnecessary gear and junk, and feeds
+himself on unhealthy concoctions that give him indigestion and make his
+teeth fall out, he flatters himself that he is the wisest man on earth,
+whereas, all things considered, in my humble opinion, he is the prize
+fool of the universe--for removing himself so far from nature.  And
+when the female follower of Dame Fashion goes mincing along the
+cement-paved street in her sharp-toed, French-heeled slippers, on her
+way to the factory, she flatters herself that she knows better than God
+how to perfect the human foot; then the All Wise One, in His just
+wrath, strikes back at her by presenting her with a luxuriant crop of
+varicose veins, corns, ingrowing nails, fallen arches, and bunions that
+supply her with suffering in plenty for the rest of her days.  Her red
+sister, on the contrary, in moccasined feet, walks naturally through
+the forest; and The Master of Life, beholding her becoming humility,
+rewards her with painless pleasure.
+
+But to return to the Indians' meeting places in the wilderness.  The
+important meetings held in the forest are always opened by smoking.  No
+man speaks without first standing up, and his delivery is always slow
+and in short, clear sentences.  In the past there were great orators
+among the red men as many of the old writers and traders affirm--but
+again I quote Sir Alexander Henry:
+
+"Old Canassatego, a warrior, counsellor, and the chief man of our
+village, used to come frequently to smoke and talk with me, while I
+worked at my new business (mending of gun locks), and many of the
+younger men would come and sit with him, pleased to hear our
+conversations.  As he soon saw I was curious on that head he took a
+good deal of pains to instruct me in the principles of their eloquence,
+an art (it may seem strange to say it, but it is strictly true) carried
+much higher among these savages than is now in any part of Europe, as
+it is their only polite art, as they practice it from their infancy, as
+everything of consequence is transacted in councils, and all the force
+of their government consists in persuasion."
+
+Once when questioning Oo-koo-hoo regarding old Indian customs, he
+informed me that among Indians bowing was a very recent innovation, and
+that the men of the olden time--the fire-worshippers or
+sun-worshippers--never deigned to bow to one another: they bowed to
+none but the Deity.  They took not the Great Spirit's name in vain; nor
+did they mention it save in a whisper, and with bowed head.  He
+regretted that since coming in contact with the irreverent and
+blaspheming white men, his people had lost much of their old-time godly
+spirit.
+
+
+TRAPPING EQUIPMENT
+
+For the next few days the work done by the men was confined to odd jobs
+in preparation for the coming winter, and the laying out of their
+future trapping trails.  They built some stages upon which to store the
+canoes, and others nearer the lodges, upon which to place their guns,
+sleds, and snowshoes.  They cut and shaved axe-handles and helved them.
+They overhauled traps, and got ready all their trapping gear.  It was
+always interesting to watch Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, even when they were
+engaged upon the most trivial forest work, for much of it was new to me
+and it was all so different from the ways of civilization.  Then, too,
+they had taken the boys in hand and were instructing them in relation
+to the hunter's art.
+
+The first thing they did with the traps, after seeing that the old ones
+were in working order, was to boil both the new ones and the old ones
+for about half an hour in pots in which was placed either pine, or
+spruce, or cedar brush.  This they did--Oo-koo-hoo explained--to
+cleanse the old traps and to soften the temper of the new ones, thus
+lessening the chances of their breaking in zero weather; and also to
+free both old and new from all man-smell and to perfume them with the
+natural scent of the forest trees, of which no animal is afraid.  The
+traps they used were the No. 1, "Rat," for muskrats, ermines, and
+minks; the No. 2, "Mink," for minks, martens, skunks, and foxes; the
+No. 3, "Fox," for foxes, minks, martens, fishers, wolves, wolverines,
+skunks, otters, and beavers; the No. 4, "Beaver," for beavers, otters,
+wolves, wolverines, and fishers; the No. 5, "Otter," for otters,
+beavers, wolves, wolverines, and small bears; and the "Bear" trap in
+two sizes--_A_, large, and _B_, small, for all kinds of bears and deer.
+Traps with teeth they did not use, as they said the teeth injured the
+fur.
+
+Next to the knife, the woodsman uses no more useful implement than the
+axe.  Even with the professional hunter, the gun takes third place to
+the knife and the axe.  As between the two makes of axes--the American
+and the Canadian--the former appears the best.  It is really a good
+fair-weather axe, but winter work proves the superiority of the
+Canadian implement.  The latter does not chip so readily in cold
+weather.  Furthermore, the eye of the American axe is too small for the
+soft-wood helve usually made in the northern forest, since in many
+parts no wood harder than birch is to be had.  But to reduce the high
+temper of the American axe, the hunter can heat the head in fire until
+it becomes a slight bluish tinge and then dip it in either fish oil or
+beaver oil.  The sizes of axes run: "Trappers," 1 1/2 lbs.;
+"Voyageurs," 2 1/2 lbs., "Chopping," 3 1/2 lbs., and "Felling," 4 lbs.
+
+At last the eventful morning arrived.  Now we were to go a-hunting.
+The trap-setting party was to be composed of four persons: Oo-koo-hoo,
+the two boys, and myself.  Our _ne-mar-win_--provisions--for four, to
+last a week, consisted of: one pound of tea, eight pounds of dried
+meat, four pounds of grease, four pounds of dried fish, and a number of
+small bannocks; the rest of our grub was to be secured by hunting.
+
+Of course, while hunting, Oo-koo-hoo always carried his gun
+loaded--lacking the cap--but it was charged with nothing heavier than
+powder and shot, so that the hunter might be ready at any moment for
+small game; yet if he encountered big game, all he had to do was to ram
+down a ball, slip on a cap, and then be ready to fire at a moose or a
+bear.
+
+
+SETTING FOX TRAP
+
+After the usual affectionate good-bye, and the waving of farewell as we
+moved in single file into the denser forest, we followed a game trail
+that wound in and out among the trees and rocks--always along the line
+of least resistance--and for a while headed westward through the valley
+of Muskrat Creek.  Oo-koo-hoo led the way and, as he walked along,
+would occasionally turn and, pointing at the trail, whisper:
+
+"My white son, see, a moose passed two days ago . . .  That's fox--this
+morning," and when we were overlooking the stream, he remarked: "This
+is a good place for muskrats, but I'll come for them by canoe."
+
+The principal object of the trip was to set fox and marten traps.
+Hilly timberland of spruce or pine, without much brushwood, is the most
+likely place for martens; and in fairly open country foxes may be
+found.  The favourite haunt of beavers, otters, fishers, minks, and
+muskrats is a marshy region containing little lakes and streams; while
+for lynxes, a willowy valley interspersed with poplars is the usual
+resort.
+
+Coming to an open space along the creek, the wise old Owl concluded
+from the fox signs he had already seen, and from the condition of the
+soil on a cut bank, that it was a desirable place in which to set a
+steel trap for foxes.  Laying aside his kit, he put on his trapping
+mits, to prevent any trace of man-smell being left about the trap, and
+with the aid of his trowel he dug into the bank a horizontal hole about
+two feet deep and about a foot in diameter.  He wedged the chain-ring
+of the trap over the small end of a five-foot pole to be used as a clog
+or drag-anchor in case the fox tried to make away with the trap.  The
+pole was then buried at one side of the hole.  Digging a trench from
+the pole to the back of the hole, he carefully set the trap, laid it in
+the trench near the back of the hole, so that it rested about half an
+inch below the surface of the surrounding earth, covered it with thin
+layers of birch bark (sewed together with _watap_--thin spruce roots)
+then, sifting earth over it, covered all signs of both trap and chain,
+and finally, with a crane's wing brushed the sand into natural form.
+Placing at the back of the hole a duck's head that Ne-geek had shot for
+the purpose, Oo-koo-hoo scattered a few feathers about.  Some of these,
+as well as the pan of the trap, had been previously daubed with a most
+stinking concoction called "fox bait"--hereafter called "mixed bait" to
+prevent confusing this with other baits.
+
+It was composed of half a pound of soft grease, half an ounce of
+aniseed, an eighth of an ounce of asafoetida, six to ten rotten birds'
+eggs, and the glands taken from a female fox--all thoroughly mixed in a
+jar and then buried underground to rot it, as well as for safe keeping.
+The reason for such a concoction is that the cold in winter does not
+affect the stench of asafoetida; aniseed forms a strong attraction for
+many kinds of animals; foxes are fond of eggs; and no stronger lure
+exists for an animal than the smell of the female gland.  So powerful
+is the fetor of this "mixed bait," and so delicious is the merest whiff
+of it, that it forms not only an irresistible but a long-range
+allurement for many kinds of fur-bearers.  Indeed, so pungent was it,
+that Oo-koo-hoo carried merely a little of it in a cap-box, and found
+that a tiny daub was quite sufficient to do his work.  The reason for
+using the two kinds of bait was that while the mixed bait would attract
+the animal to the trap by its scent, the sight of the duck's head would
+induce the fox to enter the hole, step upon the unseen trap while
+reaching to secure its favourite food, and thus be caught by a foreleg.
+
+The mention of an animal being caught by a foreleg reminds me of the
+strange experience that Louison Laferte, a French half-breed,
+manservant at Fort Rae, once had with a wolf.  Louison was quite a wag
+and at all times loved a joke.  One day while visiting one of his
+trapping paths with his four-dog team he came upon a wolf caught in one
+of his traps by the foreleg.  After stunning the brute, he found that
+its leg was in no way injured, for it had been in the trap but a short
+time.  Louison, in a sudden fit of frolic humour, unharnessed his
+Number 3 dog and harnessed in its place the unconscious wolf.  When the
+wild brute came to, and leaped up, the half-breed shouted:
+"_Ma-a-r-r-che_!" and whipped up his dogs.  Off they went, the two
+leading dogs pulling the wolf along from in front, while the sled-dog
+nipped him from behind and encouraged him to go ahead.  Thus into Fort
+Rae drove the gay Louison with an untamed timber-wolf in harness
+actually helping to haul his sled as one of his dog-team.  The
+half-breed kept the wolf for more than a month trying to train it, but
+it proved so intractable and so vicious that fearing for the children
+around the Post, eventually he killed it.
+
+
+DOG TRAILING FOX
+
+It is generally conceded by the most experienced fur-hunters of the
+northern forest, that while the wolverine is a crafty brute and
+difficult to hunt, yet of all forest creatures the coloured fox is the
+hardest to trap.  In hunting the two animals with dogs, however, there
+is little comparison.  The wolverine, being a heavy, short-legged
+beast, can soon be overhauled in an open country or on a beaten trail
+by a dog, or in deep snow even by a man on snowshoes; while the chances
+of a fox being run down by a dog are not so good.  Some hunters,
+however, kill many foxes by running them down with dogs, and for such
+work they use a light-weight, long-legged dog possessed of both long
+sight and keen scent.  Hunters declare that no animal, not even the
+wolf, has so much endurance as a good hunting-dog.
+
+When a hunting-dog sights a fox on a frozen lake he runs straight for
+him.  The fox, on realizing that he is being pursued, leaps wildly into
+the air two or three times, and then makes off at tremendous
+speed--much faster than the dog can run.  But in about half a mile the
+fox, becoming played out, stops to rest a moment and to look around to
+see if the dog is still following.  Then, on seeing the dog still in
+pursuit, he sets off in another great burst of speed.  Meanwhile, the
+dog has gained on him, and the fox, discovering this, bolts off at a
+different angle.  The dog, however, observing what has happened, takes
+advantage of his quarry, and cuts the corner and thereby makes another
+gain.  The fox, now more alarmed than ever, makes another turn, and the
+dog cuts another corner and makes another gain.  Thus the race goes on
+until the fox comes to the conclusion that the dog is sure to get him,
+loses both heart and wind and finally lies down from sheer exhaustion.
+The dog rushes at him, seizes him between the forelegs, and with one
+crunch the hunt is over.
+
+It is much the same in the deep snow of the timberland.  There the fox
+will start off with great bounds that sink him deep into the snow and
+make the scent only the stronger for the dog.  Meanwhile, the dog lopes
+steadily along, though far out of sight.  The fox stops to listen and
+learn if his enemy is still pursuing him.  When the dog finally comes
+into view, the fox changes his course, and the dog cuts the corner, and
+thus the story ends in the usual way.
+
+
+OTHER WAYS OF TRAPPING
+
+As the methods of hunting the wolf, the marten, the lynx, and the
+wolverine are founded on the various ways of trapping the fox, a full
+description of how foxes are hunted may be of interest.  Then, too, the
+reader will be enabled to understand more easily, without unnecessary
+repetition, the modes of trapping other animals.  My description,
+however, will apply only to the hunting of the crafty coloured foxes of
+the forest, and not to their stupid brethren of the Arctic coasts--the
+white and the blue foxes.
+
+Of course, every Indian tribe believes its own manner of hunting to be
+the master way, but it is conceded by experienced fur-traders that the
+Ojibway method is the best.  When setting a fox trap in the winter
+time, the first thing an Ojibway does is to jab into the snow, small
+end down, and in an upright position, the clog or drag-pole.  With his
+knife he then cuts a hole in the snow exactly the size of the set trap,
+the plate of which has already been daubed with mixed bait.  In this
+hole the trap is placed in such a position that it rests about half an
+inch below the surface of the snow.  A thin shield of birch bark covers
+this, and then with a crane's wing the snow is brushed over both trap
+and chain so that no sign remains.  Then in addition to the mixed bait,
+he plants about the spot food bait, such as bits of rotten fish or duck.
+
+Most hunters have a regular system for setting their traps so that they
+may know exactly where and how they are placed.  Usually he sets them
+east and west, then cutting a notch on a branch--about a foot from the
+butt--he measures that distance from the trap, and thrusts the branch
+into the snow in an upright position, as though it were growing
+naturally.  The stick serves not only to mark the trap, but in an open
+space to furnish the same attraction for a fox as a tree does for a
+dog; besides, when the hunter is going his rounds, at the sight of the
+branch he will remember where and how his trap is set, and can read all
+the signs without going too near.  The object of laying the sheet of
+birch bark over the trap is that when any part of the bark is touched
+the trap may go off; besides, it forms a hollow space beneath, and thus
+allows the animal's foot to sink deeper into the trap, to be caught
+farther up, and to be held more securely.
+
+The foregoing is the usual way of setting a fox trap, yet the Wood
+Crees and the Swampy Crees set their fox traps on mounds of snow about
+the size of muskrat houses.  For that purpose they bank the snow into a
+mound about eighteen inches high, bury the drag-pole at the bottom, set
+the trap exactly in the crest of the mound, and, covering up all traces
+of trap and chain with powdered snow, sprinkle food bait and mixed bait
+around the bottom of the mound.  The approaching fox, catching scent of
+the mixed bait, follows it up and then eats some of the food bait,
+which presently gives him the desire to go and sit upon the
+mound--which is the habit of foxes in such a condition--and thus he is
+caught.
+
+A curious thing once happened to a Dog-rib Indian at Great Slave Lake.
+One day he found a wolf caught in one of his traps and foolishly
+allowed his hunting-dog to rush at it.  The wolf leaped about so
+furiously that it broke the trap chain, and ran out upon the lake, too
+far for the hunter's gun.  In pursuit of the wolf, the dog drew too
+near and was seized and overpowered by the wolf.  In order to save his
+dog the hunter rushed out upon the lake; and when within fair range,
+dropped upon one knee and fired.  Unluckily, the ball struck the trap,
+smashed it, and set the wolf free; and all the hunter got for his pains
+was a dead dog and a broken trap--while the wolf went scot free.
+
+The Chipewyan and Slave Indians set their traps inside a lodge made of
+eight or ten poles, seven or eight feet in length, placed together
+lodge fashion and banked round with a wall of brush to prevent the fox
+entering except by the doorway.  The trap is set in the usual way, just
+outside the entrance, the chain being fastened to one of the door
+poles.  Instead, however, of being placed on the snow around the trap,
+the mixed bait is put on a bit of rabbit skin fastened in the centre of
+the lodge; the idea being that the fox will step on the trap when he
+endeavours to enter.  The Louchieux Indian sets his trap the foregoing
+way, but in addition he sets a snare in the doorway of the lodge, not
+so much to catch and hold the fox, as to check him from leaping in
+without treading on the trap.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo told me that whenever a trap set in the usual way had failed
+to catch a fox, he then tried to take advantage of the cautious and
+suspicious nature of the animal by casting about on the snow little
+bits of iron, and re-setting and covering his trap on the crest of some
+little mound close at hand without any bait whatever.  The fox,
+returning to the spot where he had scented and seen the bait before,
+would now scent the iron, and becoming puzzled over the mystery would
+try to solve it by going to the top of the mound to sit down and think
+it over; and thus he would be caught.
+
+Another way to try for a fox that has been nipped in a trap and yet has
+got away is to take into account the strange fact that the animal will
+surely come back to investigate the source of the trouble.  The hunter
+re-sets the trap in its old position and in the usual way; then, a
+short distance off, he builds a little brush tepee, something like a
+lynx-lodge, which has a base of about four feet, and by means of a
+snare fastened to a tossing-pole, he hangs a rabbit with its hind feet
+about six inches above the snow.  A mixed-bait stick is placed a little
+farther back, in order to attract the fox, while another trap is set
+just below the rabbit.  The idea of re-setting the first trap in the
+old position is to put the fox off his guard when he approaches the
+dead rabbit hanging in the snare.  As, no doubt, he has seen a rabbit
+hang many times before, and snares so baited he has often robbed.  The
+Indian in his extreme care to avoid communicating man-smell to the
+rabbit will even remain to leeward of it while he handles it, lest
+man-scent should blow against the rabbit and adhere to the fur.  If
+that happened, the fox would be so suspicious that he would not go near
+the rabbit.
+
+But to illustrate how stupid the white fox of the Arctic coast is in
+comparison with the coloured fox of the forest, the following story is
+worth repeating.  It happened near Fort Churchill on the northwest
+coast of Hudson Bay.  The trader at the post had given a certain Eskimo
+a spoon-bait, or spoon-hook, the first he had ever seen; and as he
+thought it a very wonderful thing, he always carried it about with him.
+The next fall, while going along the coast, he saw a pack of white
+foxes approaching, and having with him neither a trap nor a gun, he
+thought of his spoon-hook.  Tearing a rag off his shirt, he rubbed on
+it some porpoise oil which he was carrying in a bladder, fastened the
+rag about the hook, laid it on a log directly in the path of the
+approaching foxes, and, going to the end of the line, lay down out of
+sight to watch what would happen.  When the foxes drew near, one of
+them seized the bait, and the Eskimo, jerking the line, caught the fox
+by the tongue.  In that way the native caught six foxes before he
+returned to the post; but then, as everyone in the Far North knows,
+white foxes are proverbially stupid creatures.
+
+The more expert the hunter, the more pride he takes in his work.
+Before leaving a trap, he will examine its surroundings carefully and
+decide from which angle he wishes the animal to approach; then by
+arranging cut brush in a natural way in the snow he will block all
+other approaches, and thus compel the unsuspecting fox to carry out his
+wishes.
+
+When a fox springs a trap without being caught, he rarely pauses to eat
+the bait, but leaps away in fright.  The hunter, however, knowing that
+the fox will soon return, not only leaves the trap as the fox left it,
+but sets another trap, or even two more, without bait, close to the
+first, where he thinks the fox will tread when he makes his second
+visit.  If that fails, he will trace the fox's trail to where it passes
+between thick brush and there he will set a trap in the usual way, but
+without bait, right in the fox's track.  Then he will cut brush and
+shore up the natural bushes in such a way that, no other opening being
+left, the fox must return by his own track, and run the chance of being
+caught.  Should that method also fail, the hunter will set another trap
+in the trail close to the first, in the hope that if one trap does not
+catch the fox, the next will.
+
+Another device is to break a bit of glass into tiny slivers which the
+hunter mixes with grease and forms into little tablets that he leaves
+on the snow.  If the fox scents them, the chances are that he will
+swallow each tablet at a single gulp.  Presently he will feel a pain in
+his stomach.  At first this will cause him to leap about, but as his
+sufferings will only increase, he will lie down for an hour or so.
+When he finally rises to move away, he will feel the pain again.  Once
+more he will lie down, and the chances are that he will remain there
+until found either dead or alive by the hunter.
+
+
+FASHIONABLE FOOLS
+
+If my readers, especially my women readers, should feel regret at the
+great suffering resulting from fur-hunting, they should recall to mind
+its chief contributory cause--those devotees of fashionable
+civilization who mince around during the sweltering days of July and
+August in furs.  The mere thought of them once so filled with wrath a
+former acting Prime Minister of Canada--Sir George Foster--that he lost
+his usual flow of suave and classic oratory, and rearing up, roared out
+in the House of Parliament: "Such women get my goat!"
+
+Truly, there is much suffering in the wilderness, especially on account
+of civilization; but if my readers will be patient enough to wade
+through these few paragraphs of pain, they may later on find enough
+novelty, beauty, and charm in the forest to reward them for reading on
+to the end.
+
+But to return to foxes--they are much given to playing dead.  Once,
+while travelling in Athabasca with Caspar Whitney, the noted American
+writer on Sport and Travel, we came upon a black fox caught in a steel
+trap.  One of our dog-drivers stunned it and covered it with a mound of
+snow in order to protect its pelt from other animals, so that when the
+unknown trapper came along he would find his prize in good order.
+Three days later, when I passed that way, the fox was sitting upon the
+mound of snow, and was as alive as when first seen.  This time,
+however, my half-breed made sure by first hitting the fox on the snout
+to stun it, and then gently pressing his moccasined foot over its heart
+until it was dead--the proper way of killing small fur-bearing animals
+without either injuring the fur or inflicting unnecessary pain.
+
+Colin Campbell, a half-breed at York Factory, once had a different
+experience.  He had been on a visit to an Indian camp with his
+dog-train and on his way back found a white fox in one of his traps.
+He stunned it in the usual way and pressed his foot over its heart; and
+when he was sure it was dead, placed it inside his sled-wrapper and
+drove home.  On arriving at the Fort he unhitched his sled from the
+dogs, and leaving them harnessed, pulled his sled, still containing its
+load, into the trading room; where, upon opening the wrapper to remove
+the load, the fox leaped out and, as the door was closed, bolted in
+fright straight through the window, carrying the glass with it, and
+escaped before the dogs could be released from their harness.
+
+There are, however, other ways of catching the fox.  One is to chop a
+hole in the ice on a river or lake, fill the hole with water and place
+in it a "hung" white-fish, in such a position that, when the water
+freezes, about one third of the fish will protrude above the ice.  Then
+in the usual way, but without bait or sign, set one or two traps near
+the fish.  When the fox arrives, he may succeed in eating the fish's
+head, but when he tries to dig the rest of the fish out of the ice, he
+will become too interested to remain cautious, and in shifting his
+place of stance will soon be taken prisoner.  But sometimes a knowing
+old fox will first dig about in the snow, and on finding the trap, will
+thereafter be able to eat the fish in safety.
+
+Mention of the fish bait recalls what strange things occasionally
+happen in relation to hunting.  A half-breed hunter, named Pierre
+Geraud, living near Fort Isle a la Crosse, in laying out his trapping
+trail one winter, had set one of his mink deadfalls in a swamp close to
+the water-line; and on visiting the trap after the spring flood, found
+a large pike caught in it.  All the signs showed that when the flood
+had been at its height the fish had been swimming about, and on
+discovering the bait set for mink had seized it, and in trying to make
+away with it had set off the trap, the heavy drop-log falling and
+killing the fish.
+
+When I expressed surprise that an animal should have intelligence
+enough not only to find a buried trap, but to dig it up and then spring
+it without being caught, Oo-koo-hoo explained that it was not so much a
+matter of animal intelligence as of man's stupidity; for whenever that
+happened it did not prove to the animal's credit, but to man's
+discredit; the careless hunter having simply left enough man-smell on
+the trap to form a guide that told the animal exactly where the trap
+lay.  Then, the overwhelming curiosity of the fox had compelled it to
+investigate the mystery by digging it up, and when found, the fox in
+its usual way would play with the strange object; just as a domestic
+kitten would do, and so the fox would set off the trap.
+
+
+THE LAST RESORT
+
+On my first trips into the forest, whenever I questioned an Indian
+hunter as to the cause of this or that, the completeness of his graphic
+explanation always puzzled me; for I could not understand how it was
+that when he was not an eye-witness, he knew all the details of the
+affair as well as though the dead animal itself had told him the full
+story.  But when I, too, began to study Nature's book on woodcraft, it
+amazed me no longer; for then I realized that to those who had studied
+enough it was easy to read the drama of the forest; especially in the
+winter, for then Nature never fails to record it, and every story is
+always published just where it happens.  Even to those who have not
+taken the Indian degree in woodcraft, it is not difficult to read in
+winter time the annals of animal life in the forest, for then Nature
+describes with ample detail many an interesting story.  In winter time,
+too, even a blind Indian can follow a trail of which a town-bred man
+with normal sight could see no trace.
+
+If his steel traps fail, the Indian may resort to still another
+method--the gun trap--regardless of the fact that this may lessen the
+value of the animal's pelt.  A gun, first carefully cleaned and loaded
+with the exception of the cap, is placed in a nearly horizontal
+position about two feet above the snow and lashed securely to two
+posts; the barrel slanting downward to a point about a foot in height
+and eight feet away.  At that precise spot the bait stick is so fixed
+that when the fox seizes the bait, its head will be directly in line
+with the gun-barrel.  Fastened to the bait by one end will be a thong,
+the other end of which will be attached to the trigger, and will
+discharge the gun when the bait is seized.  When all is in readiness,
+the cap is put on the nipple, and a birch-bark shelter arranged to keep
+the gun-lock free from falling snow.  Brush is then placed in the snow
+in such a way that it will cause the fox to approach from only one
+direction, and that the one the hunter desires.  It is not a good trap,
+being very uncertain, as whiskey-jacks, ermine, mice, or rabbits may
+meddle with it, and set it off.  It is seldom used except for wolverine.
+
+Frequently the value an Indian places upon a certain pelt is determined
+not according to its quality, but according to the trouble the animal
+caused him in securing it, and for that reason he will sometimes expect
+more for a red fox pelt than for the skin of a beautiful black fox.
+Then, in order to retain the Indian's goodwill, the experienced trader
+will humour him by giving the price asked, and count on making up his
+loss in another way.
+
+In hunting fur-bearers poison should never be used, since it bleaches
+the fur and thus reduces its value.  Moreover, it is apt to kill in an
+almost endless chain many forest creatures besides the animal sought,
+as they may feed on the first victim to the deadly drug.
+
+The hunter's last resort in trapping the coloured fox is to set a snare
+for him.  In setting a snare the Chipewyan and northern Indians always
+use a tossing-pole, while most of the southern and eastern Indians use
+a spring-pole; the difference being that a tossing-pole is usually made
+by bending down a small tree--the size of the tree being determined by
+the size of the game--to the top of which is fastened the snare; or the
+tossing-pole may be made by cutting a pole for that purpose.  The
+result, however, being that the moment the snare is sprung the
+tossing-pole flies free, and hauling the game into the air, holds it
+there out of reach of other animals that might rob the hunter of his
+prize.  A spring-pole is made by setting a springy pole in such a
+position that when the snare is sprung, the tension is released, and
+the pole, springing up, hauls the animal against a stationary bar set
+horizontally above the loop of the snare, and holds the quarry there.
+Many kinds of animals are caught with snares, and in size they run all
+the way from rabbits to bears and even to the great bull-moose.
+
+
+HUNTER CAUGHT IN SNARE
+
+Snares, steel traps, and deadfalls that are set for large game are
+dangerous even for man to approach carelessly, and sometimes even the
+trapper himself has the misfortune to be caught in the very trap he has
+set for some other animal.  Early one winter, in fact, just after the
+first heavy snowfall, and while some bears were still roaming about,
+before turning in for their long winter sleep, an Indian hunter--I have
+forgotten his name--assisted by his son, had just set a powerful snare
+for bears.  Soon after starting for home, the hunter, discovering that
+he had left his pipe by the trap, told his son to go on to camp, and he
+would return to recover his treasure.  On arriving at the snare, he saw
+his pipe lying just beyond his reach at the back of the loop, but
+instead of walking round the brush fence and picking it up from behind,
+as he should have done, he foolishly put his leg through the snare in
+order to reach and dislodge his pipe.  By some evil chance his foot
+caught upon the loop; and instantly he was violently jerked, heels over
+head, into the air, and there hung head downward struggling for his
+life.  He had made the tossing-pole from a strong tree, up which his
+son had climbed with a line, and by their combined weight they had
+forced the tree top over and down until they could secure it by setting
+the snare.  The tossing-pole, when the snare went off, sprung up with
+such force that it not only dislocated the hunter's right leg at the
+knee, but it threw his knife out of its sheath, and, consequently, he
+had no means by which he could cut the line, nor could he unfasten it
+or even climb up--for he was hanging clear of the tree.  Presently,
+however, he began to bleed from the nose and ears; and in his violent
+effort to struggle free, he noticed that he was swinging from side to
+side; then it dawned upon him that if he could only increase the radius
+of his swing he might manage to reach and seize hold of the tree, climb
+up to slacken the line, unfasten the snare, and set himself free.
+This, after much violent effort, he finally accomplished; but even when
+he reached the ground, everything seemed utterly hopeless, for on
+account of his dislocated leg, he could not walk.  So there he lay all
+night long.  During twilight, as fate ordained, the wounded man had a
+visitor; it was a bear, and no doubt the very bear for which he had set
+his snare.  But the bear, in approaching, did not notice the man until
+it was almost on top of him, and then it became so frightened that it
+tore up into a neighbouring tree and there remained for hours.  By
+midnight, however, it came down, and then it was the suffering hunter's
+turn to become alarmed, for the big brute passed very close to him
+before it finally walked away.  A little after sunrise the hunter's son
+arrived, but not being able to carry his father, and fearing lest the
+bear might return before he could secure help, he decided to leave his
+father there, while he went in search of the bear.  Tracking it, he
+soon came upon it and shot it dead.  Back he hastened to camp and, with
+his mother, returned with a sled and hauled the wounded man home.
+
+
+THE FOX AT HOME
+
+The "coloured" foxes, including the red, the cross, the silver, and the
+black--the latter three being merely colour phases of the former and
+not separate species, as has frequently been proved, but all four
+having been found in the same litter--mate in February and March.  They
+pair and remain faithful partners.  The father also helps in feeding
+and caring for the young which are born about fifty days after the
+mating season.  The litter contains from three to ten, and when a few
+weeks old the young are as playful and as interesting as domestic
+kittens.  The den in which they are born may be a hollow tree, a hollow
+log, or more often an underground tunnel with several entrances and a
+storeroom besides the living chamber.  The nest is never lined, but
+left quite bare and is kept clean.  Their principal food is derived
+from mice, birds, fowl, and rabbits; and the parents frequently cache
+food for both their young and themselves.  No wonder they are good
+providers, for what with their keen sense of scent and their great
+speed they seldom fail in their hunts.  They are fond of open country
+and have an individual range of very few miles, perhaps ten at the
+most.  In winter they run singly until the mating season; seldom are
+the tracks of more than two foxes seen together, and their principal
+enemies are men, wolves, lynxes, and dogs.
+
+As the district through which we were passing was rich in fox-signs,
+Oo-koo-hoo set a number of traps.  Such work takes time, and when we
+reached a well-wooded grove of second-growth birch, poplars, and--along
+a little creek--willows, we began to think of where we should camp for
+the night.  Besides, the old hunter deemed it an ideal spot in which to
+set lynx and rabbit snares.  So while the boys cut wood for the fire
+and brush for our beds, and then turned to the cooking of supper,
+Oo-koo-hoo cut a great mass of birch, poplar, and willow branches and
+tops, and threw them into piles, not only to attract the rabbits
+thither, but to afford them a prolonged feast for many weeks, and thus
+fatten them for his own use; moreover, the gathering of the rabbits
+would prove a strong attraction for the lynxes of the region.
+Sometimes, at such a spot, hundreds of rabbits will feed, and in winter
+time the place may become such a network of runways that if it happens
+to be a fairly open hillside one can see from half a mile away the
+shadows of the endless tracks that mark the glistening snow in all
+directions.
+
+During the years of great plenty--which the Indians and traders assert
+come about every seventh year--the number of rabbits in some sections
+of the northern forest is almost beyond belief.  Then a plague suddenly
+overtakes them, almost wiping them out of existence, and several years
+elapse before the disease disappears and they begin to increase again.
+The plague, of course, is the rabbit's greatest enemy, then follows the
+lynx, the fox, the wolf, and many other animals and even birds such as
+the owl and the hawk; but somewhere among that destructive group man
+plays a prominent part.
+
+
+THE RABBIT AND THE HUNTER
+
+The rabbit, or more properly the varying-hare, of the northern forest
+is also called the snowshoe rabbit, from the fact that nature has
+provided it with remarkable feet that allow it to run with ease over
+the deepest and softest snow.  It wears a coat that changes colour with
+the changing seasons: brown in summer and white in winter.  Its food is
+derived principally from the bark of the poplar, the willow, and the
+birch.  In winter time rabbits are found to be fattest when the moon is
+full, and that is accounted for by the fact that they feed at night,
+and feed most when the moon is giving light.  Besides, on stormy
+nights, especially between moons, they remain more under cover and feel
+less inclined to venture out even to secure their needed food.  In all
+the north woods there is no animal that is of more use to man, beast,
+or bird, than the rabbit, nor is there any animal that is so friendly
+to all alike; yet no other creature of the wilderness is so preyed upon
+as the rabbit.  But in winter its safety lies not so much in the great
+speed it possesses as in its snowshoe feet and in its skill in dodging.
+Rabbits mate in March and April, the usual litter of three or four
+being born about a month later.  The nest is usually on the ground in
+some sheltered place under brushwood that forms a good protection, and
+the nest is lined with leaves, grass, or their own cast-off fur.
+
+A rabbit snare is made of fine babiche, sinew, cord, or wire, and the
+loop is hung over a rabbit runway just high enough to catch it round
+the neck.  In its struggles it sets off the spring or tossing-pole,
+thus usually ending its sufferings.  When thus caught the flesh is
+tender and sweet; but when caught by a leg the flesh is flabby and
+tasteless, the reason being that when caught by the neck the rabbit is
+killed almost instantly; but when snared by a leg it hangs struggling
+in pain for hours before it finally bleeds at the nose and dies, or is
+frozen to death.  When the latter happens, however, the rabbit is
+usually thrown to a dog or used for trap bait.  The reason Oo-koo-hoo
+set the rabbit snares was not so much for present needs as to provide
+meals for the hunter while on his future rounds; also to keep on hand a
+goodly supply of trap bait.
+
+Expert hunters, when they have time, prefer to hunt rabbits by calling
+them.  In the rutting season they imitate the love-call of the female,
+and in other seasons they mimic the cries of the young; in either case,
+the unsuspecting animals come loping from all directions, and the
+hunter bowls them over with fine shot.  Calling takes much practice,
+but when the hunter has become an adept, it is the easiest and the
+quickest way of catching them.
+
+In relation to setting snares for rabbits, Mrs. Wm. Cornwallis King,
+the wife of a well-known Hudson's Bay Company's chief trader, once had
+an unusual experience.  She had set for rabbits a number of snares made
+of piano wire, and when visiting them one morning she was astonished
+and delighted, too, to find caught in one of her snares a beautiful
+silver fox; stranger still, the fox was caught by its tongue.  As
+usual, after investigation, the snow told the whole story in a graphic
+way.  It showed that the fox had been pursuing a rabbit, both going on
+the full run, and the latter always dodging in the effort to escape
+from its enemy.  Finally, the rabbit had bolted past the snare, and the
+panting fox, with its tongue hanging out, following close behind,
+accidentally had touched its wet tongue against the wire, and the frost
+of many degrees below zero had instantly frozen it there.  Then the
+fox, struggling to get free, had set off the snare, which closing on
+its tongue had hauled it into the air, where it had hung with just the
+tip of its tail and its hind toes resting on the snow.  When Mrs. King
+found it, it was dead.
+
+That evening, when the fire sank low and we turned in, a pack of timber
+wolves for fully an hour sang us a most interesting lullaby; such a
+one, indeed, that it made the goose-flesh run up and down our backs--or
+rather my back--just as really fine music always does; and to tell the
+truth, I enjoyed it more than many a human concert I have heard.
+
+
+HUNTING THE LYNX
+
+It was cool next morning and cloudy and threatening snow.  Five rabbits
+had been caught during the night, and after breakfast we turned to
+setting lynx snares.  The steel trap is set for the lynx much in the
+same way as it is for the fox; but for the lynx, a snare is preferable.
+It is set with or without a tossing-pole, at the entrance of a
+brush-lodge, the base of which is about five feet wide.  The bait used
+is made by rubbing beaver castorum on a bit of rabbit skin placed in a
+split stick set vertically in the centre of the lodge.  A surer way,
+however, is to also set a steel trap in front of the lodge door, so
+that if the lynx does not enter, he may be caught while looking in.
+The Indians often hunt them with dogs, for, when pursued, the lynx soon
+takes to a tree and then is easily shot.  But the most proficient
+hunters like to hunt them by calling.  They imitate its screech and
+also its whistle, for the lynx whistles somewhat like a jack-rabbit,
+though the sound is coarser and louder.  Some Indians are very
+successful in this mode of hunting.
+
+Besides being able to whistle, the lynx far surpasses the domestic cat
+in the range and volume of his evening song; and during the rutting
+season, at sunrise and sunset, he has a peculiar habit of beating or
+drumming with his forepaws on the hard snow or earth.  No doubt it is a
+form of challenge, used much in the same way as the drumming of
+cock-grouse; martens and rabbits do the same.  The lynx is a wonderful
+swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water, for he can turn with
+remarkable agility, and board a canoe in a moment.  Of all northern
+animals he is perhaps the most silent walker, for in the night a band
+of five or six lynxes may pass close beside one's tent and never be
+heard, though a single rabbit, passing at the same distance, may make
+enough noise to awaken a sound sleeper.  Though he often behaves like a
+coward, hunters approach him with care when he is caught in a steel
+trap, as he can make a great spring and when he chooses, can fight
+desperately.  While in summer he is a poor runner, in winter he is
+greatly aided by his big feet, which act as snowshoes and help him over
+the soft snow and the deep drifts.  Few animals succeed in killing him,
+for what with his unusual speed in water and the fact that he can climb
+a tree with almost the ease of a monkey, his chances of escape are
+always good.
+
+[Illustration: The lynx is a wonderful swimmer and is dangerous to
+tackle in the water, for he can turn with remarkable agility, and board
+a canoe in a moment.  Of all northern animals he is perhaps the most
+silent walker.  Though he often behaves like a coward, hunters approach
+him with care when he is caught in a steel trap, as he can make a great
+spring and when he chooses, can . . .  See Chapter III.]
+
+Lynxes mate in March, the young being born about three months later,
+the litter consisting of from one to five.  The father assists in the
+support of the kittens, which are much like those of the domestic cat.
+The lynx's coat is gray mottled with brown, but in winter it turns a
+lighter colour; in weight he runs from thirty-five to forty-five
+pounds.  His principal food is derived from rabbits and any other
+animals he can kill, from beaver down, as well as grouse, ptarmigan,
+and other birds and fowl; occasionally he will tackle the young of
+deer, but he never dares to molest man.  When his catch is more than
+sufficient for his present need, he caches the remainder in snow or
+earth for future use.  He is as cleanly as a house cat, and his flesh
+when cooked resembles a cross between rabbit and veal.
+
+
+MARTEN TRAPPING
+
+After setting a number of snares for lynxes we resumed our march, and
+on rounding the end of a little lake, saw two fresh moose-tracks.
+Following them up, we finally came to a park-like region, where was
+very little underbrush, and where most of the trees were pine and
+spruce--an ideal spot for marten.  So Oo-koo-hoo, forgetting all about
+his moose-tracks, made ready to set some marten traps.
+
+For one marten an Indian catches in a steel trap he catches a dozen in
+wooden deadfalls; but with the white trapper it is different--he relies
+chiefly on the steel traps.  Steel traps are set either in the open or
+in the tracks of the marten in exactly the same way as for foxes, and
+either with or without tossing-poles.  The largest and best deadfalls
+used by the Indians are those they set for bears.  The city-dwelling
+author, or illustrator, who has not lived in the wilderness, would
+never think of depicting an Indian trapper with a big hand-auger
+hanging from his belt, perhaps no more than he would depict a pirate
+armed with a big Bible; yet, nevertheless, it is a fact that the Indian
+trapper nowadays carries an auger much as the old buccaneer carried his
+cutlass--thrust through his belt.  Somehow or other, I never could
+associate Oo-koo-hoo's big wooden-handled auger with his gun and
+powder-horn, and all the while I was curious as to what use he was
+going to make of it.  Now I was to have my curiosity satisfied.
+
+First he selected an evergreen tree about a foot in diameter--this time
+it was a pine--and with his axe cut a horizontal notch one to two
+inches deep; then he blazed the tree six or eight inches down to the
+notch, in order to form a smooth, flat surface; then he took his big
+auger and bored down into the tree, at an incline of about twenty
+degrees, a hole of two inches' diameter and nine inches deep.  Allowing
+at that spot for two feet of snow, he had bored the hole about thirty
+inches above ground.  Then taking two inch-and-a-quarter, thin,
+sharp-pointed nails he drove them obliquely into the tree just above
+the hole, so that about three quarters of each protruded into the hole.
+He did the same with two other nails below the hole, but this time
+drove them upward until they, too, protruded into the hole.  Both sets
+of nails were driven in about an inch and a quarter apart.  The bait
+used was a duck's head placed at the bottom of the hole.  The idea was
+that when the marten scented the bait, he would crawl into the hole to
+secure it; but when he tried to withdraw, he would find himself
+entrapped by the four sharp-pointed nails that, though they allowed him
+to slip in, now prevented him from backing out as they ran into his
+flesh, and held him until the hunter, placing two fingers of each hand
+over the four nail-points, seizing with his teeth the animal's tail,
+and throwing back his head, would draw his victim out.  But such work
+is rather risky, as the hunter may be bitten before he has a chance to
+kill the marten.
+
+Though it is a very recent mode of trapping--only about thirty-five
+years old--it is now considered the best of all ways for taking marten,
+as the traps not only remain set all winter, but they last for years.
+Later I learned from a chief factor that it was invented by a Saulteaux
+Indian named Ke-now-keoose, who was at one time employed as a servant
+of the Hudson's Bay Company, where he learned the use of carpenter's
+tools--later, when he left the service, he hunted and trapped along the
+Athabasca, the Slave, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Sometimes twenty-five
+to thirty such traps are set by a hunter in a single day.  Mink and
+ermine are often caught in them, and on one occasion even a wolverine
+was taken.  The wolverine, having scented the bait, followed it up, and
+while endeavouring to secure the dainty duck's head, thrust his forepaw
+into the hole and was thus taken prisoner.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo took pains to teach the boys everything in relation to
+trapping, and as soon as he was sure they had mastered the details of
+setting such traps, he went ahead with his axe to blaze the right
+trees, while the boys followed with the auger, and in the work of
+boring the holes and driving the nails took turn and turn about.  But
+after all, the old-fashioned deadfall is more humane than any other way
+of trapping, as it often ends the animal's suffering at once by killing
+it outright, instead of holding it a prisoner till it starves or is
+frozen to death, before the hunter arrives on his usual weekly round of
+that particular trapping path.
+
+Martens mate in February or March, the young being born about three
+months later, either in a hole in the ground or in a hollow tree; the
+nest being lined with moss, grass, or leaves, and the litter numbering
+usually from two to four.  The marten is a wonderfully energetic little
+animal, even more tireless than the squirrel and as great a climber.
+It is an expert hunter and its food includes birds, fish, chipmunks,
+birds' eggs, mice, fruit, and rabbits; and it stores its surplus food
+by burying it.
+
+
+MINK ON THE FUR TRAIL
+
+By the time Oo-koo-hoo and his grandsons had set twelve or fifteen
+traps it was nearing noon, so we had lunch before starting off in
+search of another rich game region.  While on our way that afternoon
+the old hunter again discovered signs of wolverines and it worried him,
+for it meant not only the destruction of many of his traps, but also
+the ruining of the pelts of some of the animals he might catch.
+Continuing, we soon entered an ideal valley for mink, where two
+turbulent little crystal streams roared at one another as they sprang
+together among the rocks and then fell down into dark, eddying pools
+where, no doubt, trout leaped after flies in due season.
+
+The mink is a small animal, about two feet long, including his tail.
+In colour he is of a dark, rich brown.  Though he is not a swift runner
+and is rather a poor climber, he is an excellent swimmer and is a
+desperate fighter of great strength.  Minks mate in February and March;
+the female burrowing in a bank, a rocky crevice, or beneath a log or a
+stump, or perhaps in a hollow tree; the nest is lined with moss,
+feathers, or grass, and the young are born about forty days after the
+mating season.  The minks' food may be flesh, fish, or fowl and, if
+overstocked, it is stored for future use.
+
+On land, the mink is caught exactly as the fox, the fisher, or the
+marten is caught, except, of course, that there is a difference in the
+size of the traps.  In water, the steel trap is set just below the
+surface and rests on the muddy or sandy bottom, where it is half
+covered with soil as it lies in readiness close to the bank where the
+mink is in the habit of passing in and out of the stream.  Mixed bait
+is placed on the branches of the near-by bushes.  In order, however, to
+better his chances of catching the mink, the hunter may build a
+deadfall near the trap, where the animal is in the habit of entering
+the bush.  Then extra bait of rancid fish or duck is used.  This mode
+of water-trapping applies, also, to muskrat, otter, and beaver.  The
+mink, however, is a stupid creature, and it does not require great
+skill to trap him; but the hunter, nevertheless, must take care when
+removing him from the trap, for the little brute has the heart of a
+lion and will tackle anything, regardless of size.
+
+We camped that night on the hillside overlooking "Mink Creek" as
+Oo-koo-hoo called it, and next morning we again set out on our circular
+way, for on leaving our lodges, we first headed almost due west for
+about three miles, then we turned south for two more, and gradually
+working round, we were soon facing east; that course we followed for a
+day, then on the morrow we worked round toward the north, and finally
+to the west again, as we neared home.  Thus the trapping path was laid
+in an elliptic form, somewhat suggesting the letter C, with the home
+camp between the two ends of the letter.  Many times during the winter
+circumstances proved the wisdom of Oo-koo-hoo's plan, especially when
+the sled became over-loaded with game, and a short cut to camp became
+desirable.  Though no part of his fur path lay more than five miles
+from the lodges, yet to make the full circuit on showshoes, to examine
+the traps, and to set some of them, it required a long day, as the path
+must have covered in a zig-zagging way more than twenty miles.  Later
+on he and Amik laid out two more such trapping paths: one to the north
+and the other to the east of Bear Lake.  The one to the northward was
+to be especially for bears and wolves as it was a good region for both
+those animals.  At supper time a snow flurry overtook us and whitened
+the forest.  As we sat around the fire that evening, the last evening
+of our trip, Oo-koo-hoo again began worrying about the presence of
+wolverines, recalling many of his experiences with those destructive
+animals.  But none of his stories equalled the following, told once by
+Chief Factor Thompson.
+
+
+MEGUIR AND THE WOLVERINE
+
+It happened years ago when an old Dog-rib Indian, called Meguir, was
+living and hunting in the vicinity of Fort Rae on Great Slave Lake.
+The Dog-rib and his family of five had been hunting Barren Ground
+Caribou, and after killing, skinning, and cutting up a number of deer,
+had built a stage upon which they placed the venison.  Moving on and
+encountering another herd of caribou, they killed again, and cutting up
+the game, stored it this time in a log cache.  Again setting out on the
+hunt--for they were laying in their supply of deer meat for the
+winter--they again met with success; but as it was in a district devoid
+of trees, they simply covered the meat with brush; and while Meguir and
+his wife set off to haul the first lot of meat to camp, the three
+grandchildren set to work to haul in the last.  On continuing their
+work the next day the children brought in word that a wolverine, or
+carcajou, had visited the log cache; so Meguir set off at once to
+investigate the story.
+
+When he arrived, he found the cache torn asunder, and the meat gone.
+Wolverine tracks were plentiful and mottled the snow in many
+directions, but on circling, Meguir found a trail that led away, and on
+following it up, he came upon a quarter of deer.  He circled again,
+trailed another track, found more meat, and after a few hours' work he
+had recovered most of the venison; but on smelling it, he found that
+the wolverine, in its usual loathsome way, had defiled the meat.  Then,
+on going to his stage, Meguir found that it, too, had been visited by
+the wolverine, as the stage had been torn down and the meat defiled.
+Indignant at the outrage, the old Dog-rib determined to hunt the
+carcajou and destroy it.  But before doing so, he made sure that all
+his deer meat was hauled to camp and safely stored upon the stages
+beside his lodge.  That night, however, his old wife woke up with a
+start and hearing the dogs growling, looked out, and discovered a
+strange animal scrambling down from one of the stages.  At once she
+screamed to her old man to get his gun as fast as The Master of Life
+would let him, as the wolverine was robbing them again.
+
+Half-awake, and that half all excitement, the old man rushed out into
+the snow with his muzzle-loading flintlock and let drive.  Instantly
+one of his dogs fell over.  Roaring with rage, the old Indian re-loaded
+with all speed, and catching another glimpse of the wolverine in the
+faint light of the Aurora Borealis, let drive again; but as ill-luck
+would have it, the gun went off just as another of his dogs made a
+gallant charge, and once more a dog fell dead--and the wolverine got
+away!
+
+Nothing would now do but that the old man must seek his revenge at the
+earliest possible moment, so when dawn broke he was already following
+the trail of the malicious raider.  All day he trailed it through the
+snow, and just before dusk the tracks told him that he was very near
+his quarry; but rather than run the risk of firing in a poor light, he
+decided not to despatch the brute until daylight came.
+
+According to the northern custom, when he camped that night, he stood
+his gun and snowshoes in the snow far enough away to prevent their
+being affected by the heat of the fire.  In the morning his snowshoes
+were gone.  Tracks, however, showed that the wolverine had taken them.
+Again the old man trailed the thief; but without snowshoes, the going
+was extra hard, and it was afternoon before he stumbled upon one of his
+snowshoes lying in the snow, and quite near his former camp, as the
+"Great Mischief Maker" had simply made a big circuit and come back
+again.  But of what use was one snowshoe?  So the old hunter continued
+his search, and late that day found the other--damaged beyond repair.
+
+That night, filled with rage and despondency, he returned to his old
+camp, and as usual placed his gun upright in the snow away from the
+heat of the fire.  In the morning it was gone.  New tracks marked the
+snow and showed where the carcajou had dragged it away.  Several hours
+later the old man found it with its case torn to ribbons, the butt
+gnawed, and the trigger broken.
+
+Tired, hungry, dejected, and enraged, old Meguir sought his last
+night's camp to make a fire and to rest awhile; but when he got there
+he found he had lost his fire bag containing his flint and steel--his
+wherewithal for making fire.  Again he went in search, but
+fresh-falling snow had so obliterated the trail and so hindered his
+progress, that it was late before he recovered his treasure, and
+regained his dead fireplace.  Yet still the wolverine was at large.
+
+But instead of thinking of wreaking his rage upon the wolverine, the
+poor old Indian was so completely intimidated by the wily brute, so
+discouraged and so despondent, that he imagined that the whole
+transaction was the work of some evil spirit.  As a result, he not only
+gave up hunting the wolverine, but he gave up hunting altogether, and
+he and his family would have starved had not friends come to their
+rescue and rendered them assistance until his grandsons were old enough
+to take charge.
+
+
+PREPARING FOR WINTER
+
+After our return to the home-camp we experienced several weeks of
+perfect Indian summer, and its passing was marked by one of the most
+beautiful natural phenomena I have ever seen.  It happened when the
+deciduous trees were at their height of autumnal glory, and when--as
+though to add still more to the wonderful scene--three inches of
+clinging snow having fallen during the night, glittered under the
+brilliant morning sun.  Truly it was a glory to behold--a perfect
+panorama of rioting greens, yellows, browns, blues, reds, grays,
+crimsons, purples, in fact, every colour which an artist's palette
+could carry; and through it all was ever woven a mass of lace-like
+brilliant white that dazzled the eyes of the beholder.  Only once in
+fifty years have I beheld a scene so enchanting.
+
+Next day, however, a strong wind blew wild-looking leaden clouds over
+the forest, and Autumn, taking fright, threw aside her gorgeous
+rustling mantle and fled away; while the loons on the lake fairly
+shrieked with laughter.
+
+Meanwhile, the work in preparation for the coming of winter had made
+good progress.  Already the women and children had laid out their own
+little trapping paths--principally for ermine, rabbits, partridges,
+muskrats, and skunks, the game found nearest camp; and many another
+thing had the women attended to.  Though they still possessed the
+sticking-plaster and the painkiller supplied by the trader, they
+refused to rely on the white man's trivial cure-alls, as they could
+gather better remedies from their own woods.  Their chief reason for
+buying "painkiller" was that they, like other Indians, relished it as a
+cocktail on festival occasions; and many a time have I seen a group of
+Indians--like civilized society people--topping off cocktails (of
+painkiller) before sitting down to dinner.
+
+In case of illness, however, the Indians resort much to bleeding, and
+this is the mode of operation: a sharp flint is fastened to the split
+end of a stick, a U-shaped piece of wood is laid over the intended
+spot, and the thickness of the wood determines the depth of the
+incision.  The flint end of the stick is raised while the other end is
+held down in such a way as to bend the stick; on releasing the end
+containing the flint, the stick strikes downward and drives the flint
+into the flesh to the required depth and no more.  The bowl of a pipe
+is then applied to the cut, and the blood is drawn off through the
+stem.  Young birch roots boiled in a second water make a tea which they
+sweeten with sugar and use as a laxative.  Yellow water-lily roots are
+boiled until a black sediment forms--somewhat similar to iodine in
+appearance--and with a feather dipped in this liquid wounds are painted
+in order to consume proud flesh and to prevent mortification.  The
+upper tips--about four inches long--of juniper trees having been
+boiled, and the outer bark removed, the inner bark is scraped off and
+mashed up for poultices.  The liquor in which the juniper has been
+boiled is employed for washing wounds, as it causes the rapid formation
+of a healing cicatrix.  To cure colic, the dried root of the "rat root"
+is chewed, and the juice swallowed.
+
+Among other work that was well under way was the making of the
+moccasins, known as the "mitten moccasin"--by far the best for
+snowshoeing, as the seam runs round only the outer side of the foot and
+leaves no puckering above the toes to cause blistering.  True, the
+mitten moccasin is not of the Ojibway style, but Mrs. Oo-koo-hoo had
+learned to make it when she and her husband formerly sojourned among
+the Wood-Crees on the upper Athabasca.
+
+Supplying the family with socks was a very easy affair, as these
+articles were simply rectangular shapes, 12 x 18 inches (for adults)
+cut from duffle--a woollen material resembling an extra closely woven
+H.B.C. blanket--and worn wrapped about the foot.  Such socks have an
+advantage over the ordinary kind as they are more easily dried, and
+they wear much longer, as the sock can be shifted about every time the
+wearer puts it on, thus warding off the evil day when holes appear.
+
+Amik, during the summer, had made a number of snowshoe frames, and now
+the women were lacing them.  They used fine caribou thongs, especially
+fine for the heel and toe.  I have seen snowshoes that white men have
+strung with cord; but cord is of little use, for cord, or rope, shrinks
+when wet and stretches when dry, whereas deerskin stretches when wet
+and shrinks when drying.  Of all deerskin, however, that of caribou
+stretches less when wet than any other; besides, it is much stronger
+and that is why it makes the best mesh for snowshoes.  In lacing a
+shoe, a wooden needle is used, but the eye, instead of being at one
+end, is in the centre.  Amik had also started work on several hunting
+sleds of the toboggan type--the only kind used by the natives of the
+Great Northern Forest.  They are made of birch wood and not of birch
+bark, as a noted American author asserted in one of his books on
+northern life.
+
+A hunting sled is made of two thin boards, split from a birch log by
+using wooden wedges, and the boards are shaved flat and smooth, first
+with the aid of a very sharp axe and then with a crooked knife.  A
+hunting sled is ten to twelve inches wide, and commonly eight feet
+long.  The widest part of the sled is at the first cross-bar, then it
+tapers both ways, an inch less at the tail, and four or five inches
+less at the end of its gracefully curved prow.  That is done to prevent
+jamming among trees.  The two boards are fastened to four cross-bars
+with deerskin thongs, never with pegs or nails, and the ground-lashing
+is made fast to the cross-bars.  A wrapper of deerskin is provided in
+which to lash the load.  The lashing thong is eighteen to twenty feet
+in length.  Dog-sleds are made much longer, and up to about sixteen
+inches in width, and are provided with an extra line that trails out
+behind, by which the driver holds back the sled when going down hill,
+in order to prevent it from over-running the dogs.  A hunting-sled,
+however, is usually hauled by man by means of a looped strap, or
+tump-line, with a broad centre which goes over the hunter's shoulders
+or head, and has its two ends fastened to the first cross-bar below the
+prow.
+
+During the next few days Oo-koo-hoo and Amik had also finished setting
+their traps, snares, and deadfalls for all the furred creatures of the
+woods, including wolves and bears.  Already the camp had taken on a
+business-like air, for the big stretching frames for the skins of
+moose, bear, and caribou had been erected near the lodges; and as the
+hunters had secured both moose and caribou, the frames were already in
+use.  Trapping had begun in earnest, and though fairly successful--a
+number of fine skins having been already taken--the hunters were still
+worried over the wolverines.  On one path alone they had found nothing
+but a fox's foot, and the tails of four martens; besides, several of
+their traps were missing.  In another place, where they had dressed a
+caribou killed by Oo-koo-hoo, and had left the meat overnight for the
+women and boys to haul in next day, wolverines had found it and defiled
+it in their usual way.
+
+The women, too, had had their troubles as owls had visited their
+snares, and robbed them of many a pelt.  Worse in some respects than
+the wolverine is the owl, for while the wolverine leaves a track that
+one can trail, and either find what is left of the game, or overtake
+and punish the marauder, the owl leaves no trail at all, and though he
+frequently eats only the brain or eyes of the game, he has a habit of
+carrying the game away and dropping it in the distant woods where it is
+seldom found.  So the women took to setting steel traps on the ends of
+upright poles upon which they judged the owls would alight, as these
+birds are much given to resting upon the tips of "ram-pikes," and in
+that way they had caught several.
+
+One evening early in November, after a hard day's travel through a big
+storm of wet, clinging snow, we sat by the fire in Oo-koo-hoo's lodge,
+and happily commented on the fact that we had got everything in good
+shape for the coming of winter.  Next morning, when we went outside, we
+found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket of clinging
+snow, and the streams and the lake beginning to freeze over.  We found,
+also, to our amazement that a big bull-moose had been standing on the
+bank of Muskrat Creek and watching the smoke rising from our lodges as
+the fires were lighted at sunrise--just as I have shown in my painting.
+
+[Illustration: Next morning we found that everything was covered with a
+heavy blanket of clinging snow, and the streams and the lake beginning
+to freeze over.  We found, also to our amazement that a big bull-moose
+had been standing on the bank of Muskrat Creek and watching the smoke
+rising from our lodges as the fires were lighted at sunrise.  After a
+hurried breakfast, we set out in pursuit of the moose, which we . . .
+See Chapter III.]
+
+After a hurried breakfast, we three men set out in pursuit of the moose
+which we overtook within a mile, and then there was meat to haul on
+sleds to our camp.  That day the temperature fell rapidly, and by night
+the little streams were strongly frozen, and around the lake the ice
+stretched far out from the shore.  So we gathered up the canoes and
+stored them for the winter upside down upon stages made for the
+purpose; and that night before we turned in we saw, for the first time
+that season, _Akwutinoowe_--"The Freezing Moon."
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+OO-KOO-HOO PLAYS THE GAME
+
+TRAILING THE BEAR
+
+"My son, a good hunter is never long in doubt; for when he discovers a
+bear track and follows it for a few hundred paces, he knows whether the
+track was made by day or by night, whether the bear was large or small,
+old or young, male or female; whether its coat was in condition or not;
+whether the beast was merely wandering or travelling with a purpose in
+view; whether it was frightened or undisturbed; whether going fast or
+slow; and whether seeking friends or food.  Also, the hunter knows
+which way the wind was blowing when the track was made, he knows
+whether the bear felt tired or active, and, furthermore, whether or not
+it wanted to go to bed."
+
+I laughed aloud.
+
+Instantly the old man's kindly face was clouded with a frown and he
+exclaimed:
+
+"My son . . . that was the laugh of a _monias_ (greenhorn)", and
+glaring at me, he added: "At first, I thought better of you, but now I
+am sure that all white men are fools!"
+
+Realizing my mistake, I sobered, and suggested that if he would explain
+I would have a chance to learn the ways of a great hunter.
+
+"My son, it is a simple matter to read a track--that is, when one has
+learned the game.  For then one has but to look, remember, and reason,
+and then the whole story unfolds before your eyes; just as when you
+open and read what you white men call a book.  And some day, my son, if
+you try hard to learn, you, too, may be able to read the tales of the
+Strong Woods Country.  Now listen to your grandfather and he will
+explain: under ordinary conditions a deep, clear track implies action;
+a faint, shallow one, inaction; the length of the stride indicates the
+speed; if, when travelling slow, hair is found upon the underwood, the
+animal passed at night, for in daylight a bear is as careful as a lynx
+to avoid striking things; if the bear is young or middle aged, the claw
+marks are sharp and clean cut; if it is old, they are blunt and
+blurred.  The tracks of the male, though larger, are not so round as
+those of the female, and the male's toes are not only longer and spread
+farther apart, but the underside of his foot is not so hairy as that of
+his mate.  Then, too, as you know, there are other signs by which a
+tracker tells the sex of his quarry.  Now if the bear was travelling
+with a definite purpose in mind, he would travel straight, or as nearly
+straight as he could through the woods, and in order to save time, he
+might even occasionally climb a tree to spy out the lay of the land--as
+he frequently does.  Then, again, if he were feeding, the ground and
+growth beside his trail would show it; if suddenly startled, he would
+leave the familiar sign that all large animals usually leave when
+frightened; and, moreover, it would be left within fifty paces of the
+place where he took fright.  Furthermore, if he were tired and wanted
+to rest, he would begin circling down wind, so that he could come about
+close to his back trail, and then lie down, facing down wind, in such a
+position that he could see anything he could not scent, and scent
+anything he could not see.  Thus if an enemy approached, his eyes would
+guard his front while his scent would guard his rear.  And now, my son,
+as a bear usually travels up wind, even a _monias_ of a white man could
+surmise which way the wind was blowing when the track was made.  And
+always remember, my son, that only fools laugh at common sense.  But
+don't get discouraged, keep on trying hard to learn, and then perhaps
+some day, if you live long enough, you may become almost as wise as an
+ordinary Indian."
+
+The perfect season for hunting the black bear, and in fact all other
+fur-bearing animals, is between the coming of the snow in late autumn
+and the going of the snow in early spring, for during that intervening
+season the coat is in its prime; but as the bear spends much of the
+winter in hibernation, the hunter must make the best of his two short
+opportunities; that is, unless he already knows where the bear will
+"den up," and is counting on killing him in his _o-wazhe_--or as the
+white hunters and traders call it "wash"--his den.  His wash may
+consist of a hollow tree or a hollow log, a cave, or any suitable
+shelter formed by an uprooted tree.
+
+The finest wash I ever saw was in the woods of Quebec, where, many
+years ago, three birch saplings had taken root in a huge, hollow pine
+stump, and where, as time passed, the stump, gradually decaying, had
+allowed the roots of the fast-growing birches to penetrate through the
+cracks in the stump to the ground.  The roots eventually formed the
+rafters of a moss- and rotten-wood chinked, water-tight roof to the
+little cavern in which the old pine stump had once stood and where two
+winters ago slept a bear.  There was but a single entrance between two
+of the now massive birch roots, and it must have proved a tight squeeze
+when its tenant last entered.  The den was shown to me by a hunter who
+the spring before had happened that way.  While pausing to listen to
+some distant sound, he had heard a stranger one within ten feet of
+where he stood.  He had heard deep breathing and turning to look down
+at the roots of the birches, he had discovered a full-grown black bear
+lying there with its head protruding out of the den.  The head was
+turned toward him and the eyes were fixed upon him with a friendly
+expression.  Without moving a single step the hunter raised his rifle
+and fired, instantly killing the bear that lay motionless scarcely
+beyond the muzzle of his gun.
+
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT BEARS
+
+The black bear's coat is all of a glossy black, save just the muzzle,
+which is light brown.  In weight the black bear runs from two hundred
+to five hundred pounds.  Though he is found throughout the Great
+Northern Forest, he is a comparative stay-at-home, for he seldom roams,
+even in summer time, more than ten miles from his den, where, if
+undisturbed, he goes into the same winter quarters, year after year.
+Consequently, his paths are often clearly defined and well-beaten, for
+he has the habit of treading repeatedly in his old tracks, and
+occasionally he blazes his trail by clawing and biting, as high as he
+can reach, a neighbouring tree.  There, too, he frequently leaves other
+signs--as a dog does at a post.  Dog-like, also, other bears that
+happen along manifest pleasure or rage according to whether the sign
+has been left by friend or foe.  The mating season is in June, though
+the female rarely bears young except every second year.  The young are
+born in January while the mother is hibernating; and the cubs, usually
+two in number, are at birth very small, weighing only about ten ounces.
+The she-bear makes a good mother, for though she shows great affection
+for her babies, she nevertheless reprimands them, and cuffs them as
+well, whenever they misbehave or fail to comply with her wishes.  The
+cubs are easily tamed, and being natural little romps, they soon become
+proficient wrestlers and boxers, and in latter years, show so much
+agility in the manly art that they strike and parry with amazing power,
+speed, and skill.  When hurt, however, the cubs whimper and cry just
+like children, and if the little tots are badly wounded, the distress
+of the mother is pitiful to see, for she moans and sheds tears just as
+any tender-hearted human mother would.  Bear-cubs are droll little
+mischiefs.  Not only do they, when tamed, frequently get into trouble
+through the pranks they play, but they like to imitate at any risk to
+themselves the doings of others.  As the following example shows:
+
+Years ago, near Fort Pelly, on the Assiniboine River, an old Indian
+killed a she-bear that was followed by two cubs.  Though he skinned and
+cut up the carcass of the mother, he did not touch the whimpering
+babes, and on going to camp, he sent his wife out with a horse to bring
+in the meat.  When the Indian woman arrived at the spot, she found the
+two cubs cuddled up against the dressed meat of their mother, and
+crying as if their poor hearts would break.  Their affectionate
+behaviour so touched the motherly heart of the old woman that, after
+loading the meat aboard the _travois_--a framework of poles stretched
+out behind the horse--she picked up the sobbing children and, wrapping
+them in a blanket to keep them from falling off the _travois_, bestrode
+her horse, and brought them whimpering into camp.
+
+For some time she kept them tethered beside her lodge where she took
+good care of them, but when they grew larger and seemed well behaved,
+she released them and allowed them to run and play with the dogs around
+camp.  In the fall it was her habit to take a hand-net and go down to
+the river to fish.  Standing upon a rock and every once in a while
+casting in her net, she would land a fish on the bank.  For several
+days the cubs watched her with interest, and then one day, it seems,
+they decided they ought to try and help their foster-mother; so wading
+in on their hind legs till the water covered their little round
+tummies, they would stand perfectly still until a fish would swim near.
+Then they would make a violent lunge for it, and striking
+lightning-like blows with their paws, they, too, would land a fish upon
+the bank.  Over and over they repeated the manoeuvre, with evident
+excitement and pleasure.  At last, every time the old woman picked up
+her net to go fishing, these two went along and helped her with her
+work.  So fond of the sport did they become that, presently, they
+didn't even wait for her to accompany them, but scurried down to the
+river by themselves and would often have a day's fishing caught and
+ready for her before she had put in her appearance.
+
+But a few months later, when the cubs had grown still larger and
+stronger, they became so boisterous and mischievous that they not only
+handled the dogs too roughly, but when the old Indian and his wife left
+camp at any time, they went on the rampage: chasing the dogs about,
+ransacking the larder, turning the camp topsy-turvy, and scattering
+everything in confusion.  So the old couple decided that it was now
+high time to put their skins upon the skin-stretcher in readiness to
+sell to the fur-trader.
+
+The black bear is a good swimmer and an excellent tree climber, and the
+speed with which he can rush up a hillside is surprising.  His diet is
+a varied one, for he is always ready to eat vegetables, roots, berries,
+insects, nuts, fish, eggs, meat, fruit, and of course sugar or honey;
+furthermore, he is a killer of small game--when he is extra-hungry.
+The black bear has been given so bad a name by uninformed writers and
+dishonest story-tellers that most people dread to meet him in the
+woods; whereas, in truth he is usually more frightened at meeting human
+beings than they are of meeting him--for man is always his greatest and
+most dangerous enemy.  Though I have seen many bears in the
+bush--seventeen on one trip--they never caused me any anxiety, and at
+once took flight.  But on one of two rare occasions they did not run,
+perhaps because they were three in number and all full-grown.
+
+It happened up on the borderline of Alaska.  I was walking alone
+through the mountains on my way to Stewart, and wishing to cross the
+Marmot River, I took advantage of a great, permanent snowslide that had
+been annually added to by avalanches from the snow-capped glaciers.
+The snowslide not only completely blocked the cañon, but on either side
+it reached many hundreds of feet up the almost perpendicular mountains,
+yet in the middle, where it bridged the river, it was no more than two
+hundred feet high, though it was about two thousand feet in width.
+Year in and year out that great snow-bridge spanned the little river,
+and now when I wanted to make use of it, I had no sooner started over
+than I discovered three bears with the same intention.  They, too, had
+just come out of the woods, and were only forty paces from me--as I
+afterward measured.  We were all going in the same direction, and
+though we were exactly opposite one another and all walking in a
+parallel line, no one ran, and for two thousand feet or more, without
+stick or stone between us, we had a good opportunity to study each
+other.  As usual, I was armed--as I always take care to be--with a
+penknife and a pocket handkerchief.
+
+Occasionally one reads in the daily press shocking stories of the
+ferocity of bears.  What a pity that the truth of these stories cannot
+always be run to earth!  Billy Le Heup, a prospector and guide of
+northern Ontario, once having occasion to call for his mail in a little
+backwoods settlement, opened a newspaper and was shocked to learn that
+a most harrowing affliction had befallen an old friend of his, by
+name--But I'm sorry I have forgotten it, so let us call him Jones.  The
+paper reported that while several of Jones's children were out
+berry-picking, a great, black bear had attacked them, and killing the
+youngest, a little girl, had devoured her entirely, save only one tiny
+fragment; for when the rescue party went in search of the poor little
+child they found nothing but her blood-stained right hand.  Le Heup was
+so overcome with sorrow and so filled with indignation that he then and
+there determined to get together a few trapper friends of his and at
+once start by canoe for the scene of the tragedy, only a few miles
+away; there to condole with the poor father, trail the huge brute and
+wreak vengeance upon the child-eating monster.  So Bill, with several
+of the best bear-hunters in that region, all well armed, set out in
+haste for the Jones's clearing.  When they arrived, Jones was splitting
+wood outside his shack.  The sorrowing trappers, with downcast eyes,
+moved slowly toward the bereaved father, and Le Heup, appointed
+spokesman, offered their condolences on the terrible death of his
+favourite child.  Jones was completely dumbfounded.  When it was
+explained to him what a dreadful thing had happened to his child, he
+swore he had no idea a bear had ever eaten any one of his children; but
+he was willing to put their story to the proof, so as he had a lot of
+children, he called them all out of the house to check them over.  To
+the joyful surprise of the visitors, there among them was little
+Eva--supposed to be eaten, and she even retained her right hand.  Thus
+another newspaper libel upon the poor old black bear--the buffoon of
+the forest--was shown to be devoid of truth; yet that story was
+published in the Toronto papers, and, no doubt, was copied all over the
+United States.
+
+But though the black bear is a shy, playful brute, usually ready for
+flight if danger approaches, the tyro should remember that if wounded
+or cornered he will readily fight.  Furthermore, if one is unlucky
+enough to get between a bear cub and its mother, and if the cub should
+cry out as though you were giving it pain, the mother will attack you
+as readily as any mother would--be she chicken, moose, or woman.
+
+
+THE WAYS OF THE BEAVER
+
+A few days later Oo-koo-hoo and Amik set out to hunt beavers--those
+wonderful amphibious animals of the Northland that display more
+intelligence, perseverance, prudence, and morality than many a highly
+civilized human being.
+
+In appearance the beaver somewhat resembles a greatly magnified
+muskrat, save that the beaver's hairless, scaly tail is very broad and
+flat.  The coat of the beaver is brown, and the darker the colour the
+higher the price it brings.  An adult beaver may measure from
+thirty-five to forty-five inches in length, and weigh anywhere from
+thirty to sixty pounds.  The beaver's home is usually in the form of an
+island house, built in the waters of a small lake or slowly running
+stream, to afford protection from prowling enemies, much in the same
+way that the old feudal lords surrounded the ramparts of their castles
+with broad moats and flooded the intervening space with a deep canal of
+water, in order to check the advance of enemy raiders.  The surrounding
+shores of the beaver's castle are nearly always wooded with poplars, as
+it is upon the bark of that tree that the beaver depends most for his
+food; though at times, other hardwoods contribute to his feast as well
+as water-lily roots and other vegetation.
+
+The beaver's island-like lodge is a dome-shaped structure that rises
+from four to seven feet above the water, and measures from ten to
+thirty feet in diameter on the water-line.  It is composed mostly of
+barkless sticks and poles from one to four inches in diameter, although
+at times much heavier material is used; and it is tightly chinked with
+stones and mud and matted vegetation.  Frequently, I have watched the
+building of their lodges.  A foundation of water-logged poles and
+sticks is laid upon the lake or river bottom, next mud and stones are
+added, then another lot of branches, thus the structure rises in a
+fairly solid mound until its dome-like top reaches the desired height
+above the water-line.  Then the beavers tunnel their two runways into
+the centre of the mass from an underwater level on the outside to an
+over-water level on the inside of the mound.  Next, by gnawing away the
+inside sticks and excavating the inner mass, the inside chamber is
+formed, measuring anywhere from four to fourteen feet in width, and a
+little over two feet in height, with its walls finished fairly smooth.
+Furthermore, the chamber is provided with two floors each of which
+covers about half the room.  While the lower floor rises from three to
+six inches above the water level, the upper floor rises from four to
+eight inches above the lower floor.  The tunnels open in the lower
+floor and it is the lower floor or level that is used as a drying place
+and a dining room.  The upper level, covered with a mattress of
+shredded wood, grass, or moss, forms the living and sleeping half of
+the chamber.  Though in winter time most of their meals are eaten in
+the house, the green, bark-covered sticks being brought into the
+chamber through the straightest tunnel, the house is kept quite clean
+and free of all rubbish or filth.  In fact, beavers are better
+housekeepers than some human beings I have known.
+
+A certain amount of ventilation is derived from a few little chinks in
+the apex of the roof.  During the first freezing nights of late fall
+the beavers plaster the above-water dome of their house with mud which
+they carry up between their forelegs and chin from the lake bottom, and
+placing it upon the roof of their house, spread it about in a thick
+coating, not with their tails, but with their forefeet, where it soon
+freezes into so solid a mass that it protects the inmates from the
+attacks of both the severest winter weather and the most savage of
+four-footed enemies.  So strong indeed does the roof then become that
+even a moose could stand upon it without it giving way.  While some
+writers doubt that beavers plaster the outside of their house with mud,
+I wish to add that I have not only examined their houses before and
+after the plastering was done, but on several moonlight nights I have
+actually sat within forty feet of them and watched them do it.
+
+The winter supply of food, being mostly poplar bark, is derived from
+the branches of green trees which the beavers cut down in the autumn
+for that very purpose.  While engaged in gnawing down trees the beavers
+usually work in pairs--one cutting while the other rests and also acts
+as a sentinel to give warning in case an enemy approaches.  While
+cutting down trees they stand or sit in an upright position upon their
+hind legs and are firmly supported by the tripod formed by the
+spreading out of their hind feet and tail.  They generally choose trees
+nearest the water on an inclined bank, and usually leaning toward the
+stream; and while they show no particular skill in felling trees in a
+certain position, they do display great perseverance, for if it
+happens, as it sometimes does, that a tree in its descent is checked
+and eventually held up by its neighbours, the beavers will cut the
+trunk for the second time, and in some cases even for the third time,
+in order to bring it down.
+
+At night I have frequently sat by the hour at a time, with the
+brush-screened bow of my canoe within ten feet of a party of beavers,
+while they were busily engaged in cutting the branches off a tree that
+they had felled into the water the previous evening.  They work
+quickly, too, for some mornings I have paddled past a big tree lying in
+the water, which they had dropped the night before and--on returning
+next day--have found all the branches removed, though some of them
+would have measured five inches in diameter.  But watching beavers work
+at night is not only interesting, it is easy to do, and I have
+frequently taken both women and children to share in the sport.
+Sometimes, right in the heart of the wilderness, I have placed children
+within fifteen feet of beavers while they were engaged in cutting up a
+tree.
+
+When branches measure from one to three inches in diameter they are
+usually cut in lengths of from five to ten feet, and the thicker the
+branch the shorter they cut the lengths.  If the cutting is done on
+land, the butt of the long thinner length is seized by the beaver's
+teeth and with the weight resting upon the animal's back, is dragged
+along the ground--over a specially cleared road--and eventually
+deposited in the water.  The shorter lengths, sometimes no longer than
+a couple of feet, but measuring perhaps six or eight inches in
+diameter, are rolled along the ground by the beaver pushing the log
+with the forefeet or shoulder.  When the wood is placed in the water,
+the beaver propels it to its under-water storage place near its lodge,
+where--the wood being green and heavy--it is easily secured from
+floating up and away, by placing a little mud over one end or by
+interlocking the stick with the rest of the pile.  The green wood,
+however, soon becomes waterlogged and gives no further trouble.  Thus,
+when the lake or river is frozen over, the beaver--for it does not
+hibernate--may live in comfort all winter long in its weather-proof
+lodge with plenty of food stored beneath the ice and just beyond the
+watery doorway of its home.
+
+
+HUNTING THE BEAVER
+
+The hunters, arriving at a small lake that lay about three miles to the
+northwest of Rear Lake, crossed it, and turning up a winding creek,
+followed the little river until they came to a beaver dam which caused
+the stream to expand into another little lake that flooded far beyond
+its old water-line.  In it was to be seen three beaver lodges.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo said the scene was somewhat altered since he had visited it
+four years before, as the dam had been increased both in height and
+length, and the pond, increasing, too, had reached out close to many a
+tree that formerly stood some distance from the water.  It was a
+beautiful little mere containing a few spruce-crowned islands, and
+surrounded by thickly wooded hills whose bases were well fringed with
+poplars, birches, willows, and alders--an ideal home for beaver.  Among
+the little islands stood three snow-capped beaver lodges.  Here and
+there wide-spreading, wind-packed carpets of snow covered the ice,
+while in between big stretches of clear, glassy ice, acting as
+skylights, lit up the beavers' submarine gardens around their
+ice-locked homes.
+
+The hunters were accompanied by three of their dogs, and before they
+had time to decide where they should first begin work, the dogs began
+barking at a point between the west lodge and the bank; so they went
+over to investigate.  Evidently the dogs had spied a beaver, for now,
+though none was in sight, the canines were rushing back and forth in
+great excitement over a fairly deep submarine runway or clear
+passageway, through the shallow, rush-matted water under the ice.
+
+Chopping a hole through the ice with his axe, Oo-koo-hoo drove down a
+couple of crossed poles to block the passageway, and Amik, finding
+other runways, did likewise at other places.  Several of the
+passageways led to the bank, where, Oo-koo-hoo said, they had what is
+called "bank lodges"--natural cavities in the river bank to which the
+beavers had counted on resorting in case their house was raided.  In
+other places, where the snow obscured the view, the Indians knocked on
+the ice with the backs of their axes, to find and follow the
+hollow-sounding ice that told of runways below, that other stakes might
+be driven down.  The rapping sound, however, instead of driving the
+beavers out of their lodge, had a tendency to make them remain at home,
+for as Oo-koo-hoo explained, cutting ice and working around their homes
+does not always frighten the beavers.
+
+Securing two stouter poles, the hunters now chopped the butts into
+wedge-shaped chisels, with which they proposed to break open the
+beavers' lodge.  Work was begun about a foot above the level of the
+snow on the south side, as they explained that the lodge would not only
+be thinner on that side, but that the sun would make it slightly
+softer, too--and before much headway was made the dogs, all alert,
+discovered that several of the beavers had rushed out of their house,
+but finding the passageways blocked had returned home.
+
+Now, strange to say, as soon as the side of the house was broken open
+and daylight let in, the beavers, becoming curious over the inflowing
+light that dazzled their eyes, actually came toward the newly made hole
+to investigate.  Then Oo-koo-hoo, with the aid of a crooked stick,
+suddenly jerked one of the unsuspecting animals out of the hole and
+Amik knocked it on the head.  Thus they secured four large ones, but
+left a number of smaller ones unharmed, as Oo-koo-hoo never made a
+practice of taking a whole family.
+
+In that house the portion of the chamber used for sleeping quarters was
+covered with a thick mattress of dry "snake-grass," and the whole
+interior was remarkably clean.  After blocking and patching up the hole
+and covering the place with snow, the hunters threw water over it until
+it froze into a solid mass, then they removed the stakes from the
+runways and left the rest of the beavers in peace.  Loading their catch
+upon their toboggans, all set out for home.
+
+
+BEAVER DAMS AND CANALS
+
+Resides erecting their remarkably strong houses there are two other
+ways in which the beavers display wonderful skill: in the building of
+their dams and in the excavating of their canals.  Their dams are built
+for the purpose of retarding, raising, and storing water, in order--in
+summer time--to circumvent their enemies by placing a well-watered moat
+between their foe and their castle; also to flood a wider area so that
+the far-reaching waters of their pond may lap close to the roots of
+many otherwise inaccessible trees and thus enable them to fell and
+float them to their lodge; and--in winter time--to raise the water high
+enough to secure their pond from freezing solid and imprisoning them in
+their lodges where they would starve to death, or if they gnawed their
+way to freedom, the intense cold of mid-winter would freeze their
+hairless tails and cause their death; furthermore, should they escape
+from the weather, they would be at the mercy of all their enemies and
+would not long survive.
+
+A dam, in the beginning, is usually erected in a small way, just to
+raise and expand the waters of some small creek or even those of a
+spring; then, as the years go by, it is constantly added to, to
+increase the depth and expansion of the pond, and thus the dam grows
+from a small one of a few yards in length to a big one of several
+hundred feet--sometimes to even four or five hundred feet in
+length--that may bank up the water four or five feet above the stream
+just outside the dam, and turn the pond into a great reservoir covering
+hundreds of acres of land.
+
+The dam is more often built of branches laid parallel to the current
+with their butts pointing up stream, and weighted down with mud and
+stones; thus layer after layer is added until the structure rises to
+the desired height and strength.  Some dams contain hundreds of tons of
+material.  They are usually built upon a solid bottom, not of
+rock--though big, stationary boulders often are included in the
+construction for the extra support they furnish.  When thus used,
+boulders often cause the beavers to divert the line of the dam out of
+its usual graceful and scientific curve that well withstands the
+pressure from even a large body of water.
+
+The beavers excavate canals--sometimes hundreds of feet in length--to
+enable them to reach more easily and float home the wood they have cut
+from freshly felled trees lying far beyond the reaches of their pond.
+The canals measure from two to three feet in width and a foot to a foot
+and a half in depth, and are not only surprisingly clean-cut and
+straight but occasionally they are even provided with locks, or rather
+little dams, to raise the water from one level to another--generally
+about a foot at a time--to offset the disadvantage of the wood lying on
+higher and more distant ground than is reached by the waters of the
+residential pond.  Sometimes their canals are fed by springs, but more
+often by the drainage of rainwater.  The building of many of their dams
+and canals displays remarkable skill and a fine sense of engineering,
+together with a spirit of perseverance that is astounding.  Is it any
+wonder that the Indians say that the beavers were once human beings,
+whom, for the punishment of some misconduct The Master of Life
+condemned to get down and grovel upon the ground as four-footed animals
+for the rest of their days.
+
+"Yes, my son," replied Oo-koo-hoo, when we were discussing beavers,
+"they are a very clever and a very wise people, and it would be better
+for us if we emulated them more than we do, for as you know, they
+believe in not talking but in working and making good use of the brains
+The Master of Life has given them, and that is the only way to be
+really happy in this world.  Besides, he is always true to his wife--a
+fine example to men--furthermore, he is a good provider who looks after
+his children, and is a decent, clean-living fellow who never goes out
+of his way to quarrel with any one, but just minds his own business and
+cuts wood."
+
+Could any nation choose a creature more fit for a national emblem?  I
+believe not.  For would any wise man compare a useless, screeching
+eagle, or a useless, roaring lion--each a creature of prey--to a
+silent, hard-working, and useful beaver who remains true to his wife
+all his life, who builds a comfortable home for his children, provides
+them well with food and teaches them . . . not how to kill other
+creatures . . . but how to work, . . . how to construct strong,
+comfortable houses, how to build dams to protect, not only their
+children, but their homes, too, how to chop down trees for food, how to
+dig canals to float the food home, how to store it for the winter, how
+to keep the home clean and in good order, how to mind their own
+business and never seek a quarrel, and, at the same time, how to defend
+themselves desperately if an enemy attacks them.
+
+For his size, the beaver is powerful, so powerful, indeed, that
+Oo-koo-hoo said: "Remember, my son, the beaver is a very strong animal,
+he can drag a man after him, and the only way for a hunter to hold
+him--if he is caught in a trap--is to lift him off his feet."
+
+Notwithstanding his great strength, however, he is a peace-loving chap,
+but when a just occasion arises, you ought to see him fight!
+
+
+BEAVER FIGHTS WOLVERINE
+
+One spring while hunting along a river, some years ago, Oo-koo-hoo
+discovered a beaver at work upon the bank, and wishing to observe him
+for a while, kept perfectly still.  The beaver was cutting poplar
+sticks to take them through a hole in the ice to the under-water
+entrance of his near-by home for his family to feed upon.  But
+presently Oo-koo-hoo discovered another moving object; it was a
+wolverine, and it was stalking the beaver.  When it drew near enough to
+the unsuspecting worker, it made a sudden spring and landed upon his
+back.  A desperate fight ensued.  The wolverine was trying to cut the
+spinal cord at the back of the beaver's neck; but the short, stout neck
+caused trouble, and before the wolverine had managed it, the beaver,
+realizing that the only chance for life was to make for the water-hole,
+lunged toward it, and with the wolverine still on his back, dived in.
+On being submerged, the wolverine let go and swam around and around in
+an effort to get out; but the beaver, now in his element, took
+advantage of the fact, and rising beneath the foe, leaped at it, and
+with one bite of his powerful, chisel-like teeth, gripped it by the
+throat, then let go and sank to watch it bleed to death.  A little
+later, the beaver had the satisfaction of seeing old Oo-koo-hoo walk
+off with the wolverine's skin.
+
+No . . . beavers do not believe in divorce . . . and on their wedding
+day--usually in February--they promise to be true to each other for the
+rest of their lives, and, moreover, unlike many human beings, they keep
+their promise.  About three months later the husband, seeing his wife
+is getting ready to welcome new relations, leaves his comfortable home
+just to be out of the way, and takes up new quarters in a hole in the
+river bank.  While he is there the children--any number from one to
+six--arrive, and then can be heard much gentle whimpering, just as
+though human babies were now living in the old homestead.
+
+When the beaver children grow older they romp in the water much as
+puppies do on land.  If danger approaches, the first beaver to sense it
+slaps the surface of the water with his broad, powerful tail, making a
+noise that resounds through the forest as though a strong man had
+struck the water a violent blow with the broad side of a paddle blade.
+Instantly the first beaver's nearest companion signals the danger to
+others by doing the same; then a second later they plunge out of sight
+in the water and leave behind nothing but a great sound--as though an
+elephant had fallen in.
+
+When married and settled down, the beaver is very domestic--a great
+stay-at-home--but when seeking a mate, he travels far and wide, and
+leaves here and there along the shore scent signals, in the hope of
+more easily attracting and winning a bride.  Beavers are full grown at
+three years of age, and by that time they have learned how to erect
+houses, build dams, dig canals, chop down trees, cut up wood, float it
+home and store it for the winter, and by that time too, they have, no
+doubt, learned that man is their worst enemy, though the wolverine,
+wolf, otter, lynx, and fisher are ever ready to pounce upon them
+whenever a chance offers.
+
+
+USEFULNESS OP BEAVER
+
+But I had almost forgotten that I owed the reader an explanation when I
+said that the beaver was a very useful creature.  I was not thinking of
+the value of his fur, because that is as nothing compared to the great
+service he has been rendering mankind, not only to-day, but for endless
+generations.  How?  By the great work he has been doing during the past
+hundreds and thousands of years.  How?  By going into rocky, useless
+valleys and building the dams that checked the rushing rivers that were
+constantly robbing much rich soil from the surrounding country and
+carrying it down and out to sea.  And his dams, moreover, not only held
+up those treacherous highwaymen, but took the loot from them and let it
+settle in the valleys, where, as years rolled on, it grew and grew into
+endless great expansions of level meadow lands that now afford much of
+the most fertile farming soil to be found in North America; and thus
+the great industry of those silent workers, who lived ages and ages
+ago, is even to-day benefiting mankind.  And thus, too, that great work
+is being steadily carried on by the living beavers of to-day.  Could
+any country in the world have chosen a more inspiring creature than
+Canada has chosen for her national symbol?
+
+When, on his fall and spring expeditions, Oo-koo-hoo was hunting
+beavers with the waters free of ice, he placed steel traps in their
+runways, either just below the surface of the water, or on the bank;
+and the only bait he used in both cases was the rubbing of castorum on
+near-by bushes.  Also, he built deadfalls much like those he built for
+bear, but of course much smaller; and again the bait was castorum, but
+this time it was rubbed on a bit of rabbit skin which was then attached
+to the bait stick of the deadfall.  The deadfalls he built for beavers
+were nearly always made of dead tamarack--never of green
+poplar--otherwise the beavers would have pulled them to pieces for the
+sake of the wood.
+
+Further, Oo-koo-hoo told me that in the spring he sometimes broke open
+beaver dams and set traps near the breaks in order to catch the beavers
+when they came to repair the damage.  Such a mode of trapping was, he
+said, equally successful whether or not there was ice upon the water.
+He also told me that he had seen other Indians catch beaver with a net
+made of No. 10 twine, with a three-and-a-half-inch mesh, but that,
+though the method worked rather well, he had never tried it.  The way
+of all others, that he liked best, was to hunt them by calling, and the
+best time for that was during the mornings and evenings of the rutting
+season.
+
+Later in the year, when the ice is gone, and the beaver is swimming,
+say a foot under water, the hunter can easily follow his course from
+the appearance of the surface.  The same applies to the muskrat, mink,
+and otter.  Muskrats and beavers swim much alike, as they are usually
+going in search of roots, and, knowing exactly where to find them, they
+swim straight; but minks and otters swim a zig-zag course for the
+reason that they are always looking for fish and therefore are
+constantly turning their heads about; and that rule applies whether
+their heads are above or below the surface.
+
+When a beaver--providing he has not slapped the water with his tail--or
+an otter dives, an observant hunter can judge fairly well as to where
+the animal is heading for, by simply noting the twist of the tail, a
+point that helps the hunter to gauge the place where it may rise.  The
+same applies to whales when they sound, though I found--while whale
+hunting--that few whalers realized it, and fewer still took advantage
+of it, for much time was lost while waiting for the whale to rise
+before the boat could be headed in the right direction.  But then the
+average Indian is much more observant than the average white man.
+
+If a beaver is caught in a steel trap, he will do his utmost to plunge
+into water and remain there even though he should drown, yet his house
+may not be in that river or pond; but if he is wounded, he will either
+try to reach his house or take to the woods.
+
+When in pursuit of beavers it is advisable to watch for them on
+moonlight nights about eight or nine o'clock, and it is best to be in a
+canoe, as then there is less danger of the beaver sinking before he can
+be removed from the water.  The hunter, while waiting for a shot, makes
+a noise with the handle of his knife against a stick in imitation of a
+beaver cutting wood--a sound somewhat similar to that of the boring of
+a large auger.  It is astonishing how far, on a still night, beavers
+will hear such a sound and come to help their friends at work.  When
+Oo-koo-hoo shot beaver he charged his gun with four slugs and fired for
+the head, as he explained that ordinary shot was too fine and scattered
+too much, while a single ball was too large.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO SHOOTS A BEAR
+
+The following morning Oo-koo-hoo and I set out to go the round of the
+northern trapping trail which for some distance followed the valley of
+Beaver River, upon the bank of which traps, snares, and deadfalls for
+bears were set.  Along that section of the river there were also traps
+set for otters, beavers, and muskrats; but the hunting of these
+amphibious animals was pursued with more diligence in the spring than
+in the winter.  Though we hauled a hunting toboggan, the snow was not
+yet deep enough for snowshoes, but what a feast of reading the forest
+afforded us!  What tragedies were written in the snow!  Here we
+followed a mink's track as it skirted the river bank that wound in and
+out among the trees, showing that the mink had leaped here, crouched
+there, or had been scratching beyond in the snow.  Evidently it was in
+search of food.  Presently we noticed another track, that of an ermine.
+The two trails were converging.  Now, apparently, the mink had seen its
+enemy, and, therefore, in order to get past the ermine and escape
+trouble, it had increased its speed.  At this point the ermine had
+spied it and had redoubled its speed.  Now they had both bounded along
+with all their might.  But as ill-fate would have it, they had met.  A
+violent struggle had ensued.  Blood was spattered upon the snow.  From
+the battle-ground only one trail led away.  It was that of the ermine.
+But though the snow was marked by the footprints of only one animal,
+the trail of two tails plainly showed.  It was evident that the ermine
+had seized its victim by the throat and throwing it over its back, had
+carried it away.  Many other tracks of beasts and birds were printed
+upon the snow and told in vivid detail stories of life in the winter
+wilderness.
+
+Beaver River was now frozen firmly enough to bear a man, except in a
+few places where rapid water kept the ice thin or left the stream open;
+and as we tramped along we examined a number of traps, from two of
+which we took an otter and a beaver.  But the bear and the wolf traps
+remained undisturbed though we saw a number of wolf tracks near at
+hand.  Turning westward we ascended a slope and came suddenly upon the
+fresh track of a bear.  It was fairly large, and was travelling slowly;
+merely sauntering along as though looking for a den in which to pass
+the winter.
+
+At once Oo-koo-hoo was all alert.  Carefully re-charging his gun with
+ball, and seeing that his knife and axe were at hand, he left the
+toboggan behind, lest it make a noise among the trees and alarm the
+quarry.  In less than a quarter of a mile, however, we came upon a sign
+that the bear had passed but a few minutes before.  The hunter paused
+to suggest that it would better his approach if I were to follow a
+little farther in the rear; then he noiselessly continued his pursuit.
+Slowly he moved forward, cautiously avoiding the snapping of a twig or
+the scraping of underbrush.  After peering through the shrubbery ahead
+or halting a moment to reexamine the track, he would move on again, but
+with scarcely any perceptible motion of the upper part of his body.
+When in doubt, he would stand stock-still and try by sight or hearing
+to get news of the bear.  Luckily, there was no wind, so it made little
+difference which way we turned in following the trail.  But just then
+there happened a disturbing and irritating thing, for a whiskey
+jack--Canada Jay--took to following us, and chirping about it, too.
+Crossing a rocky patch on the hillside, the bear came into view as it
+circled a little in order to descend.  Presently it left the shadow of
+the forest and emerging into sunlight on a snow-covered ledge, turned
+its head as though it had heard a sound in the rear.  It was Oo-koo-hoo
+speaking:
+
+[Illustration: The bear circled a little in order to descend.
+Presently it left the shadow of the forest and, emerging into sunlight
+on a snow-covered ledge, turned its head as though it had heard a sound
+in the rear.  It was Oo-koo-hoo speaking: "Turn your head away, my
+brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut short his sentence, and
+the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among, . . .  See Chapter IV.]
+
+"Turn your head away, my brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut
+short his sentence, and the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among
+the growth below.  Re-loading his gun, the hunter slowly followed, more
+cautiously than ever, for he saw from the blood upon the snow that the
+beast was wounded and, therefore, dangerous.  As he went he covered
+every likely place with his gun, lest the bear should be lurking there
+and rush at him.  At last I saw him pause much longer than usual, then
+move forward again.  Finally he turned, and in a satisfied tone
+exclaimed: "It's dead!"
+
+The ball had struck just behind the left shoulder and had entered the
+heart; and the hunter explained that when he saw his best chance, he
+spoke to the bear to make it pause in order to better his aim.
+
+"And what did you say to him?"
+
+"My son, I said: 'Turn your eyes away, my brother, for I am about to
+kill you.'  I never care to fire at a bear without first telling him
+how sorry I am that I need his coat."
+
+Then the skinning began, and by noon we had it finished.  Loading the
+head and part of the meat on the sled, I hauled it, while the hunter
+rolled up the heavy pelt and packed it upon his back with the aid of a
+tump-line.  Taking our loads back to the river and caching them there,
+we continued along the trapping trail.
+
+
+A DEADFALL FOR BEAR
+
+Soon we came to one of the best deadfalls I had ever seen.  It was set
+for bear, and was of the "log-house" kind, with walls nearly six feet
+high, and a base that was eight feet long by five feet wide in front,
+while only two feet in width in the rear.  It was built in conjunction
+with two standing trees that formed the two corner posts retaining the
+huge drop-log.  The front of the big trap was left quite open, save for
+the drop-log that crossed it obliquely.  While the thin end of the log
+was staked to the ground, the thick end, loaded with a platform,
+weighted with stones, projected beyond the far side of the trap at a
+height of about five feet from the ground.  It was ready to fall and
+crush any unlucky creature that might venture in and touch the
+bait-trigger.  Whatever the drop-log might fall upon, it would hold as
+though in a vise, and if the bear were not already dead when the hunter
+should arrive, he would take care to shoot the animal in the head
+before removing the drop-log.
+
+Snares are also set for bears, and the best of them are made of twenty
+strands of _babiche_ twisted into the form of a rope.  The loop is set
+about eighteen inches in diameter, and is attached to either a
+spring-pole or a tossing-pole--or, more correctly speaking, a tree
+sufficiently large to raise and support the weight of the bear.
+Sometimes a guiding-pole is used in connection with a snare.  One end
+is planted in the ground in the centre of the path and the other,
+slanting up toward the snare, is used as a guide toward the loop, since
+a bear walking forward would straddle the pole.  In a further effort to
+getting the animal's head in the right place, the hunter smears the
+upper end of the pole with syrup.
+
+Another wooden trap is that of the stump and wedge.  It is made by
+chopping down a tree of not less than half a foot in diameter, so that
+a stump is left about six feet high.  The stump is then split, and a
+long, tapering wedge, well greased, is driven in, and upon it is
+smeared a coating of syrup or honey as a bait.  The bear will not only
+try to lick off the bait, but in his eagerness to pull out the wedge
+and lick it, too, will spring the trap and find a paw caught between
+the closing stump.  Also, the Indians sometimes use a stage from the
+top of which they shoot the bear at night while he passes on his
+runway; and to attract the bear they imitate the cry of a cub in
+distress.  Steel traps, too, are set for bears.  They are very strong
+with big double springs and weigh about twenty pounds.  They, too, are
+set on the runway of the bears, and are carefully covered with leaves
+or moss.  No bait is used on the trap, but syrup or honey is spread
+upon a near-by tree to induce the bear to step in the trap.
+
+
+MARASTY AND THE BEAR
+
+But all bear traps are dangerous to mankind and not infrequently a man
+is caught in one.  In 1899 a half-breed hunter by the name of Marasty,
+who lived near Green Lake, about 150 miles north of Prince Albert, went
+one late spring day to visit his traps, and in the course of his trip
+came upon one of his deadfalls set for bear, from which he noticed the
+bait had been removed, although the trap had not been sprung.  Before
+rebaiting it, however, he built a fire to boil his tea-pail, and sat
+down to eat his lunch.
+
+After refreshment, Marasty, being a lazy man, decided to enter the trap
+from in front, instead of first opening up the rear and entering from
+that quarter, as he should have done.  He got along all right until he
+started to back out, when in some way he jarred the trigger, and, just
+as he was all free of the ground-log save his right arm, down came the
+ponderous drop-log with its additional weight of platform and stones.
+It caught him just above the elbow, crushed his arm flat, and held him
+a prisoner in excruciating pain.  The poor wretch nearly swooned.
+Later, he thought of his knife.  He would try to cut the log in two and
+thus free himself.  He knew that, handicapped as he was, though he
+worked feverishly and incessantly, the task would demand many hours of
+furious toil.
+
+After a while the wind arose and re-kindled his dying fire into life.
+The sparks flew up and the flames ran over the dry moss toward him.
+Now there was added the dread of being burnt alive.  But he worked his
+feet violently and succeeded in roughening the ground sufficiently to
+turn the fire so, that it passed on either side of him, and though it
+continued beyond the wooden trap, eventually died down.
+
+Then he went on with his cutting, but night came on before he had dug
+into the log more than a few inches.  Growing faint, he rested awhile,
+and later fell asleep.  When he awoke, he discovered a full-grown black
+bear sitting upon its haunches watching him.  He shouted to drive the
+beast away, but, strange to say, the noise did not frighten the bear,
+for several times it got up and attempted to reach the syrup on the
+trap.  When the captive renewed his shouting and kicking, the bear
+merely stepped back, sat down, and persisted in maintaining its
+fearsome watch all night.  Nevertheless, the half-breed was afraid to
+stop shouting, so he kept it up at intervals all night long.  When,
+however, dawn came, the bear went away.
+
+At sunrise Marasty renewed his efforts to escape, and though his hand
+was now blistered and sore, he worked for several hours.  Then thirst
+attacked him; and he dug in the ground, but without avail, in the hope
+of finding moisture.  Again he turned to the cutting of the log, but
+soon exhaustion weakened his exertions.  Night came on again and with
+it came the bear; but this time he was glad to see the brute, for its
+presence made him feel less lonely and drove away despair.  This time,
+too, the bear sat around in such a friendly way, that Marasty felt
+relieved enough to sing some hymns and do a little praying; but when he
+began to sing a second time, the big black beast lost patience, got up
+and walked away, much to the regret of the imprisoned hunter.
+
+In the morning the now almost lifeless Marasty heard in the distance
+the voice of his brother calling his name; but though he shouted wildly
+in answer, no response came, for the wind was blowing in the wrong
+direction, and defeated his attempt to benefit by the help that was so
+near.  Later, the unhappy man swooned.
+
+About noon the brother, finding the sufferer's trail, arrived upon the
+scene, removed the drop-log, picked up the unconscious man, and
+carrying him to his canoe, cut away the thwarts and laid him in.  After
+a paddle of fifteen miles to the portage landing, he left the stricken
+wretch in the canoe, and ran four miles to get help.  With other men
+and two horses he speedily returned, rigged up a stage swung between
+the horses, and laying Marasty thereon, transported him through the
+bush to his home.
+
+In the meantime, an express had been despatched to Prince Albert to
+summon a doctor; but the old Indian women could not bear to wait so
+long for the coming of relief, so filing a big knife into a
+fine-toothed saw, they cut away the bruised flesh and sawed off the
+broken bones.  They made a clean amputation which they dressed with a
+poultice made from well-boiled inner bark of juniper, and not only did
+no mortification set in, but the arm healed nicely; and when the doctor
+arrived ten days later, he examined the amputation carefully and said
+that there was nothing for him to do: the old women had done their work
+so well.  Marasty quickly recovered, and next winter he was on the
+hunting trail again.
+
+
+HOW BEARS ARE HUNTED
+
+After spending three days upon the trapping trail we returned to camp;
+but because our toboggan was loaded with game, and also because we did
+not return by our outgoing route, the grandmother and the two boys set
+out to bring in the bear meat and the bear's head.  During the feast
+that followed Oo-koo-hoo addressed the bear's head with superstitious
+awe and again begged it not to be offended or angry because it had been
+killed since they needed both its coat and its fat and flesh to help
+tide them over the winter.  In this entreaty Amik did not join--perhaps
+because he was too civilized.  After the meal, the skull was hung upon
+a branch of a pine that stood near the lodges.  It reminded me that
+once I had seen at an old camping place eleven bear skulls upon a
+single branch; but the sight of bear skulls upon trees is not uncommon
+when one is travelling through the Strong Woods Country.
+
+That night, when I was sitting beside Oo-koo-hoo, we began talking
+about bear hunting and he said: "My son, some day you, too, may want to
+become a great bear-hunter, and when you do go out to hunt alone, don't
+do as I do, but do as I say, for I am growing old and am sometimes
+careless about the way I approach game."  Puffing away at his pipe, he
+presently continued: "In trailing bear, the hunter's method of
+approach, of course, depends entirely upon the information he has
+gained from the tracks he has discovered.  If the hunter sees the bear
+without being seen, he will approach to within about twenty paces or
+even ten of the brute before he fires; being, however, always careful
+to keep some object between him and his quarry.  And when he does fire,
+he should not wait to see the effect, but should immediately run aside
+for a distance of fifteen or twenty paces, as the first thing a bear
+does when it is shot is to bite the wound on account of the pain, next
+it tries to discover who hit it, and remembering from which direction
+the sound came, it looks up, and seeing the smoke, rushes for it.  Then
+the hunter has his opportunity, for on seeing the beast pass broadside,
+he fires, and thus stands a good chance of hitting a vital spot.
+
+"At a critical moment a good hunter's movements are not only swift but
+always premeditated.  Nor does he ever treat a bear with contempt: from
+first to last, he is always on guard.  He never takes a chance.  Even
+if the bear drops when the hunter fires, he will immediately re-load
+and advance very slowly lest the brute be feigning death.  The hunter
+advances, with his gun cocked and in readiness, to within perhaps five
+paces, and then waits to see if his quarry is really dead.  If the bear
+is not dead and sees that the hunter is off his guard, the chances are
+it will rush at him.  But an experienced hunter is not easily fooled,
+for he knows that if an animal makes a choking sound in its throat,
+caused by internal bleeding, it is mortally wounded; but if it makes no
+such sound--watch out!"
+
+"My son, no animal is ever instantly killed, for there is always a
+gradual collapse, or more or less of a movement caused by the
+contraction of its muscles, before death actually comes; but when an
+animal feigns death, it is always in too much of a hurry about it, and
+drops instantly without a final struggle, or any hard breathing--that
+is the time when one should wait and be careful.
+
+"Then again, my son, if a wounded or cornered bear comes suddenly upon
+a hunter, the beast will not at once rush at him, grab him or bite him,
+but will instantly draw back, just as the hunter will do; then it will
+sit up upon its haunches for a moment, as though to think over the
+situation; that pause, slight as it is, gives the hunter a moment to
+uncover his gun, cock it, and aim, and fire it at the beast's mouth.
+In such a situation the hunter prefers to fire at its mouth, because if
+shot in the heart, the bear can still lunge at the hunter before it
+falls, but if struck in the mouth, the brute is dazed and stops to rub
+its face; meanwhile, the hunter has a chance to re-load and try for a
+shot behind the ear, as that is even more fatal than one in the heart.
+But if the bear happens to be in a tree, the hunter does not try for
+either the brain or the heart, because the former is usually out of
+aim, and the latter is protected by the trunk or limb of the tree; so
+he shoots at the small of the back for that will paralyze it and cause
+it to let go hold of the tree, and drop to the ground.  The fall will
+leave very little fight in it, or will finish it altogether.  But if
+hit in the head or even in a paw, the chances are that the bear will
+jump; and then watch out, for it will either run or fight!
+
+"In hunting bears, however, the hunter must remember that he should
+guard most against scent and sound betraying him, since a bear's sight
+is not very keen.  If the bear happens to be feeding, the hunter may
+easily approach, provided that the wind is right and he keeps quiet;
+but if the bear hears the slightest sound or catches a single whiff of
+scent--away he goes!  If, however, the hunter approaches in an open
+place and the bear, seeing him, sits up to get a better look, the
+hunter should immediately stand perfectly still, and wait thus until
+the bear again resumes feeding or moves away.  Then the hunter rushes
+forward, but all the while watches keenly to see when it stops to look
+again; and at the first sign of that the hunter becomes rigid once
+more.  Such tactics may be successful two or three times but rarely
+more, so then the hunter had best fire.  Now, my son, when you go
+hunting you will know what to do, and if Amik would only pay attention
+to what I say, he, too, might become a better hunter, for I have had
+much experience in hunting both black and grizzly bears."
+
+
+NEYKIA AND HER LOVER
+
+As the weeks passed, the children devoted themselves to their winter
+play and spent most of their days in the open air.  Tobogganing was
+their greatest sport.  Often did they invite me to take part in this,
+and whenever, in descending a slope, a sled-load was upset, it always
+created hilarious laughter.
+
+The younger children, even during the severest part of the winter when
+it registered forty or more degrees below zero, were always kept
+comfortably warm, sometimes uncomfortably warm, in the rabbit-skin
+coats that their mother and their grandmother had made for them.  The
+rabbit skins were cut into thin, spiral strips and twisted, with the
+hair-side out, about thin thongs, and woven together like a
+small-meshed fish-net, so that, though the hair overlapped and filled
+every mesh completely, one's fingers might be passed through the
+garment anywhere.  They also made rabbit-skin blankets in the same way;
+and of all blankets used in the north woods, none has so many good
+qualities.  A rabbit-skin blanket is less bulky than that of the
+caribou skin; it is warmer than the famous four-point woollen blanket
+of the H. B. Co., and not only ventilates better than either of the
+others, but it is light to carry.  It has the drawback, however, that
+unless it is enclosed in a covering of some light material, the hair
+gets on everything, for as long as the blanket lasts it sheds rabbit
+hair.  I have tried many kinds of beds, and many kinds of blankets, and
+sleeping bags, too, even the Eskimo sleeping bag of double
+skin--hairless sealskin on the outside and hairy caribou skin on the
+inside--and many a night I have slept out in the snow when it was fifty
+degrees below zero, and experience has taught me that the rabbit skin
+blanket is best for winter use in the northern forest.  A sleeping bag
+that is large enough to get into is too large when you are in it; you
+cannot wrap it around you as you can a blanket, therefore it is not so
+warm; besides, it is harder to keep a bag free of gathering moisture
+than a blanket.
+
+But to return to the children.  It used to amuse me to see the boys
+returning from their hunts carrying their guns over their shoulders.
+The contrast in size between the weapons and the bearers of them was so
+great that by comparison the lads looked like Liliputians, yet with all
+the dignified air of great hunters they would stalk up to their sisters
+and hand them their guns and game bags to be disposed of while they
+slipped off their snowshoes, lighted their pipes, and entered the
+lodge.  By the way, I don't believe I have mentioned that in winter
+time the guns are never kept in the lodges, but always put under cover
+on the stages, as the heat of the lodges would cause the guns to sweat
+and therefore to require constant drying and oiling; and for the same
+reason, in winter time, when a hunter is camped for the night, he does
+not place his gun near the open fire, but sets it back against a tree,
+well out of range of the heat.
+
+On one of their rounds of the trapping trails the boys discovered a
+splendid black fox in one of Oo-koo-hoo's traps, and it was with great
+pride that the little chaps returned home with the prize.
+
+One sunny day, late in November, while tobogganing with the children on
+the hillside, our sport was interrupted by the approach of a young
+stranger, an Indian youth of about seventeen.  He came tramping along
+on snowshoes with his little hunting toboggan behind him on which was
+lashed his caribou robe, his tea-pail, his kit bag, and a haunch of
+young moose as a present to Amik and his wife.  In his hand he carried
+his gun in a moose-skin case.  He was a good-looking young fellow, and
+wore the regulation cream-coloured H. B. _capote_ with hood and
+turned-back cuffs of dark blue.  He wore no cap, but his hair was
+fastened back by a broad yellow ribbon that encircled his head.  At
+first I thought he was the advance member of a hunting party, but when
+I saw the bashful yet persistent way in which he sidled up to Neykia,
+and when I observed, too, the shy, radiant glance of welcome she gave
+him, I understood; so also did the children, but the little rogues,
+instead of leaving the young couple alone, teased their sister aloud,
+and followed the teasing with boisterous laughter.  It was then that I
+obtained my first impression of the mating of the natives of the
+northern forest.  The sylvan scene reminded me of the mating, too, of
+the white people of that same region, and I thought again of the
+beautiful Athabasca.  Was it in the same way that her young white man
+had come so many miles on snowshoes through the winter woods just to
+call upon her?  It set me thinking.  Again, I wondered who "Son-in-law"
+could be?  Whence did he come?  But, perhaps, after all he was no
+super-man, or, rather, super-lover, for had not Neykia's beau travelled
+alone in the dead of winter, over ninety miles, just to see her once
+again and to speak to her?  Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--as the Indians
+called him, stayed three days, but I did not see much of him, for I
+left early the following morning on another round of another
+trapping-path.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO AND THE WOLF
+
+As a faint gray light crept through the upper branches of the eastern
+trees and warned the denizens of the winter wilderness of approaching
+day, the door-skin flapped aside and a tall figure stepped from the
+cozy fire-lit lodge into the outer sombreness of the silent forest.  It
+was Oo-koo-hoo.  His form clad in fox-skin cap, blanket _capote_, and
+leggings, made a picturesque silhouette of lighter tone against the
+darker shadows of the woods as he stood for a moment scanning the
+starry sky.  Reëntering the lodge, he partook of the breakfast his wife
+had cooked for him, then he kissed her and went outside.  Going to the
+stage, he took down his five-foot snowshoes, slipped his moccasined
+feet into the thongs, and with his gun resting in the hollow of his
+bemittened hand, and the sled's hauling-line over his shoulder, strode
+off through the vaulted aisles between the boles of the evergreens;
+while through a tiny slit in the wall of his moose-skin home two loving
+eyes watched the stalwart figure vanishing among the trees.
+
+[Illustration: Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot
+snowshoes, slipped his moccasined feet info the thongs, and with his
+gun resting in the hollow of his bemittened hand, and the sled's
+hauling-line over his shoulder, strode off through the vaulted aisles
+between the boles of evergreens; while through a tiny slit in the wall
+of his moose-skin home two loving eyes watched his stalwart figure
+vanishing among the . . .  See Chapter IV.]
+
+Later on, though the sun was already shining, it was still intensely
+cold.  As we went along, Oo-koo-hoo's breath rose like a cloud of white
+smoke fifteen or twenty feet in the air before it disappeared.  Only
+the faintest whisper of scuffling snowshoes and scrunching snow could
+be heard; the sound of the occasional snapping of a twig came as a
+startling report compared with the almost noiseless tread of the
+hunter.  A little cloud of powdery snow rose above the dragging heels
+of his snowshoes, and, whirling about, covered the back of his leggings
+with a coating of white.  Onward he strode, twisting through the
+tangled scrub, stooping under a fallen tree, stepping over a
+snow-capped log, or pacing along a winter-locked stream.
+
+When Oo-koo-hoo came to a district overgrown with willows interspersed
+with poplars, he stopped to examine a snare set for lynx.  It had not
+been disturbed, but a little farther on we saw the form of a dead lynx
+hanging from a tossing-pole above the trail.  The carcass was frozen
+stiff, and the face still showed the ghastly expression it had worn in
+its death struggle.  The rigid body was taken down and lashed to the
+sled.  Resetting the snare, we continued our way.  Farther on, in a
+hilly country timbered with spruce, where there was not much
+undergrowth, we came to marten traps.  In swampy places, or where there
+were creeks and small lakes, we examined traps and deadfalls set for
+mink, muskrat, beaver, fisher, and otter.  Where the country was fairly
+open and marked with rabbit runways we came upon traps set for foxes
+and wolves.
+
+The gray, or timber, wolf is trapped in the same way as the coloured
+fox, save only that the trap is larger.  Though the steel trap is much
+in vogue among white men and half-breeds, the deadfall, even to this
+day, is much preferred by the Indian.  Though, in the first place, it
+requires more labour to build, yet it requires less for transportation
+since the materials are all at hand; and, besides, when once built it
+lasts for years.  Then, again, it is not only cheaper, but it is more
+deadly than the steel trap, for once the animal is caught, it seldom
+escapes.  With the steel trap it is different, as animals often pull
+away from the steel jaws or even gnaw off a foot in order to get free.
+If, however, the hunter's deadfalls and traps have been set in vain,
+and if the wolf has been causing trouble and the hunter is determined
+to secure him, he will sit up for him at night in the hope of getting a
+shot at him.  Years ago many wolves were destroyed with poison, but
+nowadays it has gone out of use--that is, among the fur-hunters of the
+forest.
+
+When a wolf is caught in a trap and he sees a hunter approaching, he
+will at first lie down, close his eyes, and keep as still as possible
+to escape notice; but should he find that the hunter is still coming
+on, say to within twenty paces from him, he will fly into a rage, show
+his fangs, bristle his hair, and get ready for a spring.  The hunter
+usually takes a green stick about a yard long by two inches thick, and
+instead of striking a great, swinging blow with both hands, he holds
+the stick in one hand and strikes a short, quick, though powerful,
+blow, hitting the brute on the snout close to the eyes.  That stuns
+him, and then the hunter, with either foot or knee, presses over the
+heart until death ensues.  But clubbing the wolf is dangerous work, for
+the hunter may hit the trap and set the captive free, or it may bite
+him.  So the gun is frequently used, but only to shoot the wolf in the
+head, as a wound anywhere else would injure the fur.
+
+Late in the afternoon, as we were approaching a wolf trap, Oo-koo-hoo,
+who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and gazed ahead.  A large
+wolf was lying in the snow, evidently pretending to be dead.  One of
+its forepaws was held by the trap, and the hunter drew his axe and
+moved forward.  As we came near, the beast could stand the strain no
+longer, but rose up with bristling hair, champing fangs, and savage
+growl.  When Oo-koo-hoo had almost reached the deeply marked circle in
+the snow where the wolf had been struggling to gain its freedom, he
+paused and said:
+
+"My brother, I need your coat, so turn your eyes away while I strike."
+A momentary calmness came over the beast, but as the hunter raised his
+axe it suddenly crouched, and with its eyes flashing with rage, sprang
+for Oo-koo-hoo's throat.  Its mighty leap, however, ended three feet
+short of the mark, for the trap chain grew taut, jerked it down and
+threw it violently upon its back.  Instantly regaining its feet, it
+dashed away on three legs, and in its effort to escape dragged the clog
+through the snow.  The bounding clog sent the snow flying, and the
+hunter rushed in pursuit, while the wolf dodged among the trees to
+escape a blow from Oo-koo-hoo.  Then it bolted again, and ran straight
+for a few yards until the clog caught and held fast.  The hunter,
+pressing on with raised axe, had no time to draw back when the brute
+sprang for him as it did; luckily, however, his aim was true: the back
+of the axe descended upon the wolf's head, and it fell dead.  This was
+fortunate for the hunter, as unwarily he had allowed himself so to get
+between the clog and the beast that the chain almost swung over his
+snowshoes.  If he had missed his aim, no doubt it would have gone hard
+with him.
+
+[Illustration: As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow
+flying, and the hunter rushed in pursuit, while the wolf dodged among
+the trees to escape a blow from Oo-koo-hoo.  Then it bolted again, and
+ran straight for a few yards until the clog caught and held fast.  The
+hunter, pressing on with raised axe, had no time to draw back when the
+brute sprang for him . . .  See Chapter IV.]
+
+A few slant rays of the sun penetrating the deep gloom of the thick
+forest and reminding us that day was fast passing, we decided to camp
+there for the night.  So we cut a mattress of brush, made a fire, and
+refreshed ourselves with supper before we started to skin the wolf.
+
+
+THE WAYS OF A WOLF
+
+Talk of wolves prevailed all evening, and Oo-koo-hoo certainly had a
+store of information upon that subject.  In expressing surprise that a
+wolf had strength enough to jerk about a big drag-log, as though it
+were merely a small stick, he replied that once when he had killed a
+full-grown bull-moose and dressed and hung up the meat, he had left for
+camp with part of his prize, but on returning again to the cache, he
+had found a wolf moving off with one of the hindquarters.  It must have
+weighed close upon a hundred pounds.  But perhaps, if I quote Charles
+Mair, the strength and endurance of a wolf will be better realized: "In
+the sketch of 'North-Western America' (1868) Archbishop Tache, of St.
+Boniface, Manitoba, recounts a remarkable instance of persevering
+fortitude exhibited by a large, dark wolf caught in a steel trap at
+Isle a la Crosse many years ago.  A month afterward it was killed near
+Green Lake, ninety miles distant, with the trap and connecting
+wood-block still attached to one of its hind legs.  It had evidently
+dragged both around in the snow for many a mile, during a period of
+intense cold, and it is, therefore, not surprising that it was a
+'walking skeleton' when finally secured."
+
+Though the timber-wolf is a fast traveller, it cannot out-distance the
+greyhound or wolf hound; but though it is seldom seen in water it is a
+good swimmer.  Its weight may run from seventy-five to one hundred and
+fifty pounds, and an extra large wolf may stand close to thirty inches
+at the shoulder, and be over five feet in length.  In colour they range
+from white to nearly black, but the ordinary colour is a light brownish
+gray.  Usually they mate in February, but whether or not for life, it
+is hard to say.  They breed in a hollow log, or tree or stump, or in a
+hole in the ground, or in a cave.  The young are normally born in
+April, usually six or eight in a litter, and the father helps to care
+for them.
+
+Many of the wolves I have seen were running in pairs, some in families,
+and the greatest number I have ever seen together was seven.  That was
+in Athabasca in the winter time.  The seven were in a playful mood,
+racing around and jumping over one another; and though all were
+full-grown, five of them displayed the romping spirits of puppies, and
+I wondered if they could be but one family.  Though my dog-driver and
+I, with our dog-train, passed within about a hundred paces of them, and
+though we were all on a sunny lake, they never ceased their play for a
+single moment, nor did they show in any way that they had seen us.
+
+There are several voices of the wilderness that cause some city people
+alarm and dread, and they are the voices of the owl, the loon, and the
+timber-wolf.  But to me their voices bring a solemn, at times an eerie,
+charm, that I would gladly go miles to renew.  Though much of the
+wolf-howling has been of little appeal, I have heard wolf concerts that
+held me spell-bound.  On some occasions--but always at night--they
+lasted without scarcely any intermission for three or four hours.  The
+first part of the programme was usually rendered--according to the
+sound of their voices--by the youngest of the pack; later the
+middle-aged seemed to take the stage; but of all the performance,
+nothing equalled in greatness of volume or in richness of tone the
+closing numbers, and they were always rendered by what seemed to be
+some mighty veteran, the patriarch of the pack, for his effort was so
+thrilling and awe-inspiring that it always sent the gooseflesh rushing
+up and down my back.  Many a time, night after night, beneath the
+Northern Lights, I have gone out to the edge of a lake to listen to
+them.
+
+When hunting big game, such as deer, wolves assist one another and
+display a fine sense of the value of team-work in running down their
+prey.  Though the wolf is a shy and cautious animal, he is no coward,
+as the way he will slash into a pack of dogs goes far to prove.  In the
+North the stories of the wolf's courage are endless; here, for example,
+is one: "During our residence at Cumberland House in 1820," says
+Richardson, "a wolf, which had been prowling and was wounded by a
+musket ball and driven off, returned after it became dark, whilst the
+blood was still flowing from its wound, and carried off a dog, from
+amongst fifty others, that howled piteously, but had no courage to
+unite in an attack on their enemy."
+
+Nevertheless, wolves rarely attack man, in fact, only when they are
+afflicted with rabies or hydrophobia.  No doubt everyone has read, at
+one time or another, harrowing stories of the great timber-wolves of
+our northern forest forming themselves into huge packs and pursuing
+people all over the wilderness until there is nothing left of the
+unfortunate community save a few odds and ends of cheap jewellery.
+Even our most dignified and reliable newspapers are never loath to
+publish such thrilling drivel; and their ignorant readers gulp it all
+down, apparently with a relishing shudder; for the dear public not only
+loves to be fooled, but actually gloats over that sort of thing, since
+it is their hereditary belief.
+
+When I was a boy, I, too, thrilled over such nonsense, and when I made
+my first trip into the forest I began to delve for true wolf stories,
+and I have been delving ever since.  So far, after over thirty years of
+digging, I have actually dug up what I believe to be one authentic
+story of an unprovoked wolf having actually attacked and killed a man.
+On several occasions, too, I have had the satisfaction of running to
+cover some of the wolf stories published in our daily press.  I read a
+few years ago in one of Canada's leading daily papers--and no doubt the
+same account was copied throughout the United States--a thrilling story
+of two lumber-jacks in the wilds of Northern Ontario being pursued by a
+pack of timber-wolves, and the exhausted woodsmen barely escaping with
+their lives, being forced by the ferocious brutes to spend a whole
+night in a tree at a time when the thermometer registered -- below
+zero.  I am sorry I have forgotten the exact degree of frost the paper
+stated, but as a rule it is always close to 70 or 80 degrees below zero
+when the great four-legged demons of the forest go on the rampage.
+
+
+THE WOLVES AND GREENHORNS
+
+Several years later, when I was spending the summer at Shahwandahgooze,
+in the Laurentian Mountains, I again met Billy Le Heup, the hunter, and
+one night when we were listening to a wolf concert I mentioned the
+foregoing newspaper thriller.  Billy laughed and acknowledged that he,
+too, had read it, but not until several weeks after he had had a chance
+to investigate, first hand, the very same yarn; for he, too, had been
+trailing wolf stories all his life.
+
+It so happened that Le Heup's work had taken him through the timber
+country north of Lake Temiscamingue.  While stopping one day at a
+lumber camp to have a snack, three men entered the cookery where he was
+eating.  One of them was the foreman, and he was in a perfect rage.  He
+had discharged the other two men, and now he was warning them that if
+they didn't get something to eat pretty ---- quick and leave the camp
+in a ---- of a hurry, he would kick them out.  Then, just before he
+slammed the door and disappeared, he roared out at them that not for
+one moment would he stand for such ---- rot, as their being chased and
+treed all night by wolves.
+
+When quiet was restored and the two men had sat down beside Le Heup at
+the dining table, he had questioned them and they had told him a
+graphic story of how they had been chased by a great pack of wolves and
+how they had managed to escape with their lives by climbing a tree only
+just in the nick of time; and, moreover, how the ferocious brutes had
+kept them there all night long, and how, consequently, they had been
+nearly frozen to death.
+
+It was a thrilling story and so full of detail that even "old-timer" Le
+Heup grew quite interested and congratulated himself on having at last
+actually heard, first hand, a true story of how Canadian timber-wolves,
+though unprovoked, had pursued, attacked, and treed two men.  Indeed,
+he was so impressed that he decided to back-track the heroes' trail and
+count for himself just how many wolves the pack had numbered.  So he
+got the would-be lumber-jacks--for they were greenhorns from the
+city--to point out for him their incoming trail, which he at once set
+out to back-track.  After a tramp of three or four miles he came to the
+very tree which from all signs they had climbed and in which they had
+spent the night.  Then desiring to count the wolf tracks in the snow,
+he looked around, but never a one could he see.  Walking away for about
+a hundred yards he began to circle the tree, but still without success.
+He circled again with about an eighth of a mile radius, but still no
+wolf tracks were to be seen.  As a last resort he circled once more
+about a quarter of a mile from the tree, and this time he was rewarded;
+he found wolf tracks in the snow.  There had been three wolves.  They
+had been running full gallop.  Moreover, they had been trailing a
+white-tailed deer; but never once had either deer or wolves paused in
+their run, nor had they come within a quarter of a mile of the tree in
+which the greenhorns from the city had spent the night.  Of such
+material are the man-chasing, man-killing wolf stories made.
+
+Frequently I have had timber-wolves follow me, sometimes for half an
+hour or so; on one occasion two of the largest and handsomest
+timber-wolves I ever saw followed me for over two hours.  During that
+time they travelled all round me, ahead, behind, and on either side;
+and occasionally they came within sixty or seventy feet of me.  Yet
+never once, by action or expression, did they show any signs other than
+those which two friendly but very shy dogs might have shown toward me.
+
+
+THE WOLF THAT KILLED A MAN
+
+Of course, wolves will attack a man; when they are trapped, wounded, or
+cornered--just as a muskrat will; but of all the wolf stories I have
+ever heard, in which wolves killed a man, the following is the only one
+I have any reason to believe, as it was told me first-hand by a
+gentleman whose word I honour, and whose unusual knowledge of animal
+life and northern travel places his story beyond a doubt.
+
+One winter's day in the seventies, when Mr. William Cornwallis King was
+in charge of Fort Rae, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's posts on Great
+Slave Lake, he was snowshoeing to a number of Indian camps to collect
+furs, and had under his command several Indians in charge of his
+dog-trains.  On the way they came upon a small party of Dog-rib
+Indians, who, after a smoke and a chat, informed him that, being in
+need of meat, one of their party, named Pot-fighter's-father, had set
+out three days before to hunt caribou; and as he had not returned, they
+were afraid lest some evil had befallen him.  When Mr. King learned
+that it had been Pot-fighter's-father's intention to return to camp on
+the evening of the first day, he advised the Indians to set out at once
+in search of him.
+
+After following his tracks for half a day they came suddenly upon the
+footprints of an unusually large wolf which had turned to trail the
+hunter.  For some miles the brute had evidently followed close beside
+the trail of Pot-fighter's-father, diverging at times as though seeking
+cover, and then again stalking its prey in the open.  One Indian
+continued to follow the old man's trail, while another followed that of
+the wolf.  They had not gone far before they discovered that
+Pot-fighter's-father had come upon a herd of caribou, and a little
+farther on they found, lying on the snow, a couple of caribou carcasses
+that he had shot.  Strange to say, the animals had not been skinned,
+nor had their tongues been removed.  More remarkable still, the
+wolf--although passing close to them--had not stopped to feed.  Soon
+they came upon another dead caribou, and this time Pot-fighter's-father
+had skinned it, and had cut out its tongue; but again the wolf had
+refused to touch the deer.
+
+Continuing their pursuit, they discovered a brush windbreak where the
+hunter had evidently stopped to camp for the night.  Now they noticed
+that the tracks of the wolf took to cover among the scrub.  Approaching
+the shelter, they read in the snow the signs of a terrible struggle
+between a man and a wolf.  The hunter's gun, snowshoes, and sash
+containing his knife, rested against the windbreak, and his axe stood
+in the snow where he had been cutting brush.  From the snow the Indians
+read the story of the long-drawn fight.  Here it told how the great
+wolf had leaped upon the back of the unsuspecting man while he was
+carrying an armful of brush, and had knocked him down.  There it showed
+that the man had grappled with the brute and rolled it over upon its
+back.  Here the signs showed that the wolf had broken free; there, that
+the two had grappled again, and in their struggle had rolled over and
+over.  The snow was now strewn with wolf-hair, and dyed with blood.
+While the dreadful encounter had raged, the battleground had kept
+steadily shifting nearer the gun.  Just a couple of yards away from it
+lay the frozen body of poor old Pot-fighter's-father.  His deerskin
+clothing was slit to tatters; his scalp was torn away; his fingers were
+chewed off, but his bloody mouth was filled with hair and flesh of the
+wolf.
+
+After burying the body of old Pot-fighter's-father in a mound of
+stones, the Indians determined to continue in pursuit of the wolf.  Its
+tracks at last led them to a solitary lodge that stood in the shelter
+of a thicket of spruce.  There the hunters were greeted by an Indian
+who was living in the tepee with his wife and baby.  After having a cup
+of tea, a smoke, and then a little chat, the hunters enquired about the
+tracks of the great wolf that had brought them to the lodge.  The
+Indian told them that during the night before last, while he and his
+wife were asleep with the baby between them, they had been awakened by
+a great uproar among the dogs.  They had no sooner sat up than the dogs
+had rushed into the tepee followed by an enormous wolf.  Leaping up,
+the hunter had seized his axe and attacked the beast, while his wife
+had grabbed the baby, wrapped it in a blanket, and rushing outside, had
+rammed the child out of sight in a snowdrift, and returned to help her
+husband to fight the brute.  The wolf had already killed one of the
+dogs, and the Indian in his excitement had tripped upon the bedding,
+fallen, and lost his grip upon his axe.  When he rose, he found the
+wolf between himself and his weapon.  His wife, however, had seized a
+piece of firewood and, being unobserved by the wolf, had used it as a
+club and dealt the beast so powerful a blow upon the small of the back
+that it had been seriously weakened and had given the Indian an
+opportunity to recover his axe, with which at last he had managed to
+kill the wolf.
+
+It was Mr. King's belief, however, that such unusual behaviour of a
+wolf was caused by distemper, for the brute seemed to display no more
+fear of man than would a mad dog.  And he added that the behaviour of
+the wolf in question was no more typical of wolves in general than was
+the behaviour of a mad dog typical of dogs.
+
+
+COMING OF THE FUR-RUNNERS
+
+That night, when we returned home, Oo-koo-hoo said to his grandsons:
+"Ne-geek and Ah-ging-goos, my grandchildren, the fur-runner is coming
+soon.  To-morrow do you both take the dogs and break a two-days' trail
+on Otter River in order to hasten his coming."
+
+Next morning the boys set out to break the trail.  When they camped on
+Otter River on the afternoon of the second day they cached in the river
+ice some fish for the trader's dogs.  They chopped a hole and, after
+placing the fish in, filled it up with water, which they allowed to
+freeze, with the tail of a single fish protruding, in order to show the
+fur-runner what was cached below.  To mark the spot, they planted a
+pole with its butt in the hole, and rigged up a tripod of sticks to
+support it.  At the top of the pole they tied a little bag of tea and a
+choice piece of meat for the trader.  At the bend of the river below,
+where he would surely pass, they erected another pole with a bunch of
+fir twigs attached, for the purpose of attracting his attention to
+their tracks.
+
+On their return home they found Oo-koo-hoo and Amik sorting their furs
+in anticipation of the fur-runner's arrival.  Before them lay, among
+the other skins, the skin of the black fox, and when the boys entered
+the lodge Oo-koo-hoo addressed the whole family, saying:
+
+"Do not mention the black fox to the fur-runner, since I intend keeping
+it until I go to the Post, in the hope of making a better bargain
+there.  Now sort your skins, and set aside those you wish to give in
+payment on your debt to the Great Company."
+
+During the afternoon of the following day Lawson the fur-runner for the
+Hudson's Bay Company arrived with his dog-train.  He shook hands with
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik and the boys, and kissed the women and the girls,
+as the custom of the traders is.  It being late in the day, Oo-koo-hoo
+decided not to begin trading until next morning.  So they spent the
+evening in spinning yarns around the fire.  Shortly after breakfast
+strange dogs were heard.  The boys ran out and saw an unknown man
+approaching.  When the newcomer--a French-Canadian half-breed--had
+eaten, and had joined the others in a smoke, he gave me a letter from
+Free Trader Spear.  Then Oo-koo-hoo began questioning him:
+
+"My brother, you are a stranger in this country; so I have given you
+fire and food and tobacco in friendship.  Tell me now why and from
+whence you come?"
+
+The half-breed replied: "My brother, I come from the Border
+Lands--where the plains and the forests meet--and my name is Gibeault.
+I have come to trade regularly with you as I am now working for Free
+Trader Spear, whose post, as you know, is near Fort Consolation.  You
+will do well to encourage opposition to the Great Company, and thus
+raise the price of furs."
+
+The half-breed then presented the hunters with several plugs of "T &
+B," some matches, tea, sugar, flour, and a piece of "sow-belly."  For
+some time Oo-koo-hoo sat holding a little fresh-cut tobacco in his
+hand, until Gibeault, taking notice, asked him why he did not smoke it.
+
+"The Great Company always gives me a pipe," replied the hunter.
+
+The runner for the free trader, not to be outdone, gave him a pipe.
+
+"I suppose," began Oo-koo-hoo, "that your heart is glad to see me."
+
+"Yes," replied Gibeault, "and I want to get some of your fur."
+
+"That is all very well, but I will see which way you look at me,"
+returned the Indian.
+
+"Have you much fur?" asked the half-breed.
+
+"I have enough to pay my debt to the Great Company."
+
+"Yes, I know, but you will have some left, and I want to do business
+with you, so bring out your furs and I will treat you right."
+
+"That sounds well, but you must remember that though the Great Company
+charges more, their goods are the best goods, while yours are all cheap
+rubbish."
+
+Thinking the opportunity a favourable one, Gibeault assumed an air of
+friendly solicitude and said:
+
+"The Company has cheated your people so many hundred years that they
+are now very rich.  No wonder they can afford to give you high prices
+for your furs.  Free Trader Spear is a poor but honest man.  It is to
+your great advantage to trade part of your furs with me in order to
+make it worth his while to send me here every winter.  As you know, my
+presence here compels the Company to pay full value for your furs and
+so you are the one who reaps the greatest benefit."
+
+"That is partly true," answered Oo-koo-hoo, "but I must be loyal to the
+Company.  You are here to-day and away tomorrow; but the Company is
+here for ever.  But I will not be hard on you; I will wait and see how
+you look at me."
+
+For a while the dignified Indian sat puffing at his pipe and gazing at
+the fire.  Every line of his weather-beaten and wrinkled but handsome
+face was full of sterling character.  At times his small eyes twinkled
+as a flash of cunning crept into them, and a keen sense of humour
+frequently twitched the corners of his determined mouth.  Then he
+brought out a pack of furs and, handing it to Lawson, said:
+
+"This is to pay the Great Company for the advances they gave us last
+summer."
+
+Lawson took the bundle without opening it, as it would not be checked
+over until he delivered it at Fort Consolation.  Resenting the Indian's
+attitude toward Gibeault he began:
+
+"I see, now that there's another trader here, it's easy for you to
+forget your old friends.  The free trader comes and goes.  Give him
+your furs, an' he doesn't care whether you're dead to-morrow.  It's not
+like that with the Great Company.  The Company came first among your
+people, and since then it has been like a father, not only to all your
+people before you, but to you as well.  Whenever your forefathers were
+smitten with hunger or disease, who looked after them?  It wasn't the
+free trader; it was the Company.  Who sells you the best goods?  It
+isn't the free trader; it's the Company.  Who gave you your debt last
+fall and made it possible for you to hunt this winter?  It wasn't the
+free trader; it was the Company.  My brother, you have none to thank
+but the Great Company that you're alive to-day."
+
+With a grunt of disapproval Oo-koo-hoo sullenly retorted:
+
+"The Priest says it is The Master of Life we have to thank for that.  I
+am sure that the Commissioner of the Great Company is not so great as
+God.  It is true you give us good prices now, but it is also true that
+you have not given us back the countless sums you stole from our
+fathers and grandfathers and all our people before them; for did you
+not wait until the coming of the free traders before you would give us
+the worth of our skins?  No wonder you are great masters; it seems to
+me that it takes great rogues to become great masters."
+
+The angry Lawson, to save a quarrel, bit his moustache, smiled faintly
+and, presenting the hunter with even more than Gibeault had given, said:
+
+"Never mind, my brother, you're a pretty smart man."
+
+Without replying, Oo-koo-hoo accepted the present so eagerly that he
+jerked it out of the trader's hand.  That pleased Lawson.  Presently
+the Indian threw down a bear skin, saying:
+
+"My brother, this is to see how you look at me."
+
+Now the way of the experienced fur-runner is to offer a big
+price--often an excessive price--for the first skin.  He calculates
+that it puts the Indian in a good humour and in the end gives the
+trader a chance of getting ahead of the native.  That is just what
+Lawson did, and Gibeault refused to raise the bid.
+
+"My brother," said the Indian addressing the latter, "you had better go
+home if you cannot pay better prices than the Great Company."
+
+Gibeault, nettled, outbid his rival for the next skin, and thus it went
+on, first one and then the other raising the prices higher and higher,
+much to the delight of the Indians.  Oo-koo-hoo had already sold a
+number of skins for more than their market value before it dawned on
+the white men that they were playing a losing game.  Though glaring
+savagely at each other, both were ready to capitulate.  Lawson,
+pretending to examine some of Gibeault's goods, stooped and whispered:
+
+"We're actin' like fools.  If we keep this up our bosses will fire us
+both."
+
+"Let's swap even--you take every other skin at your own figure,"
+returned the French half-breed.
+
+"Agreed," said Lawson, straightening up.
+
+No longer outbidding one another, they got the next few skins below the
+market price.  But before the traders had made good their loss the
+Indian gathered up his furs and turning to the fur-runners with a
+smile, said:
+
+"My brothers, as I see that you have agreed to cheat me, I have decided
+that I and my people will keep all our furs until we go out next
+spring; so it is now useless for you to remain any longer."
+
+Having read the note Gibeault brought me from Free Trader Spear, I
+hastened to hand the half-breed my reply, accepting Mr. and Mrs.
+Spear's invitation to be their guest for a few days when everyone would
+be gathering at Fort Consolation to attend the New Year's dance; and
+again I wondered if "Son-in-law" would be there.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+MEETING OF THE WILD MEN
+
+WHO IS SON-IN-LAW?
+
+Christmas week had arrived and now we were off for the New Year's dance
+to be held at Fort Consolation.  Instead of travelling round three
+sides of an oblong as we had done to reach Oo-koo-hoo's hunting ground
+by canoe, we now, travelling on snowshoes, cut across country, over
+hill and valley, lake and river, in a southeasterly direction, until we
+struck Caribou River and then turned toward White River and finally
+arrived at God's Lake.  Our little party included Oo-koo-hoo, his wife
+Ojistoh, their granddaughter Neykia, and myself.  Our domestic outfit
+was loaded upon two hunting sleds in the hauling of which we all took
+turns, as well as in relieving each other in the work of track beating.
+At night we camped in the woods without any shelter save brush
+windbreaks over the heads of our beds, our couches being made of
+balsam-twigs laid shingle fashion in the snow.  For the sake of warmth
+Ojistoh and Neykia slept together, while Oo-koo-hoo and I cuddled up
+close to one another and fitted together like spoons in a cutlery case,
+for the cold sometimes dipped to forty below.
+
+The prisoner of the city, however, may think sleeping under such
+conditions not only a terrible hardship but a very dangerous thing in
+the way of catching one's death of cold.  I can assure him it is
+nothing of the kind--when the bed is properly made.  And not only does
+one _never_ catch cold under such conditions, but it is my experience
+that there is no easier way to get rid of a bad cold than to sleep out
+in the snow, wrapped in a Hudson's Bay blanket, a caribou robe, or a
+rabbit-skin quilt, when the thermometer is about fifty below zero.  But
+rather than delay over a description in detail of the mere novelty of
+winter travel, let us hurry along to our first destination, and visit
+the Free Trader Mr. Spear and his family, and find out for our own
+satisfaction whether or not the mysterious "Son-in-law" had recently
+been courting the charming Athabasca.
+
+When we reached God's Lake, for a while we snowshoed down the centre,
+until at the parting of our ways we said good-bye, for the Indians were
+heading directly for Fort Consolation.  As I neared Spearhead and came
+in view of its one and only house, the Free Trader's dogs set up a
+howl, and Mr. Spear came out to greet me and lead me into the sitting
+room where I was welcomed by his wife and daughter.  Now I made a
+discovery: quartered in a box in the hall behind the front door they
+had three geese that being quite free to walk up and down the hall,
+occasionally strolled about for exercise.  As good luck would have it,
+supper was nearly ready, and I had just sufficient time to make use of
+the tin hand-basin in the kitchen before the tea bell rang.  Again,
+during the first half of the meal we all chatted in a lively strain,
+all save Athabasca, who, though blushing less than usual, smiled a
+little more, and murmured an occasional yes or no; all the while
+looking even more charming.  But her composure endured not long, for
+her mother presently renewed the subject of "Son-in-law":
+
+"Father, don't you think it would be a good idea if you took son-in-law
+into partnership very soon?"
+
+"Yes, Mother, I do, because business is rapidly growing, and I'll need
+help in the spring.  Besides, it would give me a chance to do my own
+fur-running in winter, and in that way I believe I could double, if not
+treble, our income."
+
+Athabasca turned crimson and I followed suit--for being a born blusher
+myself, and mortally hating it, I could never refrain from sympathizing
+with others similarly afflicted.
+
+"Precisely, Father," replied Mrs. Spear, "that's exactly what I
+thought.  So you see you wouldn't be making any sacrifice whatever, and
+such an arrangement would prove an advantage all round.  Everybody
+would be the happier for it, and it seems to me to delay the wedding
+would be a vital mistake."
+
+From that moment until we left the table Athabasca concentrated her
+vision on her plate; and I wondered more than ever who "Son-in-law"
+could be.  Then an idea came to me, and I mused: "We'll surely see him
+at Fort Consolation."
+
+After supper I discovered a new member of the household, a chore-boy,
+twenty-eight years of age, who had come out from England to learn
+farming in the Free Trader's stump lot, and who was paying Mr. Spear so
+many hundred dollars a year for that privilege, and also for the
+pleasure of daily cleaning out the stable--and the pig pen.  When I
+first saw him, I thought: "Why here, at last, is 'Son-in-law.'"  But on
+second consideration, I knew he was not the lucky man, for it was
+evident the Spears did not recognize him as their social equal, since
+they placed him, at meal time, out in the kitchen at the table with
+their two half-breed maid-servants.
+
+That evening, while sitting around the big wood stove, we discussed
+Shakespeare, Byron, Scott, and even the latest novel that was then in
+vogue--"Trilby," if I remember right--for the Spears not only
+subscribed to the _Illustrated London News_ and _Blackwood's_ but they
+took _Harper's_ and _Scribner's_, too.  And by the way, though
+Athabasca had never been to school, her mother had personally attended
+to her education.  When bedtime arrived, they all peeled off their
+moccasins and stockings and hung them round the stove to dry, and then
+pitter-pattered up the cold, bare stairs in their bare feet.  I was
+shown into the spare room and given a candle, and when I bade them
+good-night and turned to close the door, I discovered that there was no
+door to close, nor was there even a curtain to screen me from view.
+The bed, however, was an old-fashioned wooden affair with a big solid
+footboard, so I concluded that in case of any one passing the doorway,
+I could crouch behind the foot of the bed.  Then, when I blew out my
+candle, I got a great surprise, for lo and behold! I could see all over
+the house!  I could see "Paw and Maw" getting undressed, Athabasca
+saying her prayers, and the half-breed maids getting into bed.
+
+How did it happen?  The cracks between the upright boards of my
+partition were so wide that I could have shoved my fingers through.  As
+a matter of fact, Mr. Spear explained next day, the lumber being green,
+rather than nail the boards tightly into place, he had merely stood
+them up, and waited for them to season.
+
+During the night the cold grew intense, and several times I was
+startled out of my sleep by a frosty report from the ice and snow on
+the roof that reminded one of the firing of a cannon.
+
+In the morning when the geese began screeching in the lower hall, I
+thought it was time to get up, and was soon in the very act of pulling
+off a certain garment over my head when one of the half-breed
+maids--the red-headed one whose hair Mr. Spear had cut off with the
+horse clippers--intruded herself into my room to see if I were going to
+be down in time for breakfast, and I had to drop behind the foot of the
+bed.
+
+At breakfast, the first course was oatmeal porridge; the second,
+"Son-in-law"; the third, fried bacon, toast, and tea; after which we
+all put on our wraps for our five-mile trip across God's Lake to Fort
+Consolation.  Everyone went, maids, chore-boy, and all, and everyone
+made the trip on snowshoes--all save the trader's wife, who rode in
+state, in a carriole, hauled by a tandem train of four dogs.
+
+
+THE NEW YEAR'S DANCE
+
+It was a beautiful sunny day and the air was very still; and though the
+snow was wind-packed and hard, the footing was very tiresome, for the
+whole surface of the lake was just one endless mass of hard-packed
+snowdrifts that represented nothing so much as a great, stormy,
+white-capped sea that had been instantly congealed.  And for us it was
+just up and down, in and out, up and down, in and out, all the way
+over.  These solid white waves, however, proved one thing, and that was
+the truth of Oo-koo-hoo's woodcraft; for, just as he had previously
+told me, if we had been suddenly encompassed by a dense fog or a heavy
+snowstorm, we could never for a moment have strayed from our true
+course; as all the drifts pointed one way, south-by-southeast, and
+therefore must have kept us to our proper direction.
+
+There were many dogs and sleds, and many Indians and half-breeds, too,
+about the Fort when we arrived; and as the dogs heralded our approach,
+the Factor came out to greet us and wish us a Happy New Year.  At the
+door Mrs. Mackenzie, the half-breed wife of the Factor, was waiting
+with a beaming smile and a hearty welcome for us; and after we had
+removed our outer wraps, she led us over to the storehouse in which a
+big room had been cleared, and heated, and decorated to answer as a
+ballroom and banqueting hall.  Tables were being laid for the feast,
+and Indian mothers and maidens and children, too, were already sitting
+on the floor around the sides of the room, and with sparkling eyes were
+watching the work in happy expectation.  Around the doorway, both out
+and in, stood the men--Indians and half-breeds and a few French and
+English Canadians.  Some wore hairy caribou _capotes_, others hairless
+moose-skin jackets trimmed with otter or beaver fur, others again
+were-garbed in duffel _capotes_ of various colours with hoods and
+turned-back cuffs of another hue; but the majority wore _capotes_ made
+of Hudson's Bay blanket and trimmed with slashed fringes at the
+shoulders and skirt; while their legs were encased in trousers gartered
+below the knee, and their feet rested comfortably in moccasins.
+Though, when snowshoeing, all the men wore hip-high leggings of duffel
+or blanket, the former sometimes decorated with a broad strip of
+another colour, the latter were always befringed the whole way down the
+outer seam; both kinds were gartered at the knee.  Such leggings are
+always removed when entering a lodge or house or when resting beside a
+campfire--in order to free the legs from the gathered snow and prevent
+it from thawing and wetting the trousers.  The children wore outer
+garments of either blanket or rabbit skin, while the women gloried in
+brilliant plaid shawls of two sizes--a small one for the head and a
+large one for the shoulders.  The short cloth skirts of the women and
+girls were made so that the fullness at the waist, instead of being cut
+away, was merely puckered into place, and beneath the lower hem of the
+skirt showed a pair of beaded leggings and a pair of silk-worked
+moccasins.
+
+All the Indians shook hands with us, for in the Canadian Government's
+treaty with them it is stipulated that: "We expect you to be good
+friends with everyone, and shake hands with all whom you meet."  And I
+might further add that the Indian--when one meets him in the winter
+bush--is more polite than the average white man, for he always removes
+his mitten, and offers one his bare hand.  Further, if his hand happens
+to be dirty, he will spit on it and rub it on his leggings to try and
+cleanse it before presenting it to you.  But when he did that, I could
+never decide which was the more acceptable condition--before or after.
+
+When the Factor entered, he was greeted with a perfect gale of
+merriment, as it was the ancient custom of the Great Company that he
+should kiss every woman and girl at the New Year's feast.  After that
+historical ceremony was over--in which Free Trader Spear also had to do
+his duty--and the laughter had subsided, the principal guests were
+seated at the Factor's table, the company consisting of the three
+clergymen, the Spears, myself, the two North-West Mounted
+Policemen--who had just arrived from the south--and a few native
+headmen, including my friend Oo-koo-hoo.  Though the feast was served
+in relays, some of the guests who were too hungry to await their turn
+were served as they sat about the floor.  The dishes included the
+choice of moose, caribou, bear, lynx, beaver, or muskrat.
+
+Then a couple of picturesque, shock-haired French Canadians got up on a
+big box that rested upon a table, and tuning up their fiddles, the
+dance was soon in full swing.  In rapid succession the music changed
+from the Double Jig to the Reel of Four, the Duck Dance, the Double
+Reel of Four, the Reel of Eight, and the Red River Jig, till the old
+log storehouse shook from its foundation right up to its very rafters.
+The breathless, perspiring, but happy couples kept at it until
+exhaustion fairly overtook them, and then dropping out now and then,
+they sat on the floor around the walls till they had rested; and then,
+with all their might and main, they went at it again.  Among other
+things I noticed that the natives who were smoking were so considerate
+of their hosts' feelings that they never for a moment forgot themselves
+enough to soil the freshly scrubbed floor, but always used their
+upturned fur caps as cuspidors.
+
+The children, even the little tots, showed great interest in the
+dancing of their parents, and so delighted did they become that they
+would sometimes gather in a group in a corner and try to step in time
+with the music.
+
+Everyone that could dance took a turn--even Oo-koo-hoo and old Granny
+did the "light fantastic"--and at one time or another all the principal
+guests were upon the floor; all save--the priest.  The scarlet tunics
+of the corporal and the constable of the Royal North-West Mounted
+Police as well as the sombre black of the English Church and the
+Presbyterian clergymen, added much to the whirling colour scheme, as
+well as to the joy of the occasion.  But look where I would I could not
+find "Son-in-law," and though the blushing Athabasca was often in the
+dance, it was plain to see her lover was not there, for even the
+handsome policemen, though they paid her marked attention, gave no
+sign, either of them, of being the lucky one.  In the number of
+partners, Oo-koo-hoo's granddaughter outshone them all, and, moreover,
+her lover was present.  At every chance Shing-wauk--The Little
+Pine--was shyly whispering to her and she was looking very happy.  Even
+I rose to the occasion and had for my first partner our host's swarthy
+wife, a wonderful performer, who, after her husband's retirement from
+the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, became the most popular dancer
+in all Winnipeg.  Nor must I forget my dance with that merry, muscular,
+iron-framed lady, Oo-koo-hoo's better half--old Granny--who at first
+crumpled me up in her gorilla-like embrace, and ended by swinging me
+clean off my feet, much to the merriment of the Indian maidens.
+
+As the afternoon wore on the Rabbit Dance began, and was soon followed
+by the Hug-Me-Snug, the Drops of Brandy, and the Saskatchewan Circle,
+and--last but not least--the Kissing Dance.  And when the Kissing Dance
+was encored for the fifth time, the company certainly proclaimed it a
+Happy New Year.
+
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL ATHABASCA
+
+Again at tea time the guests gathered round the festive board; then, a
+little later, the music once more signalled the dancers to take their
+places on the floor.  Hour after hour it went on.  After midnight
+another supper was served; but still "the band"--consisting of a violin
+and a concertina--played on, and still the moccasined feet pounded the
+floor without intermission.  At the very height of the fun, when the
+Free Trader's charming daughter was being whirled about by a scarlet
+tunic, Mrs. Spear turned to me and beamed:
+
+"Doesn't Athabasca look radiantly beautiful?"
+
+"Indeed she does!" I blushed.
+
+"And what a delightful party this is . . . but there's just one thing
+lacking . . . to make it perfect."
+
+"What's that?" I enquired.
+
+"A wedding . . . my dear."  Then, after a long pause, during which she
+seemed to be staring at me--but I didn't dare look--she impatiently
+tossed her head and exclaimed:
+
+"My . . . but some men are deathly slow!"
+
+"Indeed they are," I agreed.
+
+About four o'clock in the morning the music died down, then, after much
+hand-shaking, the company dispersed in various directions over the
+moonlit snow; some to their near-by lodges, some to the log shacks in
+the now-deserted Indian village, and others to their distant hunting
+grounds.  It must have been nearly five o'clock before the ladies in
+the Factor's house went upstairs, and the men lay down upon caribou,
+bear, and buffalo skins on the otherwise bare floor of the living room.
+It was late next morning when we arose, yet already the policemen had
+vanished--they had again set out on their long northern patrol.
+
+At breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Spear invited me to return and spend the
+night with them, and as Oo-koo-hoo and his wife wanted to remain a few
+days to visit some Indian friends, and as the Factor had told me that
+the north-bound packet with the winter's mail from the railroad was
+soon due; and as, moreover, the Fur Brigade would be starting south in
+a few days, and it would travel for part of the way along our homeward
+trail, I accepted Mr. Mackenzie's invitation to return to Fort
+Consolation and depart with the Fur Brigade.
+
+It was a cold trip across the lake as the thermometer had dropped many
+degrees and a northwest wind was blowing in our faces.  As I had
+frequently had my nose frozen, it now turned white very quickly, and a
+half-breed, who was crossing with us, turned round every once in a
+while and exclaimed to me:
+
+"Oh my gud! your nose all froze!"
+
+The snow seemed harder than ever, and for long stretches we took off
+our snowshoes and ran over the drifts, but so wind-packed were they
+that they received little impression from our feet.  Of course, when we
+arrived at Spearhead, the house was cold and everything in it above the
+cellar--except the cats and geese--was frozen solid; but it is
+surprising how quickly those good old-fashioned box stoves will heat a
+dwelling; for in twenty or thirty minutes those wood-burning stoves
+were red-hot and the whole house comfortably warm.
+
+It's strange, but nevertheless true, that "Son-in-law" was never once
+mentioned at dinner, but later on, when Athabasca and I were sitting
+one on either side of the room, Mrs. Spear got up and, getting a
+picture book, asked:
+
+"Mr. Heming, are you fond of pictures?  Daughter has a delightful
+little picture book here that I want her to show you, so now, my dears,
+both sit over there on the sofa where the light will be better, and
+look at it together."
+
+Moving over to the old horsehair sofa--the pride of all Spearhead and
+even of Fort Consolation--we sat down together, much closer than I had
+expected, as some of the springs were broken, thus forming a hollow in
+the centre of the affair, into which we both slid without warning--just
+as though it were a trap set for bashful people.  Then Mrs. Spear with
+a sigh, evidently of satisfaction, withdrew from the room, and we were
+left alone together.  With the book spread out upon our knees we looked
+it over for perhaps----  Well, I am not sure how long, but anyway, when
+I came to, I saw something just in front of me on the floor.  Really,
+it startled me.  For in following it up with my eye I discovered that
+it was the toe of a moccasin, and the worst of it was that it was being
+worn by Mrs. Spear.  There, for ever so long, she must have been
+standing and watching us.  The worst of that household was that all its
+members wore moccasins, so you could never hear them coming.
+
+That night, when we were sitting around the stove, Mrs. Spear explained
+to me how she had educated her daughter and added: "But perhaps, after
+all, if the wedding is not going to take place right away, it might be
+well to send Daughter to some finishing school for a few months--say in
+Toronto," and then, after a little pause, and still looking at me, she
+asked: "To which school would you prefer us to send Athabasca?"
+
+When I named the most fashionable girls' school in that city, "Paw and
+Maw" settled it, there and then, that Daughter would attend it next
+fall, that is, unless it was decided to celebrate her wedding at an
+earlier date.
+
+Next morning, at breakfast, Mrs. Spear suggested that Athabasca should
+take me for a drive through the woods and Mr. Spear remarked:
+
+"You know, Mr. Heming, we haven't any cutter or any suitable sleigh,
+and besides, one of the horses is working in the stump lot; but I think
+I can manage."
+
+In a little while he led a horse round to the front door.  The animal
+had a pole attached to either side, the other end of which dragged out
+behind; across the two poles, just behind the horse's tail, was
+fastened a rack of cross poles upon which was placed some straw and a
+buffalo robe.  It was really a _travois_, the kind of conveyance used
+by the Plains Indians.  Getting aboard the affair, off we went, the old
+plug rumbling along in a kind of a trotting walk, while Athabasca held
+the reins.  The morning being a fine sunny one, and the trees being
+draped and festooned with snow, the scene was so beautiful when we got
+into the thicker woods that it made one think of fairyland.  A couple
+of fluffy little whiskey jacks followed us all the way there and back,
+just as though they wanted to see and hear everything that was going
+on; but those little meddlers of the northwoods must have been
+disappointed, for both Athabasca and I were not only too shy to talk,
+but too bashful even to sit upright; in fact, we both leaned so far
+away from one another that we each hung over our side of the trap, and
+did nothing but gaze far off into the enchanted wood.  We must have
+been gone nearly two hours when the house again came into view.  Yes, I
+enjoyed it.  It was so romantic.  But what I couldn't understand was
+why her parents allowed her to go with me, when they were already
+counting on "Son-in-law" marrying her.  It was certainly a mystery to
+me.  However, that afternoon I left for Fort Consolation.
+
+
+BACK TO FORT CONSOLATION
+
+On my way across the lake I noticed that the wind was veering round
+toward the east and that the temperature was rising.  When I arrived in
+good time for supper Factor Mackenzie seemed relieved, and remarked
+that the barometer indicated a big storm from the northeast.  That
+night, in front of the big open fire, we talked of the fur trade.
+Among other books and papers he showed me was a copy of the Company's
+Deed Poll; not published a century ago, but printed at the time of
+which I am writing, and thus it read:
+
+"To all whom these presents shall come, The Governor and Company of
+Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay send greeting.
+Whereas His Majesty King Charles the Second did, by His Royal Charter,
+constitute the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading
+into Hudson's Bay in a Body Corporate, with perpetual succession and
+with power to elect a Governor and Deputy Governor and Committee for
+the management of their trade and affairs----."
+
+From it I learned that the commissioned officers appointed by the
+Company to carry on their trade in Canada were: a Commissioner, three
+Inspecting Chief Factors, eight Chief Factors, fifteen Factors, ten
+Chief Traders, and twenty-one Junior Chief Traders, all of whom on
+appointment became shareholders in the Company.  While the Governor and
+Committee had their offices in London, the Commissioner was the
+Canadian head with his offices in Winnipeg, and to assist him an
+advisory council, composed of Chief Factors and Chief Traders, was
+occasionally called.  The Company's territory was divided into four
+departments--the Western, the Southern, the Northern, and the
+Montreal--while each department was again sub-divided into many
+districts, the total number being thirty-four.  The non-commissioned
+employees at the various posts were: clerks, postmasters, and servants.
+Besides the regular post servants there were others employed such as:
+voyageurs, among whom were the guides, canoe-men, boatmen, and scowmen;
+then, again, there were fur-runners, fort-hunters, and packeteers.
+
+In the morning a miserable northeaster was blowing a heavy fall of snow
+over the country, and the Factor offered to show me the fur-loft where
+the clerk and a few half-breed men-servants were folding and packing
+furs.  First they were put into a collapsible mould to hold them in the
+proper form, then when the desired weight of eighty pounds had been
+reached, they were passed into a powerful home-made fur-press, and
+after being pressed down into a solid pack, were corded and covered
+with burlap, and marked ready for shipment.  The room in which the men
+worked was a big loft with endless bundles of skins of many sizes and
+colours hanging from the rafters, and with long rows of shelves stacked
+with folded furs, and with huge piles of pelts and opened bales upon
+the floor.  Also there were moose and caribou horns lying about, and
+bundles of Indian-made snowshoes hanging by wires from the rafters, and
+in one corner kegs of dried beaver castors.
+
+
+THE WINTER MAIL ARRIVES
+
+On the morning of the second day of the storm I happened to be in the
+Indian shop, where I had gone to see the Factor and the clerk barter
+for the furs of a recently arrived party of Indian fur-hunters, when
+presently I was startled by hearing:
+
+"_Voyez, voyez, le pacquet_!" shouted by Bateese as he floundered into
+the trading room without a thought of closing the door, though the
+drifting snow scurried in after him.  Vociferously he called to the
+others to come and see, and instantly trade was stopped.  The Factor,
+the clerk, and the Indians, rushed to the doorway to obtain a glimpse
+of the long-expected packet.  For two days the storm had raged, and the
+snow was still blowing in clouds that blotted out the neighbouring
+forest.
+
+"Come awa', Bateese, ye auld fule!  Come awa' ben, an steek yon door!
+Ye dinna see ony packet!" roared the Factor, who could distinguish
+nothing through the flying snow.
+
+"_Bien, m'sieu_, mebbe she not very clear jus' now; but w'en I pass
+from de Mad Wolf's Hill, w'en de storm she lif' a leetle, I see two men
+an' dog-train on de lac below de islan's," replied the half-breed
+fort-hunter, who had returned from a caribou cache, and whose duty it
+was to keep the fort supplied with meat.
+
+"Weel, fetch me the gless, ma mon; fetch me the gless an' aiblins we
+may catch a glint o' them through this smoorin' snaw; though I doot
+it's the packet, as ye say."  And the Factor stood shading his eyes and
+gazing anxiously in the direction of the invisible islands.  But before
+the fort-hunter had returned with the telescope, the snowy veil
+suddenly thinned and revealed the gray figure of a tripper coming up
+the bank.
+
+"_Quay, quay_!  Ke-e-e-pling!" sang out one of the Indians.  He had
+recognized the tripper to be Kipling, the famous snowshoe runner.
+Immediately all save the Factor rushed forward to meet the little
+half-breed who was in charge of the storm-bound packet, and to welcome
+him with a fusilade of gunshots.
+
+Everyone was happy now, for last year's news of the "_Grand Pays_"--the
+habitant's significant term for the outer world--had at last arrived.
+The monotonous routine of the Post was forgotten.  To-day the long,
+dreary silence of the winter would be again broken in upon by hearty
+feasting, merry music, and joyous dancing in honour of the arrival of
+the half-yearly mail.
+
+All crowded round the voyageur, who, though scarcely more than five
+feet in height, was famed as a snowshoe runner throughout the
+wilderness stretching from the Canadian Pacific Railroad to the Arctic
+Ocean.  While they were eagerly plying him with questions, the crack of
+a dog-whip was heard.  Soon the faint tinkling of bells came through
+the storm.  In a moment all the dogs of the settlement were in an
+uproar, for the packet had arrived.
+
+With a final rush the gaunt, travel-worn dogs galloped through the
+driving snow, and, eager for the shelter of the trading room, bolted
+pell-mell through the gathering at the doorway, upsetting several
+spectators before the driver could halt the runaways by falling
+headlong upon the foregoer's back and flattening him to the floor.
+
+All was excitement.  Every dog at the post dashed in with bristling
+hair and clamping jaws to overawe the strangers.  Amid the hubbub of
+shouting men, women, and children, the cracking of whips, and the
+yelping of dogs, the packet was removed from the overturned sled and
+hustled into the Factor's office, where it was opened, and the mail
+quickly overhauled.  While the Factor and his clerk were busily writing
+despatches, a relay of dogs was being harnessed, and two fresh runners
+were making ready to speed the mail upon its northward way.
+
+Before long the Factor's letters were sealed and carefully deposited in
+the packet box, which was lashed on the tail of the sled, the forepart
+of which was packed with blankets, flour, tea, and pork for the
+packeteers, and frozen whitefish for the dogs.  Then amid the usual
+handshaking the word "_Marche_!" was given, and to the tune of cracking
+whips, whining dogs, and crunching snow, the northern packet glided out
+upon the lake with the Indian track-beater hurrying far ahead while the
+half-breed dog-driver loped behind the sled.  Thus for over two
+centuries the Hudson's Bay Company had been sending its mails through
+the great wilderness of Northern Canada.
+
+
+THE DOG BRIGADE
+
+That afternoon five dog-trains arrived from outlying posts.  They had
+come to join the Dog Brigade that was to leave Fort Consolation first
+thing in the morning on its southern way to the far-off railroad.  As I
+wished to accompany the brigade, I had arranged with Oo-koo-hoo that we
+should do so, as far as we could without going out of our way, in
+returning to his hunting grounds.  So to bed that night we all went
+very early, and at four o'clock in the morning we were astir again.
+Breakfast was soon over, then followed the packing of the sleds, the
+harnessing of the dogs, the slipping of moccasined feet into snowshoe
+thongs, the shaking of hands, and the wishing of farewells.  Already
+the tracker, or track-beater, had gone ahead to break the trail.
+
+"_M-a-r-r-che_!" (start) shouted the guide--as the head dog-driver is
+called.  Every driver repeated the word; whips cracked; dogs howled,
+and the brigade moved forward in single file.  At the head went the
+Factor's train of four powerful-looking and handsomely harnessed dogs
+hauling a decorated carriole in which the Factor rode and behind which
+trotted a picturesque half-breed driver.  Next in order went the teams
+of the Church of England clergyman and the Roman Catholic priest, both
+of whom happened to be going out to the railroad.  Behind these
+followed twelve sleds or toboggans, laden with furs, which the Hudson's
+Bay Company was shipping to its Department Headquarters.  When one
+remembers that black or silver fox skins are frequently sold for over a
+thousand dollars each, one may surmise the great value of a cargo of
+furs weighing nearly four thousand pounds, such as the Dog Brigade was
+hauling.  No wonder the Company was using all haste to place those furs
+on the London market before the then high prices fell.
+
+The brigade formed an interesting sight, as the Indians, half-breeds,
+and white men were garbed most curiously; and in strong contrast to the
+brilliant colours worn by the members of the brigade, the clergymen
+trotted along in their sombre black--the priest's cassock flowing to
+his snowshoes, and his crucifix thrust, daggerlike, in his girdle.
+
+The four dogs comprising each of the fur-trains hauled three hundred
+pounds of fur besides the camp outfit and grub for both driver and
+dogs--in all, about five hundred pounds to the sled.  When the
+sleighing grew heavy, the drivers used long pushing-poles against the
+ends of the sleds to help the dogs.
+
+
+TRAVELLING WITH DOG-TRAINS
+
+While the march always started in a stately way--the Factor's carriole
+in advance--it was not long before the trains abandoned their formal
+order; for whenever one train was delayed through any one of many
+reasons, the train behind invariably strove to steal ahead so that
+after a few hours' run the best dogs were usually leading.
+
+For several hours we followed the lake and the river, and just before
+daylight appeared in the southeastern sky the Aurora Borealis vanished
+from view.  Later, a golden glow tipping the tops of the tallest trees,
+heralded the rising of the sun.  Coming out upon a little lake--for we
+were now short-cutting across the country--we saw that the light over
+the distant hills had broken into a glorious flood of sunshine.  Half
+over the far-off trees, along the horizon, the sun was shining, and the
+whole southeastern sky seemed aflame with bands and balls of fire.  A
+vertical ribbon of gradually diminishing lustre, scarcely wider than
+the sun, was rising into the heavens to meet a vast semi-circle of
+rainbow beauty arched above the natural sun.  Where the strange halo
+cut the vertical flame and the horizon on either side three mock suns
+marked the intersection.  Above the natural sun and beneath the halo,
+four other mock suns studded the vertical band of light.  It was a
+wonderful sight and lasted fully twenty minutes--the sky was just as I
+have shown it in my picture of the York Factory Packet.
+
+Now the brigade was halted, in voyageur parlance, "to spell the dogs
+one smoke," which, being translated, meant that the dogs could rest as
+long as it took their masters to smoke a pipeful of tobacco.  The
+drivers, conversing in little groups or sitting upon sleds as they
+puffed at their pipes, watched the beautiful phenomenon, and the talk
+turned to the many remarkable sun-dogs that they had seen.  Presently
+the mock suns grew dim; the arch faded away; the band lost its colour;
+the true sun rose above the trees and then, as ashes were knocked from
+pipes, we resumed our journey.
+
+After leaving the lake we entered a muskeg that extended for miles.
+Its uneven surface was studded with countless grassy hummocks, many of
+them crowned with willow and alder bushes or gnarled and stunted
+spruces or jack pines.  It made hard hauling for the dogs.  From a
+distance, the closely following trains reminded one of a great serpent
+passing over the country, that--when it encountered a hummocky section
+requiring the trains to turn from side to side, and to glide up and
+down--seemed to be writhing in pain.  Near the end of the swamp an open
+hillside rose before us, and upon its snowy slopes the sun showed
+thousands of rabbit-runs intersecting one another in a maze of tracks
+that made one think of a vast gray net cast over the hill.
+
+Passing into a "bent-pole" district we encountered an endless number of
+little spruce trees, the tops of which had become so laden with snow
+that their slender stems, no longer able to sustain the weight, had
+bent almost double as they let their white-capped heads rest in the
+snow upon the ground.  Later, we entered a park-like forest where pine
+trees stood apart with seldom any brushwood between.  Fresh marten
+tracks were noticed in the snow.  A little farther on, two
+timber-wolves were seen slinking along like shadows among the distant
+trees as they paralleled our trail on the right.  The dogs noticed
+them, too, but they, like their masters, were too busy to pay much
+attention.  The wolves were big handsome creatures with thick fluffy
+coats that waved like tall grasses in a strong breeze as they bounded
+along.
+
+Coming to a steep hill everyone helped the dogs in their climb.  When
+at last the brigade, puffing and panting, reached the summit, pipes
+were at once in evidence and then another rest followed.  When the
+descent began, the drivers--most of them having removed their snowshoes
+that their feet might sink deeper into the snow--seized their
+trail-lines, and, acting as anchors behind the sleds, allowed
+themselves to be hauled stiff-legged through the deep snow in their
+effort to keep the sleds from over-running the dogs.  It was exciting
+work.  The men throwing their utmost weight upon the lines sought every
+obstruction, swerving against trees, bracing against roots, grasping at
+branches, and floundering through bushes.  Often they fell, and
+occasionally, when they failed to regain their footing, were
+mercilessly dragged downhill; the heavy sleds, gathering momentum,
+overtook the fleeing dogs, and their unfortunate masters were ploughed
+head-first through the snow.  At the foot of the steepest incline a
+tumult arose as men and dogs struggled together in an effort to free
+themselves from overturned sleds.  Above the cursing in French and
+English--but not in Indian--rose the howling of the dogs as lead-loaded
+lashes whistled through the frosty air.  One wondered how such a tangle
+could ever be unravelled, but soon all was set straight again.
+
+About eight o'clock we had our second breakfast and by twelve we
+stopped again for the noon-day meal, both of which consisted of
+bannock, pork, and tea.  While we ate, the dogs, still harnessed, lay
+curled up in the snow.
+
+Again the guide shouted "_Ma-r-r-che_!" and again the brigade moved
+forward.  Some of the trains were handsomely harnessed, especially the
+Factor's.  The loin-cloths of the dogs, called _tapis_, were richly
+embroidered and edged with fringe.  Above the collars projected pompons
+of broken colours and clusters of streaming ribbons, while beneath hung
+a number of bells.  All the dogs were hitched tandem, and every train
+was made up of four units.  Except the dogs of the Factor's train,
+there were few real "huskies," as Eskimo dogs are called, for most of
+the brutes were the usual sharp-nosed, heavy-coated mongrels that in
+the Strong Woods Country go by the name of _giddes_; some, however, had
+been sired by wolves.
+
+The track-beater's snowshoes, which were the largest used by any of the
+brigade, were Wood Cree "hunting shoes" and measured nearly six feet in
+length.  The other men wore Chipewyan "tripping shoes" about three feet
+long--the only style of Canadian snowshoes that are made in "rights and
+lefts."
+
+For a number of miles we passed through heavily timbered forest where
+shafts of sunlight threw patches of brilliant white upon the woodland's
+winter carpet, and where gentle breezes had played fantastically with
+the falling snow, for it was heaped in all manner of remarkable forms.
+Here and there long, soft festoons of white were draped about groups of
+trees where the living stood interlocked with the dead.  Among the
+branches huge "snow-bosses" were seen, and "snow-mushrooms" of wondrous
+shape and bulk were perched upon logs and stumps.  "Snow-caps" of
+almost unbelievable size were mounted upon the smallest of trees, the
+slender trunks of which seemed ready to break at any moment.  It was
+all so strangely picturesque that it suggested an enchanted forest.
+
+Early that afternoon we came upon an Indian lodge hiding in the woods,
+and from within came three little children.  It was then fully twenty
+below zero, yet the little tots, wishing to watch the passing brigade,
+stood in the most unconcerned way, holding each other by the hand,
+their merry eyes shining from their wistful faces while their bare legs
+and feet were buried in the snow.  Though they wore nothing but little
+blanket shirts, what healthy, happy children they appeared to be!
+
+Then out upon a lake we swung where the wind-packed snow made easy
+going.  Here the heavy sleds slid along as if loadless, and we broke
+into a run.  On rounding a point we saw a band of woodland caribou trot
+off the lake and enter the distant forest.  By the time we reached the
+end of the lake, and had taken to the shelter of the trees, dusk was
+creeping through the eastern woods and the rabbits had come out to
+play.  They were as white as the snow upon which they ran
+helter-skelter after one another.  Forward and backward they bounded
+across the trail without apparently noticing the dogs.  Sometimes they
+passed within ten feet of us.  The woodland seemed to swarm with them,
+and no wonder, for it was the seventh year, the year of Northland game
+abundance, when not only rabbits are most numerous, but also all the
+other dwellers of the wilderness that prey upon them.  Already,
+however, the periodical plague had arrived.  When I stopped to adjust a
+snowshoe thong I counted five dead hares within sight; next year
+starvation would be stalking the forest creatures.
+
+
+CAMPING IN THE SNOW
+
+While the sunset glow was rapidly fading, the brigade halted to make
+camp for the night.  All were to sleep in the open, for dog brigades
+never carry tents but bivouac on the snow with nothing but a blanket
+between the sleeper and the Aurora Borealis--though the thermometer may
+fall to sixty below zero.  Some of the men moved off with axes in their
+hands, and the sound of chopping began to echo through the forest.  On
+every side big dry trees came crashing down.  Then the huge "long
+fires", driving darkness farther away, began to leap and roar.  Then,
+too, could be seen the building of stages on which to place the
+valuable fur-laden sleds out of reach of the destructive dogs; the
+gathering of evergreen brush; the unhitching of dogs and the hanging up
+of their harness in the surrounding trees; the unloading of sleds; the
+placing of frozen whitefish to thaw for the dogs; the baking of
+bannocks, the frying of pork, and the infusing of tea.  Then, in
+silence, the men ate ravenously, while the hungry dogs watched them.
+
+When pipes had been filled and lighted each driver took his allotment
+of fish, called his dogs aside, and gave them a couple each.  Some of
+the brutes bolted their food in a few gulps and rushed to seize the
+share of others, but a few blows from the drivers' whips drove them
+back.
+
+When the dogs had devoured their day's rations--for they are fed only
+once every twenty-four hours--their masters sought out sheltered spots
+for them and cut a few branches of brush for their beds.  Some of the
+men cooked a supply of bannock to be eaten the following day.  Others
+hung their moccasins, mittens, and leggings on little sticks before the
+fires to dry.  It was an animated scene.  The "long fires" were huge
+structures, twelve or fifteen feet in length, so that each man might
+bask in the heat without crowding his neighbour.  A number stood with
+their back to the blaze while the rest sat or lounged on their blankets
+and, puffing away at their pipes, joined in the conversation that
+before long became general.
+
+Just then the dogs began to blow and then to growl, as a strange Indian
+strode out of the gloom into the brilliant glare of the fires.
+
+"_Wat-che_! _wat-che_?" (What cheer, what cheer?) sang out the men.
+The stranger replied in Cree, and then began a lively interchange of
+gossip.  The Indian was the track-beater of the south-bound packet from
+the Far North that was now approaching.  All were keenly interested.
+The cracking of whips and the howling of dogs were heard, and a little
+later the tinkling of bells.  Then came a train of long-legged,
+handsomely harnessed dogs hauling a highly decorated carriole behind
+which trotted a strikingly dressed half-breed dog-driver.  When the
+train had drawn abreast of our fire an elderly white man, who proved to
+be Chief Factor Thompson, of a still more northerly district of the
+Hudson's Bay Company, got out from beneath the carriole robes,
+cheerfully returned our greeting, and accepted a seat on the dunnage
+beside Factor Mackenzie's fire.  Two other trains and two other
+dog-drivers immediately followed the arrival of the Chief Factor, for
+they were the packeteers in charge of the packet.  Now the woods seemed
+to be full of talking and laughing men and snarling, snapping dogs.
+Twenty-two men were now crowding round the fires, and seventy-two dogs
+and eighteen sleds were blocking the spaces between the trees.
+
+
+NORTHERN MAIL SERVICE
+
+Chief Factor Thompson was the "real thing," and therefore not at all
+the kind of Hudson's Bay officer that one ever meets in fiction.  For
+instead of being a big, burly, "red-blooded brute," of the "he-man"
+type of factor--the kind that springs from nowhere save the wild
+imaginations of the authors who have never lived in the
+wilderness . . . he was just a real man . . . just a fine type of
+Hudson's Bay factor, who was not only brother to both man and beast,
+but who knew every bird by its flight or song; who loved children with
+all his heart--flowers, too--and whose kindly spirit often rose in
+song.  Yes, he was just a real man, like some of the men you know--but
+after all, perhaps he was even finer--for the wilderness does nothing
+to a man save make him healthier in body and in soul; while the cities
+are the world's cesspools.  He was rather a small, slender man, with
+fatherly eyes set in an intelligent face that was framed with gray hair
+and gray beard.
+
+After the Chief Factor and his men had been refreshed with bannock,
+pork, and tea, pipes were filled and lighted and for a time we talked
+of all sorts of subjects.  Later, when we were alone for a little
+while, I found Mr. Thompson a man richly informed on northern travel,
+for he had spent his whole life in the service of the Hudson's Bay
+Company, and at one time or another had been in charge of the principal
+posts on Hudson Bay, Great Slave Lake, and the Peace, the Churchill,
+the Athabasca, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Among other subjects
+discussed were dogs and dog-driving; and when I questioned him as to
+the loading of sleds, he answered:
+
+"Usually, in extremely cold weather, the Company allots dogs not more
+than seventy-five pounds each, but in milder weather they can handily
+haul a hundred pounds, and toward spring, when sleds slide easily, they
+often manage more than that."  Then dreamily puffing at his pipe he
+added: "I remember when six dog-trains of four dogs each hauled from
+Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca to Fort Vermillion on the Peace River
+loads that averaged six hundred and fifty pounds per sled--not
+including the grub for the men and dogs and the men's dunnage.  Then,
+again, William Irving with Chief Factor Camsell's dogs brought to Fort
+Simpson a load of nine hundred pounds.  The greatest load hauled by
+four dogs that I know of was brought to Fort Good Hope by Gaudet.  When
+it arrived it weighed a trifle over one thousand pounds.  But Factor
+Gaudet is one of the best dog-drivers in the country."  Then,
+re-settling himself more comfortably before the fire, he continued:
+
+"And while I think of it we have had some pretty fine dogs in the
+service of the Company.  The most famous of all were certainly those
+belonging to my good friend Chief Factor Wm. Clark.  He bred them from
+Scotch stag hounds and "huskies"--the latter, of course, he procured
+from the Eskimos.  His dogs, however, showed more hound than husky.
+Their hair was so short that they had to be blanketed at night.  Once
+they made a trip from Oak Point on Lake Manitoba to Winnipeg, starting
+at four o'clock in the morning, stopping for a second breakfast by the
+way, and reaching Winnipeg by one o'clock at noon, the distance being
+sixty miles.  They were splendid dogs and great pets of his.  They used
+to love playing tricks and romping with him.  Frequently, when nearing
+a post, they would purposely dump him out of his carriole and leaving
+him behind, go on to the post, where, of course, on their arrival with
+the empty sled, they were promptly sent back for Mr. Clark.
+Understanding the command, they would at once wheel about and, without
+a driver, return on the full gallop to get their master.  When coming
+upon him they would rush around and bark at him, showing all the while
+the greatest glee over the trick they had played him.  He never used a
+whip upon them.  No snowshoer could be found who was swift enough to
+break a trail for those dogs and no horse ever overtook them.  Once,
+while going from Oak Point to Winnipeg, Factor Clark's train ran down
+six wolves, allowing him to shoot the brutes as he rode in his
+carriole.  Another time they overhauled and threw a wolf which Mr.
+Clark afterward stunned, and then bound its jaws together.  When the
+brute came to, it found itself harnessed in the train in place of one
+of the dogs, and thus Chief Factor Clark drove a wild timber-wolf into
+the city of Winnipeg."
+
+"They must have been wonderful dogs," remarked Father Jois, "but it's
+too bad they don't breed such dogs nowadays."
+
+"That's so," returned the Chief Factor.  "Twenty or thirty years ago at
+each of the big posts--the district depots--they used to keep from
+forty to fifty dogs, and at the outposts, from twenty to thirty were
+always on hand.  At each of the district depots a man was engaged as
+keeper of the dogs and it was his duty to attend to their breeding,
+training, and feeding."
+
+"Speaking of feeding, what do you consider the best food for dogs?" I
+asked.
+
+"By all means pemmican," replied the Chief Factor, "and give each dog a
+pound a day.  The next best rations for dogs come in the following
+order: two pounds of dried fish, four pounds of fresh deer meat, two
+rabbits or two ptarmigan, one pound of flour or meal mixed with two
+ounces of tallow.  That reminds me of the way the old half-breed
+dog-drivers used to do.  In such districts as Pelly and Swan River,
+where fish and other food for dogs was scarce, we had frequently to
+feed both men and dogs on rations of flour.  Some of the half-breeds
+would leave their ration of flour with their family, and count on
+eating the dog's ration while on the trip and letting the poor brutes
+go hungry, just because the dogs belonged to the Company.  So we put a
+stop to that by mixing coal oil with the dog's rations and having them
+bated into cakes before the trip was begun.  Such a mixture made the
+men sick when they tried to eat it, but the dogs didn't seem to mind it
+at all."
+
+"Then kerosene is not included in the regular rations the Company
+supplies for its trippers and voyageurs?" I ventured, laughingly.
+
+"Hardly, for in the Northland that would be rather an expensive
+condiment."  The old gentleman smiled as he continued: "In outfitting
+our people for a voyage, we supply what is known as a full ration for a
+man, a half ration for a woman or a dog, and a quarter ration for a
+child.  For instance, we give a man eight pounds of fresh deer meat per
+day while we give a woman or a dog only four pounds and a child two
+pounds.  A man's ration of fish is four pounds per day, of pemmican two
+pounds, of flour or meal two pounds, of rabbits or ptarmigan four of
+each," said he, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe.  I was afraid he
+was going to turn in, so I quickly asked:
+
+"Which is the longest of the Company's packet routes at the present
+day?"
+
+"That of the Mackenzie River packet from Edmonton to Fort Macpherson.
+In winter it is hauled two thousand and twelve miles by dog-train; and
+in summer it is carried by the Company's steamers on the Athabasca, the
+Slave, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Next comes the Peace River packet
+from Edmonton to Hudson's Hope, a distance of over a thousand miles.
+In summer it goes by steamer, and in winter by dog-train.  There's the
+York Factory packet from Winnipeg to Hudson Bay by way of Norway House,
+a distance of seven hundred miles.  In winter it is hauled by dogs from
+Selkirk as far as Oxford House, and from there to York Factory by men
+with toboggans.  In summer it is carried by canoe on Hay River and by
+steamboat on Lake Winnipeg.  Then there's the Liard River packet and
+the Reindeer Lake packet.  Each travels about five hundred miles by
+dogs in winter and by canoe in summer.  The Moose Factory packet from
+Temiscamingue to James Bay goes by canoe in summer, but by men in
+winter.  All mails in and out from Hudson Bay or James Bay to or from
+the next post in the interior, are hauled by men.  Dogs are seldom used
+on those routes, on account of the depth of the snow and the scarcity
+of dog feed."
+
+[Illustration: "There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to
+Winnipeg, a distance of seven hundred miles.  In winter it is hauled by
+dogs between Selkirk and Or ford House, but between the latter post and
+York Factory it is hauled by men with toboggans.  All mails in and out
+from Hudson Bay to or from the next post in the interior are hauled by
+men.  Dogs are seldom used on those routes, on account of . . ."  See
+Chapter V.]
+
+Though I well knew that packeteers did not carry firearms, I asked
+Chief Factor Thompson--just for the sake of getting the truth from him
+and giving it to the public:
+
+"How does the Hudson's Bay Company arm their packeteers?"
+
+"Arm them?" the Chief Factor laughed outright, "why, we always provide
+them with an axe."
+
+"Firearms, I mean."
+
+"Firearms!  Why, they aren't allowed to carry firearms at all.  It's
+against the rules and regulations of the Company.  In the first place,
+packeteers are supplied with plenty of grub for the trip; in the next
+place, if they had a gun they might go hunting and fooling around with
+it instead of attending to their business; and, moreover, it doesn't
+matter whether the mail travels two hundred or two thousand miles,
+there is no occasion for packeteers to carry firearms, for there are no
+highwaymen and no animals in this country that would make an offensive
+attack upon them."
+
+And in truth, in all that wild brigade there were no fire-arms save
+Oo-koo-hoo's old muzzle-loader; but then The Owl was a hunter by
+profession, and he carried a gun only as a matter of business.  Now for
+the last twenty-five years that is exactly what I have wanted to tell
+the public.  When one reads a story, or sees a play or a moving
+picture, in which characters bristling with firearms are set forth as
+veritable representatives of life in the Canadian wilderness, he may
+rest assured that the work is nothing but a travesty on life in Canada.
+Any author, any illustrator, any playwright, any scenario writer, any
+actor or any director who depicts Canadian wilderness life in that way
+is either an ignoramus or a shameless humbug.  And to add strength to
+my statement I shall quote the experience of a gentleman who was the
+first City Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, and Tax Collector of Dawson
+City--Mr. E. Ward Smith:
+
+
+POLICE AND GUNMEN
+
+"The Mounted Police generally received word in advance when any
+particularly bad character was headed for the Yukon, and in all such
+cases he was met when he slipped off the boat.  I remember particularly
+one case of the kind, as I happened to be on hand when the American
+gunman landed.  He was a quiet enough looking individual and had no
+weapons of any kind in sight, but a close scrutiny revealed the fact
+that he had a particularly evil eye in his sandy-freckled face.  One of
+the Mounties picked him out unerringly and tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+"'Gat Gardiner?' he asked.
+
+"'No,' said the newcomer.  'My name is Davidson.'
+
+"'I happen to know you as Gat Gardiner,' insisted the policeman.  'Got
+any weapons on you?'
+
+"'Leave go of me,' flared the so-called Davidson, all the veneer of
+civility gone.  'You got nothing on me.  Let go, I say!'
+
+"'I've got something on you,' declared the policeman, hauling a
+revolver from the hip pocket of the man.  'Carrying concealed weapons
+is against the law on this side the line.  Back on the boat, you, and
+don't you dare put foot ashore or I'll have you in jail.  You go back
+the way you came.'
+
+"And Gardiner went.  I saw him leaning over the rail when the boat
+started on the return trip and he shook his fist at the policeman on
+the wharf and emitted a string of vile oaths.  But he never came back.
+
+"When the notorious 'Soapy' Smith was killed at Skagway, Alaska, his
+gang of desperadoes was promptly broken up and word came to Dawson that
+some of them were headed for the Canadian side.  They were gathered in
+as soon as they crossed the line, denuded of weapons, and sent back.
+Not one of the gang eluded the vigilance of the police.
+
+"The law against carrying concealed weapons was a big factor in keeping
+the peace.  Comparatively few men took advantage of their legal right
+to carry a revolver in sight.  I remember seeing an open box in a
+pawnshop containing the most amazing collection of weapons I had ever
+set eyes on--revolvers with silver handles, pistols of carved ivory,
+antiquated breech-loaders, weapons of fantastic design, and, probably,
+of equally fantastic history, strange implements of death that had come
+from all climes and bespoke adventures on all the seven seas.
+
+"'Where did you get the lot?' I asked the proprietor.
+
+"'They all sell their shooting irons.  No use for them here.  I get 'em
+for practically nothing.  Help yourself if you have any fancy that way.
+I'll make you a present of anything you want.'
+
+"So much for the wild Yukon of the novelists!  Instead of lurching into
+the dance hall and blazing away at the ceiling, picture the
+'old-timer', the hardened miner of a hundred camps, planking down his
+pistols on the counter of the pawnshop and asking 'How much?'  That's
+the truer picture."
+
+As part of my boyhood education was derived from the study of American
+illustrated magazines, I was led by those periodicals to believe that
+the North American wilderness was inhabited by wild and woolly men
+bedecked with firearms, and ever since I have been on the lookout for
+just such characters.  Now while I cannot speak for the Western States,
+I can at least speak for Canada; and I must now admit that, during my
+thirty-three years of contact with wilderness life, on one
+occasion--but on one only--I found that there was justification for
+describing the men of the northern wilderness as carrying firearms for
+protection.  But does not the one exception prove the rule?
+
+It happened near Stewart, on the borderline of Alaska, several years
+ago.  I encountered a prospector who wanted to cross Portland Canal
+from Alaska to Canada, and as I was rowing over, I offered to take him
+across.  When, however, he turned to pick up his pack I caught sight of
+something that fairly made me burst out laughing; for it was as funny a
+sight as though I had witnessed it on Piccadilly or Broadway.  At first
+I thought he was a movie actor who, in some unaccountable way, had
+strayed from Los Angeles and become lost in the northern wilderness
+before he had had time to remove his ridiculous "make-up"; but a moment
+later he proved beyond doubt that he was not an actor, for he blushed
+scarlet when he observed that I was focussing a regular Mutt-and-Jeff
+dotted-line stare at a revolver that hung from his belt, and he
+faltered:
+
+"But . . .  Why the mirth?"
+
+"Well, old man," I laughed again, "for over twenty-five years I have
+been roaming the Canadian wilderness from the borderline of Maine right
+up here to Alaska, and in all that time--with the exception of the
+Constables of the North-West Mounted Police--you are the first man,
+woman, or child, I have seen carrying a revolver.  And I swear, old
+dear, that that's the truth.  So now, do you wonder that I laugh?"
+
+
+RECORD TRAVELLING
+
+But to return to the Hudson's Bay Company's packet system, I asked
+Chief Factor Thompson:
+
+"Which is the more important, the summer or the winter mail?"
+
+"Oh, the winter; for, when inward bound, it bears the Commissioner's
+instructions to the district chief factors; and, when outward bound, it
+contains information regarding the results and the progress of the
+fur-trade, and orders for additional supplies."
+
+"How many miles a day do the packeteers average on their winter trips?"
+
+"Well," replied the Chief Factor, "I think the rate of speed maintained
+by our packeteers is remarkable; especially when one considers the
+roughness of the country, the hardships of winter travel, the fact that
+the men must make their bread, cook their meals, care for their dogs,
+and, when on the trail, cannot even quench their thirst without halting
+to build a fire and melt snow.  Yet the packeteers of the Mackenzie
+River mail cover their two thousand miles on snowshoes at an average
+rate of twenty-seven and a half miles a day, including all stoppages."
+
+"That is certainly splendid travelling.  Some of the packeteers, I
+should judge, have made great records; haven't they?"
+
+"Yes, that's true," acknowledged the trader, "the packeteers do make
+great efforts to break records between posts.  But, though they may
+have succeeded in cutting down the time, their achievement is never
+mentioned on the way-bill, nor does it affect the time allowed for the
+completion of the trip; for, though the mail be brought in ahead of
+time, it is never handed over to the relay until the appointed hour has
+struck.  Otherwise, the whole system would be thrown out of gear.
+Exceptionally fast runs are not shown upon the way-bills, because they
+would eventually affect the average time allowed for the trip; and in
+stormy weather that would be hard upon the packeteers.  The time
+allowed for the transmission of a packet is calculated on a ten-years'
+average.  No excuse for delay, except death, is tolerated.  At each
+post on certain fixed dates relays of men and dogs are kept in
+readiness to forward the mail without delay.  A through way-bill
+accompanies every packet from point of departure to point of delivery.
+At each post along the route the time of arrival and the time of
+departure of the mail must be entered upon the way-bill, as well as the
+names of the packeteers and of the officers in charge."
+
+"I understand that packets contain not only the despatches of the
+Company, but the private mail of the employees, that of missionaries of
+all denominations, that of chance 'explorers' or travellers, and even
+that of opposition fur-traders.  Is that a fact?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and moreover, no charge is made by the Company."
+
+"Do the Company's officers experience much trouble in procuring men to
+act as packeteers?"
+
+"Oh, no; none whatever.  As a rule, when men enter the Company's
+service, they stipulate that they shall be given a place on the packet;
+for that affords them an opportunity to pay a visit to the next post,
+and to join in the dance which is always held on the arrival of the
+mail.  Trippers consider themselves greatly honoured on being given
+charge of a packet; for it means that they are held to be trustworthy,
+and thoroughly familiar with the topography of the district."
+
+"Before the advent of the railroad and the steamboat, which was the
+longest of the Company's packet routes?"
+
+"By all odds that of the Yukon packet.  It made the journey from
+Montreal to Fort Yukon, which was then situated at the junction of the
+Porcupine and Yukon rivers.  It was routed by way of the Ottawa River,
+Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, the
+Athabasca River, the Slave River, and the Mackenzie River.  It was
+forwarded in summer by canoe, in winter by dog-train, for the enormous
+distance of four thousand five hundred miles.  And let me tell you, it
+is to-day, as it was two hundred years ago, the pride of the Company's
+people that not one packet was ever lost beyond recovery.  Packeteers
+have been drowned, frozen, burned, shot, smothered, and even eaten; but
+the packet has always reached its destination somehow."
+
+
+BEAR HOLDS UP MAIL
+
+A sudden burst of laughter from the men at a neighbouring fire
+attracted the attention of Chief Factor Thompson, and glancing over, he
+remarked to me:
+
+"Telling yarns, eh!  Let's go over and listen."
+
+Twelve or fifteen men were crowded round that fire--including Factor
+Mackenzie, the Rev. Mr. Wilson, Father Jois, and Oo-koo-hoo--and they
+were now coaxing "Old Billy Brass" to tell the next story.  He was a
+wiry little white man of about sixty who had seen much service in the
+Hudson's Bay Company.  He hesitated.  They clamoured again, and he
+began:
+
+"But talkin' 'bout bears reminds me of a little affair I once had on
+the Peace River," said the old man, glancing slyly from the corner of
+his eye to see what effect his statement made upon his campfire
+companions.  Billy was sitting cross-legged upon his caribou robe; and,
+as he turned the browning bannocks before the fire, he continued:
+
+"Well, as I was sayin', me an' Old-pot-head's son once had a go with a
+great big black bear away up on the Peace River.  But, don't you forget
+it, Billy Brass didn't lose the packet."
+
+"Come, Billy, tell us all about it," coaxed the Chief Factor, well
+knowing that if he were once started there would be on his part little
+need of urging in order to extract from the old tripper all he knew, or
+could invent to suit the occasion.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, if you ain't too sleepy, an' if some o' you boys'll
+watch the bannock, I don't mind tellin'," replied Billy as he leaned
+toward the fire, picked up a red-hot coal, and palmed it into his pipe.
+
+"But I can't give a funny bear story, the same as you've been tellin',
+because all my experiences with bears have been mighty serious.
+However, I'll try and tell you 'bout me an Old-pot-head's son; an' to
+my mind it's the most serious of 'em all.
+
+"As I was sayin', we was in charge of the Peace River packet; an' if it
+hadn't been for the charm Father La Mille blessed for me at Fort Good
+Hope, I don't know 's I'd be here to tell about it.
+
+"Anyway, me an' Old-pot-head's son was carryin' the packet and headin'
+for Hudson's Hope.  It was the fall packet, an'--as winter was just
+about due--we was hustlin' 'long for all we was worth, an' jabbin'
+holes in the river with our paddles as fast as we could, in fear o' the
+freeze up.
+
+"As bad lack would have it, that very night the ice overtook us, an' we
+had to leave the canoe ashore an' finish the voyage afoot.  Lucky for
+us, we was only about three-days' travel from the Fort, so we leaves
+our axe an' whatever we don't particular need with the canoe.
+
+"Mile after mile we walks along the river bank; an' as we don't have no
+extra moccasins, our bare skin was soon upon the sand.  What with
+havin' our duds torn by bushes, an' our fallin' in the mud once or
+twice, and several times a-wadin' creeks, we was a pretty sight when we
+stops to camp that night.  When the sun went down, we was so tired that
+we just stopped dead in our tracks.  We had been packin' our blankets,
+our grub, an' cookin' gear to say nothin' o' the packet; so, of course,
+we didn't give much thought to the campin' ground.  But after supper I
+looks round an' sees that we'd made our fire down in a little hollow,
+an' that the place was bare o' trees 'ception three that stood in a row
+'bout four lengths of a three-fathom canoe from our fire.  The middle
+one was a birch with a long bare trunk, an' on each side stood a pine.
+Now, I want you gentlemen to pay perticler 'tention to just how they
+stood; for them three trees is goin' to do a mighty lot o' figgerin' in
+this here story.
+
+"As I was sayin', there was two pines with a birch in between, an' all
+standin' in a row, with the upper branches o' pines runnin' square in
+among the branches o' the birch.  'Bout half ways between the birch and
+the east pine, but a trifle off the line, was a pool o' water.  Before
+I turns in for the night, I takes the packet an' sticks it on the end
+of a long pole, an' shoves it up against the birch tree, for fear o'
+the fire spreadin' an' burnin' up the mail.
+
+"Me an' Old-pot-head's son turns in an' sleeps as sound as any trippers
+could.  Some time in the night I wakes up with a mighty start that
+almost busts me heart.  Somethin' was maulin' me.  So, with me head
+still under the blanket, for I dassn't peep out, I sings out to the
+Injun an' asks him what in creation he's kickin' me for; an' if he
+couldn't wake me without killin' me.  Old-pot-head's son yells back
+that he hasn't touched me.  Then you bet I was scared; for the thing
+hauls off agen an' gives me a clout that knocks the wind plum' out o'
+me.
+
+"Just then I heard Old-pot-head's son shout, 'Keep still, Bill, it's a
+big black bear.' I grabs the edges o' me blanket an' pulls 'em in under
+me so hard I thinks I've bust it.  But the bear keeps on maulin' me,
+an' givin' me such hard swats that I began to fear it'd cave in me
+ribs."
+
+"But, Billy, why didn't you shoot it?" asked the Reverend Mr. Wilson.
+
+"Shoot?  Why, your reverence, don't you know, packeteers never carries
+a gun?" the old man exclaimed with disgust, and then continued his
+story:
+
+"Not content with that, the brute starts to roll me over an' over.  An'
+all the time I'm doin' me best to play dead.  Now you needn't laff.
+I'd like to see any o' youse pretendin' you was dead while a big bear
+was poundin' you that hard that you begin to believe you ain't
+shammin'.  An' when that ugly brute hauls off an' hits me agen, I
+decides then an' there that there's no occasion to sham it.  But just
+as soon as I makes up my mind I'm dead, the bear leaves me; an' when I
+can no longer hear him breathin', I peeps out of a tiny little hole,
+and sees the big brute maulin' me old friend the Injun.  Then I takes
+another peep roun', an' don't see no escape 'cept by way o' them three
+trees, so I just jumps up, an' lights out like greased lightnin' for
+the nearest tree.  After me comes the bear gallopin'.  I guess that was
+the quickest runnin' I ever done in all me life.  I just managed to
+climb into the lower branches o' the west pine as the bear struck the
+trunk below me.
+
+"When I stops for breath in the upper branches, I sees the old bear
+canterin' back agen to have another go with me pardner.
+
+"Just as soon as I was safe, the whole performance struck me as bein'
+pretty funny, an' I couldn't help roarin' out and a-laffin' when I saw
+the beast maulin' Old-pot-head's son, an' him tryin' for all he was
+worth to play dead.
+
+"Thinks I, I'll make me old friend laff.  So I starts in to guy him,
+an' he begins to snicker, an' that makes the bear mad, an' he begins to
+roll the Injun.  Then, you bet, I couldn't make him laff no more; for,
+what with shammin' dead, an' bein' frightened to death into the
+bargain, I don't think there was much laff left in him.
+
+"You know how bears will act when they sometimes comes across a handy
+log?  Well, that's just what the beast was doin' with Old-pot-head's
+son--it was rollin' him over an' over.  The very next second it rolls
+his feet into the fire.  Down the tree I slid, like snow down a
+mountain, an' stood at the foot of it an' pelted the bear with stones.
+The Injun's blanket began to smoke.  It was no laffin' matter, for I
+knowed if I didn't drive the brute off in a jiffy Old-pot-head's son
+would be a comin' out of his trance mighty sudden an' that meant a
+catch-as-catch-can with a great, big, crazy black bear.
+
+"As good luck would have it, the next time I threw a stone, it landed
+on the tip of the bear's snout, an' with a snarl he comes for me.  I
+waits as long as I dares, then up the tree I skips, with the brute
+follerin' me.  About half ways up I thinks I hears a human bein'
+laffin' in the east pine.  So I looks over, an' sure enuff, I sees me
+old pardner settin' on a limb an' fairly roarin'.  All the same, I was
+feelin' mighty squeemish, for the bear was comin' up lickety splinter
+after me.
+
+"Just then I spies a good stout branch that reaches out close against a
+big limb of the birch, an' I crawls over.  As the bear follers me, I
+slides down the trunk o' the birch, an' lights out for the east pine
+where me pardner was doin' the laffin'.  On its way down the bear
+rammed itself right smack against the mail-bag; and when the beast
+struck ground, it smelt the man smell on the packet, an' began to gnaw
+it.
+
+"Now me an' Old-pot-head's son knowed well enuff we had to save the
+mail-sack, so I slips down the east pine a ways, an' breaks off dead
+branches, an' pelts them at the bear while the Injun crosses over into
+the top o' the west pine.  Then we both at once slides down as low as
+we dares, an' I begins to lamm the brute with a shower o' sticks.  Up
+the tree it comes for me, while me pardner slips down, grabs the
+mail-sack, an' sails up the west pine again.
+
+"That was a mighty clever move, thinks I, but a bag is an orkad thing
+to portage when you're meanderin' up an' down a tree with a bear after
+you.  But the tump-line was on it, just as we carried it the day
+before, so it wasn't as bad as it might 'a' been.
+
+"Well, when I went up the east pine, the bear follered, an', as there
+wasn't any too much room between me an' the bear, I crosses over into
+the birch an' slides down its slippery trunk as tho' it was greased.  I
+hits the ground a little harder than I wanted to, but didn't waste no
+time in lightin' out for the west pine, where the Injun was restin';
+an' all the time the bear was tryin' to grab me coat-tails.
+
+"It was just a case of up to the west pine, cross over and down the
+birch; then up the east pine, cross over an' down the birch; then up
+the west pine, cross over an' down the birch, till we got so dizzy we
+could a hardly keep from fallin'.  If you could just 'a' seen the way
+we tore roun' through them trees, I'll bet you would 'a' done a heap o'
+laffin'.
+
+"The bear was mighty spry in goin' up, but when it came to goin' down
+he'd just do the drop-an'-clutch, drop-an'-clutch act.  That's just
+where me an' me pardner had the advantage on the brute; for we just
+swung our arms an' legs roun' that birch an' did the drop act, too;
+but, somehow, we hadn't time to do the clutch, so our coat-tails got
+badly crushed every time we landed.
+
+"It was a kind of go-as-you-please until about the tenth roun', when I
+accidentally drops the mail-bag on the bear's head, an' that makes him
+boilin' mad; so he lights out after us as tho' he had swallered a
+hornet's nest.
+
+"Then away we goes up an' down, up an' down, an' roun' an' roun' that
+perpendicular race track, until we made such a blur in the scen'ry that
+any fool with half an eye an' standin' half a mile away could 'a' seen
+a great big figger eight layin' on its side in the middle o' the
+landscape.  We took turns at carryin' the packet, but sometimes I
+noticed Old-pot-head's son was havin' a good deal of trouble with it.
+It didn't seem to bother him much when he was climbin' up; for he just
+swung it on his back with the loop o' the tump-line over his head, an'
+so he had his hands free.  But it was when he was comin' down the
+slippery birch that the weight of the bag made him rather more rapid
+than he wanted to be; an' so, when he an' the bag struck groun', they
+nearly always bounced apart; an' if the Injun failed to get his feet in
+time to ketch the sack on the first bounce, I ketched it on the second
+bounce as I glode by.  So between the two of us we managed to hang on
+to the packet.
+
+"By-an'-by, we was gettin' terribly tuckered out.  It was a good thing
+for us that the bear was gettin' winded an' dizzy as well; because, at
+about the sixty-seventh roun', the brute had no sooner gone down the
+birch than he bounded up agen just when Old-pot-head's son was
+a-climbin' thro' the upper branches o' the birch.  So he slips over
+into the top o' the east pine, while I stays in the top o' the west
+pine, an' the bear sits down in a upper crotch o' the birch.
+
+"Well, we puts in a good many heats of anywhere from twenty-five to
+seventy-five laps roun' that track by the time daylight comes, an'
+sunrise finds us all ketching our wind in the upper branches.  I
+noticed that whenever the brute wanted to stop the whirligig it always
+climbed up the birch just in time to separate me an' me pardner; an'
+there we would sit, me in the west pine, me pardner in the east pine,
+an' the black brute right in between.
+
+"About breakfast time me an' the Injun was feelin' mighty hungry.
+There we sat cussin' our luck an' castin' longin' glances down at the
+grub bag.  By the time I'd caught me wind a great idea strikes me.
+Durin' the next heat I would rush out.  So I sings out my intentions to
+me pardner; an' he says he thinks we can do it.  So while he was
+carryin' Her Majesty's mail I was to try an' grab the grub bag.
+
+"We got ready, an' dropped down them pines so fast that we both hits
+groun' before the bear knows what's doin'.  Then I leaves that tree
+like as if all the animals in the woods was after me.  I got on so much
+speed that by the time I grabs the grub bag I was goin' so fast that I
+couldn't turn roun' without slackin' down.  That's where I loses a
+terrible amount o' time, an' I was beginnin' to think it was all up
+with me.  By the time I got headed roun' agen for the tree, I sees that
+the bear is comin' down with his back to me.  When he hits groun' he
+sees the Injun dancin' roun' the foot o' the west pine; so he makes for
+the redskin, an' chases him up while I climbs the east pine.
+
+"Then we all went roun' an' roun' for maybe fifty laps, an' the way we
+wore the bark off them trees an' trod down the grass between 'em was a
+caution.  By-an'-by the bear gets so dizzy that he bucks up the birch
+agen, an' sure enuff that stops the performance.
+
+"I didn't need any breakfast bell to remind me to open the grub bag.  I
+just reaches in an' pulls out some busted bannock an' throws a chunk
+over to Old-pot-head's son, an' without even sayin' grace, we starts
+in.  Every little while I'd toss another chunk of bread over to me
+pardner an' just out o' sheer spite I'd chuck it so that it would go
+sailin' thro' the air right in front o' the bear's snout.  That makes
+him mad.  So he tried to catch the stuff as it flies by; but I just
+puts on a little more curve, an' that makes him madder still, an' he
+ups an' comes for me.
+
+"Then we all knocks off breakfast an' goes for another canter.  But it
+don't do no good, 'ceptin' that we all gets puffed out agen.  After a
+bit, the bear stops to ketch his breath, an' then me an' me pardner
+goes on with our breakfast.
+
+"With the bear exercisin' us the way he did, we had to take our
+breakfast in a good many courses.  That makes it so long drawn out that
+we gets mighty thirsty.  The Injun asks me if the cups is in the grub
+bag.  I puts me han' in an' feels, but they ain't there.  Then I
+remembers that we left them down by the fire.  We didn't either of us
+care to risk snakin' a cup, so I tells me pardner that the next time we
+goes roun' we'd best try an' grab a handful o' water.  We didn't have
+long to wait, for the bear soon gets another move on; an' then away we
+all goes sailin' roun' agen.  Every time me an' the Injun canters past
+the pool, we just makes a sudden dip an' grabs up a handful o' water
+an' throws it in.
+
+"It took so much exercise to get so little water that I thought I'd die
+of thirst while I was tryin' to drink me fill.  When the bear caught on
+to what we was doin', it just made him madder an' madder; an' he lights
+out after us at such a breathless clip that we had to fairly gallop up
+them pines, an' slide down the birch faster than ever.  It wasn't long
+before nearly every button was wore off, an' our clothes was so ripped
+up an' torn down that I'd blush every time I'd ketch the bear lookin'
+at me.  An' every time we ran 'long the groun' from one tree to
+another, me an' me pardner had to use both hands on our garments in
+order to keep up our--er--respectability.  However, the bear didn't
+have the laff on us altogether, for he had gone up an' down them trees
+so often an' so fast that he had worn all the hair off his stomach.
+
+"After a while we all gets tuckered out agen; an' while we rests in the
+trees me an' me pardner talks about the weather, lettin' on that there
+ain't no bear anywheres nigh.  So the time passed.  As we didn't
+recollect just how much grub we had at the start, or how much water
+there was in the pool first off, we couldn't for the life of us reckon
+just how long we'd been there.  Neither me nor Old-pot-head's son would
+care to take our oaths whether we'd been there a night an' half a day,
+or half a dozen nights an' days; the night time an' the day time was so
+mixed up together that we hadn't time to separate 'em.  We were sure,
+tho', that our grub was givin' out, the water was dryin' up, an' death
+was gettin' good an' ready for us.
+
+"We was in such a terrible tight place that I begins to think o' takin'
+off me shirt an' flyin' it from the top o' the tallest pine as a signal
+o' distress; for we was worse off than if we'd been shipwrecked.  Talk
+about bein' cast adrift on a raft!  Why, it wasn't in it with bein'
+fixed the way we was.  We just stayed in one spot with no chance of
+ever driftin' to'rds help.  As long as the bear kept tab on us there
+wasn't no sign of our ever gettin' a wink o' sleep.  And more, besides
+starvin' to death, we had to face bein' frozen; for our clothes was all
+wore off, an' winter was comin' on mighty fast.
+
+"At last, when me an' Old-pot-head's son had about given up hope, an'
+was just pickin' out which would be the easiest death, what should we
+see but somethin' bobbin' in an' out among the bushes.  Say, it was
+another bear!  When it comes a little closer, we makes out it was a
+little lady bear.  No sooner does our old stern-chaser spy her than he
+slides down to the groun', an' risin' up on his hind legs, throws out
+his chest, an' cocks his eye at her, for all the world like a man when
+he sees a pretty girl comin' his way.  But when her dainty little
+ladyship ketches sight of his bald-headed stomach, she just tosses up
+her nose with disgust, an' wheels roun' an' makes for the tall timbers
+with our affectionate friend limpin' the best he can after her.
+
+"An' that's the last we sees o' the bear that tried to hold up the
+Company's packet."
+
+After the laughter had died down, Chief Factor Thompson yawned:
+
+"Well, gentlemen, it's getting on.  I must be turning in or my men will
+be late in getting under way in the morning."
+
+
+GOD AND THE WILD MEN
+
+Drowsiness had indeed overtaken the camp.  But now I must digress a
+moment to tell you something that the public--at least the public that
+has derived its knowledge of northern wilderness life from fiction--may
+find it hard to believe.  And this is what I want to say: that every
+one in that whole brigade of wild men of the wilderness, from the
+lowest dog-driver right up to the Chief Factor--when each had fixed his
+bed in readiness for the night--knelt down, and with bowed head, said
+his evening prayer to The Master of Life.  Moreover, the fact that two
+clergymen were present had nothing whatever to do with it, for the
+"barbarians" of the forest would have done just the same had no priest
+been there--just as I have seen them do scores and scores of times.  In
+fact, in some sections of the forest the native wilderness man--red,
+white, or half-breed--who does not, is not the rule, but the exception.
+Then, too--unless one's ears are closed to such sounds--one may
+occasionally hear the voyageurs of the "North canoe" and the "York
+boat" brigades, while straining on the tracking line, singing, among
+other hymns:
+
+  Onward, Christian soldiers,
+    Marching as to war,
+  With the Cross of Jesus,
+    Going on before.
+
+And, furthermore, I wonder if the fiction-reading public will believe
+that the majority of the men in the fur brigades always partake of the
+holy sacrament before departing upon their voyages?  Nevertheless, it
+is the truth--though of course truth does not agree with the orgies of
+gun-play that spring from the weird imaginations of the stay-at-home
+authors, who, in their wild fancy, people the wilderness with
+characters from the putrescence of civilization.  It is time these
+authors were enlightened, for a man, native to the wilderness, is a
+better man . . . more honest, more chivalrous, more generous, and--at
+heart, though he talks less about it--more God-respecting . . . than
+the man born in the city.  That is something the public should never
+forget; for if the public remembers that, then the authors of
+wilderness stories will soon have to change their discordant tune.
+
+Yes, it is true, every one of those wild men said his evening prayer
+and then, with his blanket wrapped about him, lay down upon his thick,
+springy mattress of fir-brush, with his feet toward the fire, and
+slumbered as only a decent, hard-working man can.  Out among the
+dancing shadows that flitted among the snow-mantled bushes and heavily
+laden trees a hundred and fifty eyes glared in the brooding
+darkness--as though all the wolves in the forest were gathering there.
+Later, when the sound of heavy breathing was heard round the fires, a
+fierce, wolfish-looking dog, bolder than the rest, left its snowy bed
+to hunt for more sheltered quarters.  There was a whine, a snarl, then
+the sound of clashing teeth.  In a moment every dog leaped up with
+bristling hair.  Instantly bedlam reigned.  Over seventy dogs waged the
+wildest kind of war and the distant woods reechoed the horrible din.  A
+dozen blanketed mounds rose up, and many long lashes whistled through
+the air.  The seething mass broke away and flew howling and yelping
+into outer darkness followed by a roar of curses--but only in civilized
+tongues.
+
+Presently all was still again.  The men lay down, and the dogs, one by
+one, came slinking back to their resting places.  But in a couple of
+hours one of the half-frozen brutes silently rose up, cautiously
+stepped among the sleeping men, and lay couched close to a smouldering
+fire.  Another followed and then another until most of the dogs had
+left their beds.  Growing bolder, a couple of the beasts fought for a
+warmer spot.  In their tussle they sprawled over one of the men, but a
+few lusty blows from a handy frying-pan restored calm.  As the night
+wore on some of the dogs, not contented with sleeping beside the men,
+curled up on top of their unconscious masters.  Then for hours nothing
+but the heavy breathing and snoring in camp and the howling of distant
+wolves was heard.  Slumber had at last overtaken the wild men of the
+wilderness--who always made it a rule to kneel down every night, and
+ask God to bless their little children at home.
+
+Now, though time still sped on, silence possessed the forest--until:
+
+"Hurrah, _mes bons hommes_!  _Levey, levey, levey_!  Up, up up, up,
+up!" ending in a shrill yell from the guide startled the drowsy crew.
+It was three o'clock in the morning.  Had it not been for the
+brilliancy of the Northern Lights all would have been in darkness.  An
+obscure form bent over an ash-bed and fumbled something.  A tiny blaze
+appeared and rapidly grew until the surrounding forest was aflare.
+Over the fires frying-pans sizzled, while tea-pails heaped with snow
+began to steam.  A hurried breakfast followed.  The sleds were packed.
+The dogs, still curled up in the snow, pretended to be asleep.
+
+"Caesar!  Tigre!  Cabri!  Whiskey!  Tête Noire!  Pilot!  Michinass!
+Coffee!  Bull!  Brandie!  Caribou!" shouted the men.  A few of the dogs
+answered to their names and came to harness while some holding back
+were tugged forward by the scruff of the neck.  Others were still in
+hiding.  The men searched among the mounds and bushes.  Every now and
+then the crack of a whip and the yelp of a dog announced the finding of
+a truant.  Two trackers on large snowshoes had already gone ahead to
+break the trail.  It was easy to follow their tracks though the woods
+were still in darkness and remained so for several hours.  At dawn
+Oo-koo-hoo and our little outfit parted company with the Dog Brigade.
+Already the packet was many miles ahead.  As I turned on my western
+way, I thought of the work of these postmen of the wilderness, of the
+hardships they endured, and the perils they braved; and the Chief
+Factor's assertion that no packet had ever been lost beyond recovery,
+recalled to mind other stories that were worth remembering: For
+instance, a canoe express was descending the Mackenzie River; the canoe
+was smashed in an ice jam, and the packeteers were drowned.  A few
+weeks later passing Indians caught sight of a stick bobbing in the
+surface of the stream.  Though the water was deep and the current was
+running at the rate of three miles an hour, the stick remained in the
+same place.  So the Indians paddled over to investigate.  They found
+that to the floating stick was fastened a long thong, which on being
+pulled up brought the missing packet to light.
+
+Again, while making camp near the Athabasca River, the packeteers had
+slung the packet in a tree, the usual place for it while in camp.
+During the night their fire spread and burned up the whole equipment
+except the tree, which, being green, received little more than a
+scorching.  The packet was unharmed.
+
+On Great Slave Lake during a fierce snowstorm the packeteers became
+separated from their dogs, and were frozen to death.  But the packet
+was recovered.
+
+In one autumn two packeteers journeying from George's River Post to
+Ungava Post drew up their canoe on a sandy beach, and camped beneath a
+high, overhanging bank.  During the night the bank gave way and buried
+them as they slept.  When the ice formed, the trader at Ungava sent out
+two men to search for the missing packet.  They found the canoe on the
+beach; and from the appearance of the bank, conjectured what had
+happened.  Next spring the landslide was dug into, and the packeteers
+were found both lying under the same blanket, their heads resting upon
+the packet.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+WILD ANIMALS AND MEN
+
+WOLVERINE AND HUNTER
+
+One evening, while sitting before the fire in Oo-koo-hoo's lodge, we
+heard sounds that told us that Amik had returned, and presently he
+entered the tepee, full of wrath over the havoc a wolverine had wrought
+along his trapping path.  The pelts of more dead game had been ruined;
+deadfalls had been broken; and even some of his steel traps had been
+carried away.  There and then Oo-koo-hoo decided that he would drop all
+other work and hunt the marauder.
+
+For its size--being about three feet in length and from twelve to
+eighteen inches high--the wolverine is an amazingly powerful creature.
+In appearance it somewhat resembles a small brown bear.  Though it is
+not a fast traveller its home range may cover anywhere from five to
+fifty miles.  It feeds upon all sorts of small game, and has been known
+to kill even deer.  It mates about the end of March, dens in any
+convenient earthen hole or rocky crevice or cave that may afford
+suitable shelter; and it makes its bed of dry leaves, grass, or moss.
+The young, which number from three to five, are born in June.  Whenever
+necessary, the mother strives desperately to protect her young, and is
+so formidable a fighter that even though the hunter may be armed with a
+gun, he runs considerable risk of being injured by the brute.  It has
+been known to take possession of the carcass even of a caribou and to
+stand off the hunter who had just shot it.  Also, it has been known to
+drive a wolf, and even a bear, away from their quarry.  The
+superstitious Indian not only believes that the wolverine is possessed
+of the devil--for it is the most destructive animal in the northern
+world--but he considers it also to be endowed with great intelligence.
+The wily Indian, however, knowing the animal's habit of trying to
+destroy what it cannot carry away, takes advantage of that very fact
+and hunts it accordingly.
+
+All that has been said in relation to trapping the fox applies also to
+_le Carcajou_--_i.e._, the wolverine--save that the trap chain should
+be doubled, and everything else made stronger and heavier in proportion
+to the wolverine's greater size and strength.  That evening Oo-koo-hoo
+talked much of wolverines.
+
+"My son, no other animal surpasses it in devilish cunning.  For it is
+not content to merely spring a trap, but it will carry it away--more
+often for a short distance, but sometimes for miles--and hide or bury
+it.  Later on the wolverine may visit it again, carry it still farther
+away and bury it once more.  The wolverine has good teeth for cutting
+wood, and will sometimes free a trap from its clog by gnawing the pole
+in two.  My son, I have even known a wolverine go to the trouble of
+digging a hole in which to bury a trap of mine; but just in order to
+fool me, the beast has filled up the hole again, carried the trap to
+another place, and there finally buried it.  But as a good hunter is
+very observant, he is seldom fooled that way, for the wolverine, having
+very short legs, has difficulty in keeping both the chain and the trap
+from leaving tell-tale marks in the snow.
+
+"Yes, my son, the wolverine is a very knowing brute, and if he thinks
+he may be trailed, he will sometimes--without the slightest sign of
+premeditation--jump sideways over a bush, a log, or a rock, in order to
+begin, out of sight of any trailer, a new trail; or he may make a great
+spring to gain a tree, and ascend it without even leaving the evidence
+of freshly fallen bark.  Then, too, he may climb from tree to tree, by
+way of the interlocking branches, for a distance of a hundred paces or
+more, all the while carrying the trap with him.  Then, descending to
+the ground, he may travel for a considerable distance before eventually
+burying the trap.  I have known him even leave a trap in a tree, but in
+that case it was not done from design, for signs proved that the chain
+had been caught upon a branch."
+
+"How many wolverines," I asked, "do you suppose are causing all the
+trouble on your and Amik's trapping paths?"
+
+"Only one, my son, for even one wolverine can destroy traps and game
+for twenty or thirty miles around; and the reason the brute is so
+persistent in following a hunter's fur path is that it usually affords
+the wolverine an abundance of food.  Then, when the hunter finds the
+brute is bent on steady mischief, it is time for him to turn from all
+other work and hunt the thief.  If at first steel traps fail, he may
+build special deadfalls, often only as decoys round which to set,
+unseen, more steel traps in wait for the marauder.
+
+"If a hunter still fails, he may sit up all night in wait for the
+robber, knowing that the more stormy the night, the better his chance
+of shooting the brute.  Sometimes, too, I have found a wolverine so
+hard to catch that I have resorted to setting traps in the ashes of my
+dead fires, or beneath the brush I have used for my bed, while camping
+upon my trapping path."  Then he added with a twinkle about his eye and
+a shake of his finger: "But, my son, I have another way and I am going
+to try it before the moon grows much older."
+
+I asked him to explain, but he only laughed knowingly, so I turned the
+subject by asking:
+
+"Does an animal ever eat the bait after it is caught?"
+
+"No, my son, no animal ever does that, not even if it be starving, but
+it may eat snow to quench its thirst.  Animals, however, do not often
+starve to death when caught in traps, but if the weather be very
+severe, they may freeze in a single night.  If, however, the beast is
+still alive when the hunter arrives, the prisoner will in most cases
+feign death in the hope of getting free.  That is true of most animals,
+and, furthermore, it will feign death even when other animals approach;
+but then, more often, its purpose is to secure the advantage of making
+a sudden or surprise attack."
+
+An Indian named Larzie, who was engaged to hunt meat for the priests at
+Fort Resolution, once came upon a wolverine in one of his traps that
+had done that very thing and won the battle, too.  The snow, the trap,
+and the carcass of a wolf, silently told Larzie every detail of the
+fight.  The wolverine, having been caught by the left hind leg, had
+attempted by many means to escape, even trying to remove the nuts from
+the steel trap with its teeth, as well as trying to break the steel
+chain, and gnaw in two the wooden clog to which the trap was fastened.
+But before accomplishing this, the wolverine had spied a pack of five
+wolves approaching.  In an effort to save its life the wolverine worked
+itself down low in the snow and there lay, feigning death.  The
+cautious wolves, on sighting the wolverine, began circling about, each
+time drawing a little nearer.  Still suspicious, they sat down to watch
+the wolverine for a while.  Then they circled again, sat down once
+more, and perhaps did a little howling, too.  Then they circled again,
+each time coming closer, until at last, feeling quite sure the
+wolverine was dead, one of the wolves, in a careless way, ventured too
+near.  No doubt it was then that the wolverine, peeping through his
+almost closed eyelids, had seen his chance--that the nearest wolf was
+now not only within reach, but off guard, too--for the snow gave
+evidence of a sudden spring.  The wolverine had landed upon the back of
+the wolf, clung on with his powerful forelegs, and not only ripped away
+at the wolf's belly with the long, sharp claws of his free hind foot,
+but with his terrible jaws had seized the wolf by the neck and chewed
+away at the spinal cord.  Then, no doubt, the other wolves, seeing
+their comrade overpowered and done to death, had turned away and left
+the scene of battle.  Later, Larzie had arrived, and after killing the
+wolverine and skinning both the conqueror and the conquered, had
+lighted his pipe and leisurely read every detail of the story in that
+morning's issue of the forest publication called _The Snow_.
+
+Next morning, when I turned out before breakfast, I found that
+Oo-koo-hoo had left camp before daylight; and half the afternoon passed
+before he returned.  That evening he explained that during the previous
+night, the thought of the wolverine having haunted him and spoilt his
+rest, he had decided on a certain plan, risen before dawn, and started
+upon the trail.  Now he was full of the subject, and without my asking,
+described what he had done.  Securing a number of fish hooks--trout
+size--he had wired them together, enclosed them in the centre of a ball
+of grease which he had placed inside an old canvas bag, and fastened
+there with the aid of wires attached to the hooks.  Then, carrying the
+bag to where he found fairly fresh wolverine signs, he had dropped it
+upon the trail as though it had accidentally fallen there.  The
+wolverine, he explained, would probably at first attempt to carry away
+the bag, but on scenting the grease it would paw the bag about; then,
+upon discovering the opening, it would thrust its head inside, seize
+the ball of grease in its mouth, and start to pull it out.  "If that
+should happen," commented Oo-koo-hoo, "the wolverine would never leave
+that spot alive; it would just lie there and wait for me to come and
+knock it on the head."
+
+But now at last--as later events proved--Oo-koo-hoo, the great hunter,
+had encountered his match.  Now it was no longer an unequal contest,
+for now two could play at cunning--especially when both were masters at
+the game.  Three times The Owl visited his latest wolverine trap, only
+to learn that twice the brute had inspected it and spurned it, for its
+tracks proved that caution had kept the animal more than five feet
+away.  Later, as the winter wore on, the subject of wolverines was
+rarely mentioned as it did not add to the cheerfulness of Oo-koo-hoo's
+otherwise happy mood.
+
+
+THE BEST FOOT-GEAR
+
+About a week later, with a few days' outfit loaded upon our sled,
+Oo-koo-hoo and I were heading first for the Moose Hills where we were
+to hunt moose, and if successful, to cache the meat where Granny and
+the boys could find it; then continuing farther north we were to call
+upon The Owl's sister to deliver her a present from the children of
+Oo-koo-hoo.  In the meantime, Amik had gone upon one of his trapping
+paths, and the boys were off to a swampy region to examine deadfalls
+set for mink and fisher.  The boys had taken the dogs with them.
+
+It was a fine, cold, sunny morning when Oo-koo-hoo and I set out upon
+our hunt, and with every breath we seemed to be drinking aerial
+champagne that made us fairly tingle with the joy of living--for such
+is the northern air in winter time.  As we snowshoed along I felt
+thankful for the excellent socks with which the old hunter had provided
+me.  On the last hunt my snowshoe thongs had blistered my feet, but
+now, thanks to Oo-koo-hoo, I was shod with the most perfect footgear
+for winter travel I have ever known--a natural sock that was both
+blister- and cold-proof.  I had never heard of it before, but The Owl
+assured me that it had been long in fashion among the Indians.  On each
+foot I was now wearing next my bare skin a rabbit pelt--minus legs and
+ears--put on, hair side out, while the skin was still green and damp,
+and then allowed to dry and shape itself to the foot.  Over the rabbit
+pelts I wore my regular woollen socks, duffel neaps, and caribou-skin
+mitten moccasins.  The pelts had been removed from the rabbits by
+simply cutting them between the hind legs, and then peeling them off
+inside out.  With the inside of the skin next the foot blisters never
+form, nor does the hair wear off and ball up under the foot in such a
+way that it may hurt the wearer.  Though the rabbit pelt is very tender
+and tears easily, it can be worn for five or six days of hard travel.
+For warmth and comfort it is unexcelled.
+
+Early that afternoon we came upon many lynx tracks, evidently there had
+been a "pass of lynxes" as the hunters call it, for lynxes have a way
+of gathering in bands of about four to eight and passing through the
+forest.  Oo-koo-hoo stated that they migrated in that way from one
+region to another, covering many miles in search of game, especially
+during the years when the rabbit plague causes a great shortage of
+food; and had he known of their presence in time, he would have cut big
+heaps of poplar, birch, and willow branches to attract the rabbits, and
+thus furnish more food for the lynxes.  Hoping, however, that he was
+not too late, he set what few snares he had; nevertheless, he regretted
+that the boys had gone off with the dogs, for, if they had not, he
+would have tried to trail and tree the lynxes.
+
+The boys had taken the dogs because they wanted them to haul their
+sled.  It was, however, against the advice of their grandfather, for he
+had admonished them that only white men and half-breeds would use dogs
+to haul a sled on a trapping path; that a good hunter would never do
+such a foolish thing, and for many reasons: the traps--being usually
+set close to the path--were apt to be either set off or destroyed by
+the swinging sled; besides, the dogs' tracks would obliterate the
+tracks of game; also the dogs might be caught in the traps;
+furthermore, the smell of dogs always inspired fear in animals, again,
+the noise of driving dogs frightened the game away.  So, according to
+Oo-koo-hoo, the wise hunter either packs his load upon his back, or, by
+himself, hauls it upon his sled.  But one must remember that The Owl
+was an Ojibway and that those Indians as well as the Saulteaux Indians
+prefer to haul their own sleds on the hunting trail and to keep their
+dogs solely for trailing game; though all other Indians of the Strong
+Woods use their dogs for hauling sleds.  One advantage of the Ojibway
+custom is that hunting dogs--when running loose--never have to be fed.
+
+Amik, however, being a rather shiftless fellow, often spoilt his boys
+as much as the average white father spoils his, for he never thrashed
+them, though they frequently deserved it, and having given in to them
+on many previous occasions, he had now let them take the dogs.  But
+speaking of parents' treatment of children, even an old she-bear could
+give many a civilized father or mother pointers on how to bring up
+children, for even among animals and birds one frequently finds a model
+parent.
+
+According to the verdict of the old fur-traders, the best trapper is
+the uncivilized Indian.  Though, apparently, he does not derive the
+same amount of sport from his work as the white man does, he never
+shirks his work and always takes great pains to prepare for and perfect
+the setting of his traps.  Though he is slow, he is, nevertheless, sure
+and deadly in his work.  Oo-koo-hoo assured me that the secret of
+successful hunting was intelligence, caution, and patience.
+
+During December and January, or according to the Indians, Yeyekoopewe
+Pesim--"The Rime Moon," and Kakisapowatukinum--"The Moon When
+Everything Is Brittle," there is always a lull in the trapping, for the
+reason that then the days are shorter and the weather colder, and on
+that account and also on account of the fact that the sun and winds of
+March have not arrived to harden the deep soft snow, the forest
+creatures prefer to remain more at home.
+
+
+APPROACHING MOOSE
+
+In approaching the Moose Hills we saw many moose tracks, but they were
+old, the freshest having been made two days before.  The age of these
+the hunter was able to determine from the amount of newly fallen snow
+in the track, as well as from other conditions; for he well remembered
+how much snow had fallen each day for the last week or two, when and
+which way the wind had blown, and when the sun was strong and the cold
+severe.  Now selecting a two-day-old trail as the best for us to
+follow, he decided to camp for the night, and we spent the interval
+between supper and bedtime discussing not only the hunting of moose,
+but also their range and habits.
+
+The extreme range of a moose covers from five to fifteen miles.  More
+often it is confined to a much smaller area that merely includes the
+low-lying river and lake valleys that afford him the choicest of summer
+food--the pineapple-like roots of waterlilies--and also affords him
+protection from flies while he is wading and delving for those very
+roots; and the higher lands among the hills, where he spends the winter
+in the denser forest.
+
+But it is in midsummer that we can study the moose with greatest ease,
+for then he spends the sunrises and sunsets wading among the lily pads,
+and if we are careful to observe the direction of the wind to guard
+against being scented, and also careful to cease paddling or any other
+motion before the big brute looks at us, we may, with the greatest ease
+and safety, propel our canoe to within from a hundred yards to fifty or
+forty feet of the great beast as he stands looking at us with raised
+head and dilating nostrils trying to catch our scent.  If he catches
+it, he suddenly tosses his ponderous head, drops back slightly on his
+hind legs as he swings round, and is off with a grunt.  Nevertheless,
+he--or she--will pause long enough to leave the sign that all deer
+leave upon the ground when suddenly startled by--to them--the dreadful
+smell of human beings.  Or if it happens to be moonlight and the moose
+is a bit mystified by the steady, but silent, scentless, and motionless
+approach of our canoe, he may at first stand gazing at us, then grunt
+at us, then back out of the water up on to the bank and there stand,
+not fifty feet away, towering above us--for he may measure from six to
+seven feet at the shoulder and weigh three quarters of a ton--shaking
+his great antlers and grunting, or perhaps, more properly speaking,
+_barking_ at us while he stamps his big fore hoofs until he shakes the
+very river bank.
+
+How children love to take part in such sport!  How they thrill over
+such an experience!  Many a time I have taken them right up to even the
+largest of bulls until the little tots could look into the very eyes of
+the greatest of all living deer.  What fine little hunters, too, they
+made, never speaking, not even in a whisper; never moving--save only
+their eyelids.  In fact, I have been so close to wild moose that on one
+occasion I could have spanked a huge bull with my paddle.  He was
+standing belly-deep in the river with his head under water, and so
+close did my canoe glide past him that I had to turn it to prevent it
+from running in between his hind legs.  It was the sound of turning
+aside the canoe that brought his head up, and when he beheld the cause,
+he lunged forward and trotted away leaving a great wake of surging foam
+behind him.  His head, crowned with massive antlers, was a ponderous
+affair.  His body was as large as that of a Shire stallion and his back
+just as flat, while his legs were very much longer.  He was the largest
+moose I have ever seen--and yet, by leaning slightly toward him, I
+could have spanked him with my paddle!  One such experience with a
+great, wild animal, is more adventuresome, more thrilling and more
+satisfactory, than the shooting of a hundred such creatures.  It is
+more than the sport of kings--it is the sport of men of common sense.
+
+On another occasion, at Shahwandahgooze, in Quebec, in broad daylight,
+I paddled a friend of mine right in between three bulls and a cow, and
+there we rested with moose on three sides of us.  They were standing in
+a semicircle and no one of them was more than fifty paces away.  They
+were unusually fine specimens and had the bulls been triplets they
+could not have been more alike even to the detail of their antlers.
+The cow paid little attention to us and went on feeding while the
+bulls, with heads held much higher than usual, stood as though in
+perfect pose for some sculptor.  There wasn't a breath of wind and the
+wondrous spell must have lasted from eight to ten minutes; then a faint
+zephyr came and carried our tell-tale scent to them and they wheeled
+round and trotted away.  Yet the head hunter from the city, who usually
+stands off at long range and fires at the first sight of game, will
+argue that killing is the greatest sport; when in truth it requires
+greater courage and greater skill to approach, unarmed, so close to
+game that one may touch it with a fish pole, and the reward is a much
+greater and a more satisfactory thrill than the head hunter ever gets
+from lying off at long range with a high-powered rifle and utterly
+destroying life.  Furthermore, think of how much better one can study
+natural history by observing live animals in action, rather than
+motionless ones in death!  An artist, in his effort to render a perfect
+portrait of a human being, never murders his sitter, as the so-called
+"sportsman-naturalist" does.  It seems to me that if sportsmen were
+more active, more skilful, and more courageous, they would give up
+slaughtering animals and birds for the sake of the unbounded pleasure
+and adventure of observing wild game at closer quarters; but in truth,
+long experience has taught me that the average hunter from the city is
+something of a coward--never daring to walk alone in the forest without
+his trusty, life-destroying machines.
+
+But if those same hunters would only take a little more interest in
+nature, pluck up a little more courage, and remember that the wild
+animals of the northern forest are less vicious--when unmolested--than
+are many of the tame animals of civilization, how much more sane they
+would be.  Remember, it is much safer to approach the great bulls of
+the forest than it is to approach the smaller bulls of the farmers'
+fields.  Likewise, when tramping along the rural road one runs a much
+greater chance of being bitten by the farmer's dog, than one does, when
+travelling through the forest, of being bitten by a wolf.  Then, too,
+it is just the same of men, for the men of the cities are much more
+quarrelsome, dishonest, and evil-minded than are those of the
+wilderness, and that, no doubt, accounts for the endless slandering of
+the wilderness dwellers by fiction writers who live in towns, for those
+authors--never having lived in the wilderness--form their judgment of
+life, either as they have experienced it in cities or as they imagine
+it to be in the wilderness.
+
+
+THE OUTLAW AND NEW YORKER
+
+Now, in order to confirm my statement, I shall go to the very extreme
+and quote what Al Jennings, the notorious outlaw, says upon this very
+subject.  The quotation is taken from Jennings' reminiscences of his
+prison days, when he and the late lamented William Sydney Porter--the
+afterward famous author O. Henry--formed such a strong friendship.  In
+the following dialogue Jennings is in New York City visiting
+Porter--whom he calls "Bill"--and Porter is speaking:
+
+"I have accepted an invitation for you, Colonel."  He was in one of his
+gently sparkling moods.  "Get into your armor asinorum, for we fare
+forth to make contest with tinsel and gauze.  In other words, we mingle
+with the proletariat.  We go to see Margaret Anglin and Henry Miller in
+that superb and realistic Western libel, 'The Great Divide.'"
+
+After the play the great actress, Porter, and I, and one or two others
+were to have supper at the Breslin Hotel.  I think Porter took me there
+that he might sit back and enjoy my unabashed criticisms to the young
+lady's face.
+
+"I feel greatly disappointed in you, Mr. Porter," Margaret Anglin said
+to Bill as we took our places at the table.
+
+"In what have I failed?"
+
+"You promised to bring your Western friend--that terrible Mr.
+Jennings--to criticize the play."
+
+"Well, I have introduced him."  He waved his hand down toward me.
+
+Miss Anglin looked me over with the trace of a smile in her eye.
+
+"Pardon me," she said, "but I can hardly associate you with the lovely
+things they say of you.  Did you like the play?"
+
+I told her I didn't.  It was unreal.  No man of the West would shake
+dice for a lady in distress.  The situation was unheard of and could
+only occur in the imagination of a fat-headed Easterner who had never
+set his feet beyond the Hudson.
+
+Miss Anglin laughed merrily.  "New York is wild over it; New York
+doesn't know any better."
+
+Porter sat back, an expansive smile spreading a light in his gray eyes.
+
+"I am inclined to agree with our friend," he offered.  "The West is
+unacquainted with Manhattan chivalry."
+
+That is the truth in a sentence; and while O. Henry and Jennings have
+spoken for the West, may I add my own experience of wilderness men and
+say that the North, also, is unacquainted with Manhattan chivalry.
+
+
+LAW AND ORDER ENFORCED
+
+Furthermore, while upon this subject, I wish to add to my own protest
+against the novelists' wild dreams of outlawry in the Canadian
+wilderness, a quotation from E. Ward Smith's "Chronicles of the
+Klondyke."  Mr. Smith--as you no doubt remember--was the first city
+clerk, treasurer, assessor, and tax collector of Dawson City; and this
+is what he says:
+
+"I want to say at the very outset that the Yukon was, in my opinion at
+least, one of the most orderly corners of the earth.  Even in the early
+days of the boom, when miners and adventurers of all nationalities
+poured in, the scales of justice were held firmly and rigidly.  The
+spell of the Mounted Police hung over the snow-bound land and checked
+the evil-doer.  It may sound ridiculous when I assert that the
+Yukon--that gathering spot of so much of the scum of the earth--was
+better policed than Winnipeg, or Toronto, or Halifax; but,
+nevertheless, I believe it to be a fact.
+
+"Of course, crimes were committed, some of which were never solved.
+Doubtless, also many deeds of violence occurred whose authors never
+came to light.  But, on the whole, life and property were surprisingly
+secure.  One day I visited the cabin of my friend Lippy, who made a
+million or so upon El Dorado.  The door was partly open, so, on
+receiving no response to my knock, I walked in.  The cabin was empty.
+On the table was a five-gallon pail heaped high with glittering nuggets
+of gold!  I glanced around the place.  On the shelves and rafters, on
+chairs and under bunks, were cans filled with gold.  There was a snug
+fortune in sight.  Any one could have slipped in and stolen the lot.  I
+took Lippy to task about it when he came in.  He did not seem at all
+concerned, however.
+
+"Pshaw," he said, "I always have quite a lot of gold about.  But no one
+would steal it.  I've never lost anything."
+
+But as the Yukon and New York are a long way from where Oo-koo-hoo was
+hunting, let us return to his Moose Hills.
+
+
+THE WAYS OF THE MOOSE
+
+Moose mate in September and October, and during this period great
+battles between bulls frequently occur before the victor walks off with
+his hard-won spouse.  The young--either one or two, but generally two
+after the mother's first experience--are born in May, in some secluded
+spot, and the calves soon begin to follow their mother about, and they
+follow her, too, into their second year.  Horns begin to grow on the
+young bull before he is a year old, but they are mere knobs until he is
+a year and a half old, when spikes form; by the third year he is
+supplied with antlers.  The perfect antlers of a big bull sometimes
+measure seventy inches across, yet every winter--in January or
+February--the horns are shed.  During the mating season moose are
+frequently hunted by the method known as "calling."  The hunter, with
+the aid of a birch-bark megaphone, imitates the long-drawn call of the
+cow, to attract the bull.  Then, when a bull answers with his guttural
+grunt of Oo-ah, Oo-ah, the Indian imitates that sound, too, to give the
+first bull the impression that a second is approaching, and thus
+provokes the first to hurry forward within range of the hunter's gun.
+But when the rutting season is over, the hunting is done by snaring or
+stalking or trailing.  The moose derives its winter food principally
+from browsing upon hardwood twigs, and when the deep snows of midwinter
+arrive, he is generally to be found in a "yard" where such growth is
+most abundant.
+
+A moose yard is usually composed of a series of gutters from one foot
+to eighteen inches wide, intersecting one another at any distance from
+ten to fifty feet or more apart, and each gutter being punctured about
+every three feet with a post hole in which the moose steps as it walks.
+The space between the tracks is generally nothing but deep, soft snow,
+anywhere from three to five feet in depth.
+
+Beside the moose tracks that Oo-koo-hoo and I had seen that day was
+much silver birch and red willow, and from the signs of freshly cropped
+twigs we knew that the moose were not unusually tall, and we knew, too,
+from the fact that the tracks were sharply defined as well as from
+their ordinary size and that they were not deeply impressed in the
+snow, that the moose were those of about three years old.
+
+
+THE OWL TRACKS MOOSE
+
+That night, as Oo-koo-hoo was in a talkative mood, he told me much
+about the hunting of moose, as we sat before our snow-encircled fire in
+the still, silent, sombre woods.
+
+"We hunters usually take moose by shooting or snaring them, and the
+first thing to do is to find a track, and if it is old, follow it up
+until new signs appear.  And now, my son, as you may some day want to
+hunt moose on your own account, I shall tell you how to trail them and
+what to do when you find them.  Listen to my words and remember: As
+soon as you find a fresh track, look toward the sun to learn the time
+of day; for if it is between eight and nine on a winter morning the
+moose will be feeding, as it seldom lies down until between ten and
+three.  If feeding, the track will zig-zag about, and for a time head
+mainly up wind, until its feeding is nearly done, then if the wind is
+from the right, the moose will turn to the left and circle down wind
+and finally come about close to its old trail where it will lie down to
+rest.  So when you find a zig-zagging track about which the brush has
+been browsed, and when the wind comes from the right of the trail, you,
+too, should circle to the left, but instead of circling down wind as
+the moose has done, or is now doing, you circle up wind until you
+either approach the danger point where the wind may carry your scent to
+the moose, or otherwise, until you cut the moose's track.  In either
+case you should now retrace your steps for some distance and then begin
+a new circle, and this time, a smaller one.  If you now find a new
+trail, but still no sign that the moose has turned up wind, or is about
+to do so, you retrace your steps and begin a still smaller circle, then
+when you strike the trail again, you can judge fairly well--without
+even getting a sight of it--the exact position of your quarry.  Then is
+the time to take off your snowshoes and approach with greater care then
+ever; but remember, always keep to leeward of the track and always look
+up wind.  Should you now come to an open space, watch carefully any
+clumps of trees or bushes; if passing through heavy timber, watch for
+an opening, and if there should be fallen timber there, scan it most
+carefully where the dead trees lie, for there, too, your game may be
+lying.  Remember, my son, if you approach a moose directly he will
+either see or scent you, and in circling, you must understand that only
+the skill of the hunter in reading the signs can successfully determine
+the size of the circle--sometimes it may cover a quarter of a mile.
+
+"Then, too, my son, the seasons play a part in hunting.  In winter, a
+moose, of course, does not go to water, but eats snow to slake its
+thirst.  But whenever there is open water, a moose will go to drink
+about sunrise; in the fly season, however, all rules are broken, as the
+brute then goes to water night or day, to get rid of the pests, and it
+will even remain submerged with nothing above the surface--save its
+nose.  In stormy weather look for moose among heavy timber, and in fair
+weather search the open feeding places.  But in bad weather, though the
+hunter gains one advantage, the moose gains another; for while many
+twigs and sticks are apt to be broken by the high wind and thus the
+sound of the hunter's approach is less likely to be heard, the eddying
+currents of air are then more apt to carry the hunter's scent to the
+moose regardless of the fact that his approach may be faultless.
+
+"Also, my son, you must be careful not to disturb the little tell-tale
+creatures of the woods or success that seems so near may vanish in a
+moment; for a raven may fly overhead, and spying you, circle
+about--just as the pigeons used to do--and then crying out may warn the
+moose of your presence.  Or you may flush a partridge; or a squirrel,
+taking fright, may rush up a tree and begin chattering about you; or a
+rabbit may go drumming into a thicket, and the moose, reading these
+signs of alarm, will surely look about to learn the cause.
+
+"But, my son, should you spy a moose lying down, it is rather risky to
+fire at it in that position, as it is then hard to hit a vital spot.
+The better way is to stand with cocked gun covering the game, and then
+break a twig--not too sharply though, or you may scare away your
+quarry.  Watch its ears: if they flop back and forward, it has heard
+nothing, but if both ears point in your direction, keep still and be
+ready, for it has heard you, and now with one great spring it may
+disappear into a thicket.  Instead of breaking a twig, some hunters
+prefer to whistle like a startled rabbit while other hunters prefer to
+speak to the moose in a gentle voice, always taking care to use none
+but kindly words, such as for instance: 'Oh, my lazy brother, I see you
+are sleeping long this morning.'
+
+"For we Indians never speak harshly to so good an animal, nor do we
+ever use bad words, as bad words always bring bad luck to the hunter.
+
+"In winter, my son, a moose makes much noise in walking and feeding,
+for then he often breaks off the tops of little trees--though some of
+the trunks may be as thick as a man's arm.  The moose breaks down trees
+of such a size by placing his big shoulder against it, and curving his
+powerful neck round it, and then bending it over with his massive head.
+Then, too, he often rides down small trees, such as birch or poplars,
+just by straddling his fore legs about them and using his chest to
+force them over.
+
+"In shooting a moose, remember the best spot is just behind the
+shoulder, and while the next best is in the kidneys, the head is not a
+good shot for a smooth-bore gun, for bone often deflects a round ball.
+A good hunter always tries to get a clear view of his quarry, for even
+a twig may deflect his bullet.  And remember, too, my son, that as a
+rule, when coming upon a fresh track, it is wiser to back-track it than
+to follow it up at once, as back-tracking will provide the hunter with
+about all the information he may require, as the back trail will tell
+him if the game was travelling fast or slow, whether it was fleeing in
+fright or feeding; and if feeding, whether it was feeding quietly or in
+haste; and if in haste, the twigs would be torn off instead of being
+clean cut.  Sometimes a good hunter will back-track a trail several
+miles in order to assure the success of his hunt.
+
+"My son, if a moose is badly frightened by man-smell it may at first go
+off on the gallop and then settle down to a steady trot for four or
+five miles before it stops to listen--but not to feed.  Then, turning
+its head this way and that, and even trembling with excitement, as it
+throws its snout into the air, to test if danger is still following, it
+may then start off again on another long trot, but all the time it
+will, as much as possible, avoid open places.  Later it may attempt to
+feed by tearing off twigs as it hurries along, and then at last it will
+circle to leeward and finally rest not far from its old trail.  Under
+such conditions, the distance a moose travels depends largely upon the
+depth of the snow.  Two or three feet of snow will not hamper it much,
+but when the depth is four feet, or when the moose's belly begins to
+drag in the snow, the brute will not travel far.  An old bull will not
+run as far as a young one, and a cow will not travel as far as a bull;
+but when tired out a moose sleeps soundly, so soundly, indeed, that a
+hunter can easily approach as close as he pleases.  But don't forget,
+my son, that a good hunter never runs a moose--at least, not unless he
+is starving--as running a moose spoils the meat.
+
+"Sometimes, my son, a hunter may use a dog to trail a moose, but it is
+dangerous work for the dog, as the moose may turn at bay and strike at
+the dog with any one of its chisel-like hoofs or may even seize the dog
+by the back in its mouth, carry it for a little way, then throw it into
+the air and when it falls trample it to death.  So, my son, when
+hunting moose in that way, it is best to have two dogs or more, as then
+one dog may attack while another is being pursued.  But I warn you, if
+you are in pursuit of a moose and if he turns at bay for the first time
+. . . look out . . . for then he will surely attack you; if, however,
+he turns at bay through sheer exhaustion or from over-whelming pain, he
+will not always fight; but under the first condition, the hunter is a
+fool if he approaches within ten paces of a bayed moose."
+
+
+"THE OWL" MAKES A KILL
+
+Rising early next morning we made a very small fire to cook our
+breakfast and were ready to start as soon as dawn came to light us on
+our way.  Oo-koo-hoo took great care in loading his gun as he expected
+to come upon moose at any time.  He placed a patch of cotton about the
+ball before ramming it in, and made sure that the powder showed in the
+nipple before putting on the percussion cap.  And as he took his
+fire-steel and whetted a keener edge upon his knife, a smile of
+hunter's contentment overspread his face, because he well knew how soon
+he was to use the blade.  That morning he did not light his pipe as
+usual because, as he explained, he wanted to have his wits about him;
+furthermore, he did not wish to add to the strength of his man-smell;
+and whispering to me he added with a smile:
+
+"My son, when I smell some men, especially some white men, I never
+blame the animals of the Strong Woods for taking fright and running
+away."
+
+And that reminds me that while we white people consider the negro the
+standard-bearer of the most offensive of all human body smells, the
+Indian always unhesitatingly awards the palm to the white man, and
+sometimes even the Indian children and babies, when they get an
+unadulterated whiff from a white man, will take such fright that it is
+hard for their mothers to console them--a fact that has often made me
+wonder what the poor little tots would do if they scented one of those
+highly painted and perfumed "ladies" that parade up and down
+Piccadilly, Fifth Avenue, or Yonge Street?
+
+After following the trail for about fifteen minutes, we came to where
+the moose had been lying down, and the hunter whispered:
+
+"My son, I am glad I did not smoke, but I am sorry that we camped so
+near."  Then he added as he pointed to the impression of a moose's body
+in the snow: "A moose seldom lies twice in the same place in the snow,
+as the old bed would be frozen and hard as well as dirty."
+
+But as we had not made much noise, nor cut any big wood to make a fire,
+he was hopeful that our chances were still good; and at sunrise he
+concluded that it was time we should leave our sled behind and begin to
+track our quarry more cautiously.  From then on there was to be no
+talking--not even in a whisper.  Soon we came upon yesterday's tracks,
+then farther on we saw where the moose had circled before lying down
+again for the night, with their eyes guarding their front while their
+scent guarded their rear.
+
+At last we came upon still fresher signs that told that the moose might
+be within a hundred paces or less.  At a signal from the old hunter I
+imitated him by slipping off my snowshoes, and standing them upon end
+in the snow, and Oo-koo-hoo leading the way, began to circle to our
+right as a gentle wind was coming on our left.  Now our progress was
+indeed slow, and also perfectly noiseless.  It seemed to take an age to
+make a semicircle of a couple of hundred paces.  Again we came upon the
+tracks of the moose.  The signs were now fresher than ever.  Retracing
+our own tracks for a little way we started on another circle, but this
+time, a smaller one, for we were now very near the moose.  Silent ages
+passed, then we heard the swishing of a pulled branch as it flew back
+into place; a few steps nearer we progressed; then we heard the
+munching sound of a large animal's jaws.  Oo-koo-hoo rose slightly from
+his stooped position, peered through the branches of a dense spruce
+thicket, crouched again, turned aside for perhaps twenty paces . . .
+looked up again . . . raised his gun and saying in a gentle voice: "My
+brother, I need . . ." he fired.
+
+Instantly there was a great commotion beyond the thicket, one sound
+running off among the trees, while the other, the greater sound, first
+made a brittle crash, then a ponderous thud as of a large object
+falling among the dead under-branches.
+
+The hunter now straightened up and with his teeth pulled the plug from
+his powder horn, poured a charge into his gun, spat a bullet from his
+mouth into the barrel, struck the butt violently upon the palm of his
+left hand, then slipping a cap upon the nipple, moved cautiously
+forward as he whispered: "Its neck must be broken."  Soon we saw what
+had happened.  One moose was lying dead, the ball had struck it in the
+neck; it was a three-year-old cow--the one Oo-koo-hoo had
+selected--while the other, a bull, had left nothing but its tracks.
+
+Presently The Owl re-loaded his gun with greater care, then we returned
+for our snowshoes and to recover our toboggan before we started to skin
+the carcass.  On the way Oo-koo-hoo talked of moose hunting, and I
+questioned him as to why he had turned aside for the last time, just
+before he fired, and he answered:
+
+"My son, I did it so that in case I should miss, the report of my gun
+would come from the right direction to drive the moose toward home and
+also toward our sled; and in case, too, that I hit the moose and only
+wounded it, the brute would run toward our sled and not take us farther
+away from it.  Also, my son, if I had merely wounded the beast, but had
+seen from the way it flinched that it had been struck in a vital spot,
+I would not have followed immediately, but would have sat down and had
+a smoke, so as not to further disturb the wounded animal before it had
+time to bleed to death.  Besides, a mere glance at the trail would tell
+me whether or not I had mortally wounded the moose--whether the brute
+was hit high or low, and whether the blood was dark or light.  If hit
+high, the blood would be upon the branches as well as upon the snow; if
+the blood was black it would mean that an artery had been severed and
+that the moose was mortally wounded.  If the latter had happened, then
+would be the time for me to get out my pipe and have a smoke."
+
+
+SKINNING ANIMALS
+
+As we were to be busy for the rest of the day, we made a suitable camp
+and started a fire and by that time the moose had stiffened enough for
+proper handling while removing the skin.  As usual the hunter's first
+act was to cut the eyes, then to cut off the head, which he at once
+skinned and, removing the tongue, hung the head beside the fire to cook
+while we went on with our work.
+
+But while we propped up the moose and got it into good position, three
+whiskey jacks (Canada Jays) came, as they always seem to come at the
+first sign of smoke, to pay us a visit and partake of the feast.  They
+are fluffy, heavily feathered little birds of gray, with wings and tail
+of darker hue, and with a white spot on their forehead.  They are not
+unlike the blue jay in their calls and shrieks, though they have some
+notes of their own that are of a quieter, softer tone.  They are
+friendly little beggars that will at times come so near that they may
+occasionally be caught in one's hand; but while one likes to have them
+about for the sake of their companionship, they will, uninvited, take a
+share of anything that is good to eat.  They are the most familiar
+birds to be seen in the winter forest, and they have a remarkable way
+of laying their eggs and nesting in the month of March when the weather
+may register from twenty to forty below zero.
+
+In the forest there are several different ways of skinning animals: one
+is called "case skinning" and another is called "split skinning."  To
+case skin an animal such as ermine, fox, fisher, lynx, marten, mink,
+otter, muskrat, rabbit, or skunk, the skin is cut down the inner side
+of each hind leg until the two cuts meet just under the tail, and then
+the pelt is peeled off by turning it inside out.  To split skin an
+animal such as wood-buffalo, moose, wapiti, caribou, deer, bear,
+beaver, wolf, or wolverine, the skin is cut down the belly from throat
+to tail and also on the inside of each leg to the centre cut, and then
+the pelt is peeled off both ways toward the back.  All split skins are
+stretched on rectangular frames--all save beaver skins which are
+stretched on oval frames.  All case skins are stretched over
+wedge-shaped boards of various sizes--all save muskrat skins which are
+more often stretched over a hooped frame or a looped stick.  So, of
+course, our moose pelt was "split skinned," but there is still another
+way to skin an animal that is too large for one man to turn over, and
+that is--in case the animal is lying on its belly--to split the skin
+down the back and then peel it off both ways toward the belly.
+
+If the skin is to be used as a robe, the hair is left on, and the
+animal's brains are rubbed into the inner side of the pelt, after the
+fat has been removed, and then the skin is left to dry.  That softens
+the pelt; but traders prefer skins to be sun-dried or cold-dried.  If
+the skin is to be used as leather, the hair is cut off with a knife,
+and a deer's shin-bone is used as a dressing tool in scraping off the
+fat; both sides of the skin are dressed to remove the outer surface.
+It is easier to dress a skin in winter than in summer, but summer-made
+leather wears better, for the reason that the roots of the hair run all
+through a summer skin; whereas in winter the roots show only on the
+outer side; that is why a fur-trader--when looking only at the inner
+side--can tell whether a skin has been taken in winter or summer.  In
+dressing leather the inner side is rubbed well with brains which are
+then allowed to soak in for three or four days; then the skin is soaked
+in a vessel filled with water--but not in a river--for about two days
+more; then it is stretched again and let dry, then scraped with a bone,
+shell, or steel scraper--if it is a moose skin, only on one side, but
+if it is a caribou skin, on both sides.  The object of scraping is to
+further soften the skin.  After that, it is taken off the stretcher and
+rubbed together between the hands and pulled between two people.  Then
+it is stretched again and smoked over a slow fire that does not blaze.
+
+Woodsmen hunt moose for food and clothing.  Townsmen hunt moose for the
+satisfaction of killing.  But should the townsman fail in his hunt, he
+may hire a native "Head Hunter" to secure a head for him; and that
+reminds me of one night during the early winter, when a strange
+apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It appeared to have wings, but
+it did not fly, and though it possessed a tail, it did not run, but
+contented itself with moving steadily forward on its long, up-turned
+feet.  Over an arm it carried what might have been a trident, and what
+with its waving tail and great outspreading wings that rose above its
+horned-like head, it suggested that nothing less than Old Beelzebub
+himself had come from his flaming region beyond to cool himself on the
+snow-covered lake.  But in reality it was just Oo-koo-hoo returning
+with a fine pair of moose horns upon his back, and which he counted on
+turning over to the trader for some city sportsman who would readily
+palm it off as a trophy that had fallen to his unerring aim, and which
+he had brought down, too, with but a single shot . . . of $25.
+
+While at work I recalled how Oo-koo-hoo had surmised, before he had
+examined the carcass, that he had broken the moose's neck with his
+ball, and on questioning him as to how he knew, he replied:
+
+"My son, if an animal is hit in the neck and the neck is broken, the
+beast will collapse right where it is; but if hit in the heart, it will
+lunge forward; if hit in the nose, it will rear up; if hit in the
+spine, it will leap into the air.  Yes, my son, I have seen a great
+bull buffalo leap lynx-like, into the air, when it was struck in the
+spine."
+
+Knowing that the hunter had wanted to procure more than one moose I
+asked him why he had not at once pursued the other?  And he explained:
+
+"For two reasons, my son: first, because I don't want a bull, I want
+the tenderer meat and the softer skin of a cow; and secondly, even if I
+had wanted him, I would not have pursued him at once as that would
+cause him to run.  If a moose is pursued on the run, it overheats, and
+that spoils the meat, because the moose is naturally a rather inactive
+animal that lives on a small range and travels very little; but it is
+quite different with the caribou, for the caribou is naturally an
+active animal, a great traveller, that wanders far for its food, and to
+pursue it on the run only improves the flavour and the texture of its
+meat."
+
+
+OLD-TIME HUNTING
+
+After supper, as we sat in the comfortable glow of the fire, we talked
+much of old-time hunting, for in certain parts of the Great Northern
+Forest many of the ancient methods are practised to-day.  Fire is often
+made by friction; many hunters still use the bow and arrow, while
+others use the flintlock gun; frequently, too, they rely upon their
+spears; bone knives and awls as well as stone axes are still applied to
+work; fish nets are yet woven from the inner bark of cedar; and still
+to-day wooden baskets and birch-bark rogans are used for the purpose of
+heating water and boiling food.  Notwithstanding our far over-rated
+civilization the natives in some sections are dressed to-day in
+clothing entirely derived from the forest.
+
+One of the most ancient methods of hunting and one which is still in
+vogue in some remote localities is the "drive."  Two famous places for
+drive hunting in olden days were Point Carcajou on Peace River, and the
+Grand Detour on Great Slave River.  The former driving ground was about
+thirty miles long by about three miles across, while the latter was
+about fifteen miles long by about three miles across.  The mode of
+hunting was for a party of Indians to spread out through the woods, and
+all, at an appointed time, to move forward toward a certain point, and
+thus drive the game before them, until the animals, on coming out into
+the open at the other end, were attacked by men in ambush.  At those
+driving grounds in the right season--even if a drive of only a few
+miles were made--the Indians could count on securing two or three
+bears, three or four moose, and twelve or fifteen caribou.  But in
+later years, a number of the drivers having been accidentally shot from
+ambush, the practice has been discontinued in those localities.
+
+
+THE BEAR IN HIS WASH
+
+It is not an uncommon occurrence for a hunter, when travelling through
+the winter woods, to discover the place where a bear is hibernating;
+the secret being given away by the condensed breath of the brute
+forming hoar frost about the imperfectly blocked entrance to the wash.
+The Indians' hunting dogs are experts at finding such hidden treasure,
+and when they do locate such a claim, they do their best to acquaint
+their master of the fact.
+
+One day when Oo-koo-hoo was snowshoeing across a beaver meadow, his
+dogs, having gained the wooded slope beyond, began racing about as
+though they had scented game and were trying to connect a broken trail.
+So The Owl got out his pipe and sat down to have a smoke while his dogs
+were busily engaged.  Presently they centred on a certain spot, and
+Oo-koo-hoo, going over, discovered the tell-tale hoar frost.  Twisting
+out of his snowshoes--for an Indian never has to touch his hands to
+them when he puts them on or takes them off--he used one of them for a
+shovel, and digging away the snow, he came upon a bear's wash.  It was
+quite a cave and dark inside, and as the dogs refused to enter, the
+hunter crawled into the entrance and reaching in as far as he could
+with his hand, felt the forms of two bears.  Making sure of the exact
+position of the head of one of them, he then shoved his gun in until
+the muzzle was close to the ear of one of the bears and then he fired.
+The explosion aroused the other bear and as it crawled out Oo-koo-hoo
+killed it with his axe.  The latter was a brown bear while the former
+was a black.
+
+When a bear in his den shows fight and threatens danger, the hunter may
+wedge two crossed poles against the opening of the wash, leaving only
+enough space for the brute to squeeze through and thus prevent it from
+making a sudden rush.  Then when the bear does try to come out, the
+hunter, standing over the opening, kills it with the back of his axe.
+Sometimes a second hole is dug in order to prod the beast with a pole
+to make it leave its den.  The white hunter frequently uses fire to
+smoke a bear out, but not infrequently he succeeds in ruining the coat
+by singeing the hair.  It requires more skill, however, to find a
+bear's wash than it does to kill him in his den.  The Indians hunt for
+bear washes in the vicinity of good fishing grounds or in a district
+where berries have been plentiful.
+
+One winter when I happened to be spending a few days at Brunswick House
+an old Indian woman came to call upon the Hudson's Bay trader's wife,
+and, while she was having afternoon tea, she casually remarked that
+while on her way to the Post she had espied a bear wash.  Digging down
+into its den with one of her snowshoes, she had killed the brute with
+her axe, and if the other guests would care to see her prize, it was
+lying on her sled, just outside the door.  What a contrast to the way
+the Wild West movie actors would have done the deadly work with the aid
+of all their absurd artillery!  Nevertheless, that kindly spoken,
+smiling-faced, motherly old lady, did the deed with nothing but her
+little axe.
+
+But while the men of the wilderness laugh over the serious drivel of
+most fiction writers who make a specialty of northern tales, nothing is
+so supremely ludicrous as the attempts made by the average movie
+director to depict northern life in Canada.  Never have I seen a
+photoplay that truthfully illustrated northern Canadian life.
+
+
+THE WOLVERINE AND GILL NET
+
+Next day we again set out on a moose trail, but, as ill luck followed
+us in the way of a heavy snowstorm, we gave up the chase and continued
+on our way.  It was hard going and we stopped often.  Once we halted to
+rest beside a number of otter tracks.  Otters leave a surprisingly big
+trail for animals of their size.  A good imitation could be made of an
+otter's trail by pressing down into the snow, in a horizontal position,
+a long, irregular stove pipe of the usual size.  The reason the otter's
+trail is so formed, is that the animal, when travelling through deep
+snow, progresses on its belly and propels itself principally by its
+hind legs, especially when going down hill.  When making a hillside
+descent an otter prefers to use an old, well-worn track and glides down
+it with the ease and grace of a toboggan on its slide.  It was the
+sight of the otter's trail that set Oo-koo-hoo thinking of his younger
+days.
+
+"Years ago, my son, I very nearly killed a man.  It happened at just
+such a place as this: a little lake with a patch of open water above a
+spring.  It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon,
+after passing through heavy timber, I came out upon its shore, and
+there I discovered two men robbing one of my otter traps.  One man was
+holding up the otter by the tail and laughingly commenting on his gain,
+while the other was resetting the trap beneath the ice.  I raised my
+gun and was about to fire, when it occurred to me that, after all, a
+man's life was worth more than an otter's skin; so I let them go, and
+left it to the Redcoats (Mounted Police) to settle with them.  I knew
+them both.  They were half-breeds from near Montreal, and were well
+learned in the ways of the whites."
+
+[Illustration: It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one
+afternoon, after passing through heavy timber, I came out upon its
+shore, and there I discovered two men robbing one of my traps.  One man
+was holding up the otter by the tail and laughingly commenting on his
+gain, while the other was resetting the trap beneath the ice.  I raised
+my gun and was about to fire, when . . .  See Chapter VI.]
+
+But before setting out on our way--I forgot to tell you--we cached our
+moose meat in a tree as was previously agreed upon with old Granny,
+who, with the boys, was to come and take it home; and in order to
+prevent wolverines from stealing or spoiling the meat, the hunter
+wrapped round the trunk of the tree an old bag to which were fastened
+many fish hooks, all with their barbs pointing downward and ready to
+impale any creature that tried to climb the tree.  Needless to say, as
+that tree stood alone, no wolverine touched that meat.
+
+That day we covered about twenty miles, and by the afternoon of the
+second day we had arrived at the lake on the far shore of which lived
+Oo-koo-hoo's sister, Ko-ko-hay--The Perfect Woman--with her daughter
+and her son-in-law and four granddaughters.  As we drew near the camp
+we found the women about a mile from shore fishing through the ice for
+salmon trout.  There were a number of holes--each of which was marked
+by a spruce bough set upright in the snow--and the fishing was being
+done with hook and line.  The hook dangling below the ice about a third
+of the water's depth, was held in position by a branch line to which
+was attached a suitable sinker.  The trout they had caught ran from ten
+to thirty pounds each--as near as I could judge--and as the women had
+already gained a good haul, they loaded their catch upon their sled and
+returned home with us.
+
+Gill nets are also used in the winter time.  They are strung under the
+ice beneath a series of holes by means of which the net is passed under
+the ice with the aid of a pole.  The lines being then secured at either
+end, the net can be readily drawn back and forth for the purpose of
+emptying and resetting.  Of course, floats and sinkers are used to
+spread the net and keep it in proper position.  In some
+localities--where the water is muddy--the nets are occasionally boiled
+with willow bark to keep them from being destroyed by worms.
+
+Gill nets, however, are frequently injured by animals, not only
+amphibious ones such as beaver and otter, but even by such animals as
+wolverines.  Some years ago, a Yellowknife Indian hunting near Fort
+Resolution had an experience of that kind.  He having set a gill net
+beneath the ice, failed to visit it for several days.  When, however,
+he did arrive, he saw that it had been tampered with, and found no
+difficulty in reading the story in the snow.  A wolverine, happening by
+on a mild day when the fishing holes were open, began sniffing about
+one of the poles to which the end lines of the net were secured; then
+scenting the smell of fish, he began chewing the pole; and incidentally
+his sharp teeth severed the cords that held the net.  Then, for the
+want of something better to do, he went to the other end, to which were
+attached the lines of the other end of the net.  Again scenting fish,
+he began to chew the second pole, but this time finding it give way, he
+hauled it out of the hole; and with the pole came part of the net; and
+with the net came a few fish.  In trying to free the fish from the
+tangled mesh, he hauled out more net which contained more fish; then,
+in an effort to feast royally, he ended by hauling out the whole net.
+The following day the Indian arrived and reading the story in the snow,
+set a trap for the robber.  Again the wolverine came, but so did the
+hunter, and much to his delight found the wolverine caught in the trap.
+Such an incident, indeed, is not rare, for the same thing has happened
+in other parts of the forest.
+
+
+"THE PERFECT WOMAN"
+
+The Perfect Woman's daughter was married to a half-breed by the name of
+Tastowich and the four granddaughters were nice-looking girls ranging
+in age from fourteen to twenty.  Though very shy, they were bubbling
+over with quiet fun and I enjoyed my visit.  That evening, among other
+subjects, we discussed the various hunting caps worn by Indian big-game
+hunters, and The Perfect Woman offered to make me one if I could supply
+her with the needed material; but when she saw that I had nothing but a
+double "four-point" Hudson's Bay blanket, she offered to make me a
+complete suit from that article and to lend me, for the rest of the
+winter, a rabbit-skin quilt to take the place of the blanket.  I
+accepted her kindly offer, but of course paid her for both the work and
+the quilt.
+
+So the older women set to work with nothing more modern in the way of
+tools than a pair of scissors, a thimble, and a needle and thread; and
+by bed time I was well rigged in Indian fashion, for the hunting trail.
+The cap they made me was the same as Amik wears in my picture of the
+lynx hunter.  The suit consisted of a coat and hip-high leggings, and
+though I have worn that suit on many a winter trip, and though it is
+now over twenty-five years old, I have never had to repair their
+excellent hand-sewing.
+
+When the work was finished the father and the mother crawled into a
+double bunk that was surrounded by a curtain; Ko-ko-hay wound herself
+up in a blanket and lay down upon the floor, and Oo-koo-hoo did
+likewise, yet there were two bunks still unoccupied.  But I was
+informed that I was to occupy the single one, while the four girls were
+to sleep in the big double one.  As I had not had my clothes off for
+several days and as I was counting on the pleasure of sleeping in my
+night-shirt, I planned to sit up late enough to make my wish come true,
+though I knew that the intended occupants of those two bunks would have
+to rely solely upon darkness to form a screen, as neither bunk was
+provided with a curtain.  After a little while, however, it began to
+dawn upon me that the girls were counting on doing the same thing, for
+they made no move to leave the open fire.  But the Sand Man finally
+made them capitulate.  At last, rising from their seats, they piled a
+lot of fresh wood upon the fire, then climbing into their big bunk,
+they took off their shawls and hanging them from the rafters, draped
+them completely about their bed.  Now my opportunity had arrived, and
+though the fire was filling the one-room log house with a blaze of
+light, I made haste to discard my clothes--for now the older people
+were all sound asleep.  In a few moments I was in the very act of
+slipping on the coveted garment when I heard a peal of merriment behind
+me.  On looking round I discovered that the shawls had vanished from
+around the bunk and four merry young ladies, all in a row, were peering
+at me from beneath their blankets and fairly shaking their bed with
+laughter.
+
+
+INDIANS AND CIVILIZATION
+
+Tastowich's home was built entirely of wood, deerskin, and clay.  The
+house was of logs, the glassless windows were of deerskin parchment,
+the door-lock and the door-hinges were of wood, the latch string was of
+deerskin, the fireplace and the chimney were of clay, the roof thatch
+was of bark.  The abode was clean, serviceable, and warm; and yet it
+was a house that could have been built thousands of years ago.  But
+consider, for instance, Oo-koo-hoo's comfortable lodge; a similar
+dwelling, no doubt, could have been erected a million years ago; and
+thus, even in our time, the pre-historic still hovers on the outskirts
+of our flimsy civilization.  A civilization that billions of human
+beings for millions of years have been struggling violently to gain;
+and now after all that eternal striving since the beginning of
+time--what has been the great outstanding gain--as the Indian sees it?
+"Baldness and starched underwear for men, high-heeled shoes and corsets
+for women, and for both--spectacles and false teeth."  Is it any wonder
+the red man laughs?
+
+But some of you will doubt that the Indian laughs, and more of you will
+even doubt whether the red man possesses a sense of humour.  A few days
+ago my Toronto oculist--you see I have been justly rewarded for
+hovering around civilization--and I were discussing Indians.  The
+doctor quoted his experience with them.  Some years before he had taken
+a trip into the forest where he had met an old Indian chief whose wife
+had had her eye injured by accident.  The doctor told the old man if
+ever he contemplated taking his wife to Toronto, to let the doctor know
+of their coming, and he would see what he could do to repair the
+injury.  A year or so later a letter arrived from the very same Indian
+reservation.  Though it was hard to read, the doctor made out that the
+Indian intended to bring his wife to Toronto so that the oculist could
+fulfil his promise; but as luck would have it, the doctor had not only
+forgotten the Indian's name, but he had great difficulty in reading the
+signature.  After much study, however, he decided that the old Indian
+had signed his name as "Chief Squirrel" so thus the doctor addressed
+his reply.  A couple of weeks later the postman arrived with a letter
+he was rather loath to leave at the doctor's house.  The oculist,
+however, on seeing that it was addressed to his own number on Bloor
+Street West, and that the name was preceded by the title of Doctor,
+believed that it was intended for him.  On opening it he found it was
+from the old Indian whom he had addressed as "Chief Squirrel."  Now,
+however, he realized he had made a mistake in giving the red man such a
+name, for another glance at the outside of the envelope not only proved
+that the Indian was indignant, but that he also possessed a sense of
+humour, for "Chief Squirrel" had, in return, addressed the noted
+oculist as "Doctor Chipmunk."
+
+While spending a couple of days at Tastowich's house the subject of
+hunting was never long omitted from the general conversation; and upon
+learning from the half-breed that caribou were plentiful about a day's
+travel to the westward, nothing would do but Oo-koo-hoo must take that
+route on his return home; though of course it meant many more miles to
+cover.  The excursion, however, was inviting, as a good trail could be
+followed all the way to the caribou country, as the Tastowichs had been
+hauling deer meat from that region.
+
+By the evening of the first day, as good fortune would have it, we
+baited among many signs of caribou, and not only were fresh caribou
+tracks to be seen, but also those of wolves, for the latter were
+trailing the deer.  The incident reminded Oo-koo-hoo of a former
+experience which he told as we sat by the fire.
+
+
+WOLVES RUNNING CABIBOU
+
+"It happened years ago.  For weeks, my son, I had had ill luck and my
+family were starving.  For days I had hunted first one kind of game and
+then another, but always without success.  Then, as a last resort, I
+started after caribou, though I well knew that I should have to travel
+a long distance before falling in with them.  But in the end I was
+rewarded.  The going was bad, mostly through a dense growth of small
+black spruce, where the trees stood so close together that I had
+difficulty in hauling my sled, being compelled, at times, to turn on
+edge, not only my toboggan, but also my snowshoes, in order to pass
+between.  After several hours' hard work the forest grew more open and,
+about noon of the third day, I discovered a band of caribou quietly
+sunning themselves on a large muskeg.
+
+"Some were feeding, others were lying down, fawns were scampering about
+in play, and young bulls were thrusting at each other with their
+prong-like horns.  There were over a hundred in all.  I watched them
+for some time before I was discovered by seven young bulls, and as they
+were nearest me, they stopped in their play, left the others, and came
+down wind to investigate the strange two-legged creature that also wore
+a caribou skin.
+
+"With heads held high and expanded nostrils quivering in readiness to
+catch scent of danger, they came on very slowly yet not without a great
+deal of high stepping and of prancing, with a sort of rhythmical
+dancing motion.  Every now and then they threw their heads down, then
+up, and then held them rigid again.  They were brave enough to come
+within sixty or seventy paces and even a little closer.  But as ill
+luck ordained, while I was waiting for a better chance to bring down
+one of them with my old flint-lock, they caught scent of me, and
+suddenly falling back--almost upon their haunches--as though they had
+been struck upon the head, they wheeled round, then fled in alarm to
+the main body.  Then, as caribou usually do, the whole band began
+leaping three or four feet into the air--much as they sometimes do when
+hit by a bullet.  Then, too, with tails up they swept away at full
+gallop and, entering the forest beyond, were lost to view.
+
+"It was a great disappointment, my son, and I became so disheartened
+that I made but a poor attempt to trail them that day.  That evening,
+when I lay down to rest upon the edge of a muskeg, the moon was already
+shining; and by midnight the cold was so intense that the frost-bitten
+trees went off with such bangs that I was startled out of my slumber.
+It was then that I discovered a pack of eight wolves silently romping
+about in the snow of the muskeg--just like a lot of young dogs.  Their
+antics interested me and it was some time before I fell asleep again.
+
+"In the morning, though a heavy rime (frozen mist) was falling and
+though it was so thick that it obliterated the surrounding forest, I
+set out again in search of game tracks, and having crossed the muskeg,
+not only found the tracks of many caribou, but learned, too, that the
+eight wolves were now trailing the deer in earnest.
+
+"About half way between sunrise and midday I came upon a lake, and
+there I discovered not only the same herd of caribou and the same
+wolves, but the deer were running at full speed with the wolves in full
+chase behind them.  My son, it was a fascinating sight.  The caribou
+were going at full gallop, covering twenty feet or more at a bound, and
+all running at exactly the same speed, none trying to outstrip the
+others, for the fawns, does, and bucks were all compactly bunched
+together.  It was as exciting and as interesting a sight as one may see
+in the Strong Woods.  Though the wolves did not seem to be putting
+forth their utmost speed, they nevertheless took care to cut every
+corner, and thus they managed to keep close behind, while their long,
+regular lope foretold their eventually overhauling their quarry.
+
+"Protected by a gentle southwest wind and a thick screen of underbrush,
+I watched the chase.  Three times the deer circled the lake, which was
+about half a mile in length.  For safety's sake the caribou carefully
+avoided entering the woods, even rounding every point rather than cut
+across among the trees.  On the fourth round I saw that the wolves had
+set their minds upon running down a single deer, for as they now
+suddenly burst forward at their top speed, the herd, splitting apart,
+allowed the wolves to pass through their ranks.  A few moments later an
+unfortunate doe, emerging in front, galloped frantically ahead with the
+wolves in hot pursuit; while the rest of the herd slowed down to a
+trot, then to a walk, and finally halted to rest in perfect
+indifference as to their companion's fate.
+
+"Round and round the lake the frightened creature sped, with the
+determined wolves behind her.  Presently, however, the wolves one by
+one turned aside, and lay down to rest, until only two continued the
+pursuit.  But as the deer came round the lake again several of the
+now-refreshed wolves again entered the chase, thus they relieved one
+another.  The ill-fated doe, in a vain hope of throwing aside her
+pursuers, twice rushed into the very centre of the caribou herd; but it
+was of no avail, for, as the wolves relentlessly followed her, the
+other deer wildly scattered away to a safer distance, where, however,
+they soon came together again, and stood watching their enemies running
+down their doomed comrade.  Now first one wolf and then another took
+the lead; closer and closer they pressed upon the exhausted doe whose
+shortening stride told that her strength was fast ebbing away.
+
+"My son, perhaps you wonder why I did not use my gun?  I was out of
+range, and, moreover, while I was afraid that if I ventured out of the
+woods I might frighten the game away, I knew I had but to wait a little
+while and then I should be sure of at least one deer without even
+firing my gun.  I did not have to wait long.  With a few tremendous
+leaps the leading wolf seized the doe by the base of the throat and
+throwing her, heels over head, brought her down.
+
+"Realizing that I must act at once, I rushed out upon the lake, but in
+my haste I fell and broke the stock off my gun--just behind the hammer.
+But as I still had my axe, I picked up the broken gun, and charged in
+among the wolves that now began to back away, though not without much
+snarling, glaring of angry eyes, and champing of powerful jaws.  As one
+remained too near, I let drive at it with a charge from my almost
+useless gun; and though I missed my aim, the report relieved me of any
+further trouble.  Cutting up the deer, I feasted upon it for several
+hours, then loaded my sled and hurried home with the meat for my
+starving family."
+
+There are three principal species of Canadian caribou: the smallest
+living on the Barren Grounds and taking their name from that region;
+the largest frequenting the Rocky Mountains west of the Mackenzie River
+and known as Woodland or Mountain caribou; and the intermediate size
+inhabiting the Great Northern Forest and called Woodland caribou.
+
+In comparison with moose, wapiti, and other deer of North America, the
+Woodland caribou ranks third in size.  In colour its coat is of a
+grayish brown with a white neck and belly.  In winter the heavy growth
+of neck hair really amounts to a mane.  Of the three breeds, the
+Woodland caribou have the smallest horns, the Barren Ground the
+slenderest, while the Mountain caribou have the most massive.  Record
+antlers range from fifty- to sixty-inch beams, with a forty- to
+fifty-inch spread, and possessing from sixty to seventy points.  The
+does are usually provided with small horns, and in that way they are
+distinct from all other Canadian deer.
+
+On account of its wide-spreading and concave hoofs the Woodland caribou
+does not have to "yard" as other deer do in winter time, for thus
+provided with natural snowshoes, the caribou can pass over the deepest
+snow with little trouble.  Also, throughout the year it is an extensive
+traveller, and as its food is found everywhere within its wide range,
+its wanderings are determined chiefly by the wind.  Indeed, so great a
+traveller is it that, when thoroughly alarmed, it may cover from fifty
+to a hundred miles before settling down again.  Rivers and lakes do not
+hinder its roaming for it is a powerful and a willing swimmer.  The
+mating takes place in October and the calves are born in June.
+
+The following morning while at breakfast Oo-koo-hoo discoursed upon the
+game we were about to hunt:
+
+"My son, everything that applies to hunting the moose, applies to
+hunting the caribou, except that the hunter never tries to 'call' the
+caribou.  But now I recollect that there is one thing about moose
+hunting that I forgot to tell you and it applies also to hunting the
+caribou.  In some localities barriers are still in use, but nowadays
+they seldom make new ones.  In the old days whole tribes used to take
+part in barrier hunting and sometimes the barriers would stretch for
+fifteen or twenty miles and were usually made from one part of the
+river to another, and thus they marked off the woods enclosed in a
+river's bend.  Barriers are made by felling trees in a line; or, in an
+open place, or upon a river or lake, placing a line of little trees in
+the snow about ten paces apart.  Small evergreens with the butts no
+thicker than a man's thumb were often used; yet an artificial line of
+such brush was enough to turn moose or caribou and cause them to move
+forward in a certain direction where the hunters were hiding.  Even big
+clumps of moss, placed upon trees, will produce the same effect.
+Frequently, too, snares for deer are set in suitable places along the
+barrier, and while the snares are made of babiche the loops are kept
+open with blades of grass.
+
+"There is still another thing I forgot to tell you about moose
+hunting--my son, I must be growing old when I forget so much.  While my
+Indian cousins in the East use birch-bark horns for calling moose, my
+other cousins in the Far North never do, yet they call moose, too, but
+in a different way.  They use the shoulder blade of a deer.  Thus, when
+a bull is approaching, the hunter stands behind a tree and rubs the
+shoulder blade upon the trunk or strikes it against the branches of a
+neighbouring bush, as it then makes a sound not unlike a bull thrashing
+his horns about.  Such a sound makes a bull believe that another is
+approaching and ready to fight him for the possession of the cow, and
+he prepares to charge his enemy.  At such a moment the hunter throws
+the shoulder blade into some bushes that may be standing a little way
+off, and the enraged bull, hearing this last sound, charges directly
+for the spot.  Then, as the brute passes broadside, the hunter fires.
+
+"But, my son, to return to caribou hunting, you probably know that
+those deer are very fond of open places during sunny weather in winter
+time, such places as, for instance, rivers and small lakes where the
+wind will not be strong.  There they will spend most of the day resting
+or playing together in big bands of perhaps fifty or more.  Sometimes,
+however, when a high wind springs up, they have a curious custom of all
+racing round in a circle at high speed.  It is a charming sight to
+watch them at such sport.  Most of their feeding is done right after
+sunrise and just before sunset, and at night they always resort to the
+woods.
+
+"Then, too, when caribou go out upon a lake they have a habit of lying
+down beside the big ridges that rise three or four feet above the rest
+of the surface, where the ice has been split apart and then jammed
+together again with such power that the edges are forced upward.  They
+lie down there to avoid the wind while resting in the sun.  There the
+hunter sometimes digs a trench in the snow and lies in wait for the
+unsuspecting deer.  When he shoots one, he immediately skins it, but
+takes care to leave the head attached to the skin; then ramming a pole
+into the head at the neck, he drapes the skin over the pole and getting
+down on all fours places the skin over his back and pretends to be a
+caribou.  Thus he will approach the band, and should he tire of
+crawling along on his hands and knees he will even lie down to rest in
+sight of the deer, but he always takes care to keep down wind.  In such
+a guise it is not hard to come within gun-range of the band.
+
+"A very good thing to carry when hunting deer in the woods is a bunch
+of tips of deer horns, each about four inches long and all suspended
+from the back of the hunter's belt; as the horn tips will then tinkle
+together at every movement of the hunter, and make a sound as though
+the horns of a distant band of closely marching caribou were striking
+together.  In that way, my son, it is easier to approach, and when you
+are ready to fire, look carefully for a large, white, fat doe, and then
+let drive at her; for bands of deer are never led by bulls, but always
+by does and usually by a barren one.  If you shoot the leader first,
+the chances are the band will stand waiting for one of their number to
+lead the way.  Remember, too, that deer are never so frightened at
+seeing or hearing you as they are at scenting you, for the merest whiff
+of man-smell will drive them away.  When they first scent you they will
+take two or three jumps into the air with their heads held high, their
+nostrils extended, and their eyes peering about; then swinging round,
+they will gallop off and later settle down into a great high-stepping,
+distance-covering trot that will carry them many miles away before they
+halt.  There is still another good way to hunt caribou on a lake and
+that is to put on a wolf skin and approach on all fours, but it is not
+so successful as when the hunter wears a caribou skin."
+
+
+TRAILING IN THE SNOW
+
+Breakfast over, we slipped on our snowshoes and set out to follow a
+mass of tracks that led southward.  It was easy going on a beaten
+trail, a blind man could have followed it; and that reminds me of
+something I have failed to tell you about winter trailing in the
+Northland.  In winter, the men of the Northland don't trail human
+beings by scent, they trail them by sight or sometimes by touch.  Sight
+trailing, of course, you understand.  Trailing by touch, however, when
+not understood by the spectator, seems a marvellous performance.  For
+instance, when a husky dog, the leader of a sled-train, will come out
+of the forest and with his head held high, and without a moment's
+hesitation, trot across a lake that may be three or four miles wide,
+upon the surface of which the wind and drifting snow have left
+absolutely no visible sign of a trail, and when that dog will cross
+that great unbroken expanse and enter the woods on the far shore
+exactly where the trail appears in sight again, though no stick or
+stone or any other visible thing marks the spot--it does seem a
+marvellous feat.  But it is done, not by sight, sound, or scent, but by
+touch--the feel of the foot.  In winter time man, too, follows a trail
+in the same way, notwithstanding that he is generally handicapped by a
+pair of snowshoes.  Some unseen trails are not hard to follow--even a
+blind man could follow them.  It is done this way:
+
+Suppose you come to a creek that you want to cross, yet you can see no
+way of doing it, for there is nothing in sight--neither log nor
+bridge--spanning the river.  But suppose someone tells you that, though
+the water is so muddy that you cannot see an inch into it, there is a
+flat log spanning the creek about six inches below the surface, and
+that if you feel about with your foot you can find it.  Then, of
+course, you would make your way across by walking on the unseen log,
+yet knowing all the time that if you made a misstep you would plunge
+into the stream.  You would do it by the feel of the foot.  It is just
+the same in following an unseen trail in the snow--it lies hard-packed
+beneath the surface, just as the log lay unseen in the river.  What a
+pity it is that the writers of northern tales so rarely understand the
+life they have made a specialty of depicting.
+
+But to return to the caribou we were trailing, and also to make a long
+hunt short--for you now know most of the interesting points in the
+sport--I must tell you that we spent a full day and a night before we
+came up with them.  And that night, too, a heavy fall of snow added to
+our trouble, but it made the forest more beautiful than ever.  It was
+after sunrise when we picked up fresh tracks.  A heavy rime was
+falling, but though it screened all distant things, we espied five
+caribou that were still lingering on a lake, over which the main band
+had passed.  They were east of us and were heading for the north side
+of a long, narrow island.  As soon as they passed behind it, Oo-koo-hoo
+hurried across the intervening space, and ran along the southern shore
+to head them off.  The eastern end of the island dwindled into a long
+point and it was there that The Owl hoped to get a shot.  Sure enough
+he did, for he arrived there ahead of the deer.  Though he had lost
+sight of them, he knew they were nearing him, for he could hear the
+crunching sound of their hoofs in the frosty snow, and later he could
+even hear that strange clicking sound caused by the muscular action of
+the hoofs in walking--a sound peculiar to caribou.
+
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound,
+caused by the muscular action of the hoofs in walking--a sound peculiar
+to caribou.  He cautiously went down on one knee and there waited with
+his gun cocked and in position.  Now antlered heads appeared beyond the
+openings between the snow-mantled trees.  The hunter, taking aim,
+addressed them: "My brothers, I need your . . ."  Then the violent
+report of his gun shattered the . . .  See Chapter VI.]
+
+Oo-koo-hoo cautiously went down on one knee and there waited with his
+gun cocked and in position.  The air was scarcely moving.  Now antlered
+heads appeared beyond the openings between the snow-mantled trees.  The
+hunter, taking aim, addressed them:
+
+"My brothers, I need your . . ."  Then the violent report of his gun
+shattered the stillness, and the leader, a doe, lunged forward a few
+paces, staggered upon trembling legs, and then sank down into the
+brilliantly sunny snow.  But before Oo-koo-hoo could re-load for a
+second shot the rest of the little band passed out of range, and, with
+their high-stepping, hackney action, soon passed out of sight.  So,
+later on, with our sled again heavily loaded, and with packs of meat
+upon our backs, we set out for home.
+
+
+THE MAN WHO HIBERNATED
+
+Next morning, soon after sunrise, while I was breaking trail across a
+lake, I espied a log house in a little clearing beside a large beaver
+meadow.  As it was about the time we usually stopped for our second
+breakfast, I turned in the direction of the lonely abode.  It was a
+small, well-built house, and with the exception of the spaces at the
+two windows and the door, was entirely enclosed by neatly stacked
+firewood suitable for a stove.  Beyond, half built in the rising
+ground, stood a little log stable, and near it a few cattle were eating
+from haystacks.  Going up to the shack, I knocked upon the door, and as
+a voice bade me enter I slipped off my snowshoes, pulled the latch
+string, and walked in.  Entering from the dazzling sunlight made the
+room at first seem in darkness.  Presently, however, I regained my
+sight, and then beheld the interior of a comfortable little home--the
+extreme of neatness and order; and then I saw a human form lying
+beneath the blankets of a bunk in a far corner.  Later I noticed that
+two black eyes beneath a shock of black hair were smiling a welcome.
+
+"Good morning," I greeted.  "May I use your stove to cook breakfast?"
+
+"No, sir," replied the figure, then it sat up in bed, and I saw that it
+was a white man.  "I'll do the cooking myself, for you're to be my
+guest."
+
+"Thanks," I returned, "I'm travelling with an Indian and I don't wish
+to trouble you; but if I may use your stove I'll be much obliged."
+
+"If I have what you haven't got," my host smiled, "will you dine with
+me?"
+
+"All right," I agreed.
+
+"Potatoes," he exclaimed.
+
+"Good," I laughed.
+
+"Then sit down, please, and rest while I do the cooking."
+
+Oo-koo-hoo now came in and at the host's bidding, filled his pipe from
+a tobacco pouch upon the table.
+
+The accent of the stranger suggested that he was an English gentleman,
+and it seemed strange, indeed, to discover so refined and educated a
+man living apparently alone and without any special occupation in the
+very heart of the Great Northern Forest.  Curiosity seized me.  Then I
+wondered--was this the man? . . . could he be "Son-in-law"?
+
+But I refrained from questioning him.  So I talked about the woods and
+the weather, while Oo-koo-hoo brought in a haunch of venison from his
+sled and presented it to the stranger.  But with my host's every action
+and word the mystery grew.
+
+The stove, which was fireless, stood beside the bed, and reaching for
+the griddle-lifter, my host removed the lids; then picking up a stick
+of pine kindling from behind the stove, he whittled some shavings and
+placed them in the fire-box; and on top of this he laid kindling and
+birch firewood.  Then he replaced the lids, struck a match, and while
+the fire began to roar, filled the kettle from a keg of water that
+stood behind the stove, and mind you, he did it without getting out of
+bed.  Next, he leant over the side of the bunk, opened a little trap
+door in the floor, reached down into his little box-like cellar, and
+hauled up a bag containing potatoes, which he then put in a pot to
+boil, in their skins.  From the wall he took a long stick with a crook
+upon the end, and reaching out, hooked the crook round the leg and drew
+the table toward him.  Reaching up to one of the three shelves above
+his bunk, he took down the necessary dishes and cutlery to set the
+breakfast table for us three.  While the potatoes were boiling he took
+from another shelf--the one upon which he kept a few well-chosen
+books--a photograph album and suggested that I look it over while he
+broiled the venison steak and infused the tea.
+
+When I opened the album and saw its contents, it not only further
+excited my curiosity regarding the personal history of my host, but it
+thrilled me with interest, for never before or since have I seen an
+album that contained photographs of a finer-looking or more
+distinguished lot of people.  Its pages contained photographs of Lord
+This, General That, Admiral What's-his-name, and also the Bishop of
+I've-forgotten and many a Sir and Lady, too, as well as the beautiful
+Countess of Can't-remember.
+
+Breakfast was served.  The potatoes were a treat, the steak was
+excellent, the tea was good, and there we three sat and ate a hearty
+meal, for not only did we relish the food, but the company, the wit,
+and the laughter, too.  But all the while my healthy, jovial, handsome
+host remained in bed.  I studied the blankets that covered his
+legs--apparently there was nothing wrong with that part of him.  I
+could not fathom the mystery.  It completely nonplussed me.
+
+I glanced round the room; there were many photographs upon the walls,
+among them Cambridge "eights" and "fours"; and sure enough, there he
+was, rowing in those very crews; and in the football and tennis
+pictures he also appeared as one of the best of them all.  And how neat
+and clean was his one-room house!  Everything was in order.  A water
+keg behind the stove to keep the water from freezing.  A big barrel by
+the door in which to turn snow into water.  A woodpile across the end
+of the room--enough to outlast any blizzard.  Then when I glanced at
+him again, I noticed a crested signet ring upon his left little finger.
+Breakfast over, smoking began, and as he washed the dishes, I wiped
+them--but still I pondered.  Then, at last, I grew brave.  I would risk
+it.  I would ask him:
+
+"Why do you stay in bed?"
+
+First he responded with a burst of laughter, then with the question:
+
+"Why, what's the use of getting up?" and next with the statement: "I
+stay in bed all winter . . . or nearly so.  It's the only thing to do.
+I used to get up, and go for my mail occasionally . . . at least, I did
+a few years ago, but too many times I walked the forty miles to the
+Hudson's Bay Company's Flying Post at Elbow Creek only to find no
+letters for me . . . so I chucked it all.  Then, too, the first few
+winters I was here I used to do a little shooting, but I get all the
+game I want from the Indians now, so I have chucked the shooting, too.
+Now the only thing that gets me out of bed, or takes me out of doors,
+is to watch which way the wind blows.  Two winters ago, when I was away
+from here a week, the wind blew steadily from the north for five days
+or more, and my cattle ate so far into the south sides of the hay
+stacks that two of the stacks fell over on them and in that way I lost
+five head--they were smothered."
+
+Oo-koo-hoo, knocking the ashes from his pipe, began to tie his coat;
+apparently, he thought it was time we were going.  I opened the album
+again, and glanced through it once more as I sat upon the edge of my
+strange host's bunk.  I stopped my turning when I came to a photograph
+of a charming gentlewoman whose hair was done in an old-fashioned way
+so becoming to her character and beauty.  She must have been
+twenty-three.  He, then, was nearing forty.  I thought his hand
+lingered a little upon the page.  And when I commented on her beauty, I
+fancied his voice tremored slightly--anyway his pipe went out.
+
+But Oo-koo-hoo, getting up, broke the silence.
+
+I invited my still-unknown host to pay me a visit.  We shook hands
+heartily, and as I turned to close the door, I noticed that he had lain
+down again, and had covered up his head.  As a pleasant parting
+salutation--a cheering one as I thought--I exclaimed:
+
+"Perfectly stunning! . . . the most beautiful lot of women I have ever
+seen!"
+
+And then from beneath the bed clothes came--
+
+"Y-e-s . . . _the blighters_!"
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+LIFE AND LOVE RETURN
+
+HYMEN COMES WITH SPRING
+
+"My son, it is ever thus, when spring is on the way," smiled
+Oo-koo-hoo, as Granny entered with glee and displayed a new deerskin
+work-bag, containing needles, thread, thimble, and scissors; a present
+from Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--Neykia's lover.
+
+"Now that Spring and Love are going to hunt together," further remarked
+the Indian, "the snow will run away, and the ice begin to tremble when
+it hears the home-coming birds singing among the trees.  Ah, my son, it
+reminds me of the days of my youth," sighed The Owl, "when I, too, was
+a lover."
+
+"Tell me," I coaxed.
+
+"It was many years ago, at the New Year's dance at Fort Perseverance
+that I first met Ojistoh.  She was thirteen then, and as beautiful as
+she was young. . . .  No; I shall never forget those days . . .  When
+she spoke her voice was as gentle as the whispering south wind, and
+when she ran she passed among the trees as silently and as swiftly as a
+vanishing dream; but now," added Oo-koo-hoo, with a sly, teasing glance
+at his wife, "but now look at her, my son . . .  She is nothing but a
+bundle of old wrinkled leather, that makes a noise like a she-wolf that
+has no mate, and when she waddles about she goes thudding around on the
+split end of her body--like a rabbit with frozen feet."
+
+But Granny, saying never a word, seized the wooden fire-poker, and
+dealt her lord and master such a vigorous blow across the shoulders
+that she slew his chuckle of laughter the moment it was born.  Then, as
+the dust settled, silence reigned.  A little later, as Granny put more
+wood upon the fire, she turned to me with twinkling eyes and said:
+
+"My son, if you could have seen the old loon when he was courting me,
+it would have filled your heart with laughter.  It is true he was
+always a loon, for in those days Oo-koo-hoo, the great hunter, was even
+afraid of his own shadow, for he never dared call upon me in daylight,
+and even when he came sneaking round at night he always took good care
+that it was at a time when my father was away from home.  Furthermore,
+he always chose a stormy evening when the snow would be drifting and
+thus cover his trail; and worse still, when he came to court me he
+always wore women's snowshoes; because, my son, he had not courage
+enough to come as a man."
+
+This sally, however, only made Oo-koo-hoo smile the more as he puffed
+away at his brier.
+
+"Did he always bring your grandmother a present?" I enquired.
+
+"No, my son, not always, he was too stingy," replied the old woman,
+"but he did once in a while, I must grant him that."
+
+"What was it?"
+
+"Oh, just a few coils of tripe."
+
+But Granny, of course, was joking, that was why she did not explain
+that deer tripe filled with blood was as great a delicacy as a suitor
+could offer his prospective grandmother-in-law; for among certain
+forest tribes, it is the custom that a marriageable daughter leaves the
+lodge of her parents and takes up her abode with her grandmother--that
+is, if the old lady is living within reasonable distance.
+
+Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--had come that day, and had been invited to
+sleep in Amik's tepee; yet he spent the greater part of his time
+sitting with Neykia in her grandmother's lodge.  As there are no cozy
+corners in a tepee, it is the Ojibway custom for a lover to converse
+with his sweetheart under cover of a blanket which screens the lovers
+from the gaze of the other occupants of the lodge.  Early in the
+evening the blanket always hung in a dignified way, as though draped
+over a couple of posts set a few feet apart.  Later, however, the posts
+frequently lost their balance and swayed about in such a way as to come
+dangerously near colliding.  Then, if the old grandmother did not speak
+or make a stir, the blanket would sometimes show that one support had
+given away.  Accordingly, the old woman was able to judge by the
+general contour of the blanket just how the courtship was progressing,
+and being a foxy old dame she occasionally pretended to snore just to
+see what might happen.
+
+One night, however, Granny's snoring was no longer pretense, and when
+she woke up from her nap, she found that both supports of the blanket
+were in immediate danger of collapsing.  Seizing the stick with which
+she used to poke the fire, she leaped up and belaboured the blanket so
+severely that it lost no time in recovering its proper form.
+
+Kissa Pesim (The Old Moon)--February, and Mikesewe Pesim (The Eagle
+Moon)--March, had flown and now Niske Pesim, (The Goose Moon)--April,
+had arrived; and with it had come the advance guard of a few of those
+numerous legions of migratory birds and fowls that are merely winter
+visitors to the United States, Mexico, and South America; while Canada
+is their real home--the place where they were born.  Next would follow
+Ayeke Pesim (the Frog Moon) of May, when love would be in full play;
+then a little later would come Wawe Pesim (The Egg Moon) otherwise
+June, when the lovers would be living together--or nesting.
+
+Yes, truly, the long-tarrying but wonderous Goose Moon had at last
+arrived, and at last, too, the spring hunt was on.  It was now a joyous
+season accompanied with charming music rendered by the feathered
+creatures.  Overhead the geese where honking, out upon the lake the
+loons were calling, near the shore the ducks were quacking, while all
+through the woods the smaller birds were singing.  Now, even among the
+shadows, the snow was slinking away; while the river ice, plunging
+along with a roar, ran down to the lake where it rested quietly in a
+space of open water.
+
+Now, too, it so happened that day, that Neykia, she of woodland grace
+and beauty, was strolling in the sunshine with her Little Pine; while
+on every side the trees were shaking their heads and it seemed
+gossiping about the hunting plans of that reckless little elfin hunter,
+Hymen, who was hurrying overland and shooting his joyous arrows in
+every direction, till the very air felt charged with the whisperings of
+countless lovers.  It made me think of the shy but radiant Athabasca,
+and I wondered--was her lover with her now?
+
+
+THE SPRING HUNT
+
+The Indians divide their annual hunt for fur into three distinct
+hunting seasons: the fall hunt--from autumn until Christmas; the winter
+hunt--from New Year's Day until Easter; and the spring hunt--from
+Easter until the hunters depart for their tribal summer camping ground.
+At the end of each hunting season--if the fur-runners have not traded
+with the hunters and if the hunter is not too far away from the
+post--he usually loads upon his sled the result of his fall hunt and
+hauls it to the Post during Christmas week; likewise he hauls to the
+Post the catch of his winter hunt about Easter time; while the gain
+from his spring hunt is loaded aboard his canoe and taken to the Post
+the latter part of May.  Easter time, or the end of the winter hunt,
+marks the closing of the hunting season for all land animals except
+bear; and the renewing of the hunting season for bear, beaver, otter,
+mink, and muskrat, all water animals save the first.
+
+Meanwhile, the canoes had been overhauled: freshly patched, stitched,
+and gummed, their thwarts strengthened, their ribs adjusted, and their
+bottoms greased.
+
+A few days later, loading some traps and kit--among which was the
+hunter's bow and quiver of arrows--aboard his small canoe, Oo-koo-hoo
+and I set out at sunrise and paddling around the western end of Bear
+Lake, entered Bear River.  It was a cold but delightful morning, and
+the effect of the sun shining through the rising mist was extremely
+beautiful.  We were going otter- and muskrat-hunting; and as we
+descended that charming little stream and wound about amid its marshy
+flats and birch- and poplar-clad slopes, every once in a while ducks
+startled us by suddenly whirring out of the mist.  Then, when long
+light lines of rippling water showed in the misty screen we knew that
+they were nothing but the wakes of swimming muskrats; and soon we
+glided into a colony of them; but for the time being they were not at
+home--the still-rising spring freshet had driven them from their
+flooded houses.
+
+The muskrat's little island lodge among the rushes is erected upon a
+foundation of mud and reeds that rises about two feet before it
+protrudes above the surface of the water.  The building material, taken
+from round the base, by its removal helps to form a deep-water moat
+that answers as a further protection to the muskrat's home.  Upon that
+foundation the house is built by piling upon it more reeds and mud.
+Then the tunnels are cut through the pile from about the centre of the
+over-water level down and out at one side of the under-water
+foundation, while upon the top more reeds and mud are placed to form
+the dome-shaped roof, after which the chamber inside is cleared.  The
+apex of the roof rises about three feet above the water.  In some
+localities, however, muskrats live in dens excavated in the banks of
+rivers or ponds.  To these dens several under-water runways lead.
+
+Muskrats feed principally on the roots and stalks of many kinds of
+sub-aqueous plants.  In winter time, when their pond is frozen over,
+and when they have to travel far under water to find their food, they
+sometimes make a point of keeping several water-holes open, so that
+after securing their food, they may rise at a convenient hole and eat
+their meal without having to make long trips to their house for the
+purpose.  In order to keep the water-hole from freezing, they build a
+little house of reeds and mud over it.  Sometimes, too, they store food
+in their lodges, especially the bulbous roots of certain plants.
+
+Muskrats, like beavers, use their tails for signalling danger, and when
+alarm causes them to dive they make a great noise, out of all
+proportion to their size.  Thus the greenhorn from the city is apt to
+take the muskrat's nightly plunges for the sound of deer leaping into
+water; and just in the same way does the sleepless tenderfoot mistake
+the thudding footfalls of the midnight rabbit for those of moose or
+caribou running round his tent.
+
+Muskrats are fairly sociable and help one another in their work.  They
+mate in April and their young are born about a month later.  The
+Indians claim that they pair like the beaver, and that the father helps
+to take care of the children.  The young number from three to eight.
+When they are full grown their coats are dark brown.  In length
+muskrats measure about eighteen inches, while in weight they run from a
+pound and a half to two pounds.
+
+Except in autumn, their range is exceedingly small, though at that
+season they wander much farther away from their homes.  If danger
+threatens they are always ready to fight, and they prove to be
+desperate fighters, too.  While slow on land, they are swift in water;
+and such excellent divers are they that in that way they sometimes
+escape their greatest enemy--the mink; though wolves, fishers, foxes,
+otters, as well as birds of prey and Indians are always glad to have a
+muskrat for dinner.
+
+But to return to our muskrat hunt: Oo-koo-hoo, stringing his bow and
+adjusting an arrow, let drive at one of the little animals as it sat
+upon some drift-wood.  The blunt-headed shaft just skimmed its back and
+sank into the mud beyond; the next arrow, however, bowled the muskrat
+over; and in an hour's time The Owl had eleven in his canoe.  When I
+questioned him as to why he used such an ancient weapon, he explained
+that a bow was much better than a gun, as it did not frighten the other
+muskrats away, also it did not injure the pelt in the way shot would
+do, and, moreover, it was much more economical.
+
+Occasionally Oo-koo-hoo would imitate the call of the muskrats;
+sometimes to arrest their attention, but more often to entice them
+within easy range of his arrows.  If he killed them outright while they
+were swimming, they sank like stones; but when only wounded, they
+usually swam round on the surface for a while.  Once, however, a
+wounded one dived, and, seizing hold of a reed, held on with its teeth
+in order to escape its pursuer; Oo-koo-hoo, nevertheless, eventually
+landed it in his canoe.
+
+In setting steel traps for them the hunter placed the traps either in
+the water or on the bank at a spot where they were in the habit of
+going ashore, and to decoy them to that landing Oo-koo-hoo rubbed
+castoreum on the branches of the surrounding bushes--just in the same
+way as he did for mink or otter.  Another way he had of setting traps
+was to cut a hole in the side of a muskrat's house, so that he could
+thrust in his arm and feel for the entrance to the tunnel, then he
+would set a trap there and close up the hole.
+
+One day when he was passing a muskrat house that he had previously
+opened for that purpose and closed again, he discovered that the hole
+was again open.  Thinking that the newly added mud had merely fallen
+out, he thrust his arm into the hole to reach for the trap, when
+without the slightest warning some animal seized him by the finger.  It
+was a mink that had been raiding the house; and in the excitement that
+followed, the brute escaped.  The hunter, however, made little of his
+injury; chewing up a quid of tobacco, he placed it over the wound and
+bound it securely with a rag torn from the tail of his shirt.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo explained that in winter time, when there was little snow,
+he often speared muskrats through the ice.  The spear point is usually
+made of quarter-inch iron wire and attached to a seven-foot shaft.
+Much of the spearing he did at the rats' feeding and airing
+places--those little dome-shaped affairs made of reeds and mud that
+cover their water-holes.  The hunter, enabled by the clearness of the
+ice, followed their runways and traced them to where the little fellows
+often sat inside their shelters.  Knowing that the south side of the
+shelter is the thinnest side, The Owl would drive in his spear and
+impale the little dweller.
+
+
+HUNTING THE OTTER
+
+That afternoon Oo-koo-hoo set a number of traps for otter.  When placed
+on land otter traps are set as for fox, though of course of a larger
+size, and the same statement applies to deadfalls; while the bait used
+for both kinds of otter traps is the same as that used for mink.  The
+otter is an unusually playful, graceful, active, and powerful animal;
+but when caught in a trap becomes exceedingly vicious, and the hunter
+must take care lest he be severely bitten.  Oo-koo-hoo told me that on
+one occasion, when he was hunting otters, he lost his favourite dog.
+The dog was holding an otter prisoner in a rocky pocket where the water
+was shallow, and the otter, waiting to attack the dog when off guard,
+at last got its chance, seized its adversary by the throat, and that
+was the end of the dog.
+
+The otter is not only easily tamed, but makes a charming pet, as many a
+trader has proved; and it is one of the few animals that actually
+indulge in a sport or game for the sheer sake of the thrill it affords.
+Thus the otter is much given to the Canadian sports of tobogganing and
+"shooting the chute," but it does it without sled or canoe; and at all
+seasons of the year it may be seen sharing its favourite
+slide--sometimes fifty or a hundred feet in length--with its
+companions.  If in summer, the descent is made on a grassy or clayey
+slope down which the animals swiftly glide, and plunge headlong into
+deep water.  If the sport takes place on a clay bank, the wet coats of
+the otters soon make the slide so slippery that the descent is made at
+thrilling speed.  But in winter time the sport becomes general, as then
+the snow forms a more convenient and easier surface down which to
+slide.  The otter, though not a fast traveller upon land, is a master
+swimmer, and not only does it pursue and overtake the speckled trout,
+but also the swift and agile salmon.
+
+Otters den in the river or lake bank and provide an underwater entrance
+to their home.  They mate in February and the young--never more than
+five, but more often two--are born in April; and though their food
+includes flesh and fowl--muskrats, frogs, and young ducks--it is
+principally composed of fish.
+
+Though slow on land an otter often travels considerable distances,
+especially in winter time, when it goes roaming in search of open
+water.  If pursued it has a protective way of diving into and crawling
+swiftly beneath the surface of the snow, in such a way that though its
+pursuer may run fast, he more often loses his quarry; I know, because I
+have experienced it.
+
+The otter not only has its thick, oily, dark-brown fur to keep it warm,
+but also a thick layer of fat between its skin and body; and thus,
+seal-like, it seems to enjoy in comfort the coldest of winter water.
+Otters measure three or four feet in length and in weight run from
+fifteen to thirty pounds.
+
+The Indians of the Strong Woods are very superstitious in relation to
+the otter.  They not only refuse to eat the flesh, but they don't like
+to take the carcass home, always preferring to skin it where it is
+caught.  Even then they dislike to place the skin in their hunting bag,
+but will drag it behind them on the snow.  Also, Indian women refuse to
+skin an otter, as they have a superstition that it would prevent them
+from becoming mothers.
+
+One afternoon, when Oo-koo-hoo and I were sitting on a high rock
+overlooking the rapids on Bear River, he espied an otter ascending the
+turbulent waters by walking on the river bottom.  We watched the animal
+for some time.  It was an interesting sight, as it was evidently
+hunting for fish that might be resting in the backwaters behind the
+boulders.  Every time it would ascend the rapids it would rise to the
+surface and then quietly float down stream in the sluggish, eddying
+shore currents where the bushes overhung the bank.  Then it would again
+dive and again make the ascent by crawling up the river bottom.
+
+"My son, watch him closely, for if he catches a fish you will see that
+he always seizes it either by the head or tail, rarely by the middle,
+as the fish would then squirm and shake so violently that the otter
+would not like it.  Sometimes, too, an otter will lie in wait on a rock
+at the head of a rapid, and when a fish tries to ascend to the upper
+reach of the river by leaping out of the water and thus avoiding the
+swift current, the otter will leap, too, and seize the fish in mid-air.
+It is a thrilling sight to see him do it."
+
+The snow was going so rapidly and the water running so freely that
+Oo-koo-hoo felt sure the bears had now all left their dens, otherwise
+water might be trickling into their winter beds.  So, for the next few
+days, the hunter was busily engaged in setting traps for bears,
+beavers, otters, minks, and muskrats; and thus the spring hunt went
+steadily on while the Goose Moon waned and then disappeared, and in its
+place the Frog Moon shone.
+
+
+LITTLE PINE'S LOVE SONG
+
+One sunny morning, while I was strolling along the beach, I heard the
+sound of distant drumming, and presently a youthful voice broke into
+song.  It was The Little Pine singing to his sweetheart.
+
+Now it was Maytime in the Northland.  Tender grasses were thrusting
+their tiny blades from under last year's leaves and here and there the
+woodland's pale-green carpet was enriched with masses of varying
+colours where wild flowers were bursting into bloom.  Yet the
+increasing power of the sun had failed to destroy every trace of
+winter--for occasional patches of snow were to be seen clinging to the
+shady sides of the steepest hills and small ice floes were still
+floating in the lake below.  But as summer comes swiftly in the Great
+Northern Forest, spring loses no time in lingering by the way.  Already
+the restless south wind was singing softly to the "Loneland" of the
+glorious days to come.
+
+The forest and all her creatures, hearing the song of spring time, were
+astir with joyous life.  Among the whispering trees the bees were
+humming, the squirrels chattering, and many kinds of birds were making
+love to one another.
+
+No wonder Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--sang his love song, too, for was
+not his heart aflame with the spring time of life?  Perched high among
+the branches of a pine the youth was relieving the monotony of his
+drumming by occasionally chanting.  At the foot of the thickly wooded
+hillside upon which the pine stood the indolent waters of Muskrat Creek
+meandered toward Bear Lake.  On the bank near the river's mouth stood
+the lodges, but neither Oo-koo-hoo nor Amik seemed to be at home; and
+the rest of the family may have been absent, too, for the dogs were
+mounting guard.
+
+Again the boy beat his drum; louder and louder he sang his love song
+until his soft rich voice broke into a wail.  Presently the door-skin
+of Granny's lodge was gently pushed aside, and Neykia stepped
+indolently forth.
+
+Shading her eyes with her hand, the girl gazed at the hillside, but
+failed to discern her lover in the tree top.  She listened awhile and
+then, upon hearing once more the love song above the beating of the
+drum, yielded to the dictates of her heart and began to climb the hill.
+Little Pine saw her coming, ceased his drumming, and slid down to hide
+behind the tree trunk.
+
+A faintly marked woodland path led close by, and along it the maiden
+was advancing.  As she came abreast of the tree the youth, in fun, gave
+a shout, and the maid--evidently pretending bashful alarm--took to
+flight.
+
+Though fleet of foot, she suffered him to overtake her soon and catch
+her by the arm, and hold her while she feigned to struggle desperately
+for freedom.  That won, she turned away with a laugh, sat down upon a
+bank of wild flowers, and with shyly averted face, began plucking them.
+Little Pine sat down beside her.  A moment later she sprang up and with
+merry laughter ran into the denser forest, and there, with her lover
+swiftly following her, disappeared from view.
+
+At sunset that evening Oo-koo-hoo and his wife sat smoking beside their
+fire; and when the hermit thrush was singing, the whippoorwill
+whippoorwilling, the owl oo-koo-hooing, the fox barking, the bull frog
+whoo-wonking, the gander honking, the otter whistling, the drake
+quacking, the squirrel chattering, the cock grouse drumming, and the
+wolf howling--each to his own chosen mate, the hunter turned to me and
+smiled:
+
+"Do you hear Shing-wauk singing?"
+
+I listened more attentively to the many mingling love songs of the
+forest dwellers, and sure enough, away off along the shore, I could
+hear Little Pine singing to his sweetheart.  It was charming.
+
+
+THE LOVE DANCE
+
+"My son," sighed Oo-koo-hoo, "it reminds me of the days when I, too,
+was a boy and when Ojistoh was a girl, away back among the many springs
+of long ago."
+
+"Yes, Nar-pim," smiled Granny--for an Indian woman never calls her
+husband by his name, but always addresses him as Nar-pim, which means
+"my man."
+
+"Yes, Nar-pim, don't you remember when I heard that drumming away off
+among the trees, and when I, girl-like, pretended I did not know what
+it meant, but you, saying never a word and taking me by the hand, led
+me to the very spot where that handsome little lover was beating his
+drum and making love to so many sweethearts?"
+
+"Yes, I remember it well, when I took little Ojistoh, my sweetheart, by
+the hand and we hurried to find the little drummer."  Then, turning to
+me, the hunter continued: "My son, one never forgets the days of his
+youth, and well can I recall picking our way in and out among the trees
+and undergrowth, tiptoeing here and there lest our moccasined feet
+should break a fallen twig and alarm the drummer or the dancers.  For
+it was the love dance we were going to see.  As the drumming sound
+increased in volume, our caution increased, too.  Soon we deemed it
+prudent to go down upon our hands and knees and thus be more surely
+screened by the underbrush as we stealthily approached.  Creeping on
+toward the sound, slowly and with infinite precaution, we discovered
+that we were not the only ones going to the dance: the whirring of
+wings frequently rustled overhead as ruffed grouse skimmed past us in
+rapid flight.
+
+"Once, my son, we felt the wind from a hawk's wing swooping low from
+bush to bush, as though endeavouring to arrive unheralded.  Twice we
+caught sight of a fox silently and craftily stealing along.  Once we
+saw a lynx--a soft gray shadow--slinking through the undergrowth ahead.
+It seemed as if all the Strong Woods dwellers were going to the love
+dance, too, and, I remember, Ojistoh began to feel afraid.  But,"
+smiled Oo-koo-hoo, "she was devoured with curiosity; and, besides, was
+not her young lover with her?  Why need she fear?
+
+"When we came to the foot of a ridge the drumming sounded very near.
+With utmost wariness we crawled from bush to bush, pausing every now
+and then, and crouching low.  Then, judging the way still clear, we
+crawled forward, and finally gained the top of the ridge.  With
+thumping hearts we rested a moment in a crouching posture, for we had
+at last arrived upon the scene.  Slowly and breathlessly raising our
+heads, we peered through the leafy screen and beheld the love dance in
+full swing.
+
+"And there, my son, on a clear sandy opening in the wood, twenty or
+thirty partridge hens were dancing in a semicircle, in the centre of
+which, perched upon a rotten log, a beautiful cock partridge drummed.
+He was standing with his small head thrust forward upon a finely arched
+neck which was circled by a handsome outstanding black ruff, fully as
+wide as his body.  His extended wings grazed his perch, while his
+superb tail spread out horizontally.
+
+"'Chun--chun--chun--chun--chun-nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,' he hissed slowly at
+first, but with steadily increasing rapidity.  His bill was open; his
+bright eyes were gleaming; his wings were beating at such a rate that
+the forest resounded with the prolonged roll of his drumming.  Again
+and again he shrilled his love call, and again and again he beat his
+wondrous accompaniment.  Every little while the whirring of swiftly
+moving wings was heard overhead as other hens flew down to join in the
+love dance.  To and fro strutted the cock bird in all his pride of
+beauty--his wings trailing upon the log, his neck arched more haughtily
+than ever, his ruff rising above his head, and his handsome fan-like
+tail extended higher still.
+
+"Meanwhile, my son, the hens, too, were strutting up and down, and in
+and out among their rivals; some, with wings brushing upon the ground;
+others, with a single wing spread out, against which they frequently
+kicked the nearest foot as they circled round each other.  A continuous
+hissing was kept up, along with a shaking of heads from side to side, a
+ceremonious bowing, and a striking of bills upon the ground.
+But--though the cock was doing his best to dazzle them with the display
+of his charms--the hens appeared unconscious of his presence and
+indifferent to his advances.
+
+"There Ojistoh and I were gazing in silent admiration at the scene
+before us, when--without the slightest warning, and as though dropped
+from the sky--another cock landed in the midst of the dancers.
+Immediately the cock of the dance rushed at the intruder and fiercely
+attacked him.
+
+"But the newcomer was ready.  My son, you should have seen them.  Bills
+and wings clashed together.  In a moment feathers were flying and blood
+was running.  But the hens never paused in their love dance.  Again and
+again the feathered fighters dashed at each other, only to drop apart.
+Then, facing each other with drooping wings, ruffled plumes, extended
+necks, lowered heads, and gaping bills, they would gasp for breath.  A
+moment later they would spring into the air and strike viciously at
+each other with bill and wing, then separate again.  The sand was soon
+strewn with feathers and sprinkled with blood, yet the belligerents
+kept renewing the deadly conflict.  Unconcernedly, all the while, the
+stupid hens tripped to and fro in the evolutions of their love dance.
+
+"Already the intruder's scalp was torn; the left wing of the cock of
+the dance was broken; and both were bleeding copiously.  It was a great
+fight, my son, and the end was near.  At the next rush the intruder
+knocked the cock of the dance down, and leaping upon him, drove his
+bill into his skull, killing him.
+
+"After a brief rest to recover breath, the victor jumped over his late
+rival's body, took a short leap into the air, gave a back kick of
+contempt, flew up on the log, and looked round as though seeking for
+female applause.  But the hens, with apparently never a thought of him,
+still kept up their dancing.  Presently he, too, sounded his love call
+and drummed his accompaniment.  Then, strutting up and down, he
+inspected the dancers.  When he had made up his mind as to which was
+the belle of the dance, he made a rush for her.
+
+"But, my son, at that very moment a lynx sprang through the air, seized
+him by the neck, and bounded off with him among the bushes.  In the
+confusion that followed, the hens flew away and I, seizing Ojistoh,
+kissed her.  Startled, she leaped up, and with laughter ran away, but
+in hot pursuit I followed her."
+
+
+THE WAYS OF THE FEMALE
+
+"Ah, my son," commented Granny with a smile and a shake of her head as
+she drew her pipe from her mouth, "Nar-pim has always been like
+that . . . but he was worse in the days of his youth . . . fancy him
+taking a little girl to see the love dance . . . the old rabbit!"
+
+"The old rabbit . . . indeed?" Oo-koo-hoo questioned.  "Why, it was
+just the other way round.  It was you who wanted me to take you there;
+it was your hypocritical pretence of innocence that made me do it; and
+though, as you said, I took your hand, it was you who was always
+leading the way."
+
+Then was renewed the ancient and never-settled question as to who was
+at fault, the old Adam or the old Eve; but as Granny usually got the
+better of it by adding the last word, Oo-koo-hoo turned to me in
+disgust and grunted:
+
+"Listen to her . . . why, my son, it has always been the female that
+did the courting . . . all down through the Great, Great Long Ago, it
+has ever been thus . . . and so it is to-day.  Look at the cow of the
+moose, the doe of the deer, the she of the lynx, the female of the
+wolf, the she of the bear, the goose, the duck, the hen, and the female
+of the rabbit.  What do they do when they want a mate? . . .  They
+bellow and run, they meow and bow, they howl and prance, they twitter
+and dance . . . just as women have always done.  And when the male
+comes, what does the female do?  She pretends indifference, she feigns
+innocence, she runs away, and stops to listen, _afraid lest she has run
+too far_; and then, if he does not follow, she comes deceitfully back
+again and pretends not even to see him.  Remember, my son, that though
+the female always runs away, she never runs so fast that she couldn't
+run faster; and it makes no difference whether the female has wings or
+fins, flippers or feet, it is all the same . . . the female always does
+the courting."
+
+No doubt, had they ever met, Oo-koo-hoo and George Bernard Shaw would
+have become fast friends; for George, too, insists on the very same
+thing.  But does not the average man, from his great store of conceit,
+draw the flattering inference that it is he and he alone who does the
+courting, and that his success is entirely due to his wonderful display
+of physical and mental charm; while the average woman looks in her
+mirror and laughs in her sleeve--less gown.
+
+Though for some time silence filled the tepee and the dogs were asleep
+beside the door, the pipes still glowed; and Oo-koo-hoo, stirring the
+fire, mused aloud:
+
+"But, perhaps, my son, you wonder why the hen partridges dance that way
+and why the cock drums his accompaniment?"
+
+"It does seem strange," I replied.
+
+"But not, my son, if you know their history.  It is an old, old story,
+and it began away back in the Great, Great, Long Ago, even before it
+was the custom of our people to marry.  It happened this way: Once
+there was an old chief who used oftentimes to go away alone into the
+woods and mount upon a high rock and sing his hunting songs and beat
+his drum.  Since he was much in favour, many women would come and
+listen to his songs; also, they would dance before him--to attract his
+attention.
+
+"Now it came to pass on a certain day that a young chief of another
+tribe happened by chance upon that way.  Hearing the drumming, he
+resolved to find out what it was about.  Deep into the heart of the
+wood he followed the sound and came upon an open glade wherein were
+many women dancing before a huge boulder.  Wondering, with great
+admiration, the young chief gazed upon their graceful movements and
+comely figures, and determined to rush in and capture the most
+beautiful of them.  Turning thought into act, he bounded in among the
+dancers, and, to his amazement, discovered the old chief, who, at sight
+of him, dropped his drum, grasped his war club, and leaping down from
+his rocky eminence, rushed upon the young interloper in a frenzy of
+jealous fury.  The women made no outcry; for, like the female moose or
+caribou, they love the victor.  So to the accompaniment of the men's
+hard breathing and the clashing of their war clubs, they went
+unconcernedly on with their love dance.  In the end the young chief
+slew the older one, and departed in triumph with the women.  But, my
+son, when the Master of Life learned what had happened, he was
+exceeding wroth; insomuch that he turned the young chief and the women
+into partridges.  That is why the partridges dance the love dance even
+to this day."
+
+
+HUNTING WILD FOWL
+
+Next morning, while Oo-koo-hoo was examining a muskrat lodge from his
+canoe, he heard a sudden "honk, honk," and looking up he espied two
+Canada geese flying low and straight toward us; seizing his gun, he up
+with it and let drive at one of the geese as it was passing beyond him,
+and brought it down.  He concluded that they had just arrived from the
+south and were seeking a place to feed.  Later, we encountered at close
+range several more and the hunter secured another.
+
+As they were the first geese he had killed that season, he did not
+allow the women to touch them, but according to the Indian custom,
+dressed and cooked them himself; also, at supper time, he gave all the
+flesh to the rest of us, and saved for himself nothing but the part
+from which the eggs came.  Further, he cautioned us not to laugh or
+talk while eating the geese, otherwise their spirits would be offended
+and he would have ill-luck for the rest of the season.  And when the
+meal was finished he collected all the bones and tossed them into the
+centre of the fire, so that they would be properly consumed instead of
+allowing the dogs to eat them; and thus he warded off misfortune.
+
+As we sat by the fire that night Oo-koo-hoo busied himself making
+decoys for geese, by chopping blocks of dry pine into rough images of
+their bodies, and fashioning their necks and heads from bent willow
+sticks; as well as roughly staining the completed models to represent
+the plumage.  And while he worked he talked of the coming of the birds
+in spring.
+
+"My son, the first birds to arrive are the eagles; next, the snow-birds
+and the barking crows (ravens); then the big gray (Canada) geese, and
+the larger ducks; then the smaller kinds of geese and the smaller kinds
+of ducks; and then the robins, blackbirds, and gulls.  Then, as likely
+as not, a few days later, what is called a 'goose winter'--a heavy, wet
+snowstorm followed by colder weather--may come along and try to drive
+the birds all back again; but before the bad weather completes its
+useless work a timely south wind may arrive, and with the aid of a
+milder spell, will utterly destroy the 'goose winter'.  Then, after
+that, the sky soon becomes mottled with flying birds of many kinds:
+gray geese, laughing geese, waveys, and white geese, as well as great
+flocks of ducks of many kinds; also mud-hens, sawbills, waders,
+plovers, curlew, pelicans, swans, and cranes, both white and gray.
+Then another great flight of little birds as well as loons.  And last
+of all may come the little husky geese that travel farther north to
+breed their young than do those of any other kind."
+
+The next day the hunters built a "goose stand" on the sandy beach of
+Willow Point by making a screen about six feet long by three feet high
+of willow branches; and, as the ground was wet and cold, a brush
+mattress was laid behind the screen upon which the hunters could sit
+while watching for geese.  The site was a good one, as Willow Point
+jutted into the lake near a big marsh on its south side.  Beyond the
+screen they set their decoys, some in the water and others on the sand,
+but all heading up wind.  When they shot their first geese, the hunters
+cut off the wings and necks together with the heads and fastened them
+in a natural way upon the decoys.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo told me that when one wished to secure geese, he should be
+in readiness to take his position behind the stand before the first
+sign of morning sun.  Furthermore, he told me that geese were usually
+looking for open water and sandy beaches from eight to nine o'clock;
+from ten to twelve they preferred the marshes in order to feed upon
+goose grass and goose weed, as well as upon the roots and seeds of
+other aquatic plants.  Then from noon to four o'clock they sought the
+lakes to preen themselves; while from four to six they returned to the
+sandy beaches and then resorted to the marshes in which to spend the
+night.  That was the usual procedure for from ten to fifteen days, then
+away they went to their more northern breeding grounds where they spent
+midsummer.
+
+Seeing a hawk soaring overhead, Oo-koo-hoo said it reminded him of a
+hawk that once bothered him by repeatedly swooping down among his
+dead-duck decoys, and each time he had to rush from his blind to drive
+the hawk away or it would have carried away one of his dead ducks; and
+being short of ammunition, he did not care to waste a shot.  But he
+ended the trouble by taking up all his dead ducks save one.  Then he
+removed the pointed iron from his muskrat spear, and ramming the butt
+of the iron into the sand, left it standing up beside the duck as
+though it had been a reed.  The next time the hawk swooped down, he let
+it drive with full force at the dead duck, and thus impale itself on
+the muskrat spear.
+
+But one day, after the geese had passed on their northward journey,
+Oo-koo-hoo began making other decoys of a different nature, and when I
+questioned him, he replied that he was going to kill a few loons with
+his bow and arrow, as Granny wished to use the skins of their necks to
+make a work-bag for the Factor's wife at Fort Consolation.  After
+shaping the decoys, he mixed together gunpowder, charcoal, and grease
+with which to paint the decoys black--save where he left spots of the
+light-coloured wood to represent the white markings of those beautiful
+birds.  When the decoys were eventually anchored in the bay they bobbed
+about on the rippling water quite true to life and they even took an
+occasional dive, when the anchor thong ran taut.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO'S COURTING
+
+After supper, when we were talking about old customs, I questioned
+Oo-koo-hoo as to how the Indians married before it was the custom to go
+to the Post to get the clergyman to perform that rite; and in reply he
+said:
+
+"My son, Ojistoh and I were married both ways, so I don't think I can
+do better than to tell you how our own marriage took place.  It was
+this way, my son: one night, when old Noo-koom, Ojistoh's grandmother,
+became convinced that we lovers had sat under the blanket long enough,
+she decided that it was time we sat upon the brush together, or were
+married.  Accordingly, she talked the matter over with Ojistoh's
+parents.  They agreed with her, and Ojistoh's father said: 'It is well
+that Oo-koo-hoo and Ojistoh should be married according to the custom
+of our people, but it is also well that we should retain the friendship
+of the priest and the nuns.  On our return to Fort Perseverance,
+therefore, the children must be married in the face of the Church; but
+I charge you all not to let any one at the Post know that Oo-koo-hoo
+and Ojistoh have already been married after the custom of our people.
+It is well that we should live according to the ways of our
+forefathers, and it is also well that we should seem to adopt the ways
+of the white man.  Now call Ojistoh, and let me hear what she has to
+say.'
+
+"When Ojistoh came in, her father told her that I was a good boy; that
+I would certainly make a successful hunter; and that, if she would sit
+upon the brush with me, they would give her plenty of marrow grease for
+her hair and some porcupine quills for her moccasins.  They might even
+buy her some ribbon, beads, and silk thread for fancy work.
+Furthermore, they said I would be given enough moose skins to make a
+lodge covering.
+
+"Ojistoh chewed meditatively upon the large piece of spruce gum in her
+mouth, while she listened with averted eyes and drooping head.  But old
+Noo-koom, evidently supposing Ojistoh to be in doubt, interposed: 'You
+must sit upon the brush with him, because I have promised that you
+would.  Did we not eat the fat and the blood, and use the firewood he
+left at our door?'
+
+"The remembrance, no doubt, of all that dainty eating decided Ojistoh,
+and she gave her word that she would sit upon the brush with me if they
+would promise to buy her a bottle of perfume when they returned to Fort
+Perseverance.  When Ojistoh left the lodge, her father said to me:
+
+"'Listen, my boy, Noo-koom tells me that you have been sitting under
+the blanket with my daughter Ojistoh.  She is a good girl and will make
+you happy; for she can make good moccasins.'
+
+"'Yes,' I replied, 'I know the girl and I want her.'
+
+"'To-morrow, then,' said her father, 'you must sit upon the brush with
+her.  I will tell the women to prepare the feast.'
+
+"Next morning Ojistoh sat waiting in her lodge for me to come.  Already
+she wore the badge of womanhood, for not having a new dress she had
+simply reversed her old one and buttoned it up in front instead of the
+back.  For it is the custom of Ojibway girls to button their dresses
+behind and for married women to button theirs in front.
+
+"My son, you should have seen me that morning, for I was bedecked in
+all my finery, and upon entering Noo-koom's lodge, I seized Ojistoh by
+the hair of her head, and dragged her out.  Her struggles to escape
+from me were quite edifying in their propriety.  Her shrieks were
+heartrending--or rather, they would have been had they not alternated
+with delighted giggles.  By that time the wedding march had begun; for
+as we struggling lovers led the way, the children, bubbling with
+laughter, followed; and the old people brought up the rear of the
+joyous procession.  We, the happy couple, tussled with each other until
+we reached a spot in the bush where I had cleared a space and laid a
+carpet of balsam brush beside a fire.  There I deposited her.  With a
+final shriek she accepted the new conditions, and at once set about her
+matrimonial duties, while the others returned to their lodges to put
+the finishing touches to the wedding breakfast.
+
+"Oh, yes, my son, those were happy days," continued the hunter.
+"There, beside a great fire in the open, was laid a carpet of brush, in
+the centre of which a blanket was spread, and upon it the feast.  There
+were rabbits, partridges, and fish roasted upon sticks.  In a pot,
+boiled fresh moose and caribou meat; in another, simmered lynx
+entrails, bear fat, and moose steak.  In a third, stewed ducks and
+geese.  In a fourth, bubbled choice pieces of beaver, muskrat, lynx,
+and skunk.  Besides, there were caribou tongues, beaver tails, bear
+meat, and foxes' entrails roasted upon the coals.  Strong tea in
+plenty, fresh birch syrup, forest-made cranberry wine, a large chunk of
+dried Saskatoon berries served with bear's grease, frozen cranberries,
+and a little bannock made of flour, water, and grease, completed the
+fare.
+
+"Then, too, Ojistoh sat beside me and ate out of my dish.  She even
+used my pipe for an after-dinner smoke.  Then, after an interval of
+rest, dancing began, by the dancers circling the fire to the measured
+beat of a drum.  Round and round we moved in silence.  Then, breaking
+into a chant, we men faced the women, and from time to time solemnly
+revolved.  But the women never turned their backs upon the fire.  It
+was rather slow, monotonous measure, only relieved by the women and
+children throwing feathers at one another.  Between each dance the
+company partook of refreshments, and so the festivity proceeded until
+daylight.  Next morning Ojistoh's father gave us some wholesome advice
+and then we set up housekeeping on our own account, and, as you see,
+have continued it even to this day; haven't we, my little Ojistoh?"
+smiled the old hunter at his wife.
+
+
+NATURE'S SANCTUARIES
+
+One Sunday morning, when spring was all a-dance to the wondrous wild
+music of the woods, I sat in the warmth of the sun and thought of my
+Creator.  Later, I learned that Oo-koo-hoo and Amik were also thinking
+of Him; for in the wilderness one often thinks of The Master of Life.
+That morning I thought, too, of the tolling of village church bells and
+of cathedral chimes, and I contrasted those metallic sounds with the
+beautiful singing of the birds of the forest; also I contrasted the
+difference of a Sunday in the city with a Sunday in the wilderness; and
+my soul rested in supreme contentment.  Yet the ignorant city dwellers
+think of the wilderness as "God-forsaken."  Hunt the world over, and
+could one find any more holy places than some of Nature's sanctuaries?
+I have found many, but I shall recall but one, a certain grove on the
+Alaskan border.
+
+It was in one of the wildest of all wild regions of the northern world.
+"God-forsaken" . . . indeed?  In truth, it seemed to be the very home
+of God.  There, between the bases of two towering perpendicular ranges
+of mountains, mantled by endless snows and capped by eternal ice, lay
+the wildest of all box-cañons: one end of which was blocked by a
+barrier of snow hundreds of feet high and thousands of feet thick--the
+work of countless avalanches; while the other end was blocked by a
+barrier of eternal ice thousands of feet in width and millions of tons
+in weight--a living and growing glacier.  And there, away down at the
+very bottom of that wild gorge, beside a roaring, leaping little river
+of seething foam, grew a beautiful grove of trees; and never a time did
+I enter there but what I thought of it as holy ground--far more holy
+than any cathedral I have ever known . . . for there, in that grove,
+one seemed to stand in the presence of God.
+
+There, in that grove, the great reddish-brown boles of Sitka
+spruces--four and five feet in diameter--towered up like many huge
+architectural columns as they supported the ruggedly beamed and
+evergreen ceiling that domed far overhead.  High above an altar-like
+mass of rock, completely mantled with gorgeously coloured mosses, an
+opening shone in the gray-green wall, and through it filtered long
+slanting beams of sunlight, as though coming through a leaded,
+sky-blue, stained-glass window of some wonderful cathedral.  While upon
+the grove's mossy floor stood, row upon row, a mass of luxuriant ferns
+that almost covered the velvet carpet, and seemed to form endless seats
+in readiness for the coming of some congregation.  But on only one
+occasion did I ever see a worshipper there.
+
+Weary from the weight of a heavy pack--seventy-five pounds of
+dynamite--I had paused to rest a moment in that wonderful place which
+so few human beings had ever discovered; where, too, on passing
+through, it was always my custom to remove my hat--just as any one
+would do on entering a church.  There that day, as I stood gazing at
+the glorious sunbeams as they filtered through the great chancel
+window, I listened to the enchanting music of the feathered choir high
+overhead, that seemed to be singing to the accompaniment of one of
+Nature's most powerful organs--the roaring river--that thundered aloud,
+as, with all its force, it wildly rolled huge boulders down its rocky
+bed.  Then, lowering my eyes, I discovered the one and only worshipper
+I ever saw there.  He was standing near a side aisle in the shadow of
+an alcove, and he, too, was gazing up at those radiant sunbeams and
+listening to the choir; moreover, notwithstanding that he was a big
+brown bear, he appeared too devout even to notice me--perhaps because
+he, too, felt the holy presence of "The Great Mystery" . . . our God.
+
+Yes, my friend, it is my belief that if there is any place on earth
+that is "God-forsaken," it is not to be found in even the wildest part
+of the wildest wilderness, but in that cesspool called a city.
+
+
+GOING TO THE POST
+
+After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over,
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, poling up the turbulent little streams, and
+following as closely as possible the routes of their fur trails, went
+the round of their trapping paths, removed their snares, sprung their
+deadfalls, and gathering their steel traps loaded them aboard their
+canoes.  That work completed, packing began in readiness for the
+postward journey; there, as usual, they would spend their well-earned
+holidays with pleasure upon their tribal summer camping grounds.
+
+[Illustration: After half of May had passed away, and when the spring
+hunt was over, Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, poling up the turbulent little
+streams, and following as closely as possible the routes of their fur
+trails, went the round of their trapping paths, removed their snares,
+sprung their deadfalls, and gathering their steel traps loaded them
+aboard their canoes.  That work completed, packing began in readiness
+for the . . .  See Chapter VII.]
+
+So, when all was in readiness, the deerskin lodge coverings were taken
+down, rolled up, and stored out of harm's way upon a stage.  Then, with
+hearts light with happiness and canoes heavy with the wealth of the
+forest, we paddled away with pleasant memories of our forest home, and
+looked forward to our arrival at Fort Consolation.
+
+Soon after entering Bear River the canoes were turned toward the
+western bank and halted at a point near one of their old camping
+grounds.  Then Naudin--Amik's wife--left the others, and took her way
+among the trees to an opening in the wood.  There stood two little
+wooden crosses that marked the graves of two of her children--one a
+still-born girl and the other a boy who had died at the age of three.
+Upon the boy's grave she placed some food and a little bow and some
+arrows, and bowed low over it and wept aloud.  But at the grave of her
+still-born child she forgot her grief and smiled with joy as she placed
+upon the mound a handful of fresh flowers, a few pretty feathers, and
+some handsome furs.  Sitting there in the warm sunshine, she closed her
+eyes--as she told me afterward--and fancied she heard the little maid
+dancing among the rustling leaves and singing to her.
+
+Like all Indian women of the Strong Woods, she believed that her
+still-born child would never grow larger or older; that it would never
+leave her; that it would always love her, though she lived to be a
+great-grandmother; that when sorrow and pain bowed her low this little
+maid would laugh and dance and talk and sing to her, and thus change
+her grief into joy.  That is why an Indian mother puts pretty things
+upon the grave of her still-born child, and that is why she never
+mourns over it.
+
+As our journey progressed those enemies of comfort and pleasure, the
+black flies, appeared, and at sunrise and sunset caused much annoyance,
+especially among the children.  Then, too, at night if the breeze
+subsided, mosquitoes swarmed from the leeward side of bushes and drove
+slumber away.
+
+One afternoon, while resting, we observed signs of beaver and
+Oo-koo-hoo, being reminded of an incident he once witnessed, related it
+to me:
+
+"Once, my son, while paddling alone, I rounded the bend of a river, and
+hearing a splash just beyond the turn, silently propelled my canoe
+beneath a screen of overhanging branches.  After waiting and watching
+awhile, I saw an otter fishing in the stream.  A moment later I beheld
+a beaver--evidently a female--swimming just beyond the otter, and
+pursued by two other beavers--evidently males.  The males, perceiving
+the otter swimming in the direction of the female, probably came to the
+conclusion that he was about to pay his court to her, for they suddenly
+swerved from their course and attacked the innocent otter.  He dived to
+escape his assailants, and they dived after him.  When he rose for
+breath, they came up, too, and made after him; so he dived again.
+Evidently, they were trying to wind their quarry, for whenever he came
+up for breath they endeavoured to reach him before he got it.  In a
+short time they had so exhausted him that he refused to dive again
+before he gained his breath.  He made for the shore.  The beavers
+rushed after him, overtook him, and just as he gained the bank, ripped
+his throat open.  Then I shot one of the beavers and tossed it into my
+canoe along with the otter."
+
+The journey to the Post was a delight all the way--save when the flies
+were busy.  One night those almost invisible little torments, the sand
+flies, caused us--or rather me--much misery until Granny built such a
+large fire that it attracted the attention of the little brutes, and
+into it they all dived, or apparently did--just as she said they
+would--for in less than half an hour not a single sand fly remained.
+
+On our way to God's Lake we had considerable sport in the way of
+shooting white-water.  One morning we landed at the head of a portage,
+and, as the rapid was not a dangerous one, Oo-koo-hoo and Amik
+determined to run it, but first went ashore to examine the channel.  On
+their return Oo-koo-hoo instructed the others to follow his lead about
+four canoe-lengths apart, so that in case of mishap they could help
+each other.  Down the canoes plunged one after the other.  The children
+wielded their little paddles, screaming with delight as they swiftly
+glided through the foaming spray past shores still lined here and there
+with walls of ice.
+
+As the canoes rounded a sharp bend in the rapid Oo-koo-hoo descried a
+black bear walking on the ice that overhung the eastern bank.  The
+animal seemed as much surprised as any of us, and, instead of making
+off, rose upon its haunches and gazed in amazement at the passing
+canoes.  But as we swept by there was no thought of firing guns.  The
+sight of the bear reminded Oo-koo-hoo of an experience some friends of
+his once had with a black bear; and when we reached slack water he told
+it to me.
+
+The friends in question were a mother and her daughter, and late one
+afternoon they were returning from berry picking.  As they rounded a
+bend in the river the daughter in the bow suddenly stopped paddling,
+and--without turning her face toward her mother in the stern--excitedly
+whispered: "_Muskwa_!  _Muskwa_!"
+
+Then as the older woman caught sight of a dark object fifty paces away,
+she uttered a few hurried commands.  Both fell to paddling with all
+their might.  With straining backs, stiffened arms, and bending blades,
+they fairly lifted the canoe at every stroke; and the waters gave a
+tearing sound as the slashing blades sent little whirlpools far behind.
+Their hearts were fired with the spirit of the chase, and--though their
+only weapons were their skinning knives--they felt no fear.  On they
+raced to head the bear, who was swimming desperately to gain the shore.
+They overhauled him.  He turned at bay.  The daughter soused a blanket
+in the water and threw it over his head.  The mother in the stern
+reached over as the canoe glided by, seized him by an ear as he
+struggled blindly beneath the smothering mantle, and drove her knife
+into his throat.  A broad circle of crimson coloured the water round
+the blanket.  The canoe was quickly brought about; the mother slipped a
+noose over his head, and in triumph they towed the carcass to their
+camp.
+
+On the last morning of our trip there was a flutter of pleasant
+excitement among our little party; and by the time the sun appeared and
+breakfast was over, everybody was laughing and talking, for we had made
+such progress that we expected to reach Fort Consolation by ten o'clock
+that forenoon.  Quickly we loaded the canoes again, and away we
+paddled.  In a few hours the beautiful expanse of God's Lake appeared
+before us.  When we sighted the old fort, a joyous shout rang out;
+paddles were waved overhead, and tears of joy rose to the eyes of the
+women--and of some of the men.
+
+Going ashore, we quickly made our toilets, donning our very finest in
+order to make a good appearance on our arrival at the Fort--as is the
+custom of the Northland.  Bear's grease was employed with lavish
+profusion, even Oo-koo-hoo and Amik and the boys using it on their
+hair; while the women and girls greased and wove their tresses into a
+single elongated braid which hung down behind.  The men put on their
+fancy silk-worked moccasins; tied silk handkerchiefs about their
+necks--the reverse of cow-boy fashion--and beaded garters around their
+legs; while the women placed many brass rings upon their fingers,
+bright plaid shawls about their shoulders, gay silk handkerchiefs over
+their heads, and beaded leggings upon their legs.  How I regretted I
+had not brought along my top-hat--that idiotic symbol of
+civilization--for if I could have worn it on that occasion, the Indians
+at Fort Consolation would have been so filled with merriment that they
+would have in all probability remembered me for many a year as the one
+white man with a sense of humour.
+
+For in truth, it is just as Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman) the
+full-blooded Sioux, says in his book on Indian Boyhood: "There is
+scarcely anything so exasperating to me as the idea that the natives of
+this country have no sense of humour and no faculty for mirth.  This
+phase of their character is well understood by those whose fortune or
+misfortune it has been to live among them day in and day out at their
+homes.  I don't believe I ever heard a real hearty laugh away from the
+Indians' fireside.  I have often spent an entire evening in laughing
+with them until I could laugh no more."
+
+
+CONTEST OF WITS
+
+When we arrived at Fort Consolation, Oo-koo-hoo and his party were
+greeted by a swarm of their copper-coloured friends, among whom were
+The Little Pine and his father, mother, and sister.  Making his way
+through the press, The Owl strode toward the trading room to shake
+hands with Factor Mackenzie; but the trader, hearing of Oo-koo-hoo's
+arrival, hastened from his house to welcome the famous hunter; and The
+Owl greeted him with:
+
+"_Quay, quay, Hu-ge-mow_" (good day, Master).
+
+On their way to the Indian shop they passed the canoe shed, where
+skilled hands were finishing two handsome six-fathom canoes for the use
+of the Fur Brigade; and they stopped to examine them.
+
+The building of a six-fathom or "North" canoe generally takes place
+under a shed erected for the purpose, where there is a clear, level
+space and plenty of working room.  Two principal stakes are driven at a
+distance apart of thirty-six feet, the length of the craft to be.
+These are connected by two rows of smaller stakes diverging and
+converging so as to form the shape of the canoe.  The smaller stakes
+are five feet apart at the centre.  Pieces of birch bark are soaked in
+water for a day and no more, sewn together with wat-tap--the roots of
+cedar or spruce gathered in spring--placed between the stakes with the
+outer side down, and then made fast.  The well-soaked ribs are then put
+in place and as soon as they are loaded with stones the bark assumes
+its proper form.  The gunwales, into which the ends of the ribs are
+mortised, are bound into position with _wat-tap_.  The thwarts are next
+adjusted.  The stones and stakes are then removed; the seams are
+covered with a mixture of one part grease to nine parts spruce gum; the
+craft is tested, and is then held in readiness for its maiden voyage.
+
+On entering the Indian shop or trading room, Oo-koo-hoo was ready to
+talk about anything under the sun save business, as he wanted to force
+the Trader to solicit his patronage; but as the Factor was trying to
+make the hunter do the same thing, they parted company a little later
+without having mentioned the word "trade."
+
+No wonder the Indians are glad to return to their tribal summer camping
+grounds; for it is there that they rest and play and spend their summer
+holidays.  It is there, too, that the young people enjoy the most
+favourable opportunity for doing their courting; as every event--such
+as the departure or the return of the Fur Brigade--calls for a festival
+of dancing which not infrequently lasts for several days.  Also, in
+many other ways, the boys and girls have chances of becoming
+acquainted.  Since young hunters often claim their sweethearts during
+the winter, many "marriages" take place after the Indian fashion.  On
+their return to the Post, however, the young couples are generally
+married over again, and this time after the white man's custom--"in the
+face of the Church."  The way the young people "keep company" at the
+summer camping grounds presents no feature of special interest.  It is
+during the winter season in the forest many miles beyond the Post that
+the old customs have full sway.  The re-marrying the young couples "in
+the face of the Church" frequently demands extreme vigilance, for in
+the confusion of the matrimonial busy season when the Indians first
+come in the little papoose is apt to be christened--unless the
+clergyman is very careful--before the parents have had time to arrange
+for their church wedding.
+
+Meanwhile, the women having erected the canvas lodge and put in order
+one of their last-year's birch-bark wigwams, called upon the Factor's
+wife and presented her with a handsome work-bag made of beautifully
+marked skins from the necks of the loons Oo-koo-hoo had shot with his
+bow and arrow for that purpose.
+
+After leaving the Indian shop, the hunter returned to his camp to talk
+matters over with Amik and the women.  He told them that he intended
+selling most of his furs to the Company, but that he thought it wise to
+stay away from the Factor until next day.  But as Granny, being a Roman
+Catholic, wanted to have Father Jois marry Neykia and The Little Pine,
+she suggested that Oo-koo-hoo go and call upon the priest at once.
+Notwithstanding that her mother was a Presbyterian, Neykia had joined
+the Roman Catholic Church and when asked why she had done so, she said
+it was because she thought the candles looked so pretty burning on the
+altar.
+
+Though The Owl was not in the least interested in any one of the white
+man's many religions, nor in the priest, the clergyman, or the minister
+of the three different denominations represented at the Post, he now
+called upon the priest as his wife wished him to.  During the course of
+their conversation the priest said:
+
+"My son, that was a beautiful silver fox you sold the Company three
+years ago.  I, myself, would have paid you well for it."
+
+"Would you look as well upon a black fox?" asked Oo-koo-hoo in
+surprise, as it is an unwritten law of the country that missionaries
+are not to carry on trade with the Indians.
+
+"Yes.  Have you one?" questioned the priest.
+
+"I have never seen a finer," replied the hunter.
+
+"But do either of the traders know you have it?" asked the priest.
+
+"No," answered Oo-koo-hoo, with a shake of his head.
+
+Later, when the priest saw the skin, he was delighted with it, and a
+bargain was soon made.  Oo-koo-hoo was to get one hundred "skins" for
+the black fox, and he was told to call next day.  But after returning
+to camp, he grew impatient and went back to the priest to demand his
+pay.  The priest said he would give him a tent and a rifle worth more
+than fifty skins and that he would say ten masses for him and his
+family, which would be a very generous equivalent for the other fifty
+skins.  But Oo-koo-hoo, suddenly flaring up, began to storm at the
+priest, and demanded the black fox back.  But the priest sternly
+motioned for silence with upraised hand, and whispered: "This is God's
+House.  There must be no noise or anger here."  And without another
+word he withdrew to get the rifle and the tent.  When he returned with
+an old tent and a second-hand rifle, Oo-koo-hoo would not deign to
+touch them.  Without more ado, he turned on his heel and walked away.
+
+On reaching camp, the old hunter learned from the children that the
+women had gone to pay a visit to the nuns; so he followed them, and,
+without even speaking to the Sisters, ordered the women to come home.
+On the way he eased his wrath by telling them that never again would he
+buy prayers or masses from the priest with black fox skins, and that if
+they ever wanted masses, he would pay for them with nothing but the
+skins of skunks.  He did not see why he had to pay for masses, anyway,
+when Free Trader Spear had made them a standing offer of all the
+prayers they wanted free of charge, provided that he, Oo-koo-hoo, would
+trade with him.  He added that he had half a mind to accept Spear's
+offer, just to spite the priest.
+
+So after meditating for a while upon his steadfast belief that any fool
+of an Indian is better than a white man, and that the only good white
+men are the dead ones, he got into his canoe and paddled across the
+lake to interview the opposition trader.
+
+When he told Spear what a splendid black fox he had, and how the priest
+had already offered him a hundred skins for it, the Free Trader said:
+
+"I'll give you a hundred and ten for it," and the old reprobate added,
+"and I'll throw into the bargain half-a-dozen prayers for the women."
+
+The offer was at once accepted.  On handing over the goods to
+Oo-koo-hoo, the trader asked where the black fox was, and was told that
+it was in keeping of the priest.  So without delay Mr. Spear paddled
+back with The Owl to get the skin.  When the priest learned how the
+hunter had stolen a march on him, he was righteously indignant; but he
+dared not complain, since he was not supposed to deal in furs.  There
+was nothing to do but hand over the magnificent skin to the Free Trader
+although he knew right well that in London or Paris it would bring
+twenty times the price paid for it.
+
+Next day old Granny came crying to Oo-koo-hoo and complaining that the
+priest had refused to officiate at the wedding on the day agreed upon.
+The nuns had told her that his refusal was due to his determination to
+discipline The Owl for his rudeness and irreverence.  That seemed to
+worry the hunter considerably, for, though he cared nothing for the
+priest's benediction, he did want the wedding to come off upon the day
+appointed.  It touched his pride to be balked in his plans.  He had
+already invited all the Indians at the Post to the ceremony.  Great
+preparations were being made.  If the wedding were put off even a
+single day, everybody would be curious to know why; and sooner or later
+it would be known that he had had to bow to the will of the priest.
+The thought rankled.  So he went to the Factor and told him the whole
+affair.
+
+"Ma brither," said the Factor, "we are auld freens; it is weel that we
+shud staun' thegither.  If ye will trade a' yir furs wi' me this day,
+I'll get the meenister o' the Presybyterian Kirk tae mairry yir
+gran'dochter.  He'll be gled eneuch tae gi'e Father Jois a dour by
+mairryin' twa o' his fowk.  Sell me yir furs, an' I'll warrant ye ye'll
+hae the laff on Father Jois."
+
+
+MISSIONARIES AND INDIANS
+
+That settled it.  Factor Mackenzie got all the furs Oo-koo-hoo and his
+family possessed.  The Factor and the hunter were now the best of
+friends, and they even went so far as to exchange presents--and that's
+going some . . . for a Scotsman.
+
+Should the foregoing amuse the Protestant reader, the following may be
+of interest to the Roman Catholic.  One winter, while halting at a
+certain Hudson's Bay post, I met a Protestant clergyman, who having
+spent a number of years as a missionary among the natives on the coast
+of Hudson Bay excited my interest as to his work among the Indians.
+That night, after supper, I questioned him as to his spiritual work
+among the "barbarians" of the forest, and in the presence of the
+Hudson's Bay trader, he turned to me and, with the air of being
+intensely bored by the subject, he replied: "Mr. Heming . . . the only
+interest I ever take in the Indian . . . is when I bury him."
+
+But while I have cited two types of clergymen I have known--the name of
+the priest being, of course, fictitious--merely to point out the kind
+of missionaries that should never be sent among the Indians, I not only
+wish to state that they are very much the exception to the rule, but I
+also want to make known my unbounded respect and admiration for that
+host of splendid men--and women--of all denominations, who have devoted
+their lives to the spiritual welfare of the people of the wilderness,
+and some of whom have already left behind them hallowed names of
+imperishable memory.
+
+But the lot of the missionary among the Indians is not altogether a
+joyous one.  In his distant and isolated outpost there are privations
+to endure and hardships to suffer.  Frequently, too, it happens that he
+is placed in a position exceedingly embarrassing to a man of gentle
+breeding and kindly spirit.
+
+A well-known Canadian priest was being entertained by an Indian family.
+The hospitable old grandmother undertook to prepare a meal for him.
+Determined to set before the "black-robe" a really dainty
+dish--something after the fashion of a Hamburg steak--and possessing no
+machine for mincing the meat, she simply chewed it up nice and fine in
+her own mouth.  After cooking it to a turn, she set it before her
+honoured guest, and was at a loss to understand why the good man had so
+suddenly lost his appetite.
+
+But there is often a brighter and also a graver side to the
+missionary's life among the red men.  Incidents occur which appeal
+irresistibly to his sense of humour.
+
+One Sunday afternoon a certain noted bishop of the English Church in
+Canada, who had spent most of his life as a missionary in the far
+Northwest, was discoursing at considerable length to a band of Dog-rib
+Indians camped at the mouth of Hay River on Great Slave Lake.  His
+Lordship dwelt earnestly upon the virtue of brotherly love, and
+enlarged upon the beauty of the Divine saying--"It is more blessed to
+give than to receive."  After the service an old Indian walked up to
+the preacher, piously repeated the sacred text, and intimated that he
+was prepared to become the humble instrument for bringing upon his
+reverence the promised blessing.  To that end he was willing to receive
+his lordship's hat.
+
+The good bishop was taken aback.  Realizing, however, that there was
+nothing else for him to do, he took off his hat and bestowed it with
+commendable cheerfulness upon his new disciple.
+
+Another red man, jealous of his brother who was now parading in all the
+splendour of the bishop's hat, claimed upon the same ground the
+prelate's gaiters, and received them.
+
+The two Indians, envious each of the other's acquisition, began to
+discuss with growing anger the comparative value of the articles.
+Unable to arrive at an agreement, they resolved to put up the hat and
+gaiters as a stake and gamble for them.
+
+The impressive head-gear and antique gaiters of an Anglican bishop
+never appeared to greater advantage than they did upon the old Indian,
+the winner of the game, when he proudly strutted before his dusky,
+admiring brethren, displaying on head and bare legs the Episcopal
+insignia, and having for his only other garment an old shirt whose
+dingy tail fluttered coyly in the summer breeze.
+
+
+NEYKIA'S WEDDING
+
+At ten o'clock, on the morning of Neykia's wedding, a motley mass of
+natives clothed in many colours crowded about the little church, which,
+for lack of space, they could not enter.  Presently the crowd surged
+back from the door and formed on either side of the path, leaving an
+opening down the centre.  A tall half-breed with a shock of wavy black
+hair stepped from the doorway, raised his violin, and adjusting it into
+position, struck up a lively tune to the accompaniment of the wailing
+of a broken concertina played by another half-breed who preceded the
+newly married couple.  Neykia wore a silk handkerchief over her head, a
+light-coloured cotton waist open at the throat, a silk sash over one
+shoulder, and a short skirt revealing beaded leggings and moccasins.
+Behind the bride and groom walked Oo-koo-hoo and the fathers of the
+bridal couple, then the mothers and the rest of the relations, while
+the clergy and the other guests brought up the rear.  As the little
+procession moved along, the men, lined up on either side of the path,
+crossed their guns over the heads of the wedding party, and discharged
+a _feu de joie_.
+
+On reaching a certain log-house the procession broke up.  The older
+people went in to partake of the wedding breakfast, while the bride and
+groom went over to one of the warehouses and amused themselves dancing
+with their young friends until they were summoned to the second table
+of the marriage feast.  Everybody at the Post had contributed something
+toward either the feast or the dance.  Out of respect for Oo-koo-hoo
+the Factor had furnished a liberal stock of groceries and had, in
+addition, granted the free use of the buildings.  The clerk had sent in
+a quantity of candies and tobacco.  The priest had given potatoes; the
+clergyman had supplied a copy of the Bible in syllabic characters; and
+the minister had given the silver-plated wedding ring.  The nuns had
+presented a supply of skim-milk and butter.  Mr. Spear provided jam,
+pickles, and coal-oil for the lamps.  The Mounted Police contributed
+two dollars to pay for the "band"--the fiddle and the concertina--and
+ammunition enough for the _feu de joie_.  The friends and relations had
+given a plentiful store of fresh, dried, and pounded fish; and had also
+furnished a lavish supply of moose, caribou, and bear meat; as well as
+dainty bits of beaver, lynx, muskrat, and skunk.
+
+The bridal party having dined, they and their elders opened the ball
+officially.  The first dance was--as it always is--the Double Jig, then
+followed in regular order the same dances as those of the New Year's
+feast.  After a frolic of several hours' duration some of the dancers
+grew weary and returned to the banquet room for refreshments.  And thus
+for three days and three nights the festivities continued.
+
+
+THE WEDDING SPEECHES
+
+During a lull in the dancing on the afternoon of the wedding day Little
+Pine's sister went up to him and said: "Brother, may I kiss you?  Are
+you ashamed?"  He answered: "No."  She kissed him, took his wife's
+hand, placed it in his with her own over both, and addressed the young
+wife:
+
+"As you have taken my place, do to him as I have done; listen to him,
+work for him, and, if need be, die for him."
+
+Then she lowered her head and began to cry.
+
+Ne-Geek, The Otter, Neykia's oldest brother, then went up to Little
+Pine and asked:
+
+"Are you man enough to work for her, to feed her, and to protect her?"
+
+"Yes," replied the new-made husband.
+
+The Otter put the husband's hand on his sister's hand, and--looking him
+straight in the eyes . . . shook his clenched fist at him and said in a
+threatening tone . . .  "Beware!"
+
+In the midst of one of the dances Oo-koo-hoo walked up to the "band"
+and knocked up the fiddle to command silence.  Pulling his _capote_
+tightly about him, he assumed a dignified attitude, slowly looked round
+the room to see that he had the attention of all present, and began to
+address the assemblage:
+
+"The step which Shing-wauk has taken is a very serious one.  Now he
+will have to think for two.  Now he must supply the wants of two.  Now
+he will realize what trouble is.  But the One who made us . . .  The
+Great Mystery . . .  The Master of Life . . . made us right.  The man
+has his work to do, and the woman has hers.  The man must hunt and kill
+animals, and the woman must skin and dress them.  The man must always
+stand by her and she by him.  The two together are strong . . . and
+there is no need of outside assistance.  Remember . . . my
+grandchildren . . . you are starting out together that way . . ."
+
+To illustrate his meaning, he held up two fingers parallel, and added:
+
+"If your tracks fork . . . they will soon be as far apart as sunrise is
+from sunset . . . and you will find many ready to come in between.
+Carry on in the way you have begun . . . for that is the way you should
+end.  And remember . . . if your tracks once fork . . . they will never
+come together again . . . my grandchildren . . .  I have spoken."
+
+After Little Pine's father, as well as several of the guests, had made
+their remarks, Naudin, Neykia's mother, rose to address her daughter.
+Overcome with nervousness, she pulled her shawl so far over her face as
+to leave only a tiny peep-hole through which to look.  Hesitatingly she
+began:
+
+"My daughter, you never knew what trouble is, now you will know.  You
+never knew what hard work is, now you will soon learn.  Never let your
+husband want for anything.  Never allow another woman to do anything
+for him; if you do . . . you are lost.  When you have children, my
+daughter, and they grow up, your sons will always be sons to you, even
+though they be gray-headed.  But with your daughters it will not be so;
+when they marry, they will be lost to you.  Once married, they are gone
+for ever."
+
+She stepped up to her daughter, kissed her, and sank to the floor,
+weeping copiously.
+
+Then Amik rose to speak.  He beckoned to his daughter.  She advanced
+and knelt down, holding the fringe of his legging while he addressed
+her:
+
+"Neykia, my daughter, you have taken this man.  Be good to him, work
+for him, live for him, and if need be, die for him.  Kiss me, Neykia,
+my daughter; kiss me for the last time."
+
+She kissed him, and he added:
+
+"You have kissed me for the last time: henceforth never kiss any man
+but your husband."
+
+Raising his hand with untutored dignity, he pronounced the words:
+
+"Remember . . .  I have spoken."
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+BUSINESS AND ROMANCE
+
+FAREWELL ATHABASCA
+
+Though Wawe Pesim (The Egg Moon), or June, had already brought summer
+to the Great Northern Forest, the beautiful Athabasca still waited in
+vain.  Son-in-law had not yet appeared.  After all--was he but a fond
+parents' dream?  I wondered.
+
+Soon the picturesque and romantic Fur Brigade would be sweeping
+southward on its voyage from the last entrenchments of the Red Gods to
+the newest outposts of civilization--a civilization that has debauched,
+infected, plundered, and murdered the red man ever since its first
+onset upon the eastern shores of North America.  If you don't believe
+this, read history, especially the history of the American fur trade.
+
+Meanwhile, canoes laden with furs and in charge of Hudson's Bay traders
+or clerks from outlying "Flying Posts" had arrived; and among the
+voyageurs was that amusing character, Old Billy Brass.  A little later,
+too, Chief Factor Thompson arrived from the North.  Now in the fur loft
+many hands were busily engaged in sorting, folding, and packing in
+collapsible moulds--that determined the size and shape of the fur
+packs--a great variety of skins.  Also they were energetically
+weighing, cording, and covering the fur packs with burlap--leaving two
+ears of that material at each end to facilitate handling them, as each
+pack weighed eighty pounds.
+
+A fur pack of one hundred pounds--for the weight varies according to
+the difficulty of transportation in certain regions--contains on an
+average fourteen bear, sixty otter, seventy beaver, one hundred and ten
+fox skins, or six hundred muskrat skins.  A pack of assorted furs
+contains about eighty skins and the most valuable ones are placed in
+the centre.
+
+During the next few days the great "North" or six-fathom canoes--made
+of birch bark and capable of carrying from three to four tons of
+freight in addition to their crews of from eight to twelve men--were
+brought out of the canoe house, and together with the two new ones, had
+their bows and sterns painted white in readiness for their finishing
+touch of decoration in the way of some symbol of the fur trade.
+
+As the principal Indian canoemen, who were to join the Fur Brigade,
+were already familiar with my ability as an artist, they waited upon
+the Factor and requested him to solicit my help in the final decorating
+of those beautiful canoes.  So it came to pass that on the bow of one a
+leaping otter appeared and on the bows of others, a rearing bear, a
+flying goose, a rampant caribou, a galloping fox, a leaping lynx, a
+rampant moose, and on still another the coat-of-arms of the Hudson's
+Bay Company.  Each in turn had its admirers, but Oo-koo-hoo, who was to
+have charge of all the voyageurs, sidled up to Factor Mackenzie and
+whispered that if Hu-ge-mow--Master--would let him take his choice of
+the canoes, he would not only give the Factor a dollar in return for
+the privilege, but he would promise to keep that particular canoe at
+the very head of the whole brigade, and never once allow another canoe
+to pass it during the voyage.
+
+The Factor was not only interested in the Indian's appreciation of art,
+as well as amused over the idea that he would accept a bribe of a
+dollar, but he was curious to know which canoe the Indian most
+favoured.  It was the one that displayed the Great Company's
+coat-of-arms; so Oo-koo-hoo, the famous white-water-man, not only won
+his choice and retained his dollar, but furthermore, he and his crew
+actually did keep the bow of that canoe ahead of all others--no matter
+where or when the other crews contested for the honour of leading the
+Fur Brigade.
+
+The next morning, at sunrise, the Fur Brigade was to take its
+departure.  Now it was time I visited Spearhead, to thank my friends,
+the Free Trader and his family, for all their kindness to me, and to
+bid them farewell; so I borrowed a small canoe and paddled across the
+lake.  When I arrived they invited me to dine with them.  At the table
+that day there was less talking--everyone seemed to be in a thoughtful
+mood.
+
+The windows and doors were open and the baggy mosquito netting sagged
+away from the hot sun as the cool breeze whispered through its
+close-knit mesh.  Outside, I could see the heifer and her mother lying
+in the shade of a tree on the far side of the stump-lot, and near the
+doorway the ducks and geese were sauntering about the grass and every
+now and then making sudden little rushes--as though they were trying to
+catch something.  There, too, in the pathway, the chickens were
+scratching about and ruffling their feathers in little dust holes--as
+though they were trying to get rid of something.  An unexpected grunt
+at the doorway attracted my attention and I saw a pig leering at me
+from the corners of its half-closed eyes--the very same pig the Free
+Trader and his wife had chosen to add to their daughter's wedding
+dowry--then it gave a familiar little nod, as though it recognized me;
+and I fancied, too, that its ugly chops broke into an insolent smile.
+What was it thinking about? . . .  Was it Son-in-law?  I wondered.
+
+I glanced at Athabasca.  How beautiful she looked!  The reflected
+sunlight in the room cast a delightful sheen over her lustrous brown
+hair, and seemed to enhance the beauty of her charmingly sun-browned
+skin, that added so much to the whiteness of her even teeth, and to the
+brilliancy of her soft brown eyes.  In a dreamy way she was looking far
+out through the window and away off toward the distant hills.  She,
+too, set me wondering; was she thinking of Son-in-law?
+
+At that moment, however, the pig gave another impatient grunt which
+startled Athabasca and caused her to look directly at me.  I blushed
+scarlet, then; so did she--but, of course, only out of sympathy.
+
+"Yes, we'll send her to that finishing school in Toronto," her mother
+mused, while Free Trader Spear scratched his head once more, and three
+house flies lazily sat on the sugar bowl and hummed a vulgar tune.
+
+After dinner Mr. Spear invited me into the trading room to see some of
+the furs he had secured.  Among them were four silver fox skins as well
+as the black one he had bought from Oo-koo-hoo.  They were indeed fine
+skins.
+
+It was now time for me to take my departure, so I returned to the
+living room, but found no one there.  Presently, however, Mrs. Spear
+entered, and though she sat down opposite me, she never once looked my
+way.  She seemed agitated about something.  Clasping her fingers
+together, she twirled her thumbs about one another, then she twirled
+them back the other way; later she took to tapping her moccasined toe
+upon the bare floor, I wondered what was coming.  I couldn't make it
+out.  For all the while she was looking at a certain crack in the
+floor.  Once more she renewed the twirling action of her thumbs, and
+even increased the action of her toe upon the floor.
+
+What did it all mean?  Had I done anything to displease her?  No; I
+could think of nothing of the sort, so I felt a little easier.
+Suddenly, however, she glanced up and, looking straight at me, began:
+
+"Mr. Heming . . . we have only one child . . . and we love her
+dearly . . ."
+
+But the pause that followed was so long drawn out that I began to lose
+interest, especially as the flies were once more humming the same old
+tune.  A little later, however, I was almost startled when Mrs. Spear
+exclaimed:
+
+"But I'll lend you a photograph of Athabasca for six weeks!"
+
+Thereupon Mrs. Spear left her chair and going upstairs presently
+returned with a photograph wrapped in a silk handkerchief; and as at
+that very moment the Free Trader and his daughter entered the room, I,
+without comment, slipped the photograph into my inside pocket, and
+wished them all good-bye; though they insisted upon walking down to the
+landing to wave me farewell on my way to Fort Consolation.
+
+
+MUSTERING THE FUR BRIGADE
+
+Next morning, soon after dawn, the church bells were ringing and
+everyone was up and astir; and presently all were on their way to one
+or another of the little log chapels on the hill; where, a little
+later, they saw the stalwart men of the Fur Brigade kneeling before the
+altar as they partook of the holy sacrament before starting upon their
+voyage to the frontier of civilization.
+
+Strange, isn't it, that the writers of northern novels never depict a
+scene like that?  Probably because they have never been inside a
+northern church.
+
+Next, breakfasts were hurriedly eaten, then the voyageurs assembled
+upon the beach placed those big, beautifully formed, six-fathom canoes
+upon the water, and paddled them to the landing.  Then Chief Factor
+Thompson and Factor Mackenzie joined the throng; and that veteran
+voyageur, Oo-koo-hoo, who was to command the Fur Brigade, touched his
+hat and conversed with the officers.  A few moments later the old guide
+waved his swarthy men into line.  From them he chose the bowmen,
+calling each by name, and motioning them to rank beside him; then, in
+turn, each bowman selected a man for his crew; until, for each of the
+eight canoes, eight men were chosen.  Then work began.
+
+Some went off with tump-line in hand to the warehouse, ascended the
+massive stairs, and entered the fur loft.  Tiers of empty shelves
+circled the room, where the furs were stored during the winter; but
+upon the floor were stacked packs of valuable pelts--the harvest of the
+fur trade.  The old-fashioned scales, the collapsible mould, and the
+giant fur press told of the work that had been done.  Every pack
+weighed eighty pounds.  Loading up, they rapidly carried the fur to the
+landing.  In the storeroom the voyageurs gathered up the "tripping" kit
+of paddles, tents, axes, tarpaulins, sponges; and a box for each crew
+containing frying-pans, tea pails, tin plates, and tea-dishes.  In the
+trading room the crews were supplied with provisions of flour, pork,
+and tea, at the rate of three pounds a day for each man.  They were
+also given tobacco.  Most of the voyageurs received "advances" from the
+clerk in the way of clothing, knives, pipes, and things deemed
+essential for the voyage.  Birch bark, spruce roots, and gum were
+supplied for repairing the canoes.
+
+All was now in readiness.  The loading of freight began, and when each
+canoe had received its allotted cargo the voyageurs indulged in much
+handshaking with their friends, a little quiet talking and affectionate
+kissing with their families and sweethearts.  Then, paddle in hand,
+they boarded their canoes and took their places.
+
+In manning a six-fathom canoe the bowman is always the most important;
+the steersman comes next in rank, while the others are called "midmen."
+
+
+DEPARTURE OF THE FUR BRIGADE
+
+Factor Mackenzie and his senior officer, sitting in the guide's or
+chief voyageur's canoe, which, of course, was Oo-koo-hoo's, gave the
+word; and all together the paddle blades dipped, the water swirled, and
+on the gunwales the paddle handles thudded as the canoes heaved away.
+
+The going and coming of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the
+year to those nomadic people who stood watching and waving to the
+fast-vanishing flotilla.  Were they not bidding farewell to fathers,
+husbands, brothers, sons, or lovers, chosen as the best men from their
+village?  Had they not lent a hand in the winning of the treasure that
+was floating away?  If only the pelts in those packs could speak, what
+tales they would unfold!
+
+As I looked back the animated picture of the little settlement wherein
+we figured but a moment before gradually faded into distance.  The
+wild-looking assembly was blotted from the shore.  But still above the
+rapidly dwindling buildings waved the flag of the oldest chartered
+trading association in the world--the Hudson's Bay Company.
+
+Between eleven and twelve o'clock the brigade went ashore for a
+"snack."  The canoes were snubbed to overhanging trees, and upon a
+rocky flat the fires burned.  Hurriedly drinking the hot tea, the men
+seized pieces of frying pork and, placing them upon their broken
+bannock, ravenously devoured both as they returned to the canoes.  No
+time was lost.  Away we went again.  Then the brigade would paddle
+incessantly for about two hours; then they would "spell", and paddles
+were laid aside "one smoke."  As the way slackened the steersmen
+bunched the canoes.  The soft, rich voices of the crews blended as they
+quietly chatted and joked and laughed together.
+
+[Illustration: The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event
+of the year.  In manning six-fathom canoes the bowman are always the
+most important; the steersman coming next in rank, while the others are
+called "midmen."  The brigade would paddle incessantly for about two
+hours; then they would "spell", and paddles were laid aside "one
+smoke."  The soft, rich voices of the crews blended as they quietly
+chatted and joked and . . .  See Chapter VIII.]
+
+Later, a stern wind came along.  Nearing an island, some of the men
+went ashore and cut a mast and sprit-sail boom for each canoe.  They
+lashed the masts to the thwarts with tump-lines, and rigged the
+tarpaulins, used to cover the packs, into sails.  Again the paddles
+were shipped, save those of the steersmen; and the crews lounged about,
+either smoking or drowsing.  The men were weary.  Last night they had
+danced both hard and long, with dusky maids--as all true voyageurs do
+on the eve of their departure.  To voyageurs stern winds are blessings.
+Mile after mile the wild flotilla swept along.  Sunshine danced upon
+the rippling waves that gurgled and lapped as the bows overreached
+them.  Rugged islands of moss-covered rock and evergreen trees rose on
+every side.  The wind favoured us for about five miles, then shifted.
+Reluctantly the sails were let down, and masts and booms tossed
+overboard.  At four o'clock the brigade landed on a pretty island, and
+a hurried afternoon tea was taken; after which we again paddled on, and
+at sundown halted to pitch camp for the night.
+
+
+CAMP OF THE FUR BRIGADE
+
+The canoes--held off shore so as not to damage them by touching the
+beach--were unloaded by men wading in the water.  The fur packs were
+neatly piled and covered with tarpaulins.  Then the canoes were lifted
+off the water, and carried ashore, and turned upside-down for the
+night.  Tents were erected and campfires lit.  Upon a thick carpet of
+evergreen brush the blankets were spread in the tents.  The tired men
+sat in the smoke at the fires and ate their suppers round which black
+flies and mosquitoes hovered.
+
+Canadian voyageurs, being well used to both fasting and feasting,
+display great appetites when savoury food is plentiful, and though I
+have seen much feasting and heard astonishing tales of great eating, I
+feel I cannot do better than quote the following, as told by Charles
+Mair, one of the co-authors of that reliable book "Through the
+Mackenzie Basin":
+
+"I have already hinted at those masterpieces of voracity for which the
+region is renowned; yet the undoubted facts related around our
+campfires, and otherwise, a few of which follow, almost beggar belief.
+Mr. Young, of our party, an old Hudson's Bay officer, knew of sixteen
+trackers who, in a few days, consumed eight bears, two moose, two bags
+of pemmican, two sacks of flour, and three sacks of potatoes.  Bishop
+Grouard vouched for four men eating a reindeer at a sitting.  Our
+friend, Mr. d'Eschambault, once gave Oskinnegu,--'The Young Man'--six
+pounds of pemmican.  He ate it all at a meal, washing it down with a
+gallon of tea, and then complained that he had not had enough.  Sir
+George Simpson states that at Athabasca Lake, in 1820, he was one of a
+party of twelve who ate twenty-two geese and three ducks at a single
+meal.  But, as he says, they had been three whole days without food.
+The Saskatchewan folk, however, known of old as the Gens de
+Blaireaux--'The People of the Badger Holes'--were not behind their
+congeners.  That man of weight and might, our old friend Chief Factor
+Belanger, once served out to thirteen men a sack of pemmican weighing
+ninety pounds.  It was enough for three days; but there and then they
+sat down and consumed it all at a single meal, not, it must be added,
+without some subsequent and just pangs of indigestion.  Mr. B., having
+occasion to pass the place of eating, and finding the sack of pemmican,
+as he supposed, in his path, gave it a kick; but, to his amazement, it
+bounded aloft several feet, and then lit.  It was empty!  When it is
+remembered that in the old buffalo days the daily ration per head at
+the Company's prairie posts was eight pounds of fresh meat, which was
+all eaten, its equivalent being two pounds of pemmican, the enormity of
+this Gargantuan feast may be imagined.  But we ourselves were not bad
+hands at the trencher.  In fact, we were always hungry.  So I do not
+reproduce the foregoing facts as a reproach, but rather as a meagre
+tribute to the prowess of the great of old--the men of unbounded
+stomach!"
+
+And yet, strange as it may seem, fat men are seldom seen in the
+northern wilderness.  That is something movie directors should remember.
+
+Pemmican, though little used nowadays, was formerly the mainstay of the
+voyageurs.  It was made of the flesh of buffalo, musk-ox, moose,
+caribou, wapiti, beaver, rabbit, or ptarmigan; and for ordinary use was
+composed of 66 per cent. of dried meat pounded fine to 34 per cent. of
+hard fat boiled and strained.  A finer quality of pemmican for officers
+or travellers was composed of 60 per cent. of dried meat pounded extra
+fine and sifted; 33 per cent. of grease taken from marrow bones boiled
+and strained; 5 per cent. of dried Saskatoon berries; 2 per cent. of
+dried choke cherries, and sugar according to taste.  The pounded meat
+was placed in a large wooden trough and, being spread out, hot grease
+was poured over it and then stirred until thoroughly mixed with the
+meat.  Then, after first letting it cool somewhat, the whole was packed
+into leather bags, and, with the aid of wooden mallets, driven down
+into a solid mass, when the bags were sewn up and flattened out and
+left to cool; during the cooling precaution was taken to turn the bags
+every five minutes to prevent the grease settling too much to one side.
+Pemmican was packed 50, 80, or 100 lb. in a bag--according to the
+difficulty of transporting it through the country in which it was to be
+used.  The best pemmican was made from buffalo meat, and 2 lb. of
+buffalo pemmican was considered equal to 2 1/2 lb. of moose or 3 lb. of
+caribou pemmican.
+
+Later, a cool sunset breeze from over the water blew the little
+tormentors away, and then it was that those swarthy men enjoyed their
+rest.  After supper some made bannock batter in the mouths of
+flour-sacks, adding water, salt, and baking powder.  This they worked
+into balls and spread out in sizzling pans arranged obliquely before
+the fire with a bed of coals at the back of each.  It was an enlivening
+scene.  Great roaring fires sent glowing sparks high into the still
+night air, lighting up the trees with their intense glare, and casting
+weird shadows upon the surrounding tents and bushes.  Picturesque,
+wild-looking men laughed, talked, and gesticulated at one another.  A
+few with _capotes_ off were sitting close to the fires, and flipping
+into the air the browning flap-jacks that were to be eaten the
+following day.  Others, with hoods over their heads, lolled back from
+the fire smoking their pipes--and by the way, novelists and movie
+directors and actors should know that the natives of the northern
+wilderness, both white and red, do not smoke cigarettes; they smoke
+pipes and nothing else.  Some held their moccasins before the fire to
+dry, or arranged their blankets for turning in.  Others slipped away
+under cover of darkness to rub pork rinds on the bottom of their
+canoes, for there was much rivalry as to the speed of the crews.  Still
+more beautiful grows the scene, when the June moon rises above the
+trees and tips with flickering light the running waves.
+
+Sauntering from one crew's fire to another, I listened for a while to
+the talking and laughing of the voyageurs, but hearing no thrilling
+tales or even a humorous story by that noted romancer Old Billy Brass,
+I went over and sat down at the officers' fire, where Chief Factor
+Thompson was discussing old days and ways with his brother trader.
+
+
+THE LONGEST BRIGADE ROUTES
+
+After a little while I asked:
+
+"What was the longest route of the old-time canoe and boat brigades?"
+
+"There were several very long ones," replied Mr. Thompson, "for
+instance, the one from Montreal to Vancouver, a distance of about three
+thousand miles; also the one from York Factory on Hudson Bay to the
+Queen Charlotte Islands, and another from York Factory to the Mackenzie
+River posts.  Some of the portages on the main highway of canoe travel
+were rather long, for instance, the one at Portage La Loche was twelve
+miles in length and over it everything had to be carried on man back.
+
+"In winter time, travel was by way of snowshoes, dog-sled, or jumper.
+A jumper is a low, short, strong sleigh set upon heavy wooden runners
+and hauled by ox, horse, men, or dogs.  The freight load per dog--as
+you know--is a hundred pounds; per man, one to two hundred pounds; per
+horse, four to six hundred pounds; and per ox, five to seven hundred
+pounds.  In summer there were the canoe, York boat, sturgeon-head scow,
+and Red River cart brigades.  A six-fathom canoe carries from twenty to
+thirty packages; a York boat, seventy-five packages; a Sturgeon-head
+scow, one hundred packages; and a Red River cart, six hundred pounds.
+The carts were made entirely of wood and leather and were hauled by
+horse or ox.  With every brigade went the wife of one of the voyageurs
+to attend to the mending of the voyageurs' clothing and to look after
+the comfort of the officer in charge.  But the voyageurs always had to
+do their own cooking and washing.
+
+"In the old days, too, much of their food had to be procured from the
+country through which they travelled and therefore they relied upon
+buffalo, moose, wapiti, deer, bear, beaver, rabbit, fish, and
+water-fowl to keep them in plenty."
+
+Then for a while the Factors sat smoking in silence.  The moon had
+mounted higher and was now out of sight behind the tops of the
+neighbouring trees, but its reflection was brilliantly rippled upon the
+water.  At one of the fires a French half-breed was singing in a rich
+barytone one of the old _chansons_ that were so much in vogue among the
+voyageurs of by-gone days--_À la Claire Fontaine_.  After an encore,
+silence again held sway, until around another fire hearty laughter
+began to play.
+
+"The boys over there must be yarning again," remarked, the Chief
+Factor, as he pointed with his pipe, "let's go over, and listen awhile."
+
+
+BILLY BRASS TELLS ANOTHER STORY
+
+It was Oo-koo-hoo's fire and among his men was seated that ever-welcome
+member of another crew--Old Billy Brass.  Evidently he had just
+finished telling one of his mirth-provoking stories, as the men were
+good-naturedly questioning him about it; for, as we sat down, he
+continued:
+
+"Yes, sir, it's true; fire attraks 'em.  Why, I've knowed 'em come from
+miles round when they catched a glimpse of it, an' as long as there's
+danger o' white bears bein' round you'll never again find Old Billy
+Brass tryin' to sleep beside a big fire.  No, sir, not even if His
+Royal Highness the Commissioner or His Lordship the Bishop gives the
+word."
+
+Then he sat there slowly drawing upon his pipe with apparently no
+intention of adding a single word to what he had already said.  Lest
+something interesting should be lost, I ventured:
+
+"Was it the Bishop or the Commissioner that made the trouble?"
+
+"No, sir, neither; 'twas the Archdeacon," replied the old man as he
+withdrew his pipe and rubbed his smarting eyes clear of the smoke from
+the blazing logs.  Taking a few short draws at the tobacco, he
+continued:
+
+"There was three of us, me an' Archdeacon Lofty an' Captain Hawser, who
+was commandin' one of the Company's boats that was a-goin' to winter in
+Hudson Bay.  It happened in September.  The three of us was hoofin' it
+along the great barren shore o' the bay.  In some places the shore was
+that flat that every time the tide came in she flooded 'bout all the
+country we could see, an' we had a devil of a time tryin' to keep clear
+o' the mud.  We had a few dogs along to help pack our beddin', but,
+nevertheless, it was hard work; for we was carryin' most of our outfit
+on our backs.
+
+"One evenin' just before sundown we stumbled upon a lot o' driftwood
+scattered all about the flats.  As so much wood was lyin' around handy,
+we decided to spend the night on a little knoll that rose above
+high-water mark.  For the last few days we had seen so little wood that
+any of our fires could 'a' been built in a hat.  But that night the
+sight o' so much wood fairly set the Archdeacon crazy with delight, an'
+nothin' would do but we must have a great roarin' fire to sleep by.  I
+would have enjoyed a good warmin' as well as any one, but I was mighty
+leary about havin' a big fire.  So I cautioned the Archdeacon not to
+use much wood as there was likely to be bears about, an' that no matter
+how far off they was, if they saw that fire they would make for
+it--even if they was five or six miles out on the ice floes.  He
+wouldn't listen to me.  The Captain backed him up, an' they both set to
+an' built a fire as big as a tepee.
+
+"We was pretty well tuckered out from the day's walkin'.  So after
+supper we dried our moccasins an' was about to turn in early when--lo
+an' behold!--the Archdeacon got up an' piled more wood upon the fire.
+That made me mad; for unless he was huntin' for trouble he couldn't 'a'
+done a thing more foolish, an' I says somethin' to that effect.  He
+comes back at me as though I was afraid o' me own shadder, an' says:
+'Billy Brass, I'm s'prised that a man like you doesn't put more faith
+in prayin' an' trustin' hisself in the hands o' the Almighty.'
+
+"I was so hot over the foolishness of havin' such a big fire that I ups
+an' says:
+
+"'That may be all right for you, sir, but I prefer to use my wits
+first, an' trust in Providence afterwards.'
+
+"Nothin' more was said, an' we all turns in.  I didn't like the idea of
+every one goin' to sleep with a fire so big that it was showin' itself
+for miles aroun', so I kep' myself awake.  I wasn't exactly thinkin'
+that somethin' really serious was goin' to happen, but I was just
+wishin' it would, just to teach the Archdeacon a lesson.  As time went
+on I must 'a' done a little dozin'; for when I looks up at the Dipper
+again, I learns from its angle with the North Star that it was already
+after midnight.  An'--would you believe it?--that fire was still
+blazin' away nearly as big as ever.  The heat seemed to make me drowsy,
+for I began to doze once more.  All at once I heard the dogs blowin' so
+hard----"
+
+"Blowing?"
+
+"Yes, that's right; they were blowin'; for geddies don't bark like
+other dogs when they're frightened.  Well, as I was sayin', they were
+blowin' so hard that my hair nearly stood on end.  Like a shot I throws
+off me blanket an' jumps to me feet, for I knowed what was comin'.  The
+Captain an' the Archdeacon heard them, too, an' we all grabbed at once
+for the only gun, a single-barrelled muzzle-loader.
+
+"As ill luck would have it, the Archdeacon was nearest to that gun an'
+grabbed it, an' by the time we was straightened up we sees a great big
+white bear rushin' at us.  Quick as thought the Archdeacon points the
+gun at the bear an' pulls the trigger, but the hammer only snaps upon
+the bare nipple; for the cap had tumbled off in the scramble.  There
+was no time for re-cappin'; so, bein' the nearest to the chargin' bear,
+the Archdeacon just drops the old gun an' runs for dear life around
+that fire with me an' the Captin followin' close behind him.
+
+"When I seen the way the Archdeacon an' the Captin went a sailin' round
+that fire, it fairly took me breath away; for somehow I never had any
+idea that them two old cripples had so much speed left in 'em.  An' you
+can bet it kep' me unusually busy bringin' up the rear; an', anyway,
+the feelin' that the bear was for ever snappin' at me coat-tails kep'
+me from takin' things too easy.
+
+"Well, we tore round an' round an' round that fire so dang many times
+that we was not only rapidly losin' our wind but we was beginnin' to
+get dizzy into the bargain.  All the time we could hear the great beast
+thunderin' after us, yet we daren't slacken our pace; no, sir, not even
+enough to take a single glance behind just to see which was gainin'.
+It was a sure case of life or death, but principally death; an' you can
+depend on it we wasn't takin' any chances.
+
+"Me an' the Captin was crowdin' so close upon the Archdeacon's heels
+that in his terror lest we should pass him by he ups an' sets the pace
+at such a tremendous speed that the whole three of us actually catches
+up to the bear . . . without the brute's knowin' it.  If it hadn't been
+for the Archdeacon steppin' on the sole of the bear's upturned left
+hind foot as the hungry beast was gallopin' round the fire . . . we'd
+have been runnin' a good deal longer.
+
+"Well, sir, if you had just seen how foolish that bear looked when he
+discovered that we was chasin' him instead of him chasin' us, you'd
+have died laughin'.  Why, he was the most bewildered an' crest-fallen
+animal I ever did see.  But he soon regained his wits an'--evidently
+calculatin' that his only salvation layed in his overhaulin' us--lit
+out at a saprisin' gait in a grand effort to leave us far enough behind
+for him to catch up to us.  But it didn't work; for by that time we had
+all got our second wind an' he soon realized that we was determined not
+to be overhauled from the rear.  So he set to ponderin' what was really
+the best thing for him to do; an' then he did it.
+
+"You must understand that we was so close upon his heels that there
+wasn't room for him to stop an' turn around without us all fallin' on
+top of him.  So what do you think the cunnin' brute did?  Why, he just
+hauled off an' kicked out behind with his right hind foot, an' hit the
+Archdeacon a smashin' blow square on his stomach, an' knocked him bang
+against the Captin an' the Captin against me, an' me against the dogs;
+an' we all went down in a heap beside the fire.
+
+"Well, sir, that old brute had put so much glad an' earnest energy into
+its kick that it knocked the wind plum out of every one of us, an' for
+the next few seconds there was a mess of arms an' legs an' tails
+frantically tryin' to disentangle themselves.  But, as good luck would
+have it, I went down upon the gun.  As I rose to my feet, I slipped a
+cap on the nipple just as the bear comes chargin' around the fire
+facing us.  I ups an' lets him have it full in the mouth.  The shot
+nearly stunned him.  While he was clawin' the pain in his face I had
+time to re-load, an' lets him have it behind the ear, an' he drops dead
+without a whimper.
+
+"Then--would you believe it?--the Archdeacon goes up to the shaggy
+carcass, puts his foot on the bear's head, an' stands there lookin' for
+all the world like British Columbia discoverin' America, an' says:
+
+"'There, now, Billy Brass, I hope you have learned a lesson.  Next time
+you will know where to place your trust.'
+
+"Well, sir, the way he was lettin' on that he had saved the whole
+outfit made me mad.  So I ups an' says:
+
+"'Yes, sir, an' if I hadn't put me trust in me gun, there would have
+been another Archdeacon in heaven.'"
+
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT WOODSMEN
+
+It was now growing late.  For a while the smiling Indians, half-breeds,
+and white men smoked in silence; then one after another, each knocked
+the ashes from his pipe, arose, stretched himself, and sauntered off to
+his bed, whether in a tent, under a canoe, or in the open.  Walking
+down to the water's edge I watched the moonlight for a while, then
+passed quietly from one smouldering fire to another.  Some of the men
+were still talking together in low tones so as not to disturb those who
+were already seeking slumber, while others were arranging their
+bedding; and still others were devoutly kneeling in prayer to The
+Master of Life.
+
+Thus during the four seasons of the year I had lived with and observed
+the men of the northern wilderness; and not only had I learned to like
+and respect them, but to admire their generosity and honesty, their
+simplicity and skill, their gentleness and prowess; and, above all, to
+honour their spiritual attitude toward this world and the next.  How
+different they were from the city dwellers' conception of them!  But
+still you may want further proof.  You may want first-hand knowledge of
+those northern men.  You may want to study their minds and to look into
+their hearts.  Then may I ask you to read the following letter, written
+a few years ago by an old Canadian woodsman--Mr. A. B. Carleton--who
+was born and bred in the northern wilderness.  Then you may become
+better acquainted with at least one of the men I have been trying to
+picture to you.
+
+"I was born in the heart of the northern forest, and in my wanderings
+my steps have ever gone most willingly back toward the pine-covered
+hills and the grassy glades that slope down to cool, deep waters.  The
+wanderlust has carried me far, but the lakes and waterfalls, the bluffs
+and the bays of the great northern No-Man's Land are my home, and with
+_Mukwa_ the bear, _Mah-en-gin_ the wolf, _Wash-gish_ the red deer, and
+_Ah-Meek_ the beaver, I have much consorted and have found their
+company quite to my liking.
+
+"But the fates have so dealt with me that for two years I have not been
+able to see the smile of Springtime breaking forth upon the rugged face
+of my northern No-Man's Land.  I have had glimpses of it, merely, among
+crowded houses, out of hospital windows.  Still, my mind is native to
+the forest, and my thoughts and fancies, breaking captivity, go back,
+like the free wild things they are, on bright days of springtime to the
+wild land where the change of season means what it never can mean in
+the town.
+
+"What does Spring mean to you town folk, anyway?  I will tell you.  It
+means lighter clothing, dust instead of sleet, the transfer of your
+patronage from fuel man to ice man, a few days of slushy streets and
+baseball instead of hockey.
+
+"What does it mean to the man of the woods?  That I will try to tell
+you.  It means that the deep snow which has mantled hill and valley for
+five months has melted into brooks and rivulets which are plunging and
+splashing away to find the ocean from whence they came.  It means that
+the thick ice which throughout the long winter has imprisoned the
+waters of the lakes, is now broken, and the waves, incited by the south
+wind, are wreaking vengeance by beating it upon the rocks of the
+northern shore, until, subdued and melted, it returns to be a mere part
+of the waves again.  Instead of the hungry winter howl of the wolf or
+the whining snarl of the sneaking lynx the air is now filled with
+happier sounds: ducks are quacking; geese are honking; waveys are
+cackling as they fly northward; squirrels among the spruce trees
+chatter noisily; on sandy ridges woodchucks whistle excitedly; back
+deep in the birch thicket partridges are drumming, and all the woodland
+is musical with the song of birds.
+
+"The trees, through whose bare branches the wind all winter has
+whistled and shrieked, are now sending forth leaves of tender green and
+the voice of the wind caressing them is softened to a tone as musical
+as the song of birds.  Flowers are springing up, not in the rigid rows
+or precise squares of a mechanically inclined horticulturist, but
+surprising one by elbowing themselves out of the narrowest crevices, or
+peeping bashfully out from behind fallen trees, or clinging almost
+upside down to the side of an overhanging cliff.
+
+"My camp on Rainy Lake faces the south and in front is a little stunted
+black ash tree, so dwarfed, gnarled, twisted, and homely that it is
+almost pretty.  I refrained from cutting it down because of its
+attractive deformity.  In the springtime, a few years ago, a pair of
+robins chose it as their nesting place.  One bright Sunday morning, as
+the nest was in course of construction, I was sitting in my doorway
+watching the pair.  The brisk little husband was hurrying toward the
+nest with a bit of moss; but the mild sun, the crisp air, the sweet
+breathing earth, the gently whispering trees seemed to make him so very
+happy he could not but tell of it.  Alighting on a twig he dropped the
+moss, opened his beak, and poured forth in song the joy his little body
+could no longer contain.  That is the joy of a northern No-Man's Land
+in the month of May.
+
+"We are so happy in our woodland home that we wish everyone might share
+it with us.  But perhaps some would not enjoy what we enjoy, or see
+what we see, and some are prevented from coming by the duties of other
+callings, and each must follow the pathway his feet are most fitted to
+tread.  For myself, I only want my little log cabin with the wild vines
+climbing over its walls and clinging to the mud-chinked crevices, where
+I can hear the song of wild birds mingled with the sleepy hum of bees
+moving from blossom to blossom about the doorway; where I can see the
+timid red deer, as, peeping out of the brush, it hesitates between the
+fear of man and the temptation of the white clover growing in front of
+my home, and where I can watch the endless procession of waves
+following each other up the bay.  Give me the necessity of working for
+my daily bread so that I will not feel as though I were a useless
+cumbrance upon the earth; allow me an opportunity now and then of doing
+a kindly act, even if it be no more than restoring to the shelter of
+its mother's breast a fledgling that has fallen from its nest in a tree
+top.  If I may have these I will be happy, and happier still if I could
+know that when the time comes for me to travel the trail, the sands of
+which show no imprint of returning footsteps, that I might be put to
+rest on the southern slope of the ridge beside my camp, where the
+sunshine chases the shadows around the birch tree, where the murmur of
+the waves comes in rhythm to the robin's song, and where the red deer
+play on moonlight nights.  Neither will I fear the snows of winter that
+come drifting over the bay, driven by the wind that whines through the
+naked tree tops, nor the howl of the hungry wolf, for what had no
+terror for me in life need not have afterward.  And if the lessons that
+I learned at my mother's knee be true; if there be that within me that
+lives on, I am sure that it will be happier in its eternal home if it
+may look back and know that the body which it had tried to guide
+through its earthly career was having its long rest in the spot it
+loved best."
+
+Did you ever meet a character like that in northern fiction?
+
+No, of course not; how could you? . . .  When the books were written by
+city-dwelling men.  Then, too, is not any production of the creative
+arts--a poem, a story, a play, a painting, or a statue--but a
+reflection of the composer's soul?  So . . . when you read a book
+filled with inhuman characters, you have taken the measure of the man
+who wrote it, you have seen a reflection of the author's soul.
+Furthermore, when people exclaim: "What's the matter with the movies?"
+The answer is: Nothing . . . save that the screens too often reflect
+the degenerate souls of the movie directors.
+
+But the Indian--how he has been slandered for centuries!  When in
+reality it is just as Warren, the Historian of the Ojibways,
+proclaimed: "There was consequently less theft and lying, more devotion
+to the Great Spirit, more obedience to their parents, and more chastity
+in man and woman, than exists at the present day, since their baneful
+intercourse with the white race."  And Hearne, the northern traveller,
+ended a similar contention--more than a hundred years ago--by saying:
+"It being well known that those who have the least intercourse with
+white men are by far the happiest."
+
+That night, as I turned in, I had occasion to look through my kit bag,
+and there I found, wrapped in a silk handkerchief, the photograph--lent
+to me for six weeks--of the charming Athabasca.  Being alone in my
+tent, I carefully unfolded its wrapper, and drawing the candle a little
+nearer, I gazed at her beautiful face.  Again I wondered about
+Son-in-law. . . .
+
+
+A RACE FOR THE PORTAGE
+
+At three o'clock next morning the camp was astir.  In the half light of
+early day, and while breakfast was being prepared, the men "gummed"
+afresh the big canoes.  Whittling handles to dry pinesticks, they split
+the butts half way down, and placed that end in the fire.  After a
+little burning, the stick opened like a fork; and, placing it over the
+broken seam, the voyageur blew upon the crotch, thus melting the
+hardened "gum"; then, spitting upon his palm, he rounded it off and
+smoothed it down.  By the time breakfast was ready the tents were again
+stowed away in the canoes along with the valuable cargoes of furs.
+
+Paddling up the mist-enshrouded river the canoes rounded a bend.  There
+the eddying of muddy water told that a moose had just left a water-lily
+bed.  The leaves of the forest hid his fleeing form; but on the soft
+bank the water slowly trickled into his deep hoof-prints, so late was
+his departure.  The tracks of bear and deer continuously marked the
+shores, for the woods were full of game.  From the rushes startled
+ducks rose up and whirred away.  How varied was the scenery.
+Island-dotted lakes, timber-covered mountains, winding streams and
+marshy places; bold rocky gorges and mighty cataracts; dense forests of
+spruce, tamarack, poplar, birch, and pine--a region well worthy to be
+the home of either Nimrod or Diana.
+
+Later in the day, when all the canoes were ranged side by side, their
+gracefully curved bows came in line; dip, swirl, thud; dip, swirl,
+thud, sounded all the paddles together.  The time was faultless.  Then
+it was that the picturesque brigade appeared in wild perfection.
+Nearing a portage, spontaneously a race began for the best landing
+place.  Like contending chargers, forward they bounded at every stroke.
+Vigorously the voyageurs plied their paddles.  Stiffening their arms
+and curving their backs, they bent the blades.  Every muscle was
+strained.  The sharp bows cleaved the lumpy water, sending it gurgling
+to the paddles that slashed it, and whirled it aside.  On they went.
+Now Oo-koo-hoo's canoe was gaining.  As that brightly painted craft
+gradually forged ahead, its swiftly running wake crept steadily along
+the sides of the other canoes.  Presently the wavelets were sounding
+"whiff, whiff, whiff," as the white bows crushed them down.  Then at
+last his canoe broke free and lunged away, leaving all the brigade to
+follow in its broadening trail.  The pace was too exhausting; the
+canoes strung out; but still the narrow blades slashed away, for the
+portage was at hand.  With dangerous speed the first canoe rushed
+abreast of the landing, and just as one expected disaster the bowman
+gave the word.  Instantly the crew, with their utmost strength, backed
+water.  As the canoe came to a standstill the voyageurs rolled their
+paddle-handles along the gunwales, twirling the dripping blades and
+enveloping the canoe in a veil of whirling spray.  Then, jumping into
+the shallow water, they lined up and quickly passed the packs ashore.
+The moment the cargo was transferred to the bank, the crew lifted the
+great canoe off the water and turned it bottom up, while four of them
+placed their heads beneath and rested the gunwales upon their
+_capote_-bepadded shoulders.  As they carried it off, one was reminded
+of some immense antediluvian reptile crawling slowly over the portage
+trail.
+
+There was now much excitement.  Other crews had arrived, and were
+rapidly unloading.  As the landing was over-crowded the portaging
+began.  Each man tied the thin, tapering ends of his tump-line--a
+fifteen-foot leather strap with a broad centre--about a pack, swung it
+upon his back, and, bending forward, rested its broad loop over his
+head.  Upon the first his companion placed two more packs; then,
+stooping beneath the weight of 240 pounds, the packers at a jog-trot
+set off uphill and down, over rugged rocks and fallen timber, through
+fern-covered marsh and dense underbrush.  Coming to an opening in the
+wood at the far end of the portage, they quickly tossed their burdens
+aside, and back again they ran.  Nowhere could one see more willing
+workers.  You heard no swearing or grumbling about the exceedingly hard
+task before them.  On the contrary, every man vied with the rest as to
+which could carry the greatest load and most swiftly cross the portage.
+Rivalry sped the work along.  Shirts and trousers reeked with
+perspiration.  The voyageurs puffed and panted as they went by, and no
+wonder--the portage was three quarters of a mile in length.
+
+Then away we went again, and up, up, up, we mounted day by day, toward
+the height-of-land, where a long portage over low-lying marshy ground
+brought us to the place where our descent began; then for days we ran
+with the current until it entered a larger river, and soon we found
+that endless rapids interrupted our work, and down many of them the
+canoes were run.  The Hudson's Bay Company, however, never allows its
+men to shoot rapids with fur-laden canoes; so it was on that wild
+stretch of our trip that the skill of the voyageur was tested most.
+
+
+FIGHTING WITH DEATH
+
+At the head of one of the great rapids Oo-koo-hoo, seeing that I mated
+well with one of his crew, invited me to take a paddle and help them
+through.  Tossing in an extra paddle for each canoeman we stepped
+aboard, and with a gentle shove the current caught the light canoe and
+carried us out to mid-stream.  Long before we sighted white water the
+roar of the cataract was humming in our ears.  We midmen sat upon
+dunnage sacks and braced our moccasined feet against the ribbing.
+Presently the bowman stood up and scanned the river.  Dark, ominous
+water raced ahead for a hundred yards then disappeared, leaving nothing
+but a great surging mass of white that leaped high and dropped out of
+sight in the apparently forsaken river-bed.  Then the steersman stood
+up, too, and Indian words passed between them.  Every moment we were
+gaining impetus, and always heading for the highest crest of foam.
+Waiting for the word to paddle was even worse than waiting for the
+starter's gun in a sculling race.  At last it came, just as we were
+twenty-five yards from the end of dark water.  With a wild shout from
+the bowman we drove our paddles home.  The great canoe trembled a
+little at first, as our work was somewhat ragged, but a moment later we
+settled into an even stroke and swept buoyantly among the tossing
+billows.  Now before us ran a strange wild river of seething white,
+lashing among great, gray-capped, dark greenish boulders that blocked
+the way.  High rocky banks standing close together squeezed the mighty
+river into a tumult of fury.  Swiftly we glide down the racing torrent
+and plunge through the boiling waters.  Sharp rocks rear above the
+flying spray while others are barely covered by the foaming flood.  It
+is dangerous work.  We midmen paddle hard to force the canoe ahead of
+the current.  The steersman in bow and stern ply and bend their great
+seven-foot paddles.  The bowman with eyes alert keenly watches the
+whirling waters and signs of hidden rocks below.  The roar of seething
+waters drowns the bowman's orders.  The steersman closely watches and
+follows every move his companion makes.  Down we go, riding upon the
+very back of the river; for here the water forms a great ridge, rising
+four or five feet above the waterline on either shore.  To swerve to
+either side means sure destruction.  With terrific speed we reach the
+brink of a violent descent.  For a moment the canoe pauses, steadies
+herself, then dips her head as the stern upheaves, and down we plunge
+among more rocks than ever.  Right in our path the angry stream is
+waging battle with a hoary bowlder that disputes the way.  With all its
+might and fury the frantic river hisses and roars and lashes it.  Yet
+it never moves--it only frowns destruction upon all that dares approach
+it.
+
+How the bowman is working!  See his paddle bend!  With lightning
+movements he jabs his great paddle deep into the water and close under
+the left side of the bow; then with a mighty heave he lifts her head
+around.  The great canoe swings as though upon a pivot; for is not the
+steersman doing exactly the very opposite at this precise moment?  We
+sheer off.  But the next instant the paddles are working on the
+opposite sides, for the bowman sees signs of a water-covered rock not
+three yards from the very bow.  With a wild lunge he strives to lift
+the bow around; but the paddle snaps like a rotten twig.  Instantly he
+grabs for another, and a grating sound runs the length of the heaving
+bottom.  The next moment he is working the new paddle.  A little water
+is coming in but she is running true.  The rocks now grow fewer, but
+still there is another pitch ahead.  Again the bow dips as we rush down
+the incline.  Spray rises in clouds that drench us to the skin as we
+plunge through the "great swell" and then shoot out among a multitude
+of tumbling billows that threaten to engulf us.  The canoe rides upon
+the backs of the "white horses" and we rise and fall, rise and fall, as
+they fight beneath us.  At last we leave their wild arena, and,
+entering calmer water, paddle away to the end of the portage trail.
+
+One morning, soon after sunrise, the brigade came to the end of its
+journey as it rounded a point and headed for a smoking steamboat that
+rested upon a shimmering lake; and so entirely did the rising mist
+envelop the craft that it suggested the silhouette of a distant
+mountain in volcanic eruption.  Then the canoes, each in turn, lay
+alongside the steamer; the fur packs were loaded aboard, and thence by
+steamboat and railroad they continued their journey to Montreal; where
+together with the "returns" from many another of the Hudson's Bay
+Company's thirty-four districts, they were reshipped in ocean-going
+craft for England where eventually they were sold by auction in London.
+
+A hundred years ago as many as ten brigades, each numbering twenty
+six-fathom canoes, sometimes swept along those northern highways and
+awoke those wild solitudes with the rollicking songs and laughter of
+fifteen or sixteen hundred voyageurs; but alas for those wonderfully
+picturesque days of bygone times!  The steamboats and the railroads
+have driven them away.
+
+In my youth, however, I was fortunate enough to have travelled with the
+last of those once-famous fur brigades; and also to have learned from
+personal experience the daily life of the northern woods--the drama of
+the forests--of which in my still earlier youth I had had so many
+day-dreams; and now if in describing and depicting it to you I have
+succeeded in imparting at least a fraction of the pleasure it gave me
+to witness it, I am well repaid.  But perhaps you are wondering about
+the beautiful Athabasca?
+
+
+ATHABASCA AND SON-IN-LAW
+
+Some years later, while on my second visit to Fort Consolation, I not
+only found a flourishing town of some four or five thousand inhabitants
+built on Free Trader Spear's original freehold, but in the handsome
+brick City Hall--standing in the original stump-lot--I met the old Free
+Trader himself, now holding office as the Mayor of Spearhead City.  Not
+only had he become wealthy--rumour said he was already a
+millionaire--but he had taken another man into partnership, for now
+over his big brick storehouse read a huge sign in golden letters "SPEAR
+AND . . ."  For like all day-dreams--if only dreamed often enough--the
+ever-present dream of the Free Trader and his wife had really come true.
+
+It was then that I learned that soon after my departure Prince Charming
+had come up out of the East, fallen in love with the beautiful
+Athabasca, become the actual Son-in-law, had been taken into
+partnership by her father, and together the lucky groom and his
+blushing bride had moved into their newly built log cabin, furnished
+with the long-promised bed, table, and chairs, the cooking stove,
+blankets, crockery, cutlery, and cooking utensils.  Round about their
+simple little home a heifer, a pig, and some ducks and geese stood
+guard while their beautiful mistress lived happy ever after--at least
+she did until prosperity inveigled her into a grand new brick mansion;
+and then, of course, her troubles began, because happiness always
+prefers a cabin to a castle.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming
+
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+The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming
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+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Drama of the Forests
+       Romance and Adventure
+
+Author: Arthur Heming
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #18495]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<A NAME="img-front"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-front.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT="A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It appeared to have wings . . ." BORDER="2" WIDTH="260" HEIGHT="407">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Frontispiece: A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It
+appeared to have wings, but it did not fly; and though it possessed a
+tail, it did not run, but contented itself with moving steadily forward
+on its long up-turned feet.  Over an arm it carried what might have
+been a trident, and what with its waving tail and great outspreading
+wings that rose above its horned-like head, it suggested&nbsp;&#8230;  See
+Chapter VI.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR>
+<BR>
+
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS
+</H1>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+<I>Romance and Adventure</I>
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BY
+<BR><BR>
+ARTHUR HEMING
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR<BR>
+WITH REPRODUCTIONS FROM A<BR>
+SERIES OF HIS PAINTINGS OWNED<BR>
+BY THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM<BR>
+</H3>
+
+<BR>
+<BR>
+<BR>
+
+<H4 ALIGN="center">
+GARDEN CITY, N. Y., AND TORONTO
+<BR>
+DOUBLEDAY, PAGE &amp; COMPANY
+<BR>
+1921
+</H4>
+
+<BR>
+<BR>
+<BR>
+
+<H5 ALIGN="center">
+COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY
+<BR>
+DOUBLEDAY, PAGE &amp; COMPANY
+<BR>
+<BR>
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION<BR>
+INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN<BR>
+<BR>
+<BR>
+PRINTED AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N, Y.. U. S. A.
+<BR>
+<BR>
+First Edition
+</H5>
+
+<BR>
+<BR>
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TO
+<BR>
+MR. AND MRS. DAVID A. DUNLAP
+<BR>
+WITH WHOM I SPENT MANY HAPPY SEASONS<BR>
+IN THE GREAT NORTHERN FOREST<BR>
+</H3>
+
+<BR>
+<BR>
+<BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+CONTENTS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<CENTER>
+
+<TABLE WIDTH="80%">
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap01">ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap02">IN QUEST OF TREASURE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap03">OO-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap04">OO-KOO-HOO PLAYS THE GAME</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap05">MEETING OF THE WILD MEN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap06">WILD ANIMALS AND MEN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap07">LIFE AND LOVE RETURN</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+<TR>
+<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</TD>
+<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top">
+<A HREF="#chap08">BUSINESS AND ROMANCE</A></TD>
+</TR>
+
+</TABLE>
+
+</CENTER>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H2 ALIGN="center">
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+</H2>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-front">
+A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It appeared to have<BR>
+wings&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;.&nbsp;. <I>Frontispiece</I>
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-020">
+I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the merest glance
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-023">
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's bill.]
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-024">
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's calendar.]
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-052">
+Going to the brink, we saw a "York Boat" in the act of shooting the
+cataract
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-084">
+Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples upon the water
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-100">
+The lynx is an expert swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-132">
+Next morning we found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket
+of snow
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-164">
+The bear circled a little in order to descend. Presently it left the
+shadow
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-180">
+Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot snowshoes
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-196">
+As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow flying
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-212">
+"There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to Winnipeg"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-228">
+"It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon"
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-260">
+Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-292">
+After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<H3>
+<A HREF="#img-308">
+The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the year
+</A>
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+INTRODUCTION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was in childhood that the primitive spirit first came whispering to
+me.  It was then that I had my first day-dreams of the Northland&mdash;of
+its forests, its rivers and lakes, its hunters and trappers and
+traders, its fur-runners and mounted police, its voyageurs and
+packeteers, its missionaries and Indians and prospectors, its animals,
+its birds and its fishes, its trees and its flowers, and its seasons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Even in childhood I was for ever wondering&nbsp;&#8230; what is daily going on
+in the Great Northern Forest?&#8230; not just this week, this month, or
+this season, but what is actually occurring day by day, throughout the
+cycle of an entire year?  It was that thought that fascinated me, and
+when I grew into boyhood, I began delving into books of northern
+travel, but I did not find the answer there.  With the years this
+ever-present wonder grew, until it so possessed me that at last it
+spirited me away from the city, while I was still in my teens, and led
+me along a path of ever-changing and ever-increasing pleasure, showing
+me the world, not as men had mauled and marred it, but as the Master of
+Life had made it, in all its original beauty and splendour.  Nor was
+this all.  It led me to observe and ponder over the daily pages of the
+most profound and yet the most fascinating book that man has ever tried
+to read; and though, it seemed to me, my feeble attempts to decipher
+its text were always futile, it has, nevertheless, not only taught me
+to love Nature with an ever-increasing passion, but it has inspired in
+me an infinite homage toward the Almighty; for, as Emerson says: "In
+the woods we return to reason and faith.  Then I feel that nothing can
+befall me in life&mdash;no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes)&mdash;which
+Nature cannot repair.  Standing on the bare ground&mdash;my head bathed by
+the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space&mdash;all mean egoism
+vanishes.&#8230;  I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So, to make my life-dream come true, to contemplate in all its
+thrilling action and undying splendour the drama of the forests, I
+travelled twenty-three times through various parts of the vast northern
+woods, between Maine and Alaska, and covered thousands upon thousands
+of miles by canoe, pack-train, snowshoes, <I>bateau</I>, dog-train,
+buck-board, timber-raft, prairie-schooner, lumber-wagon, and
+"alligator."  No one trip ever satisfied me, or afforded me the
+knowledge or the experience I sought, for traversing a single section
+of the forest was not unlike making one's way along a single street of
+a metropolis and then trying to persuade oneself that one knew all
+about the city's life.  So back again I went at all seasons of the year
+to encamp in that great timber-land that sweeps from the Atlantic to
+the Pacific.  Thus it has taken me thirty-three years to gather the
+information this volume contains, and my only hope in writing it is
+that perhaps others may have had the same day-dream, and that in this
+book they may find a reliable and satisfactory answer to all their
+wonderings.  But making my dream come true&mdash;what delight it gave me!
+What sport and travel it afforded me!  What toil and sweat it caused
+me!  What food and rest it brought me!  What charming places it led me
+through!  What interesting people it ranged beside me!  What romance it
+unfolded before me! and into what thrilling adventures it plunged me!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But before we paddle down the winding wilderness aisle toward the great
+stage upon which Diana and all her attendant huntsmen and forest
+creatures may appear, I wish to explain that in compliance with the
+wishes of the leading actors&mdash;who actually lived their parts of this
+story&mdash;fictitious names have been given to the principal characters and
+to the principal trading posts, lakes, and rivers herein depicted.
+Furthermore, in order to give the reader a more interesting, complete,
+and faithful description of the daily and the yearly life of the forest
+dwellers as I have observed it, I have taken the liberty of weaving
+together the more interesting facts I have gathered&mdash;both first- and
+second-hand&mdash;into one continuous narrative as though it all happened in
+a single year.  And in order to retain all the primitive local colour,
+the unique costumes, and the fascinating romance of the fur-trade days
+as I witnessed them in my twenties&mdash;though much of the life has already
+passed away&mdash;the scene is set to represent a certain year in the early
+nineties.
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="noindent">
+ARTHUR HEMING.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap01"></A>
+<H1 ALIGN="center">
+THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS
+</H1>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+I
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HER FATHER THE FREE TRADER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was September 9, 189-.  From sunrise to sunset through mist,
+sunshine, shower, and shadow we travelled, and the nearer we drew to
+our first destination, the wilder the country became, the more
+water-fowl we saw, and the more the river banks were marked with traces
+of big game.  Here signs told us that three caribou had crossed the
+stream, there muddy water was still trickling into the hoofprint of a
+moose, and yonder a bear had been fishing.  Finally, the day of our
+arrival dawned, and as I paddled, I spent much of the time dreaming of
+the adventure before me.  As our beautiful birchen craft still sped on
+her way, the handsome bow parted the shimmering waters, and a passing
+breeze sent little running waves gurgling along her sides, while the
+splendour of the autumn sun was reflected on a far-reaching row of
+dazzling ripples that danced upon the water, making our voyageurs lower
+their eyes and the trader doze again.  There was no other sign of life
+except an eagle soaring in and out among the fleecy clouds slowly
+passing overhead.  All around was a panorama of enchanting forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My travelling companion was a "Free Trader," whose name was Spear&mdash;a
+tall, stoop-shouldered man with heavy eyebrows and shaggy, drooping
+moustache.  The way we met was amusing.  It happened in a certain
+frontier town.  His first question was as to whether I was single.  His
+second, as to whether my time was my own.  Then he slowly looked me
+over from head to foot.  He seemed to be measuring my stature and
+strength and to be noting the colour of my eyes and hair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Narrowing his vision, he scrutinized me more carefully than before, for
+now he seemed to be reading my character&mdash;if not my soul.  Then,
+smiling, he blurted out:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, be my guest for a couple of weeks.  Will you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+He frowned.  But on realizing that my mirth was caused only by
+surprise, he smiled again and let flow a vivid description of a place
+he called Spearhead.  It was the home of the northern fur trade.  It
+was the centre of a great timber region.  It was the heart of a vast
+fertile belt that was rapidly becoming the greatest of all farming
+districts.  It was built on the fountain head of gigantic water power.
+It virtually stood over the very vault that contained the richest veins
+of mineral to be found in the whole Dominion&mdash;at least that's what he
+said&mdash;and he also assured me that the Government had realized it, too,
+for was it not going to hew a provincial highway clean through the
+forest to Spearhead?  Was it not going to build a fleet of steamers to
+ply upon the lakes and rivers in that section?  And was it not going to
+build a line of railroad to the town itself in order to connect it with
+the new transcontinental and thus put it in communication with the
+great commercial centres of the East and the West?  In fact, he also
+impressed upon me that Spearhead was a town created for young men who
+were not averse to becoming wealthy in whatever line of business they
+might choose.  It seemed that great riches were already there and had
+but to be lifted.  Would I go?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But when I explained that although I was single, and quite free, I was
+not a business man, he became crestfallen, but presently revived enough
+to exclaim:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, what the dickens are you?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An artist," I replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, I see!  Well&nbsp;&#8230; we need an artist very badly.  You'll have the
+field all to yourself in Spearhead.  Besides, your pictures of the fur
+trade and of pioneer life would eventually become historical and bring
+you no end of wealth.  You had better come.  Better decide right away,
+or some other artist chap will get ahead of you."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But when I further explained that I was going to spend the winter in
+the wilderness, that I had already written to the Hudson's Bay Factor
+at Fort Consolation and that he was expecting me, Spear gloated:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bully boy!" and slapping me on the shoulder, he chuckled: "Why, my
+town is just across the lake from Fort Consolation.  A mere five-mile
+paddle, old chap, and remember, I extend to you the freedom of
+Spearhead in the name of its future mayor.  And, man alive, I'm leaving
+for there to-morrow morning in a big four-fathom birch bark, with four
+Indian canoe-men.  Be my guest.  It won't cost you a farthing, and
+we'll make the trip together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I gladly accepted.  The next morning we started.  Free Trader Spear was
+a character, and I afterward learned that he was an Oxford University
+man, who, having been "ploughed," left for Canada, entered the service
+of the Hudson's Bay Company, and had finally been moved to Fort
+Consolation where he served seven years, learned the fur-trade
+business, and resigned to become a "free trader" as all fur traders are
+called who carry on business in opposition to "The Great Company."  We
+were eight days upon the trip, but, strange to say, during each day's
+travel toward Spearhead, his conversation in reference to that thriving
+town made it appear to grow smaller and smaller, until at last it
+actually dwindled down to such a point, that, about sunset on the day
+we were to arrive, he turned to me and casually remarked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Presently you'll see Fort Consolation and the Indian village beyond.
+Spearhead is just across the lake, and by the bye, my boy, I forgot to
+tell you that Spearhead is just my log shack.  But it's a nice little
+place, and you'll like it when you pay us a visit, for I want you to
+meet my wife."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then our canoe passed a jutting point of land and in a moment the scene
+was changed&mdash;we were no longer on a river, but were now upon a lake,
+and the wilderness seemed suddenly left behind.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+AT FORT CONSOLATION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On the outer end of a distant point a cluster of poplars shaded a
+small, clapboarded log house.  There, in charge of Fort Consolation,
+lived the Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company.  Beyond a little lawn
+enclosed by a picket fence stood the large storehouse.  The lower floor
+of this was used as a trading room; the upper story served for a fur
+loft.  Behind were seen a number of shanties, then another large
+building in which dog-sleds and great birch-bark canoes were stored.
+Farther away was a long open shed, under which those big canoes were
+built, then a few small huts where the half-breeds lived.  With the
+exception of the Factor's house, all the buildings were of rough-hewn
+logs plastered with clay.  Around the sweeping bend of the bay was a
+village of tepees in which the Indian fur hunters and their families
+spend their midsummer.  Crowning a knoll in the rear stood a quaint
+little church with a small tin spire glistening in the sun, and capped
+by a cross that spread its tiny arms to heaven.  On the hill in the
+background the time-worn pines swayed their shaggy heads and softly
+whispered to that, the first gentle touch of civilization in the
+wilderness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently, at irregular intervals, guns were discharged along the
+shore, beginning at the point nearest the canoe and running round the
+curve of the bay to the Indian camp, where a brisk fusillade took
+place.  A moment later the Hudson's Bay Company's flag fluttered over
+Fort Consolation.  Plainly, the arrival of our canoe was causing
+excitement at the Post.  Trader Spear laughed aloud:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's one on old Mackenzie.  He's taking my canoe for that of the
+Hudson's Bay Inspector.  He's generally due about this time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From all directions men, women, and children were swarming toward the
+landing, and when our canoe arrived there must have been fully four
+hundred Indians present.  The first to greet us was Factor Mackenzie&mdash;a
+gruff, bearded Scotsman with a clean-shaven upper lip, gray hair, and
+piercing gray eyes.  When we entered the Factor's house we found it to
+be a typical wilderness home of an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company;
+and, therefore, as far unlike the interiors of furtraders' houses as
+shown upon the stage, movie screen, or in magazine illustration, as it
+is possible to imagine.  Upon the walls we saw neither mounted heads
+nor skins of wild animals; nor were fur robes spread upon the floors,
+as one would expect to find after reading the average story of Hudson's
+Bay life.  On the contrary, the well-scrubbed floors were perfectly
+bare, and the walls were papered from top to bottom with countless
+illustrations cut from the London <I>Graphic</I> and the <I>Illustrated London
+News</I>.  The pictures not only took the place of wall paper, making the
+house more nearly wind-proof, but also afforded endless amusement to
+those who had to spend therein the long winter months.  The house was
+furnished sparingly with simple, home-made furniture that had more the
+appearance of utility than of beauty.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At supper time we sat down with Mrs. Mackenzie, the Factor's half-breed
+wife, who took the head of the table.  After the meal we gathered in
+the living room before an open fire, over the mantelpiece of which
+there were no guns, no powder horns, nor even a pair of snowshoes; for
+a fur trader would no more think of hanging his snowshoes there than a
+city dweller would think of hanging his overshoes over his drawing-room
+mantel.  Upon the mantel shelf, however, stood a few unframed family
+photographs and some books, while above hung a rustic picture frame,
+the only frame to be seen in the room; it contained the motto, worked
+in coloured yarns: "God Bless Our Home."  When pipes were lighted and
+we had drawn closer to the fire, the Factor occupied a quaint,
+home-made, rough-hewn affair known as the "Factor's chair."  On the
+under side of the seat were inscribed the signatures and dates of
+accession to that throne of all the factors who had reigned at the Post
+during the past eighty-seven years.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A MIGHTY HUNTER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After the two traders had finished "talking musquash"&mdash;fur-trade
+business&mdash;they began reminiscing on the more picturesque side of their
+work, and as I had come to spend the winter with the fur hunters on
+their hunting grounds, the subject naturally turned to that well-worn
+topic, the famous Nimrods of the North.  It brought forth many an
+interesting tale, for both my companions were well versed in such lore,
+and in order to keep up my end I quoted from Warren's book on the
+Ojibways: "As an illustration of the kind and abundance of animals
+which then covered the country, it is stated that an Ojibway hunter
+named No-Ka, the grandfather of Chief White Fisher, killed in one day's
+hunt, starting from the mouth of Crow Wing River, sixteen elk, four
+buffalo, five deer, three bear, one lynx, and one porcupine.  There was
+a trader wintering at the time at Crow Wing, and for his winter's
+supply of meat, No-Ka presented him with the fruits of his day's hunt."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+My host granted that that was the biggest day's bag he had ever heard
+of, and Trader Spear, withdrawing his pipe from his mouth, remarked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No-Ka must have been a great hunter.  I would like to have had his
+trade.  But, nevertheless, I have heard of an Indian who might have
+been a match for him.  He, too, was an Ojibway, and his name was
+Narphim.  He lived somewhere out in the Peace River country, and I've
+heard it stated that he killed, in his lifetime, more than eighty
+thousand living things.  Some bag for one hunter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Since Trader Spear made that interesting remark I have had the pleasure
+of meeting a factor of the Hudson's Bay Company who knew Narphim from
+boyhood, and who was a personal friend of his, and who was actually in
+charge of a number of posts at which the Indian traded.  Owing to their
+friendship for one another, the Factor took such a personal pride in
+the fame the hunter won, that he compiled, from the books of the
+Hudson's Bay Company, a complete record of all the fur-bearing animals
+the Indian killed between the time he began to trade as a hunter at the
+age of eleven, until his hunting days were ended.  Furthermore, in
+discussing the subject with Narphim they together compiled an
+approximate list of the number of fish, wild fowl, and rabbits that the
+hunter must have secured each season, and thus Narphim's record stands
+as the following figures show.  I would tell you the Factor's name but
+as he has written to me: "For many cogent reasons it is desirable that
+my name be not mentioned officially in your book," I must refrain.  I
+shall, however, give you the history of Narphim in the Factor's own
+words:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Narphim's proper name remains unknown as he was one of two children
+saved when a band of Ojibways were drowned in crossing a large lake
+that lies S. E. of Cat Lake and Island Lake, and S. E. of Norway House.
+He was called Narphim&mdash;Saved from the Waters.  The other child that was
+rescued was a girl and she was called Neseemis&mdash;Our Little Sister.  At
+first Narphim was adopted and lived with a Swampy Cree chief, the
+celebrated Keteche-ka-paness, who was a great medicine man.  When
+Narphim grew to be eleven years old he became a hunter, and first
+traded his catch at Island Lake; then as the years went by, at Oxford
+House; then at Norway House, then at Fort Chepewyan, and then at Fort
+McMurray.  After that he went to Lesser Slave Lake, then on to the
+Peace River at Dunvegan, then he showed up at Fort St. John, next at
+Battle River, and finally at Vermilion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The following is a list of the number of creatures Narphim killed, but
+of course he also killed a good deal of game that was never recorded in
+the Company's books, especially those animals whose skins were used for
+the clothing of the hunter's family.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Bears 585, beaver 1,080, ermines 130, fishers 195, red foxes 362,
+cross foxes 78, silver and black foxes 6, lynxes 418, martens 1,078,
+minks 384, muskrats 900, porcupines 19, otters 194, wolves 112,
+wolverines 24, wood buffaloes 99, moose 396, caribou 196, jumping deer
+72, wapiti 156, mountain sheep 60, mountain goats 29; and rabbits,
+approximately 8,000, wild fowl, approximately 23,800, and fish
+approximately 36,000.  Total 74,573.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Narphim was a great hunter and a good man," says the Factor in
+his last letter to me.  "He was a fine, active, well-built Indian and a
+reliable and pleasant companion.  In fact, he was one of Nature's
+gentlemen, whom we shall be, and well may be, proud to meet in the
+Great Beyond, known as the Happy Hunting Grounds."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus the evening drifted by.  While the names of several of the best
+hunters had been mentioned as suitable men for me to accompany on their
+hunting trail, it was suggested that as the men themselves would
+probably visit the Post in the morning, I should have a chat with them
+before making my selection.  Both Mackenzie and Spear, however, seemed
+much in favour of my going with an Indian called Oo-koo-hoo.  Presently
+the clock struck ten and we turned in, the Free Trader sharing a big
+feather bed with me.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THEIR SUMMER LIFE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After breakfast next morning I strolled about the picturesque point.
+It was a windless, hazy day.  An early frost had already clothed a
+number of the trees with their gorgeous autumnal mantles, the
+forerunners of Indian summer, the most glorious season of the Northern
+year.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When I turned down toward the wharf, I found a score of Indians and
+half-breed trippers unloading freight from a couple of six-fathom
+birch-bark canoes.  Eager men and boys were good-naturedly loading
+themselves with packs and hurrying away with them to the storehouse,
+while others were lounging around or applauding the carriers with the
+heaviest loads.  As the packers hurried by, Delaronde, the jovial,
+swarthy-faced, French-Canadian clerk, note-book in hand, checked the
+number of pieces.  Over by the log huts a group of Indian women were
+sitting in the shade, talking to Delaronde's Indian wife.  All about,
+and in and out of the Indian lodges, dirty, half-naked children romped
+together, and savage dogs prowled around seeking what they might
+devour.  The deerskin or canvas covers of most of the tepees were
+raised a few feet to allow the breeze to pass under.  Small groups of
+women and children squatted or reclined in the shade, smoking and
+chatting the hours away.  Here and there women were cleaning fish,
+mending nets, weaving mats, making clothes, or standing over steaming
+kettles.  Many of the men had joined the "goods brigade," and their
+return was hourly expected.  Many canoes were resting upon the sandy
+beach, and many more were lying bottom up beneath the shade of trees.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The most important work undertaken by the Indians during the summer is
+canoe building.  As some of the men are more expert at this than
+others, it often happens that the bulk of the work is done by a few who
+engage in it as a matter of business.  Birch bark for canoe building is
+taken from the tree early in May.  The chosen section, which may run
+from four to eight feet in length, is first cut at the top and bottom;
+then a two-inch strip is removed from top to bottom in order to make
+room for working a chisel-shaped wooden wedge&mdash;about two feet
+long&mdash;with which the bark is taken off.  Where knots appear great care
+is exercised that the bark be not torn.  To make it easier to pack, the
+sheet of bark is then rolled up the narrow way, and tied with willow.
+In this shape, it is transported to the summer camping grounds.  Canoes
+range in size all the way from twelve feet to thirty-six feet in
+length.  The smaller size, being more easily portaged, is used by
+hunters, and is known as a two-fathom canoe.  For family use canoes are
+usually from two and a half to three and a half fathoms long.  Canoes
+of the largest size, thirty-six feet, are called six-fathom or "North"
+canoes.  With a crew of from eight to twelve, they have a carrying
+capacity of from three to four tons, and are used by the traders for
+transporting furs and supplies.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some Indians engage in "voyaging" or "tripping" for the traders&mdash;taking
+out fur packs to the steamboats or railroads, by six-fathom canoe, York
+boat, or sturgeon-head scow brigades, and bringing in supplies.  Others
+put in part of their time on an occasional hunt for moose or caribou,
+or in shooting wild fowl.  On their return they potter around camp
+making paddles or snowshoe frames; or they give themselves up to
+gambling&mdash;a vice to which they are rather prone.  Sometimes twenty men
+or more, divided into equal sides, will sit in the form of an oval,
+with their hair drawn over their faces that their expression may not
+easily be read, and with their knees covered with blankets.  Leaders
+are chosen on either side, and each team is supplied with twelve small
+sticks.  The game begins by one of the leaders placing his closed hands
+upon his blanket, and calling upon the other to match him.  If the
+latter is holding his stick in the wrong hand, he loses; and so the
+game goes on.  Two sets of drummers are playing continuously and all
+the while there is much chanting.  In this simple wise they gamble away
+their belongings, even to their clothing, and, sometimes, their wives.
+When the wives are at stake, however, they have the privilege of taking
+a hand in the game.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The women, in addition to their regular routine of summer camp duties,
+occupy themselves with fishing, moccasin making, and berry picking.
+The girls join their mothers in picking berries, which are plentiful
+and of great variety&mdash;raspberries, strawberries, cranberries,
+blueberries, gooseberries, swampberries, saskatoonberries,
+pembinaberries, pheasantberries, bearberries, and snakeberries.  They
+gather also wild celery, the roots of rushes, and the inner bark of the
+poplar&mdash;all which they eat raw.  In some parts, too, they gather wild
+rice.  Before their summer holidays are over, they have usually secured
+a fair stock of dried berries, smoked meats and bladders and casings
+filled with fish oil or other soft grease, to help out their bill of
+fare during the winter.  The women devote most of their spare moments
+to bead, hair, porcupine, or silk work which they use for the
+decoration of their clothing.  They make <I>mos-quil-moots</I>, or hunting
+bags, of plaited <I>babiche</I>, or deerskin thongs, for the use of the men.
+The girl's first lesson in sewing is always upon the coarsest work;
+such as joining skins together for lodge coverings.  The threads used
+are made from the sinews of the deer or the wolf.  These sinews are
+first hung outside to dry a little, and are then split into the finest
+threads.  The thread-maker passes each strand through her mouth to
+moisten it, then places it upon her bare thigh, and with a quick
+movement rolls it with the flat of her hand to twist it.  Passing it
+again through her mouth, she ties a knot at one end, points the other,
+and puts it away to dry.  The result is a thread like the finest
+hair-wire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For colouring moose hair or porcupine quills for fancy work, the women
+obtain their dyes in the following ways: From the juice of boiled
+cranberries they derive a magenta dye.  From alder bark, boiled,
+beaten, and strained, they get a dark, slate-coloured blue which is
+mixed with rabbits' gall to make it adhere.  The juice of bearberries
+gives them a bright red.  From gunpowder and water they obtain a fine
+black, and from coal tar a stain for work of the coarsest kind.  They
+rely chiefly, however, upon the red, blue, green, and yellow ochres
+found in many parts of the country.  These, when applied to the
+decoration of canoes, they mix with fish oil; but for general purposes
+the earths are baked and used in the form of powder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From scenes such as I have described the summer traveller obtains his
+impression of the forest Indians.  Too often their life and character
+are judged by such scenes, as if these truly represented their whole
+existence.  In reality, this is but their holiday season which they are
+spending upon their tribal summer camping ground.  It is only upon
+their hunting grounds that one may fairly study the Indians; so,
+presently, we shall follow them there.  And when one experiences the
+wild, free life the Indian lives&mdash;hampered by no household goods or
+other property that he cannot at a moment's notice dump into his canoe
+and carry with him to the ends of the earth if he chooses&mdash;one not only
+envies him, but ceases to wonder which of the two is the greater
+philosopher&mdash;the white man or the red; for the poor old white man is so
+overwhelmed with absurd conventions and encumbering property that he
+can rarely do what his heart dictates.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+FAMILY HUNTING GROUNDS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Don't let us decide just yet, however, whether the Indian derives more
+pleasure from life than does the white man, at least, not until we
+return from our voyage of pleasure and investigation; but before we
+leave Fort Consolation it is well to know that the hunting grounds in
+possession of the Indian tribes that live in the Great Northern Forest
+have been for centuries divided and subdivided and allotted, either by
+bargain or by battle, to the main families of each band.  In many cases
+the same hunting grounds have remained in the undisputed possession of
+the same families for generations.  Family hunting grounds are usually
+delimited by natural boundaries, such as hills, valleys, rivers, and
+lakes.  The allotments of land generally take the form of wedge-shaped
+tracts radiating from common centres.  From the intersection of these
+converging boundary lines the common centres become the hubs of the
+various districts.  These district centres mark convenient summer
+camping grounds for the reunion of families after their arduous labour
+during the long winter hunting season.  The tribal summer camping
+grounds, therefore, are not only situated on the natural highways of
+the country&mdash;the principal rivers and lakes&mdash;but also indicate
+excellent fishing stations.  There, too, the Indians have their burial
+grounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Often these camping grounds are the summer headquarters for from three
+to eight main families; and each main family may contain from five or
+six to fifty or sixty hunting men.  Inter-marriage between families of
+two districts gives the man the right to hunt on the land of his wife's
+family as long as he "sits on the brush" with her&mdash;is wedded to
+her&mdash;but the children do not inherit that right; it dies with the
+father.  An Indian usually lives upon his own land, but makes frequent
+excursions to the land of his wife's family.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the past, the side boundaries of hunting grounds have been the cause
+of many family feuds, and the outer boundaries have furnished the
+occasion for many tribal wars.  The past and the present headquarters
+camping grounds of the Strong Woods Indians&mdash;as the inhabitants of the
+Great Northern Forest are generally called&mdash;lie about one hundred and
+fifty miles apart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The natural overland highways throughout the country, especially those
+intersecting the watercourses and now used as the roadbeds for our
+great transcontinental railways, were not originally discovered by man
+at all.  The credit is due to the big game of the wilderness; for the
+animals were not only the first to find them, but also the first to use
+them.  The Indian simply followed the animals, and the trader followed
+the Indian, and the official "explorer" followed the trader, and the
+engineer followed the "explorer," and the railroad contractor followed
+the engineer.  It was the buffalo, the deer, the bear, and the wolf who
+were our original transcontinental path-finders, or rather pathmakers.
+Then, too, the praise bestowed upon the pioneer fur traders for the
+excellent judgment shown in choosing the sites upon which trading posts
+have been established throughout Canada, has not been deserved; the
+credit is really due to the Indians.  The fur traders erected their
+posts or forts upon the tribal camping grounds simply because they
+found such spots to be the general meeting places of the Indians, and
+not only situated on the principal highways of the wilderness but
+accessible from all points of the surrounding country, and, moreover,
+the very centres of excellent fish and game regions.  Thus in Canada
+many of the ancient tribal camping grounds are now known by the names
+of trading posts, of progressive frontier towns, or of important cities.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, as of old, the forest Indians after their winter's hunt return in
+the early summer to trade their catch of furs, to meet old friends, and
+to rest and gossip awhile before the turning leaf warns them to secure
+their next winter's "advances" from the trader, and once more paddle
+away to their distant hunting grounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The several zones of the Canadian wilderness are locally known as the
+Coast Country&mdash;the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay; the
+Barren Grounds&mdash;the treeless country between Hudson Bay and the
+Mackenzie River; the Strong Woods Country&mdash;the whole of that enormous
+belt of heavy timber that spans Canada from east to west; the Border
+Lands&mdash;the tracts of small, scattered timber that lie between the
+prairies and the northern forests; the Prairie Country; the Mountains;
+and the Big Lakes.  These names have been adopted by the fur traders
+from the Indians.  It is in the Strong Woods Country that most of the
+fur-bearing animals live.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MEETING OO-KOO-HOO
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+About ten o'clock on the morning after our arrival at Fort Consolation,
+Free Trader Spear left for home with my promise to paddle over and dine
+at Spearhead next day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At noon Factor Mackenzie informed me that he had received word that
+Oo-koo-hoo&mdash;The Owl&mdash;was coming to the Fort that afternoon and that,
+taking everything into consideration, he thought Oo-koo-hoo's hunting
+party the best for me to join.  It consisted, he said, of Oo-koo-hoo
+and his wife, his daughter, and his son-in-law, Amik&mdash;The Beaver&mdash;and
+Amik's five children.  The Factor further added that Oo-koo-hoo was not
+only one of the greatest hunters, and one of the best canoe-men in that
+district, but in his youth he had been a great traveller, as he had
+hunted with other Indian tribes, on Hudson Bay, on the Churchill, the
+Peace, the Athabasca, and the Slave rivers, and even on the far-away
+Mackenzie; and was a master at the game.  His son-in-law, Amik, was his
+hunting partner.  Though Amik would not be home until to-morrow,
+Oo-koo-hoo and his wife, their daughter and her children were coming
+that afternoon to get their "advances," as the party contemplated
+leaving for their hunting grounds on the second day.  That I might look
+them over while they were getting their supplies in the Indian shop,
+and if I took a fancy to the old gentleman&mdash;who by the way was about
+sixty years of age&mdash;the trader would give me an introduction, and I
+could then make my arrangements with the hunter himself.  So after
+dinner, when word came that they had landed, I left the living room for
+the Indian shop.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the old days, in certain parts of the country, when the Indians came
+to the posts to get their "advances" or to barter their winter's catch
+of fur, the traders had to exercise constant caution to prevent them
+from looting the establishments.  At some of the posts only a few
+Indians at a time were allowed within the fort, and even then trading
+was done through a wicket.  But that applied only to the Plains Indians
+and to some of the natives of the Pacific Coast; for the Strong Woods
+people were remarkably honest.  Even to-day this holds good
+notwithstanding the fact that they are now so much in contact with
+white men.  Nowadays the Indians in any locality rarely cause trouble,
+and at the trading posts the business of the Indian shops is conducted
+in a quiet and orderly way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The traders do most of their bartering with the Indians in the early
+summer when the hunters return laden with the spoils of their winter's
+hunt.  In the early autumn, when the Indians are about to leave for
+their hunting grounds, much business is done, but little in the way of
+barter.  At that season the Indians procure their outfit for the
+winter.  Being usually insolvent, owing to the leisurely time spent
+upon the tribal camping grounds, they receive the necessary supplies on
+credit.  The amount of credit, or "advances," given to each Indian
+seldom exceeds one third of the value of his average annual catch.
+That is the white man's way of securing, in advance, the bulk of the
+Indian's prospective hunt; yet, although a few of them are sometimes
+slow in settling their debts, they are never a match for the civilized
+white man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When I entered the trading room I saw that it was furnished with a
+U-shaped counter paralleling three sides of the room, and with a large
+box-stove in the middle of the intervening space.  On the shelves and
+racks upon the walls and from hooks in the rafters rested or hung a
+conglomeration of goods to be offered in trade to the natives.  There
+were copper pails and calico dresses, pain-killer bottles and Hudson's
+Bay blankets, sow-belly and chocolate drops, castor oil and gun worms,
+frying-pans and ladies' wire bustles, guns and corsets, axes and
+ribbons, shirts and hunting-knives, perfumes and bear traps.  In a way,
+the Indian shop resembled a department store except that all the
+departments were jumbled together in a single room.  At one post I
+visited years ago&mdash;that of Abitibi&mdash;they had a rather progressive
+addition in the way of a millinery department.  It was contained in a
+large lidless packing case against the side of which stood a long
+steering paddle for the clerk's use in stirring about the varied
+assortment of white women's ancient headgear, should a fastidious
+Indian woman request to see more than the uppermost layer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Already a number of Indians were being served by the Factor and
+Delaronde, the clerk, and I had not long to wait before Oo-koo-hoo
+appeared.  I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
+merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face,
+that he was all his name implied, a wise, dignified old gentleman, who
+was in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to&mdash;a rare
+quality in men&mdash;especially white men.  Even before I heard him speak I
+liked Oo-koo-hoo&mdash;The Owl.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-020"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-020.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-020.jpg" ALT="I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the merest glance" BORDER="2" WIDTH="260" HEIGHT="407">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
+merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face
+that he was all his name implied, a wise dignified old gentleman, who
+was in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to&mdash;a rare
+quality in men&mdash;especially white men.  Even before I heard him speak I
+liked Oo-koo-hoo&mdash;The&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter I]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+But before going any farther, I ought to explain that as I am
+endeavouring to render a faithful description of forest life, I am
+going to repeat in the next few paragraphs part of what once appeared
+in one of my fictitious stories of northern life.  I then made use of
+the matter because it was the truth, and for that very reason I am now
+going to repeat it; also because this transaction as depicted is
+typical of what usually happens when the Indians try to secure their
+advances.  Furthermore, I give the dialogue in detail, as perchance
+some reader may feel as Thoreau did, when he said: "It would be some
+advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of
+an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross
+necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; or
+even to look over the old day-books of the merchants, to see what it
+was that men most commonly bought at the stores, what they stored, that
+is, what are the grossest groceries."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But while the following outfit might be considered the Indian's
+grossest groceries, the articles are not really necessaries at all for
+him; for, to go to the extreme, a good woodsman can hunt without even
+gun, axe, knife, or matches, and can live happily, absolutely
+independent of our civilization.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the Factor was busy with another Indian when the Chief entered&mdash;for
+Oo-koo-hoo was the chief of the Ojibways of that district&mdash;he waited
+patiently, as he would not deign to do business with a clerk.  When he
+saw the trader free, he greeted:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Quay, quay, Hugemow</I>!" (Good day, Master).
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Gude day, man Oo-koo-hoo, what can I do for ye the day?" amicably
+responded the Factor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Master, it is this way.  I am about to leave for my hunting grounds;
+but this time I am going to spend the winter upon a new part of them,
+where I have not hunted for years, and where game of all kinds will be
+plentiful.  Therefore, I want you to give me liberal advances so that
+my hunt will not be hindered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pegs, Oo-koo-hoo, ma freen', yon's an auld, auld farrant.  But ye're
+well kenn'd for a leal, honest man; an' sae, I'se no be unco haird upon
+ye."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So saying, the Factor made him a present of a couple of pounds of
+flour, half a pound of pork, half a pound of sugar, a quarter of a
+pound of tea, a plug of tobacco, and some matches.  The Factor's
+generosity was prompted largely by his desire to keep the Indian in
+good humour.  After a little friendly chaffing, the Factor promised to
+give the hunter advances to the extent of one hundred "skins."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A "skin," or, as it is often called, a "made beaver," is equivalent to
+one dollar in the Hudson Bay and the Mackenzie River districts, but
+only fifty cents in the region of the Athabasca.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Perhaps it should be explained here that while Oo-koo-hoo could speak
+broken English, he always preferred to use his own language when
+addressing the trader, whom he knew to be quite conversant with
+Ojibway, and so, throughout this book, I have chosen to render the
+Indian's speech as though it was translated from Ojibway into English,
+rather than at any time render it in broken English, as the former is
+not only easier to read, but is more expressive of the natural quality
+of the Indian's speech.  In olden days some of the chiefs who could not
+speak English at all were, it is claimed, eloquent orators&mdash;far
+outclassing our greatest statesmen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo, having ascertained the amount of his credit, reckoned that
+he would use about fifty skins in buying traps and ammunition; the rest
+he would devote to the purchase of necessaries for himself and his
+party, as his son-in-law had arranged with him to look after his
+family's wants in his absence.  So the old gentleman now asked for the
+promised skins.  He was handed one hundred marked goose quills
+representing that number of skins.  After checking them over in bunches
+of ten, he entrusted twenty to his eldest grandson, Ne-geek&mdash;The
+Otter&mdash;to be held in reserve for ammunition and tobacco, and ten to his
+eldest granddaughter, Neykia, with which to purchase an outfit for the
+rest of the party.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a long time Oo-koo-hoo stood immersed in thought.  At last his face
+brightened.  He had reached a decision.  For years he had coveted a new
+muzzle-loading gun, and he felt that the time had now arrived to get
+it.  So he picked out one valued at forty skins and paid for it.  Then,
+taking back the quills his grandson held, he bought twenty skins' worth
+of powder, caps, shot, and bullets.  Then he selected for himself a
+couple of pairs of trousers, one pair made of moleskin and the other of
+tweed, costing ten skins; two shirts and a suit of underwear, ten
+skins; half a dozen assorted traps, ten skins.  Finding that he had
+used up all his quills, he drew on those set aside for his wife and
+son-in-law's family and bought tobacco, five skins; files, one skin; an
+axe, two skins; a knife, one skin; matches, one half skin; and candy
+for his youngest grandchild, one half skin.  On looking over his
+acquisitions he discovered that he must have at least ten skins' worth
+of twine for nets and snares, five skins' worth of tea, one skin worth
+of soap, one skin worth of needles and thread, as well as a tin pail
+and a new frying pan.  After a good deal of haggling, the Factor threw
+him that number of quills, and Oo-koo-hoo's manifest contentment
+somewhat relieved the trader's anxiety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A moment later, however, Oo-koo-hoo was reminded by his wife, Ojistoh,
+that there was nothing for her, so she determined to interview the
+Factor herself.  She tried to persuade him to give her twenty skins in
+trade, and promised to pay for them in the spring with rat and ermine
+skins, or&mdash;should those fail her&mdash;with her dog, which was worth fully
+thirty skins.  She had been counting on getting some cotton print for a
+dress, as well as thread and needles, to say nothing of extra tea,
+which in all would amount to at least thirty-five or forty skins.
+When, however, the Factor allowed her only ten skins, her
+disappointment was keen, and she ended by getting a shawl.  Then she
+left the trading room to pay a visit to the Factor's wife, and confide
+to her the story of her expectations and of her disappointment so
+movingly that she would get a cup of tea, a word of sympathy, and
+perhaps even an old petticoat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meantime, Oo-koo-hoo was catching it again.  He had forgotten
+his daughter; so after more haggling the trader agreed to advance her
+ten skins.  Her mind had long been made up.  She bought a three-point
+blanket, a small head shawl, and a piece of cotton print.  Then the
+grandsons crowded round and grumbled because there was nothing for them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By this time the trader was beginning to feel that he had done pretty
+well for the family already; but he kept up the appearance of bluff
+good humour, and asked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, Oo-koo-hoo, what wad ye be wantin' for the laddies?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My grandsons are no bunglers, as you know," said the proud old
+grandsire.  "They can each kill at least twenty skins' worth of fur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Aye, aye!" rejoined the trader.  "I shall e'en gi'e them twenty atween
+them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the goodness of his heart he offered the boys some advice as to what
+they should buy: "Ye'll be wantin' to buy traps, I'm jalousin', an'
+sure ye'll turn oot to be graun' hunters, Nimrods o' the North that
+men'll mak' sangs aboot i' the comin' years."  He cautioned them to
+choose wisely, because from henceforth they would be personally
+responsible for everything they bought, and must pay, "skin for skin"
+(the motto of the Hudson's Bay Company).
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boys listened with gloomy civility, and then purchased an
+assortment of useless trifles such as ribbons, tobacco, buttons, candy,
+rings, pomatum, perfume, and Jew's harps.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Factor's patience was now nearly exhausted.  He picked up his
+account book, and strode to the door, and held it open as a hint to the
+Indians to leave.  But they pretended to take no notice of his action.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The granddaughters, who had been growing more and more anxious lest
+they should be forgotten, now began to be voluble in complaint.
+Oo-koo-hoo called the trader aside and explained the trouble.  The
+Factor realized that he was in a corner, and that if he now refused
+further supplies he would offend the old chief and drive him to sell
+his best furs to the opposition trader in revenge.  He surrendered, and
+the girls received ten skins between them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At long last everyone was pleased except the unhappy Factor.  Gathering
+his purchases together, Oo-koo-hoo tied up the powder, shot, tea, and
+sugar in the legs of the trousers; placed the purchases for his wife,
+daughter, and granddaughters in the shawl, and the rest of the goods in
+the blanket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then he made the discovery that he had neither flour nor grease.  He
+could not start without them.  The Factor's blood was now almost at the
+boiling pitch, but he dared not betray his feelings; for the Indian was
+ready to take offence at the slightest word, so rich and independent
+did he feel.  Angering him now would simply mean adding to the harvest
+of the opposition trader.  He chewed his lower lip in the effort to
+smother his disgust, and growled out with an angry grin:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hoots, mon, ye ha'e gotten ower muckle already.  It's fair redeeklus.
+I jist canna gi'e ye onythin' mair ava!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, but, master, you have forgotten that I am a great hunter.  And
+that my son-in-law is a great hunter, too.  This is but the outfit for
+a lazy man!  Besides, the Great Company is rich, and I am poor.  If you
+will be stingy, I shall not trouble you more."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once again the Factor gave way, and handed out the flour and grease.
+All filed out, and the Factor turned the key in the door.  As he walked
+toward the house, his spirits began to rise, and he clapped the old
+Indian on the back good-naturedly.  Presently Oo-koo-hoo halted in his
+tracks.  He had forgotten something: he had nothing in case of sickness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Master, you know my voyage is long; my work is hard; the winter is
+severe.  I am not very strong now: I may fall ill.  My wife&mdash;she is not
+very strong&mdash;may fall ill also.  My son-in-law is not very strong: he
+may fall ill too.  My daughter is not.&#8230;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"De'il ha'e ye!" roared the Factor, "what is't the noo?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind, it will do to-morrow," muttered the hunter with an
+offended air.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As I'm a leevin' sinner, it's noo or it's nivver," insisted the
+Factor, who had no desire to let the Indian have another day at it.
+"Come back this verra minnit, an' I'll gi'e ye a wheen poothers an' sic
+like, that'll keep ye a' hale and hearty, I houp, till ye win hame
+again."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Factor took him back and gave him some salts, peppermint,
+pain-killer, and sticking-plaster to offset all the ills that might
+befall him and his party during the next ten months.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once more they started for the house.  The Factor was ready to put up
+with anything as long as he could get them away from the store.
+Oo-koo-hoo now told the trader not to charge anything against his wife
+as he would settle her account himself, and that as Amik would be back
+in the morning, he, too, would want his advances, and if they had
+forgotten anything, Amik could get it next day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Factor scowled again, but it was too late.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the Indians lounged around the kitchen and talked to the Factor's
+wife and the half-breed servant girl, the Factor went to his office and
+made out Oo-koo-hoo's bill, which read:
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-023"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-023.jpg" ALT="Oo-koo-hoo's bill." BORDER="2" WIDTH="286" HEIGHT="232">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's bill.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+The Indian now told the trader that he wanted him to send the "Fur
+Runners" to him with supplies in ten weeks' time; and that he must have
+a "geese-wark," or measure of days, in order to know exactly when the
+Fur Runners would arrive at his camp.  So the Factor made out the
+following calendar:
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-024"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<IMG SRC="images/img-024.jpg" ALT="Oo-koo-hoo's calendar." BORDER="2" WIDTH="296" HEIGHT="242">
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's calendar.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+The above characters to the left are syllabic&mdash;a method of writing
+taught to the Indians by the missionaries.  They spell the words
+September, October, and November.  The 1's represent week days, and the
+X's Sundays.  The calendar begins with the 18th of September, and the
+crescent marks the 29th of November, the date of the arrival of the Fur
+Runners.  The Indian would keep track of the days by pricking a pin
+hole every day above the proper figure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently the Factor and I were alone for a few moments and he growled:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Whit d'ye think o' the auld de'il?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Fine, I'll go with him, if he will take me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So I had a talk with the old Indian, and when he learned that I had no
+intention of killing game, but merely wanted to accompany him and his
+son-in-law on their hunts, he consented and we came to terms.  I was to
+be ready to start early on the morning of the 20th.  Then Oo-koo-hoo
+turned to the trader and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Master, it is getting late and it will be later when I reach my lodge.
+I am hungry now, and I shall be hungrier still when I get home.  I am
+growing&nbsp;&#8230;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Aye, aye, ma birkie," interrupted the Factor, "I un'erstaun' fine."
+He bestowed upon the confident petitioner a further gratuity of flour,
+tea, sugar, and tallow, a clay pipe, a plug of tobacco and some
+matches, so as to save him from having to break in upon his winter
+supplies before he started upon his journey to the hunting grounds.
+Oo-koo-hoo solemnly expressed his gratitude:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Master, my heart is pleased.  You are my father.  I shall now hunt
+well, and you shall have all my fur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To show his appreciation of the compliment, the Factor gave him an old
+shirt, and wished him good luck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meantime, Oo-koo-hoo's wife had succeeded in obtaining from the
+Factor's wife old clothes for her grandchildren, needles and thread,
+and some food.  Just as they got ready to go, the younger woman, Amik's
+wife, remembered that the baby had brought a duck as a present for the
+Factor's children so they had to give a present in return, worth at
+least twice as much as the duck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Factor and his family were by this time sufficiently weary.  Right
+willingly did they go down to the landing to see the Indians off.  No
+sooner had these taken their places in the canoes and paddled a few
+strokes away than the grandmother remembered that she had a present for
+the Factor and his wife.  All paddled back again, and the Factor and
+his wife were each presented with a pair of moccasins.  No, she would
+not take anything in return, at least, not just now.  To-morrow,
+perhaps, when they came to say good-bye.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Losh me!  I thocht they were aff an' gane," exclaimed the trader as he
+turned and strode up the beach.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I inwardly laughed, for any man&mdash;red, white, black, or yellow&mdash;who
+could make such a hard-headed old Scotsman as Donald Mackenzie loosen
+up, was certainly clever; and the way old Oo-koo-hoo made off with such
+a lot of supplies proved him more than a match for the trader.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BEST FUR DISTRICTS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+While we were at supper a perfect roar of gun shots ran around the bay
+and on our rushing to the doorway we saw the Inspector's big canoe
+coming.  Up went the flag and more gun shots followed.  Then we went
+down to the landing to meet Inspecting Chief Factor Bell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After supper the newcomer and the Factor and I sat before the fire and
+discussed the fur trade.  I liked to listen to the old trader, but the
+Inspector, being the greater traveller of the two, covering every year
+on the rounds of his regular work thousands upon thousands of miles,
+was the more interesting talker.  Presently, when the subject turned to
+the distribution of the fur-bearing animals, Mr. Bell took a case from
+his bag and opening it, spread it out before us upon the Factor's desk.
+It was a map of the Dominion of Canada, on which the names of the
+principal posts of the Hudson's Bay Company were printed in red.
+Across it many irregular lines were drawn in different-coloured inks,
+and upon its margins were many written notes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This map, as you see," remarked the Inspector, "defines approximately
+the distribution of the fur-bearing animals of Canada, and I'll wager
+that you have never seen another like it; for if it were not for the
+records of the Hudson's Bay Company, no such map could have been
+compiled.  How did I manage it?  Well, to begin with, you must
+understand that the Indians invariably trade their winter's catch of
+fur at the trading post nearest their hunting grounds; so when the
+annual returns of all the posts are sent in to the Company's
+headquarters, those returns accurately define the distribution of the
+fur-bearing animals for that year.  These irregular lines across the
+map were drawn after an examination of the annual returns from all the
+posts for the last forty years.  Publish it?  No, siree, that would
+never do!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the Inspector's remarks did not end the subject, as we began
+discussing the greatest breeding grounds of the various fur-bearers,
+and Mr. Bell presently continued:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The greatest centre for coloured foxes is near Salt River, which flows
+into Slave River at Fort Smith.  There, too, most of the black foxes
+and silver foxes are trapped.  The great otter and fisher centre is
+around Trout Lake, Island Lake, Sandy Lake, and God's Lake.  Otter
+taken north of Lake Superior are found to be fully one third larger
+than those killed in any other region.  Black bears and brown bears are
+most frequently to be met with between Fort Pelly and Portage La Loche.
+Cumberland House is the centre of the greatest breeding grounds for
+muskrat, mink, and ermine.  Manitoba House is another great district
+for muskrat.  Lynxes are found in greatest numbers in the Iroquois
+Valley, in the foothills on the eastern side of the Rockies.  Coyote
+skins come chiefly from the district between Calgary and Qu'Appelle for
+a hundred miles both north and south.  Skunks are most plentiful just
+south of Green Lake; formerly, they lived on the plains, but of late
+they have moved northward into the woods.  Wolverines frequent most the
+timber country just south of the Barren Grounds, where they are often
+found travelling in bands.  The home of the porcupine lies just north
+of Isle a la Crosse.  Forty years ago the breeding grounds of the
+beaver were on the eastern side of the Rockies.  Nowadays that region
+is hardly worth considering as a trapping ground for them.  They have
+been steadily migrating eastward along the Churchill River, then by way
+of Cross Lake, Fort Hope, to Abitibi, thence north-easterly clean
+across the country to Labrador, where few were to be found twenty-five
+years ago.  Don't misunderstand me.  I'm not saying that beaver were
+not found in those parts years ago, but what I mean is that the source
+of the greatest harvest of beaver skins has moved steadily eastward
+during the last forty years.  Strange to say, the finest marten skins
+secured in Canada are not those of the extreme northern limit, but
+those taken on the Parsnip River in British Columbia."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WANTED, A SON-IN-LAW
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Next morning I busied myself making a few additions to my outfit for
+the winter.  Then I borrowed a two-and-a-half fathom canoe and paddled
+across the lake to Spearhead.  The town I had heard so much about from
+the Free Trader was just a little clearing of about three acres on the
+edge of the forest; in fact, it was really just a stump lot with a
+small one-and-a-half story log house standing in the middle.  Where
+there was a rise in the field, a small log stable was set half
+underground, and upon its roof was stacked the winter's supply of hay
+for a team of horses, a cow, and a heifer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At the front door Mr. and Mrs. Spear welcomed me.  My hostess was a
+prepossessing Canadian woman of fair education, in fact, she had been a
+stenographer.  On entering the house I found the trading room on the
+right of a tiny hall, on the left was the living room, which was also
+used to eat in, and the kitchen was, of course, in the rear.  After
+being entertained for ten or fifteen minutes by my host and hostess, I
+heard light steps descending the stairs, and the next moment I beheld a
+charming girl.  She was their only child.  They called her Athabasca,
+after the beautiful lake of that name.  She was sixteen years of age,
+tall, slender, and graceful, a brunette with large, soft eyes and long,
+flowing, wavy hair.  She wore a simple little print dress that was
+becomingly short in the skirt, a pair of black stockings, and low,
+beaded moccasins.  I admired her appearance, but regretted her shyness,
+for she was almost as bashful as I was.  She bowed and blushed&mdash;so did
+I&mdash;and while her parents talked to me she sat demurely silent on the
+sofa.  Occasionally, I caught from her with pleasant embarrassment a
+shy but fleeting glance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently, dinner was announced by a half-breed maid, and we four took
+our places at the table, Athabasca opposite me.  At first the talk was
+lively, though only three shared in it.  Then, as the third seemed
+rather more interested in his silent partner, he would from time to
+time lose the thread of the discourse.  By degrees the conversation
+died down into silence.  A few minutes later Mrs. Spear suddenly
+remarked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Father&nbsp;&#8230; don't you think it would be a good thing if you took
+son-in-law into partnership?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Father leaned back, scratched his head for a while, and then replied:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Mother, I do, and I'll do it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The silent though beautiful Athabasca, without even raising her eyes
+from her plate, blushed violently, and needless to say, I blushed, too,
+but, of course, only out of sympathy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The horses are too busy, just now, to haul the logs, but of course the
+young people could have our spare room until I could build them a log
+shack."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Father, that's a capital idea.  So there's no occasion for any delay
+whatever.  Then, when their house is finished, we could spare them a
+bed, a table, a couple of chairs, and give them a new cooking stove."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Athabasca blushed deeper than ever, and studied her plate all the
+harder, and I began to show interest and prick up my ears, for I
+wondered who on earth son-in-law could be?  I knew perfectly well there
+was no young white man in all that region, and that even if he lived in
+the nearest frontier town, it would take him, either by canoe or on
+snowshoes, at least two weeks to make the round trip to Spearhead, just
+to call on her.  I couldn't fathom it at all.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Besides, Mother, we might give them the heifer, as a starter, for she
+will be ready to milk in the spring.  Then, too, we might give them a
+few ducks and geese and perhaps a pig."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Excellent idea, Father; besides, I think I could spare enough cutlery,
+dishes, and cooking utensils to help out for a while."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And I could lend them some blankets from the store," the trader
+returned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But at that moment Athabasca miscalculated the distance to her mouth
+and dropped a bit of potato on the floor, and when she stooped to
+recover it, I caught a glance from the corner of her eye.  It was one
+of those indescribable glances that girls give.  I remember it made me
+perspire all over.  Queer, isn't it, the way women sometimes affect
+one?  I would have blushed more deeply, but by that time there was no
+possible chance of my face becoming any redder, notwithstanding the
+fact that I was a red-head.  Ponder as I would, I couldn't fathom the
+mystery&nbsp;&#8230; who Son-in-law could be&nbsp;&#8230; though I had already begun
+to think him a lucky fellow&mdash;quite one to be envied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Mrs. Spear exclaimed, as we rose from the table:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good!&#8230;  Then that's settled&nbsp;&#8230; you'll take him into
+partnership, and I'm glad, for I like him, and I think he'll make an
+excellent trader."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Our getting away from the table rather relieved me, as I was dripping
+perspiration, and I wanted to fairly mop my face&mdash;of course, when they
+weren't looking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Together they showed me over the establishment: the spare bedroom, the
+trading shop, the stable, the heifer, the ducks and geese, and even the
+pig&mdash;though it puzzled me why they singled out the very one they
+intended giving Son-in-law.  The silent though beautiful Athabasca
+followed a few feet behind as we went the rounds, and inspected the
+wealth that was to be bestowed upon her lover.  I was growing more
+inquisitive than ever as to who Son-in-law might be.  Indeed, I felt
+like asking, but was really too shy, and besides, when I thought it
+over, I concluded it was none of my business.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the time came for me to return to the Hudson's Bay Post, I shook
+hands with them all&mdash;Athabasca had nice hands and a good grip, too.
+Her parents gave me a pressing invitation to visit them again for a few
+days at New Year's, when everyone in the country would be going to the
+great winter festival that was always held at Fort Consolation.  As I
+paddled away I mused:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By George, Son-in-law is certainly a lucky dog, for Athabasca's a
+peach&nbsp;&#8230; but I don't see how in thunder her lover ever gets a chance
+to call."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LEAVING FORT CONSOLATION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+I was up early next morning and as I wished to see how Oo-koo-hoo and
+his party would pack up and board their canoes, I walked round the bay
+to the Indian village.  After a hasty breakfast, the women pulled down
+the lodge coverings of sheets of birch bark and rolling them up placed
+them upon the <I>star-chi-gan</I>&mdash;the stage&mdash;along with other things which
+they intended leaving behind.  The lodge poles were left standing in
+readiness for their return next summer, and it wasn't long before all
+their worldly goods&mdash;save their skin tepees and most of their traps,
+which had been left on their last winter's hunting grounds&mdash;were placed
+aboard their three canoes, and off they paddled to the Post, to say
+good-bye, while Amik secured his advances.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just think of it, all you housekeepers&mdash;no gold plate or silverware to
+send to the vault, no bric-a-brac to pack, no furniture to cover, no
+bedding to put away, no rugs or furs or clothes to send to cold
+storage, no servants to wrangle with or discharge, no plumbers to swear
+over, no janitors to cuss at, no, not even any housecleaning to do
+before you depart&mdash;just move and nothing more.  Just dump a little
+outfit into a canoe and then paddle away from all your tiresome
+environment, and travel wherever your heart dictates, and then settle
+down where not even an exasperating neighbour could find you.  What
+would you give to live such a peaceful life?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As I understand it," says Thoreau, "that was a valid objection urged
+by Momus against the house which Minerva made, that she had not made it
+movable, by which means a bad neighbourhood might be avoided; and it
+may still be urged, for our houses are such unwieldy property that we
+are often imprisoned rather than housed in them; and the bad
+neighbourhood to be avoided is our own scurvy selves."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On their arrival, Amik at once set about getting his advances.  He was
+a stalwart, athletic-looking man of about thirty-five, but not the
+equal of his father-in-law in character.  Oo-koo-hoo now told the
+Factor just where he intended to hunt, what fur he expected to get, and
+how the fur runners could best find his camp.  As the price of fur had
+risen, the Factor told him what price he expected to pay.  If, however,
+the price had dropped, the Factor would not have informed the hunter
+until his return next year.  During the course of the conversation, the
+old hunter begged the loan of a second-hand gun and some traps for the
+use of his grandsons; and the Factor granted his request.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meantime, the women called upon the clergyman and the priest and
+the nuns to wish them farewell, and incidentally to do a little more
+begging.  As they were not ready to go by noon, the Factor's wife
+spread a cloth upon the kitchen floor, and placed upon it some food for
+the party.  After lunch they actually made ready to depart, and
+everybody came down to the landing to see us off.  As the children and
+dogs scrambled aboard the canoes, the older woman remembered that she
+had not been paid for her gift of moccasins, and so another delay took
+place while the Factor selected a suitable present.  It is always thus.
+Then, at last, the canoes push off.  Amid the waving of hands, the
+shouting of farewells, and the shedding of a few tears even, the simple
+natives of the wilderness paddled away over the silent lake en route
+for their distant hunting grounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thither the reader must follow, and there, amid the fastnesses of the
+Great Northern Forest, he must spend the winter if he would see the
+Indian at his best.  There he is a beggar no longer.  There, escaped
+from the civilization which the white man is ever forcing upon the
+red&mdash;a civilization which rarely fails to make a degenerate of him&mdash;he
+proves his manhood.  There, contrary to the popular idea, he will be
+found to be a diligent and skilful worker and an affectionate husband
+and father.  There, given health and game, no toil and no hardship will
+hinder him from procuring fur enough to pay off his indebtedness, and
+to lay up in store twice as much again with which to engage next spring
+in the delightful battle of wits between white man and red in the Great
+Company's trading room.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap02"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+II
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+IN QUEST OF TREASURE
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE PERFECT FOOL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was an ideal day and the season and the country were in keeping.
+Soon the trading posts faded from view, and when, after trolling around
+Fishing Point, we entered White River and went ashore for an early
+supper, everyone was smiling.  I revelled over the prospect of work,
+freedom, contentment, and beauty before me; and over the thought of
+leaving behind me the last vestige of the white man's ugly,
+hypercritical, and oppressive civilization.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Was it any wonder I was happy?  For me it was but the beginning of a
+never-to-be-forgotten journey in a land where man can be a man without
+the aid of money.  Yes&nbsp;&#8230; without money.  And that reminds me of a
+white man I knew who was born and bred in the Great Northern Forest,
+and who supported and educated a family of twelve, and yet he reached
+his sixtieth birthday without once having handled or ever having seen
+money.  He was as generous, as refined, and as noble a man as one would
+desire to know; yet when he visited civilization for the first time&mdash;in
+his sixty-first year&mdash;he was reviled because he had a smile for all, he
+was swindled because he knew no guile, he was robbed because he trusted
+everyone, and he was arrested because he manifested brotherly love
+toward his fellow-creatures.  Our vaunted civilization!  It was the
+regret of his declining years that circumstances prevented him from
+leaving the enlightened Christians of the cities, and going back to
+live in peace among the honest, kindly hearted barbarians of the forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon there were salmon-trout&mdash;fried to a golden brown&mdash;crisp bannock,
+and tea for all; then a little re-adjusting of the packs, and we were
+again at the paddles.  Oo-koo-hoo's wife, Ojistoh, along with her
+second granddaughter and her two grandsons, occupied one of the
+three-and-a-half fathom canoes; Amik, and his wife, Naudin, with her
+baby and eldest daughter, occupied the other; and Oo-koo-hoo and I
+paddled together in the two-and-a-half fathom canoe.  One of the five
+dogs&mdash;Oo-koo-hoo's best hunter&mdash;travelled with us, while the other four
+took passage in the other canoes.  Although the going was now up
+stream&mdash;the same river by which I had come&mdash;we made fair speed until
+Island Lake stretched before us, when we felt a southwest wind that
+threatened trouble; but by making a long detour about the bays of the
+southwestern shore the danger vanished.  Arriving at the foot of the
+portage trail at Bear Rock Rapids, we carried our outfit to a cliff
+above, which afforded an excellent camping ground; and there arose the
+smoke of our evening fire.  The cloudless sky giving no sign of rain,
+we contented ourselves with laying mattresses of balsam brush upon
+which to sleep.  While the sunset glow still filled the western sky, we
+heard a man's voice shouting above the roar of the rapids, and on going
+to the brink, saw a "York boat" in the act of shooting the cataract.
+It was one of the boats of "The Goods Brigade" transporting supplies
+for the northern posts of the Hudson's Bay Company.  As the craft
+measured forty feet in length and was manned by eight men, it was
+capable of carrying about seventy packs, each weighing about a hundred
+pounds.  But of these boat brigades&mdash;more in due season.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-052"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-052.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-052.jpg" ALT="Going to the brink, saw a &quot;York boat&quot; in the act of shooting the cataract" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="260">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Going to the brink, saw a "York boat" in the act of
+shooting the cataract.  It was one of the boats of "The Goods Brigade"
+transporting supplies for the northern posts of the Hudson's Bay
+Company.  As the craft measured forty feet in length and was manned by
+eight men, it was capable of carrying about seventy packs, each
+weighing about a hundred pounds.  But of these boat brigades&nbsp;&#8230;  See
+Chapter II.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+After supper, when twilight was deepening, and tobacco&mdash;in the smoking
+of which the women conscientiously joined&mdash;was freely forthcoming, the
+subject of conversation turned to woodcraft.  Since it fell to
+Oo-koo-hoo, as the principal hunter, to keep the party supplied with
+game while en route, I was wondering what he would do in case he saw a
+bear and went ashore to trail it.  Would he himself skin and cut up the
+bear, or would he want the women to help him?  If the latter, what sign
+or signal would he use so that they might keep in touch with him?  But
+when I questioned Oo-koo-hoo, he replied:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My white son"&mdash;for that is what he sometimes called me&mdash;"I see you are
+just like all white men, but if you are observant and listen to those
+who are wiser than you, you may some day rank almost the equal of an
+Indian."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Afterward, when I became better acquainted with him, I learned that
+with regard to white men in general, he held the same opinion that all
+Indians do, and that is, that they are perfect fools.  When I agreed
+with the old gentleman, and assured him he was absolutely right, and
+that the biggest fool I ever knew was the one who was talking to him,
+he laughed outright, and replied that now he knew that I was quite
+different from most white men, and that he believed some day I would be
+the equal of an Indian.  When I first heard his opinion of white men, I
+regarded him as a pretty sane man, but afterward, when I tried to get
+him to include not only his brother Indians, but also himself under the
+same definition, I could not get him to agree with me, therefore I was
+disappointed in him.  He was not the philosopher I had at first taken
+him to be; for life has taught me that all men are fools&mdash;of one kind
+or another.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OO-KOO-HOO'S WOODCRAFT
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+But to return to woodcraft.  Emerson says: "Men are naturally hunters
+and inquisitive of woodcraft, and I suppose that such a gazetteer as
+wood-cutters and Indians should furnish facts for would take place in
+the most sumptuous drawing rooms of all the 'Wreaths' and 'Flora's
+Chaplets' of the bookshops" and believing that to be true, I shall
+therefore tell you not only how my Indian friends managed to keep their
+bearings while travelling without a compass, but how, without the aid
+of writing, they continued to leave various messages for their
+companions.  When I asked Oo-koo-hoo how he would signal, in case he
+went ashore to trail game&mdash;when the other canoes were out of sight
+behind him&mdash;and he should want someone to follow him to help carry back
+the meat, he replied that he would cut a small bushy-topped sapling and
+plant it upright in the river near his landing place on the shore.
+That, he said, would signify that he wished his party to go ashore and
+camp on the first good camping ground; while, at the same time, it
+would warn them not to kindle a fire until they had first examined the
+tracks to make sure whether the smoke would frighten the game.  Then
+someone would follow his trail to render him assistance, providing they
+saw that he had blazed a tree.  If he did not want them to follow him,
+he would shove two sticks into the ground so that they would slant
+across the trail in the form of an X, but if he wanted them to follow
+he would blaze a tree.  If he wanted them to hurry, he would blaze the
+same tree twice.  If he wanted them to follow as fast as they could
+with caution, he would blaze the same tree three times, but if he
+desired them to abandon all caution and to follow with all speed, he
+would cut a long blaze and tear it off.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then, again, if he were leaving the game trail to circle his quarry,
+and if he wished them to follow his tracks instead of those of the
+game, he would cut a long blaze on one tree and a small one on another
+tree, which would signify that he had left the game trail at a point
+between the two trees and that they were to follow his tracks instead
+of those of the game.  But if he wished them to stop and come no
+farther, he would drop some article of his clothing on the trail.
+Should, however, the game trail happen to cross a muskeg where there
+were no trees to blaze, he would place moss upon the bushes to answer
+instead of blazes, and in case the ground was hard and left an
+invisible trail, he would cut a stick and shoving the small end into
+the trail, would slant the butt in the direction he had gone.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If traversing water where there were no saplings at hand, and he wished
+to let his followers know where he had left the water to cross a
+muskeg, he would try to secure a pole, which he would leave standing in
+the water, with grass protruding from the split upper end, and the pole
+slanting to show in which direction he had gone.  If, on the arrival at
+the fork of a river, he wished to let his followers know up which fork
+he had paddled&mdash;say, for instance, if it were the right one&mdash;he would
+shove a long stick into either bank of the left fork in such a way that
+it would point straight across the channel of the left fork, to
+signify, as it were, that the channel was blocked.  Then, a little
+farther up the right fork, he would plant a sapling or pole in the
+water, slanting in the direction he had gone&mdash;to prove to the follower
+that he was now on the right trail.  Oo-koo-hoo further explained that
+if he were about to cross a lake and he wished to let his follower know
+the exact point upon which he intended to land, he would cut two poles,
+placing the larger nearest the woods and the smaller nearest the water,
+both in an upright position and in an exact line with the point to
+which he was going to head, so that the follower by taking sight from
+one pole to the other would learn the exact spot on the other shore
+where he should land&mdash;even though it were several miles away.  But if
+he were not sure just where he intended to land, he would cut a willow
+branch and twist it into the form of a hoop and hang it upon the
+smaller pole&mdash;that would signify that he might land at any point of the
+surrounding shore of the lake.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If he wanted to signal his family to camp at any particular point along
+his trail, he would leave some article of his clothing and place near
+it a number of sticks standing in the form of the poles of a lodge,
+thus suggesting to them that they should erect their tepee upon that
+spot.  If he had wounded big game and expected soon to overtake and
+kill it, and if he wanted help to carry back the meat, he would blaze a
+tree and upon that smooth surface would make a sketch, either with
+knife or charcoal, of the animal he was pursuing.  If a full day had
+elapsed since the placing of crossed sticks over the trail, the
+follower would abandon all caution and follow at top speed, as he would
+realize that some misfortune had befallen the hunter.  The second man,
+or follower, however, never blazes trees as he trails the first hunter,
+but simply breaks off twigs or bends branches in the direction in which
+he is going, so that should it be necessary that a third man should
+also follow, he could readily distinguish the difference between the
+two trails.  If a hunter wishes to leave a good trail over a treeless
+district, he, as far as possible, chooses soft ground and treads upon
+his heels.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When a hunter is trailing an animal, he avoids stepping upon the
+animal's trail, so that should it be necessary for him to go back and
+re-trail his quarry, the animal's tracks shall not be obliterated.  If,
+in circling about his quarry, the hunter should happen to cut his own
+trail, he takes great care to cut it at right angles, so that, should
+he have to circle several times, he may never be at a loss to know
+which was his original trail.  If the hunter should wish to leave a
+danger signal behind him, he will take two saplings, one from either
+side of the trail, and twist them together in such a way that they
+shall block the passage of the follower, requiring him to pause in
+order to disentangle them or to pass around them; and if the hunter
+were to repeat such a signal two or three times, it would signify that
+the follower should use great caution and circle down wind in order to
+still-hunt the hunter's trail in exactly the same way he would
+still-hunt a moose.  Then, again, if the hunter should wish to let the
+follower know the exact time of day he had passed a certain spot, he
+would draw on the earth or snow a bow with an arrow placed at right
+angles to the bow, but pointing straight in the direction where the sun
+had been at that precise moment.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BEAR'S DEDUCTION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Owing to their knowledge of wood-craft some Indians are very clever at
+deduction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On Great Slave Lake near Fort Rae an Indian cripple, named Simpson's
+Brother, had joined a party of canoe-men for the purpose of hunting
+eggs.  After paddling toward a group of islands, the party separated,
+finally landing on different isles.  They had agreed, however, to meet
+at sunset on a certain island and there eat and sleep together.  While
+at work several of the Indians saw Simpson's Brother alone on a little
+rocky islet, busily engaged in gathering eggs.  Toward evening, the
+party met at their rendezvous and took supper together, but strange to
+say, Simpson's Brother did not appear.  After smoking and talking for a
+while, some grew anxious about the cripple.  The Bear began to fear
+lest some mishap had befallen him; but The Caribou scoffed at the idea:
+he was sure that Simpson's Brother was still working and that he would
+soon return with more eggs than any of them.  The Bear, however,
+thought they ought to search for him, as his canoe might have drifted
+away.  But The Mink replied that if anything like that had happened,
+the cripple would certainly have fired his gun.  "But how could he fire
+his gun if his canoe had drifted away?" asked The Bear, "for would not
+his gun be in his canoe?"  So they all paddled off to investigate the
+mystery.  On nearing the island, they saw the Brother's canoe adrift.
+When they overhauled it, sure enough his gun was aboard.  They then
+landed on the little isle where the cripple had been at work and began
+calling aloud for him.  As they received no answer, some of the Indians
+claimed that he must be asleep.  The Bear replied that if he was asleep
+their shouting would have awakened him and he would have answered, but
+that now they had best search the island.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So they divided into two parties and searched the shore in different
+directions until they finally met on the other side, then they
+scattered and examined every nook and corner of the place&mdash;but all in
+vain.  Some now contended that the others were mistaken, and that that
+could not be the island on which the Brother had been working; but The
+Bear&mdash;though he had not seen the cripple there&mdash;insisted that it was.
+They asked him to prove it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The wind has been blowing steadily from the north," replied The Bear,
+"the other islands are all south of this one, and you know that we
+found his canoe adrift south of here and north of all the other
+islands.  That is sufficient proof."  Then he added: "The reason
+Simpson's Brother did not answer is because he is not on the island,
+but in the water."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again they all clamoured for proof and The Bear answered: "But first I
+must find where he landed, and the quickest way to find that place is
+to remember that the wind was blowing too strong for him to land on the
+north shore, and that the running swells were too strong for him to
+land on either the east or west sides, therefore he landed on the south
+side&mdash;the sheltered side.  Now let us go and see where he drew up his
+canoe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But one of the others argued that that would be impossible as Simpson's
+Brother was not such a fool as to act like a white man and drag his
+canoe over the rocks.  The Bear, however, persisted that there would be
+some sign, at least where the bow touched shore when the cripple got
+out, and that he, The Bear, would go and find it.  But first he would
+go and examine the nests to learn from which of them the cripple had
+removed the eggs.  Thus they would learn where he had been working; and
+the finding of the landing place would be made easier.  So The Bear set
+to work.  From the empty nests he soon learned where the cripple had
+been working, and after a careful search he presently found on a big
+rock a little white spot no larger than a man's finger nail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There, my friends, is where Simpson's Brother landed, for that white
+mark is of gum and proves where the bow of the canoe bumped the rock."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+They then asked The Bear where he thought the cripple was, and
+pointing, he replied:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If we search long enough we shall find him in the deep water down
+there; for when Simpson's Brother was getting aboard his canoe, he
+slipped and in falling struck his head upon the rock; the blow stunned
+him, and without a struggle he slid into the water, and was drowned."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When they had brought their canoes round and had peered into the deep
+water, true enough, they discovered the body on the bottom of the lake.
+Securing a long pole, they fastened a gun worm to one end and, reaching
+down, twisted it into the cripple's clothing and brought the body to
+the surface.  Sadly they placed it in the unfortunate man's canoe,
+towed the craft and its burden to the other island, and sent to Fort
+Rae for the priest, Father Roure, to come and perform the burial
+service.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BEASTS WITH HUMAN SOULS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Next morning we arose with dawn.  After a hearty breakfast of
+fish&mdash;taken from the gill-net that had been set overnight below the
+rapid&mdash;the work of portaging round the rapids was begun and by about
+ten o'clock was finished.  Noon overtook us near the mouth of Caribou
+River, up which we were to ascend on the first half of our journey to
+Oo-koo-hoo's hunting grounds.  About two o'clock we entered that stream
+and headed westerly toward a spur of mountains that lay about a week's
+travel away and through which we had to pass to gain our winter camping
+ground.  An hour later, as Oo-koo-hoo and I preceded the party,
+paddling up one of the channels caused by a number of large islands
+dividing the river into mere creeks, we chanced upon a woodland caribou
+bull, as it stood among the rushes in a marshy bend watching us from a
+distance of not more than forty yards.  As I crouched down to be out of
+the hunter's way, I heard him say:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'm sorry, my brother, but we need you for both food and clothing, so
+turn your eyes away before I fire."  The next moment the woods echoed
+the report of his smooth-bore muzzle-loader&mdash;the kind of gun used by
+about 90 per cent. of the fur hunters of the forest.  Why?  Because of
+the simplicity of its ammunition.  Such a gun never requires a variety
+of cumbersome shells for different kinds of game, but with varying
+charges of powder and shot or ball, is ready for anything from a rat or
+duck to a bear or moose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before bleeding the deer, Oo-koo-hoo did a curious thing: with his
+sharp knife he destroyed the deer's eyes.  When I questioned him as to
+his purpose he replied: "As long as the eyes remain perfect, the spirit
+remains within the head, and I could not bear to skin the deer with its
+spirit looking at me."  Though Oo-koo-hoo was in many ways a wise old
+man, he held some beliefs that were past my understanding, and others
+that, when I tried to analyze them, seemed to be founded on the working
+of a sensitive conscience.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Hearing the report of the gun, the others hurried to the scene.  While
+the deer was being bled the old grandmother caught the blood in a
+pail&mdash;into which she threw a pinch of salt to clot the blood&mdash;as she
+wished to use it for the making of a blood pudding.  Then the carcass
+was loaded aboard Oo-koo-hoo's canoe, rather, indeed, overloading it.
+Accordingly, I accepted Amik's invitation to board his craft, and at
+the first good place we all went ashore to clear the ground for the
+night's camp.  There was a porcupine there, and though it moved but
+slowly away, my friends did not kill it, for they had plenty to eat,
+and did not want to be bothered with taking care of those dangerous
+little quills that the women dye and use to such good advantage in
+their fancy work.  As to the Indian method of dressing meat and
+skins&mdash;more anon, when we are finally settled upon the fur trail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That evening, while flames were leaping after ascending sparks, and
+shadows were dancing behind us among the trees, we lounged about the
+fire on packs and blankets and discussed the events of the day.  When I
+asked Oo-koo-hoo why he had addressed the deer in such a manner, he
+replied that it was the proper and regular way to speak to an animal,
+because every creature in the forest, whether beast, bird, or fish,
+contained the spirit of some former human being.  He further explained
+that whenever the men of the olden time killed an unusually large
+animal with an extra fine coat, they did not save the skin to sell to
+the trader, but burnt the carcass, pelt and all, and in that way they
+returned the body to the spirit again.  Thus they not only paid homage
+to the spirit, but proved themselves unselfish men.  He went on to say
+that from the time of the Great, Great Long Ago, the Indian had always
+believed&mdash;as he did to-day&mdash;that every bull moose contained the spirit
+of a famous Indian chief, that every caribou bull contained the spirit
+of a lesser chief, and so on down through the whole of the animal
+creation.  Bears, however, or rather the spirits animating them,
+possessed the greatest power to render good or evil, and for that
+reason the hunter usually took the greatest care to address Bruin
+properly before he slew him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It is no wonder that the Indians still retain such ideas when, as Lord
+Avebury says: "We do not now, most of us, believe that animals have
+souls, and yet probably the majority of mankind from Buddha to Wesley
+and Kingsley have done so."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another thing Oo-koo-hoo told me was that out of respect to the
+dignified spirit possessed by the bull moose, women were never allowed
+to eat of the head, nor was a moose head to be placed upon a sled upon
+which a woman had ever sat; for if that were done, bad luck would
+follow the hunter to the end of his days.  He knew of a hunter who on
+one occasion had been guilty of that irreverence; afterward, whenever
+that hunter would see a moose, the moose&mdash;instead of trying to
+escape&mdash;would indifferently bark at him, and even follow him back close
+to camp; and when that hunter would go out again, other moose would do
+the very same thing.  Moreover, the hunter was afraid to kill any moose
+that acted that way, for he well knew that the animal was simply
+warning him of some great danger that was surely going to befall him.
+So, in the end, the hunter fretted himself to death.  Therefore every
+hunter should take great care to burn all the bones of a moose's head
+and never on any account allow a woman to eat thereof or to feed it to
+the dogs.  In burning the head, the hunter was merely paying the homage
+due to so noble a creature.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again, a hunter might find that though he had formerly been a good
+moose hunter, and had always observed every custom, yet he now utterly
+failed to secure a moose at all.  He might come upon plenty of tracks,
+but the moose would always escape, and prove the efforts of an
+experienced moose hunter of no more avail than those of a greenhorn.
+In such a case, there was but one thing to do, and that was to secure
+the whole skin&mdash;head, legs, and all&mdash;of a fawn, stuff it into its
+natural shape, set it up in the woods, wait till the new moon was in
+the first crescent, and then, just after sundown, engage a young girl
+to shoot five arrows at it from the regular hunting distance.  If she
+missed, it was proof that the spirit had rejected the girl, and that
+another would have to be secured to do the shooting.  If success were
+then attained, the hunter might go upon his hunt, well knowing he would
+soon be rewarded by bringing down a moose.  Of course such ideas seem
+strange to us, but, after all, are we in a position to ridicule the
+Indians' belief?  I think not, if we but recall the weird ideas our
+ancestors held.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Indian, like the white man, has many superstitions, some ugly, and
+some beautiful, and of the latter class, I quote one: he believes that
+the spirits of still-born children or very young infants take flight,
+when they die, and enter the bodies of birds.  A delightful
+thought&mdash;especially for the mother.  For as Kingsley says of St.
+Francis, "perfectly sure that he himself was a spiritual being, he
+thought it at least possible that birds might be spiritual beings
+likewise, incarnate like himself in mortal flesh; and saw no
+degradation to the dignity of human nature in claiming kindred
+lovingly, with creatures so beautiful, so wonderful, who praised God in
+the forest, even as angels did in heaven."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The forest Indian, however, is not content with merely stating that the
+spirits of infants enter birds; but he goes on to say that while the
+spirits of Indian children always enter the beings of the finest
+singers and the most beautiful of all the birds, the spirits of the
+children of white people enter the bodies of stupid, ugly birds that
+just squawk around, and are neither interesting to look at nor pleasant
+to listen to, but are quarrelsome, and thievish.  When I asked
+Oo-koo-hoo to name a few birds into which the spirits of white children
+entered, he mentioned, among others, the woodpecker&mdash;which the Indians
+consider to have, proportionately, the longest and sharpest tongue of
+all birds.  That reminds me of the reply I received from one of the
+characters in this book, when I wrote him, among others, requesting
+that he grant me permission to make use of his name, in order to add
+authority to my text.  Like others, he begged me to refrain from
+quoting his name, as he was afraid that the information he had given me
+might be the cause of the Hudson's Bay Company stopping his pension.  I
+had suggested that he refer the matter to his wife as she, too, figures
+in this story, and the following is part of his reply: "This being an
+affair between you and I&mdash;I have not consulted my wife.  For as you
+know, the human female tongue is very similar to that of the female
+woodpecker: unusually long, and much too pointed to be of any use."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE HONESTY OF INDIANS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+But to return to the Indian's reproach of the white man's dishonesty;
+when he states that the spirits of white children enter only those
+birds that are counted great thieves, one cannot wonder at it, for as
+far as honesty is concerned, a comparison between the forest Indian and
+the white man brands the latter as a thief.  Not only is that the
+private opinion of all the old fur traders I have met, but I could
+quote many other authorities; let two, however, suffice: Charles Mair,
+the author of "Tecumseh," and a member of the Indian Treaty Expedition
+of 1899, says:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The writer, and doubtless some of his readers, can recall the time
+when to go to 'Peace River' seemed almost like going to another sphere,
+where, it was conjectured, life was lived very differently from that of
+civilized man.  And, truly, it was to enter into an unfamiliar state of
+things; a region in which a primitive people, not without fault or
+depravities, lived on Nature's food, and throve on her unfailing
+harvest of fur.  A region in which they often left their beaver, silver
+fox, or marten packs&mdash;the envy of Fashion&mdash;lying by the dog-trail, or
+hanging to some sheltering tree, because no one stole, and took their
+fellow's word without question, because no one lied.  A very simple
+folk indeed, in whose language profanity was unknown, and who had no
+desire to leave their congenital solitudes for any other spot on earth:
+solitudes which so charmed the educated minds who brought the white
+man's religion, or traffic, to their doors, that, like the
+Lotus-eaters, they, too, felt little craving to depart.  Yet they were
+not regions of sloth or idleness, but of necessary toil; of the
+laborious chase and the endless activities of aboriginal life: the
+regions of a people familiar with its fauna and flora&mdash;of skilled but
+unconscious naturalists, who knew no science&nbsp;&#8230;  But theft such as
+white men practice was a puzzle to these people, amongst whom it was
+unknown."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another example worth quoting is taken from Sir William Butler's "The
+Wild North Land":
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The 'Moose That Walks' arrived at Hudson's Hope early in the spring.
+He was sorely in want of gunpowder and shot, for it was the season when
+the beaver leave their winter houses and when it is easy to shoot them.
+So he carried his thirty martens' skins to the fort, to barter them for
+shot, powder, and tobacco.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There was no person at the Hope.  The dwelling-house was closed, the
+store shut up, the man in charge had not yet come up from St. John's;
+now what was to be done?  Inside that wooden house lay piles and piles
+of all that the 'Moose that Walks' most needed.  There was a whole keg
+of powder; there were bags of shot, and tobacco&mdash;there was as much as
+the Moose could smoke in his whole life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Through a rent in the parchment window the Moose looked at all those
+wonderful things, and at the red flannel shirts, and at the four flint
+guns and the spotted cotton handerchiefs, each worth a sable skin at
+one end of the fur trade, half a six-pence at the other.  There was
+tea, too&mdash;tea, that magic medicine before which life's cares vanished
+like snow in spring sunshine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Moose sat down to think about all these things, but thinking only
+made matters worse.  He was short of ammunition, therefore he had no
+food, and to think of food when one is very hungry is an unsatisfactory
+business.  It is true that the Moose that Walks had only to walk in
+through that parchment window and help himself until he was tired.  But
+no, that would not do.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Ah,' my Christian friend will exclaim, 'Ah, yes, the poor Indian had
+known the good missionary, and had learnt the lesson of honesty and
+respect for his neighbour's property.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes; he had learnt the lesson of honesty, but his teacher, my friend,
+had been other than human.  The good missionary had never reached the
+Hope of Hudson, nor improved the morals of the Moose That Walks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But let us go on.  After waiting two days he determined to set off for
+St. John's, two full days' travel.  He set out, but his heart failed
+him, and he turned back again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At last, on the fourth day, he entered the parchment window, leaving
+outside his comrade, to whom he jealously denied admittance.  Then he
+took from the cask of powder three skins' worth, from the tobacco four
+skins' worth, from the shot the same; and sticking the requisite number
+of martens' skins in the powder barrel and the shot bag and the tobacco
+case, he hung up his remaining skins on a nail to the credit of his
+account, and departed from this El Dorado, this Bank of England of the
+Red Man in the wilderness.  And when it was all over he went his way,
+thinking he had done a very reprehensible act, and one by no means to
+be proud of."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If it were necessary further to establish the honesty of the forest
+Indian, I could add many proofs from my own experience, but one will
+suffice:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Years ago, during my first visit to the Hudson's Bay Post on Lake
+Temagami, when the only white man living in all that beautiful region
+was old Malcolm MacLean, a "freeman" of the H. B. Co., who had married
+an Indian woman and become a trapper, I was invited to be the guest of
+the half-breed Hudson's Bay trader, Johnnie Turner, and was given a
+bedroom in his log house.  The window of my room on the ground floor
+was always left wide open, and in fact was never once closed during my
+stay of a week or more.  Inside my room, a foot from the open window, a
+lidless cigar box was nailed to the wall, yet it contained a heap of
+bills of varying denominations&mdash;ones, fives, and tens, and even
+twenties; how much in all I don't know for I never had the curiosity to
+count them&mdash;though, at the time, I guessed that there were many
+hundreds of dollars.  It was the trader's bank.  Nevertheless, beside
+that open window was the favourite lounging place of all the Indian
+trappers and hunters who visited the Post, and during my stay a group
+of Indians that numbered from three or four to thirty or forty were
+daily loitering in the shade within a few feet of that open window.
+Sometimes, when I was in my room, they would even intrude their heads
+and shoulders through the window and talk to me.  Several times I saw
+them glance at the heap of money, but they no more thought of touching
+it than I did; yet day or night it could have been taken with the
+greatest ease, and the thief never discovered&mdash;but, of course, there
+wasn't a thief in all that region.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But now that the white man has made Lake Temagami a fashionable summer
+resort, and the civilized Christians flock there from New York,
+Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Montreal, how long would the trader's money
+remain in an open box beside an open window on a dark night?
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TRACKING UP RAPIDS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After breakfast next morning, while ascending Caribou River, we
+encountered a series of rapids that extended for nearly a quarter of a
+mile.  Here and there, in midstream, rocks protruded above the foaming
+water, and from their leeward ends flowed eddying currents of back
+water that from their dark, undulating appearance rather suggested that
+every boulder possessed a tail.  It was always for those long, flowing
+tails that the canoes were steered in their slow upward struggle from
+one rock to another; for each tail formed a little harbour in which the
+canoe could not only make easier headway, but also might hover for a
+moment while the paddlers caught their breath.  Then out again they
+would creep, and once more the battle would rage and, working with
+might and main, the paddlers would force the canoe gradually ahead and
+over into the eddy of another boulder.  Sometimes the water would leap
+over the gunwales and come aboard with a savage hiss.  At other times
+the canoes seemed to become discouraged and, with their heads almost
+buried beneath the angry, spitting waves, would balk in midstream and
+not move forward so much as a foot to the minute.  It was dangerous
+work, for if at any time a canoe became inclined across the current,
+even to the slightest degree, it might be rolled over and over, like a
+barrel descending an incline.  Dangerous work it was, but it was
+interesting to see how powerfully the Indians propelled their canoes,
+how skilfully they guided them, and how adroitly even the little
+children handled their paddles.  However, we landed safely at the head
+of the rapids, and upon going ashore to drain the canoes, partook of a
+refreshing snack of tea and bannock.  Then to the canoes again.  The
+aspect of the river was now very beautiful, beautiful enough to ponder
+over and to dream, so we took it easy.  While pipes were going we
+gazed, in peace and restfulness, at the reflections, for they were
+wonderful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After dinner we encountered another rapid, but though it was much
+shorter than the former, the current ran too strong to attempt the
+ascent with the aid of only paddles or poles.  The northern tripper has
+the choice between five methods of circumventing "white waters," and
+his selection depends upon the strength of the current: first,
+paddling; second, poling; third, wading; fourth, tracking; and fifth,
+portaging.  You are already familiar with the method of paddling, and
+also with that of portaging, and a description of poling will shortly
+follow.  Wading is resorted to only when the trippers, unprovided with
+poles, have been defeated in their effort to ascend with no other aid
+than their paddles.  Then they leap overboard and seizing hold of the
+gunwales drag the craft up the rapids before it can be overcome by the
+turbulent water, and either driven down stream or capsized.  Again,
+when the trippers encounter, in shallow water, such obstacles as jammed
+timbers, wading allows them carefully to ease their craft around or
+over the obstruction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When tracking their six-fathom canoes, or "York boats," or "sturgeon
+scows," the voyageurs of the north brigades use very long lines, one
+end of which is attached to the bow of the craft while to the other end
+is secured a leather harness of breast straps called <I>otapanapi</I> into
+which each hauler adjusts himself.  Thus, while the majority of the
+crew land upon the shore and, so harnessed, walk off briskly in single
+file along the river bank, their mates aboard endeavour, with the aid
+of either paddles, sweeps, or poles, to keep the craft in a safe
+channel.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the present instance we had to resort to tracking, but it was of a
+light character, for the canoes were not too heavily loaded, nor was
+the current too strong for us to make fair headway along the rough,
+pathless bank of the wild little stream.  In each canoe one person
+remained aboard to hold the bow off shore with a paddle or pole, while
+the others scrambled along the river bank, either to help haul upon a
+line, or, in the case of the younger children and the dogs, simply to
+walk in order to relieve the craft of their weight and also for
+safety's sake, should the canoe overturn.  The greatest danger is for
+the steersman to lose control and allow the canoe to get out of line
+with the current, as the least headway in a wrong direction is apt to
+capsize it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With us all went well until a scream from the children announced that
+Ah-ging-goos, the second son, had fallen in, and anxiety reigned until
+the well-drenched Chipmunk partly crawled and was partly hauled ashore;
+and then laughter echoed in the river valley, for The Chipmunk was at
+times much given to frisking about and showing off, and this time he
+got his reward.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But before we had ascended half the length of the rapids we encountered
+the usual troubles that overtake the tracker&mdash;those of clearing our
+lines of trees and bushes, slipping into the muck of small inlets,
+stumbling over stones, cutting the lines upon sharp rocks, or having
+them caught by gnarled roots of driftwood.  As we approached the last
+lap of white water the canoes passed through a rocky basin that held a
+thirty- or forty-yard section of the river in a slack and unruffled
+pool.  While ascending this last section, the last canoe, the one in
+which the old grandmother was wielding the paddle, broke away from
+Oo-koo-hoo, the strain severing his well-worn line, and away
+Grandmother went, racing backward down through the turbulent foam.
+With her usual presence of mind she exercised such skill in guiding her
+canoe that it never for a moment swerved out of the true line of the
+current, and thus she saved herself and all her precious cargo.  Then,
+the moment she struck slack water, she in with her paddle, and out with
+her pole, stood up in her unsteady craft, bent her powerful old frame,
+and&mdash;her pipe still clenched between her ancient teeth&mdash;with all her
+might and main she actually poled her canoe right up to the very head
+of the rapids, and came safely ashore.  It was thrilling to watch
+her&mdash;for we could render no aid&mdash;and when she landed we hailed her with
+approval for her courage, strength, and skill; but Grandmother was
+annoyed&mdash;her pipe was out.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TRAVELLING AT NIGHT
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+While we rested a few minutes, the women espied, in a little springy
+dell, some unusually fine moss, which they at once began to gather.
+Indian women dry it and use it in a number of ways, especially for
+packing about the little naked bodies of their babies when lacing them
+to their cradle boards.  The incident, however, reminds me of what once
+happened to an Indian woman and her eight-year-old daughter when they
+were gathering moss about a mile from their camp on the shore of Great
+Slave Lake.  They were working in a muskeg, and the mother, observing a
+clump of gnarled spruces a little way off, sent her daughter there to
+see if there were any berries.  Instead of fruit the child found a nice
+round hole that led into a cavern beneath the roots of the trees that
+stood upon the little knoll; and she called to her mother to come and
+see it.  On kneeling down and peering within, the mother discovered a
+bear inside, and instantly turning about, hauled up her skirt and sat
+down in such a way that her figure completely blocked the hole and shut
+out all light.  Then she despatched her child on the run for camp, to
+tell Father to come immediately with his gun and shoot the bear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To one who is not versed in woodcraft, such an act displays remarkable
+bravery, but to an Indian woman it meant no such thing, it was merely
+the outcome of her knowledge of bears, for she well knew that as long
+as all light was blocked from the hole the bear would lie still.  But
+perhaps you wonder why she pulled up her skirt.  To prevent it from
+being soiled or torn?  No, that was not the reason.  Again it was her
+knowledge of bears that prompted her, for she knew that if by any
+strange chance the bear did move about in the dark, and if he did
+happen to touch her bare figure&mdash;for Indian ladies never wear
+lingerie&mdash;the bear would have been so mystified on encountering a
+living thing in the dark that he would make never another move until
+light solved the mystery.  However, Father came with a rush, and shot
+the bear, and the brute was a big one, too.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the rest of the afternoon we found the current quite slack and
+therefore, making better headway, we gained Caribou Lake about an hour
+before sundown; and on finding a fair wind beneath a clear sky that
+promised moonlight, it was decided to sail as far down the lake as the
+breeze would favour us, and then go ashore upon some neighbouring isle
+for the balance of the night.  So two stout poles were secured and laid
+across our two large canoes as they rested about a foot apart and
+parallel to one another.  Then, the poles being lashed to the thwarts,
+a single "four-point" blanket was rigged horizontally to two masts, one
+standing in each canoe and both guyed with tump-lines, and leaning away
+from each other in order to spread the improvised sail.  Two canoes so
+rigged cannot only make good headway, but can with safety run before a
+very strong wind.  While Oo-koo-hoo's canoe was kept free, he
+nevertheless counted on having it towed, as it could then be cast off
+without a moment's delay in case of our coming unexpectedly upon
+tempting game.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Supper was no sooner over than we were lying lazily in our canoes and,
+to the music of babbling water and foaming wakes, rushing toward the
+setting sun.  Soon twilight overtook us, and wrapping shadows about us,
+accompanied us for a while.  Next starlight appeared and with myriads
+of twinkling lanterns showed us our way among the now silhouetted
+islands.  Then the moon uprose and pushed a shiny head through the
+upper branches of the eastern trees.  At first it merely peeped as
+though to make sure we were not afraid; then it came out boldly in
+glory and quickly turning our wake into a path of molten gold, began to
+soar above the forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a while I could hear the childish prattle of the children and the
+crooning of Naudin as she hushed, with swaying body, her baby to her
+breast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then even those gentle sounds died away as the little forms snuggled
+down beneath the blankets among the dogs and bales.  Occasionally a
+loon called to us, or an owl swooped, ghost-like, overhead, and as we
+passed among pine-crested isles, those weather-beaten old monarchs just
+stood there, and whispering to one another, shook their heads as we
+swept by.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then for a few moments a mother moose with her two calves stood knee
+deep in a water-lily bay, and watched us on our way.  But Oo-koo-hoo
+was now too drowsy to think of anything but sleep.  So hour after hour
+went by while the moon rose higher and higher, and circling round to
+the westward, began to descend in front of us.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+POLING UP RAPIDS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Out of the east came dawn with a sweep of radiant splendour.  Still we
+sailed westward, ever westward, until the sun rose and through the
+rising mist showed us that the mouth of Caribou River opened right
+before us; then, happily, we landed on a little island to breakfast,
+and to drowse away a couple of hours on mossy beds beneath the shade of
+wind-blown pines.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Besides shooting a few ducks and a beaver, and seeing a distant moose,
+nothing happened that was eventful enough to deflect my interest from
+the endless variety of charming scenery that came into view as we swept
+round bend after bend of that woodland river; at least, not until about
+four o'clock, when we arrived at the foot of another rapid.  This
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik examined carefully from the river bank, and decided
+that it could be ascended by poling.  So from green wood we cut
+suitable poles of about two inches in diameter and from seven to nine
+feet in length and knifed them carefully to rid them of bark and knots.
+Then, for this was a shoal rapids, both bowman and sternman stood up,
+the better to put the full force of their strength and weight into the
+work; the children, however, merely knelt to the work of wielding their
+slender poles; but in deep water, or where there were many boulders and
+consequently greater risk if the canoe were overturned, all would have
+knelt to do the work.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Going bow-on straight for the mid-stream current, we plied our poles to
+good advantage.  Each man remembered, however, to lift his pole only
+when his mate's had been planted firmly in the river bottom.  Then he
+would fix his own a little farther ahead and throw all his weight and
+strength upon it, while at the same moment his companion went the same
+round.  Then he would firmly re-fix his pole a little farther up
+stream, and then once again shoved in unison.  Thus foot by foot we
+crept up stream.  It was hard but joyous work, for standing up in a
+canoe surrounded by a powerful and treacherous current gave us the
+thrill of adventure.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OO-KOO-HOO VISITS BEAVERS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+All the canoes having mounted the white water, however, in safety, it
+was decided, though sunset was several hours away, to spend the night
+at the head of the rapids, as the place afforded an excellent camping
+ground and besides, the next day was Sunday, a day upon which all good
+trippers cease to travel.  While the canvas tepee, and my tent, too,
+were being erected, we heard the dogs barking and growling several
+hundred yards away, so Amik, slipping on his powder horn and bullet
+pouch, ran to investigate.  Presently the report of his gun was added
+to the din, then silence reigned; and when we went to see what had
+happened we found that the hunter had shot a two-year-old moose heifer
+that the dogs had bayed.  Then, as was her custom, Granny came with her
+pail to catch the blood, and to select the entrails she needed to hold
+it.  By supper time the moose had not only been skinned but the carcass
+dressed, too.  After the meal was over, Granny washed the entrails
+inside and out and then stuffed them with a mixture of blood and
+oatmeal that she had prepared and seasoned with salt, and hung her
+home-made sausages high up inside the tepee to let them congeal and
+also to be out of reach of the dogs.  In the meantime, Amik had made
+two frames, and Naudin and her daughters had stretched and laced into
+them, not only the moose hide, but the skin of the caribou as well; and
+when the meat was cut up and hung from the branches of a tree, it was
+time to sit around the fire and have our evening talk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Oo-koo-hoo, slipping away in his hunting canoe, paddled up a little
+creek into a small lake in which he knew a colony of beavers lived.  He
+was gone about an hour and upon his return he told us about it.  On
+gaining the little mere, he, without removing his paddle from the
+water, propelled his canoe slowly and silently along the shore in the
+shadow of the overhanging trees, until a large beaver lodge appeared in
+the rising mist; and then standing up in his canoe&mdash;in order to get a
+better view&mdash;he became motionless.  Minutes passed while the rising
+moon cast golden ripples upon the water, and two beavers, rising from
+below, swam toward and mounted the roof of their island home.  Then,
+while the moonlight faded and glowed, other beavers appeared and swam
+hither and thither; some hauling old barkless poles, others bringing
+freshly cut poplar branches, and all busily engaged.  A twig snapping
+behind the hunter, he turned his head, and as he caught a vanishing
+glimpse of a lynx in a tree, he was instantly startled by a tremendous
+report and a splashing upheaval of water beside his canoe.  A beaver
+had been swimming there, and on seeing the hunter move, had struck the
+water with its powerful tail, to warn its mates before it dived.  The
+lynx had been watching the beaver.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-084"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-084.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-084.jpg" ALT="Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples upon the water" BORDER="2" WIDTH="260" HEIGHT="407">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples
+upon the water and two beavers, rising from below, swam toward and
+mounted the roof of their island home.  A twig snapping behind the
+hunter, he turned his head, and as he caught the vanishing glimpse of a
+lynx in a tree, he was instantly startled by a tremendous report and a
+splashing upheaval&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter II.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"Did you bring back anything?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, my son," Oo-koo-hoo replied, "that hunting-ground belongs to an
+old friend of mine."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WOODCRAFT OF TRAILING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After a while the subject of woodcraft arose.  When I inquired as to
+how I could best locate the north in case I happened to be travelling
+on a cloudy day without a compass, the old hunter replied, that though
+he never used a compass, he found no difficulty in determining the
+north at any time, as the woods were full of signs.  For instance, the
+branches of trees had a general tendency to be less numerous and
+shorter on the north side, and the bark on the north side was usually
+finer in texture and of a smoother surface.  Also moss was more often
+found on the north side of vertical trees.  The tops of pine trees
+usually leant toward the southeast&mdash;but that that was not always a sure
+sign in all localities, as in some places the tree tops were affected
+by the prevailing winds.  The stumps of trees furnished a surer
+indication.  They showed the rings of growth to be greater in thickness
+on the north side.  When trees were shattered by lightning, the cracks
+more often opened on the south side for lightning generally struck from
+that direction.  Snow was usually deeper on the south side of trees on
+account of the prevailing northerly winds; and if one dug away the
+crust from around a tree they would come to fine, granulated snow much
+sooner on the north side, thus proving where the shadow usually fell.
+Furthermore, as the snowdrifts always pointed in the direction whither
+the wind had gone, knowing the direction of the prevailing winds, one
+had no trouble in locating the north even on the snow-covered surface
+of a great lake.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The old woodman cautioned me that if, while travelling alone upon a big
+lake, I should be overtaken by a blizzard, in no case should I try to
+fight it, but stop right in my tracks, take off my snowshoes, dig a
+hole in the snow, turn my sled over on its side to form a wind-break,
+crawl into the hole with the dogs, and wait until the storm subsided.
+If a blizzard came head-on it was useless to try to fight it, for it
+would easily win; but if the wind were fair and if one were still sure
+of his bearings, he might drift with the wind, although at heavy risk,
+as the wind is apt to change its course and the tripper lose his way.
+There was always one consolation, however, and that was that the
+greater the storm the sooner it was over.  Another thing I should
+remember when travelling on a lake or over an open country, in a
+violent snow-storm&mdash;I should allow for drifting, much in the same way
+as one would if travelling by canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By that time, however, the women and children had gone to sleep upon
+their evergreen beds, while we three men continued to converse in
+whispers over the glow of the fading fire.  Next I asked Oo-koo-hoo in
+which direction men usually turned when lost in the woods&mdash;to the right
+or to the left?  He replied that circumstances had much to do with
+that, for the character of the country affected the man's turning, as
+it was natural to follow the line of least resistance; also it depended
+somewhat on the man's build&mdash;whether one leg were shorter than the
+other.  But though he had repeatedly experimented, he could not arrive
+at any definite conclusion.  However, when trying blindfolded men on a
+frozen lake, he noticed that they had a tendency to turn to the south
+regardless of whether they were facing east or west.  And he concluded
+by remarking that he thought people were very foolish to put so much
+faith in certain statements, simply because they were twice-told tales.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Upon my questioning him as to how a hunter would act, if, for instance,
+he were trailing a moose, and suspected that he was being followed by
+enemies, say a pack of wolves, or strange hunters, he informed me that
+if that happened to him&mdash;that if he suspected some enemy were following
+his trail&mdash;he would not stop, nor even look around, but at the first
+favourable opportunity, when he was sure he couldn't be observed, he
+would leave the game trail, circle back a mile or so through the woods,
+and upon cutting his old track would at once learn what was following
+him.  Then if it were worth while he could trail his pursuers and,
+coming up behind them, could take them unaware.  But if all this
+happened on a lake or in open country, where he could not circle back
+under cover, he would suddenly turn in his tracks, as though upon a
+pivot, and without losing the least headway or causing a moment's delay
+in his pace, he would continue walking, but now in a backward
+direction, long enough to give himself ample time to scrutinize his
+distant trail.  By manoeuvring thus, he could study his pursuers
+without arousing their suspicion, for whether they were animals or men,
+the chances would be&mdash;if they were some distance away&mdash;that they would
+never notice that he had turned about, and was now inspecting his own
+tracks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As regards trailing game, whether large or small, he cautioned me to
+watch my quarry carefully, and instantly to become rigid at the first
+sign that the game was about to turn round or raise its head to peer in
+my direction.  More than that, I should not only remain motionless
+while the animal was gazing toward me, but I should assume at once some
+form that suggested the character of the surrounding trees or bushes or
+rocks.  For example, among straight-boled, perfectly vertical trees, I
+should stand upright; among uprooted trees, I should assume the
+character of an overturned stump, by standing with inclined body, bent
+legs, and arms and fingers thrust out at such angles as to suggest the
+roots of a fallen tree.  And he added that if I doubted the wisdom of
+such an act, I should test it at a distance of fifty or a hundred
+paces, and prove the difficulty of detecting a man who assumed a
+characteristic landscape pose among trees or rocks.  That was years
+before the World War had brought the word <I>camouflage</I> into general
+use; for as a matter of fact, the forest Indians had been practising
+<I>camouflage</I> for centuries and, no doubt, that was one reason why many
+of the Indians in the Canadian Expeditionary Force did such remarkable
+work as snipers.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+INDIANS IN THE WORLD WAR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+For instance: Sampson Comego destroyed twenty-eight of the enemy.
+Philip Macdonald killed forty, Johnny Ballantyne fifty-eight.  "One of
+their number, Lance-Corporal Johnson Paudash," as the Department of
+Indian Affairs states, "received the Military Medal for his
+distinguished gallantry in saving life under heavy fire and for giving
+a warning that the enemy were preparing a counter-attack at Hill
+Seventy; the counter-attack took place twenty-five minutes after
+Paudash gave the information.  It is said that a serious reverse was
+averted as a result of his action.  Like other Indian soldiers, he won
+a splendid record as a sniper, and is officially credited with having
+destroyed no less than eighty-eight of the enemy.  Another Indian who
+won fame at the front was Lance-Corporal Norwest; he was one of the
+foremost snipers in the army and was officially credited with one
+hundred and fifteen observed hits.  He won the Military Medal and bar.
+Still another, Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow, won the Military Medal
+and two bars.  He distinguished himself signally as a sniper and bears
+the extraordinary record of having killed three hundred and
+seventy-eight of the enemy.  His Military Medal and two bars were
+awarded, however, for his distinguished conduct at Mount Sorrell,
+Amiens, and Passchendaele.  At Passchendaele, Corporal Pegahmagabow led
+his company through an engagement with a single casualty, and
+subsequently captured three hundred Germans at Mount Sorrell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The fine record of the Indians in the great war appears in a
+peculiarly favourable light when it is remembered that their services
+were absolutely voluntary, as they were specially exempted from the
+operation of the Military Service Act, and that they were prepared to
+give their lives for their country without compulsion or even the fear
+of compulsion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Many military medals were won by the Canadian Indians; Captain A. G. E.
+Smith of the Grand River Band of the Iroquois having been decorated
+seven times by the Governments of England, France, and Poland, and many
+distinguished themselves by great acts upon the battlefield.  "Another
+Indian to be decorated was Dave Kisek.  During the heavy fighting
+around Cambrai he unstrapped a machine gun from his shoulder and
+advanced about one hundred yards to the German position, where he ran
+along the top of their trench, doing deadly execution with his machine
+gun.  He, single-handed, took thirty prisoners upon this occasion.
+This Indian came from the remote regions of the Patricia district.
+Sergeant Clear Sky was awarded the Military Medal for one of the most
+gallant and unselfish deeds that is recorded in the annals of the
+Canadian Expeditionary Force.  During a heavy gas attack he noticed a
+wounded man lying in 'No Man's Land' whose gas mask had been rendered
+useless.  Clear Sky crawled to him through the poisonous fumes, removed
+his own mask, and placed it on the wounded man, whose life was in
+consequence saved.  Sergeant Clear Sky was himself severely gassed as a
+result of his heroic action.  Joe Thunder was awarded the Military
+Medal for a feat of arms of an exceptionally dramatic character.  He
+was separated from his platoon and surrounded by six Germans, each of
+whom he bayoneted.  George McLean received the Distinguished Conduct
+Medal in recognition of the performance of a feat which was an
+extraordinary one even for the great war.  Private McLean,
+single-handed, destroyed nineteen of the enemy with bombs and captured
+fourteen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And yet not a single Canadian Indian has claimed that he won the World
+War&mdash;not even Pegahmagabow, who shot three hundred and seventy-eight
+Germans.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+APPROACHING GAME
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+But to return to the land of peace.  Of course, in attempting to
+deceive game, one must always guard against approaching down wind, for
+most animals grow more frantic over the scent than they do over the
+sight of man.  Later on, when I went hunting with Oo-koo-hoo, he used
+to make me laugh, for at one moment he would be a jolly old Indian
+gentleman, and just as likely as not the next instant he would be
+posing as a rotten pine stump that had been violently overturned, and
+now resembled an object against which a bear might like to rub his back
+and scratch himself.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Often have I proved the value of the old hunter's methods, and I could
+recite not a few instances of how easy it is to deceive either birds or
+animals; but I shall mention only one, which happened on the borderline
+of Alaska.  I was running through a grove of heavy timber, where the
+moss was so deep that my tread made no sound, when suddenly rounding a
+large boulder, I came upon a black bear less than fourteen paces away.
+It was sitting upon its haunches, directly in the footpath I was
+following.  As good luck would have it, I saw him first, and for the
+fun of it, I instantly became an old gray stump&mdash;or tried to look like
+one.  Presently the bear's head swung round, and at first he seemed a
+bit uneasy over the fact that he had not seen that stump before.  It
+appeared to puzzle him, for he even twisted about to get a better view;
+but after watching me for about five minutes he contentedly turned his
+head away.  A few minutes later, however, he looked again, and becoming
+reassured, yawned deliberately in my face.  But by that time, being
+troubled with a kink in my back, I had to straighten up.  Then, strange
+to say, as I walked quietly and slowly round him to gain the path
+ahead, the brute did not even get up off his haunches&mdash;but such
+behaviour on the part of a bear rarely happens.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Perhaps you wonder why I didn't shoot the brute.  I never carry a gun.
+For when one is provided with food, one can carry no more useless thing
+than a gun; so far as protection is concerned, there is no more need to
+carry a gun in the north woods, than to carry a gun down Broadway; in
+fact, the wolves of Broadway&mdash;especially those of the female
+species&mdash;are much more dangerous to man than the wolves of the Great
+Northern Forest.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+SUNDAY IN CAMP
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Next morning being Sunday, we did not strike camp, and the first thing
+the women attended to, even while breakfast was under way, was the
+starting of a fire of damp, rotten wood, which smoked but never blazed,
+and over which, at a distance of about four feet, they leant the
+stretched deerskins, hair side up, to dry.  Besides those, other frames
+were made and erected over another slow fire, and here the flakes or
+slabs of moose flesh were hung to be dried and smoked into what is
+called jerked meat.  The fat, being chopped up and melted in a pail,
+was then poured into the moose bladder and other entrails to cool and
+be handy for future use.  Of course, it would take several days to dry
+out the deerskins; so each morning when we were about to travel, the
+skins were unlaced and rolled up, to be re-stretched and placed over
+another fire the following evening.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sunday was pleasantly spent, notwithstanding that so many different
+religious denominations were represented in camp: for while old Ojistoh
+counted her beads according to the Roman Catholic faith, Amik and
+Naudin were singing hymns, as the former was an English Churchman and
+his wife a Presbyterian; but Oo-koo-hoo would join in none of it as he
+had no faith whatever in the various religions of the white men and so
+he remained a pagan.  Part of the day we spent in pottering about, in
+doing a little mending here and there, smoking, telling stories, or in
+strolling through the woods; as both Oo-koo-hoo and Amik were opposed
+to doing actual work on Sunday.  In the afternoon I turned to
+sketching, and my drawing excited so much interest that Amik tried his
+hand, and in a crude way his sketches of animals and birds were quite
+graphic in character.  One sketch I made, that of the baby, so pleased
+Neykia, that I gave it to her, and when she realized my intention she
+seized it with such eagerness that she crumpled and almost tore the
+paper; for as the Ojibways have no word to express their thanks, they
+show their gratitude by the eagerness with which they accept a present.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That, however, reminds me of having read in one of the leading American
+magazines an account of a noted American illustrator's trip into the
+woods of Quebec.  While there he presented a red handkerchief to an
+Indian girl.  The fact that she snatched it from him, and then ran
+away, was to him&mdash;as he stated&mdash;a sign that she was willing to comply
+with any evil intentions he might entertain toward her.  Such absolute
+rot!  The polite little maid was merely trying to express her unbounded
+thanks for his gift.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The only thing that interrupted our paddling the following day was our
+going ashore to portage around a picturesque waterfall where two huge
+rocks, on the very brink of the cascade, split the river into three.
+When we had carried up the canoes, we found the children making a great
+to-do about wasps attacking them; for they had put down their packs
+beside a wasps' hole; and old Granny, seeing the commotion, had put
+down her end of the canoe, and with disgust exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, my foolish people, always standing around and waiting for old
+Granny to fix everything!"  So saying, she pulled a big bunch of long,
+dry grass, and lighting it, ran with a blanket over her head, and
+placed the fire against the wasps' hole; in a moment they ceased their
+attack and utterly disappeared.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We were now nearing the fork of Crane River, that in its three-mile
+course came from Crane Lake, on the shore of which was Oo-koo-hoo's
+last winter's camping ground; the men therefore decided that it was
+best for Amik to push on in the light canoe and get the two deerskin
+winter tepee coverings, as well as their traps, that had been cached
+there last spring; and then return to the fork of the river where the
+family would go into camp and wait for him.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NEARING TRIP'S END
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Transferring most of the cargo to the other canoes, Amik and I provided
+ourselves with a little snack and started at once for Oo-koo-koo's old
+camping ground.  It appeared about a three-mile paddle to the fork of
+the river.  Nothing save the quacking of ducks rushing by on the wing,
+the occasional rise of a crane in front of us, the soaring of an eagle
+overhead, and the rippling wakes left by muskrats as they scurried
+away, enlivened our hurried trip.  We found the leather lodge coverings
+in good order upon a stage, and securing them along with several
+bundles of steel traps that hung from trees, we put all aboard and
+found we had quite a load, for not only were the tepee coverings bulky,
+each bundle being about two feet thick by four feet long, but they were
+heavy, too, for each weighed about a hundred pounds.  Then, too, the
+traps were quite a load in themselves.  I didn't stop to count them,
+but it is surprising the number of traps a keen, hard-working hunter
+employs; and they ranged all the way from small ones for rat and ermine
+to ponderous ones for bears.  Also we gathered up a few odds and ends
+such as old axes, an iron pot, a couple of slush scoops, a bundle of
+fish-nets, and a lot of old snowshoes.  Crane Lake, like many another
+northern mere, was a charming little body of water nestling among
+beautiful hills.  After a cup of tea and some bannock, we once more
+plied our paddles.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now it was down stream and we glided swiftly along, arriving at the
+confluence of the Crane and Caribou just before twilight and found
+smiling faces and a good supper awaiting our return.  How human some
+Indians are, much more so than many a cold-blooded white.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next day we wanted to make the Height-of-land portage for our camp.  As
+it meant a long, stiff paddle against a strong current for most of the
+distance, we were up early, if not bright, and on our way before
+sunrise.  This time, however, no rapids impeded us and we reached the
+portage on the farther shore of Height-of-land Lake, tired and hungry,
+but happy over a day's work well done.  It was a pretty little lake
+about two miles long, surrounded by low-lying land in the midst of a
+range of great rock-bound hills, and its waters had a whimsical fashion
+of running either east or west according to which way the wind struck
+it.  Thus its waters became divided and, flowing either way, travel
+afar to their final destinations in oceans thousands of miles apart.
+But the western outlet, Moose Creek, being too shallow for canoes, a
+portage of a couple of miles was made the following day, to the fork of
+an incoming stream that doubles its waters and makes the creek
+navigable.  When we camped that night the hour was late.  Then a
+two-days' run&mdash;the second of which we travelled due north&mdash;took us into
+Moose Lake; but not without shooting three rapids, each of which the
+Indians examined carefully before we undertook the sport that all
+enjoyed so much.  An eastern storm, however, caught us on Moose Lake
+and not only sent us ashore on an island, but windbound us there for
+two days while cold showers pelted us.  Another day and a half up Bear
+River, with a portage round Crane Falls, landed us on the western shore
+of Bear Lake at the mouth of Muskrat Creek&mdash;and there we were to spend
+the winter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There, too, I remembered Thoreau when he said: "As I ran down the hill
+toward the reddening west, with the rainbow over my shoulder, and some
+faint tinkling sounds borne to my ear through the cleansed air, from I
+know not what quarter, my Good Genius seemed to say,&mdash;'Go fish and hunt
+far and wide day by day,&mdash;farther and wider,&mdash;and rest thee by many
+brooks and hearth-sides without misgiving.  Remember thy Creator in the
+days of thy youth.  Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek
+adventures.  Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night
+overtake thee everywhere at home'."  And furthermore: "Let not to get a
+living be thy trade, but thy sport.  Enjoy the land, but own it not.
+Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and
+selling, and spending their lives like serfs."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap03"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+III
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OO-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OUR WINTER CAMP
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Bear Lake was beautiful.  Its shores were fringed here and there with
+marshy reeds or sandy beaches; and its rivulets, flowing in and out,
+connected it with other meres in other regions.  At dawn moose and
+caribou came thither to drink; bears roamed its surrounding slopes;
+lynxes, foxes, fishers, martens, ermines, and minks lived in its
+bordering woods.  Otters, muskrats, and beavers swam its inrushing
+creeks; wolverines prowled its rocky glens, and nightly concerts of
+howling wolves echoed along its shores.  The eagles and the hawks built
+their nests in its towering trees, while the cranes fished and the
+ruffed grouse drummed.  Nightly, too, the owls and the loons hooted and
+laughed at the quacking ducks and the honking geese as they flew
+swiftly by in the light of the moon.  Salmon-trout, whitefish, pike,
+and pickerel rippled its placid waters, and brook-trout leaped above
+the shimmering pools of its crystal streams.  It was Oo-koo-hoo's
+happiest hunting ground, and truly it was a hunter's paradise&nbsp;&#8230; a
+poet's heaven&nbsp;&#8230; an artist's home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What fools we mortals be!"&mdash;when we live in the city!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The site chosen for the lodges was on one of two points jutting into
+the lake, separated by the waters of Muskrat Greek.  On its northwest
+side ran a heavily timbered ridge that broke the force of the winter
+winds from the west and the north, and thus protected Oo-koo-hoo's
+camp, which stood on the southeast side of the little stream.  Such a
+site in such a region afforded wood, water, fruit, fish, fowl, and
+game; and, moreover, an enchanting view of the surrounding country.
+Furthermore, that section of The Owl's game-lands had not been hunted
+for forty-two moons.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Immediately after dinner the men began cutting lodge poles, while the
+women cleared the tepee sites and levelled the ground.  On asking
+Oo-koo-hoo how many poles would be required for the canvas lodge which
+he had kindly offered me the use of for the coming winter, he replied:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, cut a pole for every moon, and cut them thirteen feet in
+length, and the base of the tepee, too, should be thirteen feet
+across."  Then looking at me with his small, shrewd, but pleasant eyes,
+he added: "Thirteen is our lucky number.  It always brings good
+fortune.  Besides, most canoes are made of thirteen pieces, and when we
+kill big game, we always cut the carcasses into thirteen parts.  My
+son, when I have time I shall carve a different symbol upon each of the
+thirteen poles of your lodge; they shall represent the thirteen moons
+of the year, and thus they will enable you to keep track of the phase
+of the season through which you are passing."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All the poles were of green pine or spruce.  The thin ends of three of
+the stoutest were lashed together; on being erected, they formed a
+tripod against which the other poles were leant, while their butts,
+placed in a circle, were spread an equal distance apart.  Over that
+framework the lodge covering was spread by inserting the end of a pole
+into the pocket of each of the two windshields, and then hoisting the
+covering into place.  Next the lapping edges, brought together over the
+doorway, were fastened securely together with wooden pins, while the
+bottom edge was pegged down all round the lodge with wooden stakes.  In
+the centre of the floor-space six little cut logs were fastened down in
+the form of a hexagon, and the earth scooped from within the hexagon
+was banked against the logs to form a permanent and limited fireplace.
+The surrounding floor space was covered with a layer of fir-brush, then
+a layer of rushes, and finally, where the beds were to be laid, a heavy
+mattress of balsam twigs laid, shingle-fashion, one upon another, with
+their stems down.  Thus a springy, comfortable bed was formed, and the
+lodge perfumed with a delightful forest aroma.  Above the fireplace was
+hung a stage, or framework of light sticks, upon which to dry or smoke
+the meat.  Around the wall on the inner side was hung a canvas curtain
+that overlapped the floor, and thus protected the lodgers from draught
+while they were sitting about the fire.  The doorway was two feet by
+five, and was covered with a raw deerskin hung from the top.  A stick
+across the lower edge kept the skin taut.  A log at the bottom of the
+doorway answered for a doorstep and in winter kept out the snow.  Now
+the lodge was ready for occupation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As there are six different ways of building campfires, it should be
+explained that my friends built theirs according to the Ojibway custom;
+that is, in the so-called "lodge fashion", by placing the sticks
+upright, leaning them together, and crossing them over one another in
+the manner of lodge poles.  When the fire was lighted, the windshields
+formed a perfect draught to carry the smoke up through the permanently
+open flue in the apex of the structure, and one soon realized that of
+all tents or dwellings, no healthier abode was ever contrived by man.
+Indeed, if the stupid, meddlesome agents of civilization had been wise
+enough to have left the Indians in their tepees, instead of forcing
+them to live in houses&mdash;the ventilation of which was never
+understood&mdash;they would have been spared at least one of civilization's
+diseases&mdash;tuberculosis&mdash;and many more tribesmen would have been alive
+to-day.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On entering an Indian tepee one usually finds the first space, on the
+right of the doorway, occupied by the woodpile; the next, by the wife;
+the third, by the baby; and the fourth, by the husband.  Opposite
+these, on the other side of the fire, the older children are ranged.
+To the visitor is allotted the warmest place in the lodge, the place of
+honour, farthest from and directly opposite the doorway.  When the dogs
+are allowed in the tepee, they know their place to be the first space
+on the left, between the entrance and the children.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While the two leather lodges of the Indians stood close together with
+stages near at hand upon which to store food and implements out of
+reach of the dogs and wild animals, my tepee, the canvas one, stood by
+itself a little farther up the creek.  Taking particular pains in
+making my bed, and settling everything for service and comfort, I
+turned in that night in a happy mood and fell asleep contemplating the
+season of adventure before me and the great charm of living in such
+simplicity.  "In the savage state every family owns a shelter as good
+as the best, and sufficient for its coarser and simpler wants," says
+Thoreau, "but I think that I speak within bounds when I say that,
+though birds of the air have their nests, and the foxes their holes,
+and the savages their wigwams, in modern civilized society not more
+than one half the families own a shelter.  In the large towns and
+cities, where civilization especially prevails, the number of those who
+own a shelter is a very small fraction of the whole.  The rest pay an
+annual tax for this outside garment of all, become indispensable summer
+and winter, which would buy a village of Indian wigwams but now helps
+to keep them poor as long as they live.&#8230;  But how happens it that
+he who is said to enjoy these things is so commonly a <I>poor</I> civilized
+man, while the savage, who has them not, is rich as a savage?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next morning, while roaming about the point, I discovered two well-worn
+game trails that, converging together, led directly to the extreme
+outer end of our point.  The tracks were the wild animals' highways
+through that part of the woods, and were used by them when they desired
+to make a short cut across that end of the lake by way of a
+neighbouring island.  Worn fairly smooth, and from three to five inches
+in depth, by from eight to ten inches in width, these tracks were
+entirely free of grass or moss.  In following them a few hundred paces,
+I could plainly recognize the prints of the moose, the bear, the wolf,
+and the fox; and a few smaller and lesser impressions with regard to
+the origin of which I was not so sure.  The trails were much like the
+buffalo trails one used to see upon the plains.  To my delight, my
+lodge door was not more than ten paces from that wild Broadway of the
+Wilderness.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+INDIAN POLITENESS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After breakfast Oo-koo-hoo suggested that a "lop-stick" should be cut
+in honour of the white man's visit.  Selecting a tall spruce, Amik,
+with a half-axe in hand, began to ascend it.  When he had climbed about
+three parts of the way up he began to chop off the surrounding branches
+and continued to do so as he descended, until he was about halfway
+down, when he desisted and came to earth.  The result was a
+strange-looking tree with a long bare trunk, surmounted by a tuft of
+branches that could be seen and recognized for miles around.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Cutting lop-sticks is an old custom of the forest Indians.  Such trees
+are used to mark portages, camping grounds, meeting places, or
+dangerous channels where submerged rocks lie in wait for the
+unsuspecting voyageur.  In fact, they are to the Indian what
+lighthouses are to the mariner.  Yet, sometimes they are used to
+celebrate the beginning of a young man's hunting career, or to mark the
+grave of a famous hunter.  When made to indicate a wilderness
+rendezvous, the meeting place is commonly used for the purpose of
+coming in contact with their nearest neighbours or friends, and halting
+a day or so, while upon their voyage to the post, in order to discuss
+their affairs&mdash;the winter's hunt, the strange tracks they have seen,
+the strange sounds they have heard, the raiding of their hunting
+ground, and the like.  Always at such meetings a fire is kindled
+regardless of the season, an ancient custom of their old religion, but
+used to-day more for the purpose of lighting pipes.  Beside the fire a
+post stripped of its bark is erected, and on it a fire-bag containing
+tobacco for the use of all hands is hung.  Around the fire the women
+and children spread a carpet of brush, upon which the men sit while
+conversing.  At such meetings one never hears two Indians talk at
+once&mdash;a fine example for white people to heed&mdash;nor do they openly
+contradict one another as the vulgar white man does, for such an
+offence would be considered, by the savage, rude&mdash;and the offender
+would be regarded as no better than a white man; for they believe
+themselves to be not only the wisest and the bravest, but the politest
+people in the world; and when one stops to compare the average Indian
+with the average white man in North America, one must grant that the
+savage is right.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In relation to their politeness I can go beyond my own observation and
+quote the experience of Sir Alexander Henry&mdash;whom they called
+Coseagon&mdash;while he was held a prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I could not let all this pass without modestly remarking that his
+account of the beginning of things was subject to great uncertainty as
+being trusted to memory only, from woman to woman through so many
+generations, and might have been greatly altered, whereas the account I
+gave them was written down by direction of the Great Spirit himself and
+preserved carefully in a book which was never altered, but had ever
+remained the same and was undoubtedly the truth.  'Coseagon,' says
+Canassatego, 'you are yet almost as rude as when you first came among
+us.  When young it seems you were not well taught, you did not learn
+the civil behaviour of men.  We excused you; it was the fault of your
+instructors.  But why have you not more improved since you have long
+had the opportunity from our example?  You see I always believe your
+stories.  That is, I never contradict them.  Why do you not believe
+mine?'  Contradiction, or a direct denial of the truth of what another
+says, is among the Indians deemed extremely rude.  Only great
+superiority, as of a father to a child, or of an old counsellor to some
+boy, can excuse it.  Alaquippy and the other Indians kindly made some
+apology for me, saying I should be wiser in time, and they concluded
+with an observation which they thought very polite and respectful
+toward me, that my stories might be best for the white people, but
+Indian stories were undoubtedly best for Indians."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Furthermore, if we compare the philosophy of the red man and the white,
+we find that just because the white man has invented a lot of asinine
+fashions and customs, a lot of unnecessary gear and junk, and feeds
+himself on unhealthy concoctions that give him indigestion and make his
+teeth fall out, he flatters himself that he is the wisest man on earth,
+whereas, all things considered, in my humble opinion, he is the prize
+fool of the universe&mdash;for removing himself so far from nature.  And
+when the female follower of Dame Fashion goes mincing along the
+cement-paved street in her sharp-toed, French-heeled slippers, on her
+way to the factory, she flatters herself that she knows better than God
+how to perfect the human foot; then the All Wise One, in His just
+wrath, strikes back at her by presenting her with a luxuriant crop of
+varicose veins, corns, ingrowing nails, fallen arches, and bunions that
+supply her with suffering in plenty for the rest of her days.  Her red
+sister, on the contrary, in moccasined feet, walks naturally through
+the forest; and The Master of Life, beholding her becoming humility,
+rewards her with painless pleasure.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But to return to the Indians' meeting places in the wilderness.  The
+important meetings held in the forest are always opened by smoking.  No
+man speaks without first standing up, and his delivery is always slow
+and in short, clear sentences.  In the past there were great orators
+among the red men as many of the old writers and traders affirm&mdash;but
+again I quote Sir Alexander Henry:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Old Canassatego, a warrior, counsellor, and the chief man of our
+village, used to come frequently to smoke and talk with me, while I
+worked at my new business (mending of gun locks), and many of the
+younger men would come and sit with him, pleased to hear our
+conversations.  As he soon saw I was curious on that head he took a
+good deal of pains to instruct me in the principles of their eloquence,
+an art (it may seem strange to say it, but it is strictly true) carried
+much higher among these savages than is now in any part of Europe, as
+it is their only polite art, as they practice it from their infancy, as
+everything of consequence is transacted in councils, and all the force
+of their government consists in persuasion."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Once when questioning Oo-koo-hoo regarding old Indian customs, he
+informed me that among Indians bowing was a very recent innovation, and
+that the men of the olden time&mdash;the fire-worshippers or
+sun-worshippers&mdash;never deigned to bow to one another: they bowed to
+none but the Deity.  They took not the Great Spirit's name in vain; nor
+did they mention it save in a whisper, and with bowed head.  He
+regretted that since coming in contact with the irreverent and
+blaspheming white men, his people had lost much of their old-time godly
+spirit.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TRAPPING EQUIPMENT
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+For the next few days the work done by the men was confined to odd jobs
+in preparation for the coming winter, and the laying out of their
+future trapping trails.  They built some stages upon which to store the
+canoes, and others nearer the lodges, upon which to place their guns,
+sleds, and snowshoes.  They cut and shaved axe-handles and helved them.
+They overhauled traps, and got ready all their trapping gear.  It was
+always interesting to watch Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, even when they were
+engaged upon the most trivial forest work, for much of it was new to me
+and it was all so different from the ways of civilization.  Then, too,
+they had taken the boys in hand and were instructing them in relation
+to the hunter's art.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The first thing they did with the traps, after seeing that the old ones
+were in working order, was to boil both the new ones and the old ones
+for about half an hour in pots in which was placed either pine, or
+spruce, or cedar brush.  This they did&mdash;Oo-koo-hoo explained&mdash;to
+cleanse the old traps and to soften the temper of the new ones, thus
+lessening the chances of their breaking in zero weather; and also to
+free both old and new from all man-smell and to perfume them with the
+natural scent of the forest trees, of which no animal is afraid.  The
+traps they used were the No. 1, "Rat," for muskrats, ermines, and
+minks; the No. 2, "Mink," for minks, martens, skunks, and foxes; the
+No. 3, "Fox," for foxes, minks, martens, fishers, wolves, wolverines,
+skunks, otters, and beavers; the No. 4, "Beaver," for beavers, otters,
+wolves, wolverines, and fishers; the No. 5, "Otter," for otters,
+beavers, wolves, wolverines, and small bears; and the "Bear" trap in
+two sizes&mdash;<I>A</I>, large, and <I>B</I>, small, for all kinds of bears and deer.
+Traps with teeth they did not use, as they said the teeth injured the
+fur.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next to the knife, the woodsman uses no more useful implement than the
+axe.  Even with the professional hunter, the gun takes third place to
+the knife and the axe.  As between the two makes of axes&mdash;the American
+and the Canadian&mdash;the former appears the best.  It is really a good
+fair-weather axe, but winter work proves the superiority of the
+Canadian implement.  The latter does not chip so readily in cold
+weather.  Furthermore, the eye of the American axe is too small for the
+soft-wood helve usually made in the northern forest, since in many
+parts no wood harder than birch is to be had.  But to reduce the high
+temper of the American axe, the hunter can heat the head in fire until
+it becomes a slight bluish tinge and then dip it in either fish oil or
+beaver oil.  The sizes of axes run: "Trappers," 1 1/2 lbs.;
+"Voyageurs," 2 1/2 lbs., "Chopping," 3 1/2 lbs., and "Felling," 4 lbs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last the eventful morning arrived.  Now we were to go a-hunting.
+The trap-setting party was to be composed of four persons: Oo-koo-hoo,
+the two boys, and myself.  Our <I>ne-mar-win</I>&mdash;provisions&mdash;for four, to
+last a week, consisted of: one pound of tea, eight pounds of dried
+meat, four pounds of grease, four pounds of dried fish, and a number of
+small bannocks; the rest of our grub was to be secured by hunting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of course, while hunting, Oo-koo-hoo always carried his gun
+loaded&mdash;lacking the cap&mdash;but it was charged with nothing heavier than
+powder and shot, so that the hunter might be ready at any moment for
+small game; yet if he encountered big game, all he had to do was to ram
+down a ball, slip on a cap, and then be ready to fire at a moose or a
+bear.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+SETTING FOX TRAP
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After the usual affectionate good-bye, and the waving of farewell as we
+moved in single file into the denser forest, we followed a game trail
+that wound in and out among the trees and rocks&mdash;always along the line
+of least resistance&mdash;and for a while headed westward through the valley
+of Muskrat Creek.  Oo-koo-hoo led the way and, as he walked along,
+would occasionally turn and, pointing at the trail, whisper:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My white son, see, a moose passed two days ago&nbsp;&#8230;  That's fox&mdash;this
+morning," and when we were overlooking the stream, he remarked: "This
+is a good place for muskrats, but I'll come for them by canoe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The principal object of the trip was to set fox and marten traps.
+Hilly timberland of spruce or pine, without much brushwood, is the most
+likely place for martens; and in fairly open country foxes may be
+found.  The favourite haunt of beavers, otters, fishers, minks, and
+muskrats is a marshy region containing little lakes and streams; while
+for lynxes, a willowy valley interspersed with poplars is the usual
+resort.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coming to an open space along the creek, the wise old Owl concluded
+from the fox signs he had already seen, and from the condition of the
+soil on a cut bank, that it was a desirable place in which to set a
+steel trap for foxes.  Laying aside his kit, he put on his trapping
+mits, to prevent any trace of man-smell being left about the trap, and
+with the aid of his trowel he dug into the bank a horizontal hole about
+two feet deep and about a foot in diameter.  He wedged the chain-ring
+of the trap over the small end of a five-foot pole to be used as a clog
+or drag-anchor in case the fox tried to make away with the trap.  The
+pole was then buried at one side of the hole.  Digging a trench from
+the pole to the back of the hole, he carefully set the trap, laid it in
+the trench near the back of the hole, so that it rested about half an
+inch below the surface of the surrounding earth, covered it with thin
+layers of birch bark (sewed together with <I>watap</I>&mdash;thin spruce roots)
+then, sifting earth over it, covered all signs of both trap and chain,
+and finally, with a crane's wing brushed the sand into natural form.
+Placing at the back of the hole a duck's head that Ne-geek had shot for
+the purpose, Oo-koo-hoo scattered a few feathers about.  Some of these,
+as well as the pan of the trap, had been previously daubed with a most
+stinking concoction called "fox bait"&mdash;hereafter called "mixed bait" to
+prevent confusing this with other baits.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was composed of half a pound of soft grease, half an ounce of
+aniseed, an eighth of an ounce of asafoetida, six to ten rotten birds'
+eggs, and the glands taken from a female fox&mdash;all thoroughly mixed in a
+jar and then buried underground to rot it, as well as for safe keeping.
+The reason for such a concoction is that the cold in winter does not
+affect the stench of asafoetida; aniseed forms a strong attraction for
+many kinds of animals; foxes are fond of eggs; and no stronger lure
+exists for an animal than the smell of the female gland.  So powerful
+is the fetor of this "mixed bait," and so delicious is the merest whiff
+of it, that it forms not only an irresistible but a long-range
+allurement for many kinds of fur-bearers.  Indeed, so pungent was it,
+that Oo-koo-hoo carried merely a little of it in a cap-box, and found
+that a tiny daub was quite sufficient to do his work.  The reason for
+using the two kinds of bait was that while the mixed bait would attract
+the animal to the trap by its scent, the sight of the duck's head would
+induce the fox to enter the hole, step upon the unseen trap while
+reaching to secure its favourite food, and thus be caught by a foreleg.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mention of an animal being caught by a foreleg reminds me of the
+strange experience that Louison Laferte, a French half-breed,
+manservant at Fort Rae, once had with a wolf.  Louison was quite a wag
+and at all times loved a joke.  One day while visiting one of his
+trapping paths with his four-dog team he came upon a wolf caught in one
+of his traps by the foreleg.  After stunning the brute, he found that
+its leg was in no way injured, for it had been in the trap but a short
+time.  Louison, in a sudden fit of frolic humour, unharnessed his
+Number 3 dog and harnessed in its place the unconscious wolf.  When the
+wild brute came to, and leaped up, the half-breed shouted:
+"<I>Ma-a-r-r-che</I>!" and whipped up his dogs.  Off they went, the two
+leading dogs pulling the wolf along from in front, while the sled-dog
+nipped him from behind and encouraged him to go ahead.  Thus into Fort
+Rae drove the gay Louison with an untamed timber-wolf in harness
+actually helping to haul his sled as one of his dog-team.  The
+half-breed kept the wolf for more than a month trying to train it, but
+it proved so intractable and so vicious that fearing for the children
+around the Post, eventually he killed it.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+DOG TRAILING FOX
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It is generally conceded by the most experienced fur-hunters of the
+northern forest, that while the wolverine is a crafty brute and
+difficult to hunt, yet of all forest creatures the coloured fox is the
+hardest to trap.  In hunting the two animals with dogs, however, there
+is little comparison.  The wolverine, being a heavy, short-legged
+beast, can soon be overhauled in an open country or on a beaten trail
+by a dog, or in deep snow even by a man on snowshoes; while the chances
+of a fox being run down by a dog are not so good.  Some hunters,
+however, kill many foxes by running them down with dogs, and for such
+work they use a light-weight, long-legged dog possessed of both long
+sight and keen scent.  Hunters declare that no animal, not even the
+wolf, has so much endurance as a good hunting-dog.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When a hunting-dog sights a fox on a frozen lake he runs straight for
+him.  The fox, on realizing that he is being pursued, leaps wildly into
+the air two or three times, and then makes off at tremendous
+speed&mdash;much faster than the dog can run.  But in about half a mile the
+fox, becoming played out, stops to rest a moment and to look around to
+see if the dog is still following.  Then, on seeing the dog still in
+pursuit, he sets off in another great burst of speed.  Meanwhile, the
+dog has gained on him, and the fox, discovering this, bolts off at a
+different angle.  The dog, however, observing what has happened, takes
+advantage of his quarry, and cuts the corner and thereby makes another
+gain.  The fox, now more alarmed than ever, makes another turn, and the
+dog cuts another corner and makes another gain.  Thus the race goes on
+until the fox comes to the conclusion that the dog is sure to get him,
+loses both heart and wind and finally lies down from sheer exhaustion.
+The dog rushes at him, seizes him between the forelegs, and with one
+crunch the hunt is over.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It is much the same in the deep snow of the timberland.  There the fox
+will start off with great bounds that sink him deep into the snow and
+make the scent only the stronger for the dog.  Meanwhile, the dog lopes
+steadily along, though far out of sight.  The fox stops to listen and
+learn if his enemy is still pursuing him.  When the dog finally comes
+into view, the fox changes his course, and the dog cuts the corner, and
+thus the story ends in the usual way.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OTHER WAYS OF TRAPPING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+As the methods of hunting the wolf, the marten, the lynx, and the
+wolverine are founded on the various ways of trapping the fox, a full
+description of how foxes are hunted may be of interest.  Then, too, the
+reader will be enabled to understand more easily, without unnecessary
+repetition, the modes of trapping other animals.  My description,
+however, will apply only to the hunting of the crafty coloured foxes of
+the forest, and not to their stupid brethren of the Arctic coasts&mdash;the
+white and the blue foxes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Of course, every Indian tribe believes its own manner of hunting to be
+the master way, but it is conceded by experienced fur-traders that the
+Ojibway method is the best.  When setting a fox trap in the winter
+time, the first thing an Ojibway does is to jab into the snow, small
+end down, and in an upright position, the clog or drag-pole.  With his
+knife he then cuts a hole in the snow exactly the size of the set trap,
+the plate of which has already been daubed with mixed bait.  In this
+hole the trap is placed in such a position that it rests about half an
+inch below the surface of the snow.  A thin shield of birch bark covers
+this, and then with a crane's wing the snow is brushed over both trap
+and chain so that no sign remains.  Then in addition to the mixed bait,
+he plants about the spot food bait, such as bits of rotten fish or duck.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Most hunters have a regular system for setting their traps so that they
+may know exactly where and how they are placed.  Usually he sets them
+east and west, then cutting a notch on a branch&mdash;about a foot from the
+butt&mdash;he measures that distance from the trap, and thrusts the branch
+into the snow in an upright position, as though it were growing
+naturally.  The stick serves not only to mark the trap, but in an open
+space to furnish the same attraction for a fox as a tree does for a
+dog; besides, when the hunter is going his rounds, at the sight of the
+branch he will remember where and how his trap is set, and can read all
+the signs without going too near.  The object of laying the sheet of
+birch bark over the trap is that when any part of the bark is touched
+the trap may go off; besides, it forms a hollow space beneath, and thus
+allows the animal's foot to sink deeper into the trap, to be caught
+farther up, and to be held more securely.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The foregoing is the usual way of setting a fox trap, yet the Wood
+Crees and the Swampy Crees set their fox traps on mounds of snow about
+the size of muskrat houses.  For that purpose they bank the snow into a
+mound about eighteen inches high, bury the drag-pole at the bottom, set
+the trap exactly in the crest of the mound, and, covering up all traces
+of trap and chain with powdered snow, sprinkle food bait and mixed bait
+around the bottom of the mound.  The approaching fox, catching scent of
+the mixed bait, follows it up and then eats some of the food bait,
+which presently gives him the desire to go and sit upon the
+mound&mdash;which is the habit of foxes in such a condition&mdash;and thus he is
+caught.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A curious thing once happened to a Dog-rib Indian at Great Slave Lake.
+One day he found a wolf caught in one of his traps and foolishly
+allowed his hunting-dog to rush at it.  The wolf leaped about so
+furiously that it broke the trap chain, and ran out upon the lake, too
+far for the hunter's gun.  In pursuit of the wolf, the dog drew too
+near and was seized and overpowered by the wolf.  In order to save his
+dog the hunter rushed out upon the lake; and when within fair range,
+dropped upon one knee and fired.  Unluckily, the ball struck the trap,
+smashed it, and set the wolf free; and all the hunter got for his pains
+was a dead dog and a broken trap&mdash;while the wolf went scot free.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Chipewyan and Slave Indians set their traps inside a lodge made of
+eight or ten poles, seven or eight feet in length, placed together
+lodge fashion and banked round with a wall of brush to prevent the fox
+entering except by the doorway.  The trap is set in the usual way, just
+outside the entrance, the chain being fastened to one of the door
+poles.  Instead, however, of being placed on the snow around the trap,
+the mixed bait is put on a bit of rabbit skin fastened in the centre of
+the lodge; the idea being that the fox will step on the trap when he
+endeavours to enter.  The Louchieux Indian sets his trap the foregoing
+way, but in addition he sets a snare in the doorway of the lodge, not
+so much to catch and hold the fox, as to check him from leaping in
+without treading on the trap.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo told me that whenever a trap set in the usual way had failed
+to catch a fox, he then tried to take advantage of the cautious and
+suspicious nature of the animal by casting about on the snow little
+bits of iron, and re-setting and covering his trap on the crest of some
+little mound close at hand without any bait whatever.  The fox,
+returning to the spot where he had scented and seen the bait before,
+would now scent the iron, and becoming puzzled over the mystery would
+try to solve it by going to the top of the mound to sit down and think
+it over; and thus he would be caught.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another way to try for a fox that has been nipped in a trap and yet has
+got away is to take into account the strange fact that the animal will
+surely come back to investigate the source of the trouble.  The hunter
+re-sets the trap in its old position and in the usual way; then, a
+short distance off, he builds a little brush tepee, something like a
+lynx-lodge, which has a base of about four feet, and by means of a
+snare fastened to a tossing-pole, he hangs a rabbit with its hind feet
+about six inches above the snow.  A mixed-bait stick is placed a little
+farther back, in order to attract the fox, while another trap is set
+just below the rabbit.  The idea of re-setting the first trap in the
+old position is to put the fox off his guard when he approaches the
+dead rabbit hanging in the snare.  As, no doubt, he has seen a rabbit
+hang many times before, and snares so baited he has often robbed.  The
+Indian in his extreme care to avoid communicating man-smell to the
+rabbit will even remain to leeward of it while he handles it, lest
+man-scent should blow against the rabbit and adhere to the fur.  If
+that happened, the fox would be so suspicious that he would not go near
+the rabbit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But to illustrate how stupid the white fox of the Arctic coast is in
+comparison with the coloured fox of the forest, the following story is
+worth repeating.  It happened near Fort Churchill on the northwest
+coast of Hudson Bay.  The trader at the post had given a certain Eskimo
+a spoon-bait, or spoon-hook, the first he had ever seen; and as he
+thought it a very wonderful thing, he always carried it about with him.
+The next fall, while going along the coast, he saw a pack of white
+foxes approaching, and having with him neither a trap nor a gun, he
+thought of his spoon-hook.  Tearing a rag off his shirt, he rubbed on
+it some porpoise oil which he was carrying in a bladder, fastened the
+rag about the hook, laid it on a log directly in the path of the
+approaching foxes, and, going to the end of the line, lay down out of
+sight to watch what would happen.  When the foxes drew near, one of
+them seized the bait, and the Eskimo, jerking the line, caught the fox
+by the tongue.  In that way the native caught six foxes before he
+returned to the post; but then, as everyone in the Far North knows,
+white foxes are proverbially stupid creatures.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The more expert the hunter, the more pride he takes in his work.
+Before leaving a trap, he will examine its surroundings carefully and
+decide from which angle he wishes the animal to approach; then by
+arranging cut brush in a natural way in the snow he will block all
+other approaches, and thus compel the unsuspecting fox to carry out his
+wishes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When a fox springs a trap without being caught, he rarely pauses to eat
+the bait, but leaps away in fright.  The hunter, however, knowing that
+the fox will soon return, not only leaves the trap as the fox left it,
+but sets another trap, or even two more, without bait, close to the
+first, where he thinks the fox will tread when he makes his second
+visit.  If that fails, he will trace the fox's trail to where it passes
+between thick brush and there he will set a trap in the usual way, but
+without bait, right in the fox's track.  Then he will cut brush and
+shore up the natural bushes in such a way that, no other opening being
+left, the fox must return by his own track, and run the chance of being
+caught.  Should that method also fail, the hunter will set another trap
+in the trail close to the first, in the hope that if one trap does not
+catch the fox, the next will.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another device is to break a bit of glass into tiny slivers which the
+hunter mixes with grease and forms into little tablets that he leaves
+on the snow.  If the fox scents them, the chances are that he will
+swallow each tablet at a single gulp.  Presently he will feel a pain in
+his stomach.  At first this will cause him to leap about, but as his
+sufferings will only increase, he will lie down for an hour or so.
+When he finally rises to move away, he will feel the pain again.  Once
+more he will lie down, and the chances are that he will remain there
+until found either dead or alive by the hunter.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+FASHIONABLE FOOLS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+If my readers, especially my women readers, should feel regret at the
+great suffering resulting from fur-hunting, they should recall to mind
+its chief contributory cause&mdash;those devotees of fashionable
+civilization who mince around during the sweltering days of July and
+August in furs.  The mere thought of them once so filled with wrath a
+former acting Prime Minister of Canada&mdash;Sir George Foster&mdash;that he lost
+his usual flow of suave and classic oratory, and rearing up, roared out
+in the House of Parliament: "Such women get my goat!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Truly, there is much suffering in the wilderness, especially on account
+of civilization; but if my readers will be patient enough to wade
+through these few paragraphs of pain, they may later on find enough
+novelty, beauty, and charm in the forest to reward them for reading on
+to the end.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But to return to foxes&mdash;they are much given to playing dead.  Once,
+while travelling in Athabasca with Caspar Whitney, the noted American
+writer on Sport and Travel, we came upon a black fox caught in a steel
+trap.  One of our dog-drivers stunned it and covered it with a mound of
+snow in order to protect its pelt from other animals, so that when the
+unknown trapper came along he would find his prize in good order.
+Three days later, when I passed that way, the fox was sitting upon the
+mound of snow, and was as alive as when first seen.  This time,
+however, my half-breed made sure by first hitting the fox on the snout
+to stun it, and then gently pressing his moccasined foot over its heart
+until it was dead&mdash;the proper way of killing small fur-bearing animals
+without either injuring the fur or inflicting unnecessary pain.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Colin Campbell, a half-breed at York Factory, once had a different
+experience.  He had been on a visit to an Indian camp with his
+dog-train and on his way back found a white fox in one of his traps.
+He stunned it in the usual way and pressed his foot over its heart; and
+when he was sure it was dead, placed it inside his sled-wrapper and
+drove home.  On arriving at the Fort he unhitched his sled from the
+dogs, and leaving them harnessed, pulled his sled, still containing its
+load, into the trading room; where, upon opening the wrapper to remove
+the load, the fox leaped out and, as the door was closed, bolted in
+fright straight through the window, carrying the glass with it, and
+escaped before the dogs could be released from their harness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There are, however, other ways of catching the fox.  One is to chop a
+hole in the ice on a river or lake, fill the hole with water and place
+in it a "hung" white-fish, in such a position that, when the water
+freezes, about one third of the fish will protrude above the ice.  Then
+in the usual way, but without bait or sign, set one or two traps near
+the fish.  When the fox arrives, he may succeed in eating the fish's
+head, but when he tries to dig the rest of the fish out of the ice, he
+will become too interested to remain cautious, and in shifting his
+place of stance will soon be taken prisoner.  But sometimes a knowing
+old fox will first dig about in the snow, and on finding the trap, will
+thereafter be able to eat the fish in safety.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Mention of the fish bait recalls what strange things occasionally
+happen in relation to hunting.  A half-breed hunter, named Pierre
+Geraud, living near Fort Isle a la Crosse, in laying out his trapping
+trail one winter, had set one of his mink deadfalls in a swamp close to
+the water-line; and on visiting the trap after the spring flood, found
+a large pike caught in it.  All the signs showed that when the flood
+had been at its height the fish had been swimming about, and on
+discovering the bait set for mink had seized it, and in trying to make
+away with it had set off the trap, the heavy drop-log falling and
+killing the fish.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When I expressed surprise that an animal should have intelligence
+enough not only to find a buried trap, but to dig it up and then spring
+it without being caught, Oo-koo-hoo explained that it was not so much a
+matter of animal intelligence as of man's stupidity; for whenever that
+happened it did not prove to the animal's credit, but to man's
+discredit; the careless hunter having simply left enough man-smell on
+the trap to form a guide that told the animal exactly where the trap
+lay.  Then, the overwhelming curiosity of the fox had compelled it to
+investigate the mystery by digging it up, and when found, the fox in
+its usual way would play with the strange object; just as a domestic
+kitten would do, and so the fox would set off the trap.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE LAST RESORT
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On my first trips into the forest, whenever I questioned an Indian
+hunter as to the cause of this or that, the completeness of his graphic
+explanation always puzzled me; for I could not understand how it was
+that when he was not an eye-witness, he knew all the details of the
+affair as well as though the dead animal itself had told him the full
+story.  But when I, too, began to study Nature's book on woodcraft, it
+amazed me no longer; for then I realized that to those who had studied
+enough it was easy to read the drama of the forest; especially in the
+winter, for then Nature never fails to record it, and every story is
+always published just where it happens.  Even to those who have not
+taken the Indian degree in woodcraft, it is not difficult to read in
+winter time the annals of animal life in the forest, for then Nature
+describes with ample detail many an interesting story.  In winter time,
+too, even a blind Indian can follow a trail of which a town-bred man
+with normal sight could see no trace.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If his steel traps fail, the Indian may resort to still another
+method&mdash;the gun trap&mdash;regardless of the fact that this may lessen the
+value of the animal's pelt.  A gun, first carefully cleaned and loaded
+with the exception of the cap, is placed in a nearly horizontal
+position about two feet above the snow and lashed securely to two
+posts; the barrel slanting downward to a point about a foot in height
+and eight feet away.  At that precise spot the bait stick is so fixed
+that when the fox seizes the bait, its head will be directly in line
+with the gun-barrel.  Fastened to the bait by one end will be a thong,
+the other end of which will be attached to the trigger, and will
+discharge the gun when the bait is seized.  When all is in readiness,
+the cap is put on the nipple, and a birch-bark shelter arranged to keep
+the gun-lock free from falling snow.  Brush is then placed in the snow
+in such a way that it will cause the fox to approach from only one
+direction, and that the one the hunter desires.  It is not a good trap,
+being very uncertain, as whiskey-jacks, ermine, mice, or rabbits may
+meddle with it, and set it off.  It is seldom used except for wolverine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Frequently the value an Indian places upon a certain pelt is determined
+not according to its quality, but according to the trouble the animal
+caused him in securing it, and for that reason he will sometimes expect
+more for a red fox pelt than for the skin of a beautiful black fox.
+Then, in order to retain the Indian's goodwill, the experienced trader
+will humour him by giving the price asked, and count on making up his
+loss in another way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In hunting fur-bearers poison should never be used, since it bleaches
+the fur and thus reduces its value.  Moreover, it is apt to kill in an
+almost endless chain many forest creatures besides the animal sought,
+as they may feed on the first victim to the deadly drug.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hunter's last resort in trapping the coloured fox is to set a snare
+for him.  In setting a snare the Chipewyan and northern Indians always
+use a tossing-pole, while most of the southern and eastern Indians use
+a spring-pole; the difference being that a tossing-pole is usually made
+by bending down a small tree&mdash;the size of the tree being determined by
+the size of the game&mdash;to the top of which is fastened the snare; or the
+tossing-pole may be made by cutting a pole for that purpose.  The
+result, however, being that the moment the snare is sprung the
+tossing-pole flies free, and hauling the game into the air, holds it
+there out of reach of other animals that might rob the hunter of his
+prize.  A spring-pole is made by setting a springy pole in such a
+position that when the snare is sprung, the tension is released, and
+the pole, springing up, hauls the animal against a stationary bar set
+horizontally above the loop of the snare, and holds the quarry there.
+Many kinds of animals are caught with snares, and in size they run all
+the way from rabbits to bears and even to the great bull-moose.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HUNTER CAUGHT IN SNARE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Snares, steel traps, and deadfalls that are set for large game are
+dangerous even for man to approach carelessly, and sometimes even the
+trapper himself has the misfortune to be caught in the very trap he has
+set for some other animal.  Early one winter, in fact, just after the
+first heavy snowfall, and while some bears were still roaming about,
+before turning in for their long winter sleep, an Indian hunter&mdash;I have
+forgotten his name&mdash;assisted by his son, had just set a powerful snare
+for bears.  Soon after starting for home, the hunter, discovering that
+he had left his pipe by the trap, told his son to go on to camp, and he
+would return to recover his treasure.  On arriving at the snare, he saw
+his pipe lying just beyond his reach at the back of the loop, but
+instead of walking round the brush fence and picking it up from behind,
+as he should have done, he foolishly put his leg through the snare in
+order to reach and dislodge his pipe.  By some evil chance his foot
+caught upon the loop; and instantly he was violently jerked, heels over
+head, into the air, and there hung head downward struggling for his
+life.  He had made the tossing-pole from a strong tree, up which his
+son had climbed with a line, and by their combined weight they had
+forced the tree top over and down until they could secure it by setting
+the snare.  The tossing-pole, when the snare went off, sprung up with
+such force that it not only dislocated the hunter's right leg at the
+knee, but it threw his knife out of its sheath, and, consequently, he
+had no means by which he could cut the line, nor could he unfasten it
+or even climb up&mdash;for he was hanging clear of the tree.  Presently,
+however, he began to bleed from the nose and ears; and in his violent
+effort to struggle free, he noticed that he was swinging from side to
+side; then it dawned upon him that if he could only increase the radius
+of his swing he might manage to reach and seize hold of the tree, climb
+up to slacken the line, unfasten the snare, and set himself free.
+This, after much violent effort, he finally accomplished; but even when
+he reached the ground, everything seemed utterly hopeless, for on
+account of his dislocated leg, he could not walk.  So there he lay all
+night long.  During twilight, as fate ordained, the wounded man had a
+visitor; it was a bear, and no doubt the very bear for which he had set
+his snare.  But the bear, in approaching, did not notice the man until
+it was almost on top of him, and then it became so frightened that it
+tore up into a neighbouring tree and there remained for hours.  By
+midnight, however, it came down, and then it was the suffering hunter's
+turn to become alarmed, for the big brute passed very close to him
+before it finally walked away.  A little after sunrise the hunter's son
+arrived, but not being able to carry his father, and fearing lest the
+bear might return before he could secure help, he decided to leave his
+father there, while he went in search of the bear.  Tracking it, he
+soon came upon it and shot it dead.  Back he hastened to camp and, with
+his mother, returned with a sled and hauled the wounded man home.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE FOX AT HOME
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The "coloured" foxes, including the red, the cross, the silver, and the
+black&mdash;the latter three being merely colour phases of the former and
+not separate species, as has frequently been proved, but all four
+having been found in the same litter&mdash;mate in February and March.  They
+pair and remain faithful partners.  The father also helps in feeding
+and caring for the young which are born about fifty days after the
+mating season.  The litter contains from three to ten, and when a few
+weeks old the young are as playful and as interesting as domestic
+kittens.  The den in which they are born may be a hollow tree, a hollow
+log, or more often an underground tunnel with several entrances and a
+storeroom besides the living chamber.  The nest is never lined, but
+left quite bare and is kept clean.  Their principal food is derived
+from mice, birds, fowl, and rabbits; and the parents frequently cache
+food for both their young and themselves.  No wonder they are good
+providers, for what with their keen sense of scent and their great
+speed they seldom fail in their hunts.  They are fond of open country
+and have an individual range of very few miles, perhaps ten at the
+most.  In winter they run singly until the mating season; seldom are
+the tracks of more than two foxes seen together, and their principal
+enemies are men, wolves, lynxes, and dogs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the district through which we were passing was rich in fox-signs,
+Oo-koo-hoo set a number of traps.  Such work takes time, and when we
+reached a well-wooded grove of second-growth birch, poplars, and&mdash;along
+a little creek&mdash;willows, we began to think of where we should camp for
+the night.  Besides, the old hunter deemed it an ideal spot in which to
+set lynx and rabbit snares.  So while the boys cut wood for the fire
+and brush for our beds, and then turned to the cooking of supper,
+Oo-koo-hoo cut a great mass of birch, poplar, and willow branches and
+tops, and threw them into piles, not only to attract the rabbits
+thither, but to afford them a prolonged feast for many weeks, and thus
+fatten them for his own use; moreover, the gathering of the rabbits
+would prove a strong attraction for the lynxes of the region.
+Sometimes, at such a spot, hundreds of rabbits will feed, and in winter
+time the place may become such a network of runways that if it happens
+to be a fairly open hillside one can see from half a mile away the
+shadows of the endless tracks that mark the glistening snow in all
+directions.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the years of great plenty&mdash;which the Indians and traders assert
+come about every seventh year&mdash;the number of rabbits in some sections
+of the northern forest is almost beyond belief.  Then a plague suddenly
+overtakes them, almost wiping them out of existence, and several years
+elapse before the disease disappears and they begin to increase again.
+The plague, of course, is the rabbit's greatest enemy, then follows the
+lynx, the fox, the wolf, and many other animals and even birds such as
+the owl and the hawk; but somewhere among that destructive group man
+plays a prominent part.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE RABBIT AND THE HUNTER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The rabbit, or more properly the varying-hare, of the northern forest
+is also called the snowshoe rabbit, from the fact that nature has
+provided it with remarkable feet that allow it to run with ease over
+the deepest and softest snow.  It wears a coat that changes colour with
+the changing seasons: brown in summer and white in winter.  Its food is
+derived principally from the bark of the poplar, the willow, and the
+birch.  In winter time rabbits are found to be fattest when the moon is
+full, and that is accounted for by the fact that they feed at night,
+and feed most when the moon is giving light.  Besides, on stormy
+nights, especially between moons, they remain more under cover and feel
+less inclined to venture out even to secure their needed food.  In all
+the north woods there is no animal that is of more use to man, beast,
+or bird, than the rabbit, nor is there any animal that is so friendly
+to all alike; yet no other creature of the wilderness is so preyed upon
+as the rabbit.  But in winter its safety lies not so much in the great
+speed it possesses as in its snowshoe feet and in its skill in dodging.
+Rabbits mate in March and April, the usual litter of three or four
+being born about a month later.  The nest is usually on the ground in
+some sheltered place under brushwood that forms a good protection, and
+the nest is lined with leaves, grass, or their own cast-off fur.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A rabbit snare is made of fine babiche, sinew, cord, or wire, and the
+loop is hung over a rabbit runway just high enough to catch it round
+the neck.  In its struggles it sets off the spring or tossing-pole,
+thus usually ending its sufferings.  When thus caught the flesh is
+tender and sweet; but when caught by a leg the flesh is flabby and
+tasteless, the reason being that when caught by the neck the rabbit is
+killed almost instantly; but when snared by a leg it hangs struggling
+in pain for hours before it finally bleeds at the nose and dies, or is
+frozen to death.  When the latter happens, however, the rabbit is
+usually thrown to a dog or used for trap bait.  The reason Oo-koo-hoo
+set the rabbit snares was not so much for present needs as to provide
+meals for the hunter while on his future rounds; also to keep on hand a
+goodly supply of trap bait.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Expert hunters, when they have time, prefer to hunt rabbits by calling
+them.  In the rutting season they imitate the love-call of the female,
+and in other seasons they mimic the cries of the young; in either case,
+the unsuspecting animals come loping from all directions, and the
+hunter bowls them over with fine shot.  Calling takes much practice,
+but when the hunter has become an adept, it is the easiest and the
+quickest way of catching them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In relation to setting snares for rabbits, Mrs. Wm. Cornwallis King,
+the wife of a well-known Hudson's Bay Company's chief trader, once had
+an unusual experience.  She had set for rabbits a number of snares made
+of piano wire, and when visiting them one morning she was astonished
+and delighted, too, to find caught in one of her snares a beautiful
+silver fox; stranger still, the fox was caught by its tongue.  As
+usual, after investigation, the snow told the whole story in a graphic
+way.  It showed that the fox had been pursuing a rabbit, both going on
+the full run, and the latter always dodging in the effort to escape
+from its enemy.  Finally, the rabbit had bolted past the snare, and the
+panting fox, with its tongue hanging out, following close behind,
+accidentally had touched its wet tongue against the wire, and the frost
+of many degrees below zero had instantly frozen it there.  Then the
+fox, struggling to get free, had set off the snare, which closing on
+its tongue had hauled it into the air, where it had hung with just the
+tip of its tail and its hind toes resting on the snow.  When Mrs. King
+found it, it was dead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That evening, when the fire sank low and we turned in, a pack of timber
+wolves for fully an hour sang us a most interesting lullaby; such a
+one, indeed, that it made the goose-flesh run up and down our backs&mdash;or
+rather my back&mdash;just as really fine music always does; and to tell the
+truth, I enjoyed it more than many a human concert I have heard.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HUNTING THE LYNX
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was cool next morning and cloudy and threatening snow.  Five rabbits
+had been caught during the night, and after breakfast we turned to
+setting lynx snares.  The steel trap is set for the lynx much in the
+same way as it is for the fox; but for the lynx, a snare is preferable.
+It is set with or without a tossing-pole, at the entrance of a
+brush-lodge, the base of which is about five feet wide.  The bait used
+is made by rubbing beaver castorum on a bit of rabbit skin placed in a
+split stick set vertically in the centre of the lodge.  A surer way,
+however, is to also set a steel trap in front of the lodge door, so
+that if the lynx does not enter, he may be caught while looking in.
+The Indians often hunt them with dogs, for, when pursued, the lynx soon
+takes to a tree and then is easily shot.  But the most proficient
+hunters like to hunt them by calling.  They imitate its screech and
+also its whistle, for the lynx whistles somewhat like a jack-rabbit,
+though the sound is coarser and louder.  Some Indians are very
+successful in this mode of hunting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Besides being able to whistle, the lynx far surpasses the domestic cat
+in the range and volume of his evening song; and during the rutting
+season, at sunrise and sunset, he has a peculiar habit of beating or
+drumming with his forepaws on the hard snow or earth.  No doubt it is a
+form of challenge, used much in the same way as the drumming of
+cock-grouse; martens and rabbits do the same.  The lynx is a wonderful
+swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water, for he can turn with
+remarkable agility, and board a canoe in a moment.  Of all northern
+animals he is perhaps the most silent walker, for in the night a band
+of five or six lynxes may pass close beside one's tent and never be
+heard, though a single rabbit, passing at the same distance, may make
+enough noise to awaken a sound sleeper.  Though he often behaves like a
+coward, hunters approach him with care when he is caught in a steel
+trap, as he can make a great spring and when he chooses, can fight
+desperately.  While in summer he is a poor runner, in winter he is
+greatly aided by his big feet, which act as snowshoes and help him over
+the soft snow and the deep drifts.  Few animals succeed in killing him,
+for what with his unusual speed in water and the fact that he can climb
+a tree with almost the ease of a monkey, his chances of escape are
+always good.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-100"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-100.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-100.jpg" ALT="The lynx is a wonderful swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water" BORDER="2" WIDTH="260" HEIGHT="407">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: The lynx is a wonderful swimmer and is dangerous to
+tackle in the water, for he can turn with remarkable agility, and board
+a canoe in a moment.  Of all northern animals he is perhaps the most
+silent walker.  Though he often behaves like a coward, hunters approach
+him with care when he is caught in a steel trap, as he can make a great
+spring and when he chooses, can&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter III.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Lynxes mate in March, the young being born about three months later,
+the litter consisting of from one to five.  The father assists in the
+support of the kittens, which are much like those of the domestic cat.
+The lynx's coat is gray mottled with brown, but in winter it turns a
+lighter colour; in weight he runs from thirty-five to forty-five
+pounds.  His principal food is derived from rabbits and any other
+animals he can kill, from beaver down, as well as grouse, ptarmigan,
+and other birds and fowl; occasionally he will tackle the young of
+deer, but he never dares to molest man.  When his catch is more than
+sufficient for his present need, he caches the remainder in snow or
+earth for future use.  He is as cleanly as a house cat, and his flesh
+when cooked resembles a cross between rabbit and veal.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MARTEN TRAPPING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After setting a number of snares for lynxes we resumed our march, and
+on rounding the end of a little lake, saw two fresh moose-tracks.
+Following them up, we finally came to a park-like region, where was
+very little underbrush, and where most of the trees were pine and
+spruce&mdash;an ideal spot for marten.  So Oo-koo-hoo, forgetting all about
+his moose-tracks, made ready to set some marten traps.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For one marten an Indian catches in a steel trap he catches a dozen in
+wooden deadfalls; but with the white trapper it is different&mdash;he relies
+chiefly on the steel traps.  Steel traps are set either in the open or
+in the tracks of the marten in exactly the same way as for foxes, and
+either with or without tossing-poles.  The largest and best deadfalls
+used by the Indians are those they set for bears.  The city-dwelling
+author, or illustrator, who has not lived in the wilderness, would
+never think of depicting an Indian trapper with a big hand-auger
+hanging from his belt, perhaps no more than he would depict a pirate
+armed with a big Bible; yet, nevertheless, it is a fact that the Indian
+trapper nowadays carries an auger much as the old buccaneer carried his
+cutlass&mdash;thrust through his belt.  Somehow or other, I never could
+associate Oo-koo-hoo's big wooden-handled auger with his gun and
+powder-horn, and all the while I was curious as to what use he was
+going to make of it.  Now I was to have my curiosity satisfied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+First he selected an evergreen tree about a foot in diameter&mdash;this time
+it was a pine&mdash;and with his axe cut a horizontal notch one to two
+inches deep; then he blazed the tree six or eight inches down to the
+notch, in order to form a smooth, flat surface; then he took his big
+auger and bored down into the tree, at an incline of about twenty
+degrees, a hole of two inches' diameter and nine inches deep.  Allowing
+at that spot for two feet of snow, he had bored the hole about thirty
+inches above ground.  Then taking two inch-and-a-quarter, thin,
+sharp-pointed nails he drove them obliquely into the tree just above
+the hole, so that about three quarters of each protruded into the hole.
+He did the same with two other nails below the hole, but this time
+drove them upward until they, too, protruded into the hole.  Both sets
+of nails were driven in about an inch and a quarter apart.  The bait
+used was a duck's head placed at the bottom of the hole.  The idea was
+that when the marten scented the bait, he would crawl into the hole to
+secure it; but when he tried to withdraw, he would find himself
+entrapped by the four sharp-pointed nails that, though they allowed him
+to slip in, now prevented him from backing out as they ran into his
+flesh, and held him until the hunter, placing two fingers of each hand
+over the four nail-points, seizing with his teeth the animal's tail,
+and throwing back his head, would draw his victim out.  But such work
+is rather risky, as the hunter may be bitten before he has a chance to
+kill the marten.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though it is a very recent mode of trapping&mdash;only about thirty-five
+years old&mdash;it is now considered the best of all ways for taking marten,
+as the traps not only remain set all winter, but they last for years.
+Later I learned from a chief factor that it was invented by a Saulteaux
+Indian named Ke-now-keoose, who was at one time employed as a servant
+of the Hudson's Bay Company, where he learned the use of carpenter's
+tools&mdash;later, when he left the service, he hunted and trapped along the
+Athabasca, the Slave, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Sometimes twenty-five
+to thirty such traps are set by a hunter in a single day.  Mink and
+ermine are often caught in them, and on one occasion even a wolverine
+was taken.  The wolverine, having scented the bait, followed it up, and
+while endeavouring to secure the dainty duck's head, thrust his forepaw
+into the hole and was thus taken prisoner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo took pains to teach the boys everything in relation to
+trapping, and as soon as he was sure they had mastered the details of
+setting such traps, he went ahead with his axe to blaze the right
+trees, while the boys followed with the auger, and in the work of
+boring the holes and driving the nails took turn and turn about.  But
+after all, the old-fashioned deadfall is more humane than any other way
+of trapping, as it often ends the animal's suffering at once by killing
+it outright, instead of holding it a prisoner till it starves or is
+frozen to death, before the hunter arrives on his usual weekly round of
+that particular trapping path.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Martens mate in February or March, the young being born about three
+months later, either in a hole in the ground or in a hollow tree; the
+nest being lined with moss, grass, or leaves, and the litter numbering
+usually from two to four.  The marten is a wonderfully energetic little
+animal, even more tireless than the squirrel and as great a climber.
+It is an expert hunter and its food includes birds, fish, chipmunks,
+birds' eggs, mice, fruit, and rabbits; and it stores its surplus food
+by burying it.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MINK ON THE FUR TRAIL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+By the time Oo-koo-hoo and his grandsons had set twelve or fifteen
+traps it was nearing noon, so we had lunch before starting off in
+search of another rich game region.  While on our way that afternoon
+the old hunter again discovered signs of wolverines and it worried him,
+for it meant not only the destruction of many of his traps, but also
+the ruining of the pelts of some of the animals he might catch.
+Continuing, we soon entered an ideal valley for mink, where two
+turbulent little crystal streams roared at one another as they sprang
+together among the rocks and then fell down into dark, eddying pools
+where, no doubt, trout leaped after flies in due season.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The mink is a small animal, about two feet long, including his tail.
+In colour he is of a dark, rich brown.  Though he is not a swift runner
+and is rather a poor climber, he is an excellent swimmer and is a
+desperate fighter of great strength.  Minks mate in February and March;
+the female burrowing in a bank, a rocky crevice, or beneath a log or a
+stump, or perhaps in a hollow tree; the nest is lined with moss,
+feathers, or grass, and the young are born about forty days after the
+mating season.  The minks' food may be flesh, fish, or fowl and, if
+overstocked, it is stored for future use.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On land, the mink is caught exactly as the fox, the fisher, or the
+marten is caught, except, of course, that there is a difference in the
+size of the traps.  In water, the steel trap is set just below the
+surface and rests on the muddy or sandy bottom, where it is half
+covered with soil as it lies in readiness close to the bank where the
+mink is in the habit of passing in and out of the stream.  Mixed bait
+is placed on the branches of the near-by bushes.  In order, however, to
+better his chances of catching the mink, the hunter may build a
+deadfall near the trap, where the animal is in the habit of entering
+the bush.  Then extra bait of rancid fish or duck is used.  This mode
+of water-trapping applies, also, to muskrat, otter, and beaver.  The
+mink, however, is a stupid creature, and it does not require great
+skill to trap him; but the hunter, nevertheless, must take care when
+removing him from the trap, for the little brute has the heart of a
+lion and will tackle anything, regardless of size.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+We camped that night on the hillside overlooking "Mink Creek" as
+Oo-koo-hoo called it, and next morning we again set out on our circular
+way, for on leaving our lodges, we first headed almost due west for
+about three miles, then we turned south for two more, and gradually
+working round, we were soon facing east; that course we followed for a
+day, then on the morrow we worked round toward the north, and finally
+to the west again, as we neared home.  Thus the trapping path was laid
+in an elliptic form, somewhat suggesting the letter C, with the home
+camp between the two ends of the letter.  Many times during the winter
+circumstances proved the wisdom of Oo-koo-hoo's plan, especially when
+the sled became over-loaded with game, and a short cut to camp became
+desirable.  Though no part of his fur path lay more than five miles
+from the lodges, yet to make the full circuit on showshoes, to examine
+the traps, and to set some of them, it required a long day, as the path
+must have covered in a zig-zagging way more than twenty miles.  Later
+on he and Amik laid out two more such trapping paths: one to the north
+and the other to the east of Bear Lake.  The one to the northward was
+to be especially for bears and wolves as it was a good region for both
+those animals.  At supper time a snow flurry overtook us and whitened
+the forest.  As we sat around the fire that evening, the last evening
+of our trip, Oo-koo-hoo again began worrying about the presence of
+wolverines, recalling many of his experiences with those destructive
+animals.  But none of his stories equalled the following, told once by
+Chief Factor Thompson.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MEGUIR AND THE WOLVERINE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It happened years ago when an old Dog-rib Indian, called Meguir, was
+living and hunting in the vicinity of Fort Rae on Great Slave Lake.
+The Dog-rib and his family of five had been hunting Barren Ground
+Caribou, and after killing, skinning, and cutting up a number of deer,
+had built a stage upon which they placed the venison.  Moving on and
+encountering another herd of caribou, they killed again, and cutting up
+the game, stored it this time in a log cache.  Again setting out on the
+hunt&mdash;for they were laying in their supply of deer meat for the
+winter&mdash;they again met with success; but as it was in a district devoid
+of trees, they simply covered the meat with brush; and while Meguir and
+his wife set off to haul the first lot of meat to camp, the three
+grandchildren set to work to haul in the last.  On continuing their
+work the next day the children brought in word that a wolverine, or
+carcajou, had visited the log cache; so Meguir set off at once to
+investigate the story.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When he arrived, he found the cache torn asunder, and the meat gone.
+Wolverine tracks were plentiful and mottled the snow in many
+directions, but on circling, Meguir found a trail that led away, and on
+following it up, he came upon a quarter of deer.  He circled again,
+trailed another track, found more meat, and after a few hours' work he
+had recovered most of the venison; but on smelling it, he found that
+the wolverine, in its usual loathsome way, had defiled the meat.  Then,
+on going to his stage, Meguir found that it, too, had been visited by
+the wolverine, as the stage had been torn down and the meat defiled.
+Indignant at the outrage, the old Dog-rib determined to hunt the
+carcajou and destroy it.  But before doing so, he made sure that all
+his deer meat was hauled to camp and safely stored upon the stages
+beside his lodge.  That night, however, his old wife woke up with a
+start and hearing the dogs growling, looked out, and discovered a
+strange animal scrambling down from one of the stages.  At once she
+screamed to her old man to get his gun as fast as The Master of Life
+would let him, as the wolverine was robbing them again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Half-awake, and that half all excitement, the old man rushed out into
+the snow with his muzzle-loading flintlock and let drive.  Instantly
+one of his dogs fell over.  Roaring with rage, the old Indian re-loaded
+with all speed, and catching another glimpse of the wolverine in the
+faint light of the Aurora Borealis, let drive again; but as ill-luck
+would have it, the gun went off just as another of his dogs made a
+gallant charge, and once more a dog fell dead&mdash;and the wolverine got
+away!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nothing would now do but that the old man must seek his revenge at the
+earliest possible moment, so when dawn broke he was already following
+the trail of the malicious raider.  All day he trailed it through the
+snow, and just before dusk the tracks told him that he was very near
+his quarry; but rather than run the risk of firing in a poor light, he
+decided not to despatch the brute until daylight came.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+According to the northern custom, when he camped that night, he stood
+his gun and snowshoes in the snow far enough away to prevent their
+being affected by the heat of the fire.  In the morning his snowshoes
+were gone.  Tracks, however, showed that the wolverine had taken them.
+Again the old man trailed the thief; but without snowshoes, the going
+was extra hard, and it was afternoon before he stumbled upon one of his
+snowshoes lying in the snow, and quite near his former camp, as the
+"Great Mischief Maker" had simply made a big circuit and come back
+again.  But of what use was one snowshoe?  So the old hunter continued
+his search, and late that day found the other&mdash;damaged beyond repair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That night, filled with rage and despondency, he returned to his old
+camp, and as usual placed his gun upright in the snow away from the
+heat of the fire.  In the morning it was gone.  New tracks marked the
+snow and showed where the carcajou had dragged it away.  Several hours
+later the old man found it with its case torn to ribbons, the butt
+gnawed, and the trigger broken.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Tired, hungry, dejected, and enraged, old Meguir sought his last
+night's camp to make a fire and to rest awhile; but when he got there
+he found he had lost his fire bag containing his flint and steel&mdash;his
+wherewithal for making fire.  Again he went in search, but
+fresh-falling snow had so obliterated the trail and so hindered his
+progress, that it was late before he recovered his treasure, and
+regained his dead fireplace.  Yet still the wolverine was at large.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But instead of thinking of wreaking his rage upon the wolverine, the
+poor old Indian was so completely intimidated by the wily brute, so
+discouraged and so despondent, that he imagined that the whole
+transaction was the work of some evil spirit.  As a result, he not only
+gave up hunting the wolverine, but he gave up hunting altogether, and
+he and his family would have starved had not friends come to their
+rescue and rendered them assistance until his grandsons were old enough
+to take charge.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+PREPARING FOR WINTER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After our return to the home-camp we experienced several weeks of
+perfect Indian summer, and its passing was marked by one of the most
+beautiful natural phenomena I have ever seen.  It happened when the
+deciduous trees were at their height of autumnal glory, and when&mdash;as
+though to add still more to the wonderful scene&mdash;three inches of
+clinging snow having fallen during the night, glittered under the
+brilliant morning sun.  Truly it was a glory to behold&mdash;a perfect
+panorama of rioting greens, yellows, browns, blues, reds, grays,
+crimsons, purples, in fact, every colour which an artist's palette
+could carry; and through it all was ever woven a mass of lace-like
+brilliant white that dazzled the eyes of the beholder.  Only once in
+fifty years have I beheld a scene so enchanting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next day, however, a strong wind blew wild-looking leaden clouds over
+the forest, and Autumn, taking fright, threw aside her gorgeous
+rustling mantle and fled away; while the loons on the lake fairly
+shrieked with laughter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile, the work in preparation for the coming of winter had made
+good progress.  Already the women and children had laid out their own
+little trapping paths&mdash;principally for ermine, rabbits, partridges,
+muskrats, and skunks, the game found nearest camp; and many another
+thing had the women attended to.  Though they still possessed the
+sticking-plaster and the painkiller supplied by the trader, they
+refused to rely on the white man's trivial cure-alls, as they could
+gather better remedies from their own woods.  Their chief reason for
+buying "painkiller" was that they, like other Indians, relished it as a
+cocktail on festival occasions; and many a time have I seen a group of
+Indians&mdash;like civilized society people&mdash;topping off cocktails (of
+painkiller) before sitting down to dinner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In case of illness, however, the Indians resort much to bleeding, and
+this is the mode of operation: a sharp flint is fastened to the split
+end of a stick, a U-shaped piece of wood is laid over the intended
+spot, and the thickness of the wood determines the depth of the
+incision.  The flint end of the stick is raised while the other end is
+held down in such a way as to bend the stick; on releasing the end
+containing the flint, the stick strikes downward and drives the flint
+into the flesh to the required depth and no more.  The bowl of a pipe
+is then applied to the cut, and the blood is drawn off through the
+stem.  Young birch roots boiled in a second water make a tea which they
+sweeten with sugar and use as a laxative.  Yellow water-lily roots are
+boiled until a black sediment forms&mdash;somewhat similar to iodine in
+appearance&mdash;and with a feather dipped in this liquid wounds are painted
+in order to consume proud flesh and to prevent mortification.  The
+upper tips&mdash;about four inches long&mdash;of juniper trees having been
+boiled, and the outer bark removed, the inner bark is scraped off and
+mashed up for poultices.  The liquor in which the juniper has been
+boiled is employed for washing wounds, as it causes the rapid formation
+of a healing cicatrix.  To cure colic, the dried root of the "rat root"
+is chewed, and the juice swallowed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Among other work that was well under way was the making of the
+moccasins, known as the "mitten moccasin"&mdash;by far the best for
+snowshoeing, as the seam runs round only the outer side of the foot and
+leaves no puckering above the toes to cause blistering.  True, the
+mitten moccasin is not of the Ojibway style, but Mrs. Oo-koo-hoo had
+learned to make it when she and her husband formerly sojourned among
+the Wood-Crees on the upper Athabasca.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Supplying the family with socks was a very easy affair, as these
+articles were simply rectangular shapes, 12 x 18 inches (for adults)
+cut from duffle&mdash;a woollen material resembling an extra closely woven
+H.B.C. blanket&mdash;and worn wrapped about the foot.  Such socks have an
+advantage over the ordinary kind as they are more easily dried, and
+they wear much longer, as the sock can be shifted about every time the
+wearer puts it on, thus warding off the evil day when holes appear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Amik, during the summer, had made a number of snowshoe frames, and now
+the women were lacing them.  They used fine caribou thongs, especially
+fine for the heel and toe.  I have seen snowshoes that white men have
+strung with cord; but cord is of little use, for cord, or rope, shrinks
+when wet and stretches when dry, whereas deerskin stretches when wet
+and shrinks when drying.  Of all deerskin, however, that of caribou
+stretches less when wet than any other; besides, it is much stronger
+and that is why it makes the best mesh for snowshoes.  In lacing a
+shoe, a wooden needle is used, but the eye, instead of being at one
+end, is in the centre.  Amik had also started work on several hunting
+sleds of the toboggan type&mdash;the only kind used by the natives of the
+Great Northern Forest.  They are made of birch wood and not of birch
+bark, as a noted American author asserted in one of his books on
+northern life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A hunting sled is made of two thin boards, split from a birch log by
+using wooden wedges, and the boards are shaved flat and smooth, first
+with the aid of a very sharp axe and then with a crooked knife.  A
+hunting sled is ten to twelve inches wide, and commonly eight feet
+long.  The widest part of the sled is at the first cross-bar, then it
+tapers both ways, an inch less at the tail, and four or five inches
+less at the end of its gracefully curved prow.  That is done to prevent
+jamming among trees.  The two boards are fastened to four cross-bars
+with deerskin thongs, never with pegs or nails, and the ground-lashing
+is made fast to the cross-bars.  A wrapper of deerskin is provided in
+which to lash the load.  The lashing thong is eighteen to twenty feet
+in length.  Dog-sleds are made much longer, and up to about sixteen
+inches in width, and are provided with an extra line that trails out
+behind, by which the driver holds back the sled when going down hill,
+in order to prevent it from over-running the dogs.  A hunting-sled,
+however, is usually hauled by man by means of a looped strap, or
+tump-line, with a broad centre which goes over the hunter's shoulders
+or head, and has its two ends fastened to the first cross-bar below the
+prow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the next few days Oo-koo-hoo and Amik had also finished setting
+their traps, snares, and deadfalls for all the furred creatures of the
+woods, including wolves and bears.  Already the camp had taken on a
+business-like air, for the big stretching frames for the skins of
+moose, bear, and caribou had been erected near the lodges; and as the
+hunters had secured both moose and caribou, the frames were already in
+use.  Trapping had begun in earnest, and though fairly successful&mdash;a
+number of fine skins having been already taken&mdash;the hunters were still
+worried over the wolverines.  On one path alone they had found nothing
+but a fox's foot, and the tails of four martens; besides, several of
+their traps were missing.  In another place, where they had dressed a
+caribou killed by Oo-koo-hoo, and had left the meat overnight for the
+women and boys to haul in next day, wolverines had found it and defiled
+it in their usual way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The women, too, had had their troubles as owls had visited their
+snares, and robbed them of many a pelt.  Worse in some respects than
+the wolverine is the owl, for while the wolverine leaves a track that
+one can trail, and either find what is left of the game, or overtake
+and punish the marauder, the owl leaves no trail at all, and though he
+frequently eats only the brain or eyes of the game, he has a habit of
+carrying the game away and dropping it in the distant woods where it is
+seldom found.  So the women took to setting steel traps on the ends of
+upright poles upon which they judged the owls would alight, as these
+birds are much given to resting upon the tips of "ram-pikes," and in
+that way they had caught several.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One evening early in November, after a hard day's travel through a big
+storm of wet, clinging snow, we sat by the fire in Oo-koo-hoo's lodge,
+and happily commented on the fact that we had got everything in good
+shape for the coming of winter.  Next morning, when we went outside, we
+found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket of clinging
+snow, and the streams and the lake beginning to freeze over.  We found,
+also, to our amazement that a big bull-moose had been standing on the
+bank of Muskrat Creek and watching the smoke rising from our lodges as
+the fires were lighted at sunrise&mdash;just as I have shown in my painting.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-132"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-132.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-132.jpg" ALT="Next morning we found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket of snow" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="260">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Next morning we found that everything was covered with a
+heavy blanket of clinging snow, and the streams and the lake beginning
+to freeze over.  We found, also to our amazement that a big bull-moose
+had been standing on the bank of Muskrat Creek and watching the smoke
+rising from our lodges as the fires were lighted at sunrise.  After a
+hurried breakfast, we set out in pursuit of the moose, which we&nbsp;&#8230;
+See Chapter III.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+After a hurried breakfast, we three men set out in pursuit of the moose
+which we overtook within a mile, and then there was meat to haul on
+sleds to our camp.  That day the temperature fell rapidly, and by night
+the little streams were strongly frozen, and around the lake the ice
+stretched far out from the shore.  So we gathered up the canoes and
+stored them for the winter upside down upon stages made for the
+purpose; and that night before we turned in we saw, for the first time
+that season, <I>Akwutinoowe</I>&mdash;"The Freezing Moon."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap04"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+IV
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OO-KOO-HOO PLAYS THE GAME
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TRAILING THE BEAR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"My son, a good hunter is never long in doubt; for when he discovers a
+bear track and follows it for a few hundred paces, he knows whether the
+track was made by day or by night, whether the bear was large or small,
+old or young, male or female; whether its coat was in condition or not;
+whether the beast was merely wandering or travelling with a purpose in
+view; whether it was frightened or undisturbed; whether going fast or
+slow; and whether seeking friends or food.  Also, the hunter knows
+which way the wind was blowing when the track was made, he knows
+whether the bear felt tired or active, and, furthermore, whether or not
+it wanted to go to bed."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I laughed aloud.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instantly the old man's kindly face was clouded with a frown and he
+exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son&nbsp;&#8230; that was the laugh of a <I>monias</I> (greenhorn)", and
+glaring at me, he added: "At first, I thought better of you, but now I
+am sure that all white men are fools!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Realizing my mistake, I sobered, and suggested that if he would explain
+I would have a chance to learn the ways of a great hunter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, it is a simple matter to read a track&mdash;that is, when one has
+learned the game.  For then one has but to look, remember, and reason,
+and then the whole story unfolds before your eyes; just as when you
+open and read what you white men call a book.  And some day, my son, if
+you try hard to learn, you, too, may be able to read the tales of the
+Strong Woods Country.  Now listen to your grandfather and he will
+explain: under ordinary conditions a deep, clear track implies action;
+a faint, shallow one, inaction; the length of the stride indicates the
+speed; if, when travelling slow, hair is found upon the underwood, the
+animal passed at night, for in daylight a bear is as careful as a lynx
+to avoid striking things; if the bear is young or middle aged, the claw
+marks are sharp and clean cut; if it is old, they are blunt and
+blurred.  The tracks of the male, though larger, are not so round as
+those of the female, and the male's toes are not only longer and spread
+farther apart, but the underside of his foot is not so hairy as that of
+his mate.  Then, too, as you know, there are other signs by which a
+tracker tells the sex of his quarry.  Now if the bear was travelling
+with a definite purpose in mind, he would travel straight, or as nearly
+straight as he could through the woods, and in order to save time, he
+might even occasionally climb a tree to spy out the lay of the land&mdash;as
+he frequently does.  Then, again, if he were feeding, the ground and
+growth beside his trail would show it; if suddenly startled, he would
+leave the familiar sign that all large animals usually leave when
+frightened; and, moreover, it would be left within fifty paces of the
+place where he took fright.  Furthermore, if he were tired and wanted
+to rest, he would begin circling down wind, so that he could come about
+close to his back trail, and then lie down, facing down wind, in such a
+position that he could see anything he could not scent, and scent
+anything he could not see.  Thus if an enemy approached, his eyes would
+guard his front while his scent would guard his rear.  And now, my son,
+as a bear usually travels up wind, even a <I>monias</I> of a white man could
+surmise which way the wind was blowing when the track was made.  And
+always remember, my son, that only fools laugh at common sense.  But
+don't get discouraged, keep on trying hard to learn, and then perhaps
+some day, if you live long enough, you may become almost as wise as an
+ordinary Indian."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The perfect season for hunting the black bear, and in fact all other
+fur-bearing animals, is between the coming of the snow in late autumn
+and the going of the snow in early spring, for during that intervening
+season the coat is in its prime; but as the bear spends much of the
+winter in hibernation, the hunter must make the best of his two short
+opportunities; that is, unless he already knows where the bear will
+"den up," and is counting on killing him in his <I>o-wazhe</I>&mdash;or as the
+white hunters and traders call it "wash"&mdash;his den.  His wash may
+consist of a hollow tree or a hollow log, a cave, or any suitable
+shelter formed by an uprooted tree.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The finest wash I ever saw was in the woods of Quebec, where, many
+years ago, three birch saplings had taken root in a huge, hollow pine
+stump, and where, as time passed, the stump, gradually decaying, had
+allowed the roots of the fast-growing birches to penetrate through the
+cracks in the stump to the ground.  The roots eventually formed the
+rafters of a moss- and rotten-wood chinked, water-tight roof to the
+little cavern in which the old pine stump had once stood and where two
+winters ago slept a bear.  There was but a single entrance between two
+of the now massive birch roots, and it must have proved a tight squeeze
+when its tenant last entered.  The den was shown to me by a hunter who
+the spring before had happened that way.  While pausing to listen to
+some distant sound, he had heard a stranger one within ten feet of
+where he stood.  He had heard deep breathing and turning to look down
+at the roots of the birches, he had discovered a full-grown black bear
+lying there with its head protruding out of the den.  The head was
+turned toward him and the eyes were fixed upon him with a friendly
+expression.  Without moving a single step the hunter raised his rifle
+and fired, instantly killing the bear that lay motionless scarcely
+beyond the muzzle of his gun.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE TRUTH ABOUT BEARS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The black bear's coat is all of a glossy black, save just the muzzle,
+which is light brown.  In weight the black bear runs from two hundred
+to five hundred pounds.  Though he is found throughout the Great
+Northern Forest, he is a comparative stay-at-home, for he seldom roams,
+even in summer time, more than ten miles from his den, where, if
+undisturbed, he goes into the same winter quarters, year after year.
+Consequently, his paths are often clearly defined and well-beaten, for
+he has the habit of treading repeatedly in his old tracks, and
+occasionally he blazes his trail by clawing and biting, as high as he
+can reach, a neighbouring tree.  There, too, he frequently leaves other
+signs&mdash;as a dog does at a post.  Dog-like, also, other bears that
+happen along manifest pleasure or rage according to whether the sign
+has been left by friend or foe.  The mating season is in June, though
+the female rarely bears young except every second year.  The young are
+born in January while the mother is hibernating; and the cubs, usually
+two in number, are at birth very small, weighing only about ten ounces.
+The she-bear makes a good mother, for though she shows great affection
+for her babies, she nevertheless reprimands them, and cuffs them as
+well, whenever they misbehave or fail to comply with her wishes.  The
+cubs are easily tamed, and being natural little romps, they soon become
+proficient wrestlers and boxers, and in latter years, show so much
+agility in the manly art that they strike and parry with amazing power,
+speed, and skill.  When hurt, however, the cubs whimper and cry just
+like children, and if the little tots are badly wounded, the distress
+of the mother is pitiful to see, for she moans and sheds tears just as
+any tender-hearted human mother would.  Bear-cubs are droll little
+mischiefs.  Not only do they, when tamed, frequently get into trouble
+through the pranks they play, but they like to imitate at any risk to
+themselves the doings of others.  As the following example shows:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Years ago, near Fort Pelly, on the Assiniboine River, an old Indian
+killed a she-bear that was followed by two cubs.  Though he skinned and
+cut up the carcass of the mother, he did not touch the whimpering
+babes, and on going to camp, he sent his wife out with a horse to bring
+in the meat.  When the Indian woman arrived at the spot, she found the
+two cubs cuddled up against the dressed meat of their mother, and
+crying as if their poor hearts would break.  Their affectionate
+behaviour so touched the motherly heart of the old woman that, after
+loading the meat aboard the <I>travois</I>&mdash;a framework of poles stretched
+out behind the horse&mdash;she picked up the sobbing children and, wrapping
+them in a blanket to keep them from falling off the <I>travois</I>, bestrode
+her horse, and brought them whimpering into camp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For some time she kept them tethered beside her lodge where she took
+good care of them, but when they grew larger and seemed well behaved,
+she released them and allowed them to run and play with the dogs around
+camp.  In the fall it was her habit to take a hand-net and go down to
+the river to fish.  Standing upon a rock and every once in a while
+casting in her net, she would land a fish on the bank.  For several
+days the cubs watched her with interest, and then one day, it seems,
+they decided they ought to try and help their foster-mother; so wading
+in on their hind legs till the water covered their little round
+tummies, they would stand perfectly still until a fish would swim near.
+Then they would make a violent lunge for it, and striking
+lightning-like blows with their paws, they, too, would land a fish upon
+the bank.  Over and over they repeated the manoeuvre, with evident
+excitement and pleasure.  At last, every time the old woman picked up
+her net to go fishing, these two went along and helped her with her
+work.  So fond of the sport did they become that, presently, they
+didn't even wait for her to accompany them, but scurried down to the
+river by themselves and would often have a day's fishing caught and
+ready for her before she had put in her appearance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But a few months later, when the cubs had grown still larger and
+stronger, they became so boisterous and mischievous that they not only
+handled the dogs too roughly, but when the old Indian and his wife left
+camp at any time, they went on the rampage: chasing the dogs about,
+ransacking the larder, turning the camp topsy-turvy, and scattering
+everything in confusion.  So the old couple decided that it was now
+high time to put their skins upon the skin-stretcher in readiness to
+sell to the fur-trader.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The black bear is a good swimmer and an excellent tree climber, and the
+speed with which he can rush up a hillside is surprising.  His diet is
+a varied one, for he is always ready to eat vegetables, roots, berries,
+insects, nuts, fish, eggs, meat, fruit, and of course sugar or honey;
+furthermore, he is a killer of small game&mdash;when he is extra-hungry.
+The black bear has been given so bad a name by uninformed writers and
+dishonest story-tellers that most people dread to meet him in the
+woods; whereas, in truth he is usually more frightened at meeting human
+beings than they are of meeting him&mdash;for man is always his greatest and
+most dangerous enemy.  Though I have seen many bears in the
+bush&mdash;seventeen on one trip&mdash;they never caused me any anxiety, and at
+once took flight.  But on one of two rare occasions they did not run,
+perhaps because they were three in number and all full-grown.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It happened up on the borderline of Alaska.  I was walking alone
+through the mountains on my way to Stewart, and wishing to cross the
+Marmot River, I took advantage of a great, permanent snowslide that had
+been annually added to by avalanches from the snow-capped glaciers.
+The snowslide not only completely blocked the cañon, but on either side
+it reached many hundreds of feet up the almost perpendicular mountains,
+yet in the middle, where it bridged the river, it was no more than two
+hundred feet high, though it was about two thousand feet in width.
+Year in and year out that great snow-bridge spanned the little river,
+and now when I wanted to make use of it, I had no sooner started over
+than I discovered three bears with the same intention.  They, too, had
+just come out of the woods, and were only forty paces from me&mdash;as I
+afterward measured.  We were all going in the same direction, and
+though we were exactly opposite one another and all walking in a
+parallel line, no one ran, and for two thousand feet or more, without
+stick or stone between us, we had a good opportunity to study each
+other.  As usual, I was armed&mdash;as I always take care to be&mdash;with a
+penknife and a pocket handkerchief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Occasionally one reads in the daily press shocking stories of the
+ferocity of bears.  What a pity that the truth of these stories cannot
+always be run to earth!  Billy Le Heup, a prospector and guide of
+northern Ontario, once having occasion to call for his mail in a little
+backwoods settlement, opened a newspaper and was shocked to learn that
+a most harrowing affliction had befallen an old friend of his, by
+name&mdash;But I'm sorry I have forgotten it, so let us call him Jones.  The
+paper reported that while several of Jones's children were out
+berry-picking, a great, black bear had attacked them, and killing the
+youngest, a little girl, had devoured her entirely, save only one tiny
+fragment; for when the rescue party went in search of the poor little
+child they found nothing but her blood-stained right hand.  Le Heup was
+so overcome with sorrow and so filled with indignation that he then and
+there determined to get together a few trapper friends of his and at
+once start by canoe for the scene of the tragedy, only a few miles
+away; there to condole with the poor father, trail the huge brute and
+wreak vengeance upon the child-eating monster.  So Bill, with several
+of the best bear-hunters in that region, all well armed, set out in
+haste for the Jones's clearing.  When they arrived, Jones was splitting
+wood outside his shack.  The sorrowing trappers, with downcast eyes,
+moved slowly toward the bereaved father, and Le Heup, appointed
+spokesman, offered their condolences on the terrible death of his
+favourite child.  Jones was completely dumbfounded.  When it was
+explained to him what a dreadful thing had happened to his child, he
+swore he had no idea a bear had ever eaten any one of his children; but
+he was willing to put their story to the proof, so as he had a lot of
+children, he called them all out of the house to check them over.  To
+the joyful surprise of the visitors, there among them was little
+Eva&mdash;supposed to be eaten, and she even retained her right hand.  Thus
+another newspaper libel upon the poor old black bear&mdash;the buffoon of
+the forest&mdash;was shown to be devoid of truth; yet that story was
+published in the Toronto papers, and, no doubt, was copied all over the
+United States.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But though the black bear is a shy, playful brute, usually ready for
+flight if danger approaches, the tyro should remember that if wounded
+or cornered he will readily fight.  Furthermore, if one is unlucky
+enough to get between a bear cub and its mother, and if the cub should
+cry out as though you were giving it pain, the mother will attack you
+as readily as any mother would&mdash;be she chicken, moose, or woman.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WAYS OF THE BEAVER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+A few days later Oo-koo-hoo and Amik set out to hunt beavers&mdash;those
+wonderful amphibious animals of the Northland that display more
+intelligence, perseverance, prudence, and morality than many a highly
+civilized human being.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In appearance the beaver somewhat resembles a greatly magnified
+muskrat, save that the beaver's hairless, scaly tail is very broad and
+flat.  The coat of the beaver is brown, and the darker the colour the
+higher the price it brings.  An adult beaver may measure from
+thirty-five to forty-five inches in length, and weigh anywhere from
+thirty to sixty pounds.  The beaver's home is usually in the form of an
+island house, built in the waters of a small lake or slowly running
+stream, to afford protection from prowling enemies, much in the same
+way that the old feudal lords surrounded the ramparts of their castles
+with broad moats and flooded the intervening space with a deep canal of
+water, in order to check the advance of enemy raiders.  The surrounding
+shores of the beaver's castle are nearly always wooded with poplars, as
+it is upon the bark of that tree that the beaver depends most for his
+food; though at times, other hardwoods contribute to his feast as well
+as water-lily roots and other vegetation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The beaver's island-like lodge is a dome-shaped structure that rises
+from four to seven feet above the water, and measures from ten to
+thirty feet in diameter on the water-line.  It is composed mostly of
+barkless sticks and poles from one to four inches in diameter, although
+at times much heavier material is used; and it is tightly chinked with
+stones and mud and matted vegetation.  Frequently, I have watched the
+building of their lodges.  A foundation of water-logged poles and
+sticks is laid upon the lake or river bottom, next mud and stones are
+added, then another lot of branches, thus the structure rises in a
+fairly solid mound until its dome-like top reaches the desired height
+above the water-line.  Then the beavers tunnel their two runways into
+the centre of the mass from an underwater level on the outside to an
+over-water level on the inside of the mound.  Next, by gnawing away the
+inside sticks and excavating the inner mass, the inside chamber is
+formed, measuring anywhere from four to fourteen feet in width, and a
+little over two feet in height, with its walls finished fairly smooth.
+Furthermore, the chamber is provided with two floors each of which
+covers about half the room.  While the lower floor rises from three to
+six inches above the water level, the upper floor rises from four to
+eight inches above the lower floor.  The tunnels open in the lower
+floor and it is the lower floor or level that is used as a drying place
+and a dining room.  The upper level, covered with a mattress of
+shredded wood, grass, or moss, forms the living and sleeping half of
+the chamber.  Though in winter time most of their meals are eaten in
+the house, the green, bark-covered sticks being brought into the
+chamber through the straightest tunnel, the house is kept quite clean
+and free of all rubbish or filth.  In fact, beavers are better
+housekeepers than some human beings I have known.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A certain amount of ventilation is derived from a few little chinks in
+the apex of the roof.  During the first freezing nights of late fall
+the beavers plaster the above-water dome of their house with mud which
+they carry up between their forelegs and chin from the lake bottom, and
+placing it upon the roof of their house, spread it about in a thick
+coating, not with their tails, but with their forefeet, where it soon
+freezes into so solid a mass that it protects the inmates from the
+attacks of both the severest winter weather and the most savage of
+four-footed enemies.  So strong indeed does the roof then become that
+even a moose could stand upon it without it giving way.  While some
+writers doubt that beavers plaster the outside of their house with mud,
+I wish to add that I have not only examined their houses before and
+after the plastering was done, but on several moonlight nights I have
+actually sat within forty feet of them and watched them do it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The winter supply of food, being mostly poplar bark, is derived from
+the branches of green trees which the beavers cut down in the autumn
+for that very purpose.  While engaged in gnawing down trees the beavers
+usually work in pairs&mdash;one cutting while the other rests and also acts
+as a sentinel to give warning in case an enemy approaches.  While
+cutting down trees they stand or sit in an upright position upon their
+hind legs and are firmly supported by the tripod formed by the
+spreading out of their hind feet and tail.  They generally choose trees
+nearest the water on an inclined bank, and usually leaning toward the
+stream; and while they show no particular skill in felling trees in a
+certain position, they do display great perseverance, for if it
+happens, as it sometimes does, that a tree in its descent is checked
+and eventually held up by its neighbours, the beavers will cut the
+trunk for the second time, and in some cases even for the third time,
+in order to bring it down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At night I have frequently sat by the hour at a time, with the
+brush-screened bow of my canoe within ten feet of a party of beavers,
+while they were busily engaged in cutting the branches off a tree that
+they had felled into the water the previous evening.  They work
+quickly, too, for some mornings I have paddled past a big tree lying in
+the water, which they had dropped the night before and&mdash;on returning
+next day&mdash;have found all the branches removed, though some of them
+would have measured five inches in diameter.  But watching beavers work
+at night is not only interesting, it is easy to do, and I have
+frequently taken both women and children to share in the sport.
+Sometimes, right in the heart of the wilderness, I have placed children
+within fifteen feet of beavers while they were engaged in cutting up a
+tree.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When branches measure from one to three inches in diameter they are
+usually cut in lengths of from five to ten feet, and the thicker the
+branch the shorter they cut the lengths.  If the cutting is done on
+land, the butt of the long thinner length is seized by the beaver's
+teeth and with the weight resting upon the animal's back, is dragged
+along the ground&mdash;over a specially cleared road&mdash;and eventually
+deposited in the water.  The shorter lengths, sometimes no longer than
+a couple of feet, but measuring perhaps six or eight inches in
+diameter, are rolled along the ground by the beaver pushing the log
+with the forefeet or shoulder.  When the wood is placed in the water,
+the beaver propels it to its under-water storage place near its lodge,
+where&mdash;the wood being green and heavy&mdash;it is easily secured from
+floating up and away, by placing a little mud over one end or by
+interlocking the stick with the rest of the pile.  The green wood,
+however, soon becomes waterlogged and gives no further trouble.  Thus,
+when the lake or river is frozen over, the beaver&mdash;for it does not
+hibernate&mdash;may live in comfort all winter long in its weather-proof
+lodge with plenty of food stored beneath the ice and just beyond the
+watery doorway of its home.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HUNTING THE BEAVER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The hunters, arriving at a small lake that lay about three miles to the
+northwest of Rear Lake, crossed it, and turning up a winding creek,
+followed the little river until they came to a beaver dam which caused
+the stream to expand into another little lake that flooded far beyond
+its old water-line.  In it was to be seen three beaver lodges.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo said the scene was somewhat altered since he had visited it
+four years before, as the dam had been increased both in height and
+length, and the pond, increasing, too, had reached out close to many a
+tree that formerly stood some distance from the water.  It was a
+beautiful little mere containing a few spruce-crowned islands, and
+surrounded by thickly wooded hills whose bases were well fringed with
+poplars, birches, willows, and alders&mdash;an ideal home for beaver.  Among
+the little islands stood three snow-capped beaver lodges.  Here and
+there wide-spreading, wind-packed carpets of snow covered the ice,
+while in between big stretches of clear, glassy ice, acting as
+skylights, lit up the beavers' submarine gardens around their
+ice-locked homes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hunters were accompanied by three of their dogs, and before they
+had time to decide where they should first begin work, the dogs began
+barking at a point between the west lodge and the bank; so they went
+over to investigate.  Evidently the dogs had spied a beaver, for now,
+though none was in sight, the canines were rushing back and forth in
+great excitement over a fairly deep submarine runway or clear
+passageway, through the shallow, rush-matted water under the ice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Chopping a hole through the ice with his axe, Oo-koo-hoo drove down a
+couple of crossed poles to block the passageway, and Amik, finding
+other runways, did likewise at other places.  Several of the
+passageways led to the bank, where, Oo-koo-hoo said, they had what is
+called "bank lodges"&mdash;natural cavities in the river bank to which the
+beavers had counted on resorting in case their house was raided.  In
+other places, where the snow obscured the view, the Indians knocked on
+the ice with the backs of their axes, to find and follow the
+hollow-sounding ice that told of runways below, that other stakes might
+be driven down.  The rapping sound, however, instead of driving the
+beavers out of their lodge, had a tendency to make them remain at home,
+for as Oo-koo-hoo explained, cutting ice and working around their homes
+does not always frighten the beavers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Securing two stouter poles, the hunters now chopped the butts into
+wedge-shaped chisels, with which they proposed to break open the
+beavers' lodge.  Work was begun about a foot above the level of the
+snow on the south side, as they explained that the lodge would not only
+be thinner on that side, but that the sun would make it slightly
+softer, too&mdash;and before much headway was made the dogs, all alert,
+discovered that several of the beavers had rushed out of their house,
+but finding the passageways blocked had returned home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, strange to say, as soon as the side of the house was broken open
+and daylight let in, the beavers, becoming curious over the inflowing
+light that dazzled their eyes, actually came toward the newly made hole
+to investigate.  Then Oo-koo-hoo, with the aid of a crooked stick,
+suddenly jerked one of the unsuspecting animals out of the hole and
+Amik knocked it on the head.  Thus they secured four large ones, but
+left a number of smaller ones unharmed, as Oo-koo-hoo never made a
+practice of taking a whole family.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In that house the portion of the chamber used for sleeping quarters was
+covered with a thick mattress of dry "snake-grass," and the whole
+interior was remarkably clean.  After blocking and patching up the hole
+and covering the place with snow, the hunters threw water over it until
+it froze into a solid mass, then they removed the stakes from the
+runways and left the rest of the beavers in peace.  Loading their catch
+upon their toboggans, all set out for home.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BEAVER DAMS AND CANALS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Resides erecting their remarkably strong houses there are two other
+ways in which the beavers display wonderful skill: in the building of
+their dams and in the excavating of their canals.  Their dams are built
+for the purpose of retarding, raising, and storing water, in order&mdash;in
+summer time&mdash;to circumvent their enemies by placing a well-watered moat
+between their foe and their castle; also to flood a wider area so that
+the far-reaching waters of their pond may lap close to the roots of
+many otherwise inaccessible trees and thus enable them to fell and
+float them to their lodge; and&mdash;in winter time&mdash;to raise the water high
+enough to secure their pond from freezing solid and imprisoning them in
+their lodges where they would starve to death, or if they gnawed their
+way to freedom, the intense cold of mid-winter would freeze their
+hairless tails and cause their death; furthermore, should they escape
+from the weather, they would be at the mercy of all their enemies and
+would not long survive.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A dam, in the beginning, is usually erected in a small way, just to
+raise and expand the waters of some small creek or even those of a
+spring; then, as the years go by, it is constantly added to, to
+increase the depth and expansion of the pond, and thus the dam grows
+from a small one of a few yards in length to a big one of several
+hundred feet&mdash;sometimes to even four or five hundred feet in
+length&mdash;that may bank up the water four or five feet above the stream
+just outside the dam, and turn the pond into a great reservoir covering
+hundreds of acres of land.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The dam is more often built of branches laid parallel to the current
+with their butts pointing up stream, and weighted down with mud and
+stones; thus layer after layer is added until the structure rises to
+the desired height and strength.  Some dams contain hundreds of tons of
+material.  They are usually built upon a solid bottom, not of
+rock&mdash;though big, stationary boulders often are included in the
+construction for the extra support they furnish.  When thus used,
+boulders often cause the beavers to divert the line of the dam out of
+its usual graceful and scientific curve that well withstands the
+pressure from even a large body of water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The beavers excavate canals&mdash;sometimes hundreds of feet in length&mdash;to
+enable them to reach more easily and float home the wood they have cut
+from freshly felled trees lying far beyond the reaches of their pond.
+The canals measure from two to three feet in width and a foot to a foot
+and a half in depth, and are not only surprisingly clean-cut and
+straight but occasionally they are even provided with locks, or rather
+little dams, to raise the water from one level to another&mdash;generally
+about a foot at a time&mdash;to offset the disadvantage of the wood lying on
+higher and more distant ground than is reached by the waters of the
+residential pond.  Sometimes their canals are fed by springs, but more
+often by the drainage of rainwater.  The building of many of their dams
+and canals displays remarkable skill and a fine sense of engineering,
+together with a spirit of perseverance that is astounding.  Is it any
+wonder that the Indians say that the beavers were once human beings,
+whom, for the punishment of some misconduct The Master of Life
+condemned to get down and grovel upon the ground as four-footed animals
+for the rest of their days.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, my son," replied Oo-koo-hoo, when we were discussing beavers,
+"they are a very clever and a very wise people, and it would be better
+for us if we emulated them more than we do, for as you know, they
+believe in not talking but in working and making good use of the brains
+The Master of Life has given them, and that is the only way to be
+really happy in this world.  Besides, he is always true to his wife&mdash;a
+fine example to men&mdash;furthermore, he is a good provider who looks after
+his children, and is a decent, clean-living fellow who never goes out
+of his way to quarrel with any one, but just minds his own business and
+cuts wood."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Could any nation choose a creature more fit for a national emblem?  I
+believe not.  For would any wise man compare a useless, screeching
+eagle, or a useless, roaring lion&mdash;each a creature of prey&mdash;to a
+silent, hard-working, and useful beaver who remains true to his wife
+all his life, who builds a comfortable home for his children, provides
+them well with food and teaches them&nbsp;&#8230; not how to kill other
+creatures&nbsp;&#8230; but how to work,&nbsp;&#8230; how to construct strong,
+comfortable houses, how to build dams to protect, not only their
+children, but their homes, too, how to chop down trees for food, how to
+dig canals to float the food home, how to store it for the winter, how
+to keep the home clean and in good order, how to mind their own
+business and never seek a quarrel, and, at the same time, how to defend
+themselves desperately if an enemy attacks them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For his size, the beaver is powerful, so powerful, indeed, that
+Oo-koo-hoo said: "Remember, my son, the beaver is a very strong animal,
+he can drag a man after him, and the only way for a hunter to hold
+him&mdash;if he is caught in a trap&mdash;is to lift him off his feet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Notwithstanding his great strength, however, he is a peace-loving chap,
+but when a just occasion arises, you ought to see him fight!
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BEAVER FIGHTS WOLVERINE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+One spring while hunting along a river, some years ago, Oo-koo-hoo
+discovered a beaver at work upon the bank, and wishing to observe him
+for a while, kept perfectly still.  The beaver was cutting poplar
+sticks to take them through a hole in the ice to the under-water
+entrance of his near-by home for his family to feed upon.  But
+presently Oo-koo-hoo discovered another moving object; it was a
+wolverine, and it was stalking the beaver.  When it drew near enough to
+the unsuspecting worker, it made a sudden spring and landed upon his
+back.  A desperate fight ensued.  The wolverine was trying to cut the
+spinal cord at the back of the beaver's neck; but the short, stout neck
+caused trouble, and before the wolverine had managed it, the beaver,
+realizing that the only chance for life was to make for the water-hole,
+lunged toward it, and with the wolverine still on his back, dived in.
+On being submerged, the wolverine let go and swam around and around in
+an effort to get out; but the beaver, now in his element, took
+advantage of the fact, and rising beneath the foe, leaped at it, and
+with one bite of his powerful, chisel-like teeth, gripped it by the
+throat, then let go and sank to watch it bleed to death.  A little
+later, the beaver had the satisfaction of seeing old Oo-koo-hoo walk
+off with the wolverine's skin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No&nbsp;&#8230; beavers do not believe in divorce&nbsp;&#8230; and on their wedding
+day&mdash;usually in February&mdash;they promise to be true to each other for the
+rest of their lives, and, moreover, unlike many human beings, they keep
+their promise.  About three months later the husband, seeing his wife
+is getting ready to welcome new relations, leaves his comfortable home
+just to be out of the way, and takes up new quarters in a hole in the
+river bank.  While he is there the children&mdash;any number from one to
+six&mdash;arrive, and then can be heard much gentle whimpering, just as
+though human babies were now living in the old homestead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the beaver children grow older they romp in the water much as
+puppies do on land.  If danger approaches, the first beaver to sense it
+slaps the surface of the water with his broad, powerful tail, making a
+noise that resounds through the forest as though a strong man had
+struck the water a violent blow with the broad side of a paddle blade.
+Instantly the first beaver's nearest companion signals the danger to
+others by doing the same; then a second later they plunge out of sight
+in the water and leave behind nothing but a great sound&mdash;as though an
+elephant had fallen in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When married and settled down, the beaver is very domestic&mdash;a great
+stay-at-home&mdash;but when seeking a mate, he travels far and wide, and
+leaves here and there along the shore scent signals, in the hope of
+more easily attracting and winning a bride.  Beavers are full grown at
+three years of age, and by that time they have learned how to erect
+houses, build dams, dig canals, chop down trees, cut up wood, float it
+home and store it for the winter, and by that time too, they have, no
+doubt, learned that man is their worst enemy, though the wolverine,
+wolf, otter, lynx, and fisher are ever ready to pounce upon them
+whenever a chance offers.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+USEFULNESS OP BEAVER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+But I had almost forgotten that I owed the reader an explanation when I
+said that the beaver was a very useful creature.  I was not thinking of
+the value of his fur, because that is as nothing compared to the great
+service he has been rendering mankind, not only to-day, but for endless
+generations.  How?  By the great work he has been doing during the past
+hundreds and thousands of years.  How?  By going into rocky, useless
+valleys and building the dams that checked the rushing rivers that were
+constantly robbing much rich soil from the surrounding country and
+carrying it down and out to sea.  And his dams, moreover, not only held
+up those treacherous highwaymen, but took the loot from them and let it
+settle in the valleys, where, as years rolled on, it grew and grew into
+endless great expansions of level meadow lands that now afford much of
+the most fertile farming soil to be found in North America; and thus
+the great industry of those silent workers, who lived ages and ages
+ago, is even to-day benefiting mankind.  And thus, too, that great work
+is being steadily carried on by the living beavers of to-day.  Could
+any country in the world have chosen a more inspiring creature than
+Canada has chosen for her national symbol?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When, on his fall and spring expeditions, Oo-koo-hoo was hunting
+beavers with the waters free of ice, he placed steel traps in their
+runways, either just below the surface of the water, or on the bank;
+and the only bait he used in both cases was the rubbing of castorum on
+near-by bushes.  Also, he built deadfalls much like those he built for
+bear, but of course much smaller; and again the bait was castorum, but
+this time it was rubbed on a bit of rabbit skin which was then attached
+to the bait stick of the deadfall.  The deadfalls he built for beavers
+were nearly always made of dead tamarack&mdash;never of green
+poplar&mdash;otherwise the beavers would have pulled them to pieces for the
+sake of the wood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Further, Oo-koo-hoo told me that in the spring he sometimes broke open
+beaver dams and set traps near the breaks in order to catch the beavers
+when they came to repair the damage.  Such a mode of trapping was, he
+said, equally successful whether or not there was ice upon the water.
+He also told me that he had seen other Indians catch beaver with a net
+made of No. 10 twine, with a three-and-a-half-inch mesh, but that,
+though the method worked rather well, he had never tried it.  The way
+of all others, that he liked best, was to hunt them by calling, and the
+best time for that was during the mornings and evenings of the rutting
+season.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Later in the year, when the ice is gone, and the beaver is swimming,
+say a foot under water, the hunter can easily follow his course from
+the appearance of the surface.  The same applies to the muskrat, mink,
+and otter.  Muskrats and beavers swim much alike, as they are usually
+going in search of roots, and, knowing exactly where to find them, they
+swim straight; but minks and otters swim a zig-zag course for the
+reason that they are always looking for fish and therefore are
+constantly turning their heads about; and that rule applies whether
+their heads are above or below the surface.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When a beaver&mdash;providing he has not slapped the water with his tail&mdash;or
+an otter dives, an observant hunter can judge fairly well as to where
+the animal is heading for, by simply noting the twist of the tail, a
+point that helps the hunter to gauge the place where it may rise.  The
+same applies to whales when they sound, though I found&mdash;while whale
+hunting&mdash;that few whalers realized it, and fewer still took advantage
+of it, for much time was lost while waiting for the whale to rise
+before the boat could be headed in the right direction.  But then the
+average Indian is much more observant than the average white man.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If a beaver is caught in a steel trap, he will do his utmost to plunge
+into water and remain there even though he should drown, yet his house
+may not be in that river or pond; but if he is wounded, he will either
+try to reach his house or take to the woods.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When in pursuit of beavers it is advisable to watch for them on
+moonlight nights about eight or nine o'clock, and it is best to be in a
+canoe, as then there is less danger of the beaver sinking before he can
+be removed from the water.  The hunter, while waiting for a shot, makes
+a noise with the handle of his knife against a stick in imitation of a
+beaver cutting wood&mdash;a sound somewhat similar to that of the boring of
+a large auger.  It is astonishing how far, on a still night, beavers
+will hear such a sound and come to help their friends at work.  When
+Oo-koo-hoo shot beaver he charged his gun with four slugs and fired for
+the head, as he explained that ordinary shot was too fine and scattered
+too much, while a single ball was too large.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OO-KOO-HOO SHOOTS A BEAR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The following morning Oo-koo-hoo and I set out to go the round of the
+northern trapping trail which for some distance followed the valley of
+Beaver River, upon the bank of which traps, snares, and deadfalls for
+bears were set.  Along that section of the river there were also traps
+set for otters, beavers, and muskrats; but the hunting of these
+amphibious animals was pursued with more diligence in the spring than
+in the winter.  Though we hauled a hunting toboggan, the snow was not
+yet deep enough for snowshoes, but what a feast of reading the forest
+afforded us!  What tragedies were written in the snow!  Here we
+followed a mink's track as it skirted the river bank that wound in and
+out among the trees, showing that the mink had leaped here, crouched
+there, or had been scratching beyond in the snow.  Evidently it was in
+search of food.  Presently we noticed another track, that of an ermine.
+The two trails were converging.  Now, apparently, the mink had seen its
+enemy, and, therefore, in order to get past the ermine and escape
+trouble, it had increased its speed.  At this point the ermine had
+spied it and had redoubled its speed.  Now they had both bounded along
+with all their might.  But as ill-fate would have it, they had met.  A
+violent struggle had ensued.  Blood was spattered upon the snow.  From
+the battle-ground only one trail led away.  It was that of the ermine.
+But though the snow was marked by the footprints of only one animal,
+the trail of two tails plainly showed.  It was evident that the ermine
+had seized its victim by the throat and throwing it over its back, had
+carried it away.  Many other tracks of beasts and birds were printed
+upon the snow and told in vivid detail stories of life in the winter
+wilderness.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beaver River was now frozen firmly enough to bear a man, except in a
+few places where rapid water kept the ice thin or left the stream open;
+and as we tramped along we examined a number of traps, from two of
+which we took an otter and a beaver.  But the bear and the wolf traps
+remained undisturbed though we saw a number of wolf tracks near at
+hand.  Turning westward we ascended a slope and came suddenly upon the
+fresh track of a bear.  It was fairly large, and was travelling slowly;
+merely sauntering along as though looking for a den in which to pass
+the winter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At once Oo-koo-hoo was all alert.  Carefully re-charging his gun with
+ball, and seeing that his knife and axe were at hand, he left the
+toboggan behind, lest it make a noise among the trees and alarm the
+quarry.  In less than a quarter of a mile, however, we came upon a sign
+that the bear had passed but a few minutes before.  The hunter paused
+to suggest that it would better his approach if I were to follow a
+little farther in the rear; then he noiselessly continued his pursuit.
+Slowly he moved forward, cautiously avoiding the snapping of a twig or
+the scraping of underbrush.  After peering through the shrubbery ahead
+or halting a moment to reexamine the track, he would move on again, but
+with scarcely any perceptible motion of the upper part of his body.
+When in doubt, he would stand stock-still and try by sight or hearing
+to get news of the bear.  Luckily, there was no wind, so it made little
+difference which way we turned in following the trail.  But just then
+there happened a disturbing and irritating thing, for a whiskey
+jack&mdash;Canada Jay&mdash;took to following us, and chirping about it, too.
+Crossing a rocky patch on the hillside, the bear came into view as it
+circled a little in order to descend.  Presently it left the shadow of
+the forest and emerging into sunlight on a snow-covered ledge, turned
+its head as though it had heard a sound in the rear.  It was Oo-koo-hoo
+speaking:
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-164"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-164.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-164.jpg" ALT="The bear circled a little in order to descend.  Presently it left the shadow" BORDER="2" WIDTH="260" HEIGHT="407">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: The bear circled a little in order to descend.
+Presently it left the shadow of the forest and, emerging into sunlight
+on a snow-covered ledge, turned its head as though it had heard a sound
+in the rear.  It was Oo-koo-hoo speaking: "Turn your head away, my
+brother&nbsp;&#8230;" but the report of his gun cut short his sentence, and
+the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among,&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter IV.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+"Turn your head away, my brother&nbsp;&#8230;" but the report of his gun cut
+short his sentence, and the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among
+the growth below.  Re-loading his gun, the hunter slowly followed, more
+cautiously than ever, for he saw from the blood upon the snow that the
+beast was wounded and, therefore, dangerous.  As he went he covered
+every likely place with his gun, lest the bear should be lurking there
+and rush at him.  At last I saw him pause much longer than usual, then
+move forward again.  Finally he turned, and in a satisfied tone
+exclaimed: "It's dead!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The ball had struck just behind the left shoulder and had entered the
+heart; and the hunter explained that when he saw his best chance, he
+spoke to the bear to make it pause in order to better his aim.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what did you say to him?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, I said: 'Turn your eyes away, my brother, for I am about to
+kill you.'  I never care to fire at a bear without first telling him
+how sorry I am that I need his coat."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then the skinning began, and by noon we had it finished.  Loading the
+head and part of the meat on the sled, I hauled it, while the hunter
+rolled up the heavy pelt and packed it upon his back with the aid of a
+tump-line.  Taking our loads back to the river and caching them there,
+we continued along the trapping trail.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A DEADFALL FOR BEAR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Soon we came to one of the best deadfalls I had ever seen.  It was set
+for bear, and was of the "log-house" kind, with walls nearly six feet
+high, and a base that was eight feet long by five feet wide in front,
+while only two feet in width in the rear.  It was built in conjunction
+with two standing trees that formed the two corner posts retaining the
+huge drop-log.  The front of the big trap was left quite open, save for
+the drop-log that crossed it obliquely.  While the thin end of the log
+was staked to the ground, the thick end, loaded with a platform,
+weighted with stones, projected beyond the far side of the trap at a
+height of about five feet from the ground.  It was ready to fall and
+crush any unlucky creature that might venture in and touch the
+bait-trigger.  Whatever the drop-log might fall upon, it would hold as
+though in a vise, and if the bear were not already dead when the hunter
+should arrive, he would take care to shoot the animal in the head
+before removing the drop-log.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Snares are also set for bears, and the best of them are made of twenty
+strands of <I>babiche</I> twisted into the form of a rope.  The loop is set
+about eighteen inches in diameter, and is attached to either a
+spring-pole or a tossing-pole&mdash;or, more correctly speaking, a tree
+sufficiently large to raise and support the weight of the bear.
+Sometimes a guiding-pole is used in connection with a snare.  One end
+is planted in the ground in the centre of the path and the other,
+slanting up toward the snare, is used as a guide toward the loop, since
+a bear walking forward would straddle the pole.  In a further effort to
+getting the animal's head in the right place, the hunter smears the
+upper end of the pole with syrup.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another wooden trap is that of the stump and wedge.  It is made by
+chopping down a tree of not less than half a foot in diameter, so that
+a stump is left about six feet high.  The stump is then split, and a
+long, tapering wedge, well greased, is driven in, and upon it is
+smeared a coating of syrup or honey as a bait.  The bear will not only
+try to lick off the bait, but in his eagerness to pull out the wedge
+and lick it, too, will spring the trap and find a paw caught between
+the closing stump.  Also, the Indians sometimes use a stage from the
+top of which they shoot the bear at night while he passes on his
+runway; and to attract the bear they imitate the cry of a cub in
+distress.  Steel traps, too, are set for bears.  They are very strong
+with big double springs and weigh about twenty pounds.  They, too, are
+set on the runway of the bears, and are carefully covered with leaves
+or moss.  No bait is used on the trap, but syrup or honey is spread
+upon a near-by tree to induce the bear to step in the trap.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MARASTY AND THE BEAR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+But all bear traps are dangerous to mankind and not infrequently a man
+is caught in one.  In 1899 a half-breed hunter by the name of Marasty,
+who lived near Green Lake, about 150 miles north of Prince Albert, went
+one late spring day to visit his traps, and in the course of his trip
+came upon one of his deadfalls set for bear, from which he noticed the
+bait had been removed, although the trap had not been sprung.  Before
+rebaiting it, however, he built a fire to boil his tea-pail, and sat
+down to eat his lunch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After refreshment, Marasty, being a lazy man, decided to enter the trap
+from in front, instead of first opening up the rear and entering from
+that quarter, as he should have done.  He got along all right until he
+started to back out, when in some way he jarred the trigger, and, just
+as he was all free of the ground-log save his right arm, down came the
+ponderous drop-log with its additional weight of platform and stones.
+It caught him just above the elbow, crushed his arm flat, and held him
+a prisoner in excruciating pain.  The poor wretch nearly swooned.
+Later, he thought of his knife.  He would try to cut the log in two and
+thus free himself.  He knew that, handicapped as he was, though he
+worked feverishly and incessantly, the task would demand many hours of
+furious toil.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After a while the wind arose and re-kindled his dying fire into life.
+The sparks flew up and the flames ran over the dry moss toward him.
+Now there was added the dread of being burnt alive.  But he worked his
+feet violently and succeeded in roughening the ground sufficiently to
+turn the fire so, that it passed on either side of him, and though it
+continued beyond the wooden trap, eventually died down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then he went on with his cutting, but night came on before he had dug
+into the log more than a few inches.  Growing faint, he rested awhile,
+and later fell asleep.  When he awoke, he discovered a full-grown black
+bear sitting upon its haunches watching him.  He shouted to drive the
+beast away, but, strange to say, the noise did not frighten the bear,
+for several times it got up and attempted to reach the syrup on the
+trap.  When the captive renewed his shouting and kicking, the bear
+merely stepped back, sat down, and persisted in maintaining its
+fearsome watch all night.  Nevertheless, the half-breed was afraid to
+stop shouting, so he kept it up at intervals all night long.  When,
+however, dawn came, the bear went away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At sunrise Marasty renewed his efforts to escape, and though his hand
+was now blistered and sore, he worked for several hours.  Then thirst
+attacked him; and he dug in the ground, but without avail, in the hope
+of finding moisture.  Again he turned to the cutting of the log, but
+soon exhaustion weakened his exertions.  Night came on again and with
+it came the bear; but this time he was glad to see the brute, for its
+presence made him feel less lonely and drove away despair.  This time,
+too, the bear sat around in such a friendly way, that Marasty felt
+relieved enough to sing some hymns and do a little praying; but when he
+began to sing a second time, the big black beast lost patience, got up
+and walked away, much to the regret of the imprisoned hunter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the morning the now almost lifeless Marasty heard in the distance
+the voice of his brother calling his name; but though he shouted wildly
+in answer, no response came, for the wind was blowing in the wrong
+direction, and defeated his attempt to benefit by the help that was so
+near.  Later, the unhappy man swooned.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About noon the brother, finding the sufferer's trail, arrived upon the
+scene, removed the drop-log, picked up the unconscious man, and
+carrying him to his canoe, cut away the thwarts and laid him in.  After
+a paddle of fifteen miles to the portage landing, he left the stricken
+wretch in the canoe, and ran four miles to get help.  With other men
+and two horses he speedily returned, rigged up a stage swung between
+the horses, and laying Marasty thereon, transported him through the
+bush to his home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the meantime, an express had been despatched to Prince Albert to
+summon a doctor; but the old Indian women could not bear to wait so
+long for the coming of relief, so filing a big knife into a
+fine-toothed saw, they cut away the bruised flesh and sawed off the
+broken bones.  They made a clean amputation which they dressed with a
+poultice made from well-boiled inner bark of juniper, and not only did
+no mortification set in, but the arm healed nicely; and when the doctor
+arrived ten days later, he examined the amputation carefully and said
+that there was nothing for him to do: the old women had done their work
+so well.  Marasty quickly recovered, and next winter he was on the
+hunting trail again.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HOW BEARS ARE HUNTED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After spending three days upon the trapping trail we returned to camp;
+but because our toboggan was loaded with game, and also because we did
+not return by our outgoing route, the grandmother and the two boys set
+out to bring in the bear meat and the bear's head.  During the feast
+that followed Oo-koo-hoo addressed the bear's head with superstitious
+awe and again begged it not to be offended or angry because it had been
+killed since they needed both its coat and its fat and flesh to help
+tide them over the winter.  In this entreaty Amik did not join&mdash;perhaps
+because he was too civilized.  After the meal, the skull was hung upon
+a branch of a pine that stood near the lodges.  It reminded me that
+once I had seen at an old camping place eleven bear skulls upon a
+single branch; but the sight of bear skulls upon trees is not uncommon
+when one is travelling through the Strong Woods Country.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That night, when I was sitting beside Oo-koo-hoo, we began talking
+about bear hunting and he said: "My son, some day you, too, may want to
+become a great bear-hunter, and when you do go out to hunt alone, don't
+do as I do, but do as I say, for I am growing old and am sometimes
+careless about the way I approach game."  Puffing away at his pipe, he
+presently continued: "In trailing bear, the hunter's method of
+approach, of course, depends entirely upon the information he has
+gained from the tracks he has discovered.  If the hunter sees the bear
+without being seen, he will approach to within about twenty paces or
+even ten of the brute before he fires; being, however, always careful
+to keep some object between him and his quarry.  And when he does fire,
+he should not wait to see the effect, but should immediately run aside
+for a distance of fifteen or twenty paces, as the first thing a bear
+does when it is shot is to bite the wound on account of the pain, next
+it tries to discover who hit it, and remembering from which direction
+the sound came, it looks up, and seeing the smoke, rushes for it.  Then
+the hunter has his opportunity, for on seeing the beast pass broadside,
+he fires, and thus stands a good chance of hitting a vital spot.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At a critical moment a good hunter's movements are not only swift but
+always premeditated.  Nor does he ever treat a bear with contempt: from
+first to last, he is always on guard.  He never takes a chance.  Even
+if the bear drops when the hunter fires, he will immediately re-load
+and advance very slowly lest the brute be feigning death.  The hunter
+advances, with his gun cocked and in readiness, to within perhaps five
+paces, and then waits to see if his quarry is really dead.  If the bear
+is not dead and sees that the hunter is off his guard, the chances are
+it will rush at him.  But an experienced hunter is not easily fooled,
+for he knows that if an animal makes a choking sound in its throat,
+caused by internal bleeding, it is mortally wounded; but if it makes no
+such sound&mdash;watch out!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, no animal is ever instantly killed, for there is always a
+gradual collapse, or more or less of a movement caused by the
+contraction of its muscles, before death actually comes; but when an
+animal feigns death, it is always in too much of a hurry about it, and
+drops instantly without a final struggle, or any hard breathing&mdash;that
+is the time when one should wait and be careful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then again, my son, if a wounded or cornered bear comes suddenly upon
+a hunter, the beast will not at once rush at him, grab him or bite him,
+but will instantly draw back, just as the hunter will do; then it will
+sit up upon its haunches for a moment, as though to think over the
+situation; that pause, slight as it is, gives the hunter a moment to
+uncover his gun, cock it, and aim, and fire it at the beast's mouth.
+In such a situation the hunter prefers to fire at its mouth, because if
+shot in the heart, the bear can still lunge at the hunter before it
+falls, but if struck in the mouth, the brute is dazed and stops to rub
+its face; meanwhile, the hunter has a chance to re-load and try for a
+shot behind the ear, as that is even more fatal than one in the heart.
+But if the bear happens to be in a tree, the hunter does not try for
+either the brain or the heart, because the former is usually out of
+aim, and the latter is protected by the trunk or limb of the tree; so
+he shoots at the small of the back for that will paralyze it and cause
+it to let go hold of the tree, and drop to the ground.  The fall will
+leave very little fight in it, or will finish it altogether.  But if
+hit in the head or even in a paw, the chances are that the bear will
+jump; and then watch out, for it will either run or fight!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In hunting bears, however, the hunter must remember that he should
+guard most against scent and sound betraying him, since a bear's sight
+is not very keen.  If the bear happens to be feeding, the hunter may
+easily approach, provided that the wind is right and he keeps quiet;
+but if the bear hears the slightest sound or catches a single whiff of
+scent&mdash;away he goes!  If, however, the hunter approaches in an open
+place and the bear, seeing him, sits up to get a better look, the
+hunter should immediately stand perfectly still, and wait thus until
+the bear again resumes feeding or moves away.  Then the hunter rushes
+forward, but all the while watches keenly to see when it stops to look
+again; and at the first sign of that the hunter becomes rigid once
+more.  Such tactics may be successful two or three times but rarely
+more, so then the hunter had best fire.  Now, my son, when you go
+hunting you will know what to do, and if Amik would only pay attention
+to what I say, he, too, might become a better hunter, for I have had
+much experience in hunting both black and grizzly bears."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NEYKIA AND HER LOVER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+As the weeks passed, the children devoted themselves to their winter
+play and spent most of their days in the open air.  Tobogganing was
+their greatest sport.  Often did they invite me to take part in this,
+and whenever, in descending a slope, a sled-load was upset, it always
+created hilarious laughter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The younger children, even during the severest part of the winter when
+it registered forty or more degrees below zero, were always kept
+comfortably warm, sometimes uncomfortably warm, in the rabbit-skin
+coats that their mother and their grandmother had made for them.  The
+rabbit skins were cut into thin, spiral strips and twisted, with the
+hair-side out, about thin thongs, and woven together like a
+small-meshed fish-net, so that, though the hair overlapped and filled
+every mesh completely, one's fingers might be passed through the
+garment anywhere.  They also made rabbit-skin blankets in the same way;
+and of all blankets used in the north woods, none has so many good
+qualities.  A rabbit-skin blanket is less bulky than that of the
+caribou skin; it is warmer than the famous four-point woollen blanket
+of the H. B. Co., and not only ventilates better than either of the
+others, but it is light to carry.  It has the drawback, however, that
+unless it is enclosed in a covering of some light material, the hair
+gets on everything, for as long as the blanket lasts it sheds rabbit
+hair.  I have tried many kinds of beds, and many kinds of blankets, and
+sleeping bags, too, even the Eskimo sleeping bag of double
+skin&mdash;hairless sealskin on the outside and hairy caribou skin on the
+inside&mdash;and many a night I have slept out in the snow when it was fifty
+degrees below zero, and experience has taught me that the rabbit skin
+blanket is best for winter use in the northern forest.  A sleeping bag
+that is large enough to get into is too large when you are in it; you
+cannot wrap it around you as you can a blanket, therefore it is not so
+warm; besides, it is harder to keep a bag free of gathering moisture
+than a blanket.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But to return to the children.  It used to amuse me to see the boys
+returning from their hunts carrying their guns over their shoulders.
+The contrast in size between the weapons and the bearers of them was so
+great that by comparison the lads looked like Liliputians, yet with all
+the dignified air of great hunters they would stalk up to their sisters
+and hand them their guns and game bags to be disposed of while they
+slipped off their snowshoes, lighted their pipes, and entered the
+lodge.  By the way, I don't believe I have mentioned that in winter
+time the guns are never kept in the lodges, but always put under cover
+on the stages, as the heat of the lodges would cause the guns to sweat
+and therefore to require constant drying and oiling; and for the same
+reason, in winter time, when a hunter is camped for the night, he does
+not place his gun near the open fire, but sets it back against a tree,
+well out of range of the heat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On one of their rounds of the trapping trails the boys discovered a
+splendid black fox in one of Oo-koo-hoo's traps, and it was with great
+pride that the little chaps returned home with the prize.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One sunny day, late in November, while tobogganing with the children on
+the hillside, our sport was interrupted by the approach of a young
+stranger, an Indian youth of about seventeen.  He came tramping along
+on snowshoes with his little hunting toboggan behind him on which was
+lashed his caribou robe, his tea-pail, his kit bag, and a haunch of
+young moose as a present to Amik and his wife.  In his hand he carried
+his gun in a moose-skin case.  He was a good-looking young fellow, and
+wore the regulation cream-coloured H. B. <I>capote</I> with hood and
+turned-back cuffs of dark blue.  He wore no cap, but his hair was
+fastened back by a broad yellow ribbon that encircled his head.  At
+first I thought he was the advance member of a hunting party, but when
+I saw the bashful yet persistent way in which he sidled up to Neykia,
+and when I observed, too, the shy, radiant glance of welcome she gave
+him, I understood; so also did the children, but the little rogues,
+instead of leaving the young couple alone, teased their sister aloud,
+and followed the teasing with boisterous laughter.  It was then that I
+obtained my first impression of the mating of the natives of the
+northern forest.  The sylvan scene reminded me of the mating, too, of
+the white people of that same region, and I thought again of the
+beautiful Athabasca.  Was it in the same way that her young white man
+had come so many miles on snowshoes through the winter woods just to
+call upon her?  It set me thinking.  Again, I wondered who "Son-in-law"
+could be?  Whence did he come?  But, perhaps, after all he was no
+super-man, or, rather, super-lover, for had not Neykia's beau travelled
+alone in the dead of winter, over ninety miles, just to see her once
+again and to speak to her?  Shing-wauk&mdash;The Little Pine&mdash;as the Indians
+called him, stayed three days, but I did not see much of him, for I
+left early the following morning on another round of another
+trapping-path.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OO-KOO-HOO AND THE WOLF
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+As a faint gray light crept through the upper branches of the eastern
+trees and warned the denizens of the winter wilderness of approaching
+day, the door-skin flapped aside and a tall figure stepped from the
+cozy fire-lit lodge into the outer sombreness of the silent forest.  It
+was Oo-koo-hoo.  His form clad in fox-skin cap, blanket <I>capote</I>, and
+leggings, made a picturesque silhouette of lighter tone against the
+darker shadows of the woods as he stood for a moment scanning the
+starry sky.  Reëntering the lodge, he partook of the breakfast his wife
+had cooked for him, then he kissed her and went outside.  Going to the
+stage, he took down his five-foot snowshoes, slipped his moccasined
+feet into the thongs, and with his gun resting in the hollow of his
+bemittened hand, and the sled's hauling-line over his shoulder, strode
+off through the vaulted aisles between the boles of the evergreens;
+while through a tiny slit in the wall of his moose-skin home two loving
+eyes watched the stalwart figure vanishing among the trees.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-180"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-180.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-180.jpg" ALT="Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot showshoes" BORDER="2" WIDTH="260" HEIGHT="407">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot
+snowshoes, slipped his moccasined feet info the thongs, and with his
+gun resting in the hollow of his bemittened hand, and the sled's
+hauling-line over his shoulder, strode off through the vaulted aisles
+between the boles of evergreens; while through a tiny slit in the wall
+of his moose-skin home two loving eyes watched his stalwart figure
+vanishing among the&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter IV.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Later on, though the sun was already shining, it was still intensely
+cold.  As we went along, Oo-koo-hoo's breath rose like a cloud of white
+smoke fifteen or twenty feet in the air before it disappeared.  Only
+the faintest whisper of scuffling snowshoes and scrunching snow could
+be heard; the sound of the occasional snapping of a twig came as a
+startling report compared with the almost noiseless tread of the
+hunter.  A little cloud of powdery snow rose above the dragging heels
+of his snowshoes, and, whirling about, covered the back of his leggings
+with a coating of white.  Onward he strode, twisting through the
+tangled scrub, stooping under a fallen tree, stepping over a
+snow-capped log, or pacing along a winter-locked stream.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When Oo-koo-hoo came to a district overgrown with willows interspersed
+with poplars, he stopped to examine a snare set for lynx.  It had not
+been disturbed, but a little farther on we saw the form of a dead lynx
+hanging from a tossing-pole above the trail.  The carcass was frozen
+stiff, and the face still showed the ghastly expression it had worn in
+its death struggle.  The rigid body was taken down and lashed to the
+sled.  Resetting the snare, we continued our way.  Farther on, in a
+hilly country timbered with spruce, where there was not much
+undergrowth, we came to marten traps.  In swampy places, or where there
+were creeks and small lakes, we examined traps and deadfalls set for
+mink, muskrat, beaver, fisher, and otter.  Where the country was fairly
+open and marked with rabbit runways we came upon traps set for foxes
+and wolves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The gray, or timber, wolf is trapped in the same way as the coloured
+fox, save only that the trap is larger.  Though the steel trap is much
+in vogue among white men and half-breeds, the deadfall, even to this
+day, is much preferred by the Indian.  Though, in the first place, it
+requires more labour to build, yet it requires less for transportation
+since the materials are all at hand; and, besides, when once built it
+lasts for years.  Then, again, it is not only cheaper, but it is more
+deadly than the steel trap, for once the animal is caught, it seldom
+escapes.  With the steel trap it is different, as animals often pull
+away from the steel jaws or even gnaw off a foot in order to get free.
+If, however, the hunter's deadfalls and traps have been set in vain,
+and if the wolf has been causing trouble and the hunter is determined
+to secure him, he will sit up for him at night in the hope of getting a
+shot at him.  Years ago many wolves were destroyed with poison, but
+nowadays it has gone out of use&mdash;that is, among the fur-hunters of the
+forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When a wolf is caught in a trap and he sees a hunter approaching, he
+will at first lie down, close his eyes, and keep as still as possible
+to escape notice; but should he find that the hunter is still coming
+on, say to within twenty paces from him, he will fly into a rage, show
+his fangs, bristle his hair, and get ready for a spring.  The hunter
+usually takes a green stick about a yard long by two inches thick, and
+instead of striking a great, swinging blow with both hands, he holds
+the stick in one hand and strikes a short, quick, though powerful,
+blow, hitting the brute on the snout close to the eyes.  That stuns
+him, and then the hunter, with either foot or knee, presses over the
+heart until death ensues.  But clubbing the wolf is dangerous work, for
+the hunter may hit the trap and set the captive free, or it may bite
+him.  So the gun is frequently used, but only to shoot the wolf in the
+head, as a wound anywhere else would injure the fur.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Late in the afternoon, as we were approaching a wolf trap, Oo-koo-hoo,
+who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and gazed ahead.  A large
+wolf was lying in the snow, evidently pretending to be dead.  One of
+its forepaws was held by the trap, and the hunter drew his axe and
+moved forward.  As we came near, the beast could stand the strain no
+longer, but rose up with bristling hair, champing fangs, and savage
+growl.  When Oo-koo-hoo had almost reached the deeply marked circle in
+the snow where the wolf had been struggling to gain its freedom, he
+paused and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My brother, I need your coat, so turn your eyes away while I strike."
+A momentary calmness came over the beast, but as the hunter raised his
+axe it suddenly crouched, and with its eyes flashing with rage, sprang
+for Oo-koo-hoo's throat.  Its mighty leap, however, ended three feet
+short of the mark, for the trap chain grew taut, jerked it down and
+threw it violently upon its back.  Instantly regaining its feet, it
+dashed away on three legs, and in its effort to escape dragged the clog
+through the snow.  The bounding clog sent the snow flying, and the
+hunter rushed in pursuit, while the wolf dodged among the trees to
+escape a blow from Oo-koo-hoo.  Then it bolted again, and ran straight
+for a few yards until the clog caught and held fast.  The hunter,
+pressing on with raised axe, had no time to draw back when the brute
+sprang for him as it did; luckily, however, his aim was true: the back
+of the axe descended upon the wolf's head, and it fell dead.  This was
+fortunate for the hunter, as unwarily he had allowed himself so to get
+between the clog and the beast that the chain almost swung over his
+snowshoes.  If he had missed his aim, no doubt it would have gone hard
+with him.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-196"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-196.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-196.jpg" ALT="As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow flying" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="260">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow
+flying, and the hunter rushed in pursuit, while the wolf dodged among
+the trees to escape a blow from Oo-koo-hoo.  Then it bolted again, and
+ran straight for a few yards until the clog caught and held fast.  The
+hunter, pressing on with raised axe, had no time to draw back when the
+brute sprang for him&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter IV.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+A few slant rays of the sun penetrating the deep gloom of the thick
+forest and reminding us that day was fast passing, we decided to camp
+there for the night.  So we cut a mattress of brush, made a fire, and
+refreshed ourselves with supper before we started to skin the wolf.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WAYS OF A WOLF
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Talk of wolves prevailed all evening, and Oo-koo-hoo certainly had a
+store of information upon that subject.  In expressing surprise that a
+wolf had strength enough to jerk about a big drag-log, as though it
+were merely a small stick, he replied that once when he had killed a
+full-grown bull-moose and dressed and hung up the meat, he had left for
+camp with part of his prize, but on returning again to the cache, he
+had found a wolf moving off with one of the hindquarters.  It must have
+weighed close upon a hundred pounds.  But perhaps, if I quote Charles
+Mair, the strength and endurance of a wolf will be better realized: "In
+the sketch of 'North-Western America' (1868) Archbishop Tache, of St.
+Boniface, Manitoba, recounts a remarkable instance of persevering
+fortitude exhibited by a large, dark wolf caught in a steel trap at
+Isle a la Crosse many years ago.  A month afterward it was killed near
+Green Lake, ninety miles distant, with the trap and connecting
+wood-block still attached to one of its hind legs.  It had evidently
+dragged both around in the snow for many a mile, during a period of
+intense cold, and it is, therefore, not surprising that it was a
+'walking skeleton' when finally secured."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though the timber-wolf is a fast traveller, it cannot out-distance the
+greyhound or wolf hound; but though it is seldom seen in water it is a
+good swimmer.  Its weight may run from seventy-five to one hundred and
+fifty pounds, and an extra large wolf may stand close to thirty inches
+at the shoulder, and be over five feet in length.  In colour they range
+from white to nearly black, but the ordinary colour is a light brownish
+gray.  Usually they mate in February, but whether or not for life, it
+is hard to say.  They breed in a hollow log, or tree or stump, or in a
+hole in the ground, or in a cave.  The young are normally born in
+April, usually six or eight in a litter, and the father helps to care
+for them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Many of the wolves I have seen were running in pairs, some in families,
+and the greatest number I have ever seen together was seven.  That was
+in Athabasca in the winter time.  The seven were in a playful mood,
+racing around and jumping over one another; and though all were
+full-grown, five of them displayed the romping spirits of puppies, and
+I wondered if they could be but one family.  Though my dog-driver and
+I, with our dog-train, passed within about a hundred paces of them, and
+though we were all on a sunny lake, they never ceased their play for a
+single moment, nor did they show in any way that they had seen us.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There are several voices of the wilderness that cause some city people
+alarm and dread, and they are the voices of the owl, the loon, and the
+timber-wolf.  But to me their voices bring a solemn, at times an eerie,
+charm, that I would gladly go miles to renew.  Though much of the
+wolf-howling has been of little appeal, I have heard wolf concerts that
+held me spell-bound.  On some occasions&mdash;but always at night&mdash;they
+lasted without scarcely any intermission for three or four hours.  The
+first part of the programme was usually rendered&mdash;according to the
+sound of their voices&mdash;by the youngest of the pack; later the
+middle-aged seemed to take the stage; but of all the performance,
+nothing equalled in greatness of volume or in richness of tone the
+closing numbers, and they were always rendered by what seemed to be
+some mighty veteran, the patriarch of the pack, for his effort was so
+thrilling and awe-inspiring that it always sent the gooseflesh rushing
+up and down my back.  Many a time, night after night, beneath the
+Northern Lights, I have gone out to the edge of a lake to listen to
+them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When hunting big game, such as deer, wolves assist one another and
+display a fine sense of the value of team-work in running down their
+prey.  Though the wolf is a shy and cautious animal, he is no coward,
+as the way he will slash into a pack of dogs goes far to prove.  In the
+North the stories of the wolf's courage are endless; here, for example,
+is one: "During our residence at Cumberland House in 1820," says
+Richardson, "a wolf, which had been prowling and was wounded by a
+musket ball and driven off, returned after it became dark, whilst the
+blood was still flowing from its wound, and carried off a dog, from
+amongst fifty others, that howled piteously, but had no courage to
+unite in an attack on their enemy."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Nevertheless, wolves rarely attack man, in fact, only when they are
+afflicted with rabies or hydrophobia.  No doubt everyone has read, at
+one time or another, harrowing stories of the great timber-wolves of
+our northern forest forming themselves into huge packs and pursuing
+people all over the wilderness until there is nothing left of the
+unfortunate community save a few odds and ends of cheap jewellery.
+Even our most dignified and reliable newspapers are never loath to
+publish such thrilling drivel; and their ignorant readers gulp it all
+down, apparently with a relishing shudder; for the dear public not only
+loves to be fooled, but actually gloats over that sort of thing, since
+it is their hereditary belief.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When I was a boy, I, too, thrilled over such nonsense, and when I made
+my first trip into the forest I began to delve for true wolf stories,
+and I have been delving ever since.  So far, after over thirty years of
+digging, I have actually dug up what I believe to be one authentic
+story of an unprovoked wolf having actually attacked and killed a man.
+On several occasions, too, I have had the satisfaction of running to
+cover some of the wolf stories published in our daily press.  I read a
+few years ago in one of Canada's leading daily papers&mdash;and no doubt the
+same account was copied throughout the United States&mdash;a thrilling story
+of two lumber-jacks in the wilds of Northern Ontario being pursued by a
+pack of timber-wolves, and the exhausted woodsmen barely escaping with
+their lives, being forced by the ferocious brutes to spend a whole
+night in a tree at a time when the thermometer registered &mdash; below
+zero.  I am sorry I have forgotten the exact degree of frost the paper
+stated, but as a rule it is always close to 70 or 80 degrees below zero
+when the great four-legged demons of the forest go on the rampage.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WOLVES AND GREENHORNS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Several years later, when I was spending the summer at Shahwandahgooze,
+in the Laurentian Mountains, I again met Billy Le Heup, the hunter, and
+one night when we were listening to a wolf concert I mentioned the
+foregoing newspaper thriller.  Billy laughed and acknowledged that he,
+too, had read it, but not until several weeks after he had had a chance
+to investigate, first hand, the very same yarn; for he, too, had been
+trailing wolf stories all his life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It so happened that Le Heup's work had taken him through the timber
+country north of Lake Temiscamingue.  While stopping one day at a
+lumber camp to have a snack, three men entered the cookery where he was
+eating.  One of them was the foreman, and he was in a perfect rage.  He
+had discharged the other two men, and now he was warning them that if
+they didn't get something to eat pretty &mdash;&mdash; quick and leave the camp
+in a &mdash;&mdash; of a hurry, he would kick them out.  Then, just before he
+slammed the door and disappeared, he roared out at them that not for
+one moment would he stand for such &mdash;&mdash; rot, as their being chased and
+treed all night by wolves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When quiet was restored and the two men had sat down beside Le Heup at
+the dining table, he had questioned them and they had told him a
+graphic story of how they had been chased by a great pack of wolves and
+how they had managed to escape with their lives by climbing a tree only
+just in the nick of time; and, moreover, how the ferocious brutes had
+kept them there all night long, and how, consequently, they had been
+nearly frozen to death.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a thrilling story and so full of detail that even "old-timer" Le
+Heup grew quite interested and congratulated himself on having at last
+actually heard, first hand, a true story of how Canadian timber-wolves,
+though unprovoked, had pursued, attacked, and treed two men.  Indeed,
+he was so impressed that he decided to back-track the heroes' trail and
+count for himself just how many wolves the pack had numbered.  So he
+got the would-be lumber-jacks&mdash;for they were greenhorns from the
+city&mdash;to point out for him their incoming trail, which he at once set
+out to back-track.  After a tramp of three or four miles he came to the
+very tree which from all signs they had climbed and in which they had
+spent the night.  Then desiring to count the wolf tracks in the snow,
+he looked around, but never a one could he see.  Walking away for about
+a hundred yards he began to circle the tree, but still without success.
+He circled again with about an eighth of a mile radius, but still no
+wolf tracks were to be seen.  As a last resort he circled once more
+about a quarter of a mile from the tree, and this time he was rewarded;
+he found wolf tracks in the snow.  There had been three wolves.  They
+had been running full gallop.  Moreover, they had been trailing a
+white-tailed deer; but never once had either deer or wolves paused in
+their run, nor had they come within a quarter of a mile of the tree in
+which the greenhorns from the city had spent the night.  Of such
+material are the man-chasing, man-killing wolf stories made.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Frequently I have had timber-wolves follow me, sometimes for half an
+hour or so; on one occasion two of the largest and handsomest
+timber-wolves I ever saw followed me for over two hours.  During that
+time they travelled all round me, ahead, behind, and on either side;
+and occasionally they came within sixty or seventy feet of me.  Yet
+never once, by action or expression, did they show any signs other than
+those which two friendly but very shy dogs might have shown toward me.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WOLF THAT KILLED A MAN
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Of course, wolves will attack a man; when they are trapped, wounded, or
+cornered&mdash;just as a muskrat will; but of all the wolf stories I have
+ever heard, in which wolves killed a man, the following is the only one
+I have any reason to believe, as it was told me first-hand by a
+gentleman whose word I honour, and whose unusual knowledge of animal
+life and northern travel places his story beyond a doubt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One winter's day in the seventies, when Mr. William Cornwallis King was
+in charge of Fort Rae, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's posts on Great
+Slave Lake, he was snowshoeing to a number of Indian camps to collect
+furs, and had under his command several Indians in charge of his
+dog-trains.  On the way they came upon a small party of Dog-rib
+Indians, who, after a smoke and a chat, informed him that, being in
+need of meat, one of their party, named Pot-fighter's-father, had set
+out three days before to hunt caribou; and as he had not returned, they
+were afraid lest some evil had befallen him.  When Mr. King learned
+that it had been Pot-fighter's-father's intention to return to camp on
+the evening of the first day, he advised the Indians to set out at once
+in search of him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After following his tracks for half a day they came suddenly upon the
+footprints of an unusually large wolf which had turned to trail the
+hunter.  For some miles the brute had evidently followed close beside
+the trail of Pot-fighter's-father, diverging at times as though seeking
+cover, and then again stalking its prey in the open.  One Indian
+continued to follow the old man's trail, while another followed that of
+the wolf.  They had not gone far before they discovered that
+Pot-fighter's-father had come upon a herd of caribou, and a little
+farther on they found, lying on the snow, a couple of caribou carcasses
+that he had shot.  Strange to say, the animals had not been skinned,
+nor had their tongues been removed.  More remarkable still, the
+wolf&mdash;although passing close to them&mdash;had not stopped to feed.  Soon
+they came upon another dead caribou, and this time Pot-fighter's-father
+had skinned it, and had cut out its tongue; but again the wolf had
+refused to touch the deer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Continuing their pursuit, they discovered a brush windbreak where the
+hunter had evidently stopped to camp for the night.  Now they noticed
+that the tracks of the wolf took to cover among the scrub.  Approaching
+the shelter, they read in the snow the signs of a terrible struggle
+between a man and a wolf.  The hunter's gun, snowshoes, and sash
+containing his knife, rested against the windbreak, and his axe stood
+in the snow where he had been cutting brush.  From the snow the Indians
+read the story of the long-drawn fight.  Here it told how the great
+wolf had leaped upon the back of the unsuspecting man while he was
+carrying an armful of brush, and had knocked him down.  There it showed
+that the man had grappled with the brute and rolled it over upon its
+back.  Here the signs showed that the wolf had broken free; there, that
+the two had grappled again, and in their struggle had rolled over and
+over.  The snow was now strewn with wolf-hair, and dyed with blood.
+While the dreadful encounter had raged, the battleground had kept
+steadily shifting nearer the gun.  Just a couple of yards away from it
+lay the frozen body of poor old Pot-fighter's-father.  His deerskin
+clothing was slit to tatters; his scalp was torn away; his fingers were
+chewed off, but his bloody mouth was filled with hair and flesh of the
+wolf.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After burying the body of old Pot-fighter's-father in a mound of
+stones, the Indians determined to continue in pursuit of the wolf.  Its
+tracks at last led them to a solitary lodge that stood in the shelter
+of a thicket of spruce.  There the hunters were greeted by an Indian
+who was living in the tepee with his wife and baby.  After having a cup
+of tea, a smoke, and then a little chat, the hunters enquired about the
+tracks of the great wolf that had brought them to the lodge.  The
+Indian told them that during the night before last, while he and his
+wife were asleep with the baby between them, they had been awakened by
+a great uproar among the dogs.  They had no sooner sat up than the dogs
+had rushed into the tepee followed by an enormous wolf.  Leaping up,
+the hunter had seized his axe and attacked the beast, while his wife
+had grabbed the baby, wrapped it in a blanket, and rushing outside, had
+rammed the child out of sight in a snowdrift, and returned to help her
+husband to fight the brute.  The wolf had already killed one of the
+dogs, and the Indian in his excitement had tripped upon the bedding,
+fallen, and lost his grip upon his axe.  When he rose, he found the
+wolf between himself and his weapon.  His wife, however, had seized a
+piece of firewood and, being unobserved by the wolf, had used it as a
+club and dealt the beast so powerful a blow upon the small of the back
+that it had been seriously weakened and had given the Indian an
+opportunity to recover his axe, with which at last he had managed to
+kill the wolf.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was Mr. King's belief, however, that such unusual behaviour of a
+wolf was caused by distemper, for the brute seemed to display no more
+fear of man than would a mad dog.  And he added that the behaviour of
+the wolf in question was no more typical of wolves in general than was
+the behaviour of a mad dog typical of dogs.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+COMING OF THE FUR-RUNNERS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+That night, when we returned home, Oo-koo-hoo said to his grandsons:
+"Ne-geek and Ah-ging-goos, my grandchildren, the fur-runner is coming
+soon.  To-morrow do you both take the dogs and break a two-days' trail
+on Otter River in order to hasten his coming."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next morning the boys set out to break the trail.  When they camped on
+Otter River on the afternoon of the second day they cached in the river
+ice some fish for the trader's dogs.  They chopped a hole and, after
+placing the fish in, filled it up with water, which they allowed to
+freeze, with the tail of a single fish protruding, in order to show the
+fur-runner what was cached below.  To mark the spot, they planted a
+pole with its butt in the hole, and rigged up a tripod of sticks to
+support it.  At the top of the pole they tied a little bag of tea and a
+choice piece of meat for the trader.  At the bend of the river below,
+where he would surely pass, they erected another pole with a bunch of
+fir twigs attached, for the purpose of attracting his attention to
+their tracks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On their return home they found Oo-koo-hoo and Amik sorting their furs
+in anticipation of the fur-runner's arrival.  Before them lay, among
+the other skins, the skin of the black fox, and when the boys entered
+the lodge Oo-koo-hoo addressed the whole family, saying:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do not mention the black fox to the fur-runner, since I intend keeping
+it until I go to the Post, in the hope of making a better bargain
+there.  Now sort your skins, and set aside those you wish to give in
+payment on your debt to the Great Company."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the afternoon of the following day Lawson the fur-runner for the
+Hudson's Bay Company arrived with his dog-train.  He shook hands with
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik and the boys, and kissed the women and the girls,
+as the custom of the traders is.  It being late in the day, Oo-koo-hoo
+decided not to begin trading until next morning.  So they spent the
+evening in spinning yarns around the fire.  Shortly after breakfast
+strange dogs were heard.  The boys ran out and saw an unknown man
+approaching.  When the newcomer&mdash;a French-Canadian half-breed&mdash;had
+eaten, and had joined the others in a smoke, he gave me a letter from
+Free Trader Spear.  Then Oo-koo-hoo began questioning him:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My brother, you are a stranger in this country; so I have given you
+fire and food and tobacco in friendship.  Tell me now why and from
+whence you come?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The half-breed replied: "My brother, I come from the Border
+Lands&mdash;where the plains and the forests meet&mdash;and my name is Gibeault.
+I have come to trade regularly with you as I am now working for Free
+Trader Spear, whose post, as you know, is near Fort Consolation.  You
+will do well to encourage opposition to the Great Company, and thus
+raise the price of furs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The half-breed then presented the hunters with several plugs of "T &amp;
+B," some matches, tea, sugar, flour, and a piece of "sow-belly."  For
+some time Oo-koo-hoo sat holding a little fresh-cut tobacco in his
+hand, until Gibeault, taking notice, asked him why he did not smoke it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Great Company always gives me a pipe," replied the hunter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The runner for the free trader, not to be outdone, gave him a pipe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I suppose," began Oo-koo-hoo, "that your heart is glad to see me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," replied Gibeault, "and I want to get some of your fur."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is all very well, but I will see which way you look at me,"
+returned the Indian.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Have you much fur?" asked the half-breed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have enough to pay my debt to the Great Company."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I know, but you will have some left, and I want to do business
+with you, so bring out your furs and I will treat you right."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That sounds well, but you must remember that though the Great Company
+charges more, their goods are the best goods, while yours are all cheap
+rubbish."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thinking the opportunity a favourable one, Gibeault assumed an air of
+friendly solicitude and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Company has cheated your people so many hundred years that they
+are now very rich.  No wonder they can afford to give you high prices
+for your furs.  Free Trader Spear is a poor but honest man.  It is to
+your great advantage to trade part of your furs with me in order to
+make it worth his while to send me here every winter.  As you know, my
+presence here compels the Company to pay full value for your furs and
+so you are the one who reaps the greatest benefit."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is partly true," answered Oo-koo-hoo, "but I must be loyal to the
+Company.  You are here to-day and away tomorrow; but the Company is
+here for ever.  But I will not be hard on you; I will wait and see how
+you look at me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a while the dignified Indian sat puffing at his pipe and gazing at
+the fire.  Every line of his weather-beaten and wrinkled but handsome
+face was full of sterling character.  At times his small eyes twinkled
+as a flash of cunning crept into them, and a keen sense of humour
+frequently twitched the corners of his determined mouth.  Then he
+brought out a pack of furs and, handing it to Lawson, said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"This is to pay the Great Company for the advances they gave us last
+summer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Lawson took the bundle without opening it, as it would not be checked
+over until he delivered it at Fort Consolation.  Resenting the Indian's
+attitude toward Gibeault he began:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I see, now that there's another trader here, it's easy for you to
+forget your old friends.  The free trader comes and goes.  Give him
+your furs, an' he doesn't care whether you're dead to-morrow.  It's not
+like that with the Great Company.  The Company came first among your
+people, and since then it has been like a father, not only to all your
+people before you, but to you as well.  Whenever your forefathers were
+smitten with hunger or disease, who looked after them?  It wasn't the
+free trader; it was the Company.  Who sells you the best goods?  It
+isn't the free trader; it's the Company.  Who gave you your debt last
+fall and made it possible for you to hunt this winter?  It wasn't the
+free trader; it was the Company.  My brother, you have none to thank
+but the Great Company that you're alive to-day."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a grunt of disapproval Oo-koo-hoo sullenly retorted:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The Priest says it is The Master of Life we have to thank for that.  I
+am sure that the Commissioner of the Great Company is not so great as
+God.  It is true you give us good prices now, but it is also true that
+you have not given us back the countless sums you stole from our
+fathers and grandfathers and all our people before them; for did you
+not wait until the coming of the free traders before you would give us
+the worth of our skins?  No wonder you are great masters; it seems to
+me that it takes great rogues to become great masters."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The angry Lawson, to save a quarrel, bit his moustache, smiled faintly
+and, presenting the hunter with even more than Gibeault had given, said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Never mind, my brother, you're a pretty smart man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Without replying, Oo-koo-hoo accepted the present so eagerly that he
+jerked it out of the trader's hand.  That pleased Lawson.  Presently
+the Indian threw down a bear skin, saying:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My brother, this is to see how you look at me."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now the way of the experienced fur-runner is to offer a big
+price&mdash;often an excessive price&mdash;for the first skin.  He calculates
+that it puts the Indian in a good humour and in the end gives the
+trader a chance of getting ahead of the native.  That is just what
+Lawson did, and Gibeault refused to raise the bid.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My brother," said the Indian addressing the latter, "you had better go
+home if you cannot pay better prices than the Great Company."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Gibeault, nettled, outbid his rival for the next skin, and thus it went
+on, first one and then the other raising the prices higher and higher,
+much to the delight of the Indians.  Oo-koo-hoo had already sold a
+number of skins for more than their market value before it dawned on
+the white men that they were playing a losing game.  Though glaring
+savagely at each other, both were ready to capitulate.  Lawson,
+pretending to examine some of Gibeault's goods, stooped and whispered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We're actin' like fools.  If we keep this up our bosses will fire us
+both."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Let's swap even&mdash;you take every other skin at your own figure,"
+returned the French half-breed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Agreed," said Lawson, straightening up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No longer outbidding one another, they got the next few skins below the
+market price.  But before the traders had made good their loss the
+Indian gathered up his furs and turning to the fur-runners with a
+smile, said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My brothers, as I see that you have agreed to cheat me, I have decided
+that I and my people will keep all our furs until we go out next
+spring; so it is now useless for you to remain any longer."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Having read the note Gibeault brought me from Free Trader Spear, I
+hastened to hand the half-breed my reply, accepting Mr. and Mrs.
+Spear's invitation to be their guest for a few days when everyone would
+be gathering at Fort Consolation to attend the New Year's dance; and
+again I wondered if "Son-in-law" would be there.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap05"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+V
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MEETING OF THE WILD MEN
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WHO IS SON-IN-LAW?
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Christmas week had arrived and now we were off for the New Year's dance
+to be held at Fort Consolation.  Instead of travelling round three
+sides of an oblong as we had done to reach Oo-koo-hoo's hunting ground
+by canoe, we now, travelling on snowshoes, cut across country, over
+hill and valley, lake and river, in a southeasterly direction, until we
+struck Caribou River and then turned toward White River and finally
+arrived at God's Lake.  Our little party included Oo-koo-hoo, his wife
+Ojistoh, their granddaughter Neykia, and myself.  Our domestic outfit
+was loaded upon two hunting sleds in the hauling of which we all took
+turns, as well as in relieving each other in the work of track beating.
+At night we camped in the woods without any shelter save brush
+windbreaks over the heads of our beds, our couches being made of
+balsam-twigs laid shingle fashion in the snow.  For the sake of warmth
+Ojistoh and Neykia slept together, while Oo-koo-hoo and I cuddled up
+close to one another and fitted together like spoons in a cutlery case,
+for the cold sometimes dipped to forty below.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The prisoner of the city, however, may think sleeping under such
+conditions not only a terrible hardship but a very dangerous thing in
+the way of catching one's death of cold.  I can assure him it is
+nothing of the kind&mdash;when the bed is properly made.  And not only does
+one <I>never</I> catch cold under such conditions, but it is my experience
+that there is no easier way to get rid of a bad cold than to sleep out
+in the snow, wrapped in a Hudson's Bay blanket, a caribou robe, or a
+rabbit-skin quilt, when the thermometer is about fifty below zero.  But
+rather than delay over a description in detail of the mere novelty of
+winter travel, let us hurry along to our first destination, and visit
+the Free Trader Mr. Spear and his family, and find out for our own
+satisfaction whether or not the mysterious "Son-in-law" had recently
+been courting the charming Athabasca.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When we reached God's Lake, for a while we snowshoed down the centre,
+until at the parting of our ways we said good-bye, for the Indians were
+heading directly for Fort Consolation.  As I neared Spearhead and came
+in view of its one and only house, the Free Trader's dogs set up a
+howl, and Mr. Spear came out to greet me and lead me into the sitting
+room where I was welcomed by his wife and daughter.  Now I made a
+discovery: quartered in a box in the hall behind the front door they
+had three geese that being quite free to walk up and down the hall,
+occasionally strolled about for exercise.  As good luck would have it,
+supper was nearly ready, and I had just sufficient time to make use of
+the tin hand-basin in the kitchen before the tea bell rang.  Again,
+during the first half of the meal we all chatted in a lively strain,
+all save Athabasca, who, though blushing less than usual, smiled a
+little more, and murmured an occasional yes or no; all the while
+looking even more charming.  But her composure endured not long, for
+her mother presently renewed the subject of "Son-in-law":
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Father, don't you think it would be a good idea if you took son-in-law
+into partnership very soon?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Mother, I do, because business is rapidly growing, and I'll need
+help in the spring.  Besides, it would give me a chance to do my own
+fur-running in winter, and in that way I believe I could double, if not
+treble, our income."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Athabasca turned crimson and I followed suit&mdash;for being a born blusher
+myself, and mortally hating it, I could never refrain from sympathizing
+with others similarly afflicted.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Precisely, Father," replied Mrs. Spear, "that's exactly what I
+thought.  So you see you wouldn't be making any sacrifice whatever, and
+such an arrangement would prove an advantage all round.  Everybody
+would be the happier for it, and it seems to me to delay the wedding
+would be a vital mistake."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From that moment until we left the table Athabasca concentrated her
+vision on her plate; and I wondered more than ever who "Son-in-law"
+could be.  Then an idea came to me, and I mused: "We'll surely see him
+at Fort Consolation."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After supper I discovered a new member of the household, a chore-boy,
+twenty-eight years of age, who had come out from England to learn
+farming in the Free Trader's stump lot, and who was paying Mr. Spear so
+many hundred dollars a year for that privilege, and also for the
+pleasure of daily cleaning out the stable&mdash;and the pig pen.  When I
+first saw him, I thought: "Why here, at last, is 'Son-in-law.'"  But on
+second consideration, I knew he was not the lucky man, for it was
+evident the Spears did not recognize him as their social equal, since
+they placed him, at meal time, out in the kitchen at the table with
+their two half-breed maid-servants.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That evening, while sitting around the big wood stove, we discussed
+Shakespeare, Byron, Scott, and even the latest novel that was then in
+vogue&mdash;"Trilby," if I remember right&mdash;for the Spears not only
+subscribed to the <I>Illustrated London News</I> and <I>Blackwood's</I> but they
+took <I>Harper's</I> and <I>Scribner's</I>, too.  And by the way, though
+Athabasca had never been to school, her mother had personally attended
+to her education.  When bedtime arrived, they all peeled off their
+moccasins and stockings and hung them round the stove to dry, and then
+pitter-pattered up the cold, bare stairs in their bare feet.  I was
+shown into the spare room and given a candle, and when I bade them
+good-night and turned to close the door, I discovered that there was no
+door to close, nor was there even a curtain to screen me from view.
+The bed, however, was an old-fashioned wooden affair with a big solid
+footboard, so I concluded that in case of any one passing the doorway,
+I could crouch behind the foot of the bed.  Then, when I blew out my
+candle, I got a great surprise, for lo and behold! I could see all over
+the house!  I could see "Paw and Maw" getting undressed, Athabasca
+saying her prayers, and the half-breed maids getting into bed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How did it happen?  The cracks between the upright boards of my
+partition were so wide that I could have shoved my fingers through.  As
+a matter of fact, Mr. Spear explained next day, the lumber being green,
+rather than nail the boards tightly into place, he had merely stood
+them up, and waited for them to season.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the night the cold grew intense, and several times I was
+startled out of my sleep by a frosty report from the ice and snow on
+the roof that reminded one of the firing of a cannon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the morning when the geese began screeching in the lower hall, I
+thought it was time to get up, and was soon in the very act of pulling
+off a certain garment over my head when one of the half-breed
+maids&mdash;the red-headed one whose hair Mr. Spear had cut off with the
+horse clippers&mdash;intruded herself into my room to see if I were going to
+be down in time for breakfast, and I had to drop behind the foot of the
+bed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At breakfast, the first course was oatmeal porridge; the second,
+"Son-in-law"; the third, fried bacon, toast, and tea; after which we
+all put on our wraps for our five-mile trip across God's Lake to Fort
+Consolation.  Everyone went, maids, chore-boy, and all, and everyone
+made the trip on snowshoes&mdash;all save the trader's wife, who rode in
+state, in a carriole, hauled by a tandem train of four dogs.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE NEW YEAR'S DANCE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was a beautiful sunny day and the air was very still; and though the
+snow was wind-packed and hard, the footing was very tiresome, for the
+whole surface of the lake was just one endless mass of hard-packed
+snowdrifts that represented nothing so much as a great, stormy,
+white-capped sea that had been instantly congealed.  And for us it was
+just up and down, in and out, up and down, in and out, all the way
+over.  These solid white waves, however, proved one thing, and that was
+the truth of Oo-koo-hoo's woodcraft; for, just as he had previously
+told me, if we had been suddenly encompassed by a dense fog or a heavy
+snowstorm, we could never for a moment have strayed from our true
+course; as all the drifts pointed one way, south-by-southeast, and
+therefore must have kept us to our proper direction.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There were many dogs and sleds, and many Indians and half-breeds, too,
+about the Fort when we arrived; and as the dogs heralded our approach,
+the Factor came out to greet us and wish us a Happy New Year.  At the
+door Mrs. Mackenzie, the half-breed wife of the Factor, was waiting
+with a beaming smile and a hearty welcome for us; and after we had
+removed our outer wraps, she led us over to the storehouse in which a
+big room had been cleared, and heated, and decorated to answer as a
+ballroom and banqueting hall.  Tables were being laid for the feast,
+and Indian mothers and maidens and children, too, were already sitting
+on the floor around the sides of the room, and with sparkling eyes were
+watching the work in happy expectation.  Around the doorway, both out
+and in, stood the men&mdash;Indians and half-breeds and a few French and
+English Canadians.  Some wore hairy caribou <I>capotes</I>, others hairless
+moose-skin jackets trimmed with otter or beaver fur, others again
+were-garbed in duffel <I>capotes</I> of various colours with hoods and
+turned-back cuffs of another hue; but the majority wore <I>capotes</I> made
+of Hudson's Bay blanket and trimmed with slashed fringes at the
+shoulders and skirt; while their legs were encased in trousers gartered
+below the knee, and their feet rested comfortably in moccasins.
+Though, when snowshoeing, all the men wore hip-high leggings of duffel
+or blanket, the former sometimes decorated with a broad strip of
+another colour, the latter were always befringed the whole way down the
+outer seam; both kinds were gartered at the knee.  Such leggings are
+always removed when entering a lodge or house or when resting beside a
+campfire&mdash;in order to free the legs from the gathered snow and prevent
+it from thawing and wetting the trousers.  The children wore outer
+garments of either blanket or rabbit skin, while the women gloried in
+brilliant plaid shawls of two sizes&mdash;a small one for the head and a
+large one for the shoulders.  The short cloth skirts of the women and
+girls were made so that the fullness at the waist, instead of being cut
+away, was merely puckered into place, and beneath the lower hem of the
+skirt showed a pair of beaded leggings and a pair of silk-worked
+moccasins.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All the Indians shook hands with us, for in the Canadian Government's
+treaty with them it is stipulated that: "We expect you to be good
+friends with everyone, and shake hands with all whom you meet."  And I
+might further add that the Indian&mdash;when one meets him in the winter
+bush&mdash;is more polite than the average white man, for he always removes
+his mitten, and offers one his bare hand.  Further, if his hand happens
+to be dirty, he will spit on it and rub it on his leggings to try and
+cleanse it before presenting it to you.  But when he did that, I could
+never decide which was the more acceptable condition&mdash;before or after.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the Factor entered, he was greeted with a perfect gale of
+merriment, as it was the ancient custom of the Great Company that he
+should kiss every woman and girl at the New Year's feast.  After that
+historical ceremony was over&mdash;in which Free Trader Spear also had to do
+his duty&mdash;and the laughter had subsided, the principal guests were
+seated at the Factor's table, the company consisting of the three
+clergymen, the Spears, myself, the two North-West Mounted
+Policemen&mdash;who had just arrived from the south&mdash;and a few native
+headmen, including my friend Oo-koo-hoo.  Though the feast was served
+in relays, some of the guests who were too hungry to await their turn
+were served as they sat about the floor.  The dishes included the
+choice of moose, caribou, bear, lynx, beaver, or muskrat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then a couple of picturesque, shock-haired French Canadians got up on a
+big box that rested upon a table, and tuning up their fiddles, the
+dance was soon in full swing.  In rapid succession the music changed
+from the Double Jig to the Reel of Four, the Duck Dance, the Double
+Reel of Four, the Reel of Eight, and the Red River Jig, till the old
+log storehouse shook from its foundation right up to its very rafters.
+The breathless, perspiring, but happy couples kept at it until
+exhaustion fairly overtook them, and then dropping out now and then,
+they sat on the floor around the walls till they had rested; and then,
+with all their might and main, they went at it again.  Among other
+things I noticed that the natives who were smoking were so considerate
+of their hosts' feelings that they never for a moment forgot themselves
+enough to soil the freshly scrubbed floor, but always used their
+upturned fur caps as cuspidors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The children, even the little tots, showed great interest in the
+dancing of their parents, and so delighted did they become that they
+would sometimes gather in a group in a corner and try to step in time
+with the music.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Everyone that could dance took a turn&mdash;even Oo-koo-hoo and old Granny
+did the "light fantastic"&mdash;and at one time or another all the principal
+guests were upon the floor; all save&mdash;the priest.  The scarlet tunics
+of the corporal and the constable of the Royal North-West Mounted
+Police as well as the sombre black of the English Church and the
+Presbyterian clergymen, added much to the whirling colour scheme, as
+well as to the joy of the occasion.  But look where I would I could not
+find "Son-in-law," and though the blushing Athabasca was often in the
+dance, it was plain to see her lover was not there, for even the
+handsome policemen, though they paid her marked attention, gave no
+sign, either of them, of being the lucky one.  In the number of
+partners, Oo-koo-hoo's granddaughter outshone them all, and, moreover,
+her lover was present.  At every chance Shing-wauk&mdash;The Little
+Pine&mdash;was shyly whispering to her and she was looking very happy.  Even
+I rose to the occasion and had for my first partner our host's swarthy
+wife, a wonderful performer, who, after her husband's retirement from
+the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, became the most popular dancer
+in all Winnipeg.  Nor must I forget my dance with that merry, muscular,
+iron-framed lady, Oo-koo-hoo's better half&mdash;old Granny&mdash;who at first
+crumpled me up in her gorilla-like embrace, and ended by swinging me
+clean off my feet, much to the merriment of the Indian maidens.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the afternoon wore on the Rabbit Dance began, and was soon followed
+by the Hug-Me-Snug, the Drops of Brandy, and the Saskatchewan Circle,
+and&mdash;last but not least&mdash;the Kissing Dance.  And when the Kissing Dance
+was encored for the fifth time, the company certainly proclaimed it a
+Happy New Year.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BEAUTIFUL ATHABASCA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Again at tea time the guests gathered round the festive board; then, a
+little later, the music once more signalled the dancers to take their
+places on the floor.  Hour after hour it went on.  After midnight
+another supper was served; but still "the band"&mdash;consisting of a violin
+and a concertina&mdash;played on, and still the moccasined feet pounded the
+floor without intermission.  At the very height of the fun, when the
+Free Trader's charming daughter was being whirled about by a scarlet
+tunic, Mrs. Spear turned to me and beamed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Doesn't Athabasca look radiantly beautiful?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Indeed she does!" I blushed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And what a delightful party this is&nbsp;&#8230; but there's just one thing
+lacking&nbsp;&#8230; to make it perfect."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What's that?" I enquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A wedding&nbsp;&#8230; my dear."  Then, after a long pause, during which she
+seemed to be staring at me&mdash;but I didn't dare look&mdash;she impatiently
+tossed her head and exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My&nbsp;&#8230; but some men are deathly slow!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Indeed they are," I agreed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About four o'clock in the morning the music died down, then, after much
+hand-shaking, the company dispersed in various directions over the
+moonlit snow; some to their near-by lodges, some to the log shacks in
+the now-deserted Indian village, and others to their distant hunting
+grounds.  It must have been nearly five o'clock before the ladies in
+the Factor's house went upstairs, and the men lay down upon caribou,
+bear, and buffalo skins on the otherwise bare floor of the living room.
+It was late next morning when we arose, yet already the policemen had
+vanished&mdash;they had again set out on their long northern patrol.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Spear invited me to return and spend the
+night with them, and as Oo-koo-hoo and his wife wanted to remain a few
+days to visit some Indian friends, and as the Factor had told me that
+the north-bound packet with the winter's mail from the railroad was
+soon due; and as, moreover, the Fur Brigade would be starting south in
+a few days, and it would travel for part of the way along our homeward
+trail, I accepted Mr. Mackenzie's invitation to return to Fort
+Consolation and depart with the Fur Brigade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a cold trip across the lake as the thermometer had dropped many
+degrees and a northwest wind was blowing in our faces.  As I had
+frequently had my nose frozen, it now turned white very quickly, and a
+half-breed, who was crossing with us, turned round every once in a
+while and exclaimed to me:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh my gud! your nose all froze!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The snow seemed harder than ever, and for long stretches we took off
+our snowshoes and ran over the drifts, but so wind-packed were they
+that they received little impression from our feet.  Of course, when we
+arrived at Spearhead, the house was cold and everything in it above the
+cellar&mdash;except the cats and geese&mdash;was frozen solid; but it is
+surprising how quickly those good old-fashioned box stoves will heat a
+dwelling; for in twenty or thirty minutes those wood-burning stoves
+were red-hot and the whole house comfortably warm.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It's strange, but nevertheless true, that "Son-in-law" was never once
+mentioned at dinner, but later on, when Athabasca and I were sitting
+one on either side of the room, Mrs. Spear got up and, getting a
+picture book, asked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Heming, are you fond of pictures?  Daughter has a delightful
+little picture book here that I want her to show you, so now, my dears,
+both sit over there on the sofa where the light will be better, and
+look at it together."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Moving over to the old horsehair sofa&mdash;the pride of all Spearhead and
+even of Fort Consolation&mdash;we sat down together, much closer than I had
+expected, as some of the springs were broken, thus forming a hollow in
+the centre of the affair, into which we both slid without warning&mdash;just
+as though it were a trap set for bashful people.  Then Mrs. Spear with
+a sigh, evidently of satisfaction, withdrew from the room, and we were
+left alone together.  With the book spread out upon our knees we looked
+it over for perhaps&mdash;&mdash;  Well, I am not sure how long, but anyway, when
+I came to, I saw something just in front of me on the floor.  Really,
+it startled me.  For in following it up with my eye I discovered that
+it was the toe of a moccasin, and the worst of it was that it was being
+worn by Mrs. Spear.  There, for ever so long, she must have been
+standing and watching us.  The worst of that household was that all its
+members wore moccasins, so you could never hear them coming.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That night, when we were sitting around the stove, Mrs. Spear explained
+to me how she had educated her daughter and added: "But perhaps, after
+all, if the wedding is not going to take place right away, it might be
+well to send Daughter to some finishing school for a few months&mdash;say in
+Toronto," and then, after a little pause, and still looking at me, she
+asked: "To which school would you prefer us to send Athabasca?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When I named the most fashionable girls' school in that city, "Paw and
+Maw" settled it, there and then, that Daughter would attend it next
+fall, that is, unless it was decided to celebrate her wedding at an
+earlier date.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next morning, at breakfast, Mrs. Spear suggested that Athabasca should
+take me for a drive through the woods and Mr. Spear remarked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know, Mr. Heming, we haven't any cutter or any suitable sleigh,
+and besides, one of the horses is working in the stump lot; but I think
+I can manage."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In a little while he led a horse round to the front door.  The animal
+had a pole attached to either side, the other end of which dragged out
+behind; across the two poles, just behind the horse's tail, was
+fastened a rack of cross poles upon which was placed some straw and a
+buffalo robe.  It was really a <I>travois</I>, the kind of conveyance used
+by the Plains Indians.  Getting aboard the affair, off we went, the old
+plug rumbling along in a kind of a trotting walk, while Athabasca held
+the reins.  The morning being a fine sunny one, and the trees being
+draped and festooned with snow, the scene was so beautiful when we got
+into the thicker woods that it made one think of fairyland.  A couple
+of fluffy little whiskey jacks followed us all the way there and back,
+just as though they wanted to see and hear everything that was going
+on; but those little meddlers of the northwoods must have been
+disappointed, for both Athabasca and I were not only too shy to talk,
+but too bashful even to sit upright; in fact, we both leaned so far
+away from one another that we each hung over our side of the trap, and
+did nothing but gaze far off into the enchanted wood.  We must have
+been gone nearly two hours when the house again came into view.  Yes, I
+enjoyed it.  It was so romantic.  But what I couldn't understand was
+why her parents allowed her to go with me, when they were already
+counting on "Son-in-law" marrying her.  It was certainly a mystery to
+me.  However, that afternoon I left for Fort Consolation.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BACK TO FORT CONSOLATION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On my way across the lake I noticed that the wind was veering round
+toward the east and that the temperature was rising.  When I arrived in
+good time for supper Factor Mackenzie seemed relieved, and remarked
+that the barometer indicated a big storm from the northeast.  That
+night, in front of the big open fire, we talked of the fur trade.
+Among other books and papers he showed me was a copy of the Company's
+Deed Poll; not published a century ago, but printed at the time of
+which I am writing, and thus it read:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"To all whom these presents shall come, The Governor and Company of
+Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay send greeting.
+Whereas His Majesty King Charles the Second did, by His Royal Charter,
+constitute the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading
+into Hudson's Bay in a Body Corporate, with perpetual succession and
+with power to elect a Governor and Deputy Governor and Committee for
+the management of their trade and affairs&mdash;&mdash;."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+From it I learned that the commissioned officers appointed by the
+Company to carry on their trade in Canada were: a Commissioner, three
+Inspecting Chief Factors, eight Chief Factors, fifteen Factors, ten
+Chief Traders, and twenty-one Junior Chief Traders, all of whom on
+appointment became shareholders in the Company.  While the Governor and
+Committee had their offices in London, the Commissioner was the
+Canadian head with his offices in Winnipeg, and to assist him an
+advisory council, composed of Chief Factors and Chief Traders, was
+occasionally called.  The Company's territory was divided into four
+departments&mdash;the Western, the Southern, the Northern, and the
+Montreal&mdash;while each department was again sub-divided into many
+districts, the total number being thirty-four.  The non-commissioned
+employees at the various posts were: clerks, postmasters, and servants.
+Besides the regular post servants there were others employed such as:
+voyageurs, among whom were the guides, canoe-men, boatmen, and scowmen;
+then, again, there were fur-runners, fort-hunters, and packeteers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the morning a miserable northeaster was blowing a heavy fall of snow
+over the country, and the Factor offered to show me the fur-loft where
+the clerk and a few half-breed men-servants were folding and packing
+furs.  First they were put into a collapsible mould to hold them in the
+proper form, then when the desired weight of eighty pounds had been
+reached, they were passed into a powerful home-made fur-press, and
+after being pressed down into a solid pack, were corded and covered
+with burlap, and marked ready for shipment.  The room in which the men
+worked was a big loft with endless bundles of skins of many sizes and
+colours hanging from the rafters, and with long rows of shelves stacked
+with folded furs, and with huge piles of pelts and opened bales upon
+the floor.  Also there were moose and caribou horns lying about, and
+bundles of Indian-made snowshoes hanging by wires from the rafters, and
+in one corner kegs of dried beaver castors.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WINTER MAIL ARRIVES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+On the morning of the second day of the storm I happened to be in the
+Indian shop, where I had gone to see the Factor and the clerk barter
+for the furs of a recently arrived party of Indian fur-hunters, when
+presently I was startled by hearing:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Voyez, voyez, le pacquet</I>!" shouted by Bateese as he floundered into
+the trading room without a thought of closing the door, though the
+drifting snow scurried in after him.  Vociferously he called to the
+others to come and see, and instantly trade was stopped.  The Factor,
+the clerk, and the Indians, rushed to the doorway to obtain a glimpse
+of the long-expected packet.  For two days the storm had raged, and the
+snow was still blowing in clouds that blotted out the neighbouring
+forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come awa', Bateese, ye auld fule!  Come awa' ben, an steek yon door!
+Ye dinna see ony packet!" roared the Factor, who could distinguish
+nothing through the flying snow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Bien, m'sieu</I>, mebbe she not very clear jus' now; but w'en I pass
+from de Mad Wolf's Hill, w'en de storm she lif' a leetle, I see two men
+an' dog-train on de lac below de islan's," replied the half-breed
+fort-hunter, who had returned from a caribou cache, and whose duty it
+was to keep the fort supplied with meat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Weel, fetch me the gless, ma mon; fetch me the gless an' aiblins we
+may catch a glint o' them through this smoorin' snaw; though I doot
+it's the packet, as ye say."  And the Factor stood shading his eyes and
+gazing anxiously in the direction of the invisible islands.  But before
+the fort-hunter had returned with the telescope, the snowy veil
+suddenly thinned and revealed the gray figure of a tripper coming up
+the bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Quay, quay</I>!  Ke-e-e-pling!" sang out one of the Indians.  He had
+recognized the tripper to be Kipling, the famous snowshoe runner.
+Immediately all save the Factor rushed forward to meet the little
+half-breed who was in charge of the storm-bound packet, and to welcome
+him with a fusilade of gunshots.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Everyone was happy now, for last year's news of the "<I>Grand Pays</I>"&mdash;the
+habitant's significant term for the outer world&mdash;had at last arrived.
+The monotonous routine of the Post was forgotten.  To-day the long,
+dreary silence of the winter would be again broken in upon by hearty
+feasting, merry music, and joyous dancing in honour of the arrival of
+the half-yearly mail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All crowded round the voyageur, who, though scarcely more than five
+feet in height, was famed as a snowshoe runner throughout the
+wilderness stretching from the Canadian Pacific Railroad to the Arctic
+Ocean.  While they were eagerly plying him with questions, the crack of
+a dog-whip was heard.  Soon the faint tinkling of bells came through
+the storm.  In a moment all the dogs of the settlement were in an
+uproar, for the packet had arrived.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+With a final rush the gaunt, travel-worn dogs galloped through the
+driving snow, and, eager for the shelter of the trading room, bolted
+pell-mell through the gathering at the doorway, upsetting several
+spectators before the driver could halt the runaways by falling
+headlong upon the foregoer's back and flattening him to the floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All was excitement.  Every dog at the post dashed in with bristling
+hair and clamping jaws to overawe the strangers.  Amid the hubbub of
+shouting men, women, and children, the cracking of whips, and the
+yelping of dogs, the packet was removed from the overturned sled and
+hustled into the Factor's office, where it was opened, and the mail
+quickly overhauled.  While the Factor and his clerk were busily writing
+despatches, a relay of dogs was being harnessed, and two fresh runners
+were making ready to speed the mail upon its northward way.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Before long the Factor's letters were sealed and carefully deposited in
+the packet box, which was lashed on the tail of the sled, the forepart
+of which was packed with blankets, flour, tea, and pork for the
+packeteers, and frozen whitefish for the dogs.  Then amid the usual
+handshaking the word "<I>Marche</I>!" was given, and to the tune of cracking
+whips, whining dogs, and crunching snow, the northern packet glided out
+upon the lake with the Indian track-beater hurrying far ahead while the
+half-breed dog-driver loped behind the sled.  Thus for over two
+centuries the Hudson's Bay Company had been sending its mails through
+the great wilderness of Northern Canada.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE DOG BRIGADE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+That afternoon five dog-trains arrived from outlying posts.  They had
+come to join the Dog Brigade that was to leave Fort Consolation first
+thing in the morning on its southern way to the far-off railroad.  As I
+wished to accompany the brigade, I had arranged with Oo-koo-hoo that we
+should do so, as far as we could without going out of our way, in
+returning to his hunting grounds.  So to bed that night we all went
+very early, and at four o'clock in the morning we were astir again.
+Breakfast was soon over, then followed the packing of the sleds, the
+harnessing of the dogs, the slipping of moccasined feet into snowshoe
+thongs, the shaking of hands, and the wishing of farewells.  Already
+the tracker, or track-beater, had gone ahead to break the trail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>M-a-r-r-che</I>!" (start) shouted the guide&mdash;as the head dog-driver is
+called.  Every driver repeated the word; whips cracked; dogs howled,
+and the brigade moved forward in single file.  At the head went the
+Factor's train of four powerful-looking and handsomely harnessed dogs
+hauling a decorated carriole in which the Factor rode and behind which
+trotted a picturesque half-breed driver.  Next in order went the teams
+of the Church of England clergyman and the Roman Catholic priest, both
+of whom happened to be going out to the railroad.  Behind these
+followed twelve sleds or toboggans, laden with furs, which the Hudson's
+Bay Company was shipping to its Department Headquarters.  When one
+remembers that black or silver fox skins are frequently sold for over a
+thousand dollars each, one may surmise the great value of a cargo of
+furs weighing nearly four thousand pounds, such as the Dog Brigade was
+hauling.  No wonder the Company was using all haste to place those furs
+on the London market before the then high prices fell.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The brigade formed an interesting sight, as the Indians, half-breeds,
+and white men were garbed most curiously; and in strong contrast to the
+brilliant colours worn by the members of the brigade, the clergymen
+trotted along in their sombre black&mdash;the priest's cassock flowing to
+his snowshoes, and his crucifix thrust, daggerlike, in his girdle.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The four dogs comprising each of the fur-trains hauled three hundred
+pounds of fur besides the camp outfit and grub for both driver and
+dogs&mdash;in all, about five hundred pounds to the sled.  When the
+sleighing grew heavy, the drivers used long pushing-poles against the
+ends of the sleds to help the dogs.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TRAVELLING WITH DOG-TRAINS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+While the march always started in a stately way&mdash;the Factor's carriole
+in advance&mdash;it was not long before the trains abandoned their formal
+order; for whenever one train was delayed through any one of many
+reasons, the train behind invariably strove to steal ahead so that
+after a few hours' run the best dogs were usually leading.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For several hours we followed the lake and the river, and just before
+daylight appeared in the southeastern sky the Aurora Borealis vanished
+from view.  Later, a golden glow tipping the tops of the tallest trees,
+heralded the rising of the sun.  Coming out upon a little lake&mdash;for we
+were now short-cutting across the country&mdash;we saw that the light over
+the distant hills had broken into a glorious flood of sunshine.  Half
+over the far-off trees, along the horizon, the sun was shining, and the
+whole southeastern sky seemed aflame with bands and balls of fire.  A
+vertical ribbon of gradually diminishing lustre, scarcely wider than
+the sun, was rising into the heavens to meet a vast semi-circle of
+rainbow beauty arched above the natural sun.  Where the strange halo
+cut the vertical flame and the horizon on either side three mock suns
+marked the intersection.  Above the natural sun and beneath the halo,
+four other mock suns studded the vertical band of light.  It was a
+wonderful sight and lasted fully twenty minutes&mdash;the sky was just as I
+have shown it in my picture of the York Factory Packet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now the brigade was halted, in voyageur parlance, "to spell the dogs
+one smoke," which, being translated, meant that the dogs could rest as
+long as it took their masters to smoke a pipeful of tobacco.  The
+drivers, conversing in little groups or sitting upon sleds as they
+puffed at their pipes, watched the beautiful phenomenon, and the talk
+turned to the many remarkable sun-dogs that they had seen.  Presently
+the mock suns grew dim; the arch faded away; the band lost its colour;
+the true sun rose above the trees and then, as ashes were knocked from
+pipes, we resumed our journey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After leaving the lake we entered a muskeg that extended for miles.
+Its uneven surface was studded with countless grassy hummocks, many of
+them crowned with willow and alder bushes or gnarled and stunted
+spruces or jack pines.  It made hard hauling for the dogs.  From a
+distance, the closely following trains reminded one of a great serpent
+passing over the country, that&mdash;when it encountered a hummocky section
+requiring the trains to turn from side to side, and to glide up and
+down&mdash;seemed to be writhing in pain.  Near the end of the swamp an open
+hillside rose before us, and upon its snowy slopes the sun showed
+thousands of rabbit-runs intersecting one another in a maze of tracks
+that made one think of a vast gray net cast over the hill.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Passing into a "bent-pole" district we encountered an endless number of
+little spruce trees, the tops of which had become so laden with snow
+that their slender stems, no longer able to sustain the weight, had
+bent almost double as they let their white-capped heads rest in the
+snow upon the ground.  Later, we entered a park-like forest where pine
+trees stood apart with seldom any brushwood between.  Fresh marten
+tracks were noticed in the snow.  A little farther on, two
+timber-wolves were seen slinking along like shadows among the distant
+trees as they paralleled our trail on the right.  The dogs noticed
+them, too, but they, like their masters, were too busy to pay much
+attention.  The wolves were big handsome creatures with thick fluffy
+coats that waved like tall grasses in a strong breeze as they bounded
+along.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Coming to a steep hill everyone helped the dogs in their climb.  When
+at last the brigade, puffing and panting, reached the summit, pipes
+were at once in evidence and then another rest followed.  When the
+descent began, the drivers&mdash;most of them having removed their snowshoes
+that their feet might sink deeper into the snow&mdash;seized their
+trail-lines, and, acting as anchors behind the sleds, allowed
+themselves to be hauled stiff-legged through the deep snow in their
+effort to keep the sleds from over-running the dogs.  It was exciting
+work.  The men throwing their utmost weight upon the lines sought every
+obstruction, swerving against trees, bracing against roots, grasping at
+branches, and floundering through bushes.  Often they fell, and
+occasionally, when they failed to regain their footing, were
+mercilessly dragged downhill; the heavy sleds, gathering momentum,
+overtook the fleeing dogs, and their unfortunate masters were ploughed
+head-first through the snow.  At the foot of the steepest incline a
+tumult arose as men and dogs struggled together in an effort to free
+themselves from overturned sleds.  Above the cursing in French and
+English&mdash;but not in Indian&mdash;rose the howling of the dogs as lead-loaded
+lashes whistled through the frosty air.  One wondered how such a tangle
+could ever be unravelled, but soon all was set straight again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+About eight o'clock we had our second breakfast and by twelve we
+stopped again for the noon-day meal, both of which consisted of
+bannock, pork, and tea.  While we ate, the dogs, still harnessed, lay
+curled up in the snow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again the guide shouted "<I>Ma-r-r-che</I>!" and again the brigade moved
+forward.  Some of the trains were handsomely harnessed, especially the
+Factor's.  The loin-cloths of the dogs, called <I>tapis</I>, were richly
+embroidered and edged with fringe.  Above the collars projected pompons
+of broken colours and clusters of streaming ribbons, while beneath hung
+a number of bells.  All the dogs were hitched tandem, and every train
+was made up of four units.  Except the dogs of the Factor's train,
+there were few real "huskies," as Eskimo dogs are called, for most of
+the brutes were the usual sharp-nosed, heavy-coated mongrels that in
+the Strong Woods Country go by the name of <I>giddes</I>; some, however, had
+been sired by wolves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The track-beater's snowshoes, which were the largest used by any of the
+brigade, were Wood Cree "hunting shoes" and measured nearly six feet in
+length.  The other men wore Chipewyan "tripping shoes" about three feet
+long&mdash;the only style of Canadian snowshoes that are made in "rights and
+lefts."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For a number of miles we passed through heavily timbered forest where
+shafts of sunlight threw patches of brilliant white upon the woodland's
+winter carpet, and where gentle breezes had played fantastically with
+the falling snow, for it was heaped in all manner of remarkable forms.
+Here and there long, soft festoons of white were draped about groups of
+trees where the living stood interlocked with the dead.  Among the
+branches huge "snow-bosses" were seen, and "snow-mushrooms" of wondrous
+shape and bulk were perched upon logs and stumps.  "Snow-caps" of
+almost unbelievable size were mounted upon the smallest of trees, the
+slender trunks of which seemed ready to break at any moment.  It was
+all so strangely picturesque that it suggested an enchanted forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Early that afternoon we came upon an Indian lodge hiding in the woods,
+and from within came three little children.  It was then fully twenty
+below zero, yet the little tots, wishing to watch the passing brigade,
+stood in the most unconcerned way, holding each other by the hand,
+their merry eyes shining from their wistful faces while their bare legs
+and feet were buried in the snow.  Though they wore nothing but little
+blanket shirts, what healthy, happy children they appeared to be!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then out upon a lake we swung where the wind-packed snow made easy
+going.  Here the heavy sleds slid along as if loadless, and we broke
+into a run.  On rounding a point we saw a band of woodland caribou trot
+off the lake and enter the distant forest.  By the time we reached the
+end of the lake, and had taken to the shelter of the trees, dusk was
+creeping through the eastern woods and the rabbits had come out to
+play.  They were as white as the snow upon which they ran
+helter-skelter after one another.  Forward and backward they bounded
+across the trail without apparently noticing the dogs.  Sometimes they
+passed within ten feet of us.  The woodland seemed to swarm with them,
+and no wonder, for it was the seventh year, the year of Northland game
+abundance, when not only rabbits are most numerous, but also all the
+other dwellers of the wilderness that prey upon them.  Already,
+however, the periodical plague had arrived.  When I stopped to adjust a
+snowshoe thong I counted five dead hares within sight; next year
+starvation would be stalking the forest creatures.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CAMPING IN THE SNOW
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+While the sunset glow was rapidly fading, the brigade halted to make
+camp for the night.  All were to sleep in the open, for dog brigades
+never carry tents but bivouac on the snow with nothing but a blanket
+between the sleeper and the Aurora Borealis&mdash;though the thermometer may
+fall to sixty below zero.  Some of the men moved off with axes in their
+hands, and the sound of chopping began to echo through the forest.  On
+every side big dry trees came crashing down.  Then the huge "long
+fires", driving darkness farther away, began to leap and roar.  Then,
+too, could be seen the building of stages on which to place the
+valuable fur-laden sleds out of reach of the destructive dogs; the
+gathering of evergreen brush; the unhitching of dogs and the hanging up
+of their harness in the surrounding trees; the unloading of sleds; the
+placing of frozen whitefish to thaw for the dogs; the baking of
+bannocks, the frying of pork, and the infusing of tea.  Then, in
+silence, the men ate ravenously, while the hungry dogs watched them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When pipes had been filled and lighted each driver took his allotment
+of fish, called his dogs aside, and gave them a couple each.  Some of
+the brutes bolted their food in a few gulps and rushed to seize the
+share of others, but a few blows from the drivers' whips drove them
+back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the dogs had devoured their day's rations&mdash;for they are fed only
+once every twenty-four hours&mdash;their masters sought out sheltered spots
+for them and cut a few branches of brush for their beds.  Some of the
+men cooked a supply of bannock to be eaten the following day.  Others
+hung their moccasins, mittens, and leggings on little sticks before the
+fires to dry.  It was an animated scene.  The "long fires" were huge
+structures, twelve or fifteen feet in length, so that each man might
+bask in the heat without crowding his neighbour.  A number stood with
+their back to the blaze while the rest sat or lounged on their blankets
+and, puffing away at their pipes, joined in the conversation that
+before long became general.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Just then the dogs began to blow and then to growl, as a strange Indian
+strode out of the gloom into the brilliant glare of the fires.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Wat-che</I>! <I>wat-che</I>?" (What cheer, what cheer?) sang out the men.
+The stranger replied in Cree, and then began a lively interchange of
+gossip.  The Indian was the track-beater of the south-bound packet from
+the Far North that was now approaching.  All were keenly interested.
+The cracking of whips and the howling of dogs were heard, and a little
+later the tinkling of bells.  Then came a train of long-legged,
+handsomely harnessed dogs hauling a highly decorated carriole behind
+which trotted a strikingly dressed half-breed dog-driver.  When the
+train had drawn abreast of our fire an elderly white man, who proved to
+be Chief Factor Thompson, of a still more northerly district of the
+Hudson's Bay Company, got out from beneath the carriole robes,
+cheerfully returned our greeting, and accepted a seat on the dunnage
+beside Factor Mackenzie's fire.  Two other trains and two other
+dog-drivers immediately followed the arrival of the Chief Factor, for
+they were the packeteers in charge of the packet.  Now the woods seemed
+to be full of talking and laughing men and snarling, snapping dogs.
+Twenty-two men were now crowding round the fires, and seventy-two dogs
+and eighteen sleds were blocking the spaces between the trees.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NORTHERN MAIL SERVICE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Chief Factor Thompson was the "real thing," and therefore not at all
+the kind of Hudson's Bay officer that one ever meets in fiction.  For
+instead of being a big, burly, "red-blooded brute," of the "he-man"
+type of factor&mdash;the kind that springs from nowhere save the wild
+imaginations of the authors who have never lived in the
+wilderness&nbsp;&#8230; he was just a real man&nbsp;&#8230; just a fine type of
+Hudson's Bay factor, who was not only brother to both man and beast,
+but who knew every bird by its flight or song; who loved children with
+all his heart&mdash;flowers, too&mdash;and whose kindly spirit often rose in
+song.  Yes, he was just a real man, like some of the men you know&mdash;but
+after all, perhaps he was even finer&mdash;for the wilderness does nothing
+to a man save make him healthier in body and in soul; while the cities
+are the world's cesspools.  He was rather a small, slender man, with
+fatherly eyes set in an intelligent face that was framed with gray hair
+and gray beard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the Chief Factor and his men had been refreshed with bannock,
+pork, and tea, pipes were filled and lighted and for a time we talked
+of all sorts of subjects.  Later, when we were alone for a little
+while, I found Mr. Thompson a man richly informed on northern travel,
+for he had spent his whole life in the service of the Hudson's Bay
+Company, and at one time or another had been in charge of the principal
+posts on Hudson Bay, Great Slave Lake, and the Peace, the Churchill,
+the Athabasca, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Among other subjects
+discussed were dogs and dog-driving; and when I questioned him as to
+the loading of sleds, he answered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Usually, in extremely cold weather, the Company allots dogs not more
+than seventy-five pounds each, but in milder weather they can handily
+haul a hundred pounds, and toward spring, when sleds slide easily, they
+often manage more than that."  Then dreamily puffing at his pipe he
+added: "I remember when six dog-trains of four dogs each hauled from
+Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca to Fort Vermillion on the Peace River
+loads that averaged six hundred and fifty pounds per sled&mdash;not
+including the grub for the men and dogs and the men's dunnage.  Then,
+again, William Irving with Chief Factor Camsell's dogs brought to Fort
+Simpson a load of nine hundred pounds.  The greatest load hauled by
+four dogs that I know of was brought to Fort Good Hope by Gaudet.  When
+it arrived it weighed a trifle over one thousand pounds.  But Factor
+Gaudet is one of the best dog-drivers in the country."  Then,
+re-settling himself more comfortably before the fire, he continued:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And while I think of it we have had some pretty fine dogs in the
+service of the Company.  The most famous of all were certainly those
+belonging to my good friend Chief Factor Wm. Clark.  He bred them from
+Scotch stag hounds and "huskies"&mdash;the latter, of course, he procured
+from the Eskimos.  His dogs, however, showed more hound than husky.
+Their hair was so short that they had to be blanketed at night.  Once
+they made a trip from Oak Point on Lake Manitoba to Winnipeg, starting
+at four o'clock in the morning, stopping for a second breakfast by the
+way, and reaching Winnipeg by one o'clock at noon, the distance being
+sixty miles.  They were splendid dogs and great pets of his.  They used
+to love playing tricks and romping with him.  Frequently, when nearing
+a post, they would purposely dump him out of his carriole and leaving
+him behind, go on to the post, where, of course, on their arrival with
+the empty sled, they were promptly sent back for Mr. Clark.
+Understanding the command, they would at once wheel about and, without
+a driver, return on the full gallop to get their master.  When coming
+upon him they would rush around and bark at him, showing all the while
+the greatest glee over the trick they had played him.  He never used a
+whip upon them.  No snowshoer could be found who was swift enough to
+break a trail for those dogs and no horse ever overtook them.  Once,
+while going from Oak Point to Winnipeg, Factor Clark's train ran down
+six wolves, allowing him to shoot the brutes as he rode in his
+carriole.  Another time they overhauled and threw a wolf which Mr.
+Clark afterward stunned, and then bound its jaws together.  When the
+brute came to, it found itself harnessed in the train in place of one
+of the dogs, and thus Chief Factor Clark drove a wild timber-wolf into
+the city of Winnipeg."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"They must have been wonderful dogs," remarked Father Jois, "but it's
+too bad they don't breed such dogs nowadays."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That's so," returned the Chief Factor.  "Twenty or thirty years ago at
+each of the big posts&mdash;the district depots&mdash;they used to keep from
+forty to fifty dogs, and at the outposts, from twenty to thirty were
+always on hand.  At each of the district depots a man was engaged as
+keeper of the dogs and it was his duty to attend to their breeding,
+training, and feeding."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Speaking of feeding, what do you consider the best food for dogs?" I
+asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By all means pemmican," replied the Chief Factor, "and give each dog a
+pound a day.  The next best rations for dogs come in the following
+order: two pounds of dried fish, four pounds of fresh deer meat, two
+rabbits or two ptarmigan, one pound of flour or meal mixed with two
+ounces of tallow.  That reminds me of the way the old half-breed
+dog-drivers used to do.  In such districts as Pelly and Swan River,
+where fish and other food for dogs was scarce, we had frequently to
+feed both men and dogs on rations of flour.  Some of the half-breeds
+would leave their ration of flour with their family, and count on
+eating the dog's ration while on the trip and letting the poor brutes
+go hungry, just because the dogs belonged to the Company.  So we put a
+stop to that by mixing coal oil with the dog's rations and having them
+bated into cakes before the trip was begun.  Such a mixture made the
+men sick when they tried to eat it, but the dogs didn't seem to mind it
+at all."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then kerosene is not included in the regular rations the Company
+supplies for its trippers and voyageurs?" I ventured, laughingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hardly, for in the Northland that would be rather an expensive
+condiment."  The old gentleman smiled as he continued: "In outfitting
+our people for a voyage, we supply what is known as a full ration for a
+man, a half ration for a woman or a dog, and a quarter ration for a
+child.  For instance, we give a man eight pounds of fresh deer meat per
+day while we give a woman or a dog only four pounds and a child two
+pounds.  A man's ration of fish is four pounds per day, of pemmican two
+pounds, of flour or meal two pounds, of rabbits or ptarmigan four of
+each," said he, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe.  I was afraid he
+was going to turn in, so I quickly asked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Which is the longest of the Company's packet routes at the present
+day?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That of the Mackenzie River packet from Edmonton to Fort Macpherson.
+In winter it is hauled two thousand and twelve miles by dog-train; and
+in summer it is carried by the Company's steamers on the Athabasca, the
+Slave, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Next comes the Peace River packet
+from Edmonton to Hudson's Hope, a distance of over a thousand miles.
+In summer it goes by steamer, and in winter by dog-train.  There's the
+York Factory packet from Winnipeg to Hudson Bay by way of Norway House,
+a distance of seven hundred miles.  In winter it is hauled by dogs from
+Selkirk as far as Oxford House, and from there to York Factory by men
+with toboggans.  In summer it is carried by canoe on Hay River and by
+steamboat on Lake Winnipeg.  Then there's the Liard River packet and
+the Reindeer Lake packet.  Each travels about five hundred miles by
+dogs in winter and by canoe in summer.  The Moose Factory packet from
+Temiscamingue to James Bay goes by canoe in summer, but by men in
+winter.  All mails in and out from Hudson Bay or James Bay to or from
+the next post in the interior, are hauled by men.  Dogs are seldom used
+on those routes, on account of the depth of the snow and the scarcity
+of dog feed."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-212"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-212.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-212.jpg" ALT="&quot;There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to Winnipeg" BORDER="2" WIDTH="260" HEIGHT="407">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: "There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to
+Winnipeg, a distance of seven hundred miles.  In winter it is hauled by
+dogs between Selkirk and Or ford House, but between the latter post and
+York Factory it is hauled by men with toboggans.  All mails in and out
+from Hudson Bay to or from the next post in the interior are hauled by
+men.  Dogs are seldom used on those routes, on account of&nbsp;&#8230;"  See
+Chapter V.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Though I well knew that packeteers did not carry firearms, I asked
+Chief Factor Thompson&mdash;just for the sake of getting the truth from him
+and giving it to the public:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How does the Hudson's Bay Company arm their packeteers?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Arm them?" the Chief Factor laughed outright, "why, we always provide
+them with an axe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Firearms, I mean."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Firearms!  Why, they aren't allowed to carry firearms at all.  It's
+against the rules and regulations of the Company.  In the first place,
+packeteers are supplied with plenty of grub for the trip; in the next
+place, if they had a gun they might go hunting and fooling around with
+it instead of attending to their business; and, moreover, it doesn't
+matter whether the mail travels two hundred or two thousand miles,
+there is no occasion for packeteers to carry firearms, for there are no
+highwaymen and no animals in this country that would make an offensive
+attack upon them."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And in truth, in all that wild brigade there were no fire-arms save
+Oo-koo-hoo's old muzzle-loader; but then The Owl was a hunter by
+profession, and he carried a gun only as a matter of business.  Now for
+the last twenty-five years that is exactly what I have wanted to tell
+the public.  When one reads a story, or sees a play or a moving
+picture, in which characters bristling with firearms are set forth as
+veritable representatives of life in the Canadian wilderness, he may
+rest assured that the work is nothing but a travesty on life in Canada.
+Any author, any illustrator, any playwright, any scenario writer, any
+actor or any director who depicts Canadian wilderness life in that way
+is either an ignoramus or a shameless humbug.  And to add strength to
+my statement I shall quote the experience of a gentleman who was the
+first City Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, and Tax Collector of Dawson
+City&mdash;Mr. E. Ward Smith:
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+POLICE AND GUNMEN
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"The Mounted Police generally received word in advance when any
+particularly bad character was headed for the Yukon, and in all such
+cases he was met when he slipped off the boat.  I remember particularly
+one case of the kind, as I happened to be on hand when the American
+gunman landed.  He was a quiet enough looking individual and had no
+weapons of any kind in sight, but a close scrutiny revealed the fact
+that he had a particularly evil eye in his sandy-freckled face.  One of
+the Mounties picked him out unerringly and tapped him on the shoulder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Gat Gardiner?' he asked.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'No,' said the newcomer.  'My name is Davidson.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'I happen to know you as Gat Gardiner,' insisted the policeman.  'Got
+any weapons on you?'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Leave go of me,' flared the so-called Davidson, all the veneer of
+civility gone.  'You got nothing on me.  Let go, I say!'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'I've got something on you,' declared the policeman, hauling a
+revolver from the hip pocket of the man.  'Carrying concealed weapons
+is against the law on this side the line.  Back on the boat, you, and
+don't you dare put foot ashore or I'll have you in jail.  You go back
+the way you came.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And Gardiner went.  I saw him leaning over the rail when the boat
+started on the return trip and he shook his fist at the policeman on
+the wharf and emitted a string of vile oaths.  But he never came back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When the notorious 'Soapy' Smith was killed at Skagway, Alaska, his
+gang of desperadoes was promptly broken up and word came to Dawson that
+some of them were headed for the Canadian side.  They were gathered in
+as soon as they crossed the line, denuded of weapons, and sent back.
+Not one of the gang eluded the vigilance of the police.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The law against carrying concealed weapons was a big factor in keeping
+the peace.  Comparatively few men took advantage of their legal right
+to carry a revolver in sight.  I remember seeing an open box in a
+pawnshop containing the most amazing collection of weapons I had ever
+set eyes on&mdash;revolvers with silver handles, pistols of carved ivory,
+antiquated breech-loaders, weapons of fantastic design, and, probably,
+of equally fantastic history, strange implements of death that had come
+from all climes and bespoke adventures on all the seven seas.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Where did you get the lot?' I asked the proprietor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'They all sell their shooting irons.  No use for them here.  I get 'em
+for practically nothing.  Help yourself if you have any fancy that way.
+I'll make you a present of anything you want.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"So much for the wild Yukon of the novelists!  Instead of lurching into
+the dance hall and blazing away at the ceiling, picture the
+'old-timer', the hardened miner of a hundred camps, planking down his
+pistols on the counter of the pawnshop and asking 'How much?'  That's
+the truer picture."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As part of my boyhood education was derived from the study of American
+illustrated magazines, I was led by those periodicals to believe that
+the North American wilderness was inhabited by wild and woolly men
+bedecked with firearms, and ever since I have been on the lookout for
+just such characters.  Now while I cannot speak for the Western States,
+I can at least speak for Canada; and I must now admit that, during my
+thirty-three years of contact with wilderness life, on one
+occasion&mdash;but on one only&mdash;I found that there was justification for
+describing the men of the northern wilderness as carrying firearms for
+protection.  But does not the one exception prove the rule?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It happened near Stewart, on the borderline of Alaska, several years
+ago.  I encountered a prospector who wanted to cross Portland Canal
+from Alaska to Canada, and as I was rowing over, I offered to take him
+across.  When, however, he turned to pick up his pack I caught sight of
+something that fairly made me burst out laughing; for it was as funny a
+sight as though I had witnessed it on Piccadilly or Broadway.  At first
+I thought he was a movie actor who, in some unaccountable way, had
+strayed from Los Angeles and become lost in the northern wilderness
+before he had had time to remove his ridiculous "make-up"; but a moment
+later he proved beyond doubt that he was not an actor, for he blushed
+scarlet when he observed that I was focussing a regular Mutt-and-Jeff
+dotted-line stare at a revolver that hung from his belt, and he
+faltered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But&nbsp;&#8230;  Why the mirth?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, old man," I laughed again, "for over twenty-five years I have
+been roaming the Canadian wilderness from the borderline of Maine right
+up here to Alaska, and in all that time&mdash;with the exception of the
+Constables of the North-West Mounted Police&mdash;you are the first man,
+woman, or child, I have seen carrying a revolver.  And I swear, old
+dear, that that's the truth.  So now, do you wonder that I laugh?"
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+RECORD TRAVELLING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+But to return to the Hudson's Bay Company's packet system, I asked
+Chief Factor Thompson:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Which is the more important, the summer or the winter mail?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, the winter; for, when inward bound, it bears the Commissioner's
+instructions to the district chief factors; and, when outward bound, it
+contains information regarding the results and the progress of the
+fur-trade, and orders for additional supplies."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How many miles a day do the packeteers average on their winter trips?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well," replied the Chief Factor, "I think the rate of speed maintained
+by our packeteers is remarkable; especially when one considers the
+roughness of the country, the hardships of winter travel, the fact that
+the men must make their bread, cook their meals, care for their dogs,
+and, when on the trail, cannot even quench their thirst without halting
+to build a fire and melt snow.  Yet the packeteers of the Mackenzie
+River mail cover their two thousand miles on snowshoes at an average
+rate of twenty-seven and a half miles a day, including all stoppages."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That is certainly splendid travelling.  Some of the packeteers, I
+should judge, have made great records; haven't they?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that's true," acknowledged the trader, "the packeteers do make
+great efforts to break records between posts.  But, though they may
+have succeeded in cutting down the time, their achievement is never
+mentioned on the way-bill, nor does it affect the time allowed for the
+completion of the trip; for, though the mail be brought in ahead of
+time, it is never handed over to the relay until the appointed hour has
+struck.  Otherwise, the whole system would be thrown out of gear.
+Exceptionally fast runs are not shown upon the way-bills, because they
+would eventually affect the average time allowed for the trip; and in
+stormy weather that would be hard upon the packeteers.  The time
+allowed for the transmission of a packet is calculated on a ten-years'
+average.  No excuse for delay, except death, is tolerated.  At each
+post on certain fixed dates relays of men and dogs are kept in
+readiness to forward the mail without delay.  A through way-bill
+accompanies every packet from point of departure to point of delivery.
+At each post along the route the time of arrival and the time of
+departure of the mail must be entered upon the way-bill, as well as the
+names of the packeteers and of the officers in charge."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I understand that packets contain not only the despatches of the
+Company, but the private mail of the employees, that of missionaries of
+all denominations, that of chance 'explorers' or travellers, and even
+that of opposition fur-traders.  Is that a fact?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir, and moreover, no charge is made by the Company."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do the Company's officers experience much trouble in procuring men to
+act as packeteers?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, no; none whatever.  As a rule, when men enter the Company's
+service, they stipulate that they shall be given a place on the packet;
+for that affords them an opportunity to pay a visit to the next post,
+and to join in the dance which is always held on the arrival of the
+mail.  Trippers consider themselves greatly honoured on being given
+charge of a packet; for it means that they are held to be trustworthy,
+and thoroughly familiar with the topography of the district."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Before the advent of the railroad and the steamboat, which was the
+longest of the Company's packet routes?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By all odds that of the Yukon packet.  It made the journey from
+Montreal to Fort Yukon, which was then situated at the junction of the
+Porcupine and Yukon rivers.  It was routed by way of the Ottawa River,
+Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, the
+Athabasca River, the Slave River, and the Mackenzie River.  It was
+forwarded in summer by canoe, in winter by dog-train, for the enormous
+distance of four thousand five hundred miles.  And let me tell you, it
+is to-day, as it was two hundred years ago, the pride of the Company's
+people that not one packet was ever lost beyond recovery.  Packeteers
+have been drowned, frozen, burned, shot, smothered, and even eaten; but
+the packet has always reached its destination somehow."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BEAR HOLDS UP MAIL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+A sudden burst of laughter from the men at a neighbouring fire
+attracted the attention of Chief Factor Thompson, and glancing over, he
+remarked to me:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Telling yarns, eh!  Let's go over and listen."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Twelve or fifteen men were crowded round that fire&mdash;including Factor
+Mackenzie, the Rev. Mr. Wilson, Father Jois, and Oo-koo-hoo&mdash;and they
+were now coaxing "Old Billy Brass" to tell the next story.  He was a
+wiry little white man of about sixty who had seen much service in the
+Hudson's Bay Company.  He hesitated.  They clamoured again, and he
+began:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But talkin' 'bout bears reminds me of a little affair I once had on
+the Peace River," said the old man, glancing slyly from the corner of
+his eye to see what effect his statement made upon his campfire
+companions.  Billy was sitting cross-legged upon his caribou robe; and,
+as he turned the browning bannocks before the fire, he continued:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, as I was sayin', me an' Old-pot-head's son once had a go with a
+great big black bear away up on the Peace River.  But, don't you forget
+it, Billy Brass didn't lose the packet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Come, Billy, tell us all about it," coaxed the Chief Factor, well
+knowing that if he were once started there would be on his part little
+need of urging in order to extract from the old tripper all he knew, or
+could invent to suit the occasion.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, gentlemen, if you ain't too sleepy, an' if some o' you boys'll
+watch the bannock, I don't mind tellin'," replied Billy as he leaned
+toward the fire, picked up a red-hot coal, and palmed it into his pipe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I can't give a funny bear story, the same as you've been tellin',
+because all my experiences with bears have been mighty serious.
+However, I'll try and tell you 'bout me an Old-pot-head's son; an' to
+my mind it's the most serious of 'em all.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As I was sayin', we was in charge of the Peace River packet; an' if it
+hadn't been for the charm Father La Mille blessed for me at Fort Good
+Hope, I don't know 's I'd be here to tell about it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Anyway, me an' Old-pot-head's son was carryin' the packet and headin'
+for Hudson's Hope.  It was the fall packet, an'&mdash;as winter was just
+about due&mdash;we was hustlin' 'long for all we was worth, an' jabbin'
+holes in the river with our paddles as fast as we could, in fear o' the
+freeze up.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As bad lack would have it, that very night the ice overtook us, an' we
+had to leave the canoe ashore an' finish the voyage afoot.  Lucky for
+us, we was only about three-days' travel from the Fort, so we leaves
+our axe an' whatever we don't particular need with the canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mile after mile we walks along the river bank; an' as we don't have no
+extra moccasins, our bare skin was soon upon the sand.  What with
+havin' our duds torn by bushes, an' our fallin' in the mud once or
+twice, and several times a-wadin' creeks, we was a pretty sight when we
+stops to camp that night.  When the sun went down, we was so tired that
+we just stopped dead in our tracks.  We had been packin' our blankets,
+our grub, an' cookin' gear to say nothin' o' the packet; so, of course,
+we didn't give much thought to the campin' ground.  But after supper I
+looks round an' sees that we'd made our fire down in a little hollow,
+an' that the place was bare o' trees 'ception three that stood in a row
+'bout four lengths of a three-fathom canoe from our fire.  The middle
+one was a birch with a long bare trunk, an' on each side stood a pine.
+Now, I want you gentlemen to pay perticler 'tention to just how they
+stood; for them three trees is goin' to do a mighty lot o' figgerin' in
+this here story.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As I was sayin', there was two pines with a birch in between, an' all
+standin' in a row, with the upper branches o' pines runnin' square in
+among the branches o' the birch.  'Bout half ways between the birch and
+the east pine, but a trifle off the line, was a pool o' water.  Before
+I turns in for the night, I takes the packet an' sticks it on the end
+of a long pole, an' shoves it up against the birch tree, for fear o'
+the fire spreadin' an' burnin' up the mail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Me an' Old-pot-head's son turns in an' sleeps as sound as any trippers
+could.  Some time in the night I wakes up with a mighty start that
+almost busts me heart.  Somethin' was maulin' me.  So, with me head
+still under the blanket, for I dassn't peep out, I sings out to the
+Injun an' asks him what in creation he's kickin' me for; an' if he
+couldn't wake me without killin' me.  Old-pot-head's son yells back
+that he hasn't touched me.  Then you bet I was scared; for the thing
+hauls off agen an' gives me a clout that knocks the wind plum' out o'
+me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just then I heard Old-pot-head's son shout, 'Keep still, Bill, it's a
+big black bear.' I grabs the edges o' me blanket an' pulls 'em in under
+me so hard I thinks I've bust it.  But the bear keeps on maulin' me,
+an' givin' me such hard swats that I began to fear it'd cave in me
+ribs."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, Billy, why didn't you shoot it?" asked the Reverend Mr. Wilson.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Shoot?  Why, your reverence, don't you know, packeteers never carries
+a gun?" the old man exclaimed with disgust, and then continued his
+story:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Not content with that, the brute starts to roll me over an' over.  An'
+all the time I'm doin' me best to play dead.  Now you needn't laff.
+I'd like to see any o' youse pretendin' you was dead while a big bear
+was poundin' you that hard that you begin to believe you ain't
+shammin'.  An' when that ugly brute hauls off an' hits me agen, I
+decides then an' there that there's no occasion to sham it.  But just
+as soon as I makes up my mind I'm dead, the bear leaves me; an' when I
+can no longer hear him breathin', I peeps out of a tiny little hole,
+and sees the big brute maulin' me old friend the Injun.  Then I takes
+another peep roun', an' don't see no escape 'cept by way o' them three
+trees, so I just jumps up, an' lights out like greased lightnin' for
+the nearest tree.  After me comes the bear gallopin'.  I guess that was
+the quickest runnin' I ever done in all me life.  I just managed to
+climb into the lower branches o' the west pine as the bear struck the
+trunk below me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When I stops for breath in the upper branches, I sees the old bear
+canterin' back agen to have another go with me pardner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just as soon as I was safe, the whole performance struck me as bein'
+pretty funny, an' I couldn't help roarin' out and a-laffin' when I saw
+the beast maulin' Old-pot-head's son, an' him tryin' for all he was
+worth to play dead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thinks I, I'll make me old friend laff.  So I starts in to guy him,
+an' he begins to snicker, an' that makes the bear mad, an' he begins to
+roll the Injun.  Then, you bet, I couldn't make him laff no more; for,
+what with shammin' dead, an' bein' frightened to death into the
+bargain, I don't think there was much laff left in him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You know how bears will act when they sometimes comes across a handy
+log?  Well, that's just what the beast was doin' with Old-pot-head's
+son&mdash;it was rollin' him over an' over.  The very next second it rolls
+his feet into the fire.  Down the tree I slid, like snow down a
+mountain, an' stood at the foot of it an' pelted the bear with stones.
+The Injun's blanket began to smoke.  It was no laffin' matter, for I
+knowed if I didn't drive the brute off in a jiffy Old-pot-head's son
+would be a comin' out of his trance mighty sudden an' that meant a
+catch-as-catch-can with a great, big, crazy black bear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As good luck would have it, the next time I threw a stone, it landed
+on the tip of the bear's snout, an' with a snarl he comes for me.  I
+waits as long as I dares, then up the tree I skips, with the brute
+follerin' me.  About half ways up I thinks I hears a human bein'
+laffin' in the east pine.  So I looks over, an' sure enuff, I sees me
+old pardner settin' on a limb an' fairly roarin'.  All the same, I was
+feelin' mighty squeemish, for the bear was comin' up lickety splinter
+after me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Just then I spies a good stout branch that reaches out close against a
+big limb of the birch, an' I crawls over.  As the bear follers me, I
+slides down the trunk o' the birch, an' lights out for the east pine
+where me pardner was doin' the laffin'.  On its way down the bear
+rammed itself right smack against the mail-bag; and when the beast
+struck ground, it smelt the man smell on the packet, an' began to gnaw
+it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now me an' Old-pot-head's son knowed well enuff we had to save the
+mail-sack, so I slips down the east pine a ways, an' breaks off dead
+branches, an' pelts them at the bear while the Injun crosses over into
+the top o' the west pine.  Then we both at once slides down as low as
+we dares, an' I begins to lamm the brute with a shower o' sticks.  Up
+the tree it comes for me, while me pardner slips down, grabs the
+mail-sack, an' sails up the west pine again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"That was a mighty clever move, thinks I, but a bag is an orkad thing
+to portage when you're meanderin' up an' down a tree with a bear after
+you.  But the tump-line was on it, just as we carried it the day
+before, so it wasn't as bad as it might 'a' been.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, when I went up the east pine, the bear follered, an', as there
+wasn't any too much room between me an' the bear, I crosses over into
+the birch an' slides down its slippery trunk as tho' it was greased.  I
+hits the ground a little harder than I wanted to, but didn't waste no
+time in lightin' out for the west pine, where the Injun was restin';
+an' all the time the bear was tryin' to grab me coat-tails.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was just a case of up to the west pine, cross over and down the
+birch; then up the east pine, cross over an' down the birch; then up
+the west pine, cross over an' down the birch, till we got so dizzy we
+could a hardly keep from fallin'.  If you could just 'a' seen the way
+we tore roun' through them trees, I'll bet you would 'a' done a heap o'
+laffin'.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The bear was mighty spry in goin' up, but when it came to goin' down
+he'd just do the drop-an'-clutch, drop-an'-clutch act.  That's just
+where me an' me pardner had the advantage on the brute; for we just
+swung our arms an' legs roun' that birch an' did the drop act, too;
+but, somehow, we hadn't time to do the clutch, so our coat-tails got
+badly crushed every time we landed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was a kind of go-as-you-please until about the tenth roun', when I
+accidentally drops the mail-bag on the bear's head, an' that makes him
+boilin' mad; so he lights out after us as tho' he had swallered a
+hornet's nest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then away we goes up an' down, up an' down, an' roun' an' roun' that
+perpendicular race track, until we made such a blur in the scen'ry that
+any fool with half an eye an' standin' half a mile away could 'a' seen
+a great big figger eight layin' on its side in the middle o' the
+landscape.  We took turns at carryin' the packet, but sometimes I
+noticed Old-pot-head's son was havin' a good deal of trouble with it.
+It didn't seem to bother him much when he was climbin' up; for he just
+swung it on his back with the loop o' the tump-line over his head, an'
+so he had his hands free.  But it was when he was comin' down the
+slippery birch that the weight of the bag made him rather more rapid
+than he wanted to be; an' so, when he an' the bag struck groun', they
+nearly always bounced apart; an' if the Injun failed to get his feet in
+time to ketch the sack on the first bounce, I ketched it on the second
+bounce as I glode by.  So between the two of us we managed to hang on
+to the packet.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"By-an'-by, we was gettin' terribly tuckered out.  It was a good thing
+for us that the bear was gettin' winded an' dizzy as well; because, at
+about the sixty-seventh roun', the brute had no sooner gone down the
+birch than he bounded up agen just when Old-pot-head's son was
+a-climbin' thro' the upper branches o' the birch.  So he slips over
+into the top o' the east pine, while I stays in the top o' the west
+pine, an' the bear sits down in a upper crotch o' the birch.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, we puts in a good many heats of anywhere from twenty-five to
+seventy-five laps roun' that track by the time daylight comes, an'
+sunrise finds us all ketching our wind in the upper branches.  I
+noticed that whenever the brute wanted to stop the whirligig it always
+climbed up the birch just in time to separate me an' me pardner; an'
+there we would sit, me in the west pine, me pardner in the east pine,
+an' the black brute right in between.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"About breakfast time me an' the Injun was feelin' mighty hungry.
+There we sat cussin' our luck an' castin' longin' glances down at the
+grub bag.  By the time I'd caught me wind a great idea strikes me.
+Durin' the next heat I would rush out.  So I sings out my intentions to
+me pardner; an' he says he thinks we can do it.  So while he was
+carryin' Her Majesty's mail I was to try an' grab the grub bag.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We got ready, an' dropped down them pines so fast that we both hits
+groun' before the bear knows what's doin'.  Then I leaves that tree
+like as if all the animals in the woods was after me.  I got on so much
+speed that by the time I grabs the grub bag I was goin' so fast that I
+couldn't turn roun' without slackin' down.  That's where I loses a
+terrible amount o' time, an' I was beginnin' to think it was all up
+with me.  By the time I got headed roun' agen for the tree, I sees that
+the bear is comin' down with his back to me.  When he hits groun' he
+sees the Injun dancin' roun' the foot o' the west pine; so he makes for
+the redskin, an' chases him up while I climbs the east pine.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then we all went roun' an' roun' for maybe fifty laps, an' the way we
+wore the bark off them trees an' trod down the grass between 'em was a
+caution.  By-an'-by the bear gets so dizzy that he bucks up the birch
+agen, an' sure enuff that stops the performance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I didn't need any breakfast bell to remind me to open the grub bag.  I
+just reaches in an' pulls out some busted bannock an' throws a chunk
+over to Old-pot-head's son, an' without even sayin' grace, we starts
+in.  Every little while I'd toss another chunk of bread over to me
+pardner an' just out o' sheer spite I'd chuck it so that it would go
+sailin' thro' the air right in front o' the bear's snout.  That makes
+him mad.  So he tried to catch the stuff as it flies by; but I just
+puts on a little more curve, an' that makes him madder still, an' he
+ups an' comes for me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then we all knocks off breakfast an' goes for another canter.  But it
+don't do no good, 'ceptin' that we all gets puffed out agen.  After a
+bit, the bear stops to ketch his breath, an' then me an' me pardner
+goes on with our breakfast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With the bear exercisin' us the way he did, we had to take our
+breakfast in a good many courses.  That makes it so long drawn out that
+we gets mighty thirsty.  The Injun asks me if the cups is in the grub
+bag.  I puts me han' in an' feels, but they ain't there.  Then I
+remembers that we left them down by the fire.  We didn't either of us
+care to risk snakin' a cup, so I tells me pardner that the next time we
+goes roun' we'd best try an' grab a handful o' water.  We didn't have
+long to wait, for the bear soon gets another move on; an' then away we
+all goes sailin' roun' agen.  Every time me an' the Injun canters past
+the pool, we just makes a sudden dip an' grabs up a handful o' water
+an' throws it in.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It took so much exercise to get so little water that I thought I'd die
+of thirst while I was tryin' to drink me fill.  When the bear caught on
+to what we was doin', it just made him madder an' madder; an' he lights
+out after us at such a breathless clip that we had to fairly gallop up
+them pines, an' slide down the birch faster than ever.  It wasn't long
+before nearly every button was wore off, an' our clothes was so ripped
+up an' torn down that I'd blush every time I'd ketch the bear lookin'
+at me.  An' every time we ran 'long the groun' from one tree to
+another, me an' me pardner had to use both hands on our garments in
+order to keep up our&mdash;er&mdash;respectability.  However, the bear didn't
+have the laff on us altogether, for he had gone up an' down them trees
+so often an' so fast that he had worn all the hair off his stomach.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After a while we all gets tuckered out agen; an' while we rests in the
+trees me an' me pardner talks about the weather, lettin' on that there
+ain't no bear anywheres nigh.  So the time passed.  As we didn't
+recollect just how much grub we had at the start, or how much water
+there was in the pool first off, we couldn't for the life of us reckon
+just how long we'd been there.  Neither me nor Old-pot-head's son would
+care to take our oaths whether we'd been there a night an' half a day,
+or half a dozen nights an' days; the night time an' the day time was so
+mixed up together that we hadn't time to separate 'em.  We were sure,
+tho', that our grub was givin' out, the water was dryin' up, an' death
+was gettin' good an' ready for us.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We was in such a terrible tight place that I begins to think o' takin'
+off me shirt an' flyin' it from the top o' the tallest pine as a signal
+o' distress; for we was worse off than if we'd been shipwrecked.  Talk
+about bein' cast adrift on a raft!  Why, it wasn't in it with bein'
+fixed the way we was.  We just stayed in one spot with no chance of
+ever driftin' to'rds help.  As long as the bear kept tab on us there
+wasn't no sign of our ever gettin' a wink o' sleep.  And more, besides
+starvin' to death, we had to face bein' frozen; for our clothes was all
+wore off, an' winter was comin' on mighty fast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"At last, when me an' Old-pot-head's son had about given up hope, an'
+was just pickin' out which would be the easiest death, what should we
+see but somethin' bobbin' in an' out among the bushes.  Say, it was
+another bear!  When it comes a little closer, we makes out it was a
+little lady bear.  No sooner does our old stern-chaser spy her than he
+slides down to the groun', an' risin' up on his hind legs, throws out
+his chest, an' cocks his eye at her, for all the world like a man when
+he sees a pretty girl comin' his way.  But when her dainty little
+ladyship ketches sight of his bald-headed stomach, she just tosses up
+her nose with disgust, an' wheels roun' an' makes for the tall timbers
+with our affectionate friend limpin' the best he can after her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"An' that's the last we sees o' the bear that tried to hold up the
+Company's packet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the laughter had died down, Chief Factor Thompson yawned:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, gentlemen, it's getting on.  I must be turning in or my men will
+be late in getting under way in the morning."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+GOD AND THE WILD MEN
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Drowsiness had indeed overtaken the camp.  But now I must digress a
+moment to tell you something that the public&mdash;at least the public that
+has derived its knowledge of northern wilderness life from fiction&mdash;may
+find it hard to believe.  And this is what I want to say: that every
+one in that whole brigade of wild men of the wilderness, from the
+lowest dog-driver right up to the Chief Factor&mdash;when each had fixed his
+bed in readiness for the night&mdash;knelt down, and with bowed head, said
+his evening prayer to The Master of Life.  Moreover, the fact that two
+clergymen were present had nothing whatever to do with it, for the
+"barbarians" of the forest would have done just the same had no priest
+been there&mdash;just as I have seen them do scores and scores of times.  In
+fact, in some sections of the forest the native wilderness man&mdash;red,
+white, or half-breed&mdash;who does not, is not the rule, but the exception.
+Then, too&mdash;unless one's ears are closed to such sounds&mdash;one may
+occasionally hear the voyageurs of the "North canoe" and the "York
+boat" brigades, while straining on the tracking line, singing, among
+other hymns:
+</P>
+
+<P CLASS="poem">
+Onward, Christian soldiers,<BR>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Marching as to war,<BR>
+With the Cross of Jesus,<BR>
+&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Going on before.<BR>
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And, furthermore, I wonder if the fiction-reading public will believe
+that the majority of the men in the fur brigades always partake of the
+holy sacrament before departing upon their voyages?  Nevertheless, it
+is the truth&mdash;though of course truth does not agree with the orgies of
+gun-play that spring from the weird imaginations of the stay-at-home
+authors, who, in their wild fancy, people the wilderness with
+characters from the putrescence of civilization.  It is time these
+authors were enlightened, for a man, native to the wilderness, is a
+better man&nbsp;&#8230; more honest, more chivalrous, more generous, and&mdash;at
+heart, though he talks less about it&mdash;more God-respecting&nbsp;&#8230; than
+the man born in the city.  That is something the public should never
+forget; for if the public remembers that, then the authors of
+wilderness stories will soon have to change their discordant tune.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yes, it is true, every one of those wild men said his evening prayer
+and then, with his blanket wrapped about him, lay down upon his thick,
+springy mattress of fir-brush, with his feet toward the fire, and
+slumbered as only a decent, hard-working man can.  Out among the
+dancing shadows that flitted among the snow-mantled bushes and heavily
+laden trees a hundred and fifty eyes glared in the brooding
+darkness&mdash;as though all the wolves in the forest were gathering there.
+Later, when the sound of heavy breathing was heard round the fires, a
+fierce, wolfish-looking dog, bolder than the rest, left its snowy bed
+to hunt for more sheltered quarters.  There was a whine, a snarl, then
+the sound of clashing teeth.  In a moment every dog leaped up with
+bristling hair.  Instantly bedlam reigned.  Over seventy dogs waged the
+wildest kind of war and the distant woods reechoed the horrible din.  A
+dozen blanketed mounds rose up, and many long lashes whistled through
+the air.  The seething mass broke away and flew howling and yelping
+into outer darkness followed by a roar of curses&mdash;but only in civilized
+tongues.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently all was still again.  The men lay down, and the dogs, one by
+one, came slinking back to their resting places.  But in a couple of
+hours one of the half-frozen brutes silently rose up, cautiously
+stepped among the sleeping men, and lay couched close to a smouldering
+fire.  Another followed and then another until most of the dogs had
+left their beds.  Growing bolder, a couple of the beasts fought for a
+warmer spot.  In their tussle they sprawled over one of the men, but a
+few lusty blows from a handy frying-pan restored calm.  As the night
+wore on some of the dogs, not contented with sleeping beside the men,
+curled up on top of their unconscious masters.  Then for hours nothing
+but the heavy breathing and snoring in camp and the howling of distant
+wolves was heard.  Slumber had at last overtaken the wild men of the
+wilderness&mdash;who always made it a rule to kneel down every night, and
+ask God to bless their little children at home.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, though time still sped on, silence possessed the forest&mdash;until:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Hurrah, <I>mes bons hommes</I>!  <I>Levey, levey, levey</I>!  Up, up up, up,
+up!" ending in a shrill yell from the guide startled the drowsy crew.
+It was three o'clock in the morning.  Had it not been for the
+brilliancy of the Northern Lights all would have been in darkness.  An
+obscure form bent over an ash-bed and fumbled something.  A tiny blaze
+appeared and rapidly grew until the surrounding forest was aflare.
+Over the fires frying-pans sizzled, while tea-pails heaped with snow
+began to steam.  A hurried breakfast followed.  The sleds were packed.
+The dogs, still curled up in the snow, pretended to be asleep.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Caesar!  Tigre!  Cabri!  Whiskey!  Tête Noire!  Pilot!  Michinass!
+Coffee!  Bull!  Brandie!  Caribou!" shouted the men.  A few of the dogs
+answered to their names and came to harness while some holding back
+were tugged forward by the scruff of the neck.  Others were still in
+hiding.  The men searched among the mounds and bushes.  Every now and
+then the crack of a whip and the yelp of a dog announced the finding of
+a truant.  Two trackers on large snowshoes had already gone ahead to
+break the trail.  It was easy to follow their tracks though the woods
+were still in darkness and remained so for several hours.  At dawn
+Oo-koo-hoo and our little outfit parted company with the Dog Brigade.
+Already the packet was many miles ahead.  As I turned on my western
+way, I thought of the work of these postmen of the wilderness, of the
+hardships they endured, and the perils they braved; and the Chief
+Factor's assertion that no packet had ever been lost beyond recovery,
+recalled to mind other stories that were worth remembering: For
+instance, a canoe express was descending the Mackenzie River; the canoe
+was smashed in an ice jam, and the packeteers were drowned.  A few
+weeks later passing Indians caught sight of a stick bobbing in the
+surface of the stream.  Though the water was deep and the current was
+running at the rate of three miles an hour, the stick remained in the
+same place.  So the Indians paddled over to investigate.  They found
+that to the floating stick was fastened a long thong, which on being
+pulled up brought the missing packet to light.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again, while making camp near the Athabasca River, the packeteers had
+slung the packet in a tree, the usual place for it while in camp.
+During the night their fire spread and burned up the whole equipment
+except the tree, which, being green, received little more than a
+scorching.  The packet was unharmed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On Great Slave Lake during a fierce snowstorm the packeteers became
+separated from their dogs, and were frozen to death.  But the packet
+was recovered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In one autumn two packeteers journeying from George's River Post to
+Ungava Post drew up their canoe on a sandy beach, and camped beneath a
+high, overhanging bank.  During the night the bank gave way and buried
+them as they slept.  When the ice formed, the trader at Ungava sent out
+two men to search for the missing packet.  They found the canoe on the
+beach; and from the appearance of the bank, conjectured what had
+happened.  Next spring the landslide was dug into, and the packeteers
+were found both lying under the same blanket, their heads resting upon
+the packet.
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap06"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+VI
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WILD ANIMALS AND MEN
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WOLVERINE AND HUNTER
+</h3>
+
+<P>
+One evening, while sitting before the fire in Oo-koo-hoo's lodge, we
+heard sounds that told us that Amik had returned, and presently he
+entered the tepee, full of wrath over the havoc a wolverine had wrought
+along his trapping path.  The pelts of more dead game had been ruined;
+deadfalls had been broken; and even some of his steel traps had been
+carried away.  There and then Oo-koo-hoo decided that he would drop all
+other work and hunt the marauder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For its size&mdash;being about three feet in length and from twelve to
+eighteen inches high&mdash;the wolverine is an amazingly powerful creature.
+In appearance it somewhat resembles a small brown bear.  Though it is
+not a fast traveller its home range may cover anywhere from five to
+fifty miles.  It feeds upon all sorts of small game, and has been known
+to kill even deer.  It mates about the end of March, dens in any
+convenient earthen hole or rocky crevice or cave that may afford
+suitable shelter; and it makes its bed of dry leaves, grass, or moss.
+The young, which number from three to five, are born in June.  Whenever
+necessary, the mother strives desperately to protect her young, and is
+so formidable a fighter that even though the hunter may be armed with a
+gun, he runs considerable risk of being injured by the brute.  It has
+been known to take possession of the carcass even of a caribou and to
+stand off the hunter who had just shot it.  Also, it has been known to
+drive a wolf, and even a bear, away from their quarry.  The
+superstitious Indian not only believes that the wolverine is possessed
+of the devil&mdash;for it is the most destructive animal in the northern
+world&mdash;but he considers it also to be endowed with great intelligence.
+The wily Indian, however, knowing the animal's habit of trying to
+destroy what it cannot carry away, takes advantage of that very fact
+and hunts it accordingly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All that has been said in relation to trapping the fox applies also to
+<I>le Carcajou</I>&mdash;<I>i.e.</I>, the wolverine&mdash;save that the trap chain should
+be doubled, and everything else made stronger and heavier in proportion
+to the wolverine's greater size and strength.  That evening Oo-koo-hoo
+talked much of wolverines.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, no other animal surpasses it in devilish cunning.  For it is
+not content to merely spring a trap, but it will carry it away&mdash;more
+often for a short distance, but sometimes for miles&mdash;and hide or bury
+it.  Later on the wolverine may visit it again, carry it still farther
+away and bury it once more.  The wolverine has good teeth for cutting
+wood, and will sometimes free a trap from its clog by gnawing the pole
+in two.  My son, I have even known a wolverine go to the trouble of
+digging a hole in which to bury a trap of mine; but just in order to
+fool me, the beast has filled up the hole again, carried the trap to
+another place, and there finally buried it.  But as a good hunter is
+very observant, he is seldom fooled that way, for the wolverine, having
+very short legs, has difficulty in keeping both the chain and the trap
+from leaving tell-tale marks in the snow.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, my son, the wolverine is a very knowing brute, and if he thinks
+he may be trailed, he will sometimes&mdash;without the slightest sign of
+premeditation&mdash;jump sideways over a bush, a log, or a rock, in order to
+begin, out of sight of any trailer, a new trail; or he may make a great
+spring to gain a tree, and ascend it without even leaving the evidence
+of freshly fallen bark.  Then, too, he may climb from tree to tree, by
+way of the interlocking branches, for a distance of a hundred paces or
+more, all the while carrying the trap with him.  Then, descending to
+the ground, he may travel for a considerable distance before eventually
+burying the trap.  I have known him even leave a trap in a tree, but in
+that case it was not done from design, for signs proved that the chain
+had been caught upon a branch."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"How many wolverines," I asked, "do you suppose are causing all the
+trouble on your and Amik's trapping paths?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Only one, my son, for even one wolverine can destroy traps and game
+for twenty or thirty miles around; and the reason the brute is so
+persistent in following a hunter's fur path is that it usually affords
+the wolverine an abundance of food.  Then, when the hunter finds the
+brute is bent on steady mischief, it is time for him to turn from all
+other work and hunt the thief.  If at first steel traps fail, he may
+build special deadfalls, often only as decoys round which to set,
+unseen, more steel traps in wait for the marauder.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If a hunter still fails, he may sit up all night in wait for the
+robber, knowing that the more stormy the night, the better his chance
+of shooting the brute.  Sometimes, too, I have found a wolverine so
+hard to catch that I have resorted to setting traps in the ashes of my
+dead fires, or beneath the brush I have used for my bed, while camping
+upon my trapping path."  Then he added with a twinkle about his eye and
+a shake of his finger: "But, my son, I have another way and I am going
+to try it before the moon grows much older."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I asked him to explain, but he only laughed knowingly, so I turned the
+subject by asking:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Does an animal ever eat the bait after it is caught?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, my son, no animal ever does that, not even if it be starving, but
+it may eat snow to quench its thirst.  Animals, however, do not often
+starve to death when caught in traps, but if the weather be very
+severe, they may freeze in a single night.  If, however, the beast is
+still alive when the hunter arrives, the prisoner will in most cases
+feign death in the hope of getting free.  That is true of most animals,
+and, furthermore, it will feign death even when other animals approach;
+but then, more often, its purpose is to secure the advantage of making
+a sudden or surprise attack."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+An Indian named Larzie, who was engaged to hunt meat for the priests at
+Fort Resolution, once came upon a wolverine in one of his traps that
+had done that very thing and won the battle, too.  The snow, the trap,
+and the carcass of a wolf, silently told Larzie every detail of the
+fight.  The wolverine, having been caught by the left hind leg, had
+attempted by many means to escape, even trying to remove the nuts from
+the steel trap with its teeth, as well as trying to break the steel
+chain, and gnaw in two the wooden clog to which the trap was fastened.
+But before accomplishing this, the wolverine had spied a pack of five
+wolves approaching.  In an effort to save its life the wolverine worked
+itself down low in the snow and there lay, feigning death.  The
+cautious wolves, on sighting the wolverine, began circling about, each
+time drawing a little nearer.  Still suspicious, they sat down to watch
+the wolverine for a while.  Then they circled again, sat down once
+more, and perhaps did a little howling, too.  Then they circled again,
+each time coming closer, until at last, feeling quite sure the
+wolverine was dead, one of the wolves, in a careless way, ventured too
+near.  No doubt it was then that the wolverine, peeping through his
+almost closed eyelids, had seen his chance&mdash;that the nearest wolf was
+now not only within reach, but off guard, too&mdash;for the snow gave
+evidence of a sudden spring.  The wolverine had landed upon the back of
+the wolf, clung on with his powerful forelegs, and not only ripped away
+at the wolf's belly with the long, sharp claws of his free hind foot,
+but with his terrible jaws had seized the wolf by the neck and chewed
+away at the spinal cord.  Then, no doubt, the other wolves, seeing
+their comrade overpowered and done to death, had turned away and left
+the scene of battle.  Later, Larzie had arrived, and after killing the
+wolverine and skinning both the conqueror and the conquered, had
+lighted his pipe and leisurely read every detail of the story in that
+morning's issue of the forest publication called <I>The Snow</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next morning, when I turned out before breakfast, I found that
+Oo-koo-hoo had left camp before daylight; and half the afternoon passed
+before he returned.  That evening he explained that during the previous
+night, the thought of the wolverine having haunted him and spoilt his
+rest, he had decided on a certain plan, risen before dawn, and started
+upon the trail.  Now he was full of the subject, and without my asking,
+described what he had done.  Securing a number of fish hooks&mdash;trout
+size&mdash;he had wired them together, enclosed them in the centre of a ball
+of grease which he had placed inside an old canvas bag, and fastened
+there with the aid of wires attached to the hooks.  Then, carrying the
+bag to where he found fairly fresh wolverine signs, he had dropped it
+upon the trail as though it had accidentally fallen there.  The
+wolverine, he explained, would probably at first attempt to carry away
+the bag, but on scenting the grease it would paw the bag about; then,
+upon discovering the opening, it would thrust its head inside, seize
+the ball of grease in its mouth, and start to pull it out.  "If that
+should happen," commented Oo-koo-hoo, "the wolverine would never leave
+that spot alive; it would just lie there and wait for me to come and
+knock it on the head."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But now at last&mdash;as later events proved&mdash;Oo-koo-hoo, the great hunter,
+had encountered his match.  Now it was no longer an unequal contest,
+for now two could play at cunning&mdash;especially when both were masters at
+the game.  Three times The Owl visited his latest wolverine trap, only
+to learn that twice the brute had inspected it and spurned it, for its
+tracks proved that caution had kept the animal more than five feet
+away.  Later, as the winter wore on, the subject of wolverines was
+rarely mentioned as it did not add to the cheerfulness of Oo-koo-hoo's
+otherwise happy mood.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BEST FOOT-GEAR
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+About a week later, with a few days' outfit loaded upon our sled,
+Oo-koo-hoo and I were heading first for the Moose Hills where we were
+to hunt moose, and if successful, to cache the meat where Granny and
+the boys could find it; then continuing farther north we were to call
+upon The Owl's sister to deliver her a present from the children of
+Oo-koo-hoo.  In the meantime, Amik had gone upon one of his trapping
+paths, and the boys were off to a swampy region to examine deadfalls
+set for mink and fisher.  The boys had taken the dogs with them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was a fine, cold, sunny morning when Oo-koo-hoo and I set out upon
+our hunt, and with every breath we seemed to be drinking aerial
+champagne that made us fairly tingle with the joy of living&mdash;for such
+is the northern air in winter time.  As we snowshoed along I felt
+thankful for the excellent socks with which the old hunter had provided
+me.  On the last hunt my snowshoe thongs had blistered my feet, but
+now, thanks to Oo-koo-hoo, I was shod with the most perfect footgear
+for winter travel I have ever known&mdash;a natural sock that was both
+blister- and cold-proof.  I had never heard of it before, but The Owl
+assured me that it had been long in fashion among the Indians.  On each
+foot I was now wearing next my bare skin a rabbit pelt&mdash;minus legs and
+ears&mdash;put on, hair side out, while the skin was still green and damp,
+and then allowed to dry and shape itself to the foot.  Over the rabbit
+pelts I wore my regular woollen socks, duffel neaps, and caribou-skin
+mitten moccasins.  The pelts had been removed from the rabbits by
+simply cutting them between the hind legs, and then peeling them off
+inside out.  With the inside of the skin next the foot blisters never
+form, nor does the hair wear off and ball up under the foot in such a
+way that it may hurt the wearer.  Though the rabbit pelt is very tender
+and tears easily, it can be worn for five or six days of hard travel.
+For warmth and comfort it is unexcelled.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Early that afternoon we came upon many lynx tracks, evidently there had
+been a "pass of lynxes" as the hunters call it, for lynxes have a way
+of gathering in bands of about four to eight and passing through the
+forest.  Oo-koo-hoo stated that they migrated in that way from one
+region to another, covering many miles in search of game, especially
+during the years when the rabbit plague causes a great shortage of
+food; and had he known of their presence in time, he would have cut big
+heaps of poplar, birch, and willow branches to attract the rabbits, and
+thus furnish more food for the lynxes.  Hoping, however, that he was
+not too late, he set what few snares he had; nevertheless, he regretted
+that the boys had gone off with the dogs, for, if they had not, he
+would have tried to trail and tree the lynxes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The boys had taken the dogs because they wanted them to haul their
+sled.  It was, however, against the advice of their grandfather, for he
+had admonished them that only white men and half-breeds would use dogs
+to haul a sled on a trapping path; that a good hunter would never do
+such a foolish thing, and for many reasons: the traps&mdash;being usually
+set close to the path&mdash;were apt to be either set off or destroyed by
+the swinging sled; besides, the dogs' tracks would obliterate the
+tracks of game; also the dogs might be caught in the traps;
+furthermore, the smell of dogs always inspired fear in animals, again,
+the noise of driving dogs frightened the game away.  So, according to
+Oo-koo-hoo, the wise hunter either packs his load upon his back, or, by
+himself, hauls it upon his sled.  But one must remember that The Owl
+was an Ojibway and that those Indians as well as the Saulteaux Indians
+prefer to haul their own sleds on the hunting trail and to keep their
+dogs solely for trailing game; though all other Indians of the Strong
+Woods use their dogs for hauling sleds.  One advantage of the Ojibway
+custom is that hunting dogs&mdash;when running loose&mdash;never have to be fed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Amik, however, being a rather shiftless fellow, often spoilt his boys
+as much as the average white father spoils his, for he never thrashed
+them, though they frequently deserved it, and having given in to them
+on many previous occasions, he had now let them take the dogs.  But
+speaking of parents' treatment of children, even an old she-bear could
+give many a civilized father or mother pointers on how to bring up
+children, for even among animals and birds one frequently finds a model
+parent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+According to the verdict of the old fur-traders, the best trapper is
+the uncivilized Indian.  Though, apparently, he does not derive the
+same amount of sport from his work as the white man does, he never
+shirks his work and always takes great pains to prepare for and perfect
+the setting of his traps.  Though he is slow, he is, nevertheless, sure
+and deadly in his work.  Oo-koo-hoo assured me that the secret of
+successful hunting was intelligence, caution, and patience.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During December and January, or according to the Indians, Yeyekoopewe
+Pesim&mdash;"The Rime Moon," and Kakisapowatukinum&mdash;"The Moon When
+Everything Is Brittle," there is always a lull in the trapping, for the
+reason that then the days are shorter and the weather colder, and on
+that account and also on account of the fact that the sun and winds of
+March have not arrived to harden the deep soft snow, the forest
+creatures prefer to remain more at home.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+APPROACHING MOOSE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+In approaching the Moose Hills we saw many moose tracks, but they were
+old, the freshest having been made two days before.  The age of these
+the hunter was able to determine from the amount of newly fallen snow
+in the track, as well as from other conditions; for he well remembered
+how much snow had fallen each day for the last week or two, when and
+which way the wind had blown, and when the sun was strong and the cold
+severe.  Now selecting a two-day-old trail as the best for us to
+follow, he decided to camp for the night, and we spent the interval
+between supper and bedtime discussing not only the hunting of moose,
+but also their range and habits.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The extreme range of a moose covers from five to fifteen miles.  More
+often it is confined to a much smaller area that merely includes the
+low-lying river and lake valleys that afford him the choicest of summer
+food&mdash;the pineapple-like roots of waterlilies&mdash;and also affords him
+protection from flies while he is wading and delving for those very
+roots; and the higher lands among the hills, where he spends the winter
+in the denser forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But it is in midsummer that we can study the moose with greatest ease,
+for then he spends the sunrises and sunsets wading among the lily pads,
+and if we are careful to observe the direction of the wind to guard
+against being scented, and also careful to cease paddling or any other
+motion before the big brute looks at us, we may, with the greatest ease
+and safety, propel our canoe to within from a hundred yards to fifty or
+forty feet of the great beast as he stands looking at us with raised
+head and dilating nostrils trying to catch our scent.  If he catches
+it, he suddenly tosses his ponderous head, drops back slightly on his
+hind legs as he swings round, and is off with a grunt.  Nevertheless,
+he&mdash;or she&mdash;will pause long enough to leave the sign that all deer
+leave upon the ground when suddenly startled by&mdash;to them&mdash;the dreadful
+smell of human beings.  Or if it happens to be moonlight and the moose
+is a bit mystified by the steady, but silent, scentless, and motionless
+approach of our canoe, he may at first stand gazing at us, then grunt
+at us, then back out of the water up on to the bank and there stand,
+not fifty feet away, towering above us&mdash;for he may measure from six to
+seven feet at the shoulder and weigh three quarters of a ton&mdash;shaking
+his great antlers and grunting, or perhaps, more properly speaking,
+<I>barking</I> at us while he stamps his big fore hoofs until he shakes the
+very river bank.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How children love to take part in such sport!  How they thrill over
+such an experience!  Many a time I have taken them right up to even the
+largest of bulls until the little tots could look into the very eyes of
+the greatest of all living deer.  What fine little hunters, too, they
+made, never speaking, not even in a whisper; never moving&mdash;save only
+their eyelids.  In fact, I have been so close to wild moose that on one
+occasion I could have spanked a huge bull with my paddle.  He was
+standing belly-deep in the river with his head under water, and so
+close did my canoe glide past him that I had to turn it to prevent it
+from running in between his hind legs.  It was the sound of turning
+aside the canoe that brought his head up, and when he beheld the cause,
+he lunged forward and trotted away leaving a great wake of surging foam
+behind him.  His head, crowned with massive antlers, was a ponderous
+affair.  His body was as large as that of a Shire stallion and his back
+just as flat, while his legs were very much longer.  He was the largest
+moose I have ever seen&mdash;and yet, by leaning slightly toward him, I
+could have spanked him with my paddle!  One such experience with a
+great, wild animal, is more adventuresome, more thrilling and more
+satisfactory, than the shooting of a hundred such creatures.  It is
+more than the sport of kings&mdash;it is the sport of men of common sense.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On another occasion, at Shahwandahgooze, in Quebec, in broad daylight,
+I paddled a friend of mine right in between three bulls and a cow, and
+there we rested with moose on three sides of us.  They were standing in
+a semicircle and no one of them was more than fifty paces away.  They
+were unusually fine specimens and had the bulls been triplets they
+could not have been more alike even to the detail of their antlers.
+The cow paid little attention to us and went on feeding while the
+bulls, with heads held much higher than usual, stood as though in
+perfect pose for some sculptor.  There wasn't a breath of wind and the
+wondrous spell must have lasted from eight to ten minutes; then a faint
+zephyr came and carried our tell-tale scent to them and they wheeled
+round and trotted away.  Yet the head hunter from the city, who usually
+stands off at long range and fires at the first sight of game, will
+argue that killing is the greatest sport; when in truth it requires
+greater courage and greater skill to approach, unarmed, so close to
+game that one may touch it with a fish pole, and the reward is a much
+greater and a more satisfactory thrill than the head hunter ever gets
+from lying off at long range with a high-powered rifle and utterly
+destroying life.  Furthermore, think of how much better one can study
+natural history by observing live animals in action, rather than
+motionless ones in death!  An artist, in his effort to render a perfect
+portrait of a human being, never murders his sitter, as the so-called
+"sportsman-naturalist" does.  It seems to me that if sportsmen were
+more active, more skilful, and more courageous, they would give up
+slaughtering animals and birds for the sake of the unbounded pleasure
+and adventure of observing wild game at closer quarters; but in truth,
+long experience has taught me that the average hunter from the city is
+something of a coward&mdash;never daring to walk alone in the forest without
+his trusty, life-destroying machines.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But if those same hunters would only take a little more interest in
+nature, pluck up a little more courage, and remember that the wild
+animals of the northern forest are less vicious&mdash;when unmolested&mdash;than
+are many of the tame animals of civilization, how much more sane they
+would be.  Remember, it is much safer to approach the great bulls of
+the forest than it is to approach the smaller bulls of the farmers'
+fields.  Likewise, when tramping along the rural road one runs a much
+greater chance of being bitten by the farmer's dog, than one does, when
+travelling through the forest, of being bitten by a wolf.  Then, too,
+it is just the same of men, for the men of the cities are much more
+quarrelsome, dishonest, and evil-minded than are those of the
+wilderness, and that, no doubt, accounts for the endless slandering of
+the wilderness dwellers by fiction writers who live in towns, for those
+authors&mdash;never having lived in the wilderness&mdash;form their judgment of
+life, either as they have experienced it in cities or as they imagine
+it to be in the wilderness.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE OUTLAW AND NEW YORKER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Now, in order to confirm my statement, I shall go to the very extreme
+and quote what Al Jennings, the notorious outlaw, says upon this very
+subject.  The quotation is taken from Jennings' reminiscences of his
+prison days, when he and the late lamented William Sydney Porter&mdash;the
+afterward famous author O. Henry&mdash;formed such a strong friendship.  In
+the following dialogue Jennings is in New York City visiting
+Porter&mdash;whom he calls "Bill"&mdash;and Porter is speaking:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have accepted an invitation for you, Colonel."  He was in one of his
+gently sparkling moods.  "Get into your armor asinorum, for we fare
+forth to make contest with tinsel and gauze.  In other words, we mingle
+with the proletariat.  We go to see Margaret Anglin and Henry Miller in
+that superb and realistic Western libel, 'The Great Divide.'"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After the play the great actress, Porter, and I, and one or two others
+were to have supper at the Breslin Hotel.  I think Porter took me there
+that he might sit back and enjoy my unabashed criticisms to the young
+lady's face.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I feel greatly disappointed in you, Mr. Porter," Margaret Anglin said
+to Bill as we took our places at the table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In what have I failed?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You promised to bring your Western friend&mdash;that terrible Mr.
+Jennings&mdash;to criticize the play."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, I have introduced him."  He waved his hand down toward me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Miss Anglin looked me over with the trace of a smile in her eye.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pardon me," she said, "but I can hardly associate you with the lovely
+things they say of you.  Did you like the play?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I told her I didn't.  It was unreal.  No man of the West would shake
+dice for a lady in distress.  The situation was unheard of and could
+only occur in the imagination of a fat-headed Easterner who had never
+set his feet beyond the Hudson.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Miss Anglin laughed merrily.  "New York is wild over it; New York
+doesn't know any better."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Porter sat back, an expansive smile spreading a light in his gray eyes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I am inclined to agree with our friend," he offered.  "The West is
+unacquainted with Manhattan chivalry."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That is the truth in a sentence; and while O. Henry and Jennings have
+spoken for the West, may I add my own experience of wilderness men and
+say that the North, also, is unacquainted with Manhattan chivalry.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LAW AND ORDER ENFORCED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Furthermore, while upon this subject, I wish to add to my own protest
+against the novelists' wild dreams of outlawry in the Canadian
+wilderness, a quotation from E. Ward Smith's "Chronicles of the
+Klondyke."  Mr. Smith&mdash;as you no doubt remember&mdash;was the first city
+clerk, treasurer, assessor, and tax collector of Dawson City; and this
+is what he says:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I want to say at the very outset that the Yukon was, in my opinion at
+least, one of the most orderly corners of the earth.  Even in the early
+days of the boom, when miners and adventurers of all nationalities
+poured in, the scales of justice were held firmly and rigidly.  The
+spell of the Mounted Police hung over the snow-bound land and checked
+the evil-doer.  It may sound ridiculous when I assert that the
+Yukon&mdash;that gathering spot of so much of the scum of the earth&mdash;was
+better policed than Winnipeg, or Toronto, or Halifax; but,
+nevertheless, I believe it to be a fact.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Of course, crimes were committed, some of which were never solved.
+Doubtless, also many deeds of violence occurred whose authors never
+came to light.  But, on the whole, life and property were surprisingly
+secure.  One day I visited the cabin of my friend Lippy, who made a
+million or so upon El Dorado.  The door was partly open, so, on
+receiving no response to my knock, I walked in.  The cabin was empty.
+On the table was a five-gallon pail heaped high with glittering nuggets
+of gold!  I glanced around the place.  On the shelves and rafters, on
+chairs and under bunks, were cans filled with gold.  There was a snug
+fortune in sight.  Any one could have slipped in and stolen the lot.  I
+took Lippy to task about it when he came in.  He did not seem at all
+concerned, however.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Pshaw," he said, "I always have quite a lot of gold about.  But no one
+would steal it.  I've never lost anything."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But as the Yukon and New York are a long way from where Oo-koo-hoo was
+hunting, let us return to his Moose Hills.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WAYS OF THE MOOSE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Moose mate in September and October, and during this period great
+battles between bulls frequently occur before the victor walks off with
+his hard-won spouse.  The young&mdash;either one or two, but generally two
+after the mother's first experience&mdash;are born in May, in some secluded
+spot, and the calves soon begin to follow their mother about, and they
+follow her, too, into their second year.  Horns begin to grow on the
+young bull before he is a year old, but they are mere knobs until he is
+a year and a half old, when spikes form; by the third year he is
+supplied with antlers.  The perfect antlers of a big bull sometimes
+measure seventy inches across, yet every winter&mdash;in January or
+February&mdash;the horns are shed.  During the mating season moose are
+frequently hunted by the method known as "calling."  The hunter, with
+the aid of a birch-bark megaphone, imitates the long-drawn call of the
+cow, to attract the bull.  Then, when a bull answers with his guttural
+grunt of Oo-ah, Oo-ah, the Indian imitates that sound, too, to give the
+first bull the impression that a second is approaching, and thus
+provokes the first to hurry forward within range of the hunter's gun.
+But when the rutting season is over, the hunting is done by snaring or
+stalking or trailing.  The moose derives its winter food principally
+from browsing upon hardwood twigs, and when the deep snows of midwinter
+arrive, he is generally to be found in a "yard" where such growth is
+most abundant.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A moose yard is usually composed of a series of gutters from one foot
+to eighteen inches wide, intersecting one another at any distance from
+ten to fifty feet or more apart, and each gutter being punctured about
+every three feet with a post hole in which the moose steps as it walks.
+The space between the tracks is generally nothing but deep, soft snow,
+anywhere from three to five feet in depth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Beside the moose tracks that Oo-koo-hoo and I had seen that day was
+much silver birch and red willow, and from the signs of freshly cropped
+twigs we knew that the moose were not unusually tall, and we knew, too,
+from the fact that the tracks were sharply defined as well as from
+their ordinary size and that they were not deeply impressed in the
+snow, that the moose were those of about three years old.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE OWL TRACKS MOOSE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+That night, as Oo-koo-hoo was in a talkative mood, he told me much
+about the hunting of moose, as we sat before our snow-encircled fire in
+the still, silent, sombre woods.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We hunters usually take moose by shooting or snaring them, and the
+first thing to do is to find a track, and if it is old, follow it up
+until new signs appear.  And now, my son, as you may some day want to
+hunt moose on your own account, I shall tell you how to trail them and
+what to do when you find them.  Listen to my words and remember: As
+soon as you find a fresh track, look toward the sun to learn the time
+of day; for if it is between eight and nine on a winter morning the
+moose will be feeding, as it seldom lies down until between ten and
+three.  If feeding, the track will zig-zag about, and for a time head
+mainly up wind, until its feeding is nearly done, then if the wind is
+from the right, the moose will turn to the left and circle down wind
+and finally come about close to its old trail where it will lie down to
+rest.  So when you find a zig-zagging track about which the brush has
+been browsed, and when the wind comes from the right of the trail, you,
+too, should circle to the left, but instead of circling down wind as
+the moose has done, or is now doing, you circle up wind until you
+either approach the danger point where the wind may carry your scent to
+the moose, or otherwise, until you cut the moose's track.  In either
+case you should now retrace your steps for some distance and then begin
+a new circle, and this time, a smaller one.  If you now find a new
+trail, but still no sign that the moose has turned up wind, or is about
+to do so, you retrace your steps and begin a still smaller circle, then
+when you strike the trail again, you can judge fairly well&mdash;without
+even getting a sight of it&mdash;the exact position of your quarry.  Then is
+the time to take off your snowshoes and approach with greater care then
+ever; but remember, always keep to leeward of the track and always look
+up wind.  Should you now come to an open space, watch carefully any
+clumps of trees or bushes; if passing through heavy timber, watch for
+an opening, and if there should be fallen timber there, scan it most
+carefully where the dead trees lie, for there, too, your game may be
+lying.  Remember, my son, if you approach a moose directly he will
+either see or scent you, and in circling, you must understand that only
+the skill of the hunter in reading the signs can successfully determine
+the size of the circle&mdash;sometimes it may cover a quarter of a mile.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, too, my son, the seasons play a part in hunting.  In winter, a
+moose, of course, does not go to water, but eats snow to slake its
+thirst.  But whenever there is open water, a moose will go to drink
+about sunrise; in the fly season, however, all rules are broken, as the
+brute then goes to water night or day, to get rid of the pests, and it
+will even remain submerged with nothing above the surface&mdash;save its
+nose.  In stormy weather look for moose among heavy timber, and in fair
+weather search the open feeding places.  But in bad weather, though the
+hunter gains one advantage, the moose gains another; for while many
+twigs and sticks are apt to be broken by the high wind and thus the
+sound of the hunter's approach is less likely to be heard, the eddying
+currents of air are then more apt to carry the hunter's scent to the
+moose regardless of the fact that his approach may be faultless.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Also, my son, you must be careful not to disturb the little tell-tale
+creatures of the woods or success that seems so near may vanish in a
+moment; for a raven may fly overhead, and spying you, circle
+about&mdash;just as the pigeons used to do&mdash;and then crying out may warn the
+moose of your presence.  Or you may flush a partridge; or a squirrel,
+taking fright, may rush up a tree and begin chattering about you; or a
+rabbit may go drumming into a thicket, and the moose, reading these
+signs of alarm, will surely look about to learn the cause.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, my son, should you spy a moose lying down, it is rather risky to
+fire at it in that position, as it is then hard to hit a vital spot.
+The better way is to stand with cocked gun covering the game, and then
+break a twig&mdash;not too sharply though, or you may scare away your
+quarry.  Watch its ears: if they flop back and forward, it has heard
+nothing, but if both ears point in your direction, keep still and be
+ready, for it has heard you, and now with one great spring it may
+disappear into a thicket.  Instead of breaking a twig, some hunters
+prefer to whistle like a startled rabbit while other hunters prefer to
+speak to the moose in a gentle voice, always taking care to use none
+but kindly words, such as for instance: 'Oh, my lazy brother, I see you
+are sleeping long this morning.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For we Indians never speak harshly to so good an animal, nor do we
+ever use bad words, as bad words always bring bad luck to the hunter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In winter, my son, a moose makes much noise in walking and feeding,
+for then he often breaks off the tops of little trees&mdash;though some of
+the trunks may be as thick as a man's arm.  The moose breaks down trees
+of such a size by placing his big shoulder against it, and curving his
+powerful neck round it, and then bending it over with his massive head.
+Then, too, he often rides down small trees, such as birch or poplars,
+just by straddling his fore legs about them and using his chest to
+force them over.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In shooting a moose, remember the best spot is just behind the
+shoulder, and while the next best is in the kidneys, the head is not a
+good shot for a smooth-bore gun, for bone often deflects a round ball.
+A good hunter always tries to get a clear view of his quarry, for even
+a twig may deflect his bullet.  And remember, too, my son, that as a
+rule, when coming upon a fresh track, it is wiser to back-track it than
+to follow it up at once, as back-tracking will provide the hunter with
+about all the information he may require, as the back trail will tell
+him if the game was travelling fast or slow, whether it was fleeing in
+fright or feeding; and if feeding, whether it was feeding quietly or in
+haste; and if in haste, the twigs would be torn off instead of being
+clean cut.  Sometimes a good hunter will back-track a trail several
+miles in order to assure the success of his hunt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, if a moose is badly frightened by man-smell it may at first go
+off on the gallop and then settle down to a steady trot for four or
+five miles before it stops to listen&mdash;but not to feed.  Then, turning
+its head this way and that, and even trembling with excitement, as it
+throws its snout into the air, to test if danger is still following, it
+may then start off again on another long trot, but all the time it
+will, as much as possible, avoid open places.  Later it may attempt to
+feed by tearing off twigs as it hurries along, and then at last it will
+circle to leeward and finally rest not far from its old trail.  Under
+such conditions, the distance a moose travels depends largely upon the
+depth of the snow.  Two or three feet of snow will not hamper it much,
+but when the depth is four feet, or when the moose's belly begins to
+drag in the snow, the brute will not travel far.  An old bull will not
+run as far as a young one, and a cow will not travel as far as a bull;
+but when tired out a moose sleeps soundly, so soundly, indeed, that a
+hunter can easily approach as close as he pleases.  But don't forget,
+my son, that a good hunter never runs a moose&mdash;at least, not unless he
+is starving&mdash;as running a moose spoils the meat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Sometimes, my son, a hunter may use a dog to trail a moose, but it is
+dangerous work for the dog, as the moose may turn at bay and strike at
+the dog with any one of its chisel-like hoofs or may even seize the dog
+by the back in its mouth, carry it for a little way, then throw it into
+the air and when it falls trample it to death.  So, my son, when
+hunting moose in that way, it is best to have two dogs or more, as then
+one dog may attack while another is being pursued.  But I warn you, if
+you are in pursuit of a moose and if he turns at bay for the first time
+&nbsp;&#8230; look out&nbsp;&#8230; for then he will surely attack you; if, however,
+he turns at bay through sheer exhaustion or from over-whelming pain, he
+will not always fight; but under the first condition, the hunter is a
+fool if he approaches within ten paces of a bayed moose."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+"THE OWL" MAKES A KILL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Rising early next morning we made a very small fire to cook our
+breakfast and were ready to start as soon as dawn came to light us on
+our way.  Oo-koo-hoo took great care in loading his gun as he expected
+to come upon moose at any time.  He placed a patch of cotton about the
+ball before ramming it in, and made sure that the powder showed in the
+nipple before putting on the percussion cap.  And as he took his
+fire-steel and whetted a keener edge upon his knife, a smile of
+hunter's contentment overspread his face, because he well knew how soon
+he was to use the blade.  That morning he did not light his pipe as
+usual because, as he explained, he wanted to have his wits about him;
+furthermore, he did not wish to add to the strength of his man-smell;
+and whispering to me he added with a smile:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, when I smell some men, especially some white men, I never
+blame the animals of the Strong Woods for taking fright and running
+away."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And that reminds me that while we white people consider the negro the
+standard-bearer of the most offensive of all human body smells, the
+Indian always unhesitatingly awards the palm to the white man, and
+sometimes even the Indian children and babies, when they get an
+unadulterated whiff from a white man, will take such fright that it is
+hard for their mothers to console them&mdash;a fact that has often made me
+wonder what the poor little tots would do if they scented one of those
+highly painted and perfumed "ladies" that parade up and down
+Piccadilly, Fifth Avenue, or Yonge Street?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After following the trail for about fifteen minutes, we came to where
+the moose had been lying down, and the hunter whispered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, I am glad I did not smoke, but I am sorry that we camped so
+near."  Then he added as he pointed to the impression of a moose's body
+in the snow: "A moose seldom lies twice in the same place in the snow,
+as the old bed would be frozen and hard as well as dirty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But as we had not made much noise, nor cut any big wood to make a fire,
+he was hopeful that our chances were still good; and at sunrise he
+concluded that it was time we should leave our sled behind and begin to
+track our quarry more cautiously.  From then on there was to be no
+talking&mdash;not even in a whisper.  Soon we came upon yesterday's tracks,
+then farther on we saw where the moose had circled before lying down
+again for the night, with their eyes guarding their front while their
+scent guarded their rear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At last we came upon still fresher signs that told that the moose might
+be within a hundred paces or less.  At a signal from the old hunter I
+imitated him by slipping off my snowshoes, and standing them upon end
+in the snow, and Oo-koo-hoo leading the way, began to circle to our
+right as a gentle wind was coming on our left.  Now our progress was
+indeed slow, and also perfectly noiseless.  It seemed to take an age to
+make a semicircle of a couple of hundred paces.  Again we came upon the
+tracks of the moose.  The signs were now fresher than ever.  Retracing
+our own tracks for a little way we started on another circle, but this
+time, a smaller one, for we were now very near the moose.  Silent ages
+passed, then we heard the swishing of a pulled branch as it flew back
+into place; a few steps nearer we progressed; then we heard the
+munching sound of a large animal's jaws.  Oo-koo-hoo rose slightly from
+his stooped position, peered through the branches of a dense spruce
+thicket, crouched again, turned aside for perhaps twenty paces&nbsp;&#8230;
+looked up again&nbsp;&#8230; raised his gun and saying in a gentle voice: "My
+brother, I need&nbsp;&#8230;" he fired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Instantly there was a great commotion beyond the thicket, one sound
+running off among the trees, while the other, the greater sound, first
+made a brittle crash, then a ponderous thud as of a large object
+falling among the dead under-branches.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The hunter now straightened up and with his teeth pulled the plug from
+his powder horn, poured a charge into his gun, spat a bullet from his
+mouth into the barrel, struck the butt violently upon the palm of his
+left hand, then slipping a cap upon the nipple, moved cautiously
+forward as he whispered: "Its neck must be broken."  Soon we saw what
+had happened.  One moose was lying dead, the ball had struck it in the
+neck; it was a three-year-old cow&mdash;the one Oo-koo-hoo had
+selected&mdash;while the other, a bull, had left nothing but its tracks.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Presently The Owl re-loaded his gun with greater care, then we returned
+for our snowshoes and to recover our toboggan before we started to skin
+the carcass.  On the way Oo-koo-hoo talked of moose hunting, and I
+questioned him as to why he had turned aside for the last time, just
+before he fired, and he answered:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, I did it so that in case I should miss, the report of my gun
+would come from the right direction to drive the moose toward home and
+also toward our sled; and in case, too, that I hit the moose and only
+wounded it, the brute would run toward our sled and not take us farther
+away from it.  Also, my son, if I had merely wounded the beast, but had
+seen from the way it flinched that it had been struck in a vital spot,
+I would not have followed immediately, but would have sat down and had
+a smoke, so as not to further disturb the wounded animal before it had
+time to bleed to death.  Besides, a mere glance at the trail would tell
+me whether or not I had mortally wounded the moose&mdash;whether the brute
+was hit high or low, and whether the blood was dark or light.  If hit
+high, the blood would be upon the branches as well as upon the snow; if
+the blood was black it would mean that an artery had been severed and
+that the moose was mortally wounded.  If the latter had happened, then
+would be the time for me to get out my pipe and have a smoke."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+SKINNING ANIMALS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+As we were to be busy for the rest of the day, we made a suitable camp
+and started a fire and by that time the moose had stiffened enough for
+proper handling while removing the skin.  As usual the hunter's first
+act was to cut the eyes, then to cut off the head, which he at once
+skinned and, removing the tongue, hung the head beside the fire to cook
+while we went on with our work.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But while we propped up the moose and got it into good position, three
+whiskey jacks (Canada Jays) came, as they always seem to come at the
+first sign of smoke, to pay us a visit and partake of the feast.  They
+are fluffy, heavily feathered little birds of gray, with wings and tail
+of darker hue, and with a white spot on their forehead.  They are not
+unlike the blue jay in their calls and shrieks, though they have some
+notes of their own that are of a quieter, softer tone.  They are
+friendly little beggars that will at times come so near that they may
+occasionally be caught in one's hand; but while one likes to have them
+about for the sake of their companionship, they will, uninvited, take a
+share of anything that is good to eat.  They are the most familiar
+birds to be seen in the winter forest, and they have a remarkable way
+of laying their eggs and nesting in the month of March when the weather
+may register from twenty to forty below zero.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the forest there are several different ways of skinning animals: one
+is called "case skinning" and another is called "split skinning."  To
+case skin an animal such as ermine, fox, fisher, lynx, marten, mink,
+otter, muskrat, rabbit, or skunk, the skin is cut down the inner side
+of each hind leg until the two cuts meet just under the tail, and then
+the pelt is peeled off by turning it inside out.  To split skin an
+animal such as wood-buffalo, moose, wapiti, caribou, deer, bear,
+beaver, wolf, or wolverine, the skin is cut down the belly from throat
+to tail and also on the inside of each leg to the centre cut, and then
+the pelt is peeled off both ways toward the back.  All split skins are
+stretched on rectangular frames&mdash;all save beaver skins which are
+stretched on oval frames.  All case skins are stretched over
+wedge-shaped boards of various sizes&mdash;all save muskrat skins which are
+more often stretched over a hooped frame or a looped stick.  So, of
+course, our moose pelt was "split skinned," but there is still another
+way to skin an animal that is too large for one man to turn over, and
+that is&mdash;in case the animal is lying on its belly&mdash;to split the skin
+down the back and then peel it off both ways toward the belly.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+If the skin is to be used as a robe, the hair is left on, and the
+animal's brains are rubbed into the inner side of the pelt, after the
+fat has been removed, and then the skin is left to dry.  That softens
+the pelt; but traders prefer skins to be sun-dried or cold-dried.  If
+the skin is to be used as leather, the hair is cut off with a knife,
+and a deer's shin-bone is used as a dressing tool in scraping off the
+fat; both sides of the skin are dressed to remove the outer surface.
+It is easier to dress a skin in winter than in summer, but summer-made
+leather wears better, for the reason that the roots of the hair run all
+through a summer skin; whereas in winter the roots show only on the
+outer side; that is why a fur-trader&mdash;when looking only at the inner
+side&mdash;can tell whether a skin has been taken in winter or summer.  In
+dressing leather the inner side is rubbed well with brains which are
+then allowed to soak in for three or four days; then the skin is soaked
+in a vessel filled with water&mdash;but not in a river&mdash;for about two days
+more; then it is stretched again and let dry, then scraped with a bone,
+shell, or steel scraper&mdash;if it is a moose skin, only on one side, but
+if it is a caribou skin, on both sides.  The object of scraping is to
+further soften the skin.  After that, it is taken off the stretcher and
+rubbed together between the hands and pulled between two people.  Then
+it is stretched again and smoked over a slow fire that does not blaze.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Woodsmen hunt moose for food and clothing.  Townsmen hunt moose for the
+satisfaction of killing.  But should the townsman fail in his hunt, he
+may hire a native "Head Hunter" to secure a head for him; and that
+reminds me of one night during the early winter, when a strange
+apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It appeared to have wings, but
+it did not fly, and though it possessed a tail, it did not run, but
+contented itself with moving steadily forward on its long, up-turned
+feet.  Over an arm it carried what might have been a trident, and what
+with its waving tail and great outspreading wings that rose above its
+horned-like head, it suggested that nothing less than Old Beelzebub
+himself had come from his flaming region beyond to cool himself on the
+snow-covered lake.  But in reality it was just Oo-koo-hoo returning
+with a fine pair of moose horns upon his back, and which he counted on
+turning over to the trader for some city sportsman who would readily
+palm it off as a trophy that had fallen to his unerring aim, and which
+he had brought down, too, with but a single shot&nbsp;&#8230; of $25.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While at work I recalled how Oo-koo-hoo had surmised, before he had
+examined the carcass, that he had broken the moose's neck with his
+ball, and on questioning him as to how he knew, he replied:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, if an animal is hit in the neck and the neck is broken, the
+beast will collapse right where it is; but if hit in the heart, it will
+lunge forward; if hit in the nose, it will rear up; if hit in the
+spine, it will leap into the air.  Yes, my son, I have seen a great
+bull buffalo leap lynx-like, into the air, when it was struck in the
+spine."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Knowing that the hunter had wanted to procure more than one moose I
+asked him why he had not at once pursued the other?  And he explained:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"For two reasons, my son: first, because I don't want a bull, I want
+the tenderer meat and the softer skin of a cow; and secondly, even if I
+had wanted him, I would not have pursued him at once as that would
+cause him to run.  If a moose is pursued on the run, it overheats, and
+that spoils the meat, because the moose is naturally a rather inactive
+animal that lives on a small range and travels very little; but it is
+quite different with the caribou, for the caribou is naturally an
+active animal, a great traveller, that wanders far for its food, and to
+pursue it on the run only improves the flavour and the texture of its
+meat."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OLD-TIME HUNTING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After supper, as we sat in the comfortable glow of the fire, we talked
+much of old-time hunting, for in certain parts of the Great Northern
+Forest many of the ancient methods are practised to-day.  Fire is often
+made by friction; many hunters still use the bow and arrow, while
+others use the flintlock gun; frequently, too, they rely upon their
+spears; bone knives and awls as well as stone axes are still applied to
+work; fish nets are yet woven from the inner bark of cedar; and still
+to-day wooden baskets and birch-bark rogans are used for the purpose of
+heating water and boiling food.  Notwithstanding our far over-rated
+civilization the natives in some sections are dressed to-day in
+clothing entirely derived from the forest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One of the most ancient methods of hunting and one which is still in
+vogue in some remote localities is the "drive."  Two famous places for
+drive hunting in olden days were Point Carcajou on Peace River, and the
+Grand Detour on Great Slave River.  The former driving ground was about
+thirty miles long by about three miles across, while the latter was
+about fifteen miles long by about three miles across.  The mode of
+hunting was for a party of Indians to spread out through the woods, and
+all, at an appointed time, to move forward toward a certain point, and
+thus drive the game before them, until the animals, on coming out into
+the open at the other end, were attacked by men in ambush.  At those
+driving grounds in the right season&mdash;even if a drive of only a few
+miles were made&mdash;the Indians could count on securing two or three
+bears, three or four moose, and twelve or fifteen caribou.  But in
+later years, a number of the drivers having been accidentally shot from
+ambush, the practice has been discontinued in those localities.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE BEAR IN HIS WASH
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It is not an uncommon occurrence for a hunter, when travelling through
+the winter woods, to discover the place where a bear is hibernating;
+the secret being given away by the condensed breath of the brute
+forming hoar frost about the imperfectly blocked entrance to the wash.
+The Indians' hunting dogs are experts at finding such hidden treasure,
+and when they do locate such a claim, they do their best to acquaint
+their master of the fact.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day when Oo-koo-hoo was snowshoeing across a beaver meadow, his
+dogs, having gained the wooded slope beyond, began racing about as
+though they had scented game and were trying to connect a broken trail.
+So The Owl got out his pipe and sat down to have a smoke while his dogs
+were busily engaged.  Presently they centred on a certain spot, and
+Oo-koo-hoo, going over, discovered the tell-tale hoar frost.  Twisting
+out of his snowshoes&mdash;for an Indian never has to touch his hands to
+them when he puts them on or takes them off&mdash;he used one of them for a
+shovel, and digging away the snow, he came upon a bear's wash.  It was
+quite a cave and dark inside, and as the dogs refused to enter, the
+hunter crawled into the entrance and reaching in as far as he could
+with his hand, felt the forms of two bears.  Making sure of the exact
+position of the head of one of them, he then shoved his gun in until
+the muzzle was close to the ear of one of the bears and then he fired.
+The explosion aroused the other bear and as it crawled out Oo-koo-hoo
+killed it with his axe.  The latter was a brown bear while the former
+was a black.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When a bear in his den shows fight and threatens danger, the hunter may
+wedge two crossed poles against the opening of the wash, leaving only
+enough space for the brute to squeeze through and thus prevent it from
+making a sudden rush.  Then when the bear does try to come out, the
+hunter, standing over the opening, kills it with the back of his axe.
+Sometimes a second hole is dug in order to prod the beast with a pole
+to make it leave its den.  The white hunter frequently uses fire to
+smoke a bear out, but not infrequently he succeeds in ruining the coat
+by singeing the hair.  It requires more skill, however, to find a
+bear's wash than it does to kill him in his den.  The Indians hunt for
+bear washes in the vicinity of good fishing grounds or in a district
+where berries have been plentiful.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One winter when I happened to be spending a few days at Brunswick House
+an old Indian woman came to call upon the Hudson's Bay trader's wife,
+and, while she was having afternoon tea, she casually remarked that
+while on her way to the Post she had espied a bear wash.  Digging down
+into its den with one of her snowshoes, she had killed the brute with
+her axe, and if the other guests would care to see her prize, it was
+lying on her sled, just outside the door.  What a contrast to the way
+the Wild West movie actors would have done the deadly work with the aid
+of all their absurd artillery!  Nevertheless, that kindly spoken,
+smiling-faced, motherly old lady, did the deed with nothing but her
+little axe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But while the men of the wilderness laugh over the serious drivel of
+most fiction writers who make a specialty of northern tales, nothing is
+so supremely ludicrous as the attempts made by the average movie
+director to depict northern life in Canada.  Never have I seen a
+photoplay that truthfully illustrated northern Canadian life.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WOLVERINE AND GILL NET
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Next day we again set out on a moose trail, but, as ill luck followed
+us in the way of a heavy snowstorm, we gave up the chase and continued
+on our way.  It was hard going and we stopped often.  Once we halted to
+rest beside a number of otter tracks.  Otters leave a surprisingly big
+trail for animals of their size.  A good imitation could be made of an
+otter's trail by pressing down into the snow, in a horizontal position,
+a long, irregular stove pipe of the usual size.  The reason the otter's
+trail is so formed, is that the animal, when travelling through deep
+snow, progresses on its belly and propels itself principally by its
+hind legs, especially when going down hill.  When making a hillside
+descent an otter prefers to use an old, well-worn track and glides down
+it with the ease and grace of a toboggan on its slide.  It was the
+sight of the otter's trail that set Oo-koo-hoo thinking of his younger
+days.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Years ago, my son, I very nearly killed a man.  It happened at just
+such a place as this: a little lake with a patch of open water above a
+spring.  It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon,
+after passing through heavy timber, I came out upon its shore, and
+there I discovered two men robbing one of my otter traps.  One man was
+holding up the otter by the tail and laughingly commenting on his gain,
+while the other was resetting the trap beneath the ice.  I raised my
+gun and was about to fire, when it occurred to me that, after all, a
+man's life was worth more than an otter's skin; so I let them go, and
+left it to the Redcoats (Mounted Police) to settle with them.  I knew
+them both.  They were half-breeds from near Montreal, and were well
+learned in the ways of the whites."
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-228"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-228.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-228.jpg" ALT="It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="260">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one
+afternoon, after passing through heavy timber, I came out upon its
+shore, and there I discovered two men robbing one of my traps.  One man
+was holding up the otter by the tail and laughingly commenting on his
+gain, while the other was resetting the trap beneath the ice.  I raised
+my gun and was about to fire, when&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter VI.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+But before setting out on our way&mdash;I forgot to tell you&mdash;we cached our
+moose meat in a tree as was previously agreed upon with old Granny,
+who, with the boys, was to come and take it home; and in order to
+prevent wolverines from stealing or spoiling the meat, the hunter
+wrapped round the trunk of the tree an old bag to which were fastened
+many fish hooks, all with their barbs pointing downward and ready to
+impale any creature that tried to climb the tree.  Needless to say, as
+that tree stood alone, no wolverine touched that meat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That day we covered about twenty miles, and by the afternoon of the
+second day we had arrived at the lake on the far shore of which lived
+Oo-koo-hoo's sister, Ko-ko-hay&mdash;The Perfect Woman&mdash;with her daughter
+and her son-in-law and four granddaughters.  As we drew near the camp
+we found the women about a mile from shore fishing through the ice for
+salmon trout.  There were a number of holes&mdash;each of which was marked
+by a spruce bough set upright in the snow&mdash;and the fishing was being
+done with hook and line.  The hook dangling below the ice about a third
+of the water's depth, was held in position by a branch line to which
+was attached a suitable sinker.  The trout they had caught ran from ten
+to thirty pounds each&mdash;as near as I could judge&mdash;and as the women had
+already gained a good haul, they loaded their catch upon their sled and
+returned home with us.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Gill nets are also used in the winter time.  They are strung under the
+ice beneath a series of holes by means of which the net is passed under
+the ice with the aid of a pole.  The lines being then secured at either
+end, the net can be readily drawn back and forth for the purpose of
+emptying and resetting.  Of course, floats and sinkers are used to
+spread the net and keep it in proper position.  In some
+localities&mdash;where the water is muddy&mdash;the nets are occasionally boiled
+with willow bark to keep them from being destroyed by worms.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Gill nets, however, are frequently injured by animals, not only
+amphibious ones such as beaver and otter, but even by such animals as
+wolverines.  Some years ago, a Yellowknife Indian hunting near Fort
+Resolution had an experience of that kind.  He having set a gill net
+beneath the ice, failed to visit it for several days.  When, however,
+he did arrive, he saw that it had been tampered with, and found no
+difficulty in reading the story in the snow.  A wolverine, happening by
+on a mild day when the fishing holes were open, began sniffing about
+one of the poles to which the end lines of the net were secured; then
+scenting the smell of fish, he began chewing the pole; and incidentally
+his sharp teeth severed the cords that held the net.  Then, for the
+want of something better to do, he went to the other end, to which were
+attached the lines of the other end of the net.  Again scenting fish,
+he began to chew the second pole, but this time finding it give way, he
+hauled it out of the hole; and with the pole came part of the net; and
+with the net came a few fish.  In trying to free the fish from the
+tangled mesh, he hauled out more net which contained more fish; then,
+in an effort to feast royally, he ended by hauling out the whole net.
+The following day the Indian arrived and reading the story in the snow,
+set a trap for the robber.  Again the wolverine came, but so did the
+hunter, and much to his delight found the wolverine caught in the trap.
+Such an incident, indeed, is not rare, for the same thing has happened
+in other parts of the forest.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+"THE PERFECT WOMAN"
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The Perfect Woman's daughter was married to a half-breed by the name of
+Tastowich and the four granddaughters were nice-looking girls ranging
+in age from fourteen to twenty.  Though very shy, they were bubbling
+over with quiet fun and I enjoyed my visit.  That evening, among other
+subjects, we discussed the various hunting caps worn by Indian big-game
+hunters, and The Perfect Woman offered to make me one if I could supply
+her with the needed material; but when she saw that I had nothing but a
+double "four-point" Hudson's Bay blanket, she offered to make me a
+complete suit from that article and to lend me, for the rest of the
+winter, a rabbit-skin quilt to take the place of the blanket.  I
+accepted her kindly offer, but of course paid her for both the work and
+the quilt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So the older women set to work with nothing more modern in the way of
+tools than a pair of scissors, a thimble, and a needle and thread; and
+by bed time I was well rigged in Indian fashion, for the hunting trail.
+The cap they made me was the same as Amik wears in my picture of the
+lynx hunter.  The suit consisted of a coat and hip-high leggings, and
+though I have worn that suit on many a winter trip, and though it is
+now over twenty-five years old, I have never had to repair their
+excellent hand-sewing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When the work was finished the father and the mother crawled into a
+double bunk that was surrounded by a curtain; Ko-ko-hay wound herself
+up in a blanket and lay down upon the floor, and Oo-koo-hoo did
+likewise, yet there were two bunks still unoccupied.  But I was
+informed that I was to occupy the single one, while the four girls were
+to sleep in the big double one.  As I had not had my clothes off for
+several days and as I was counting on the pleasure of sleeping in my
+night-shirt, I planned to sit up late enough to make my wish come true,
+though I knew that the intended occupants of those two bunks would have
+to rely solely upon darkness to form a screen, as neither bunk was
+provided with a curtain.  After a little while, however, it began to
+dawn upon me that the girls were counting on doing the same thing, for
+they made no move to leave the open fire.  But the Sand Man finally
+made them capitulate.  At last, rising from their seats, they piled a
+lot of fresh wood upon the fire, then climbing into their big bunk,
+they took off their shawls and hanging them from the rafters, draped
+them completely about their bed.  Now my opportunity had arrived, and
+though the fire was filling the one-room log house with a blaze of
+light, I made haste to discard my clothes&mdash;for now the older people
+were all sound asleep.  In a few moments I was in the very act of
+slipping on the coveted garment when I heard a peal of merriment behind
+me.  On looking round I discovered that the shawls had vanished from
+around the bunk and four merry young ladies, all in a row, were peering
+at me from beneath their blankets and fairly shaking their bed with
+laughter.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+INDIANS AND CIVILIZATION
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Tastowich's home was built entirely of wood, deerskin, and clay.  The
+house was of logs, the glassless windows were of deerskin parchment,
+the door-lock and the door-hinges were of wood, the latch string was of
+deerskin, the fireplace and the chimney were of clay, the roof thatch
+was of bark.  The abode was clean, serviceable, and warm; and yet it
+was a house that could have been built thousands of years ago.  But
+consider, for instance, Oo-koo-hoo's comfortable lodge; a similar
+dwelling, no doubt, could have been erected a million years ago; and
+thus, even in our time, the pre-historic still hovers on the outskirts
+of our flimsy civilization.  A civilization that billions of human
+beings for millions of years have been struggling violently to gain;
+and now after all that eternal striving since the beginning of
+time&mdash;what has been the great outstanding gain&mdash;as the Indian sees it?
+"Baldness and starched underwear for men, high-heeled shoes and corsets
+for women, and for both&mdash;spectacles and false teeth."  Is it any wonder
+the red man laughs?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But some of you will doubt that the Indian laughs, and more of you will
+even doubt whether the red man possesses a sense of humour.  A few days
+ago my Toronto oculist&mdash;you see I have been justly rewarded for
+hovering around civilization&mdash;and I were discussing Indians.  The
+doctor quoted his experience with them.  Some years before he had taken
+a trip into the forest where he had met an old Indian chief whose wife
+had had her eye injured by accident.  The doctor told the old man if
+ever he contemplated taking his wife to Toronto, to let the doctor know
+of their coming, and he would see what he could do to repair the
+injury.  A year or so later a letter arrived from the very same Indian
+reservation.  Though it was hard to read, the doctor made out that the
+Indian intended to bring his wife to Toronto so that the oculist could
+fulfil his promise; but as luck would have it, the doctor had not only
+forgotten the Indian's name, but he had great difficulty in reading the
+signature.  After much study, however, he decided that the old Indian
+had signed his name as "Chief Squirrel" so thus the doctor addressed
+his reply.  A couple of weeks later the postman arrived with a letter
+he was rather loath to leave at the doctor's house.  The oculist,
+however, on seeing that it was addressed to his own number on Bloor
+Street West, and that the name was preceded by the title of Doctor,
+believed that it was intended for him.  On opening it he found it was
+from the old Indian whom he had addressed as "Chief Squirrel."  Now,
+however, he realized he had made a mistake in giving the red man such a
+name, for another glance at the outside of the envelope not only proved
+that the Indian was indignant, but that he also possessed a sense of
+humour, for "Chief Squirrel" had, in return, addressed the noted
+oculist as "Doctor Chipmunk."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+While spending a couple of days at Tastowich's house the subject of
+hunting was never long omitted from the general conversation; and upon
+learning from the half-breed that caribou were plentiful about a day's
+travel to the westward, nothing would do but Oo-koo-hoo must take that
+route on his return home; though of course it meant many more miles to
+cover.  The excursion, however, was inviting, as a good trail could be
+followed all the way to the caribou country, as the Tastowichs had been
+hauling deer meat from that region.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+By the evening of the first day, as good fortune would have it, we
+baited among many signs of caribou, and not only were fresh caribou
+tracks to be seen, but also those of wolves, for the latter were
+trailing the deer.  The incident reminded Oo-koo-hoo of a former
+experience which he told as we sat by the fire.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+WOLVES RUNNING CABIBOU
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"It happened years ago.  For weeks, my son, I had had ill luck and my
+family were starving.  For days I had hunted first one kind of game and
+then another, but always without success.  Then, as a last resort, I
+started after caribou, though I well knew that I should have to travel
+a long distance before falling in with them.  But in the end I was
+rewarded.  The going was bad, mostly through a dense growth of small
+black spruce, where the trees stood so close together that I had
+difficulty in hauling my sled, being compelled, at times, to turn on
+edge, not only my toboggan, but also my snowshoes, in order to pass
+between.  After several hours' hard work the forest grew more open and,
+about noon of the third day, I discovered a band of caribou quietly
+sunning themselves on a large muskeg.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Some were feeding, others were lying down, fawns were scampering about
+in play, and young bulls were thrusting at each other with their
+prong-like horns.  There were over a hundred in all.  I watched them
+for some time before I was discovered by seven young bulls, and as they
+were nearest me, they stopped in their play, left the others, and came
+down wind to investigate the strange two-legged creature that also wore
+a caribou skin.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"With heads held high and expanded nostrils quivering in readiness to
+catch scent of danger, they came on very slowly yet not without a great
+deal of high stepping and of prancing, with a sort of rhythmical
+dancing motion.  Every now and then they threw their heads down, then
+up, and then held them rigid again.  They were brave enough to come
+within sixty or seventy paces and even a little closer.  But as ill
+luck ordained, while I was waiting for a better chance to bring down
+one of them with my old flint-lock, they caught scent of me, and
+suddenly falling back&mdash;almost upon their haunches&mdash;as though they had
+been struck upon the head, they wheeled round, then fled in alarm to
+the main body.  Then, as caribou usually do, the whole band began
+leaping three or four feet into the air&mdash;much as they sometimes do when
+hit by a bullet.  Then, too, with tails up they swept away at full
+gallop and, entering the forest beyond, were lost to view.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was a great disappointment, my son, and I became so disheartened
+that I made but a poor attempt to trail them that day.  That evening,
+when I lay down to rest upon the edge of a muskeg, the moon was already
+shining; and by midnight the cold was so intense that the frost-bitten
+trees went off with such bangs that I was startled out of my slumber.
+It was then that I discovered a pack of eight wolves silently romping
+about in the snow of the muskeg&mdash;just like a lot of young dogs.  Their
+antics interested me and it was some time before I fell asleep again.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In the morning, though a heavy rime (frozen mist) was falling and
+though it was so thick that it obliterated the surrounding forest, I
+set out again in search of game tracks, and having crossed the muskeg,
+not only found the tracks of many caribou, but learned, too, that the
+eight wolves were now trailing the deer in earnest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"About half way between sunrise and midday I came upon a lake, and
+there I discovered not only the same herd of caribou and the same
+wolves, but the deer were running at full speed with the wolves in full
+chase behind them.  My son, it was a fascinating sight.  The caribou
+were going at full gallop, covering twenty feet or more at a bound, and
+all running at exactly the same speed, none trying to outstrip the
+others, for the fawns, does, and bucks were all compactly bunched
+together.  It was as exciting and as interesting a sight as one may see
+in the Strong Woods.  Though the wolves did not seem to be putting
+forth their utmost speed, they nevertheless took care to cut every
+corner, and thus they managed to keep close behind, while their long,
+regular lope foretold their eventually overhauling their quarry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Protected by a gentle southwest wind and a thick screen of underbrush,
+I watched the chase.  Three times the deer circled the lake, which was
+about half a mile in length.  For safety's sake the caribou carefully
+avoided entering the woods, even rounding every point rather than cut
+across among the trees.  On the fourth round I saw that the wolves had
+set their minds upon running down a single deer, for as they now
+suddenly burst forward at their top speed, the herd, splitting apart,
+allowed the wolves to pass through their ranks.  A few moments later an
+unfortunate doe, emerging in front, galloped frantically ahead with the
+wolves in hot pursuit; while the rest of the herd slowed down to a
+trot, then to a walk, and finally halted to rest in perfect
+indifference as to their companion's fate.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Round and round the lake the frightened creature sped, with the
+determined wolves behind her.  Presently, however, the wolves one by
+one turned aside, and lay down to rest, until only two continued the
+pursuit.  But as the deer came round the lake again several of the
+now-refreshed wolves again entered the chase, thus they relieved one
+another.  The ill-fated doe, in a vain hope of throwing aside her
+pursuers, twice rushed into the very centre of the caribou herd; but it
+was of no avail, for, as the wolves relentlessly followed her, the
+other deer wildly scattered away to a safer distance, where, however,
+they soon came together again, and stood watching their enemies running
+down their doomed comrade.  Now first one wolf and then another took
+the lead; closer and closer they pressed upon the exhausted doe whose
+shortening stride told that her strength was fast ebbing away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, perhaps you wonder why I did not use my gun?  I was out of
+range, and, moreover, while I was afraid that if I ventured out of the
+woods I might frighten the game away, I knew I had but to wait a little
+while and then I should be sure of at least one deer without even
+firing my gun.  I did not have to wait long.  With a few tremendous
+leaps the leading wolf seized the doe by the base of the throat and
+throwing her, heels over head, brought her down.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Realizing that I must act at once, I rushed out upon the lake, but in
+my haste I fell and broke the stock off my gun&mdash;just behind the hammer.
+But as I still had my axe, I picked up the broken gun, and charged in
+among the wolves that now began to back away, though not without much
+snarling, glaring of angry eyes, and champing of powerful jaws.  As one
+remained too near, I let drive at it with a charge from my almost
+useless gun; and though I missed my aim, the report relieved me of any
+further trouble.  Cutting up the deer, I feasted upon it for several
+hours, then loaded my sled and hurried home with the meat for my
+starving family."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There are three principal species of Canadian caribou: the smallest
+living on the Barren Grounds and taking their name from that region;
+the largest frequenting the Rocky Mountains west of the Mackenzie River
+and known as Woodland or Mountain caribou; and the intermediate size
+inhabiting the Great Northern Forest and called Woodland caribou.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In comparison with moose, wapiti, and other deer of North America, the
+Woodland caribou ranks third in size.  In colour its coat is of a
+grayish brown with a white neck and belly.  In winter the heavy growth
+of neck hair really amounts to a mane.  Of the three breeds, the
+Woodland caribou have the smallest horns, the Barren Ground the
+slenderest, while the Mountain caribou have the most massive.  Record
+antlers range from fifty- to sixty-inch beams, with a forty- to
+fifty-inch spread, and possessing from sixty to seventy points.  The
+does are usually provided with small horns, and in that way they are
+distinct from all other Canadian deer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On account of its wide-spreading and concave hoofs the Woodland caribou
+does not have to "yard" as other deer do in winter time, for thus
+provided with natural snowshoes, the caribou can pass over the deepest
+snow with little trouble.  Also, throughout the year it is an extensive
+traveller, and as its food is found everywhere within its wide range,
+its wanderings are determined chiefly by the wind.  Indeed, so great a
+traveller is it that, when thoroughly alarmed, it may cover from fifty
+to a hundred miles before settling down again.  Rivers and lakes do not
+hinder its roaming for it is a powerful and a willing swimmer.  The
+mating takes place in October and the calves are born in June.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The following morning while at breakfast Oo-koo-hoo discoursed upon the
+game we were about to hunt:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, everything that applies to hunting the moose, applies to
+hunting the caribou, except that the hunter never tries to 'call' the
+caribou.  But now I recollect that there is one thing about moose
+hunting that I forgot to tell you and it applies also to hunting the
+caribou.  In some localities barriers are still in use, but nowadays
+they seldom make new ones.  In the old days whole tribes used to take
+part in barrier hunting and sometimes the barriers would stretch for
+fifteen or twenty miles and were usually made from one part of the
+river to another, and thus they marked off the woods enclosed in a
+river's bend.  Barriers are made by felling trees in a line; or, in an
+open place, or upon a river or lake, placing a line of little trees in
+the snow about ten paces apart.  Small evergreens with the butts no
+thicker than a man's thumb were often used; yet an artificial line of
+such brush was enough to turn moose or caribou and cause them to move
+forward in a certain direction where the hunters were hiding.  Even big
+clumps of moss, placed upon trees, will produce the same effect.
+Frequently, too, snares for deer are set in suitable places along the
+barrier, and while the snares are made of babiche the loops are kept
+open with blades of grass.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There is still another thing I forgot to tell you about moose
+hunting&mdash;my son, I must be growing old when I forget so much.  While my
+Indian cousins in the East use birch-bark horns for calling moose, my
+other cousins in the Far North never do, yet they call moose, too, but
+in a different way.  They use the shoulder blade of a deer.  Thus, when
+a bull is approaching, the hunter stands behind a tree and rubs the
+shoulder blade upon the trunk or strikes it against the branches of a
+neighbouring bush, as it then makes a sound not unlike a bull thrashing
+his horns about.  Such a sound makes a bull believe that another is
+approaching and ready to fight him for the possession of the cow, and
+he prepares to charge his enemy.  At such a moment the hunter throws
+the shoulder blade into some bushes that may be standing a little way
+off, and the enraged bull, hearing this last sound, charges directly
+for the spot.  Then, as the brute passes broadside, the hunter fires.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, my son, to return to caribou hunting, you probably know that
+those deer are very fond of open places during sunny weather in winter
+time, such places as, for instance, rivers and small lakes where the
+wind will not be strong.  There they will spend most of the day resting
+or playing together in big bands of perhaps fifty or more.  Sometimes,
+however, when a high wind springs up, they have a curious custom of all
+racing round in a circle at high speed.  It is a charming sight to
+watch them at such sport.  Most of their feeding is done right after
+sunrise and just before sunset, and at night they always resort to the
+woods.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, too, when caribou go out upon a lake they have a habit of lying
+down beside the big ridges that rise three or four feet above the rest
+of the surface, where the ice has been split apart and then jammed
+together again with such power that the edges are forced upward.  They
+lie down there to avoid the wind while resting in the sun.  There the
+hunter sometimes digs a trench in the snow and lies in wait for the
+unsuspecting deer.  When he shoots one, he immediately skins it, but
+takes care to leave the head attached to the skin; then ramming a pole
+into the head at the neck, he drapes the skin over the pole and getting
+down on all fours places the skin over his back and pretends to be a
+caribou.  Thus he will approach the band, and should he tire of
+crawling along on his hands and knees he will even lie down to rest in
+sight of the deer, but he always takes care to keep down wind.  In such
+a guise it is not hard to come within gun-range of the band.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"A very good thing to carry when hunting deer in the woods is a bunch
+of tips of deer horns, each about four inches long and all suspended
+from the back of the hunter's belt; as the horn tips will then tinkle
+together at every movement of the hunter, and make a sound as though
+the horns of a distant band of closely marching caribou were striking
+together.  In that way, my son, it is easier to approach, and when you
+are ready to fire, look carefully for a large, white, fat doe, and then
+let drive at her; for bands of deer are never led by bulls, but always
+by does and usually by a barren one.  If you shoot the leader first,
+the chances are the band will stand waiting for one of their number to
+lead the way.  Remember, too, that deer are never so frightened at
+seeing or hearing you as they are at scenting you, for the merest whiff
+of man-smell will drive them away.  When they first scent you they will
+take two or three jumps into the air with their heads held high, their
+nostrils extended, and their eyes peering about; then swinging round,
+they will gallop off and later settle down into a great high-stepping,
+distance-covering trot that will carry them many miles away before they
+halt.  There is still another good way to hunt caribou on a lake and
+that is to put on a wolf skin and approach on all fours, but it is not
+so successful as when the hunter wears a caribou skin."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+TRAILING IN THE SNOW
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Breakfast over, we slipped on our snowshoes and set out to follow a
+mass of tracks that led southward.  It was easy going on a beaten
+trail, a blind man could have followed it; and that reminds me of
+something I have failed to tell you about winter trailing in the
+Northland.  In winter, the men of the Northland don't trail human
+beings by scent, they trail them by sight or sometimes by touch.  Sight
+trailing, of course, you understand.  Trailing by touch, however, when
+not understood by the spectator, seems a marvellous performance.  For
+instance, when a husky dog, the leader of a sled-train, will come out
+of the forest and with his head held high, and without a moment's
+hesitation, trot across a lake that may be three or four miles wide,
+upon the surface of which the wind and drifting snow have left
+absolutely no visible sign of a trail, and when that dog will cross
+that great unbroken expanse and enter the woods on the far shore
+exactly where the trail appears in sight again, though no stick or
+stone or any other visible thing marks the spot&mdash;it does seem a
+marvellous feat.  But it is done, not by sight, sound, or scent, but by
+touch&mdash;the feel of the foot.  In winter time man, too, follows a trail
+in the same way, notwithstanding that he is generally handicapped by a
+pair of snowshoes.  Some unseen trails are not hard to follow&mdash;even a
+blind man could follow them.  It is done this way:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Suppose you come to a creek that you want to cross, yet you can see no
+way of doing it, for there is nothing in sight&mdash;neither log nor
+bridge&mdash;spanning the river.  But suppose someone tells you that, though
+the water is so muddy that you cannot see an inch into it, there is a
+flat log spanning the creek about six inches below the surface, and
+that if you feel about with your foot you can find it.  Then, of
+course, you would make your way across by walking on the unseen log,
+yet knowing all the time that if you made a misstep you would plunge
+into the stream.  You would do it by the feel of the foot.  It is just
+the same in following an unseen trail in the snow&mdash;it lies hard-packed
+beneath the surface, just as the log lay unseen in the river.  What a
+pity it is that the writers of northern tales so rarely understand the
+life they have made a specialty of depicting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But to return to the caribou we were trailing, and also to make a long
+hunt short&mdash;for you now know most of the interesting points in the
+sport&mdash;I must tell you that we spent a full day and a night before we
+came up with them.  And that night, too, a heavy fall of snow added to
+our trouble, but it made the forest more beautiful than ever.  It was
+after sunrise when we picked up fresh tracks.  A heavy rime was
+falling, but though it screened all distant things, we espied five
+caribou that were still lingering on a lake, over which the main band
+had passed.  They were east of us and were heading for the north side
+of a long, narrow island.  As soon as they passed behind it, Oo-koo-hoo
+hurried across the intervening space, and ran along the southern shore
+to head them off.  The eastern end of the island dwindled into a long
+point and it was there that The Owl hoped to get a shot.  Sure enough
+he did, for he arrived there ahead of the deer.  Though he had lost
+sight of them, he knew they were nearing him, for he could hear the
+crunching sound of their hoofs in the frosty snow, and later he could
+even hear that strange clicking sound caused by the muscular action of
+the hoofs in walking&mdash;a sound peculiar to caribou.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-260"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-260.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-260.jpg" ALT="Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="260">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound,
+caused by the muscular action of the hoofs in walking&mdash;a sound peculiar
+to caribou.  He cautiously went down on one knee and there waited with
+his gun cocked and in position.  Now antlered heads appeared beyond the
+openings between the snow-mantled trees.  The hunter, taking aim,
+addressed them: "My brothers, I need your&nbsp;&#8230;"  Then the violent
+report of his gun shattered the&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter VI.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo cautiously went down on one knee and there waited with his
+gun cocked and in position.  The air was scarcely moving.  Now antlered
+heads appeared beyond the openings between the snow-mantled trees.  The
+hunter, taking aim, addressed them:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My brothers, I need your&nbsp;&#8230;"  Then the violent report of his gun
+shattered the stillness, and the leader, a doe, lunged forward a few
+paces, staggered upon trembling legs, and then sank down into the
+brilliantly sunny snow.  But before Oo-koo-hoo could re-load for a
+second shot the rest of the little band passed out of range, and, with
+their high-stepping, hackney action, soon passed out of sight.  So,
+later on, with our sled again heavily loaded, and with packs of meat
+upon our backs, we set out for home.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE MAN WHO HIBERNATED
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Next morning, soon after sunrise, while I was breaking trail across a
+lake, I espied a log house in a little clearing beside a large beaver
+meadow.  As it was about the time we usually stopped for our second
+breakfast, I turned in the direction of the lonely abode.  It was a
+small, well-built house, and with the exception of the spaces at the
+two windows and the door, was entirely enclosed by neatly stacked
+firewood suitable for a stove.  Beyond, half built in the rising
+ground, stood a little log stable, and near it a few cattle were eating
+from haystacks.  Going up to the shack, I knocked upon the door, and as
+a voice bade me enter I slipped off my snowshoes, pulled the latch
+string, and walked in.  Entering from the dazzling sunlight made the
+room at first seem in darkness.  Presently, however, I regained my
+sight, and then beheld the interior of a comfortable little home&mdash;the
+extreme of neatness and order; and then I saw a human form lying
+beneath the blankets of a bunk in a far corner.  Later I noticed that
+two black eyes beneath a shock of black hair were smiling a welcome.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good morning," I greeted.  "May I use your stove to cook breakfast?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sir," replied the figure, then it sat up in bed, and I saw that it
+was a white man.  "I'll do the cooking myself, for you're to be my
+guest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Thanks," I returned, "I'm travelling with an Indian and I don't wish
+to trouble you; but if I may use your stove I'll be much obliged."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If I have what you haven't got," my host smiled, "will you dine with
+me?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"All right," I agreed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Potatoes," he exclaimed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Good," I laughed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then sit down, please, and rest while I do the cooking."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo now came in and at the host's bidding, filled his pipe from
+a tobacco pouch upon the table.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The accent of the stranger suggested that he was an English gentleman,
+and it seemed strange, indeed, to discover so refined and educated a
+man living apparently alone and without any special occupation in the
+very heart of the Great Northern Forest.  Curiosity seized me.  Then I
+wondered&mdash;was this the man?&#8230; could he be "Son-in-law"?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But I refrained from questioning him.  So I talked about the woods and
+the weather, while Oo-koo-hoo brought in a haunch of venison from his
+sled and presented it to the stranger.  But with my host's every action
+and word the mystery grew.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The stove, which was fireless, stood beside the bed, and reaching for
+the griddle-lifter, my host removed the lids; then picking up a stick
+of pine kindling from behind the stove, he whittled some shavings and
+placed them in the fire-box; and on top of this he laid kindling and
+birch firewood.  Then he replaced the lids, struck a match, and while
+the fire began to roar, filled the kettle from a keg of water that
+stood behind the stove, and mind you, he did it without getting out of
+bed.  Next, he leant over the side of the bunk, opened a little trap
+door in the floor, reached down into his little box-like cellar, and
+hauled up a bag containing potatoes, which he then put in a pot to
+boil, in their skins.  From the wall he took a long stick with a crook
+upon the end, and reaching out, hooked the crook round the leg and drew
+the table toward him.  Reaching up to one of the three shelves above
+his bunk, he took down the necessary dishes and cutlery to set the
+breakfast table for us three.  While the potatoes were boiling he took
+from another shelf&mdash;the one upon which he kept a few well-chosen
+books&mdash;a photograph album and suggested that I look it over while he
+broiled the venison steak and infused the tea.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When I opened the album and saw its contents, it not only further
+excited my curiosity regarding the personal history of my host, but it
+thrilled me with interest, for never before or since have I seen an
+album that contained photographs of a finer-looking or more
+distinguished lot of people.  Its pages contained photographs of Lord
+This, General That, Admiral What's-his-name, and also the Bishop of
+I've-forgotten and many a Sir and Lady, too, as well as the beautiful
+Countess of Can't-remember.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Breakfast was served.  The potatoes were a treat, the steak was
+excellent, the tea was good, and there we three sat and ate a hearty
+meal, for not only did we relish the food, but the company, the wit,
+and the laughter, too.  But all the while my healthy, jovial, handsome
+host remained in bed.  I studied the blankets that covered his
+legs&mdash;apparently there was nothing wrong with that part of him.  I
+could not fathom the mystery.  It completely nonplussed me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced round the room; there were many photographs upon the walls,
+among them Cambridge "eights" and "fours"; and sure enough, there he
+was, rowing in those very crews; and in the football and tennis
+pictures he also appeared as one of the best of them all.  And how neat
+and clean was his one-room house!  Everything was in order.  A water
+keg behind the stove to keep the water from freezing.  A big barrel by
+the door in which to turn snow into water.  A woodpile across the end
+of the room&mdash;enough to outlast any blizzard.  Then when I glanced at
+him again, I noticed a crested signet ring upon his left little finger.
+Breakfast over, smoking began, and as he washed the dishes, I wiped
+them&mdash;but still I pondered.  Then, at last, I grew brave.  I would risk
+it.  I would ask him:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why do you stay in bed?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+First he responded with a burst of laughter, then with the question:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Why, what's the use of getting up?" and next with the statement: "I
+stay in bed all winter&nbsp;&#8230; or nearly so.  It's the only thing to do.
+I used to get up, and go for my mail occasionally&nbsp;&#8230; at least, I did
+a few years ago, but too many times I walked the forty miles to the
+Hudson's Bay Company's Flying Post at Elbow Creek only to find no
+letters for me&nbsp;&#8230; so I chucked it all.  Then, too, the first few
+winters I was here I used to do a little shooting, but I get all the
+game I want from the Indians now, so I have chucked the shooting, too.
+Now the only thing that gets me out of bed, or takes me out of doors,
+is to watch which way the wind blows.  Two winters ago, when I was away
+from here a week, the wind blew steadily from the north for five days
+or more, and my cattle ate so far into the south sides of the hay
+stacks that two of the stacks fell over on them and in that way I lost
+five head&mdash;they were smothered."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo, knocking the ashes from his pipe, began to tie his coat;
+apparently, he thought it was time we were going.  I opened the album
+again, and glanced through it once more as I sat upon the edge of my
+strange host's bunk.  I stopped my turning when I came to a photograph
+of a charming gentlewoman whose hair was done in an old-fashioned way
+so becoming to her character and beauty.  She must have been
+twenty-three.  He, then, was nearing forty.  I thought his hand
+lingered a little upon the page.  And when I commented on her beauty, I
+fancied his voice tremored slightly&mdash;anyway his pipe went out.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Oo-koo-hoo, getting up, broke the silence.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I invited my still-unknown host to pay me a visit.  We shook hands
+heartily, and as I turned to close the door, I noticed that he had lain
+down again, and had covered up his head.  As a pleasant parting
+salutation&mdash;a cheering one as I thought&mdash;I exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Perfectly stunning!&#8230; the most beautiful lot of women I have ever
+seen!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And then from beneath the bed clothes came&mdash;
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Y-e-s&nbsp;&#8230; <I>the blighters</I>!"
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap07"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+VII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LIFE AND LOVE RETURN
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HYMEN COMES WITH SPRING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"My son, it is ever thus, when spring is on the way," smiled
+Oo-koo-hoo, as Granny entered with glee and displayed a new deerskin
+work-bag, containing needles, thread, thimble, and scissors; a present
+from Shing-wauk&mdash;The Little Pine&mdash;Neykia's lover.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now that Spring and Love are going to hunt together," further remarked
+the Indian, "the snow will run away, and the ice begin to tremble when
+it hears the home-coming birds singing among the trees.  Ah, my son, it
+reminds me of the days of my youth," sighed The Owl, "when I, too, was
+a lover."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Tell me," I coaxed.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It was many years ago, at the New Year's dance at Fort Perseverance
+that I first met Ojistoh.  She was thirteen then, and as beautiful as
+she was young.&#8230;  No; I shall never forget those days&nbsp;&#8230;  When
+she spoke her voice was as gentle as the whispering south wind, and
+when she ran she passed among the trees as silently and as swiftly as a
+vanishing dream; but now," added Oo-koo-hoo, with a sly, teasing glance
+at his wife, "but now look at her, my son&nbsp;&#8230;  She is nothing but a
+bundle of old wrinkled leather, that makes a noise like a she-wolf that
+has no mate, and when she waddles about she goes thudding around on the
+split end of her body&mdash;like a rabbit with frozen feet."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Granny, saying never a word, seized the wooden fire-poker, and
+dealt her lord and master such a vigorous blow across the shoulders
+that she slew his chuckle of laughter the moment it was born.  Then, as
+the dust settled, silence reigned.  A little later, as Granny put more
+wood upon the fire, she turned to me with twinkling eyes and said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, if you could have seen the old loon when he was courting me,
+it would have filled your heart with laughter.  It is true he was
+always a loon, for in those days Oo-koo-hoo, the great hunter, was even
+afraid of his own shadow, for he never dared call upon me in daylight,
+and even when he came sneaking round at night he always took good care
+that it was at a time when my father was away from home.  Furthermore,
+he always chose a stormy evening when the snow would be drifting and
+thus cover his trail; and worse still, when he came to court me he
+always wore women's snowshoes; because, my son, he had not courage
+enough to come as a man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+This sally, however, only made Oo-koo-hoo smile the more as he puffed
+away at his brier.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Did he always bring your grandmother a present?" I enquired.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, my son, not always, he was too stingy," replied the old woman,
+"but he did once in a while, I must grant him that."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What was it?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, just a few coils of tripe."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But Granny, of course, was joking, that was why she did not explain
+that deer tripe filled with blood was as great a delicacy as a suitor
+could offer his prospective grandmother-in-law; for among certain
+forest tribes, it is the custom that a marriageable daughter leaves the
+lodge of her parents and takes up her abode with her grandmother&mdash;that
+is, if the old lady is living within reasonable distance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shing-wauk&mdash;The Little Pine&mdash;had come that day, and had been invited to
+sleep in Amik's tepee; yet he spent the greater part of his time
+sitting with Neykia in her grandmother's lodge.  As there are no cozy
+corners in a tepee, it is the Ojibway custom for a lover to converse
+with his sweetheart under cover of a blanket which screens the lovers
+from the gaze of the other occupants of the lodge.  Early in the
+evening the blanket always hung in a dignified way, as though draped
+over a couple of posts set a few feet apart.  Later, however, the posts
+frequently lost their balance and swayed about in such a way as to come
+dangerously near colliding.  Then, if the old grandmother did not speak
+or make a stir, the blanket would sometimes show that one support had
+given away.  Accordingly, the old woman was able to judge by the
+general contour of the blanket just how the courtship was progressing,
+and being a foxy old dame she occasionally pretended to snore just to
+see what might happen.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One night, however, Granny's snoring was no longer pretense, and when
+she woke up from her nap, she found that both supports of the blanket
+were in immediate danger of collapsing.  Seizing the stick with which
+she used to poke the fire, she leaped up and belaboured the blanket so
+severely that it lost no time in recovering its proper form.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Kissa Pesim (The Old Moon)&mdash;February, and Mikesewe Pesim (The Eagle
+Moon)&mdash;March, had flown and now Niske Pesim, (The Goose Moon)&mdash;April,
+had arrived; and with it had come the advance guard of a few of those
+numerous legions of migratory birds and fowls that are merely winter
+visitors to the United States, Mexico, and South America; while Canada
+is their real home&mdash;the place where they were born.  Next would follow
+Ayeke Pesim (the Frog Moon) of May, when love would be in full play;
+then a little later would come Wawe Pesim (The Egg Moon) otherwise
+June, when the lovers would be living together&mdash;or nesting.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yes, truly, the long-tarrying but wonderous Goose Moon had at last
+arrived, and at last, too, the spring hunt was on.  It was now a joyous
+season accompanied with charming music rendered by the feathered
+creatures.  Overhead the geese where honking, out upon the lake the
+loons were calling, near the shore the ducks were quacking, while all
+through the woods the smaller birds were singing.  Now, even among the
+shadows, the snow was slinking away; while the river ice, plunging
+along with a roar, ran down to the lake where it rested quietly in a
+space of open water.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now, too, it so happened that day, that Neykia, she of woodland grace
+and beauty, was strolling in the sunshine with her Little Pine; while
+on every side the trees were shaking their heads and it seemed
+gossiping about the hunting plans of that reckless little elfin hunter,
+Hymen, who was hurrying overland and shooting his joyous arrows in
+every direction, till the very air felt charged with the whisperings of
+countless lovers.  It made me think of the shy but radiant Athabasca,
+and I wondered&mdash;was her lover with her now?
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE SPRING HUNT
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The Indians divide their annual hunt for fur into three distinct
+hunting seasons: the fall hunt&mdash;from autumn until Christmas; the winter
+hunt&mdash;from New Year's Day until Easter; and the spring hunt&mdash;from
+Easter until the hunters depart for their tribal summer camping ground.
+At the end of each hunting season&mdash;if the fur-runners have not traded
+with the hunters and if the hunter is not too far away from the
+post&mdash;he usually loads upon his sled the result of his fall hunt and
+hauls it to the Post during Christmas week; likewise he hauls to the
+Post the catch of his winter hunt about Easter time; while the gain
+from his spring hunt is loaded aboard his canoe and taken to the Post
+the latter part of May.  Easter time, or the end of the winter hunt,
+marks the closing of the hunting season for all land animals except
+bear; and the renewing of the hunting season for bear, beaver, otter,
+mink, and muskrat, all water animals save the first.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile, the canoes had been overhauled: freshly patched, stitched,
+and gummed, their thwarts strengthened, their ribs adjusted, and their
+bottoms greased.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A few days later, loading some traps and kit&mdash;among which was the
+hunter's bow and quiver of arrows&mdash;aboard his small canoe, Oo-koo-hoo
+and I set out at sunrise and paddling around the western end of Bear
+Lake, entered Bear River.  It was a cold but delightful morning, and
+the effect of the sun shining through the rising mist was extremely
+beautiful.  We were going otter- and muskrat-hunting; and as we
+descended that charming little stream and wound about amid its marshy
+flats and birch- and poplar-clad slopes, every once in a while ducks
+startled us by suddenly whirring out of the mist.  Then, when long
+light lines of rippling water showed in the misty screen we knew that
+they were nothing but the wakes of swimming muskrats; and soon we
+glided into a colony of them; but for the time being they were not at
+home&mdash;the still-rising spring freshet had driven them from their
+flooded houses.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The muskrat's little island lodge among the rushes is erected upon a
+foundation of mud and reeds that rises about two feet before it
+protrudes above the surface of the water.  The building material, taken
+from round the base, by its removal helps to form a deep-water moat
+that answers as a further protection to the muskrat's home.  Upon that
+foundation the house is built by piling upon it more reeds and mud.
+Then the tunnels are cut through the pile from about the centre of the
+over-water level down and out at one side of the under-water
+foundation, while upon the top more reeds and mud are placed to form
+the dome-shaped roof, after which the chamber inside is cleared.  The
+apex of the roof rises about three feet above the water.  In some
+localities, however, muskrats live in dens excavated in the banks of
+rivers or ponds.  To these dens several under-water runways lead.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Muskrats feed principally on the roots and stalks of many kinds of
+sub-aqueous plants.  In winter time, when their pond is frozen over,
+and when they have to travel far under water to find their food, they
+sometimes make a point of keeping several water-holes open, so that
+after securing their food, they may rise at a convenient hole and eat
+their meal without having to make long trips to their house for the
+purpose.  In order to keep the water-hole from freezing, they build a
+little house of reeds and mud over it.  Sometimes, too, they store food
+in their lodges, especially the bulbous roots of certain plants.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Muskrats, like beavers, use their tails for signalling danger, and when
+alarm causes them to dive they make a great noise, out of all
+proportion to their size.  Thus the greenhorn from the city is apt to
+take the muskrat's nightly plunges for the sound of deer leaping into
+water; and just in the same way does the sleepless tenderfoot mistake
+the thudding footfalls of the midnight rabbit for those of moose or
+caribou running round his tent.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Muskrats are fairly sociable and help one another in their work.  They
+mate in April and their young are born about a month later.  The
+Indians claim that they pair like the beaver, and that the father helps
+to take care of the children.  The young number from three to eight.
+When they are full grown their coats are dark brown.  In length
+muskrats measure about eighteen inches, while in weight they run from a
+pound and a half to two pounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Except in autumn, their range is exceedingly small, though at that
+season they wander much farther away from their homes.  If danger
+threatens they are always ready to fight, and they prove to be
+desperate fighters, too.  While slow on land, they are swift in water;
+and such excellent divers are they that in that way they sometimes
+escape their greatest enemy&mdash;the mink; though wolves, fishers, foxes,
+otters, as well as birds of prey and Indians are always glad to have a
+muskrat for dinner.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But to return to our muskrat hunt: Oo-koo-hoo, stringing his bow and
+adjusting an arrow, let drive at one of the little animals as it sat
+upon some drift-wood.  The blunt-headed shaft just skimmed its back and
+sank into the mud beyond; the next arrow, however, bowled the muskrat
+over; and in an hour's time The Owl had eleven in his canoe.  When I
+questioned him as to why he used such an ancient weapon, he explained
+that a bow was much better than a gun, as it did not frighten the other
+muskrats away, also it did not injure the pelt in the way shot would
+do, and, moreover, it was much more economical.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Occasionally Oo-koo-hoo would imitate the call of the muskrats;
+sometimes to arrest their attention, but more often to entice them
+within easy range of his arrows.  If he killed them outright while they
+were swimming, they sank like stones; but when only wounded, they
+usually swam round on the surface for a while.  Once, however, a
+wounded one dived, and, seizing hold of a reed, held on with its teeth
+in order to escape its pursuer; Oo-koo-hoo, nevertheless, eventually
+landed it in his canoe.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In setting steel traps for them the hunter placed the traps either in
+the water or on the bank at a spot where they were in the habit of
+going ashore, and to decoy them to that landing Oo-koo-hoo rubbed
+castoreum on the branches of the surrounding bushes&mdash;just in the same
+way as he did for mink or otter.  Another way he had of setting traps
+was to cut a hole in the side of a muskrat's house, so that he could
+thrust in his arm and feel for the entrance to the tunnel, then he
+would set a trap there and close up the hole.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One day when he was passing a muskrat house that he had previously
+opened for that purpose and closed again, he discovered that the hole
+was again open.  Thinking that the newly added mud had merely fallen
+out, he thrust his arm into the hole to reach for the trap, when
+without the slightest warning some animal seized him by the finger.  It
+was a mink that had been raiding the house; and in the excitement that
+followed, the brute escaped.  The hunter, however, made little of his
+injury; chewing up a quid of tobacco, he placed it over the wound and
+bound it securely with a rag torn from the tail of his shirt.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo explained that in winter time, when there was little snow,
+he often speared muskrats through the ice.  The spear point is usually
+made of quarter-inch iron wire and attached to a seven-foot shaft.
+Much of the spearing he did at the rats' feeding and airing
+places&mdash;those little dome-shaped affairs made of reeds and mud that
+cover their water-holes.  The hunter, enabled by the clearness of the
+ice, followed their runways and traced them to where the little fellows
+often sat inside their shelters.  Knowing that the south side of the
+shelter is the thinnest side, The Owl would drive in his spear and
+impale the little dweller.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HUNTING THE OTTER
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+That afternoon Oo-koo-hoo set a number of traps for otter.  When placed
+on land otter traps are set as for fox, though of course of a larger
+size, and the same statement applies to deadfalls; while the bait used
+for both kinds of otter traps is the same as that used for mink.  The
+otter is an unusually playful, graceful, active, and powerful animal;
+but when caught in a trap becomes exceedingly vicious, and the hunter
+must take care lest he be severely bitten.  Oo-koo-hoo told me that on
+one occasion, when he was hunting otters, he lost his favourite dog.
+The dog was holding an otter prisoner in a rocky pocket where the water
+was shallow, and the otter, waiting to attack the dog when off guard,
+at last got its chance, seized its adversary by the throat, and that
+was the end of the dog.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The otter is not only easily tamed, but makes a charming pet, as many a
+trader has proved; and it is one of the few animals that actually
+indulge in a sport or game for the sheer sake of the thrill it affords.
+Thus the otter is much given to the Canadian sports of tobogganing and
+"shooting the chute," but it does it without sled or canoe; and at all
+seasons of the year it may be seen sharing its favourite
+slide&mdash;sometimes fifty or a hundred feet in length&mdash;with its
+companions.  If in summer, the descent is made on a grassy or clayey
+slope down which the animals swiftly glide, and plunge headlong into
+deep water.  If the sport takes place on a clay bank, the wet coats of
+the otters soon make the slide so slippery that the descent is made at
+thrilling speed.  But in winter time the sport becomes general, as then
+the snow forms a more convenient and easier surface down which to
+slide.  The otter, though not a fast traveller upon land, is a master
+swimmer, and not only does it pursue and overtake the speckled trout,
+but also the swift and agile salmon.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Otters den in the river or lake bank and provide an underwater entrance
+to their home.  They mate in February and the young&mdash;never more than
+five, but more often two&mdash;are born in April; and though their food
+includes flesh and fowl&mdash;muskrats, frogs, and young ducks&mdash;it is
+principally composed of fish.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though slow on land an otter often travels considerable distances,
+especially in winter time, when it goes roaming in search of open
+water.  If pursued it has a protective way of diving into and crawling
+swiftly beneath the surface of the snow, in such a way that though its
+pursuer may run fast, he more often loses his quarry; I know, because I
+have experienced it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The otter not only has its thick, oily, dark-brown fur to keep it warm,
+but also a thick layer of fat between its skin and body; and thus,
+seal-like, it seems to enjoy in comfort the coldest of winter water.
+Otters measure three or four feet in length and in weight run from
+fifteen to thirty pounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Indians of the Strong Woods are very superstitious in relation to
+the otter.  They not only refuse to eat the flesh, but they don't like
+to take the carcass home, always preferring to skin it where it is
+caught.  Even then they dislike to place the skin in their hunting bag,
+but will drag it behind them on the snow.  Also, Indian women refuse to
+skin an otter, as they have a superstition that it would prevent them
+from becoming mothers.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One afternoon, when Oo-koo-hoo and I were sitting on a high rock
+overlooking the rapids on Bear River, he espied an otter ascending the
+turbulent waters by walking on the river bottom.  We watched the animal
+for some time.  It was an interesting sight, as it was evidently
+hunting for fish that might be resting in the backwaters behind the
+boulders.  Every time it would ascend the rapids it would rise to the
+surface and then quietly float down stream in the sluggish, eddying
+shore currents where the bushes overhung the bank.  Then it would again
+dive and again make the ascent by crawling up the river bottom.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, watch him closely, for if he catches a fish you will see that
+he always seizes it either by the head or tail, rarely by the middle,
+as the fish would then squirm and shake so violently that the otter
+would not like it.  Sometimes, too, an otter will lie in wait on a rock
+at the head of a rapid, and when a fish tries to ascend to the upper
+reach of the river by leaping out of the water and thus avoiding the
+swift current, the otter will leap, too, and seize the fish in mid-air.
+It is a thrilling sight to see him do it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The snow was going so rapidly and the water running so freely that
+Oo-koo-hoo felt sure the bears had now all left their dens, otherwise
+water might be trickling into their winter beds.  So, for the next few
+days, the hunter was busily engaged in setting traps for bears,
+beavers, otters, minks, and muskrats; and thus the spring hunt went
+steadily on while the Goose Moon waned and then disappeared, and in its
+place the Frog Moon shone.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+LITTLE PINE'S LOVE SONG
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+One sunny morning, while I was strolling along the beach, I heard the
+sound of distant drumming, and presently a youthful voice broke into
+song.  It was The Little Pine singing to his sweetheart.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Now it was Maytime in the Northland.  Tender grasses were thrusting
+their tiny blades from under last year's leaves and here and there the
+woodland's pale-green carpet was enriched with masses of varying
+colours where wild flowers were bursting into bloom.  Yet the
+increasing power of the sun had failed to destroy every trace of
+winter&mdash;for occasional patches of snow were to be seen clinging to the
+shady sides of the steepest hills and small ice floes were still
+floating in the lake below.  But as summer comes swiftly in the Great
+Northern Forest, spring loses no time in lingering by the way.  Already
+the restless south wind was singing softly to the "Loneland" of the
+glorious days to come.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The forest and all her creatures, hearing the song of spring time, were
+astir with joyous life.  Among the whispering trees the bees were
+humming, the squirrels chattering, and many kinds of birds were making
+love to one another.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No wonder Shing-wauk&mdash;The Little Pine&mdash;sang his love song, too, for was
+not his heart aflame with the spring time of life?  Perched high among
+the branches of a pine the youth was relieving the monotony of his
+drumming by occasionally chanting.  At the foot of the thickly wooded
+hillside upon which the pine stood the indolent waters of Muskrat Creek
+meandered toward Bear Lake.  On the bank near the river's mouth stood
+the lodges, but neither Oo-koo-hoo nor Amik seemed to be at home; and
+the rest of the family may have been absent, too, for the dogs were
+mounting guard.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Again the boy beat his drum; louder and louder he sang his love song
+until his soft rich voice broke into a wail.  Presently the door-skin
+of Granny's lodge was gently pushed aside, and Neykia stepped
+indolently forth.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Shading her eyes with her hand, the girl gazed at the hillside, but
+failed to discern her lover in the tree top.  She listened awhile and
+then, upon hearing once more the love song above the beating of the
+drum, yielded to the dictates of her heart and began to climb the hill.
+Little Pine saw her coming, ceased his drumming, and slid down to hide
+behind the tree trunk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A faintly marked woodland path led close by, and along it the maiden
+was advancing.  As she came abreast of the tree the youth, in fun, gave
+a shout, and the maid&mdash;evidently pretending bashful alarm&mdash;took to
+flight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though fleet of foot, she suffered him to overtake her soon and catch
+her by the arm, and hold her while she feigned to struggle desperately
+for freedom.  That won, she turned away with a laugh, sat down upon a
+bank of wild flowers, and with shyly averted face, began plucking them.
+Little Pine sat down beside her.  A moment later she sprang up and with
+merry laughter ran into the denser forest, and there, with her lover
+swiftly following her, disappeared from view.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At sunset that evening Oo-koo-hoo and his wife sat smoking beside their
+fire; and when the hermit thrush was singing, the whippoorwill
+whippoorwilling, the owl oo-koo-hooing, the fox barking, the bull frog
+whoo-wonking, the gander honking, the otter whistling, the drake
+quacking, the squirrel chattering, the cock grouse drumming, and the
+wolf howling&mdash;each to his own chosen mate, the hunter turned to me and
+smiled:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Do you hear Shing-wauk singing?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I listened more attentively to the many mingling love songs of the
+forest dwellers, and sure enough, away off along the shore, I could
+hear Little Pine singing to his sweetheart.  It was charming.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE LOVE DANCE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"My son," sighed Oo-koo-hoo, "it reminds me of the days when I, too,
+was a boy and when Ojistoh was a girl, away back among the many springs
+of long ago."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Nar-pim," smiled Granny&mdash;for an Indian woman never calls her
+husband by his name, but always addresses him as Nar-pim, which means
+"my man."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, Nar-pim, don't you remember when I heard that drumming away off
+among the trees, and when I, girl-like, pretended I did not know what
+it meant, but you, saying never a word and taking me by the hand, led
+me to the very spot where that handsome little lover was beating his
+drum and making love to so many sweethearts?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, I remember it well, when I took little Ojistoh, my sweetheart, by
+the hand and we hurried to find the little drummer."  Then, turning to
+me, the hunter continued: "My son, one never forgets the days of his
+youth, and well can I recall picking our way in and out among the trees
+and undergrowth, tiptoeing here and there lest our moccasined feet
+should break a fallen twig and alarm the drummer or the dancers.  For
+it was the love dance we were going to see.  As the drumming sound
+increased in volume, our caution increased, too.  Soon we deemed it
+prudent to go down upon our hands and knees and thus be more surely
+screened by the underbrush as we stealthily approached.  Creeping on
+toward the sound, slowly and with infinite precaution, we discovered
+that we were not the only ones going to the dance: the whirring of
+wings frequently rustled overhead as ruffed grouse skimmed past us in
+rapid flight.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Once, my son, we felt the wind from a hawk's wing swooping low from
+bush to bush, as though endeavouring to arrive unheralded.  Twice we
+caught sight of a fox silently and craftily stealing along.  Once we
+saw a lynx&mdash;a soft gray shadow&mdash;slinking through the undergrowth ahead.
+It seemed as if all the Strong Woods dwellers were going to the love
+dance, too, and, I remember, Ojistoh began to feel afraid.  But,"
+smiled Oo-koo-hoo, "she was devoured with curiosity; and, besides, was
+not her young lover with her?  Why need she fear?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When we came to the foot of a ridge the drumming sounded very near.
+With utmost wariness we crawled from bush to bush, pausing every now
+and then, and crouching low.  Then, judging the way still clear, we
+crawled forward, and finally gained the top of the ridge.  With
+thumping hearts we rested a moment in a crouching posture, for we had
+at last arrived upon the scene.  Slowly and breathlessly raising our
+heads, we peered through the leafy screen and beheld the love dance in
+full swing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"And there, my son, on a clear sandy opening in the wood, twenty or
+thirty partridge hens were dancing in a semicircle, in the centre of
+which, perched upon a rotten log, a beautiful cock partridge drummed.
+He was standing with his small head thrust forward upon a finely arched
+neck which was circled by a handsome outstanding black ruff, fully as
+wide as his body.  His extended wings grazed his perch, while his
+superb tail spread out horizontally.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Chun&mdash;chun&mdash;chun&mdash;chun&mdash;chun-nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,' he hissed slowly at
+first, but with steadily increasing rapidity.  His bill was open; his
+bright eyes were gleaming; his wings were beating at such a rate that
+the forest resounded with the prolonged roll of his drumming.  Again
+and again he shrilled his love call, and again and again he beat his
+wondrous accompaniment.  Every little while the whirring of swiftly
+moving wings was heard overhead as other hens flew down to join in the
+love dance.  To and fro strutted the cock bird in all his pride of
+beauty&mdash;his wings trailing upon the log, his neck arched more haughtily
+than ever, his ruff rising above his head, and his handsome fan-like
+tail extended higher still.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Meanwhile, my son, the hens, too, were strutting up and down, and in
+and out among their rivals; some, with wings brushing upon the ground;
+others, with a single wing spread out, against which they frequently
+kicked the nearest foot as they circled round each other.  A continuous
+hissing was kept up, along with a shaking of heads from side to side, a
+ceremonious bowing, and a striking of bills upon the ground.
+But&mdash;though the cock was doing his best to dazzle them with the display
+of his charms&mdash;the hens appeared unconscious of his presence and
+indifferent to his advances.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There Ojistoh and I were gazing in silent admiration at the scene
+before us, when&mdash;without the slightest warning, and as though dropped
+from the sky&mdash;another cock landed in the midst of the dancers.
+Immediately the cock of the dance rushed at the intruder and fiercely
+attacked him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the newcomer was ready.  My son, you should have seen them.  Bills
+and wings clashed together.  In a moment feathers were flying and blood
+was running.  But the hens never paused in their love dance.  Again and
+again the feathered fighters dashed at each other, only to drop apart.
+Then, facing each other with drooping wings, ruffled plumes, extended
+necks, lowered heads, and gaping bills, they would gasp for breath.  A
+moment later they would spring into the air and strike viciously at
+each other with bill and wing, then separate again.  The sand was soon
+strewn with feathers and sprinkled with blood, yet the belligerents
+kept renewing the deadly conflict.  Unconcernedly, all the while, the
+stupid hens tripped to and fro in the evolutions of their love dance.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Already the intruder's scalp was torn; the left wing of the cock of
+the dance was broken; and both were bleeding copiously.  It was a great
+fight, my son, and the end was near.  At the next rush the intruder
+knocked the cock of the dance down, and leaping upon him, drove his
+bill into his skull, killing him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"After a brief rest to recover breath, the victor jumped over his late
+rival's body, took a short leap into the air, gave a back kick of
+contempt, flew up on the log, and looked round as though seeking for
+female applause.  But the hens, with apparently never a thought of him,
+still kept up their dancing.  Presently he, too, sounded his love call
+and drummed his accompaniment.  Then, strutting up and down, he
+inspected the dancers.  When he had made up his mind as to which was
+the belle of the dance, he made a rush for her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, my son, at that very moment a lynx sprang through the air, seized
+him by the neck, and bounded off with him among the bushes.  In the
+confusion that followed, the hens flew away and I, seizing Ojistoh,
+kissed her.  Startled, she leaped up, and with laughter ran away, but
+in hot pursuit I followed her."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WAYS OF THE FEMALE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+"Ah, my son," commented Granny with a smile and a shake of her head as
+she drew her pipe from her mouth, "Nar-pim has always been like
+that&nbsp;&#8230; but he was worse in the days of his youth&nbsp;&#8230; fancy him
+taking a little girl to see the love dance&nbsp;&#8230; the old rabbit!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The old rabbit&nbsp;&#8230; indeed?" Oo-koo-hoo questioned.  "Why, it was
+just the other way round.  It was you who wanted me to take you there;
+it was your hypocritical pretence of innocence that made me do it; and
+though, as you said, I took your hand, it was you who was always
+leading the way."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then was renewed the ancient and never-settled question as to who was
+at fault, the old Adam or the old Eve; but as Granny usually got the
+better of it by adding the last word, Oo-koo-hoo turned to me in
+disgust and grunted:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Listen to her&nbsp;&#8230; why, my son, it has always been the female that
+did the courting&nbsp;&#8230; all down through the Great, Great Long Ago, it
+has ever been thus&nbsp;&#8230; and so it is to-day.  Look at the cow of the
+moose, the doe of the deer, the she of the lynx, the female of the
+wolf, the she of the bear, the goose, the duck, the hen, and the female
+of the rabbit.  What do they do when they want a mate?&nbsp;&#8230;  They
+bellow and run, they meow and bow, they howl and prance, they twitter
+and dance&nbsp;&#8230; just as women have always done.  And when the male
+comes, what does the female do?  She pretends indifference, she feigns
+innocence, she runs away, and stops to listen, <I>afraid lest she has run
+too far</I>; and then, if he does not follow, she comes deceitfully back
+again and pretends not even to see him.  Remember, my son, that though
+the female always runs away, she never runs so fast that she couldn't
+run faster; and it makes no difference whether the female has wings or
+fins, flippers or feet, it is all the same&nbsp;&#8230; the female always does
+the courting."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No doubt, had they ever met, Oo-koo-hoo and George Bernard Shaw would
+have become fast friends; for George, too, insists on the very same
+thing.  But does not the average man, from his great store of conceit,
+draw the flattering inference that it is he and he alone who does the
+courting, and that his success is entirely due to his wonderful display
+of physical and mental charm; while the average woman looks in her
+mirror and laughs in her sleeve&mdash;less gown.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though for some time silence filled the tepee and the dogs were asleep
+beside the door, the pipes still glowed; and Oo-koo-hoo, stirring the
+fire, mused aloud:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But, perhaps, my son, you wonder why the hen partridges dance that way
+and why the cock drums his accompaniment?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"It does seem strange," I replied.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But not, my son, if you know their history.  It is an old, old story,
+and it began away back in the Great, Great, Long Ago, even before it
+was the custom of our people to marry.  It happened this way: Once
+there was an old chief who used oftentimes to go away alone into the
+woods and mount upon a high rock and sing his hunting songs and beat
+his drum.  Since he was much in favour, many women would come and
+listen to his songs; also, they would dance before him&mdash;to attract his
+attention.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Now it came to pass on a certain day that a young chief of another
+tribe happened by chance upon that way.  Hearing the drumming, he
+resolved to find out what it was about.  Deep into the heart of the
+wood he followed the sound and came upon an open glade wherein were
+many women dancing before a huge boulder.  Wondering, with great
+admiration, the young chief gazed upon their graceful movements and
+comely figures, and determined to rush in and capture the most
+beautiful of them.  Turning thought into act, he bounded in among the
+dancers, and, to his amazement, discovered the old chief, who, at sight
+of him, dropped his drum, grasped his war club, and leaping down from
+his rocky eminence, rushed upon the young interloper in a frenzy of
+jealous fury.  The women made no outcry; for, like the female moose or
+caribou, they love the victor.  So to the accompaniment of the men's
+hard breathing and the clashing of their war clubs, they went
+unconcernedly on with their love dance.  In the end the young chief
+slew the older one, and departed in triumph with the women.  But, my
+son, when the Master of Life learned what had happened, he was
+exceeding wroth; insomuch that he turned the young chief and the women
+into partridges.  That is why the partridges dance the love dance even
+to this day."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+HUNTING WILD FOWL
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Next morning, while Oo-koo-hoo was examining a muskrat lodge from his
+canoe, he heard a sudden "honk, honk," and looking up he espied two
+Canada geese flying low and straight toward us; seizing his gun, he up
+with it and let drive at one of the geese as it was passing beyond him,
+and brought it down.  He concluded that they had just arrived from the
+south and were seeking a place to feed.  Later, we encountered at close
+range several more and the hunter secured another.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As they were the first geese he had killed that season, he did not
+allow the women to touch them, but according to the Indian custom,
+dressed and cooked them himself; also, at supper time, he gave all the
+flesh to the rest of us, and saved for himself nothing but the part
+from which the eggs came.  Further, he cautioned us not to laugh or
+talk while eating the geese, otherwise their spirits would be offended
+and he would have ill-luck for the rest of the season.  And when the
+meal was finished he collected all the bones and tossed them into the
+centre of the fire, so that they would be properly consumed instead of
+allowing the dogs to eat them; and thus he warded off misfortune.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As we sat by the fire that night Oo-koo-hoo busied himself making
+decoys for geese, by chopping blocks of dry pine into rough images of
+their bodies, and fashioning their necks and heads from bent willow
+sticks; as well as roughly staining the completed models to represent
+the plumage.  And while he worked he talked of the coming of the birds
+in spring.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, the first birds to arrive are the eagles; next, the snow-birds
+and the barking crows (ravens); then the big gray (Canada) geese, and
+the larger ducks; then the smaller kinds of geese and the smaller kinds
+of ducks; and then the robins, blackbirds, and gulls.  Then, as likely
+as not, a few days later, what is called a 'goose winter'&mdash;a heavy, wet
+snowstorm followed by colder weather&mdash;may come along and try to drive
+the birds all back again; but before the bad weather completes its
+useless work a timely south wind may arrive, and with the aid of a
+milder spell, will utterly destroy the 'goose winter'.  Then, after
+that, the sky soon becomes mottled with flying birds of many kinds:
+gray geese, laughing geese, waveys, and white geese, as well as great
+flocks of ducks of many kinds; also mud-hens, sawbills, waders,
+plovers, curlew, pelicans, swans, and cranes, both white and gray.
+Then another great flight of little birds as well as loons.  And last
+of all may come the little husky geese that travel farther north to
+breed their young than do those of any other kind."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The next day the hunters built a "goose stand" on the sandy beach of
+Willow Point by making a screen about six feet long by three feet high
+of willow branches; and, as the ground was wet and cold, a brush
+mattress was laid behind the screen upon which the hunters could sit
+while watching for geese.  The site was a good one, as Willow Point
+jutted into the lake near a big marsh on its south side.  Beyond the
+screen they set their decoys, some in the water and others on the sand,
+but all heading up wind.  When they shot their first geese, the hunters
+cut off the wings and necks together with the heads and fastened them
+in a natural way upon the decoys.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Oo-koo-hoo told me that when one wished to secure geese, he should be
+in readiness to take his position behind the stand before the first
+sign of morning sun.  Furthermore, he told me that geese were usually
+looking for open water and sandy beaches from eight to nine o'clock;
+from ten to twelve they preferred the marshes in order to feed upon
+goose grass and goose weed, as well as upon the roots and seeds of
+other aquatic plants.  Then from noon to four o'clock they sought the
+lakes to preen themselves; while from four to six they returned to the
+sandy beaches and then resorted to the marshes in which to spend the
+night.  That was the usual procedure for from ten to fifteen days, then
+away they went to their more northern breeding grounds where they spent
+midsummer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Seeing a hawk soaring overhead, Oo-koo-hoo said it reminded him of a
+hawk that once bothered him by repeatedly swooping down among his
+dead-duck decoys, and each time he had to rush from his blind to drive
+the hawk away or it would have carried away one of his dead ducks; and
+being short of ammunition, he did not care to waste a shot.  But he
+ended the trouble by taking up all his dead ducks save one.  Then he
+removed the pointed iron from his muskrat spear, and ramming the butt
+of the iron into the sand, left it standing up beside the duck as
+though it had been a reed.  The next time the hawk swooped down, he let
+it drive with full force at the dead duck, and thus impale itself on
+the muskrat spear.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But one day, after the geese had passed on their northward journey,
+Oo-koo-hoo began making other decoys of a different nature, and when I
+questioned him, he replied that he was going to kill a few loons with
+his bow and arrow, as Granny wished to use the skins of their necks to
+make a work-bag for the Factor's wife at Fort Consolation.  After
+shaping the decoys, he mixed together gunpowder, charcoal, and grease
+with which to paint the decoys black&mdash;save where he left spots of the
+light-coloured wood to represent the white markings of those beautiful
+birds.  When the decoys were eventually anchored in the bay they bobbed
+about on the rippling water quite true to life and they even took an
+occasional dive, when the anchor thong ran taut.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+OO-KOO-HOO'S COURTING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After supper, when we were talking about old customs, I questioned
+Oo-koo-hoo as to how the Indians married before it was the custom to go
+to the Post to get the clergyman to perform that rite; and in reply he
+said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, Ojistoh and I were married both ways, so I don't think I can
+do better than to tell you how our own marriage took place.  It was
+this way, my son: one night, when old Noo-koom, Ojistoh's grandmother,
+became convinced that we lovers had sat under the blanket long enough,
+she decided that it was time we sat upon the brush together, or were
+married.  Accordingly, she talked the matter over with Ojistoh's
+parents.  They agreed with her, and Ojistoh's father said: 'It is well
+that Oo-koo-hoo and Ojistoh should be married according to the custom
+of our people, but it is also well that we should retain the friendship
+of the priest and the nuns.  On our return to Fort Perseverance,
+therefore, the children must be married in the face of the Church; but
+I charge you all not to let any one at the Post know that Oo-koo-hoo
+and Ojistoh have already been married after the custom of our people.
+It is well that we should live according to the ways of our
+forefathers, and it is also well that we should seem to adopt the ways
+of the white man.  Now call Ojistoh, and let me hear what she has to
+say.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When Ojistoh came in, her father told her that I was a good boy; that
+I would certainly make a successful hunter; and that, if she would sit
+upon the brush with me, they would give her plenty of marrow grease for
+her hair and some porcupine quills for her moccasins.  They might even
+buy her some ribbon, beads, and silk thread for fancy work.
+Furthermore, they said I would be given enough moose skins to make a
+lodge covering.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ojistoh chewed meditatively upon the large piece of spruce gum in her
+mouth, while she listened with averted eyes and drooping head.  But old
+Noo-koom, evidently supposing Ojistoh to be in doubt, interposed: 'You
+must sit upon the brush with him, because I have promised that you
+would.  Did we not eat the fat and the blood, and use the firewood he
+left at our door?'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The remembrance, no doubt, of all that dainty eating decided Ojistoh,
+and she gave her word that she would sit upon the brush with me if they
+would promise to buy her a bottle of perfume when they returned to Fort
+Perseverance.  When Ojistoh left the lodge, her father said to me:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Listen, my boy, Noo-koom tells me that you have been sitting under
+the blanket with my daughter Ojistoh.  She is a good girl and will make
+you happy; for she can make good moccasins.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Yes,' I replied, 'I know the girl and I want her.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'To-morrow, then,' said her father, 'you must sit upon the brush with
+her.  I will tell the women to prepare the feast.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Next morning Ojistoh sat waiting in her lodge for me to come.  Already
+she wore the badge of womanhood, for not having a new dress she had
+simply reversed her old one and buttoned it up in front instead of the
+back.  For it is the custom of Ojibway girls to button their dresses
+behind and for married women to button theirs in front.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, you should have seen me that morning, for I was bedecked in
+all my finery, and upon entering Noo-koom's lodge, I seized Ojistoh by
+the hair of her head, and dragged her out.  Her struggles to escape
+from me were quite edifying in their propriety.  Her shrieks were
+heartrending&mdash;or rather, they would have been had they not alternated
+with delighted giggles.  By that time the wedding march had begun; for
+as we struggling lovers led the way, the children, bubbling with
+laughter, followed; and the old people brought up the rear of the
+joyous procession.  We, the happy couple, tussled with each other until
+we reached a spot in the bush where I had cleared a space and laid a
+carpet of balsam brush beside a fire.  There I deposited her.  With a
+final shriek she accepted the new conditions, and at once set about her
+matrimonial duties, while the others returned to their lodges to put
+the finishing touches to the wedding breakfast.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Oh, yes, my son, those were happy days," continued the hunter.
+"There, beside a great fire in the open, was laid a carpet of brush, in
+the centre of which a blanket was spread, and upon it the feast.  There
+were rabbits, partridges, and fish roasted upon sticks.  In a pot,
+boiled fresh moose and caribou meat; in another, simmered lynx
+entrails, bear fat, and moose steak.  In a third, stewed ducks and
+geese.  In a fourth, bubbled choice pieces of beaver, muskrat, lynx,
+and skunk.  Besides, there were caribou tongues, beaver tails, bear
+meat, and foxes' entrails roasted upon the coals.  Strong tea in
+plenty, fresh birch syrup, forest-made cranberry wine, a large chunk of
+dried Saskatoon berries served with bear's grease, frozen cranberries,
+and a little bannock made of flour, water, and grease, completed the
+fare.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then, too, Ojistoh sat beside me and ate out of my dish.  She even
+used my pipe for an after-dinner smoke.  Then, after an interval of
+rest, dancing began, by the dancers circling the fire to the measured
+beat of a drum.  Round and round we moved in silence.  Then, breaking
+into a chant, we men faced the women, and from time to time solemnly
+revolved.  But the women never turned their backs upon the fire.  It
+was rather slow, monotonous measure, only relieved by the women and
+children throwing feathers at one another.  Between each dance the
+company partook of refreshments, and so the festivity proceeded until
+daylight.  Next morning Ojistoh's father gave us some wholesome advice
+and then we set up housekeeping on our own account, and, as you see,
+have continued it even to this day; haven't we, my little Ojistoh?"
+smiled the old hunter at his wife.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NATURE'S SANCTUARIES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+One Sunday morning, when spring was all a-dance to the wondrous wild
+music of the woods, I sat in the warmth of the sun and thought of my
+Creator.  Later, I learned that Oo-koo-hoo and Amik were also thinking
+of Him; for in the wilderness one often thinks of The Master of Life.
+That morning I thought, too, of the tolling of village church bells and
+of cathedral chimes, and I contrasted those metallic sounds with the
+beautiful singing of the birds of the forest; also I contrasted the
+difference of a Sunday in the city with a Sunday in the wilderness; and
+my soul rested in supreme contentment.  Yet the ignorant city dwellers
+think of the wilderness as "God-forsaken."  Hunt the world over, and
+could one find any more holy places than some of Nature's sanctuaries?
+I have found many, but I shall recall but one, a certain grove on the
+Alaskan border.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was in one of the wildest of all wild regions of the northern world.
+"God-forsaken"&nbsp;&#8230; indeed?  In truth, it seemed to be the very home
+of God.  There, between the bases of two towering perpendicular ranges
+of mountains, mantled by endless snows and capped by eternal ice, lay
+the wildest of all box-cañons: one end of which was blocked by a
+barrier of snow hundreds of feet high and thousands of feet thick&mdash;the
+work of countless avalanches; while the other end was blocked by a
+barrier of eternal ice thousands of feet in width and millions of tons
+in weight&mdash;a living and growing glacier.  And there, away down at the
+very bottom of that wild gorge, beside a roaring, leaping little river
+of seething foam, grew a beautiful grove of trees; and never a time did
+I enter there but what I thought of it as holy ground&mdash;far more holy
+than any cathedral I have ever known&nbsp;&#8230; for there, in that grove,
+one seemed to stand in the presence of God.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There, in that grove, the great reddish-brown boles of Sitka
+spruces&mdash;four and five feet in diameter&mdash;towered up like many huge
+architectural columns as they supported the ruggedly beamed and
+evergreen ceiling that domed far overhead.  High above an altar-like
+mass of rock, completely mantled with gorgeously coloured mosses, an
+opening shone in the gray-green wall, and through it filtered long
+slanting beams of sunlight, as though coming through a leaded,
+sky-blue, stained-glass window of some wonderful cathedral.  While upon
+the grove's mossy floor stood, row upon row, a mass of luxuriant ferns
+that almost covered the velvet carpet, and seemed to form endless seats
+in readiness for the coming of some congregation.  But on only one
+occasion did I ever see a worshipper there.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Weary from the weight of a heavy pack&mdash;seventy-five pounds of
+dynamite&mdash;I had paused to rest a moment in that wonderful place which
+so few human beings had ever discovered; where, too, on passing
+through, it was always my custom to remove my hat&mdash;just as any one
+would do on entering a church.  There that day, as I stood gazing at
+the glorious sunbeams as they filtered through the great chancel
+window, I listened to the enchanting music of the feathered choir high
+overhead, that seemed to be singing to the accompaniment of one of
+Nature's most powerful organs&mdash;the roaring river&mdash;that thundered aloud,
+as, with all its force, it wildly rolled huge boulders down its rocky
+bed.  Then, lowering my eyes, I discovered the one and only worshipper
+I ever saw there.  He was standing near a side aisle in the shadow of
+an alcove, and he, too, was gazing up at those radiant sunbeams and
+listening to the choir; moreover, notwithstanding that he was a big
+brown bear, he appeared too devout even to notice me&mdash;perhaps because
+he, too, felt the holy presence of "The Great Mystery"&nbsp;&#8230; our God.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Yes, my friend, it is my belief that if there is any place on earth
+that is "God-forsaken," it is not to be found in even the wildest part
+of the wildest wilderness, but in that cesspool called a city.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+GOING TO THE POST
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over,
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, poling up the turbulent little streams, and
+following as closely as possible the routes of their fur trails, went
+the round of their trapping paths, removed their snares, sprung their
+deadfalls, and gathering their steel traps loaded them aboard their
+canoes.  That work completed, packing began in readiness for the
+postward journey; there, as usual, they would spend their well-earned
+holidays with pleasure upon their tribal summer camping grounds.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-292"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-292.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-292.jpg" ALT="After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="260">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: After half of May had passed away, and when the spring
+hunt was over, Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, poling up the turbulent little
+streams, and following as closely as possible the routes of their fur
+trails, went the round of their trapping paths, removed their snares,
+sprung their deadfalls, and gathering their steel traps loaded them
+aboard their canoes.  That work completed, packing began in readiness
+for the&nbsp;&#8230; See Chapter VII.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+So, when all was in readiness, the deerskin lodge coverings were taken
+down, rolled up, and stored out of harm's way upon a stage.  Then, with
+hearts light with happiness and canoes heavy with the wealth of the
+forest, we paddled away with pleasant memories of our forest home, and
+looked forward to our arrival at Fort Consolation.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon after entering Bear River the canoes were turned toward the
+western bank and halted at a point near one of their old camping
+grounds.  Then Naudin&mdash;Amik's wife&mdash;left the others, and took her way
+among the trees to an opening in the wood.  There stood two little
+wooden crosses that marked the graves of two of her children&mdash;one a
+still-born girl and the other a boy who had died at the age of three.
+Upon the boy's grave she placed some food and a little bow and some
+arrows, and bowed low over it and wept aloud.  But at the grave of her
+still-born child she forgot her grief and smiled with joy as she placed
+upon the mound a handful of fresh flowers, a few pretty feathers, and
+some handsome furs.  Sitting there in the warm sunshine, she closed her
+eyes&mdash;as she told me afterward&mdash;and fancied she heard the little maid
+dancing among the rustling leaves and singing to her.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Like all Indian women of the Strong Woods, she believed that her
+still-born child would never grow larger or older; that it would never
+leave her; that it would always love her, though she lived to be a
+great-grandmother; that when sorrow and pain bowed her low this little
+maid would laugh and dance and talk and sing to her, and thus change
+her grief into joy.  That is why an Indian mother puts pretty things
+upon the grave of her still-born child, and that is why she never
+mourns over it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As our journey progressed those enemies of comfort and pleasure, the
+black flies, appeared, and at sunrise and sunset caused much annoyance,
+especially among the children.  Then, too, at night if the breeze
+subsided, mosquitoes swarmed from the leeward side of bushes and drove
+slumber away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One afternoon, while resting, we observed signs of beaver and
+Oo-koo-hoo, being reminded of an incident he once witnessed, related it
+to me:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Once, my son, while paddling alone, I rounded the bend of a river, and
+hearing a splash just beyond the turn, silently propelled my canoe
+beneath a screen of overhanging branches.  After waiting and watching
+awhile, I saw an otter fishing in the stream.  A moment later I beheld
+a beaver&mdash;evidently a female&mdash;swimming just beyond the otter, and
+pursued by two other beavers&mdash;evidently males.  The males, perceiving
+the otter swimming in the direction of the female, probably came to the
+conclusion that he was about to pay his court to her, for they suddenly
+swerved from their course and attacked the innocent otter.  He dived to
+escape his assailants, and they dived after him.  When he rose for
+breath, they came up, too, and made after him; so he dived again.
+Evidently, they were trying to wind their quarry, for whenever he came
+up for breath they endeavoured to reach him before he got it.  In a
+short time they had so exhausted him that he refused to dive again
+before he gained his breath.  He made for the shore.  The beavers
+rushed after him, overtook him, and just as he gained the bank, ripped
+his throat open.  Then I shot one of the beavers and tossed it into my
+canoe along with the otter."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The journey to the Post was a delight all the way&mdash;save when the flies
+were busy.  One night those almost invisible little torments, the sand
+flies, caused us&mdash;or rather me&mdash;much misery until Granny built such a
+large fire that it attracted the attention of the little brutes, and
+into it they all dived, or apparently did&mdash;just as she said they
+would&mdash;for in less than half an hour not a single sand fly remained.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On our way to God's Lake we had considerable sport in the way of
+shooting white-water.  One morning we landed at the head of a portage,
+and, as the rapid was not a dangerous one, Oo-koo-hoo and Amik
+determined to run it, but first went ashore to examine the channel.  On
+their return Oo-koo-hoo instructed the others to follow his lead about
+four canoe-lengths apart, so that in case of mishap they could help
+each other.  Down the canoes plunged one after the other.  The children
+wielded their little paddles, screaming with delight as they swiftly
+glided through the foaming spray past shores still lined here and there
+with walls of ice.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the canoes rounded a sharp bend in the rapid Oo-koo-hoo descried a
+black bear walking on the ice that overhung the eastern bank.  The
+animal seemed as much surprised as any of us, and, instead of making
+off, rose upon its haunches and gazed in amazement at the passing
+canoes.  But as we swept by there was no thought of firing guns.  The
+sight of the bear reminded Oo-koo-hoo of an experience some friends of
+his once had with a black bear; and when we reached slack water he told
+it to me.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The friends in question were a mother and her daughter, and late one
+afternoon they were returning from berry picking.  As they rounded a
+bend in the river the daughter in the bow suddenly stopped paddling,
+and&mdash;without turning her face toward her mother in the stern&mdash;excitedly
+whispered: "<I>Muskwa</I>!  <I>Muskwa</I>!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then as the older woman caught sight of a dark object fifty paces away,
+she uttered a few hurried commands.  Both fell to paddling with all
+their might.  With straining backs, stiffened arms, and bending blades,
+they fairly lifted the canoe at every stroke; and the waters gave a
+tearing sound as the slashing blades sent little whirlpools far behind.
+Their hearts were fired with the spirit of the chase, and&mdash;though their
+only weapons were their skinning knives&mdash;they felt no fear.  On they
+raced to head the bear, who was swimming desperately to gain the shore.
+They overhauled him.  He turned at bay.  The daughter soused a blanket
+in the water and threw it over his head.  The mother in the stern
+reached over as the canoe glided by, seized him by an ear as he
+struggled blindly beneath the smothering mantle, and drove her knife
+into his throat.  A broad circle of crimson coloured the water round
+the blanket.  The canoe was quickly brought about; the mother slipped a
+noose over his head, and in triumph they towed the carcass to their
+camp.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On the last morning of our trip there was a flutter of pleasant
+excitement among our little party; and by the time the sun appeared and
+breakfast was over, everybody was laughing and talking, for we had made
+such progress that we expected to reach Fort Consolation by ten o'clock
+that forenoon.  Quickly we loaded the canoes again, and away we
+paddled.  In a few hours the beautiful expanse of God's Lake appeared
+before us.  When we sighted the old fort, a joyous shout rang out;
+paddles were waved overhead, and tears of joy rose to the eyes of the
+women&mdash;and of some of the men.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Going ashore, we quickly made our toilets, donning our very finest in
+order to make a good appearance on our arrival at the Fort&mdash;as is the
+custom of the Northland.  Bear's grease was employed with lavish
+profusion, even Oo-koo-hoo and Amik and the boys using it on their
+hair; while the women and girls greased and wove their tresses into a
+single elongated braid which hung down behind.  The men put on their
+fancy silk-worked moccasins; tied silk handkerchiefs about their
+necks&mdash;the reverse of cow-boy fashion&mdash;and beaded garters around their
+legs; while the women placed many brass rings upon their fingers,
+bright plaid shawls about their shoulders, gay silk handkerchiefs over
+their heads, and beaded leggings upon their legs.  How I regretted I
+had not brought along my top-hat&mdash;that idiotic symbol of
+civilization&mdash;for if I could have worn it on that occasion, the Indians
+at Fort Consolation would have been so filled with merriment that they
+would have in all probability remembered me for many a year as the one
+white man with a sense of humour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+For in truth, it is just as Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman) the
+full-blooded Sioux, says in his book on Indian Boyhood: "There is
+scarcely anything so exasperating to me as the idea that the natives of
+this country have no sense of humour and no faculty for mirth.  This
+phase of their character is well understood by those whose fortune or
+misfortune it has been to live among them day in and day out at their
+homes.  I don't believe I ever heard a real hearty laugh away from the
+Indians' fireside.  I have often spent an entire evening in laughing
+with them until I could laugh no more."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CONTEST OF WITS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+When we arrived at Fort Consolation, Oo-koo-hoo and his party were
+greeted by a swarm of their copper-coloured friends, among whom were
+The Little Pine and his father, mother, and sister.  Making his way
+through the press, The Owl strode toward the trading room to shake
+hands with Factor Mackenzie; but the trader, hearing of Oo-koo-hoo's
+arrival, hastened from his house to welcome the famous hunter; and The
+Owl greeted him with:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"<I>Quay, quay, Hu-ge-mow</I>" (good day, Master).
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On their way to the Indian shop they passed the canoe shed, where
+skilled hands were finishing two handsome six-fathom canoes for the use
+of the Fur Brigade; and they stopped to examine them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The building of a six-fathom or "North" canoe generally takes place
+under a shed erected for the purpose, where there is a clear, level
+space and plenty of working room.  Two principal stakes are driven at a
+distance apart of thirty-six feet, the length of the craft to be.
+These are connected by two rows of smaller stakes diverging and
+converging so as to form the shape of the canoe.  The smaller stakes
+are five feet apart at the centre.  Pieces of birch bark are soaked in
+water for a day and no more, sewn together with wat-tap&mdash;the roots of
+cedar or spruce gathered in spring&mdash;placed between the stakes with the
+outer side down, and then made fast.  The well-soaked ribs are then put
+in place and as soon as they are loaded with stones the bark assumes
+its proper form.  The gunwales, into which the ends of the ribs are
+mortised, are bound into position with <I>wat-tap</I>.  The thwarts are next
+adjusted.  The stones and stakes are then removed; the seams are
+covered with a mixture of one part grease to nine parts spruce gum; the
+craft is tested, and is then held in readiness for its maiden voyage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On entering the Indian shop or trading room, Oo-koo-hoo was ready to
+talk about anything under the sun save business, as he wanted to force
+the Trader to solicit his patronage; but as the Factor was trying to
+make the hunter do the same thing, they parted company a little later
+without having mentioned the word "trade."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No wonder the Indians are glad to return to their tribal summer camping
+grounds; for it is there that they rest and play and spend their summer
+holidays.  It is there, too, that the young people enjoy the most
+favourable opportunity for doing their courting; as every event&mdash;such
+as the departure or the return of the Fur Brigade&mdash;calls for a festival
+of dancing which not infrequently lasts for several days.  Also, in
+many other ways, the boys and girls have chances of becoming
+acquainted.  Since young hunters often claim their sweethearts during
+the winter, many "marriages" take place after the Indian fashion.  On
+their return to the Post, however, the young couples are generally
+married over again, and this time after the white man's custom&mdash;"in the
+face of the Church."  The way the young people "keep company" at the
+summer camping grounds presents no feature of special interest.  It is
+during the winter season in the forest many miles beyond the Post that
+the old customs have full sway.  The re-marrying the young couples "in
+the face of the Church" frequently demands extreme vigilance, for in
+the confusion of the matrimonial busy season when the Indians first
+come in the little papoose is apt to be christened&mdash;unless the
+clergyman is very careful&mdash;before the parents have had time to arrange
+for their church wedding.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile, the women having erected the canvas lodge and put in order
+one of their last-year's birch-bark wigwams, called upon the Factor's
+wife and presented her with a handsome work-bag made of beautifully
+marked skins from the necks of the loons Oo-koo-hoo had shot with his
+bow and arrow for that purpose.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After leaving the Indian shop, the hunter returned to his camp to talk
+matters over with Amik and the women.  He told them that he intended
+selling most of his furs to the Company, but that he thought it wise to
+stay away from the Factor until next day.  But as Granny, being a Roman
+Catholic, wanted to have Father Jois marry Neykia and The Little Pine,
+she suggested that Oo-koo-hoo go and call upon the priest at once.
+Notwithstanding that her mother was a Presbyterian, Neykia had joined
+the Roman Catholic Church and when asked why she had done so, she said
+it was because she thought the candles looked so pretty burning on the
+altar.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Though The Owl was not in the least interested in any one of the white
+man's many religions, nor in the priest, the clergyman, or the minister
+of the three different denominations represented at the Post, he now
+called upon the priest as his wife wished him to.  During the course of
+their conversation the priest said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My son, that was a beautiful silver fox you sold the Company three
+years ago.  I, myself, would have paid you well for it."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Would you look as well upon a black fox?" asked Oo-koo-hoo in
+surprise, as it is an unwritten law of the country that missionaries
+are not to carry on trade with the Indians.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes.  Have you one?" questioned the priest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have never seen a finer," replied the hunter.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But do either of the traders know you have it?" asked the priest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No," answered Oo-koo-hoo, with a shake of his head.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Later, when the priest saw the skin, he was delighted with it, and a
+bargain was soon made.  Oo-koo-hoo was to get one hundred "skins" for
+the black fox, and he was told to call next day.  But after returning
+to camp, he grew impatient and went back to the priest to demand his
+pay.  The priest said he would give him a tent and a rifle worth more
+than fifty skins and that he would say ten masses for him and his
+family, which would be a very generous equivalent for the other fifty
+skins.  But Oo-koo-hoo, suddenly flaring up, began to storm at the
+priest, and demanded the black fox back.  But the priest sternly
+motioned for silence with upraised hand, and whispered: "This is God's
+House.  There must be no noise or anger here."  And without another
+word he withdrew to get the rifle and the tent.  When he returned with
+an old tent and a second-hand rifle, Oo-koo-hoo would not deign to
+touch them.  Without more ado, he turned on his heel and walked away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On reaching camp, the old hunter learned from the children that the
+women had gone to pay a visit to the nuns; so he followed them, and,
+without even speaking to the Sisters, ordered the women to come home.
+On the way he eased his wrath by telling them that never again would he
+buy prayers or masses from the priest with black fox skins, and that if
+they ever wanted masses, he would pay for them with nothing but the
+skins of skunks.  He did not see why he had to pay for masses, anyway,
+when Free Trader Spear had made them a standing offer of all the
+prayers they wanted free of charge, provided that he, Oo-koo-hoo, would
+trade with him.  He added that he had half a mind to accept Spear's
+offer, just to spite the priest.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+So after meditating for a while upon his steadfast belief that any fool
+of an Indian is better than a white man, and that the only good white
+men are the dead ones, he got into his canoe and paddled across the
+lake to interview the opposition trader.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+When he told Spear what a splendid black fox he had, and how the priest
+had already offered him a hundred skins for it, the Free Trader said:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I'll give you a hundred and ten for it," and the old reprobate added,
+"and I'll throw into the bargain half-a-dozen prayers for the women."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The offer was at once accepted.  On handing over the goods to
+Oo-koo-hoo, the trader asked where the black fox was, and was told that
+it was in keeping of the priest.  So without delay Mr. Spear paddled
+back with The Owl to get the skin.  When the priest learned how the
+hunter had stolen a march on him, he was righteously indignant; but he
+dared not complain, since he was not supposed to deal in furs.  There
+was nothing to do but hand over the magnificent skin to the Free Trader
+although he knew right well that in London or Paris it would bring
+twenty times the price paid for it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next day old Granny came crying to Oo-koo-hoo and complaining that the
+priest had refused to officiate at the wedding on the day agreed upon.
+The nuns had told her that his refusal was due to his determination to
+discipline The Owl for his rudeness and irreverence.  That seemed to
+worry the hunter considerably, for, though he cared nothing for the
+priest's benediction, he did want the wedding to come off upon the day
+appointed.  It touched his pride to be balked in his plans.  He had
+already invited all the Indians at the Post to the ceremony.  Great
+preparations were being made.  If the wedding were put off even a
+single day, everybody would be curious to know why; and sooner or later
+it would be known that he had had to bow to the will of the priest.
+The thought rankled.  So he went to the Factor and told him the whole
+affair.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Ma brither," said the Factor, "we are auld freens; it is weel that we
+shud staun' thegither.  If ye will trade a' yir furs wi' me this day,
+I'll get the meenister o' the Presybyterian Kirk tae mairry yir
+gran'dochter.  He'll be gled eneuch tae gi'e Father Jois a dour by
+mairryin' twa o' his fowk.  Sell me yir furs, an' I'll warrant ye ye'll
+hae the laff on Father Jois."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MISSIONARIES AND INDIANS
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+That settled it.  Factor Mackenzie got all the furs Oo-koo-hoo and his
+family possessed.  The Factor and the hunter were now the best of
+friends, and they even went so far as to exchange presents&mdash;and that's
+going some&nbsp;&#8230; for a Scotsman.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Should the foregoing amuse the Protestant reader, the following may be
+of interest to the Roman Catholic.  One winter, while halting at a
+certain Hudson's Bay post, I met a Protestant clergyman, who having
+spent a number of years as a missionary among the natives on the coast
+of Hudson Bay excited my interest as to his work among the Indians.
+That night, after supper, I questioned him as to his spiritual work
+among the "barbarians" of the forest, and in the presence of the
+Hudson's Bay trader, he turned to me and, with the air of being
+intensely bored by the subject, he replied: "Mr. Heming&nbsp;&#8230; the only
+interest I ever take in the Indian&nbsp;&#8230; is when I bury him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But while I have cited two types of clergymen I have known&mdash;the name of
+the priest being, of course, fictitious&mdash;merely to point out the kind
+of missionaries that should never be sent among the Indians, I not only
+wish to state that they are very much the exception to the rule, but I
+also want to make known my unbounded respect and admiration for that
+host of splendid men&mdash;and women&mdash;of all denominations, who have devoted
+their lives to the spiritual welfare of the people of the wilderness,
+and some of whom have already left behind them hallowed names of
+imperishable memory.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the lot of the missionary among the Indians is not altogether a
+joyous one.  In his distant and isolated outpost there are privations
+to endure and hardships to suffer.  Frequently, too, it happens that he
+is placed in a position exceedingly embarrassing to a man of gentle
+breeding and kindly spirit.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A well-known Canadian priest was being entertained by an Indian family.
+The hospitable old grandmother undertook to prepare a meal for him.
+Determined to set before the "black-robe" a really dainty
+dish&mdash;something after the fashion of a Hamburg steak&mdash;and possessing no
+machine for mincing the meat, she simply chewed it up nice and fine in
+her own mouth.  After cooking it to a turn, she set it before her
+honoured guest, and was at a loss to understand why the good man had so
+suddenly lost his appetite.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But there is often a brighter and also a graver side to the
+missionary's life among the red men.  Incidents occur which appeal
+irresistibly to his sense of humour.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One Sunday afternoon a certain noted bishop of the English Church in
+Canada, who had spent most of his life as a missionary in the far
+Northwest, was discoursing at considerable length to a band of Dog-rib
+Indians camped at the mouth of Hay River on Great Slave Lake.  His
+Lordship dwelt earnestly upon the virtue of brotherly love, and
+enlarged upon the beauty of the Divine saying&mdash;"It is more blessed to
+give than to receive."  After the service an old Indian walked up to
+the preacher, piously repeated the sacred text, and intimated that he
+was prepared to become the humble instrument for bringing upon his
+reverence the promised blessing.  To that end he was willing to receive
+his lordship's hat.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The good bishop was taken aback.  Realizing, however, that there was
+nothing else for him to do, he took off his hat and bestowed it with
+commendable cheerfulness upon his new disciple.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Another red man, jealous of his brother who was now parading in all the
+splendour of the bishop's hat, claimed upon the same ground the
+prelate's gaiters, and received them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The two Indians, envious each of the other's acquisition, began to
+discuss with growing anger the comparative value of the articles.
+Unable to arrive at an agreement, they resolved to put up the hat and
+gaiters as a stake and gamble for them.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The impressive head-gear and antique gaiters of an Anglican bishop
+never appeared to greater advantage than they did upon the old Indian,
+the winner of the game, when he proudly strutted before his dusky,
+admiring brethren, displaying on head and bare legs the Episcopal
+insignia, and having for his only other garment an old shirt whose
+dingy tail fluttered coyly in the summer breeze.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+NEYKIA'S WEDDING
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+At ten o'clock, on the morning of Neykia's wedding, a motley mass of
+natives clothed in many colours crowded about the little church, which,
+for lack of space, they could not enter.  Presently the crowd surged
+back from the door and formed on either side of the path, leaving an
+opening down the centre.  A tall half-breed with a shock of wavy black
+hair stepped from the doorway, raised his violin, and adjusting it into
+position, struck up a lively tune to the accompaniment of the wailing
+of a broken concertina played by another half-breed who preceded the
+newly married couple.  Neykia wore a silk handkerchief over her head, a
+light-coloured cotton waist open at the throat, a silk sash over one
+shoulder, and a short skirt revealing beaded leggings and moccasins.
+Behind the bride and groom walked Oo-koo-hoo and the fathers of the
+bridal couple, then the mothers and the rest of the relations, while
+the clergy and the other guests brought up the rear.  As the little
+procession moved along, the men, lined up on either side of the path,
+crossed their guns over the heads of the wedding party, and discharged
+a <I>feu de joie</I>.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+On reaching a certain log-house the procession broke up.  The older
+people went in to partake of the wedding breakfast, while the bride and
+groom went over to one of the warehouses and amused themselves dancing
+with their young friends until they were summoned to the second table
+of the marriage feast.  Everybody at the Post had contributed something
+toward either the feast or the dance.  Out of respect for Oo-koo-hoo
+the Factor had furnished a liberal stock of groceries and had, in
+addition, granted the free use of the buildings.  The clerk had sent in
+a quantity of candies and tobacco.  The priest had given potatoes; the
+clergyman had supplied a copy of the Bible in syllabic characters; and
+the minister had given the silver-plated wedding ring.  The nuns had
+presented a supply of skim-milk and butter.  Mr. Spear provided jam,
+pickles, and coal-oil for the lamps.  The Mounted Police contributed
+two dollars to pay for the "band"&mdash;the fiddle and the concertina&mdash;and
+ammunition enough for the <I>feu de joie</I>.  The friends and relations had
+given a plentiful store of fresh, dried, and pounded fish; and had also
+furnished a lavish supply of moose, caribou, and bear meat; as well as
+dainty bits of beaver, lynx, muskrat, and skunk.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The bridal party having dined, they and their elders opened the ball
+officially.  The first dance was&mdash;as it always is&mdash;the Double Jig, then
+followed in regular order the same dances as those of the New Year's
+feast.  After a frolic of several hours' duration some of the dancers
+grew weary and returned to the banquet room for refreshments.  And thus
+for three days and three nights the festivities continued.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE WEDDING SPEECHES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+During a lull in the dancing on the afternoon of the wedding day Little
+Pine's sister went up to him and said: "Brother, may I kiss you?  Are
+you ashamed?"  He answered: "No."  She kissed him, took his wife's
+hand, placed it in his with her own over both, and addressed the young
+wife:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As you have taken my place, do to him as I have done; listen to him,
+work for him, and, if need be, die for him."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then she lowered her head and began to cry.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Ne-Geek, The Otter, Neykia's oldest brother, then went up to Little
+Pine and asked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Are you man enough to work for her, to feed her, and to protect her?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes," replied the new-made husband.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Otter put the husband's hand on his sister's hand, and&mdash;looking him
+straight in the eyes&nbsp;&#8230; shook his clenched fist at him and said in a
+threatening tone&nbsp;&#8230;  "Beware!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In the midst of one of the dances Oo-koo-hoo walked up to the "band"
+and knocked up the fiddle to command silence.  Pulling his <I>capote</I>
+tightly about him, he assumed a dignified attitude, slowly looked round
+the room to see that he had the attention of all present, and began to
+address the assemblage:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The step which Shing-wauk has taken is a very serious one.  Now he
+will have to think for two.  Now he must supply the wants of two.  Now
+he will realize what trouble is.  But the One who made us&nbsp;&#8230;  The
+Great Mystery&nbsp;&#8230;  The Master of Life&nbsp;&#8230; made us right.  The man
+has his work to do, and the woman has hers.  The man must hunt and kill
+animals, and the woman must skin and dress them.  The man must always
+stand by her and she by him.  The two together are strong&nbsp;&#8230; and
+there is no need of outside assistance.  Remember&nbsp;&#8230; my
+grandchildren&nbsp;&#8230; you are starting out together that way&nbsp;&#8230;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+To illustrate his meaning, he held up two fingers parallel, and added:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"If your tracks fork&nbsp;&#8230; they will soon be as far apart as sunrise is
+from sunset&nbsp;&#8230; and you will find many ready to come in between.
+Carry on in the way you have begun&nbsp;&#8230; for that is the way you should
+end.  And remember&nbsp;&#8230; if your tracks once fork&nbsp;&#8230; they will never
+come together again&nbsp;&#8230; my grandchildren&nbsp;&#8230;  I have spoken."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After Little Pine's father, as well as several of the guests, had made
+their remarks, Naudin, Neykia's mother, rose to address her daughter.
+Overcome with nervousness, she pulled her shawl so far over her face as
+to leave only a tiny peep-hole through which to look.  Hesitatingly she
+began:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My daughter, you never knew what trouble is, now you will know.  You
+never knew what hard work is, now you will soon learn.  Never let your
+husband want for anything.  Never allow another woman to do anything
+for him; if you do&nbsp;&#8230; you are lost.  When you have children, my
+daughter, and they grow up, your sons will always be sons to you, even
+though they be gray-headed.  But with your daughters it will not be so;
+when they marry, they will be lost to you.  Once married, they are gone
+for ever."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She stepped up to her daughter, kissed her, and sank to the floor,
+weeping copiously.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then Amik rose to speak.  He beckoned to his daughter.  She advanced
+and knelt down, holding the fringe of his legging while he addressed
+her:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Neykia, my daughter, you have taken this man.  Be good to him, work
+for him, live for him, and if need be, die for him.  Kiss me, Neykia,
+my daughter; kiss me for the last time."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+She kissed him, and he added:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You have kissed me for the last time: henceforth never kiss any man
+but your husband."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Raising his hand with untutored dignity, he pronounced the words:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Remember&nbsp;&#8230;  I have spoken."
+</P>
+
+<BR><BR><BR>
+
+<A NAME="chap08"></A>
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+VIII
+</H3>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BUSINESS AND ROMANCE
+</H3>
+
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+FAREWELL ATHABASCA
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Though Wawe Pesim (The Egg Moon), or June, had already brought summer
+to the Great Northern Forest, the beautiful Athabasca still waited in
+vain.  Son-in-law had not yet appeared.  After all&mdash;was he but a fond
+parents' dream?  I wondered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Soon the picturesque and romantic Fur Brigade would be sweeping
+southward on its voyage from the last entrenchments of the Red Gods to
+the newest outposts of civilization&mdash;a civilization that has debauched,
+infected, plundered, and murdered the red man ever since its first
+onset upon the eastern shores of North America.  If you don't believe
+this, read history, especially the history of the American fur trade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Meanwhile, canoes laden with furs and in charge of Hudson's Bay traders
+or clerks from outlying "Flying Posts" had arrived; and among the
+voyageurs was that amusing character, Old Billy Brass.  A little later,
+too, Chief Factor Thompson arrived from the North.  Now in the fur loft
+many hands were busily engaged in sorting, folding, and packing in
+collapsible moulds&mdash;that determined the size and shape of the fur
+packs&mdash;a great variety of skins.  Also they were energetically
+weighing, cording, and covering the fur packs with burlap&mdash;leaving two
+ears of that material at each end to facilitate handling them, as each
+pack weighed eighty pounds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A fur pack of one hundred pounds&mdash;for the weight varies according to
+the difficulty of transportation in certain regions&mdash;contains on an
+average fourteen bear, sixty otter, seventy beaver, one hundred and ten
+fox skins, or six hundred muskrat skins.  A pack of assorted furs
+contains about eighty skins and the most valuable ones are placed in
+the centre.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+During the next few days the great "North" or six-fathom canoes&mdash;made
+of birch bark and capable of carrying from three to four tons of
+freight in addition to their crews of from eight to twelve men&mdash;were
+brought out of the canoe house, and together with the two new ones, had
+their bows and sterns painted white in readiness for their finishing
+touch of decoration in the way of some symbol of the fur trade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As the principal Indian canoemen, who were to join the Fur Brigade,
+were already familiar with my ability as an artist, they waited upon
+the Factor and requested him to solicit my help in the final decorating
+of those beautiful canoes.  So it came to pass that on the bow of one a
+leaping otter appeared and on the bows of others, a rearing bear, a
+flying goose, a rampant caribou, a galloping fox, a leaping lynx, a
+rampant moose, and on still another the coat-of-arms of the Hudson's
+Bay Company.  Each in turn had its admirers, but Oo-koo-hoo, who was to
+have charge of all the voyageurs, sidled up to Factor Mackenzie and
+whispered that if Hu-ge-mow&mdash;Master&mdash;would let him take his choice of
+the canoes, he would not only give the Factor a dollar in return for
+the privilege, but he would promise to keep that particular canoe at
+the very head of the whole brigade, and never once allow another canoe
+to pass it during the voyage.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The Factor was not only interested in the Indian's appreciation of art,
+as well as amused over the idea that he would accept a bribe of a
+dollar, but he was curious to know which canoe the Indian most
+favoured.  It was the one that displayed the Great Company's
+coat-of-arms; so Oo-koo-hoo, the famous white-water-man, not only won
+his choice and retained his dollar, but furthermore, he and his crew
+actually did keep the bow of that canoe ahead of all others&mdash;no matter
+where or when the other crews contested for the honour of leading the
+Fur Brigade.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The next morning, at sunrise, the Fur Brigade was to take its
+departure.  Now it was time I visited Spearhead, to thank my friends,
+the Free Trader and his family, for all their kindness to me, and to
+bid them farewell; so I borrowed a small canoe and paddled across the
+lake.  When I arrived they invited me to dine with them.  At the table
+that day there was less talking&mdash;everyone seemed to be in a thoughtful
+mood.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The windows and doors were open and the baggy mosquito netting sagged
+away from the hot sun as the cool breeze whispered through its
+close-knit mesh.  Outside, I could see the heifer and her mother lying
+in the shade of a tree on the far side of the stump-lot, and near the
+doorway the ducks and geese were sauntering about the grass and every
+now and then making sudden little rushes&mdash;as though they were trying to
+catch something.  There, too, in the pathway, the chickens were
+scratching about and ruffling their feathers in little dust holes&mdash;as
+though they were trying to get rid of something.  An unexpected grunt
+at the doorway attracted my attention and I saw a pig leering at me
+from the corners of its half-closed eyes&mdash;the very same pig the Free
+Trader and his wife had chosen to add to their daughter's wedding
+dowry&mdash;then it gave a familiar little nod, as though it recognized me;
+and I fancied, too, that its ugly chops broke into an insolent smile.
+What was it thinking about?&#8230;  Was it Son-in-law?  I wondered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+I glanced at Athabasca.  How beautiful she looked!  The reflected
+sunlight in the room cast a delightful sheen over her lustrous brown
+hair, and seemed to enhance the beauty of her charmingly sun-browned
+skin, that added so much to the whiteness of her even teeth, and to the
+brilliancy of her soft brown eyes.  In a dreamy way she was looking far
+out through the window and away off toward the distant hills.  She,
+too, set me wondering; was she thinking of Son-in-law?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+At that moment, however, the pig gave another impatient grunt which
+startled Athabasca and caused her to look directly at me.  I blushed
+scarlet, then; so did she&mdash;but, of course, only out of sympathy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, we'll send her to that finishing school in Toronto," her mother
+mused, while Free Trader Spear scratched his head once more, and three
+house flies lazily sat on the sugar bowl and hummed a vulgar tune.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+After dinner Mr. Spear invited me into the trading room to see some of
+the furs he had secured.  Among them were four silver fox skins as well
+as the black one he had bought from Oo-koo-hoo.  They were indeed fine
+skins.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was now time for me to take my departure, so I returned to the
+living room, but found no one there.  Presently, however, Mrs. Spear
+entered, and though she sat down opposite me, she never once looked my
+way.  She seemed agitated about something.  Clasping her fingers
+together, she twirled her thumbs about one another, then she twirled
+them back the other way; later she took to tapping her moccasined toe
+upon the bare floor, I wondered what was coming.  I couldn't make it
+out.  For all the while she was looking at a certain crack in the
+floor.  Once more she renewed the twirling action of her thumbs, and
+even increased the action of her toe upon the floor.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+What did it all mean?  Had I done anything to displease her?  No; I
+could think of nothing of the sort, so I felt a little easier.
+Suddenly, however, she glanced up and, looking straight at me, began:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Mr. Heming&nbsp;&#8230; we have only one child&nbsp;&#8230; and we love her
+dearly&nbsp;&#8230;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the pause that followed was so long drawn out that I began to lose
+interest, especially as the flies were once more humming the same old
+tune.  A little later, however, I was almost startled when Mrs. Spear
+exclaimed:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But I'll lend you a photograph of Athabasca for six weeks!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thereupon Mrs. Spear left her chair and going upstairs presently
+returned with a photograph wrapped in a silk handkerchief; and as at
+that very moment the Free Trader and his daughter entered the room, I,
+without comment, slipped the photograph into my inside pocket, and
+wished them all good-bye; though they insisted upon walking down to the
+landing to wave me farewell on my way to Fort Consolation.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+MUSTERING THE FUR BRIGADE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Next morning, soon after dawn, the church bells were ringing and
+everyone was up and astir; and presently all were on their way to one
+or another of the little log chapels on the hill; where, a little
+later, they saw the stalwart men of the Fur Brigade kneeling before the
+altar as they partook of the holy sacrament before starting upon their
+voyage to the frontier of civilization.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Strange, isn't it, that the writers of northern novels never depict a
+scene like that?  Probably because they have never been inside a
+northern church.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Next, breakfasts were hurriedly eaten, then the voyageurs assembled
+upon the beach placed those big, beautifully formed, six-fathom canoes
+upon the water, and paddled them to the landing.  Then Chief Factor
+Thompson and Factor Mackenzie joined the throng; and that veteran
+voyageur, Oo-koo-hoo, who was to command the Fur Brigade, touched his
+hat and conversed with the officers.  A few moments later the old guide
+waved his swarthy men into line.  From them he chose the bowmen,
+calling each by name, and motioning them to rank beside him; then, in
+turn, each bowman selected a man for his crew; until, for each of the
+eight canoes, eight men were chosen.  Then work began.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Some went off with tump-line in hand to the warehouse, ascended the
+massive stairs, and entered the fur loft.  Tiers of empty shelves
+circled the room, where the furs were stored during the winter; but
+upon the floor were stacked packs of valuable pelts&mdash;the harvest of the
+fur trade.  The old-fashioned scales, the collapsible mould, and the
+giant fur press told of the work that had been done.  Every pack
+weighed eighty pounds.  Loading up, they rapidly carried the fur to the
+landing.  In the storeroom the voyageurs gathered up the "tripping" kit
+of paddles, tents, axes, tarpaulins, sponges; and a box for each crew
+containing frying-pans, tea pails, tin plates, and tea-dishes.  In the
+trading room the crews were supplied with provisions of flour, pork,
+and tea, at the rate of three pounds a day for each man.  They were
+also given tobacco.  Most of the voyageurs received "advances" from the
+clerk in the way of clothing, knives, pipes, and things deemed
+essential for the voyage.  Birch bark, spruce roots, and gum were
+supplied for repairing the canoes.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+All was now in readiness.  The loading of freight began, and when each
+canoe had received its allotted cargo the voyageurs indulged in much
+handshaking with their friends, a little quiet talking and affectionate
+kissing with their families and sweethearts.  Then, paddle in hand,
+they boarded their canoes and took their places.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In manning a six-fathom canoe the bowman is always the most important;
+the steersman comes next in rank, while the others are called "midmen."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+DEPARTURE OF THE FUR BRIGADE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Factor Mackenzie and his senior officer, sitting in the guide's or
+chief voyageur's canoe, which, of course, was Oo-koo-hoo's, gave the
+word; and all together the paddle blades dipped, the water swirled, and
+on the gunwales the paddle handles thudded as the canoes heaved away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+The going and coming of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the
+year to those nomadic people who stood watching and waving to the
+fast-vanishing flotilla.  Were they not bidding farewell to fathers,
+husbands, brothers, sons, or lovers, chosen as the best men from their
+village?  Had they not lent a hand in the winning of the treasure that
+was floating away?  If only the pelts in those packs could speak, what
+tales they would unfold!
+</P>
+
+<P>
+As I looked back the animated picture of the little settlement wherein
+we figured but a moment before gradually faded into distance.  The
+wild-looking assembly was blotted from the shore.  But still above the
+rapidly dwindling buildings waved the flag of the oldest chartered
+trading association in the world&mdash;the Hudson's Bay Company.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Between eleven and twelve o'clock the brigade went ashore for a
+"snack."  The canoes were snubbed to overhanging trees, and upon a
+rocky flat the fires burned.  Hurriedly drinking the hot tea, the men
+seized pieces of frying pork and, placing them upon their broken
+bannock, ravenously devoured both as they returned to the canoes.  No
+time was lost.  Away we went again.  Then the brigade would paddle
+incessantly for about two hours; then they would "spell", and paddles
+were laid aside "one smoke."  As the way slackened the steersmen
+bunched the canoes.  The soft, rich voices of the crews blended as they
+quietly chatted and joked and laughed together.
+</P>
+
+<A NAME="img-308"></A>
+<CENTER>
+<A HREF="images/img-308.jpg">
+<IMG SRC="images/img-308.jpg" ALT="The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the year" BORDER="2" WIDTH="407" HEIGHT="260">
+</A>
+<H4>
+[Illustration: The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event
+of the year.  In manning six-fathom canoes the bowman are always the
+most important; the steersman coming next in rank, while the others are
+called "midmen."  The brigade would paddle incessantly for about two
+hours; then they would "spell", and paddles were laid aside "one
+smoke."  The soft, rich voices of the crews blended as they quietly
+chatted and joked and&nbsp;&#8230;  See Chapter VIII.]
+</H4>
+</CENTER>
+
+<P>
+Later, a stern wind came along.  Nearing an island, some of the men
+went ashore and cut a mast and sprit-sail boom for each canoe.  They
+lashed the masts to the thwarts with tump-lines, and rigged the
+tarpaulins, used to cover the packs, into sails.  Again the paddles
+were shipped, save those of the steersmen; and the crews lounged about,
+either smoking or drowsing.  The men were weary.  Last night they had
+danced both hard and long, with dusky maids&mdash;as all true voyageurs do
+on the eve of their departure.  To voyageurs stern winds are blessings.
+Mile after mile the wild flotilla swept along.  Sunshine danced upon
+the rippling waves that gurgled and lapped as the bows overreached
+them.  Rugged islands of moss-covered rock and evergreen trees rose on
+every side.  The wind favoured us for about five miles, then shifted.
+Reluctantly the sails were let down, and masts and booms tossed
+overboard.  At four o'clock the brigade landed on a pretty island, and
+a hurried afternoon tea was taken; after which we again paddled on, and
+at sundown halted to pitch camp for the night.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+CAMP OF THE FUR BRIGADE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+The canoes&mdash;held off shore so as not to damage them by touching the
+beach&mdash;were unloaded by men wading in the water.  The fur packs were
+neatly piled and covered with tarpaulins.  Then the canoes were lifted
+off the water, and carried ashore, and turned upside-down for the
+night.  Tents were erected and campfires lit.  Upon a thick carpet of
+evergreen brush the blankets were spread in the tents.  The tired men
+sat in the smoke at the fires and ate their suppers round which black
+flies and mosquitoes hovered.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Canadian voyageurs, being well used to both fasting and feasting,
+display great appetites when savoury food is plentiful, and though I
+have seen much feasting and heard astonishing tales of great eating, I
+feel I cannot do better than quote the following, as told by Charles
+Mair, one of the co-authors of that reliable book "Through the
+Mackenzie Basin":
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I have already hinted at those masterpieces of voracity for which the
+region is renowned; yet the undoubted facts related around our
+campfires, and otherwise, a few of which follow, almost beggar belief.
+Mr. Young, of our party, an old Hudson's Bay officer, knew of sixteen
+trackers who, in a few days, consumed eight bears, two moose, two bags
+of pemmican, two sacks of flour, and three sacks of potatoes.  Bishop
+Grouard vouched for four men eating a reindeer at a sitting.  Our
+friend, Mr. d'Eschambault, once gave Oskinnegu,&mdash;'The Young Man'&mdash;six
+pounds of pemmican.  He ate it all at a meal, washing it down with a
+gallon of tea, and then complained that he had not had enough.  Sir
+George Simpson states that at Athabasca Lake, in 1820, he was one of a
+party of twelve who ate twenty-two geese and three ducks at a single
+meal.  But, as he says, they had been three whole days without food.
+The Saskatchewan folk, however, known of old as the Gens de
+Blaireaux&mdash;'The People of the Badger Holes'&mdash;were not behind their
+congeners.  That man of weight and might, our old friend Chief Factor
+Belanger, once served out to thirteen men a sack of pemmican weighing
+ninety pounds.  It was enough for three days; but there and then they
+sat down and consumed it all at a single meal, not, it must be added,
+without some subsequent and just pangs of indigestion.  Mr. B., having
+occasion to pass the place of eating, and finding the sack of pemmican,
+as he supposed, in his path, gave it a kick; but, to his amazement, it
+bounded aloft several feet, and then lit.  It was empty!  When it is
+remembered that in the old buffalo days the daily ration per head at
+the Company's prairie posts was eight pounds of fresh meat, which was
+all eaten, its equivalent being two pounds of pemmican, the enormity of
+this Gargantuan feast may be imagined.  But we ourselves were not bad
+hands at the trencher.  In fact, we were always hungry.  So I do not
+reproduce the foregoing facts as a reproach, but rather as a meagre
+tribute to the prowess of the great of old&mdash;the men of unbounded
+stomach!"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+And yet, strange as it may seem, fat men are seldom seen in the
+northern wilderness.  That is something movie directors should remember.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Pemmican, though little used nowadays, was formerly the mainstay of the
+voyageurs.  It was made of the flesh of buffalo, musk-ox, moose,
+caribou, wapiti, beaver, rabbit, or ptarmigan; and for ordinary use was
+composed of 66 per cent. of dried meat pounded fine to 34 per cent. of
+hard fat boiled and strained.  A finer quality of pemmican for officers
+or travellers was composed of 60 per cent. of dried meat pounded extra
+fine and sifted; 33 per cent. of grease taken from marrow bones boiled
+and strained; 5 per cent. of dried Saskatoon berries; 2 per cent. of
+dried choke cherries, and sugar according to taste.  The pounded meat
+was placed in a large wooden trough and, being spread out, hot grease
+was poured over it and then stirred until thoroughly mixed with the
+meat.  Then, after first letting it cool somewhat, the whole was packed
+into leather bags, and, with the aid of wooden mallets, driven down
+into a solid mass, when the bags were sewn up and flattened out and
+left to cool; during the cooling precaution was taken to turn the bags
+every five minutes to prevent the grease settling too much to one side.
+Pemmican was packed 50, 80, or 100 lb. in a bag&mdash;according to the
+difficulty of transporting it through the country in which it was to be
+used.  The best pemmican was made from buffalo meat, and 2 lb. of
+buffalo pemmican was considered equal to 2 1/2 lb. of moose or 3 lb. of
+caribou pemmican.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Later, a cool sunset breeze from over the water blew the little
+tormentors away, and then it was that those swarthy men enjoyed their
+rest.  After supper some made bannock batter in the mouths of
+flour-sacks, adding water, salt, and baking powder.  This they worked
+into balls and spread out in sizzling pans arranged obliquely before
+the fire with a bed of coals at the back of each.  It was an enlivening
+scene.  Great roaring fires sent glowing sparks high into the still
+night air, lighting up the trees with their intense glare, and casting
+weird shadows upon the surrounding tents and bushes.  Picturesque,
+wild-looking men laughed, talked, and gesticulated at one another.  A
+few with <I>capotes</I> off were sitting close to the fires, and flipping
+into the air the browning flap-jacks that were to be eaten the
+following day.  Others, with hoods over their heads, lolled back from
+the fire smoking their pipes&mdash;and by the way, novelists and movie
+directors and actors should know that the natives of the northern
+wilderness, both white and red, do not smoke cigarettes; they smoke
+pipes and nothing else.  Some held their moccasins before the fire to
+dry, or arranged their blankets for turning in.  Others slipped away
+under cover of darkness to rub pork rinds on the bottom of their
+canoes, for there was much rivalry as to the speed of the crews.  Still
+more beautiful grows the scene, when the June moon rises above the
+trees and tips with flickering light the running waves.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Sauntering from one crew's fire to another, I listened for a while to
+the talking and laughing of the voyageurs, but hearing no thrilling
+tales or even a humorous story by that noted romancer Old Billy Brass,
+I went over and sat down at the officers' fire, where Chief Factor
+Thompson was discussing old days and ways with his brother trader.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE LONGEST BRIGADE ROUTES
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+After a little while I asked:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What was the longest route of the old-time canoe and boat brigades?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There were several very long ones," replied Mr. Thompson, "for
+instance, the one from Montreal to Vancouver, a distance of about three
+thousand miles; also the one from York Factory on Hudson Bay to the
+Queen Charlotte Islands, and another from York Factory to the Mackenzie
+River posts.  Some of the portages on the main highway of canoe travel
+were rather long, for instance, the one at Portage La Loche was twelve
+miles in length and over it everything had to be carried on man back.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In winter time, travel was by way of snowshoes, dog-sled, or jumper.
+A jumper is a low, short, strong sleigh set upon heavy wooden runners
+and hauled by ox, horse, men, or dogs.  The freight load per dog&mdash;as
+you know&mdash;is a hundred pounds; per man, one to two hundred pounds; per
+horse, four to six hundred pounds; and per ox, five to seven hundred
+pounds.  In summer there were the canoe, York boat, sturgeon-head scow,
+and Red River cart brigades.  A six-fathom canoe carries from twenty to
+thirty packages; a York boat, seventy-five packages; a Sturgeon-head
+scow, one hundred packages; and a Red River cart, six hundred pounds.
+The carts were made entirely of wood and leather and were hauled by
+horse or ox.  With every brigade went the wife of one of the voyageurs
+to attend to the mending of the voyageurs' clothing and to look after
+the comfort of the officer in charge.  But the voyageurs always had to
+do their own cooking and washing.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"In the old days, too, much of their food had to be procured from the
+country through which they travelled and therefore they relied upon
+buffalo, moose, wapiti, deer, bear, beaver, rabbit, fish, and
+water-fowl to keep them in plenty."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then for a while the Factors sat smoking in silence.  The moon had
+mounted higher and was now out of sight behind the tops of the
+neighbouring trees, but its reflection was brilliantly rippled upon the
+water.  At one of the fires a French half-breed was singing in a rich
+barytone one of the old <I>chansons</I> that were so much in vogue among the
+voyageurs of by-gone days&mdash;<I>À la Claire Fontaine</I>.  After an encore,
+silence again held sway, until around another fire hearty laughter
+began to play.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The boys over there must be yarning again," remarked, the Chief
+Factor, as he pointed with his pipe, "let's go over, and listen awhile."
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+BILLY BRASS TELLS ANOTHER STORY
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was Oo-koo-hoo's fire and among his men was seated that ever-welcome
+member of another crew&mdash;Old Billy Brass.  Evidently he had just
+finished telling one of his mirth-provoking stories, as the men were
+good-naturedly questioning him about it; for, as we sat down, he
+continued:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, sir, it's true; fire attraks 'em.  Why, I've knowed 'em come from
+miles round when they catched a glimpse of it, an' as long as there's
+danger o' white bears bein' round you'll never again find Old Billy
+Brass tryin' to sleep beside a big fire.  No, sir, not even if His
+Royal Highness the Commissioner or His Lordship the Bishop gives the
+word."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then he sat there slowly drawing upon his pipe with apparently no
+intention of adding a single word to what he had already said.  Lest
+something interesting should be lost, I ventured:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Was it the Bishop or the Commissioner that made the trouble?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"No, sir, neither; 'twas the Archdeacon," replied the old man as he
+withdrew his pipe and rubbed his smarting eyes clear of the smoke from
+the blazing logs.  Taking a few short draws at the tobacco, he
+continued:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"There was three of us, me an' Archdeacon Lofty an' Captain Hawser, who
+was commandin' one of the Company's boats that was a-goin' to winter in
+Hudson Bay.  It happened in September.  The three of us was hoofin' it
+along the great barren shore o' the bay.  In some places the shore was
+that flat that every time the tide came in she flooded 'bout all the
+country we could see, an' we had a devil of a time tryin' to keep clear
+o' the mud.  We had a few dogs along to help pack our beddin', but,
+nevertheless, it was hard work; for we was carryin' most of our outfit
+on our backs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"One evenin' just before sundown we stumbled upon a lot o' driftwood
+scattered all about the flats.  As so much wood was lyin' around handy,
+we decided to spend the night on a little knoll that rose above
+high-water mark.  For the last few days we had seen so little wood that
+any of our fires could 'a' been built in a hat.  But that night the
+sight o' so much wood fairly set the Archdeacon crazy with delight, an'
+nothin' would do but we must have a great roarin' fire to sleep by.  I
+would have enjoyed a good warmin' as well as any one, but I was mighty
+leary about havin' a big fire.  So I cautioned the Archdeacon not to
+use much wood as there was likely to be bears about, an' that no matter
+how far off they was, if they saw that fire they would make for
+it&mdash;even if they was five or six miles out on the ice floes.  He
+wouldn't listen to me.  The Captain backed him up, an' they both set to
+an' built a fire as big as a tepee.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We was pretty well tuckered out from the day's walkin'.  So after
+supper we dried our moccasins an' was about to turn in early when&mdash;lo
+an' behold!&mdash;the Archdeacon got up an' piled more wood upon the fire.
+That made me mad; for unless he was huntin' for trouble he couldn't 'a'
+done a thing more foolish, an' I says somethin' to that effect.  He
+comes back at me as though I was afraid o' me own shadder, an' says:
+'Billy Brass, I'm s'prised that a man like you doesn't put more faith
+in prayin' an' trustin' hisself in the hands o' the Almighty.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was so hot over the foolishness of havin' such a big fire that I ups
+an' says:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'That may be all right for you, sir, but I prefer to use my wits
+first, an' trust in Providence afterwards.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Nothin' more was said, an' we all turns in.  I didn't like the idea of
+every one goin' to sleep with a fire so big that it was showin' itself
+for miles aroun', so I kep' myself awake.  I wasn't exactly thinkin'
+that somethin' really serious was goin' to happen, but I was just
+wishin' it would, just to teach the Archdeacon a lesson.  As time went
+on I must 'a' done a little dozin'; for when I looks up at the Dipper
+again, I learns from its angle with the North Star that it was already
+after midnight.  An'&mdash;would you believe it?&mdash;that fire was still
+blazin' away nearly as big as ever.  The heat seemed to make me drowsy,
+for I began to doze once more.  All at once I heard the dogs blowin' so
+hard&mdash;&mdash;"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Blowing?"
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Yes, that's right; they were blowin'; for geddies don't bark like
+other dogs when they're frightened.  Well, as I was sayin', they were
+blowin' so hard that my hair nearly stood on end.  Like a shot I throws
+off me blanket an' jumps to me feet, for I knowed what was comin'.  The
+Captain an' the Archdeacon heard them, too, an' we all grabbed at once
+for the only gun, a single-barrelled muzzle-loader.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"As ill luck would have it, the Archdeacon was nearest to that gun an'
+grabbed it, an' by the time we was straightened up we sees a great big
+white bear rushin' at us.  Quick as thought the Archdeacon points the
+gun at the bear an' pulls the trigger, but the hammer only snaps upon
+the bare nipple; for the cap had tumbled off in the scramble.  There
+was no time for re-cappin'; so, bein' the nearest to the chargin' bear,
+the Archdeacon just drops the old gun an' runs for dear life around
+that fire with me an' the Captin followin' close behind him.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"When I seen the way the Archdeacon an' the Captin went a sailin' round
+that fire, it fairly took me breath away; for somehow I never had any
+idea that them two old cripples had so much speed left in 'em.  An' you
+can bet it kep' me unusually busy bringin' up the rear; an', anyway,
+the feelin' that the bear was for ever snappin' at me coat-tails kep'
+me from takin' things too easy.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, we tore round an' round an' round that fire so dang many times
+that we was not only rapidly losin' our wind but we was beginnin' to
+get dizzy into the bargain.  All the time we could hear the great beast
+thunderin' after us, yet we daren't slacken our pace; no, sir, not even
+enough to take a single glance behind just to see which was gainin'.
+It was a sure case of life or death, but principally death; an' you can
+depend on it we wasn't takin' any chances.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Me an' the Captin was crowdin' so close upon the Archdeacon's heels
+that in his terror lest we should pass him by he ups an' sets the pace
+at such a tremendous speed that the whole three of us actually catches
+up to the bear&nbsp;&#8230; without the brute's knowin' it.  If it hadn't been
+for the Archdeacon steppin' on the sole of the bear's upturned left
+hind foot as the hungry beast was gallopin' round the fire&nbsp;&#8230; we'd
+have been runnin' a good deal longer.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, sir, if you had just seen how foolish that bear looked when he
+discovered that we was chasin' him instead of him chasin' us, you'd
+have died laughin'.  Why, he was the most bewildered an' crest-fallen
+animal I ever did see.  But he soon regained his wits an'&mdash;evidently
+calculatin' that his only salvation layed in his overhaulin' us&mdash;lit
+out at a saprisin' gait in a grand effort to leave us far enough behind
+for him to catch up to us.  But it didn't work; for by that time we had
+all got our second wind an' he soon realized that we was determined not
+to be overhauled from the rear.  So he set to ponderin' what was really
+the best thing for him to do; an' then he did it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"You must understand that we was so close upon his heels that there
+wasn't room for him to stop an' turn around without us all fallin' on
+top of him.  So what do you think the cunnin' brute did?  Why, he just
+hauled off an' kicked out behind with his right hind foot, an' hit the
+Archdeacon a smashin' blow square on his stomach, an' knocked him bang
+against the Captin an' the Captin against me, an' me against the dogs;
+an' we all went down in a heap beside the fire.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, sir, that old brute had put so much glad an' earnest energy into
+its kick that it knocked the wind plum out of every one of us, an' for
+the next few seconds there was a mess of arms an' legs an' tails
+frantically tryin' to disentangle themselves.  But, as good luck would
+have it, I went down upon the gun.  As I rose to my feet, I slipped a
+cap on the nipple just as the bear comes chargin' around the fire
+facing us.  I ups an' lets him have it full in the mouth.  The shot
+nearly stunned him.  While he was clawin' the pain in his face I had
+time to re-load, an' lets him have it behind the ear, an' he drops dead
+without a whimper.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Then&mdash;would you believe it?&mdash;the Archdeacon goes up to the shaggy
+carcass, puts his foot on the bear's head, an' stands there lookin' for
+all the world like British Columbia discoverin' America, an' says:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'There, now, Billy Brass, I hope you have learned a lesson.  Next time
+you will know where to place your trust.'
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"Well, sir, the way he was lettin' on that he had saved the whole
+outfit made me mad.  So I ups an' says:
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"'Yes, sir, an' if I hadn't put me trust in me gun, there would have
+been another Archdeacon in heaven.'"
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE TRUTH ABOUT WOODSMEN
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+It was now growing late.  For a while the smiling Indians, half-breeds,
+and white men smoked in silence; then one after another, each knocked
+the ashes from his pipe, arose, stretched himself, and sauntered off to
+his bed, whether in a tent, under a canoe, or in the open.  Walking
+down to the water's edge I watched the moonlight for a while, then
+passed quietly from one smouldering fire to another.  Some of the men
+were still talking together in low tones so as not to disturb those who
+were already seeking slumber, while others were arranging their
+bedding; and still others were devoutly kneeling in prayer to The
+Master of Life.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Thus during the four seasons of the year I had lived with and observed
+the men of the northern wilderness; and not only had I learned to like
+and respect them, but to admire their generosity and honesty, their
+simplicity and skill, their gentleness and prowess; and, above all, to
+honour their spiritual attitude toward this world and the next.  How
+different they were from the city dwellers' conception of them!  But
+still you may want further proof.  You may want first-hand knowledge of
+those northern men.  You may want to study their minds and to look into
+their hearts.  Then may I ask you to read the following letter, written
+a few years ago by an old Canadian woodsman&mdash;Mr. A. B. Carleton&mdash;who
+was born and bred in the northern wilderness.  Then you may become
+better acquainted with at least one of the men I have been trying to
+picture to you.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"I was born in the heart of the northern forest, and in my wanderings
+my steps have ever gone most willingly back toward the pine-covered
+hills and the grassy glades that slope down to cool, deep waters.  The
+wanderlust has carried me far, but the lakes and waterfalls, the bluffs
+and the bays of the great northern No-Man's Land are my home, and with
+<I>Mukwa</I> the bear, <I>Mah-en-gin</I> the wolf, <I>Wash-gish</I> the red deer, and
+<I>Ah-Meek</I> the beaver, I have much consorted and have found their
+company quite to my liking.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"But the fates have so dealt with me that for two years I have not been
+able to see the smile of Springtime breaking forth upon the rugged face
+of my northern No-Man's Land.  I have had glimpses of it, merely, among
+crowded houses, out of hospital windows.  Still, my mind is native to
+the forest, and my thoughts and fancies, breaking captivity, go back,
+like the free wild things they are, on bright days of springtime to the
+wild land where the change of season means what it never can mean in
+the town.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What does Spring mean to you town folk, anyway?  I will tell you.  It
+means lighter clothing, dust instead of sleet, the transfer of your
+patronage from fuel man to ice man, a few days of slushy streets and
+baseball instead of hockey.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"What does it mean to the man of the woods?  That I will try to tell
+you.  It means that the deep snow which has mantled hill and valley for
+five months has melted into brooks and rivulets which are plunging and
+splashing away to find the ocean from whence they came.  It means that
+the thick ice which throughout the long winter has imprisoned the
+waters of the lakes, is now broken, and the waves, incited by the south
+wind, are wreaking vengeance by beating it upon the rocks of the
+northern shore, until, subdued and melted, it returns to be a mere part
+of the waves again.  Instead of the hungry winter howl of the wolf or
+the whining snarl of the sneaking lynx the air is now filled with
+happier sounds: ducks are quacking; geese are honking; waveys are
+cackling as they fly northward; squirrels among the spruce trees
+chatter noisily; on sandy ridges woodchucks whistle excitedly; back
+deep in the birch thicket partridges are drumming, and all the woodland
+is musical with the song of birds.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"The trees, through whose bare branches the wind all winter has
+whistled and shrieked, are now sending forth leaves of tender green and
+the voice of the wind caressing them is softened to a tone as musical
+as the song of birds.  Flowers are springing up, not in the rigid rows
+or precise squares of a mechanically inclined horticulturist, but
+surprising one by elbowing themselves out of the narrowest crevices, or
+peeping bashfully out from behind fallen trees, or clinging almost
+upside down to the side of an overhanging cliff.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"My camp on Rainy Lake faces the south and in front is a little stunted
+black ash tree, so dwarfed, gnarled, twisted, and homely that it is
+almost pretty.  I refrained from cutting it down because of its
+attractive deformity.  In the springtime, a few years ago, a pair of
+robins chose it as their nesting place.  One bright Sunday morning, as
+the nest was in course of construction, I was sitting in my doorway
+watching the pair.  The brisk little husband was hurrying toward the
+nest with a bit of moss; but the mild sun, the crisp air, the sweet
+breathing earth, the gently whispering trees seemed to make him so very
+happy he could not but tell of it.  Alighting on a twig he dropped the
+moss, opened his beak, and poured forth in song the joy his little body
+could no longer contain.  That is the joy of a northern No-Man's Land
+in the month of May.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+"We are so happy in our woodland home that we wish everyone might share
+it with us.  But perhaps some would not enjoy what we enjoy, or see
+what we see, and some are prevented from coming by the duties of other
+callings, and each must follow the pathway his feet are most fitted to
+tread.  For myself, I only want my little log cabin with the wild vines
+climbing over its walls and clinging to the mud-chinked crevices, where
+I can hear the song of wild birds mingled with the sleepy hum of bees
+moving from blossom to blossom about the doorway; where I can see the
+timid red deer, as, peeping out of the brush, it hesitates between the
+fear of man and the temptation of the white clover growing in front of
+my home, and where I can watch the endless procession of waves
+following each other up the bay.  Give me the necessity of working for
+my daily bread so that I will not feel as though I were a useless
+cumbrance upon the earth; allow me an opportunity now and then of doing
+a kindly act, even if it be no more than restoring to the shelter of
+its mother's breast a fledgling that has fallen from its nest in a tree
+top.  If I may have these I will be happy, and happier still if I could
+know that when the time comes for me to travel the trail, the sands of
+which show no imprint of returning footsteps, that I might be put to
+rest on the southern slope of the ridge beside my camp, where the
+sunshine chases the shadows around the birch tree, where the murmur of
+the waves comes in rhythm to the robin's song, and where the red deer
+play on moonlight nights.  Neither will I fear the snows of winter that
+come drifting over the bay, driven by the wind that whines through the
+naked tree tops, nor the howl of the hungry wolf, for what had no
+terror for me in life need not have afterward.  And if the lessons that
+I learned at my mother's knee be true; if there be that within me that
+lives on, I am sure that it will be happier in its eternal home if it
+may look back and know that the body which it had tried to guide
+through its earthly career was having its long rest in the spot it
+loved best."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Did you ever meet a character like that in northern fiction?
+</P>
+
+<P>
+No, of course not; how could you?&#8230;  When the books were written by
+city-dwelling men.  Then, too, is not any production of the creative
+arts&mdash;a poem, a story, a play, a painting, or a statue&mdash;but a
+reflection of the composer's soul?  So&nbsp;&#8230; when you read a book
+filled with inhuman characters, you have taken the measure of the man
+who wrote it, you have seen a reflection of the author's soul.
+Furthermore, when people exclaim: "What's the matter with the movies?"
+The answer is: Nothing&nbsp;&#8230; save that the screens too often reflect
+the degenerate souls of the movie directors.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+But the Indian&mdash;how he has been slandered for centuries!  When in
+reality it is just as Warren, the Historian of the Ojibways,
+proclaimed: "There was consequently less theft and lying, more devotion
+to the Great Spirit, more obedience to their parents, and more chastity
+in man and woman, than exists at the present day, since their baneful
+intercourse with the white race."  And Hearne, the northern traveller,
+ended a similar contention&mdash;more than a hundred years ago&mdash;by saying:
+"It being well known that those who have the least intercourse with
+white men are by far the happiest."
+</P>
+
+<P>
+That night, as I turned in, I had occasion to look through my kit bag,
+and there I found, wrapped in a silk handkerchief, the photograph&mdash;lent
+to me for six weeks&mdash;of the charming Athabasca.  Being alone in my
+tent, I carefully unfolded its wrapper, and drawing the candle a little
+nearer, I gazed at her beautiful face.  Again I wondered about
+Son-in-law.&#8230;
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+A RACE FOR THE PORTAGE
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+At three o'clock next morning the camp was astir.  In the half light of
+early day, and while breakfast was being prepared, the men "gummed"
+afresh the big canoes.  Whittling handles to dry pinesticks, they split
+the butts half way down, and placed that end in the fire.  After a
+little burning, the stick opened like a fork; and, placing it over the
+broken seam, the voyageur blew upon the crotch, thus melting the
+hardened "gum"; then, spitting upon his palm, he rounded it off and
+smoothed it down.  By the time breakfast was ready the tents were again
+stowed away in the canoes along with the valuable cargoes of furs.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Paddling up the mist-enshrouded river the canoes rounded a bend.  There
+the eddying of muddy water told that a moose had just left a water-lily
+bed.  The leaves of the forest hid his fleeing form; but on the soft
+bank the water slowly trickled into his deep hoof-prints, so late was
+his departure.  The tracks of bear and deer continuously marked the
+shores, for the woods were full of game.  From the rushes startled
+ducks rose up and whirred away.  How varied was the scenery.
+Island-dotted lakes, timber-covered mountains, winding streams and
+marshy places; bold rocky gorges and mighty cataracts; dense forests of
+spruce, tamarack, poplar, birch, and pine&mdash;a region well worthy to be
+the home of either Nimrod or Diana.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Later in the day, when all the canoes were ranged side by side, their
+gracefully curved bows came in line; dip, swirl, thud; dip, swirl,
+thud, sounded all the paddles together.  The time was faultless.  Then
+it was that the picturesque brigade appeared in wild perfection.
+Nearing a portage, spontaneously a race began for the best landing
+place.  Like contending chargers, forward they bounded at every stroke.
+Vigorously the voyageurs plied their paddles.  Stiffening their arms
+and curving their backs, they bent the blades.  Every muscle was
+strained.  The sharp bows cleaved the lumpy water, sending it gurgling
+to the paddles that slashed it, and whirled it aside.  On they went.
+Now Oo-koo-hoo's canoe was gaining.  As that brightly painted craft
+gradually forged ahead, its swiftly running wake crept steadily along
+the sides of the other canoes.  Presently the wavelets were sounding
+"whiff, whiff, whiff," as the white bows crushed them down.  Then at
+last his canoe broke free and lunged away, leaving all the brigade to
+follow in its broadening trail.  The pace was too exhausting; the
+canoes strung out; but still the narrow blades slashed away, for the
+portage was at hand.  With dangerous speed the first canoe rushed
+abreast of the landing, and just as one expected disaster the bowman
+gave the word.  Instantly the crew, with their utmost strength, backed
+water.  As the canoe came to a standstill the voyageurs rolled their
+paddle-handles along the gunwales, twirling the dripping blades and
+enveloping the canoe in a veil of whirling spray.  Then, jumping into
+the shallow water, they lined up and quickly passed the packs ashore.
+The moment the cargo was transferred to the bank, the crew lifted the
+great canoe off the water and turned it bottom up, while four of them
+placed their heads beneath and rested the gunwales upon their
+<I>capote</I>-bepadded shoulders.  As they carried it off, one was reminded
+of some immense antediluvian reptile crawling slowly over the portage
+trail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+There was now much excitement.  Other crews had arrived, and were
+rapidly unloading.  As the landing was over-crowded the portaging
+began.  Each man tied the thin, tapering ends of his tump-line&mdash;a
+fifteen-foot leather strap with a broad centre&mdash;about a pack, swung it
+upon his back, and, bending forward, rested its broad loop over his
+head.  Upon the first his companion placed two more packs; then,
+stooping beneath the weight of 240 pounds, the packers at a jog-trot
+set off uphill and down, over rugged rocks and fallen timber, through
+fern-covered marsh and dense underbrush.  Coming to an opening in the
+wood at the far end of the portage, they quickly tossed their burdens
+aside, and back again they ran.  Nowhere could one see more willing
+workers.  You heard no swearing or grumbling about the exceedingly hard
+task before them.  On the contrary, every man vied with the rest as to
+which could carry the greatest load and most swiftly cross the portage.
+Rivalry sped the work along.  Shirts and trousers reeked with
+perspiration.  The voyageurs puffed and panted as they went by, and no
+wonder&mdash;the portage was three quarters of a mile in length.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+Then away we went again, and up, up, up, we mounted day by day, toward
+the height-of-land, where a long portage over low-lying marshy ground
+brought us to the place where our descent began; then for days we ran
+with the current until it entered a larger river, and soon we found
+that endless rapids interrupted our work, and down many of them the
+canoes were run.  The Hudson's Bay Company, however, never allows its
+men to shoot rapids with fur-laden canoes; so it was on that wild
+stretch of our trip that the skill of the voyageur was tested most.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+FIGHTING WITH DEATH
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+At the head of one of the great rapids Oo-koo-hoo, seeing that I mated
+well with one of his crew, invited me to take a paddle and help them
+through.  Tossing in an extra paddle for each canoeman we stepped
+aboard, and with a gentle shove the current caught the light canoe and
+carried us out to mid-stream.  Long before we sighted white water the
+roar of the cataract was humming in our ears.  We midmen sat upon
+dunnage sacks and braced our moccasined feet against the ribbing.
+Presently the bowman stood up and scanned the river.  Dark, ominous
+water raced ahead for a hundred yards then disappeared, leaving nothing
+but a great surging mass of white that leaped high and dropped out of
+sight in the apparently forsaken river-bed.  Then the steersman stood
+up, too, and Indian words passed between them.  Every moment we were
+gaining impetus, and always heading for the highest crest of foam.
+Waiting for the word to paddle was even worse than waiting for the
+starter's gun in a sculling race.  At last it came, just as we were
+twenty-five yards from the end of dark water.  With a wild shout from
+the bowman we drove our paddles home.  The great canoe trembled a
+little at first, as our work was somewhat ragged, but a moment later we
+settled into an even stroke and swept buoyantly among the tossing
+billows.  Now before us ran a strange wild river of seething white,
+lashing among great, gray-capped, dark greenish boulders that blocked
+the way.  High rocky banks standing close together squeezed the mighty
+river into a tumult of fury.  Swiftly we glide down the racing torrent
+and plunge through the boiling waters.  Sharp rocks rear above the
+flying spray while others are barely covered by the foaming flood.  It
+is dangerous work.  We midmen paddle hard to force the canoe ahead of
+the current.  The steersman in bow and stern ply and bend their great
+seven-foot paddles.  The bowman with eyes alert keenly watches the
+whirling waters and signs of hidden rocks below.  The roar of seething
+waters drowns the bowman's orders.  The steersman closely watches and
+follows every move his companion makes.  Down we go, riding upon the
+very back of the river; for here the water forms a great ridge, rising
+four or five feet above the waterline on either shore.  To swerve to
+either side means sure destruction.  With terrific speed we reach the
+brink of a violent descent.  For a moment the canoe pauses, steadies
+herself, then dips her head as the stern upheaves, and down we plunge
+among more rocks than ever.  Right in our path the angry stream is
+waging battle with a hoary bowlder that disputes the way.  With all its
+might and fury the frantic river hisses and roars and lashes it.  Yet
+it never moves&mdash;it only frowns destruction upon all that dares approach
+it.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+How the bowman is working!  See his paddle bend!  With lightning
+movements he jabs his great paddle deep into the water and close under
+the left side of the bow; then with a mighty heave he lifts her head
+around.  The great canoe swings as though upon a pivot; for is not the
+steersman doing exactly the very opposite at this precise moment?  We
+sheer off.  But the next instant the paddles are working on the
+opposite sides, for the bowman sees signs of a water-covered rock not
+three yards from the very bow.  With a wild lunge he strives to lift
+the bow around; but the paddle snaps like a rotten twig.  Instantly he
+grabs for another, and a grating sound runs the length of the heaving
+bottom.  The next moment he is working the new paddle.  A little water
+is coming in but she is running true.  The rocks now grow fewer, but
+still there is another pitch ahead.  Again the bow dips as we rush down
+the incline.  Spray rises in clouds that drench us to the skin as we
+plunge through the "great swell" and then shoot out among a multitude
+of tumbling billows that threaten to engulf us.  The canoe rides upon
+the backs of the "white horses" and we rise and fall, rise and fall, as
+they fight beneath us.  At last we leave their wild arena, and,
+entering calmer water, paddle away to the end of the portage trail.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+One morning, soon after sunrise, the brigade came to the end of its
+journey as it rounded a point and headed for a smoking steamboat that
+rested upon a shimmering lake; and so entirely did the rising mist
+envelop the craft that it suggested the silhouette of a distant
+mountain in volcanic eruption.  Then the canoes, each in turn, lay
+alongside the steamer; the fur packs were loaded aboard, and thence by
+steamboat and railroad they continued their journey to Montreal; where
+together with the "returns" from many another of the Hudson's Bay
+Company's thirty-four districts, they were reshipped in ocean-going
+craft for England where eventually they were sold by auction in London.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+A hundred years ago as many as ten brigades, each numbering twenty
+six-fathom canoes, sometimes swept along those northern highways and
+awoke those wild solitudes with the rollicking songs and laughter of
+fifteen or sixteen hundred voyageurs; but alas for those wonderfully
+picturesque days of bygone times!  The steamboats and the railroads
+have driven them away.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+In my youth, however, I was fortunate enough to have travelled with the
+last of those once-famous fur brigades; and also to have learned from
+personal experience the daily life of the northern woods&mdash;the drama of
+the forests&mdash;of which in my still earlier youth I had had so many
+day-dreams; and now if in describing and depicting it to you I have
+succeeded in imparting at least a fraction of the pleasure it gave me
+to witness it, I am well repaid.  But perhaps you are wondering about
+the beautiful Athabasca?
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+ATHABASCA AND SON-IN-LAW
+</H3>
+
+<P>
+Some years later, while on my second visit to Fort Consolation, I not
+only found a flourishing town of some four or five thousand inhabitants
+built on Free Trader Spear's original freehold, but in the handsome
+brick City Hall&mdash;standing in the original stump-lot&mdash;I met the old Free
+Trader himself, now holding office as the Mayor of Spearhead City.  Not
+only had he become wealthy&mdash;rumour said he was already a
+millionaire&mdash;but he had taken another man into partnership, for now
+over his big brick storehouse read a huge sign in golden letters "SPEAR
+AND&nbsp;&#8230;"  For like all day-dreams&mdash;if only dreamed often enough&mdash;the
+ever-present dream of the Free Trader and his wife had really come true.
+</P>
+
+<P>
+It was then that I learned that soon after my departure Prince Charming
+had come up out of the East, fallen in love with the beautiful
+Athabasca, become the actual Son-in-law, had been taken into
+partnership by her father, and together the lucky groom and his
+blushing bride had moved into their newly built log cabin, furnished
+with the long-promised bed, table, and chairs, the cooking stove,
+blankets, crockery, cutlery, and cooking utensils.  Round about their
+simple little home a heifer, a pig, and some ducks and geese stood
+guard while their beautiful mistress lived happy ever after&mdash;at least
+she did until prosperity inveigled her into a grand new brick mansion;
+and then, of course, her troubles began, because happiness always
+prefers a cabin to a castle.
+</P>
+
+<BR>
+<BR>
+<BR>
+
+<H3 ALIGN="center">
+THE END
+</H3>
+
+<BR><BR><BR><BR>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Drama of the Forests
+       Romance and Adventure
+
+Author: Arthur Heming
+
+Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #18495]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Al Haines
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Frontispiece: A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It
+appeared to have wings, but it did not fly; and though it possessed a
+tail, it did not run, but contented itself with moving steadily forward
+on its long up-turned feet.  Over an arm it carried what might have
+been a trident, and what with its waving tail and great outspreading
+wings that rose above its horned-like head, it suggested . . .  See
+Chapter VI.]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS
+
+_Romance and Adventure_
+
+
+
+BY
+
+ARTHUR HEMING
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  ILLUSTRATED BY THE AUTHOR
+  WITH REPRODUCTIONS FROM A
+  SERIES OF HIS PAINTINGS OWNED
+  BY THE ROYAL ONTARIO MUSEUM
+
+
+
+
+
+GARDEN CITY, N. Y., AND TORONTO
+
+DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
+
+1921
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY
+
+DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
+
+
+ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, INCLUDING THAT OF TRANSLATION
+  INTO FOREIGN LANGUAGES, INCLUDING THE SCANDINAVIAN
+
+
+PRINTED AT THE COUNTRY LIFE PRESS, GARDEN CITY, N, Y.. U. S. A.
+
+
+First Edition
+
+
+
+
+TO
+
+MR. AND MRS. DAVID A. DUNLAP
+
+WITH WHOM I SPENT MANY HAPPY SEASONS
+  IN THE GREAT NORTHERN FOREST
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+    I.  ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE
+   II.  IN QUEST OF TREASURE
+  III.  OO-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO
+   IV.  OO-KOO-HOO PLAYS THE GAME
+    V.  MEETING OF THE WILD MEN
+   VI.  WILD ANIMALS AND MEN
+  VII.  LIFE AND LOVE RETURN
+ VIII.  BUSINESS AND ROMANCE
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+A strange apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It appeared to have
+wings . . . . . .  _Frontispiece_
+
+I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the merest glance
+
+Oo-koo-hoo's bill
+
+Oo-koo-hoo's calendar
+
+Going to the brink, we saw a "York Boat" in the act of shooting the
+cataract
+
+Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples upon the water
+
+The lynx is an expert swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water
+
+Next morning we found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket
+of snow
+
+The bear circled a little in order to descend. Presently it left the
+shadow
+
+Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot snowshoes
+
+As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow flying
+
+"There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to Winnipeg"
+
+"It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon"
+
+Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound
+
+After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over
+
+The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the year
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+It was in childhood that the primitive spirit first came whispering to
+me.  It was then that I had my first day-dreams of the Northland--of
+its forests, its rivers and lakes, its hunters and trappers and
+traders, its fur-runners and mounted police, its voyageurs and
+packeteers, its missionaries and Indians and prospectors, its animals,
+its birds and its fishes, its trees and its flowers, and its seasons.
+
+Even in childhood I was for ever wondering . . . what is daily going on
+in the Great Northern Forest? . . . not just this week, this month, or
+this season, but what is actually occurring day by day, throughout the
+cycle of an entire year?  It was that thought that fascinated me, and
+when I grew into boyhood, I began delving into books of northern
+travel, but I did not find the answer there.  With the years this
+ever-present wonder grew, until it so possessed me that at last it
+spirited me away from the city, while I was still in my teens, and led
+me along a path of ever-changing and ever-increasing pleasure, showing
+me the world, not as men had mauled and marred it, but as the Master of
+Life had made it, in all its original beauty and splendour.  Nor was
+this all.  It led me to observe and ponder over the daily pages of the
+most profound and yet the most fascinating book that man has ever tried
+to read; and though, it seemed to me, my feeble attempts to decipher
+its text were always futile, it has, nevertheless, not only taught me
+to love Nature with an ever-increasing passion, but it has inspired in
+me an infinite homage toward the Almighty; for, as Emerson says: "In
+the woods we return to reason and faith.  Then I feel that nothing can
+befall me in life--no disgrace, no calamity (leaving me my eyes)--which
+Nature cannot repair.  Standing on the bare ground--my head bathed by
+the blithe air and uplifted into infinite space--all mean egoism
+vanishes. . . .  I am the lover of uncontained and immortal beauty."
+
+So, to make my life-dream come true, to contemplate in all its
+thrilling action and undying splendour the drama of the forests, I
+travelled twenty-three times through various parts of the vast northern
+woods, between Maine and Alaska, and covered thousands upon thousands
+of miles by canoe, pack-train, snowshoes, _bateau_, dog-train,
+buck-board, timber-raft, prairie-schooner, lumber-wagon, and
+"alligator."  No one trip ever satisfied me, or afforded me the
+knowledge or the experience I sought, for traversing a single section
+of the forest was not unlike making one's way along a single street of
+a metropolis and then trying to persuade oneself that one knew all
+about the city's life.  So back again I went at all seasons of the year
+to encamp in that great timber-land that sweeps from the Atlantic to
+the Pacific.  Thus it has taken me thirty-three years to gather the
+information this volume contains, and my only hope in writing it is
+that perhaps others may have had the same day-dream, and that in this
+book they may find a reliable and satisfactory answer to all their
+wonderings.  But making my dream come true--what delight it gave me!
+What sport and travel it afforded me!  What toil and sweat it caused
+me!  What food and rest it brought me!  What charming places it led me
+through!  What interesting people it ranged beside me!  What romance it
+unfolded before me! and into what thrilling adventures it plunged me!
+
+But before we paddle down the winding wilderness aisle toward the great
+stage upon which Diana and all her attendant huntsmen and forest
+creatures may appear, I wish to explain that in compliance with the
+wishes of the leading actors--who actually lived their parts of this
+story--fictitious names have been given to the principal characters and
+to the principal trading posts, lakes, and rivers herein depicted.
+Furthermore, in order to give the reader a more interesting, complete,
+and faithful description of the daily and the yearly life of the forest
+dwellers as I have observed it, I have taken the liberty of weaving
+together the more interesting facts I have gathered--both first- and
+second-hand--into one continuous narrative as though it all happened in
+a single year.  And in order to retain all the primitive local colour,
+the unique costumes, and the fascinating romance of the fur-trade days
+as I witnessed them in my twenties--though much of the life has already
+passed away--the scene is set to represent a certain year in the early
+nineties.
+
+ARTHUR HEMING.
+
+
+
+
+THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS
+
+
+I
+
+ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE
+
+HER FATHER THE FREE TRADER
+
+It was September 9, 189-.  From sunrise to sunset through mist,
+sunshine, shower, and shadow we travelled, and the nearer we drew to
+our first destination, the wilder the country became, the more
+water-fowl we saw, and the more the river banks were marked with traces
+of big game.  Here signs told us that three caribou had crossed the
+stream, there muddy water was still trickling into the hoofprint of a
+moose, and yonder a bear had been fishing.  Finally, the day of our
+arrival dawned, and as I paddled, I spent much of the time dreaming of
+the adventure before me.  As our beautiful birchen craft still sped on
+her way, the handsome bow parted the shimmering waters, and a passing
+breeze sent little running waves gurgling along her sides, while the
+splendour of the autumn sun was reflected on a far-reaching row of
+dazzling ripples that danced upon the water, making our voyageurs lower
+their eyes and the trader doze again.  There was no other sign of life
+except an eagle soaring in and out among the fleecy clouds slowly
+passing overhead.  All around was a panorama of enchanting forest.
+
+My travelling companion was a "Free Trader," whose name was Spear--a
+tall, stoop-shouldered man with heavy eyebrows and shaggy, drooping
+moustache.  The way we met was amusing.  It happened in a certain
+frontier town.  His first question was as to whether I was single.  His
+second, as to whether my time was my own.  Then he slowly looked me
+over from head to foot.  He seemed to be measuring my stature and
+strength and to be noting the colour of my eyes and hair.
+
+Narrowing his vision, he scrutinized me more carefully than before, for
+now he seemed to be reading my character--if not my soul.  Then,
+smiling, he blurted out:
+
+"Come, be my guest for a couple of weeks.  Will you?"
+
+I laughed.
+
+He frowned.  But on realizing that my mirth was caused only by
+surprise, he smiled again and let flow a vivid description of a place
+he called Spearhead.  It was the home of the northern fur trade.  It
+was the centre of a great timber region.  It was the heart of a vast
+fertile belt that was rapidly becoming the greatest of all farming
+districts.  It was built on the fountain head of gigantic water power.
+It virtually stood over the very vault that contained the richest veins
+of mineral to be found in the whole Dominion--at least that's what he
+said--and he also assured me that the Government had realized it, too,
+for was it not going to hew a provincial highway clean through the
+forest to Spearhead?  Was it not going to build a fleet of steamers to
+ply upon the lakes and rivers in that section?  And was it not going to
+build a line of railroad to the town itself in order to connect it with
+the new transcontinental and thus put it in communication with the
+great commercial centres of the East and the West?  In fact, he also
+impressed upon me that Spearhead was a town created for young men who
+were not averse to becoming wealthy in whatever line of business they
+might choose.  It seemed that great riches were already there and had
+but to be lifted.  Would I go?
+
+But when I explained that although I was single, and quite free, I was
+not a business man, he became crestfallen, but presently revived enough
+to exclaim:
+
+"Well, what the dickens are you?"
+
+"An artist," I replied.
+
+"Oh, I see!  Well . . . we need an artist very badly.  You'll have the
+field all to yourself in Spearhead.  Besides, your pictures of the fur
+trade and of pioneer life would eventually become historical and bring
+you no end of wealth.  You had better come.  Better decide right away,
+or some other artist chap will get ahead of you."
+
+But when I further explained that I was going to spend the winter in
+the wilderness, that I had already written to the Hudson's Bay Factor
+at Fort Consolation and that he was expecting me, Spear gloated:
+
+"Bully boy!" and slapping me on the shoulder, he chuckled: "Why, my
+town is just across the lake from Fort Consolation.  A mere five-mile
+paddle, old chap, and remember, I extend to you the freedom of
+Spearhead in the name of its future mayor.  And, man alive, I'm leaving
+for there to-morrow morning in a big four-fathom birch bark, with four
+Indian canoe-men.  Be my guest.  It won't cost you a farthing, and
+we'll make the trip together."
+
+I gladly accepted.  The next morning we started.  Free Trader Spear was
+a character, and I afterward learned that he was an Oxford University
+man, who, having been "ploughed," left for Canada, entered the service
+of the Hudson's Bay Company, and had finally been moved to Fort
+Consolation where he served seven years, learned the fur-trade
+business, and resigned to become a "free trader" as all fur traders are
+called who carry on business in opposition to "The Great Company."  We
+were eight days upon the trip, but, strange to say, during each day's
+travel toward Spearhead, his conversation in reference to that thriving
+town made it appear to grow smaller and smaller, until at last it
+actually dwindled down to such a point, that, about sunset on the day
+we were to arrive, he turned to me and casually remarked:
+
+"Presently you'll see Fort Consolation and the Indian village beyond.
+Spearhead is just across the lake, and by the bye, my boy, I forgot to
+tell you that Spearhead is just my log shack.  But it's a nice little
+place, and you'll like it when you pay us a visit, for I want you to
+meet my wife."
+
+Then our canoe passed a jutting point of land and in a moment the scene
+was changed--we were no longer on a river, but were now upon a lake,
+and the wilderness seemed suddenly left behind.
+
+
+AT FORT CONSOLATION
+
+On the outer end of a distant point a cluster of poplars shaded a
+small, clapboarded log house.  There, in charge of Fort Consolation,
+lived the Factor of the Hudson's Bay Company.  Beyond a little lawn
+enclosed by a picket fence stood the large storehouse.  The lower floor
+of this was used as a trading room; the upper story served for a fur
+loft.  Behind were seen a number of shanties, then another large
+building in which dog-sleds and great birch-bark canoes were stored.
+Farther away was a long open shed, under which those big canoes were
+built, then a few small huts where the half-breeds lived.  With the
+exception of the Factor's house, all the buildings were of rough-hewn
+logs plastered with clay.  Around the sweeping bend of the bay was a
+village of tepees in which the Indian fur hunters and their families
+spend their midsummer.  Crowning a knoll in the rear stood a quaint
+little church with a small tin spire glistening in the sun, and capped
+by a cross that spread its tiny arms to heaven.  On the hill in the
+background the time-worn pines swayed their shaggy heads and softly
+whispered to that, the first gentle touch of civilization in the
+wilderness.
+
+Presently, at irregular intervals, guns were discharged along the
+shore, beginning at the point nearest the canoe and running round the
+curve of the bay to the Indian camp, where a brisk fusillade took
+place.  A moment later the Hudson's Bay Company's flag fluttered over
+Fort Consolation.  Plainly, the arrival of our canoe was causing
+excitement at the Post.  Trader Spear laughed aloud:
+
+"That's one on old Mackenzie.  He's taking my canoe for that of the
+Hudson's Bay Inspector.  He's generally due about this time."
+
+From all directions men, women, and children were swarming toward the
+landing, and when our canoe arrived there must have been fully four
+hundred Indians present.  The first to greet us was Factor Mackenzie--a
+gruff, bearded Scotsman with a clean-shaven upper lip, gray hair, and
+piercing gray eyes.  When we entered the Factor's house we found it to
+be a typical wilderness home of an officer of the Hudson's Bay Company;
+and, therefore, as far unlike the interiors of furtraders' houses as
+shown upon the stage, movie screen, or in magazine illustration, as it
+is possible to imagine.  Upon the walls we saw neither mounted heads
+nor skins of wild animals; nor were fur robes spread upon the floors,
+as one would expect to find after reading the average story of Hudson's
+Bay life.  On the contrary, the well-scrubbed floors were perfectly
+bare, and the walls were papered from top to bottom with countless
+illustrations cut from the London _Graphic_ and the _Illustrated London
+News_.  The pictures not only took the place of wall paper, making the
+house more nearly wind-proof, but also afforded endless amusement to
+those who had to spend therein the long winter months.  The house was
+furnished sparingly with simple, home-made furniture that had more the
+appearance of utility than of beauty.
+
+At supper time we sat down with Mrs. Mackenzie, the Factor's half-breed
+wife, who took the head of the table.  After the meal we gathered in
+the living room before an open fire, over the mantelpiece of which
+there were no guns, no powder horns, nor even a pair of snowshoes; for
+a fur trader would no more think of hanging his snowshoes there than a
+city dweller would think of hanging his overshoes over his drawing-room
+mantel.  Upon the mantel shelf, however, stood a few unframed family
+photographs and some books, while above hung a rustic picture frame,
+the only frame to be seen in the room; it contained the motto, worked
+in coloured yarns: "God Bless Our Home."  When pipes were lighted and
+we had drawn closer to the fire, the Factor occupied a quaint,
+home-made, rough-hewn affair known as the "Factor's chair."  On the
+under side of the seat were inscribed the signatures and dates of
+accession to that throne of all the factors who had reigned at the Post
+during the past eighty-seven years.
+
+
+A MIGHTY HUNTER
+
+After the two traders had finished "talking musquash"--fur-trade
+business--they began reminiscing on the more picturesque side of their
+work, and as I had come to spend the winter with the fur hunters on
+their hunting grounds, the subject naturally turned to that well-worn
+topic, the famous Nimrods of the North.  It brought forth many an
+interesting tale, for both my companions were well versed in such lore,
+and in order to keep up my end I quoted from Warren's book on the
+Ojibways: "As an illustration of the kind and abundance of animals
+which then covered the country, it is stated that an Ojibway hunter
+named No-Ka, the grandfather of Chief White Fisher, killed in one day's
+hunt, starting from the mouth of Crow Wing River, sixteen elk, four
+buffalo, five deer, three bear, one lynx, and one porcupine.  There was
+a trader wintering at the time at Crow Wing, and for his winter's
+supply of meat, No-Ka presented him with the fruits of his day's hunt."
+
+My host granted that that was the biggest day's bag he had ever heard
+of, and Trader Spear, withdrawing his pipe from his mouth, remarked:
+
+"No-Ka must have been a great hunter.  I would like to have had his
+trade.  But, nevertheless, I have heard of an Indian who might have
+been a match for him.  He, too, was an Ojibway, and his name was
+Narphim.  He lived somewhere out in the Peace River country, and I've
+heard it stated that he killed, in his lifetime, more than eighty
+thousand living things.  Some bag for one hunter."
+
+Since Trader Spear made that interesting remark I have had the pleasure
+of meeting a factor of the Hudson's Bay Company who knew Narphim from
+boyhood, and who was a personal friend of his, and who was actually in
+charge of a number of posts at which the Indian traded.  Owing to their
+friendship for one another, the Factor took such a personal pride in
+the fame the hunter won, that he compiled, from the books of the
+Hudson's Bay Company, a complete record of all the fur-bearing animals
+the Indian killed between the time he began to trade as a hunter at the
+age of eleven, until his hunting days were ended.  Furthermore, in
+discussing the subject with Narphim they together compiled an
+approximate list of the number of fish, wild fowl, and rabbits that the
+hunter must have secured each season, and thus Narphim's record stands
+as the following figures show.  I would tell you the Factor's name but
+as he has written to me: "For many cogent reasons it is desirable that
+my name be not mentioned officially in your book," I must refrain.  I
+shall, however, give you the history of Narphim in the Factor's own
+words:
+
+"Narphim's proper name remains unknown as he was one of two children
+saved when a band of Ojibways were drowned in crossing a large lake
+that lies S. E. of Cat Lake and Island Lake, and S. E. of Norway House.
+He was called Narphim--Saved from the Waters.  The other child that was
+rescued was a girl and she was called Neseemis--Our Little Sister.  At
+first Narphim was adopted and lived with a Swampy Cree chief, the
+celebrated Keteche-ka-paness, who was a great medicine man.  When
+Narphim grew to be eleven years old he became a hunter, and first
+traded his catch at Island Lake; then as the years went by, at Oxford
+House; then at Norway House, then at Fort Chepewyan, and then at Fort
+McMurray.  After that he went to Lesser Slave Lake, then on to the
+Peace River at Dunvegan, then he showed up at Fort St. John, next at
+Battle River, and finally at Vermilion.
+
+"The following is a list of the number of creatures Narphim killed, but
+of course he also killed a good deal of game that was never recorded in
+the Company's books, especially those animals whose skins were used for
+the clothing of the hunter's family.
+
+"Bears 585, beaver 1,080, ermines 130, fishers 195, red foxes 362,
+cross foxes 78, silver and black foxes 6, lynxes 418, martens 1,078,
+minks 384, muskrats 900, porcupines 19, otters 194, wolves 112,
+wolverines 24, wood buffaloes 99, moose 396, caribou 196, jumping deer
+72, wapiti 156, mountain sheep 60, mountain goats 29; and rabbits,
+approximately 8,000, wild fowl, approximately 23,800, and fish
+approximately 36,000.  Total 74,573.
+
+"Yes, Narphim was a great hunter and a good man," says the Factor in
+his last letter to me.  "He was a fine, active, well-built Indian and a
+reliable and pleasant companion.  In fact, he was one of Nature's
+gentlemen, whom we shall be, and well may be, proud to meet in the
+Great Beyond, known as the Happy Hunting Grounds."
+
+Thus the evening drifted by.  While the names of several of the best
+hunters had been mentioned as suitable men for me to accompany on their
+hunting trail, it was suggested that as the men themselves would
+probably visit the Post in the morning, I should have a chat with them
+before making my selection.  Both Mackenzie and Spear, however, seemed
+much in favour of my going with an Indian called Oo-koo-hoo.  Presently
+the clock struck ten and we turned in, the Free Trader sharing a big
+feather bed with me.
+
+
+THEIR SUMMER LIFE
+
+After breakfast next morning I strolled about the picturesque point.
+It was a windless, hazy day.  An early frost had already clothed a
+number of the trees with their gorgeous autumnal mantles, the
+forerunners of Indian summer, the most glorious season of the Northern
+year.
+
+When I turned down toward the wharf, I found a score of Indians and
+half-breed trippers unloading freight from a couple of six-fathom
+birch-bark canoes.  Eager men and boys were good-naturedly loading
+themselves with packs and hurrying away with them to the storehouse,
+while others were lounging around or applauding the carriers with the
+heaviest loads.  As the packers hurried by, Delaronde, the jovial,
+swarthy-faced, French-Canadian clerk, note-book in hand, checked the
+number of pieces.  Over by the log huts a group of Indian women were
+sitting in the shade, talking to Delaronde's Indian wife.  All about,
+and in and out of the Indian lodges, dirty, half-naked children romped
+together, and savage dogs prowled around seeking what they might
+devour.  The deerskin or canvas covers of most of the tepees were
+raised a few feet to allow the breeze to pass under.  Small groups of
+women and children squatted or reclined in the shade, smoking and
+chatting the hours away.  Here and there women were cleaning fish,
+mending nets, weaving mats, making clothes, or standing over steaming
+kettles.  Many of the men had joined the "goods brigade," and their
+return was hourly expected.  Many canoes were resting upon the sandy
+beach, and many more were lying bottom up beneath the shade of trees.
+
+The most important work undertaken by the Indians during the summer is
+canoe building.  As some of the men are more expert at this than
+others, it often happens that the bulk of the work is done by a few who
+engage in it as a matter of business.  Birch bark for canoe building is
+taken from the tree early in May.  The chosen section, which may run
+from four to eight feet in length, is first cut at the top and bottom;
+then a two-inch strip is removed from top to bottom in order to make
+room for working a chisel-shaped wooden wedge--about two feet
+long--with which the bark is taken off.  Where knots appear great care
+is exercised that the bark be not torn.  To make it easier to pack, the
+sheet of bark is then rolled up the narrow way, and tied with willow.
+In this shape, it is transported to the summer camping grounds.  Canoes
+range in size all the way from twelve feet to thirty-six feet in
+length.  The smaller size, being more easily portaged, is used by
+hunters, and is known as a two-fathom canoe.  For family use canoes are
+usually from two and a half to three and a half fathoms long.  Canoes
+of the largest size, thirty-six feet, are called six-fathom or "North"
+canoes.  With a crew of from eight to twelve, they have a carrying
+capacity of from three to four tons, and are used by the traders for
+transporting furs and supplies.
+
+Some Indians engage in "voyaging" or "tripping" for the traders--taking
+out fur packs to the steamboats or railroads, by six-fathom canoe, York
+boat, or sturgeon-head scow brigades, and bringing in supplies.  Others
+put in part of their time on an occasional hunt for moose or caribou,
+or in shooting wild fowl.  On their return they potter around camp
+making paddles or snowshoe frames; or they give themselves up to
+gambling--a vice to which they are rather prone.  Sometimes twenty men
+or more, divided into equal sides, will sit in the form of an oval,
+with their hair drawn over their faces that their expression may not
+easily be read, and with their knees covered with blankets.  Leaders
+are chosen on either side, and each team is supplied with twelve small
+sticks.  The game begins by one of the leaders placing his closed hands
+upon his blanket, and calling upon the other to match him.  If the
+latter is holding his stick in the wrong hand, he loses; and so the
+game goes on.  Two sets of drummers are playing continuously and all
+the while there is much chanting.  In this simple wise they gamble away
+their belongings, even to their clothing, and, sometimes, their wives.
+When the wives are at stake, however, they have the privilege of taking
+a hand in the game.
+
+The women, in addition to their regular routine of summer camp duties,
+occupy themselves with fishing, moccasin making, and berry picking.
+The girls join their mothers in picking berries, which are plentiful
+and of great variety--raspberries, strawberries, cranberries,
+blueberries, gooseberries, swampberries, saskatoonberries,
+pembinaberries, pheasantberries, bearberries, and snakeberries.  They
+gather also wild celery, the roots of rushes, and the inner bark of the
+poplar--all which they eat raw.  In some parts, too, they gather wild
+rice.  Before their summer holidays are over, they have usually secured
+a fair stock of dried berries, smoked meats and bladders and casings
+filled with fish oil or other soft grease, to help out their bill of
+fare during the winter.  The women devote most of their spare moments
+to bead, hair, porcupine, or silk work which they use for the
+decoration of their clothing.  They make _mos-quil-moots_, or hunting
+bags, of plaited _babiche_, or deerskin thongs, for the use of the men.
+The girl's first lesson in sewing is always upon the coarsest work;
+such as joining skins together for lodge coverings.  The threads used
+are made from the sinews of the deer or the wolf.  These sinews are
+first hung outside to dry a little, and are then split into the finest
+threads.  The thread-maker passes each strand through her mouth to
+moisten it, then places it upon her bare thigh, and with a quick
+movement rolls it with the flat of her hand to twist it.  Passing it
+again through her mouth, she ties a knot at one end, points the other,
+and puts it away to dry.  The result is a thread like the finest
+hair-wire.
+
+For colouring moose hair or porcupine quills for fancy work, the women
+obtain their dyes in the following ways: From the juice of boiled
+cranberries they derive a magenta dye.  From alder bark, boiled,
+beaten, and strained, they get a dark, slate-coloured blue which is
+mixed with rabbits' gall to make it adhere.  The juice of bearberries
+gives them a bright red.  From gunpowder and water they obtain a fine
+black, and from coal tar a stain for work of the coarsest kind.  They
+rely chiefly, however, upon the red, blue, green, and yellow ochres
+found in many parts of the country.  These, when applied to the
+decoration of canoes, they mix with fish oil; but for general purposes
+the earths are baked and used in the form of powder.
+
+From scenes such as I have described the summer traveller obtains his
+impression of the forest Indians.  Too often their life and character
+are judged by such scenes, as if these truly represented their whole
+existence.  In reality, this is but their holiday season which they are
+spending upon their tribal summer camping ground.  It is only upon
+their hunting grounds that one may fairly study the Indians; so,
+presently, we shall follow them there.  And when one experiences the
+wild, free life the Indian lives--hampered by no household goods or
+other property that he cannot at a moment's notice dump into his canoe
+and carry with him to the ends of the earth if he chooses--one not only
+envies him, but ceases to wonder which of the two is the greater
+philosopher--the white man or the red; for the poor old white man is so
+overwhelmed with absurd conventions and encumbering property that he
+can rarely do what his heart dictates.
+
+
+FAMILY HUNTING GROUNDS
+
+Don't let us decide just yet, however, whether the Indian derives more
+pleasure from life than does the white man, at least, not until we
+return from our voyage of pleasure and investigation; but before we
+leave Fort Consolation it is well to know that the hunting grounds in
+possession of the Indian tribes that live in the Great Northern Forest
+have been for centuries divided and subdivided and allotted, either by
+bargain or by battle, to the main families of each band.  In many cases
+the same hunting grounds have remained in the undisputed possession of
+the same families for generations.  Family hunting grounds are usually
+delimited by natural boundaries, such as hills, valleys, rivers, and
+lakes.  The allotments of land generally take the form of wedge-shaped
+tracts radiating from common centres.  From the intersection of these
+converging boundary lines the common centres become the hubs of the
+various districts.  These district centres mark convenient summer
+camping grounds for the reunion of families after their arduous labour
+during the long winter hunting season.  The tribal summer camping
+grounds, therefore, are not only situated on the natural highways of
+the country--the principal rivers and lakes--but also indicate
+excellent fishing stations.  There, too, the Indians have their burial
+grounds.
+
+Often these camping grounds are the summer headquarters for from three
+to eight main families; and each main family may contain from five or
+six to fifty or sixty hunting men.  Inter-marriage between families of
+two districts gives the man the right to hunt on the land of his wife's
+family as long as he "sits on the brush" with her--is wedded to
+her--but the children do not inherit that right; it dies with the
+father.  An Indian usually lives upon his own land, but makes frequent
+excursions to the land of his wife's family.
+
+In the past, the side boundaries of hunting grounds have been the cause
+of many family feuds, and the outer boundaries have furnished the
+occasion for many tribal wars.  The past and the present headquarters
+camping grounds of the Strong Woods Indians--as the inhabitants of the
+Great Northern Forest are generally called--lie about one hundred and
+fifty miles apart.
+
+The natural overland highways throughout the country, especially those
+intersecting the watercourses and now used as the roadbeds for our
+great transcontinental railways, were not originally discovered by man
+at all.  The credit is due to the big game of the wilderness; for the
+animals were not only the first to find them, but also the first to use
+them.  The Indian simply followed the animals, and the trader followed
+the Indian, and the official "explorer" followed the trader, and the
+engineer followed the "explorer," and the railroad contractor followed
+the engineer.  It was the buffalo, the deer, the bear, and the wolf who
+were our original transcontinental path-finders, or rather pathmakers.
+Then, too, the praise bestowed upon the pioneer fur traders for the
+excellent judgment shown in choosing the sites upon which trading posts
+have been established throughout Canada, has not been deserved; the
+credit is really due to the Indians.  The fur traders erected their
+posts or forts upon the tribal camping grounds simply because they
+found such spots to be the general meeting places of the Indians, and
+not only situated on the principal highways of the wilderness but
+accessible from all points of the surrounding country, and, moreover,
+the very centres of excellent fish and game regions.  Thus in Canada
+many of the ancient tribal camping grounds are now known by the names
+of trading posts, of progressive frontier towns, or of important cities.
+
+Now, as of old, the forest Indians after their winter's hunt return in
+the early summer to trade their catch of furs, to meet old friends, and
+to rest and gossip awhile before the turning leaf warns them to secure
+their next winter's "advances" from the trader, and once more paddle
+away to their distant hunting grounds.
+
+The several zones of the Canadian wilderness are locally known as the
+Coast Country--the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay; the
+Barren Grounds--the treeless country between Hudson Bay and the
+Mackenzie River; the Strong Woods Country--the whole of that enormous
+belt of heavy timber that spans Canada from east to west; the Border
+Lands--the tracts of small, scattered timber that lie between the
+prairies and the northern forests; the Prairie Country; the Mountains;
+and the Big Lakes.  These names have been adopted by the fur traders
+from the Indians.  It is in the Strong Woods Country that most of the
+fur-bearing animals live.
+
+
+MEETING OO-KOO-HOO
+
+About ten o'clock on the morning after our arrival at Fort Consolation,
+Free Trader Spear left for home with my promise to paddle over and dine
+at Spearhead next day.
+
+At noon Factor Mackenzie informed me that he had received word that
+Oo-koo-hoo--The Owl--was coming to the Fort that afternoon and that,
+taking everything into consideration, he thought Oo-koo-hoo's hunting
+party the best for me to join.  It consisted, he said, of Oo-koo-hoo
+and his wife, his daughter, and his son-in-law, Amik--The Beaver--and
+Amik's five children.  The Factor further added that Oo-koo-hoo was not
+only one of the greatest hunters, and one of the best canoe-men in that
+district, but in his youth he had been a great traveller, as he had
+hunted with other Indian tribes, on Hudson Bay, on the Churchill, the
+Peace, the Athabasca, and the Slave rivers, and even on the far-away
+Mackenzie; and was a master at the game.  His son-in-law, Amik, was his
+hunting partner.  Though Amik would not be home until to-morrow,
+Oo-koo-hoo and his wife, their daughter and her children were coming
+that afternoon to get their "advances," as the party contemplated
+leaving for their hunting grounds on the second day.  That I might look
+them over while they were getting their supplies in the Indian shop,
+and if I took a fancy to the old gentleman--who by the way was about
+sixty years of age--the trader would give me an introduction, and I
+could then make my arrangements with the hunter himself.  So after
+dinner, when word came that they had landed, I left the living room for
+the Indian shop.
+
+In the old days, in certain parts of the country, when the Indians came
+to the posts to get their "advances" or to barter their winter's catch
+of fur, the traders had to exercise constant caution to prevent them
+from looting the establishments.  At some of the posts only a few
+Indians at a time were allowed within the fort, and even then trading
+was done through a wicket.  But that applied only to the Plains Indians
+and to some of the natives of the Pacific Coast; for the Strong Woods
+people were remarkably honest.  Even to-day this holds good
+notwithstanding the fact that they are now so much in contact with
+white men.  Nowadays the Indians in any locality rarely cause trouble,
+and at the trading posts the business of the Indian shops is conducted
+in a quiet and orderly way.
+
+The traders do most of their bartering with the Indians in the early
+summer when the hunters return laden with the spoils of their winter's
+hunt.  In the early autumn, when the Indians are about to leave for
+their hunting grounds, much business is done, but little in the way of
+barter.  At that season the Indians procure their outfit for the
+winter.  Being usually insolvent, owing to the leisurely time spent
+upon the tribal camping grounds, they receive the necessary supplies on
+credit.  The amount of credit, or "advances," given to each Indian
+seldom exceeds one third of the value of his average annual catch.
+That is the white man's way of securing, in advance, the bulk of the
+Indian's prospective hunt; yet, although a few of them are sometimes
+slow in settling their debts, they are never a match for the civilized
+white man.
+
+When I entered the trading room I saw that it was furnished with a
+U-shaped counter paralleling three sides of the room, and with a large
+box-stove in the middle of the intervening space.  On the shelves and
+racks upon the walls and from hooks in the rafters rested or hung a
+conglomeration of goods to be offered in trade to the natives.  There
+were copper pails and calico dresses, pain-killer bottles and Hudson's
+Bay blankets, sow-belly and chocolate drops, castor oil and gun worms,
+frying-pans and ladies' wire bustles, guns and corsets, axes and
+ribbons, shirts and hunting-knives, perfumes and bear traps.  In a way,
+the Indian shop resembled a department store except that all the
+departments were jumbled together in a single room.  At one post I
+visited years ago--that of Abitibi--they had a rather progressive
+addition in the way of a millinery department.  It was contained in a
+large lidless packing case against the side of which stood a long
+steering paddle for the clerk's use in stirring about the varied
+assortment of white women's ancient headgear, should a fastidious
+Indian woman request to see more than the uppermost layer.
+
+Already a number of Indians were being served by the Factor and
+Delaronde, the clerk, and I had not long to wait before Oo-koo-hoo
+appeared.  I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
+merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face,
+that he was all his name implied, a wise, dignified old gentleman, who
+was in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to--a rare
+quality in men--especially white men.  Even before I heard him speak I
+liked Oo-koo-hoo--The Owl.
+
+[Illustration: I surmised at once who he was, for one could see by the
+merest glance at his remarkably pleasant yet thoroughly clever face
+that he was all his name implied, a wise dignified old gentleman, who
+was in the habit of observing much more than he gave tongue to--a rare
+quality in men--especially white men.  Even before I heard him speak I
+liked Oo-koo-hoo--The . . .  See Chapter I]
+
+But before going any farther, I ought to explain that as I am
+endeavouring to render a faithful description of forest life, I am
+going to repeat in the next few paragraphs part of what once appeared
+in one of my fictitious stories of northern life.  I then made use of
+the matter because it was the truth, and for that very reason I am now
+going to repeat it; also because this transaction as depicted is
+typical of what usually happens when the Indians try to secure their
+advances.  Furthermore, I give the dialogue in detail, as perchance
+some reader may feel as Thoreau did, when he said: "It would be some
+advantage to live a primitive and frontier life, though in the midst of
+an outward civilization, if only to learn what are the gross
+necessaries of life and what methods have been taken to obtain them; or
+even to look over the old day-books of the merchants, to see what it
+was that men most commonly bought at the stores, what they stored, that
+is, what are the grossest groceries."
+
+But while the following outfit might be considered the Indian's
+grossest groceries, the articles are not really necessaries at all for
+him; for, to go to the extreme, a good woodsman can hunt without even
+gun, axe, knife, or matches, and can live happily, absolutely
+independent of our civilization.
+
+As the Factor was busy with another Indian when the Chief entered--for
+Oo-koo-hoo was the chief of the Ojibways of that district--he waited
+patiently, as he would not deign to do business with a clerk.  When he
+saw the trader free, he greeted:
+
+"_Quay, quay, Hugemow_!" (Good day, Master).
+
+"Gude day, man Oo-koo-hoo, what can I do for ye the day?" amicably
+responded the Factor.
+
+"Master, it is this way.  I am about to leave for my hunting grounds;
+but this time I am going to spend the winter upon a new part of them,
+where I have not hunted for years, and where game of all kinds will be
+plentiful.  Therefore, I want you to give me liberal advances so that
+my hunt will not be hindered."
+
+"Pegs, Oo-koo-hoo, ma freen', yon's an auld, auld farrant.  But ye're
+well kenn'd for a leal, honest man; an' sae, I'se no be unco haird upon
+ye."
+
+So saying, the Factor made him a present of a couple of pounds of
+flour, half a pound of pork, half a pound of sugar, a quarter of a
+pound of tea, a plug of tobacco, and some matches.  The Factor's
+generosity was prompted largely by his desire to keep the Indian in
+good humour.  After a little friendly chaffing, the Factor promised to
+give the hunter advances to the extent of one hundred "skins."
+
+A "skin," or, as it is often called, a "made beaver," is equivalent to
+one dollar in the Hudson Bay and the Mackenzie River districts, but
+only fifty cents in the region of the Athabasca.
+
+Perhaps it should be explained here that while Oo-koo-hoo could speak
+broken English, he always preferred to use his own language when
+addressing the trader, whom he knew to be quite conversant with
+Ojibway, and so, throughout this book, I have chosen to render the
+Indian's speech as though it was translated from Ojibway into English,
+rather than at any time render it in broken English, as the former is
+not only easier to read, but is more expressive of the natural quality
+of the Indian's speech.  In olden days some of the chiefs who could not
+speak English at all were, it is claimed, eloquent orators--far
+outclassing our greatest statesmen.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo, having ascertained the amount of his credit, reckoned that
+he would use about fifty skins in buying traps and ammunition; the rest
+he would devote to the purchase of necessaries for himself and his
+party, as his son-in-law had arranged with him to look after his
+family's wants in his absence.  So the old gentleman now asked for the
+promised skins.  He was handed one hundred marked goose quills
+representing that number of skins.  After checking them over in bunches
+of ten, he entrusted twenty to his eldest grandson, Ne-geek--The
+Otter--to be held in reserve for ammunition and tobacco, and ten to his
+eldest granddaughter, Neykia, with which to purchase an outfit for the
+rest of the party.
+
+For a long time Oo-koo-hoo stood immersed in thought.  At last his face
+brightened.  He had reached a decision.  For years he had coveted a new
+muzzle-loading gun, and he felt that the time had now arrived to get
+it.  So he picked out one valued at forty skins and paid for it.  Then,
+taking back the quills his grandson held, he bought twenty skins' worth
+of powder, caps, shot, and bullets.  Then he selected for himself a
+couple of pairs of trousers, one pair made of moleskin and the other of
+tweed, costing ten skins; two shirts and a suit of underwear, ten
+skins; half a dozen assorted traps, ten skins.  Finding that he had
+used up all his quills, he drew on those set aside for his wife and
+son-in-law's family and bought tobacco, five skins; files, one skin; an
+axe, two skins; a knife, one skin; matches, one half skin; and candy
+for his youngest grandchild, one half skin.  On looking over his
+acquisitions he discovered that he must have at least ten skins' worth
+of twine for nets and snares, five skins' worth of tea, one skin worth
+of soap, one skin worth of needles and thread, as well as a tin pail
+and a new frying pan.  After a good deal of haggling, the Factor threw
+him that number of quills, and Oo-koo-hoo's manifest contentment
+somewhat relieved the trader's anxiety.
+
+A moment later, however, Oo-koo-hoo was reminded by his wife, Ojistoh,
+that there was nothing for her, so she determined to interview the
+Factor herself.  She tried to persuade him to give her twenty skins in
+trade, and promised to pay for them in the spring with rat and ermine
+skins, or--should those fail her--with her dog, which was worth fully
+thirty skins.  She had been counting on getting some cotton print for a
+dress, as well as thread and needles, to say nothing of extra tea,
+which in all would amount to at least thirty-five or forty skins.
+When, however, the Factor allowed her only ten skins, her
+disappointment was keen, and she ended by getting a shawl.  Then she
+left the trading room to pay a visit to the Factor's wife, and confide
+to her the story of her expectations and of her disappointment so
+movingly that she would get a cup of tea, a word of sympathy, and
+perhaps even an old petticoat.
+
+In the meantime, Oo-koo-hoo was catching it again.  He had forgotten
+his daughter; so after more haggling the trader agreed to advance her
+ten skins.  Her mind had long been made up.  She bought a three-point
+blanket, a small head shawl, and a piece of cotton print.  Then the
+grandsons crowded round and grumbled because there was nothing for them.
+
+By this time the trader was beginning to feel that he had done pretty
+well for the family already; but he kept up the appearance of bluff
+good humour, and asked:
+
+"Well, Oo-koo-hoo, what wad ye be wantin' for the laddies?"
+
+"My grandsons are no bunglers, as you know," said the proud old
+grandsire.  "They can each kill at least twenty skins' worth of fur."
+
+"Aye, aye!" rejoined the trader.  "I shall e'en gi'e them twenty atween
+them."
+
+In the goodness of his heart he offered the boys some advice as to what
+they should buy: "Ye'll be wantin' to buy traps, I'm jalousin', an'
+sure ye'll turn oot to be graun' hunters, Nimrods o' the North that
+men'll mak' sangs aboot i' the comin' years."  He cautioned them to
+choose wisely, because from henceforth they would be personally
+responsible for everything they bought, and must pay, "skin for skin"
+(the motto of the Hudson's Bay Company).
+
+The boys listened with gloomy civility, and then purchased an
+assortment of useless trifles such as ribbons, tobacco, buttons, candy,
+rings, pomatum, perfume, and Jew's harps.
+
+The Factor's patience was now nearly exhausted.  He picked up his
+account book, and strode to the door, and held it open as a hint to the
+Indians to leave.  But they pretended to take no notice of his action.
+
+The granddaughters, who had been growing more and more anxious lest
+they should be forgotten, now began to be voluble in complaint.
+Oo-koo-hoo called the trader aside and explained the trouble.  The
+Factor realized that he was in a corner, and that if he now refused
+further supplies he would offend the old chief and drive him to sell
+his best furs to the opposition trader in revenge.  He surrendered, and
+the girls received ten skins between them.
+
+At long last everyone was pleased except the unhappy Factor.  Gathering
+his purchases together, Oo-koo-hoo tied up the powder, shot, tea, and
+sugar in the legs of the trousers; placed the purchases for his wife,
+daughter, and granddaughters in the shawl, and the rest of the goods in
+the blanket.
+
+Then he made the discovery that he had neither flour nor grease.  He
+could not start without them.  The Factor's blood was now almost at the
+boiling pitch, but he dared not betray his feelings; for the Indian was
+ready to take offence at the slightest word, so rich and independent
+did he feel.  Angering him now would simply mean adding to the harvest
+of the opposition trader.  He chewed his lower lip in the effort to
+smother his disgust, and growled out with an angry grin:
+
+"Hoots, mon, ye ha'e gotten ower muckle already.  It's fair redeeklus.
+I jist canna gi'e ye onythin' mair ava!"
+
+"Ah, but, master, you have forgotten that I am a great hunter.  And
+that my son-in-law is a great hunter, too.  This is but the outfit for
+a lazy man!  Besides, the Great Company is rich, and I am poor.  If you
+will be stingy, I shall not trouble you more."
+
+Once again the Factor gave way, and handed out the flour and grease.
+All filed out, and the Factor turned the key in the door.  As he walked
+toward the house, his spirits began to rise, and he clapped the old
+Indian on the back good-naturedly.  Presently Oo-koo-hoo halted in his
+tracks.  He had forgotten something: he had nothing in case of sickness.
+
+"Master, you know my voyage is long; my work is hard; the winter is
+severe.  I am not very strong now: I may fall ill.  My wife--she is not
+very strong--may fall ill also.  My son-in-law is not very strong: he
+may fall ill too.  My daughter is not. . . ."
+
+"De'il ha'e ye!" roared the Factor, "what is't the noo?"
+
+"Never mind, it will do to-morrow," muttered the hunter with an
+offended air.
+
+"As I'm a leevin' sinner, it's noo or it's nivver," insisted the
+Factor, who had no desire to let the Indian have another day at it.
+"Come back this verra minnit, an' I'll gi'e ye a wheen poothers an' sic
+like, that'll keep ye a' hale and hearty, I houp, till ye win hame
+again."
+
+The Factor took him back and gave him some salts, peppermint,
+pain-killer, and sticking-plaster to offset all the ills that might
+befall him and his party during the next ten months.
+
+Once more they started for the house.  The Factor was ready to put up
+with anything as long as he could get them away from the store.
+Oo-koo-hoo now told the trader not to charge anything against his wife
+as he would settle her account himself, and that as Amik would be back
+in the morning, he, too, would want his advances, and if they had
+forgotten anything, Amik could get it next day.
+
+The Factor scowled again, but it was too late.
+
+While the Indians lounged around the kitchen and talked to the Factor's
+wife and the half-breed servant girl, the Factor went to his office and
+made out Oo-koo-hoo's bill, which read:
+
+  Fort Consolation    18 September 189-
+  Dr.
+        Advances to
+      Oo-koo-hoo and family
+    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX1111--164 M.B.
+  Hudson's Bay Company
+    per Donald Mackenzie, Factor
+
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's bill.]
+
+The Indian now told the trader that he wanted him to send the "Fur
+Runners" to him with supplies in ten weeks' time; and that he must have
+a "geese-wark," or measure of days, in order to know exactly when the
+Fur Runners would arrive at his camp.  So the Factor made out the
+following calendar:
+
+  Fort Consolation      18 September 189-
+
+  LNE   1111X111111X1
+  NRU   11111X111111X111111X111111X1111
+  NVER  11X111111X111111X111111X111111
+
+  Hudson's Bay Company
+    per Donald Mackenzie, Factor
+
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's calendar.]
+
+The above characters to the left are syllabic--a method of writing
+taught to the Indians by the missionaries.  They spell the words
+September, October, and November.  The 1's represent week days, and the
+X's Sundays.  The calendar begins with the 18th of September, and the
+crescent marks the 29th of November, the date of the arrival of the Fur
+Runners.  The Indian would keep track of the days by pricking a pin
+hole every day above the proper figure.
+
+Presently the Factor and I were alone for a few moments and he growled:
+
+"Whit d'ye think o' the auld de'il?"
+
+"Fine, I'll go with him, if he will take me."
+
+So I had a talk with the old Indian, and when he learned that I had no
+intention of killing game, but merely wanted to accompany him and his
+son-in-law on their hunts, he consented and we came to terms.  I was to
+be ready to start early on the morning of the 20th.  Then Oo-koo-hoo
+turned to the trader and said:
+
+"Master, it is getting late and it will be later when I reach my lodge.
+I am hungry now, and I shall be hungrier still when I get home.  I am
+growing . . ."
+
+"Aye, aye, ma birkie," interrupted the Factor, "I un'erstaun' fine."
+He bestowed upon the confident petitioner a further gratuity of flour,
+tea, sugar, and tallow, a clay pipe, a plug of tobacco and some
+matches, so as to save him from having to break in upon his winter
+supplies before he started upon his journey to the hunting grounds.
+Oo-koo-hoo solemnly expressed his gratitude:
+
+"Master, my heart is pleased.  You are my father.  I shall now hunt
+well, and you shall have all my fur."
+
+To show his appreciation of the compliment, the Factor gave him an old
+shirt, and wished him good luck.
+
+In the meantime, Oo-koo-hoo's wife had succeeded in obtaining from the
+Factor's wife old clothes for her grandchildren, needles and thread,
+and some food.  Just as they got ready to go, the younger woman, Amik's
+wife, remembered that the baby had brought a duck as a present for the
+Factor's children so they had to give a present in return, worth at
+least twice as much as the duck.
+
+The Factor and his family were by this time sufficiently weary.  Right
+willingly did they go down to the landing to see the Indians off.  No
+sooner had these taken their places in the canoes and paddled a few
+strokes away than the grandmother remembered that she had a present for
+the Factor and his wife.  All paddled back again, and the Factor and
+his wife were each presented with a pair of moccasins.  No, she would
+not take anything in return, at least, not just now.  To-morrow,
+perhaps, when they came to say good-bye.
+
+"Losh me!  I thocht they were aff an' gane," exclaimed the trader as he
+turned and strode up the beach.
+
+I inwardly laughed, for any man--red, white, black, or yellow--who
+could make such a hard-headed old Scotsman as Donald Mackenzie loosen
+up, was certainly clever; and the way old Oo-koo-hoo made off with such
+a lot of supplies proved him more than a match for the trader.
+
+
+THE BEST FUR DISTRICTS
+
+While we were at supper a perfect roar of gun shots ran around the bay
+and on our rushing to the doorway we saw the Inspector's big canoe
+coming.  Up went the flag and more gun shots followed.  Then we went
+down to the landing to meet Inspecting Chief Factor Bell.
+
+After supper the newcomer and the Factor and I sat before the fire and
+discussed the fur trade.  I liked to listen to the old trader, but the
+Inspector, being the greater traveller of the two, covering every year
+on the rounds of his regular work thousands upon thousands of miles,
+was the more interesting talker.  Presently, when the subject turned to
+the distribution of the fur-bearing animals, Mr. Bell took a case from
+his bag and opening it, spread it out before us upon the Factor's desk.
+It was a map of the Dominion of Canada, on which the names of the
+principal posts of the Hudson's Bay Company were printed in red.
+Across it many irregular lines were drawn in different-coloured inks,
+and upon its margins were many written notes.
+
+"This map, as you see," remarked the Inspector, "defines approximately
+the distribution of the fur-bearing animals of Canada, and I'll wager
+that you have never seen another like it; for if it were not for the
+records of the Hudson's Bay Company, no such map could have been
+compiled.  How did I manage it?  Well, to begin with, you must
+understand that the Indians invariably trade their winter's catch of
+fur at the trading post nearest their hunting grounds; so when the
+annual returns of all the posts are sent in to the Company's
+headquarters, those returns accurately define the distribution of the
+fur-bearing animals for that year.  These irregular lines across the
+map were drawn after an examination of the annual returns from all the
+posts for the last forty years.  Publish it?  No, siree, that would
+never do!"
+
+But the Inspector's remarks did not end the subject, as we began
+discussing the greatest breeding grounds of the various fur-bearers,
+and Mr. Bell presently continued:
+
+"The greatest centre for coloured foxes is near Salt River, which flows
+into Slave River at Fort Smith.  There, too, most of the black foxes
+and silver foxes are trapped.  The great otter and fisher centre is
+around Trout Lake, Island Lake, Sandy Lake, and God's Lake.  Otter
+taken north of Lake Superior are found to be fully one third larger
+than those killed in any other region.  Black bears and brown bears are
+most frequently to be met with between Fort Pelly and Portage La Loche.
+Cumberland House is the centre of the greatest breeding grounds for
+muskrat, mink, and ermine.  Manitoba House is another great district
+for muskrat.  Lynxes are found in greatest numbers in the Iroquois
+Valley, in the foothills on the eastern side of the Rockies.  Coyote
+skins come chiefly from the district between Calgary and Qu'Appelle for
+a hundred miles both north and south.  Skunks are most plentiful just
+south of Green Lake; formerly, they lived on the plains, but of late
+they have moved northward into the woods.  Wolverines frequent most the
+timber country just south of the Barren Grounds, where they are often
+found travelling in bands.  The home of the porcupine lies just north
+of Isle a la Crosse.  Forty years ago the breeding grounds of the
+beaver were on the eastern side of the Rockies.  Nowadays that region
+is hardly worth considering as a trapping ground for them.  They have
+been steadily migrating eastward along the Churchill River, then by way
+of Cross Lake, Fort Hope, to Abitibi, thence north-easterly clean
+across the country to Labrador, where few were to be found twenty-five
+years ago.  Don't misunderstand me.  I'm not saying that beaver were
+not found in those parts years ago, but what I mean is that the source
+of the greatest harvest of beaver skins has moved steadily eastward
+during the last forty years.  Strange to say, the finest marten skins
+secured in Canada are not those of the extreme northern limit, but
+those taken on the Parsnip River in British Columbia."
+
+
+WANTED, A SON-IN-LAW
+
+Next morning I busied myself making a few additions to my outfit for
+the winter.  Then I borrowed a two-and-a-half fathom canoe and paddled
+across the lake to Spearhead.  The town I had heard so much about from
+the Free Trader was just a little clearing of about three acres on the
+edge of the forest; in fact, it was really just a stump lot with a
+small one-and-a-half story log house standing in the middle.  Where
+there was a rise in the field, a small log stable was set half
+underground, and upon its roof was stacked the winter's supply of hay
+for a team of horses, a cow, and a heifer.
+
+At the front door Mr. and Mrs. Spear welcomed me.  My hostess was a
+prepossessing Canadian woman of fair education, in fact, she had been a
+stenographer.  On entering the house I found the trading room on the
+right of a tiny hall, on the left was the living room, which was also
+used to eat in, and the kitchen was, of course, in the rear.  After
+being entertained for ten or fifteen minutes by my host and hostess, I
+heard light steps descending the stairs, and the next moment I beheld a
+charming girl.  She was their only child.  They called her Athabasca,
+after the beautiful lake of that name.  She was sixteen years of age,
+tall, slender, and graceful, a brunette with large, soft eyes and long,
+flowing, wavy hair.  She wore a simple little print dress that was
+becomingly short in the skirt, a pair of black stockings, and low,
+beaded moccasins.  I admired her appearance, but regretted her shyness,
+for she was almost as bashful as I was.  She bowed and blushed--so did
+I--and while her parents talked to me she sat demurely silent on the
+sofa.  Occasionally, I caught from her with pleasant embarrassment a
+shy but fleeting glance.
+
+Presently, dinner was announced by a half-breed maid, and we four took
+our places at the table, Athabasca opposite me.  At first the talk was
+lively, though only three shared in it.  Then, as the third seemed
+rather more interested in his silent partner, he would from time to
+time lose the thread of the discourse.  By degrees the conversation
+died down into silence.  A few minutes later Mrs. Spear suddenly
+remarked:
+
+"Father . . . don't you think it would be a good thing if you took
+son-in-law into partnership?"
+
+Father leaned back, scratched his head for a while, and then replied:
+
+"Yes, Mother, I do, and I'll do it."
+
+The silent though beautiful Athabasca, without even raising her eyes
+from her plate, blushed violently, and needless to say, I blushed, too,
+but, of course, only out of sympathy.
+
+"The horses are too busy, just now, to haul the logs, but of course the
+young people could have our spare room until I could build them a log
+shack."
+
+"Father, that's a capital idea.  So there's no occasion for any delay
+whatever.  Then, when their house is finished, we could spare them a
+bed, a table, a couple of chairs, and give them a new cooking stove."
+
+Athabasca blushed deeper than ever, and studied her plate all the
+harder, and I began to show interest and prick up my ears, for I
+wondered who on earth son-in-law could be?  I knew perfectly well there
+was no young white man in all that region, and that even if he lived in
+the nearest frontier town, it would take him, either by canoe or on
+snowshoes, at least two weeks to make the round trip to Spearhead, just
+to call on her.  I couldn't fathom it at all.
+
+"Besides, Mother, we might give them the heifer, as a starter, for she
+will be ready to milk in the spring.  Then, too, we might give them a
+few ducks and geese and perhaps a pig."
+
+"Excellent idea, Father; besides, I think I could spare enough cutlery,
+dishes, and cooking utensils to help out for a while."
+
+"And I could lend them some blankets from the store," the trader
+returned.
+
+But at that moment Athabasca miscalculated the distance to her mouth
+and dropped a bit of potato on the floor, and when she stooped to
+recover it, I caught a glance from the corner of her eye.  It was one
+of those indescribable glances that girls give.  I remember it made me
+perspire all over.  Queer, isn't it, the way women sometimes affect
+one?  I would have blushed more deeply, but by that time there was no
+possible chance of my face becoming any redder, notwithstanding the
+fact that I was a red-head.  Ponder as I would, I couldn't fathom the
+mystery . . . who Son-in-law could be . . . though I had already begun
+to think him a lucky fellow--quite one to be envied.
+
+Then Mrs. Spear exclaimed, as we rose from the table:
+
+"Good! . . .  Then that's settled . . . you'll take him into
+partnership, and I'm glad, for I like him, and I think he'll make an
+excellent trader."
+
+Our getting away from the table rather relieved me, as I was dripping
+perspiration, and I wanted to fairly mop my face--of course, when they
+weren't looking.
+
+Together they showed me over the establishment: the spare bedroom, the
+trading shop, the stable, the heifer, the ducks and geese, and even the
+pig--though it puzzled me why they singled out the very one they
+intended giving Son-in-law.  The silent though beautiful Athabasca
+followed a few feet behind as we went the rounds, and inspected the
+wealth that was to be bestowed upon her lover.  I was growing more
+inquisitive than ever as to who Son-in-law might be.  Indeed, I felt
+like asking, but was really too shy, and besides, when I thought it
+over, I concluded it was none of my business.
+
+When the time came for me to return to the Hudson's Bay Post, I shook
+hands with them all--Athabasca had nice hands and a good grip, too.
+Her parents gave me a pressing invitation to visit them again for a few
+days at New Year's, when everyone in the country would be going to the
+great winter festival that was always held at Fort Consolation.  As I
+paddled away I mused:
+
+"By George, Son-in-law is certainly a lucky dog, for Athabasca's a
+peach . . . but I don't see how in thunder her lover ever gets a chance
+to call."
+
+
+LEAVING FORT CONSOLATION
+
+I was up early next morning and as I wished to see how Oo-koo-hoo and
+his party would pack up and board their canoes, I walked round the bay
+to the Indian village.  After a hasty breakfast, the women pulled down
+the lodge coverings of sheets of birch bark and rolling them up placed
+them upon the _star-chi-gan_--the stage--along with other things which
+they intended leaving behind.  The lodge poles were left standing in
+readiness for their return next summer, and it wasn't long before all
+their worldly goods--save their skin tepees and most of their traps,
+which had been left on their last winter's hunting grounds--were placed
+aboard their three canoes, and off they paddled to the Post, to say
+good-bye, while Amik secured his advances.
+
+Just think of it, all you housekeepers--no gold plate or silverware to
+send to the vault, no bric-a-brac to pack, no furniture to cover, no
+bedding to put away, no rugs or furs or clothes to send to cold
+storage, no servants to wrangle with or discharge, no plumbers to swear
+over, no janitors to cuss at, no, not even any housecleaning to do
+before you depart--just move and nothing more.  Just dump a little
+outfit into a canoe and then paddle away from all your tiresome
+environment, and travel wherever your heart dictates, and then settle
+down where not even an exasperating neighbour could find you.  What
+would you give to live such a peaceful life?
+
+"As I understand it," says Thoreau, "that was a valid objection urged
+by Momus against the house which Minerva made, that she had not made it
+movable, by which means a bad neighbourhood might be avoided; and it
+may still be urged, for our houses are such unwieldy property that we
+are often imprisoned rather than housed in them; and the bad
+neighbourhood to be avoided is our own scurvy selves."
+
+On their arrival, Amik at once set about getting his advances.  He was
+a stalwart, athletic-looking man of about thirty-five, but not the
+equal of his father-in-law in character.  Oo-koo-hoo now told the
+Factor just where he intended to hunt, what fur he expected to get, and
+how the fur runners could best find his camp.  As the price of fur had
+risen, the Factor told him what price he expected to pay.  If, however,
+the price had dropped, the Factor would not have informed the hunter
+until his return next year.  During the course of the conversation, the
+old hunter begged the loan of a second-hand gun and some traps for the
+use of his grandsons; and the Factor granted his request.
+
+In the meantime, the women called upon the clergyman and the priest and
+the nuns to wish them farewell, and incidentally to do a little more
+begging.  As they were not ready to go by noon, the Factor's wife
+spread a cloth upon the kitchen floor, and placed upon it some food for
+the party.  After lunch they actually made ready to depart, and
+everybody came down to the landing to see us off.  As the children and
+dogs scrambled aboard the canoes, the older woman remembered that she
+had not been paid for her gift of moccasins, and so another delay took
+place while the Factor selected a suitable present.  It is always thus.
+Then, at last, the canoes push off.  Amid the waving of hands, the
+shouting of farewells, and the shedding of a few tears even, the simple
+natives of the wilderness paddled away over the silent lake en route
+for their distant hunting grounds.
+
+Thither the reader must follow, and there, amid the fastnesses of the
+Great Northern Forest, he must spend the winter if he would see the
+Indian at his best.  There he is a beggar no longer.  There, escaped
+from the civilization which the white man is ever forcing upon the
+red--a civilization which rarely fails to make a degenerate of him--he
+proves his manhood.  There, contrary to the popular idea, he will be
+found to be a diligent and skilful worker and an affectionate husband
+and father.  There, given health and game, no toil and no hardship will
+hinder him from procuring fur enough to pay off his indebtedness, and
+to lay up in store twice as much again with which to engage next spring
+in the delightful battle of wits between white man and red in the Great
+Company's trading room.
+
+
+
+
+II
+
+IN QUEST OF TREASURE
+
+THE PERFECT FOOL
+
+It was an ideal day and the season and the country were in keeping.
+Soon the trading posts faded from view, and when, after trolling around
+Fishing Point, we entered White River and went ashore for an early
+supper, everyone was smiling.  I revelled over the prospect of work,
+freedom, contentment, and beauty before me; and over the thought of
+leaving behind me the last vestige of the white man's ugly,
+hypercritical, and oppressive civilization.
+
+Was it any wonder I was happy?  For me it was but the beginning of a
+never-to-be-forgotten journey in a land where man can be a man without
+the aid of money.  Yes . . . without money.  And that reminds me of a
+white man I knew who was born and bred in the Great Northern Forest,
+and who supported and educated a family of twelve, and yet he reached
+his sixtieth birthday without once having handled or ever having seen
+money.  He was as generous, as refined, and as noble a man as one would
+desire to know; yet when he visited civilization for the first time--in
+his sixty-first year--he was reviled because he had a smile for all, he
+was swindled because he knew no guile, he was robbed because he trusted
+everyone, and he was arrested because he manifested brotherly love
+toward his fellow-creatures.  Our vaunted civilization!  It was the
+regret of his declining years that circumstances prevented him from
+leaving the enlightened Christians of the cities, and going back to
+live in peace among the honest, kindly hearted barbarians of the forest.
+
+Soon there were salmon-trout--fried to a golden brown--crisp bannock,
+and tea for all; then a little re-adjusting of the packs, and we were
+again at the paddles.  Oo-koo-hoo's wife, Ojistoh, along with her
+second granddaughter and her two grandsons, occupied one of the
+three-and-a-half fathom canoes; Amik, and his wife, Naudin, with her
+baby and eldest daughter, occupied the other; and Oo-koo-hoo and I
+paddled together in the two-and-a-half fathom canoe.  One of the five
+dogs--Oo-koo-hoo's best hunter--travelled with us, while the other four
+took passage in the other canoes.  Although the going was now up
+stream--the same river by which I had come--we made fair speed until
+Island Lake stretched before us, when we felt a southwest wind that
+threatened trouble; but by making a long detour about the bays of the
+southwestern shore the danger vanished.  Arriving at the foot of the
+portage trail at Bear Rock Rapids, we carried our outfit to a cliff
+above, which afforded an excellent camping ground; and there arose the
+smoke of our evening fire.  The cloudless sky giving no sign of rain,
+we contented ourselves with laying mattresses of balsam brush upon
+which to sleep.  While the sunset glow still filled the western sky, we
+heard a man's voice shouting above the roar of the rapids, and on going
+to the brink, saw a "York boat" in the act of shooting the cataract.
+It was one of the boats of "The Goods Brigade" transporting supplies
+for the northern posts of the Hudson's Bay Company.  As the craft
+measured forty feet in length and was manned by eight men, it was
+capable of carrying about seventy packs, each weighing about a hundred
+pounds.  But of these boat brigades--more in due season.
+
+[Illustration: Going to the brink, saw a "York boat" in the act of
+shooting the cataract.  It was one of the boats of "The Goods Brigade"
+transporting supplies for the northern posts of the Hudson's Bay
+Company.  As the craft measured forty feet in length and was manned by
+eight men, it was capable of carrying about seventy packs, each
+weighing about a hundred pounds.  But of these boat brigades . . .  See
+Chapter II.]
+
+After supper, when twilight was deepening, and tobacco--in the smoking
+of which the women conscientiously joined--was freely forthcoming, the
+subject of conversation turned to woodcraft.  Since it fell to
+Oo-koo-hoo, as the principal hunter, to keep the party supplied with
+game while en route, I was wondering what he would do in case he saw a
+bear and went ashore to trail it.  Would he himself skin and cut up the
+bear, or would he want the women to help him?  If the latter, what sign
+or signal would he use so that they might keep in touch with him?  But
+when I questioned Oo-koo-hoo, he replied:
+
+"My white son"--for that is what he sometimes called me--"I see you are
+just like all white men, but if you are observant and listen to those
+who are wiser than you, you may some day rank almost the equal of an
+Indian."
+
+Afterward, when I became better acquainted with him, I learned that
+with regard to white men in general, he held the same opinion that all
+Indians do, and that is, that they are perfect fools.  When I agreed
+with the old gentleman, and assured him he was absolutely right, and
+that the biggest fool I ever knew was the one who was talking to him,
+he laughed outright, and replied that now he knew that I was quite
+different from most white men, and that he believed some day I would be
+the equal of an Indian.  When I first heard his opinion of white men, I
+regarded him as a pretty sane man, but afterward, when I tried to get
+him to include not only his brother Indians, but also himself under the
+same definition, I could not get him to agree with me, therefore I was
+disappointed in him.  He was not the philosopher I had at first taken
+him to be; for life has taught me that all men are fools--of one kind
+or another.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO'S WOODCRAFT
+
+But to return to woodcraft.  Emerson says: "Men are naturally hunters
+and inquisitive of woodcraft, and I suppose that such a gazetteer as
+wood-cutters and Indians should furnish facts for would take place in
+the most sumptuous drawing rooms of all the 'Wreaths' and 'Flora's
+Chaplets' of the bookshops" and believing that to be true, I shall
+therefore tell you not only how my Indian friends managed to keep their
+bearings while travelling without a compass, but how, without the aid
+of writing, they continued to leave various messages for their
+companions.  When I asked Oo-koo-hoo how he would signal, in case he
+went ashore to trail game--when the other canoes were out of sight
+behind him--and he should want someone to follow him to help carry back
+the meat, he replied that he would cut a small bushy-topped sapling and
+plant it upright in the river near his landing place on the shore.
+That, he said, would signify that he wished his party to go ashore and
+camp on the first good camping ground; while, at the same time, it
+would warn them not to kindle a fire until they had first examined the
+tracks to make sure whether the smoke would frighten the game.  Then
+someone would follow his trail to render him assistance, providing they
+saw that he had blazed a tree.  If he did not want them to follow him,
+he would shove two sticks into the ground so that they would slant
+across the trail in the form of an X, but if he wanted them to follow
+he would blaze a tree.  If he wanted them to hurry, he would blaze the
+same tree twice.  If he wanted them to follow as fast as they could
+with caution, he would blaze the same tree three times, but if he
+desired them to abandon all caution and to follow with all speed, he
+would cut a long blaze and tear it off.
+
+Then, again, if he were leaving the game trail to circle his quarry,
+and if he wished them to follow his tracks instead of those of the
+game, he would cut a long blaze on one tree and a small one on another
+tree, which would signify that he had left the game trail at a point
+between the two trees and that they were to follow his tracks instead
+of those of the game.  But if he wished them to stop and come no
+farther, he would drop some article of his clothing on the trail.
+Should, however, the game trail happen to cross a muskeg where there
+were no trees to blaze, he would place moss upon the bushes to answer
+instead of blazes, and in case the ground was hard and left an
+invisible trail, he would cut a stick and shoving the small end into
+the trail, would slant the butt in the direction he had gone.
+
+If traversing water where there were no saplings at hand, and he wished
+to let his followers know where he had left the water to cross a
+muskeg, he would try to secure a pole, which he would leave standing in
+the water, with grass protruding from the split upper end, and the pole
+slanting to show in which direction he had gone.  If, on the arrival at
+the fork of a river, he wished to let his followers know up which fork
+he had paddled--say, for instance, if it were the right one--he would
+shove a long stick into either bank of the left fork in such a way that
+it would point straight across the channel of the left fork, to
+signify, as it were, that the channel was blocked.  Then, a little
+farther up the right fork, he would plant a sapling or pole in the
+water, slanting in the direction he had gone--to prove to the follower
+that he was now on the right trail.  Oo-koo-hoo further explained that
+if he were about to cross a lake and he wished to let his follower know
+the exact point upon which he intended to land, he would cut two poles,
+placing the larger nearest the woods and the smaller nearest the water,
+both in an upright position and in an exact line with the point to
+which he was going to head, so that the follower by taking sight from
+one pole to the other would learn the exact spot on the other shore
+where he should land--even though it were several miles away.  But if
+he were not sure just where he intended to land, he would cut a willow
+branch and twist it into the form of a hoop and hang it upon the
+smaller pole--that would signify that he might land at any point of the
+surrounding shore of the lake.
+
+If he wanted to signal his family to camp at any particular point along
+his trail, he would leave some article of his clothing and place near
+it a number of sticks standing in the form of the poles of a lodge,
+thus suggesting to them that they should erect their tepee upon that
+spot.  If he had wounded big game and expected soon to overtake and
+kill it, and if he wanted help to carry back the meat, he would blaze a
+tree and upon that smooth surface would make a sketch, either with
+knife or charcoal, of the animal he was pursuing.  If a full day had
+elapsed since the placing of crossed sticks over the trail, the
+follower would abandon all caution and follow at top speed, as he would
+realize that some misfortune had befallen the hunter.  The second man,
+or follower, however, never blazes trees as he trails the first hunter,
+but simply breaks off twigs or bends branches in the direction in which
+he is going, so that should it be necessary that a third man should
+also follow, he could readily distinguish the difference between the
+two trails.  If a hunter wishes to leave a good trail over a treeless
+district, he, as far as possible, chooses soft ground and treads upon
+his heels.
+
+When a hunter is trailing an animal, he avoids stepping upon the
+animal's trail, so that should it be necessary for him to go back and
+re-trail his quarry, the animal's tracks shall not be obliterated.  If,
+in circling about his quarry, the hunter should happen to cut his own
+trail, he takes great care to cut it at right angles, so that, should
+he have to circle several times, he may never be at a loss to know
+which was his original trail.  If the hunter should wish to leave a
+danger signal behind him, he will take two saplings, one from either
+side of the trail, and twist them together in such a way that they
+shall block the passage of the follower, requiring him to pause in
+order to disentangle them or to pass around them; and if the hunter
+were to repeat such a signal two or three times, it would signify that
+the follower should use great caution and circle down wind in order to
+still-hunt the hunter's trail in exactly the same way he would
+still-hunt a moose.  Then, again, if the hunter should wish to let the
+follower know the exact time of day he had passed a certain spot, he
+would draw on the earth or snow a bow with an arrow placed at right
+angles to the bow, but pointing straight in the direction where the sun
+had been at that precise moment.
+
+
+THE BEAR'S DEDUCTION
+
+Owing to their knowledge of wood-craft some Indians are very clever at
+deduction.
+
+On Great Slave Lake near Fort Rae an Indian cripple, named Simpson's
+Brother, had joined a party of canoe-men for the purpose of hunting
+eggs.  After paddling toward a group of islands, the party separated,
+finally landing on different isles.  They had agreed, however, to meet
+at sunset on a certain island and there eat and sleep together.  While
+at work several of the Indians saw Simpson's Brother alone on a little
+rocky islet, busily engaged in gathering eggs.  Toward evening, the
+party met at their rendezvous and took supper together, but strange to
+say, Simpson's Brother did not appear.  After smoking and talking for a
+while, some grew anxious about the cripple.  The Bear began to fear
+lest some mishap had befallen him; but The Caribou scoffed at the idea:
+he was sure that Simpson's Brother was still working and that he would
+soon return with more eggs than any of them.  The Bear, however,
+thought they ought to search for him, as his canoe might have drifted
+away.  But The Mink replied that if anything like that had happened,
+the cripple would certainly have fired his gun.  "But how could he fire
+his gun if his canoe had drifted away?" asked The Bear, "for would not
+his gun be in his canoe?"  So they all paddled off to investigate the
+mystery.  On nearing the island, they saw the Brother's canoe adrift.
+When they overhauled it, sure enough his gun was aboard.  They then
+landed on the little isle where the cripple had been at work and began
+calling aloud for him.  As they received no answer, some of the Indians
+claimed that he must be asleep.  The Bear replied that if he was asleep
+their shouting would have awakened him and he would have answered, but
+that now they had best search the island.
+
+So they divided into two parties and searched the shore in different
+directions until they finally met on the other side, then they
+scattered and examined every nook and corner of the place--but all in
+vain.  Some now contended that the others were mistaken, and that that
+could not be the island on which the Brother had been working; but The
+Bear--though he had not seen the cripple there--insisted that it was.
+They asked him to prove it.
+
+"The wind has been blowing steadily from the north," replied The Bear,
+"the other islands are all south of this one, and you know that we
+found his canoe adrift south of here and north of all the other
+islands.  That is sufficient proof."  Then he added: "The reason
+Simpson's Brother did not answer is because he is not on the island,
+but in the water."
+
+Again they all clamoured for proof and The Bear answered: "But first I
+must find where he landed, and the quickest way to find that place is
+to remember that the wind was blowing too strong for him to land on the
+north shore, and that the running swells were too strong for him to
+land on either the east or west sides, therefore he landed on the south
+side--the sheltered side.  Now let us go and see where he drew up his
+canoe."
+
+But one of the others argued that that would be impossible as Simpson's
+Brother was not such a fool as to act like a white man and drag his
+canoe over the rocks.  The Bear, however, persisted that there would be
+some sign, at least where the bow touched shore when the cripple got
+out, and that he, The Bear, would go and find it.  But first he would
+go and examine the nests to learn from which of them the cripple had
+removed the eggs.  Thus they would learn where he had been working; and
+the finding of the landing place would be made easier.  So The Bear set
+to work.  From the empty nests he soon learned where the cripple had
+been working, and after a careful search he presently found on a big
+rock a little white spot no larger than a man's finger nail.
+
+"There, my friends, is where Simpson's Brother landed, for that white
+mark is of gum and proves where the bow of the canoe bumped the rock."
+
+They then asked The Bear where he thought the cripple was, and
+pointing, he replied:
+
+"If we search long enough we shall find him in the deep water down
+there; for when Simpson's Brother was getting aboard his canoe, he
+slipped and in falling struck his head upon the rock; the blow stunned
+him, and without a struggle he slid into the water, and was drowned."
+
+When they had brought their canoes round and had peered into the deep
+water, true enough, they discovered the body on the bottom of the lake.
+Securing a long pole, they fastened a gun worm to one end and, reaching
+down, twisted it into the cripple's clothing and brought the body to
+the surface.  Sadly they placed it in the unfortunate man's canoe,
+towed the craft and its burden to the other island, and sent to Fort
+Rae for the priest, Father Roure, to come and perform the burial
+service.
+
+
+BEASTS WITH HUMAN SOULS
+
+Next morning we arose with dawn.  After a hearty breakfast of
+fish--taken from the gill-net that had been set overnight below the
+rapid--the work of portaging round the rapids was begun and by about
+ten o'clock was finished.  Noon overtook us near the mouth of Caribou
+River, up which we were to ascend on the first half of our journey to
+Oo-koo-hoo's hunting grounds.  About two o'clock we entered that stream
+and headed westerly toward a spur of mountains that lay about a week's
+travel away and through which we had to pass to gain our winter camping
+ground.  An hour later, as Oo-koo-hoo and I preceded the party,
+paddling up one of the channels caused by a number of large islands
+dividing the river into mere creeks, we chanced upon a woodland caribou
+bull, as it stood among the rushes in a marshy bend watching us from a
+distance of not more than forty yards.  As I crouched down to be out of
+the hunter's way, I heard him say:
+
+"I'm sorry, my brother, but we need you for both food and clothing, so
+turn your eyes away before I fire."  The next moment the woods echoed
+the report of his smooth-bore muzzle-loader--the kind of gun used by
+about 90 per cent. of the fur hunters of the forest.  Why?  Because of
+the simplicity of its ammunition.  Such a gun never requires a variety
+of cumbersome shells for different kinds of game, but with varying
+charges of powder and shot or ball, is ready for anything from a rat or
+duck to a bear or moose.
+
+Before bleeding the deer, Oo-koo-hoo did a curious thing: with his
+sharp knife he destroyed the deer's eyes.  When I questioned him as to
+his purpose he replied: "As long as the eyes remain perfect, the spirit
+remains within the head, and I could not bear to skin the deer with its
+spirit looking at me."  Though Oo-koo-hoo was in many ways a wise old
+man, he held some beliefs that were past my understanding, and others
+that, when I tried to analyze them, seemed to be founded on the working
+of a sensitive conscience.
+
+Hearing the report of the gun, the others hurried to the scene.  While
+the deer was being bled the old grandmother caught the blood in a
+pail--into which she threw a pinch of salt to clot the blood--as she
+wished to use it for the making of a blood pudding.  Then the carcass
+was loaded aboard Oo-koo-hoo's canoe, rather, indeed, overloading it.
+Accordingly, I accepted Amik's invitation to board his craft, and at
+the first good place we all went ashore to clear the ground for the
+night's camp.  There was a porcupine there, and though it moved but
+slowly away, my friends did not kill it, for they had plenty to eat,
+and did not want to be bothered with taking care of those dangerous
+little quills that the women dye and use to such good advantage in
+their fancy work.  As to the Indian method of dressing meat and
+skins--more anon, when we are finally settled upon the fur trail.
+
+That evening, while flames were leaping after ascending sparks, and
+shadows were dancing behind us among the trees, we lounged about the
+fire on packs and blankets and discussed the events of the day.  When I
+asked Oo-koo-hoo why he had addressed the deer in such a manner, he
+replied that it was the proper and regular way to speak to an animal,
+because every creature in the forest, whether beast, bird, or fish,
+contained the spirit of some former human being.  He further explained
+that whenever the men of the olden time killed an unusually large
+animal with an extra fine coat, they did not save the skin to sell to
+the trader, but burnt the carcass, pelt and all, and in that way they
+returned the body to the spirit again.  Thus they not only paid homage
+to the spirit, but proved themselves unselfish men.  He went on to say
+that from the time of the Great, Great Long Ago, the Indian had always
+believed--as he did to-day--that every bull moose contained the spirit
+of a famous Indian chief, that every caribou bull contained the spirit
+of a lesser chief, and so on down through the whole of the animal
+creation.  Bears, however, or rather the spirits animating them,
+possessed the greatest power to render good or evil, and for that
+reason the hunter usually took the greatest care to address Bruin
+properly before he slew him.
+
+It is no wonder that the Indians still retain such ideas when, as Lord
+Avebury says: "We do not now, most of us, believe that animals have
+souls, and yet probably the majority of mankind from Buddha to Wesley
+and Kingsley have done so."
+
+Another thing Oo-koo-hoo told me was that out of respect to the
+dignified spirit possessed by the bull moose, women were never allowed
+to eat of the head, nor was a moose head to be placed upon a sled upon
+which a woman had ever sat; for if that were done, bad luck would
+follow the hunter to the end of his days.  He knew of a hunter who on
+one occasion had been guilty of that irreverence; afterward, whenever
+that hunter would see a moose, the moose--instead of trying to
+escape--would indifferently bark at him, and even follow him back close
+to camp; and when that hunter would go out again, other moose would do
+the very same thing.  Moreover, the hunter was afraid to kill any moose
+that acted that way, for he well knew that the animal was simply
+warning him of some great danger that was surely going to befall him.
+So, in the end, the hunter fretted himself to death.  Therefore every
+hunter should take great care to burn all the bones of a moose's head
+and never on any account allow a woman to eat thereof or to feed it to
+the dogs.  In burning the head, the hunter was merely paying the homage
+due to so noble a creature.
+
+Again, a hunter might find that though he had formerly been a good
+moose hunter, and had always observed every custom, yet he now utterly
+failed to secure a moose at all.  He might come upon plenty of tracks,
+but the moose would always escape, and prove the efforts of an
+experienced moose hunter of no more avail than those of a greenhorn.
+In such a case, there was but one thing to do, and that was to secure
+the whole skin--head, legs, and all--of a fawn, stuff it into its
+natural shape, set it up in the woods, wait till the new moon was in
+the first crescent, and then, just after sundown, engage a young girl
+to shoot five arrows at it from the regular hunting distance.  If she
+missed, it was proof that the spirit had rejected the girl, and that
+another would have to be secured to do the shooting.  If success were
+then attained, the hunter might go upon his hunt, well knowing he would
+soon be rewarded by bringing down a moose.  Of course such ideas seem
+strange to us, but, after all, are we in a position to ridicule the
+Indians' belief?  I think not, if we but recall the weird ideas our
+ancestors held.
+
+The Indian, like the white man, has many superstitions, some ugly, and
+some beautiful, and of the latter class, I quote one: he believes that
+the spirits of still-born children or very young infants take flight,
+when they die, and enter the bodies of birds.  A delightful
+thought--especially for the mother.  For as Kingsley says of St.
+Francis, "perfectly sure that he himself was a spiritual being, he
+thought it at least possible that birds might be spiritual beings
+likewise, incarnate like himself in mortal flesh; and saw no
+degradation to the dignity of human nature in claiming kindred
+lovingly, with creatures so beautiful, so wonderful, who praised God in
+the forest, even as angels did in heaven."
+
+The forest Indian, however, is not content with merely stating that the
+spirits of infants enter birds; but he goes on to say that while the
+spirits of Indian children always enter the beings of the finest
+singers and the most beautiful of all the birds, the spirits of the
+children of white people enter the bodies of stupid, ugly birds that
+just squawk around, and are neither interesting to look at nor pleasant
+to listen to, but are quarrelsome, and thievish.  When I asked
+Oo-koo-hoo to name a few birds into which the spirits of white children
+entered, he mentioned, among others, the woodpecker--which the Indians
+consider to have, proportionately, the longest and sharpest tongue of
+all birds.  That reminds me of the reply I received from one of the
+characters in this book, when I wrote him, among others, requesting
+that he grant me permission to make use of his name, in order to add
+authority to my text.  Like others, he begged me to refrain from
+quoting his name, as he was afraid that the information he had given me
+might be the cause of the Hudson's Bay Company stopping his pension.  I
+had suggested that he refer the matter to his wife as she, too, figures
+in this story, and the following is part of his reply: "This being an
+affair between you and I--I have not consulted my wife.  For as you
+know, the human female tongue is very similar to that of the female
+woodpecker: unusually long, and much too pointed to be of any use."
+
+
+THE HONESTY OF INDIANS
+
+But to return to the Indian's reproach of the white man's dishonesty;
+when he states that the spirits of white children enter only those
+birds that are counted great thieves, one cannot wonder at it, for as
+far as honesty is concerned, a comparison between the forest Indian and
+the white man brands the latter as a thief.  Not only is that the
+private opinion of all the old fur traders I have met, but I could
+quote many other authorities; let two, however, suffice: Charles Mair,
+the author of "Tecumseh," and a member of the Indian Treaty Expedition
+of 1899, says:
+
+"The writer, and doubtless some of his readers, can recall the time
+when to go to 'Peace River' seemed almost like going to another sphere,
+where, it was conjectured, life was lived very differently from that of
+civilized man.  And, truly, it was to enter into an unfamiliar state of
+things; a region in which a primitive people, not without fault or
+depravities, lived on Nature's food, and throve on her unfailing
+harvest of fur.  A region in which they often left their beaver, silver
+fox, or marten packs--the envy of Fashion--lying by the dog-trail, or
+hanging to some sheltering tree, because no one stole, and took their
+fellow's word without question, because no one lied.  A very simple
+folk indeed, in whose language profanity was unknown, and who had no
+desire to leave their congenital solitudes for any other spot on earth:
+solitudes which so charmed the educated minds who brought the white
+man's religion, or traffic, to their doors, that, like the
+Lotus-eaters, they, too, felt little craving to depart.  Yet they were
+not regions of sloth or idleness, but of necessary toil; of the
+laborious chase and the endless activities of aboriginal life: the
+regions of a people familiar with its fauna and flora--of skilled but
+unconscious naturalists, who knew no science . . .  But theft such as
+white men practice was a puzzle to these people, amongst whom it was
+unknown."
+
+Another example worth quoting is taken from Sir William Butler's "The
+Wild North Land":
+
+"The 'Moose That Walks' arrived at Hudson's Hope early in the spring.
+He was sorely in want of gunpowder and shot, for it was the season when
+the beaver leave their winter houses and when it is easy to shoot them.
+So he carried his thirty martens' skins to the fort, to barter them for
+shot, powder, and tobacco.
+
+"There was no person at the Hope.  The dwelling-house was closed, the
+store shut up, the man in charge had not yet come up from St. John's;
+now what was to be done?  Inside that wooden house lay piles and piles
+of all that the 'Moose that Walks' most needed.  There was a whole keg
+of powder; there were bags of shot, and tobacco--there was as much as
+the Moose could smoke in his whole life.
+
+"Through a rent in the parchment window the Moose looked at all those
+wonderful things, and at the red flannel shirts, and at the four flint
+guns and the spotted cotton handerchiefs, each worth a sable skin at
+one end of the fur trade, half a six-pence at the other.  There was
+tea, too--tea, that magic medicine before which life's cares vanished
+like snow in spring sunshine.
+
+"The Moose sat down to think about all these things, but thinking only
+made matters worse.  He was short of ammunition, therefore he had no
+food, and to think of food when one is very hungry is an unsatisfactory
+business.  It is true that the Moose that Walks had only to walk in
+through that parchment window and help himself until he was tired.  But
+no, that would not do.
+
+"'Ah,' my Christian friend will exclaim, 'Ah, yes, the poor Indian had
+known the good missionary, and had learnt the lesson of honesty and
+respect for his neighbour's property.'
+
+"Yes; he had learnt the lesson of honesty, but his teacher, my friend,
+had been other than human.  The good missionary had never reached the
+Hope of Hudson, nor improved the morals of the Moose That Walks.
+
+"But let us go on.  After waiting two days he determined to set off for
+St. John's, two full days' travel.  He set out, but his heart failed
+him, and he turned back again.
+
+"At last, on the fourth day, he entered the parchment window, leaving
+outside his comrade, to whom he jealously denied admittance.  Then he
+took from the cask of powder three skins' worth, from the tobacco four
+skins' worth, from the shot the same; and sticking the requisite number
+of martens' skins in the powder barrel and the shot bag and the tobacco
+case, he hung up his remaining skins on a nail to the credit of his
+account, and departed from this El Dorado, this Bank of England of the
+Red Man in the wilderness.  And when it was all over he went his way,
+thinking he had done a very reprehensible act, and one by no means to
+be proud of."
+
+If it were necessary further to establish the honesty of the forest
+Indian, I could add many proofs from my own experience, but one will
+suffice:
+
+Years ago, during my first visit to the Hudson's Bay Post on Lake
+Temagami, when the only white man living in all that beautiful region
+was old Malcolm MacLean, a "freeman" of the H. B. Co., who had married
+an Indian woman and become a trapper, I was invited to be the guest of
+the half-breed Hudson's Bay trader, Johnnie Turner, and was given a
+bedroom in his log house.  The window of my room on the ground floor
+was always left wide open, and in fact was never once closed during my
+stay of a week or more.  Inside my room, a foot from the open window, a
+lidless cigar box was nailed to the wall, yet it contained a heap of
+bills of varying denominations--ones, fives, and tens, and even
+twenties; how much in all I don't know for I never had the curiosity to
+count them--though, at the time, I guessed that there were many
+hundreds of dollars.  It was the trader's bank.  Nevertheless, beside
+that open window was the favourite lounging place of all the Indian
+trappers and hunters who visited the Post, and during my stay a group
+of Indians that numbered from three or four to thirty or forty were
+daily loitering in the shade within a few feet of that open window.
+Sometimes, when I was in my room, they would even intrude their heads
+and shoulders through the window and talk to me.  Several times I saw
+them glance at the heap of money, but they no more thought of touching
+it than I did; yet day or night it could have been taken with the
+greatest ease, and the thief never discovered--but, of course, there
+wasn't a thief in all that region.
+
+But now that the white man has made Lake Temagami a fashionable summer
+resort, and the civilized Christians flock there from New York,
+Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Montreal, how long would the trader's money
+remain in an open box beside an open window on a dark night?
+
+
+TRACKING UP RAPIDS
+
+After breakfast next morning, while ascending Caribou River, we
+encountered a series of rapids that extended for nearly a quarter of a
+mile.  Here and there, in midstream, rocks protruded above the foaming
+water, and from their leeward ends flowed eddying currents of back
+water that from their dark, undulating appearance rather suggested that
+every boulder possessed a tail.  It was always for those long, flowing
+tails that the canoes were steered in their slow upward struggle from
+one rock to another; for each tail formed a little harbour in which the
+canoe could not only make easier headway, but also might hover for a
+moment while the paddlers caught their breath.  Then out again they
+would creep, and once more the battle would rage and, working with
+might and main, the paddlers would force the canoe gradually ahead and
+over into the eddy of another boulder.  Sometimes the water would leap
+over the gunwales and come aboard with a savage hiss.  At other times
+the canoes seemed to become discouraged and, with their heads almost
+buried beneath the angry, spitting waves, would balk in midstream and
+not move forward so much as a foot to the minute.  It was dangerous
+work, for if at any time a canoe became inclined across the current,
+even to the slightest degree, it might be rolled over and over, like a
+barrel descending an incline.  Dangerous work it was, but it was
+interesting to see how powerfully the Indians propelled their canoes,
+how skilfully they guided them, and how adroitly even the little
+children handled their paddles.  However, we landed safely at the head
+of the rapids, and upon going ashore to drain the canoes, partook of a
+refreshing snack of tea and bannock.  Then to the canoes again.  The
+aspect of the river was now very beautiful, beautiful enough to ponder
+over and to dream, so we took it easy.  While pipes were going we
+gazed, in peace and restfulness, at the reflections, for they were
+wonderful.
+
+After dinner we encountered another rapid, but though it was much
+shorter than the former, the current ran too strong to attempt the
+ascent with the aid of only paddles or poles.  The northern tripper has
+the choice between five methods of circumventing "white waters," and
+his selection depends upon the strength of the current: first,
+paddling; second, poling; third, wading; fourth, tracking; and fifth,
+portaging.  You are already familiar with the method of paddling, and
+also with that of portaging, and a description of poling will shortly
+follow.  Wading is resorted to only when the trippers, unprovided with
+poles, have been defeated in their effort to ascend with no other aid
+than their paddles.  Then they leap overboard and seizing hold of the
+gunwales drag the craft up the rapids before it can be overcome by the
+turbulent water, and either driven down stream or capsized.  Again,
+when the trippers encounter, in shallow water, such obstacles as jammed
+timbers, wading allows them carefully to ease their craft around or
+over the obstruction.
+
+When tracking their six-fathom canoes, or "York boats," or "sturgeon
+scows," the voyageurs of the north brigades use very long lines, one
+end of which is attached to the bow of the craft while to the other end
+is secured a leather harness of breast straps called _otapanapi_ into
+which each hauler adjusts himself.  Thus, while the majority of the
+crew land upon the shore and, so harnessed, walk off briskly in single
+file along the river bank, their mates aboard endeavour, with the aid
+of either paddles, sweeps, or poles, to keep the craft in a safe
+channel.
+
+In the present instance we had to resort to tracking, but it was of a
+light character, for the canoes were not too heavily loaded, nor was
+the current too strong for us to make fair headway along the rough,
+pathless bank of the wild little stream.  In each canoe one person
+remained aboard to hold the bow off shore with a paddle or pole, while
+the others scrambled along the river bank, either to help haul upon a
+line, or, in the case of the younger children and the dogs, simply to
+walk in order to relieve the craft of their weight and also for
+safety's sake, should the canoe overturn.  The greatest danger is for
+the steersman to lose control and allow the canoe to get out of line
+with the current, as the least headway in a wrong direction is apt to
+capsize it.
+
+With us all went well until a scream from the children announced that
+Ah-ging-goos, the second son, had fallen in, and anxiety reigned until
+the well-drenched Chipmunk partly crawled and was partly hauled ashore;
+and then laughter echoed in the river valley, for The Chipmunk was at
+times much given to frisking about and showing off, and this time he
+got his reward.
+
+But before we had ascended half the length of the rapids we encountered
+the usual troubles that overtake the tracker--those of clearing our
+lines of trees and bushes, slipping into the muck of small inlets,
+stumbling over stones, cutting the lines upon sharp rocks, or having
+them caught by gnarled roots of driftwood.  As we approached the last
+lap of white water the canoes passed through a rocky basin that held a
+thirty- or forty-yard section of the river in a slack and unruffled
+pool.  While ascending this last section, the last canoe, the one in
+which the old grandmother was wielding the paddle, broke away from
+Oo-koo-hoo, the strain severing his well-worn line, and away
+Grandmother went, racing backward down through the turbulent foam.
+With her usual presence of mind she exercised such skill in guiding her
+canoe that it never for a moment swerved out of the true line of the
+current, and thus she saved herself and all her precious cargo.  Then,
+the moment she struck slack water, she in with her paddle, and out with
+her pole, stood up in her unsteady craft, bent her powerful old frame,
+and--her pipe still clenched between her ancient teeth--with all her
+might and main she actually poled her canoe right up to the very head
+of the rapids, and came safely ashore.  It was thrilling to watch
+her--for we could render no aid--and when she landed we hailed her with
+approval for her courage, strength, and skill; but Grandmother was
+annoyed--her pipe was out.
+
+
+TRAVELLING AT NIGHT
+
+While we rested a few minutes, the women espied, in a little springy
+dell, some unusually fine moss, which they at once began to gather.
+Indian women dry it and use it in a number of ways, especially for
+packing about the little naked bodies of their babies when lacing them
+to their cradle boards.  The incident, however, reminds me of what once
+happened to an Indian woman and her eight-year-old daughter when they
+were gathering moss about a mile from their camp on the shore of Great
+Slave Lake.  They were working in a muskeg, and the mother, observing a
+clump of gnarled spruces a little way off, sent her daughter there to
+see if there were any berries.  Instead of fruit the child found a nice
+round hole that led into a cavern beneath the roots of the trees that
+stood upon the little knoll; and she called to her mother to come and
+see it.  On kneeling down and peering within, the mother discovered a
+bear inside, and instantly turning about, hauled up her skirt and sat
+down in such a way that her figure completely blocked the hole and shut
+out all light.  Then she despatched her child on the run for camp, to
+tell Father to come immediately with his gun and shoot the bear.
+
+To one who is not versed in woodcraft, such an act displays remarkable
+bravery, but to an Indian woman it meant no such thing, it was merely
+the outcome of her knowledge of bears, for she well knew that as long
+as all light was blocked from the hole the bear would lie still.  But
+perhaps you wonder why she pulled up her skirt.  To prevent it from
+being soiled or torn?  No, that was not the reason.  Again it was her
+knowledge of bears that prompted her, for she knew that if by any
+strange chance the bear did move about in the dark, and if he did
+happen to touch her bare figure--for Indian ladies never wear
+lingerie--the bear would have been so mystified on encountering a
+living thing in the dark that he would make never another move until
+light solved the mystery.  However, Father came with a rush, and shot
+the bear, and the brute was a big one, too.
+
+During the rest of the afternoon we found the current quite slack and
+therefore, making better headway, we gained Caribou Lake about an hour
+before sundown; and on finding a fair wind beneath a clear sky that
+promised moonlight, it was decided to sail as far down the lake as the
+breeze would favour us, and then go ashore upon some neighbouring isle
+for the balance of the night.  So two stout poles were secured and laid
+across our two large canoes as they rested about a foot apart and
+parallel to one another.  Then, the poles being lashed to the thwarts,
+a single "four-point" blanket was rigged horizontally to two masts, one
+standing in each canoe and both guyed with tump-lines, and leaning away
+from each other in order to spread the improvised sail.  Two canoes so
+rigged cannot only make good headway, but can with safety run before a
+very strong wind.  While Oo-koo-hoo's canoe was kept free, he
+nevertheless counted on having it towed, as it could then be cast off
+without a moment's delay in case of our coming unexpectedly upon
+tempting game.
+
+Supper was no sooner over than we were lying lazily in our canoes and,
+to the music of babbling water and foaming wakes, rushing toward the
+setting sun.  Soon twilight overtook us, and wrapping shadows about us,
+accompanied us for a while.  Next starlight appeared and with myriads
+of twinkling lanterns showed us our way among the now silhouetted
+islands.  Then the moon uprose and pushed a shiny head through the
+upper branches of the eastern trees.  At first it merely peeped as
+though to make sure we were not afraid; then it came out boldly in
+glory and quickly turning our wake into a path of molten gold, began to
+soar above the forest.
+
+For a while I could hear the childish prattle of the children and the
+crooning of Naudin as she hushed, with swaying body, her baby to her
+breast.
+
+Then even those gentle sounds died away as the little forms snuggled
+down beneath the blankets among the dogs and bales.  Occasionally a
+loon called to us, or an owl swooped, ghost-like, overhead, and as we
+passed among pine-crested isles, those weather-beaten old monarchs just
+stood there, and whispering to one another, shook their heads as we
+swept by.
+
+Then for a few moments a mother moose with her two calves stood knee
+deep in a water-lily bay, and watched us on our way.  But Oo-koo-hoo
+was now too drowsy to think of anything but sleep.  So hour after hour
+went by while the moon rose higher and higher, and circling round to
+the westward, began to descend in front of us.
+
+
+POLING UP RAPIDS
+
+Out of the east came dawn with a sweep of radiant splendour.  Still we
+sailed westward, ever westward, until the sun rose and through the
+rising mist showed us that the mouth of Caribou River opened right
+before us; then, happily, we landed on a little island to breakfast,
+and to drowse away a couple of hours on mossy beds beneath the shade of
+wind-blown pines.
+
+Besides shooting a few ducks and a beaver, and seeing a distant moose,
+nothing happened that was eventful enough to deflect my interest from
+the endless variety of charming scenery that came into view as we swept
+round bend after bend of that woodland river; at least, not until about
+four o'clock, when we arrived at the foot of another rapid.  This
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik examined carefully from the river bank, and decided
+that it could be ascended by poling.  So from green wood we cut
+suitable poles of about two inches in diameter and from seven to nine
+feet in length and knifed them carefully to rid them of bark and knots.
+Then, for this was a shoal rapids, both bowman and sternman stood up,
+the better to put the full force of their strength and weight into the
+work; the children, however, merely knelt to the work of wielding their
+slender poles; but in deep water, or where there were many boulders and
+consequently greater risk if the canoe were overturned, all would have
+knelt to do the work.
+
+Going bow-on straight for the mid-stream current, we plied our poles to
+good advantage.  Each man remembered, however, to lift his pole only
+when his mate's had been planted firmly in the river bottom.  Then he
+would fix his own a little farther ahead and throw all his weight and
+strength upon it, while at the same moment his companion went the same
+round.  Then he would firmly re-fix his pole a little farther up
+stream, and then once again shoved in unison.  Thus foot by foot we
+crept up stream.  It was hard but joyous work, for standing up in a
+canoe surrounded by a powerful and treacherous current gave us the
+thrill of adventure.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO VISITS BEAVERS
+
+All the canoes having mounted the white water, however, in safety, it
+was decided, though sunset was several hours away, to spend the night
+at the head of the rapids, as the place afforded an excellent camping
+ground and besides, the next day was Sunday, a day upon which all good
+trippers cease to travel.  While the canvas tepee, and my tent, too,
+were being erected, we heard the dogs barking and growling several
+hundred yards away, so Amik, slipping on his powder horn and bullet
+pouch, ran to investigate.  Presently the report of his gun was added
+to the din, then silence reigned; and when we went to see what had
+happened we found that the hunter had shot a two-year-old moose heifer
+that the dogs had bayed.  Then, as was her custom, Granny came with her
+pail to catch the blood, and to select the entrails she needed to hold
+it.  By supper time the moose had not only been skinned but the carcass
+dressed, too.  After the meal was over, Granny washed the entrails
+inside and out and then stuffed them with a mixture of blood and
+oatmeal that she had prepared and seasoned with salt, and hung her
+home-made sausages high up inside the tepee to let them congeal and
+also to be out of reach of the dogs.  In the meantime, Amik had made
+two frames, and Naudin and her daughters had stretched and laced into
+them, not only the moose hide, but the skin of the caribou as well; and
+when the meat was cut up and hung from the branches of a tree, it was
+time to sit around the fire and have our evening talk.
+
+But Oo-koo-hoo, slipping away in his hunting canoe, paddled up a little
+creek into a small lake in which he knew a colony of beavers lived.  He
+was gone about an hour and upon his return he told us about it.  On
+gaining the little mere, he, without removing his paddle from the
+water, propelled his canoe slowly and silently along the shore in the
+shadow of the overhanging trees, until a large beaver lodge appeared in
+the rising mist; and then standing up in his canoe--in order to get a
+better view--he became motionless.  Minutes passed while the rising
+moon cast golden ripples upon the water, and two beavers, rising from
+below, swam toward and mounted the roof of their island home.  Then,
+while the moonlight faded and glowed, other beavers appeared and swam
+hither and thither; some hauling old barkless poles, others bringing
+freshly cut poplar branches, and all busily engaged.  A twig snapping
+behind the hunter, he turned his head, and as he caught a vanishing
+glimpse of a lynx in a tree, he was instantly startled by a tremendous
+report and a splashing upheaval of water beside his canoe.  A beaver
+had been swimming there, and on seeing the hunter move, had struck the
+water with its powerful tail, to warn its mates before it dived.  The
+lynx had been watching the beaver.
+
+[Illustration: Minutes passed while the rising moon cast golden ripples
+upon the water and two beavers, rising from below, swam toward and
+mounted the roof of their island home.  A twig snapping behind the
+hunter, he turned his head, and as he caught the vanishing glimpse of a
+lynx in a tree, he was instantly startled by a tremendous report and a
+splashing upheaval . . .  See Chapter II.]
+
+"Did you bring back anything?"
+
+"No, my son," Oo-koo-hoo replied, "that hunting-ground belongs to an
+old friend of mine."
+
+
+WOODCRAFT OF TRAILING
+
+After a while the subject of woodcraft arose.  When I inquired as to
+how I could best locate the north in case I happened to be travelling
+on a cloudy day without a compass, the old hunter replied, that though
+he never used a compass, he found no difficulty in determining the
+north at any time, as the woods were full of signs.  For instance, the
+branches of trees had a general tendency to be less numerous and
+shorter on the north side, and the bark on the north side was usually
+finer in texture and of a smoother surface.  Also moss was more often
+found on the north side of vertical trees.  The tops of pine trees
+usually leant toward the southeast--but that that was not always a sure
+sign in all localities, as in some places the tree tops were affected
+by the prevailing winds.  The stumps of trees furnished a surer
+indication.  They showed the rings of growth to be greater in thickness
+on the north side.  When trees were shattered by lightning, the cracks
+more often opened on the south side for lightning generally struck from
+that direction.  Snow was usually deeper on the south side of trees on
+account of the prevailing northerly winds; and if one dug away the
+crust from around a tree they would come to fine, granulated snow much
+sooner on the north side, thus proving where the shadow usually fell.
+Furthermore, as the snowdrifts always pointed in the direction whither
+the wind had gone, knowing the direction of the prevailing winds, one
+had no trouble in locating the north even on the snow-covered surface
+of a great lake.
+
+The old woodman cautioned me that if, while travelling alone upon a big
+lake, I should be overtaken by a blizzard, in no case should I try to
+fight it, but stop right in my tracks, take off my snowshoes, dig a
+hole in the snow, turn my sled over on its side to form a wind-break,
+crawl into the hole with the dogs, and wait until the storm subsided.
+If a blizzard came head-on it was useless to try to fight it, for it
+would easily win; but if the wind were fair and if one were still sure
+of his bearings, he might drift with the wind, although at heavy risk,
+as the wind is apt to change its course and the tripper lose his way.
+There was always one consolation, however, and that was that the
+greater the storm the sooner it was over.  Another thing I should
+remember when travelling on a lake or over an open country, in a
+violent snow-storm--I should allow for drifting, much in the same way
+as one would if travelling by canoe.
+
+By that time, however, the women and children had gone to sleep upon
+their evergreen beds, while we three men continued to converse in
+whispers over the glow of the fading fire.  Next I asked Oo-koo-hoo in
+which direction men usually turned when lost in the woods--to the right
+or to the left?  He replied that circumstances had much to do with
+that, for the character of the country affected the man's turning, as
+it was natural to follow the line of least resistance; also it depended
+somewhat on the man's build--whether one leg were shorter than the
+other.  But though he had repeatedly experimented, he could not arrive
+at any definite conclusion.  However, when trying blindfolded men on a
+frozen lake, he noticed that they had a tendency to turn to the south
+regardless of whether they were facing east or west.  And he concluded
+by remarking that he thought people were very foolish to put so much
+faith in certain statements, simply because they were twice-told tales.
+
+Upon my questioning him as to how a hunter would act, if, for instance,
+he were trailing a moose, and suspected that he was being followed by
+enemies, say a pack of wolves, or strange hunters, he informed me that
+if that happened to him--that if he suspected some enemy were following
+his trail--he would not stop, nor even look around, but at the first
+favourable opportunity, when he was sure he couldn't be observed, he
+would leave the game trail, circle back a mile or so through the woods,
+and upon cutting his old track would at once learn what was following
+him.  Then if it were worth while he could trail his pursuers and,
+coming up behind them, could take them unaware.  But if all this
+happened on a lake or in open country, where he could not circle back
+under cover, he would suddenly turn in his tracks, as though upon a
+pivot, and without losing the least headway or causing a moment's delay
+in his pace, he would continue walking, but now in a backward
+direction, long enough to give himself ample time to scrutinize his
+distant trail.  By manoeuvring thus, he could study his pursuers
+without arousing their suspicion, for whether they were animals or men,
+the chances would be--if they were some distance away--that they would
+never notice that he had turned about, and was now inspecting his own
+tracks.
+
+As regards trailing game, whether large or small, he cautioned me to
+watch my quarry carefully, and instantly to become rigid at the first
+sign that the game was about to turn round or raise its head to peer in
+my direction.  More than that, I should not only remain motionless
+while the animal was gazing toward me, but I should assume at once some
+form that suggested the character of the surrounding trees or bushes or
+rocks.  For example, among straight-boled, perfectly vertical trees, I
+should stand upright; among uprooted trees, I should assume the
+character of an overturned stump, by standing with inclined body, bent
+legs, and arms and fingers thrust out at such angles as to suggest the
+roots of a fallen tree.  And he added that if I doubted the wisdom of
+such an act, I should test it at a distance of fifty or a hundred
+paces, and prove the difficulty of detecting a man who assumed a
+characteristic landscape pose among trees or rocks.  That was years
+before the World War had brought the word _camouflage_ into general
+use; for as a matter of fact, the forest Indians had been practising
+_camouflage_ for centuries and, no doubt, that was one reason why many
+of the Indians in the Canadian Expeditionary Force did such remarkable
+work as snipers.
+
+
+INDIANS IN THE WORLD WAR
+
+For instance: Sampson Comego destroyed twenty-eight of the enemy.
+Philip Macdonald killed forty, Johnny Ballantyne fifty-eight.  "One of
+their number, Lance-Corporal Johnson Paudash," as the Department of
+Indian Affairs states, "received the Military Medal for his
+distinguished gallantry in saving life under heavy fire and for giving
+a warning that the enemy were preparing a counter-attack at Hill
+Seventy; the counter-attack took place twenty-five minutes after
+Paudash gave the information.  It is said that a serious reverse was
+averted as a result of his action.  Like other Indian soldiers, he won
+a splendid record as a sniper, and is officially credited with having
+destroyed no less than eighty-eight of the enemy.  Another Indian who
+won fame at the front was Lance-Corporal Norwest; he was one of the
+foremost snipers in the army and was officially credited with one
+hundred and fifteen observed hits.  He won the Military Medal and bar.
+Still another, Corporal Francis Pegahmagabow, won the Military Medal
+and two bars.  He distinguished himself signally as a sniper and bears
+the extraordinary record of having killed three hundred and
+seventy-eight of the enemy.  His Military Medal and two bars were
+awarded, however, for his distinguished conduct at Mount Sorrell,
+Amiens, and Passchendaele.  At Passchendaele, Corporal Pegahmagabow led
+his company through an engagement with a single casualty, and
+subsequently captured three hundred Germans at Mount Sorrell.
+
+"The fine record of the Indians in the great war appears in a
+peculiarly favourable light when it is remembered that their services
+were absolutely voluntary, as they were specially exempted from the
+operation of the Military Service Act, and that they were prepared to
+give their lives for their country without compulsion or even the fear
+of compulsion."
+
+Many military medals were won by the Canadian Indians; Captain A. G. E.
+Smith of the Grand River Band of the Iroquois having been decorated
+seven times by the Governments of England, France, and Poland, and many
+distinguished themselves by great acts upon the battlefield.  "Another
+Indian to be decorated was Dave Kisek.  During the heavy fighting
+around Cambrai he unstrapped a machine gun from his shoulder and
+advanced about one hundred yards to the German position, where he ran
+along the top of their trench, doing deadly execution with his machine
+gun.  He, single-handed, took thirty prisoners upon this occasion.
+This Indian came from the remote regions of the Patricia district.
+Sergeant Clear Sky was awarded the Military Medal for one of the most
+gallant and unselfish deeds that is recorded in the annals of the
+Canadian Expeditionary Force.  During a heavy gas attack he noticed a
+wounded man lying in 'No Man's Land' whose gas mask had been rendered
+useless.  Clear Sky crawled to him through the poisonous fumes, removed
+his own mask, and placed it on the wounded man, whose life was in
+consequence saved.  Sergeant Clear Sky was himself severely gassed as a
+result of his heroic action.  Joe Thunder was awarded the Military
+Medal for a feat of arms of an exceptionally dramatic character.  He
+was separated from his platoon and surrounded by six Germans, each of
+whom he bayoneted.  George McLean received the Distinguished Conduct
+Medal in recognition of the performance of a feat which was an
+extraordinary one even for the great war.  Private McLean,
+single-handed, destroyed nineteen of the enemy with bombs and captured
+fourteen."
+
+And yet not a single Canadian Indian has claimed that he won the World
+War--not even Pegahmagabow, who shot three hundred and seventy-eight
+Germans.
+
+
+APPROACHING GAME
+
+But to return to the land of peace.  Of course, in attempting to
+deceive game, one must always guard against approaching down wind, for
+most animals grow more frantic over the scent than they do over the
+sight of man.  Later on, when I went hunting with Oo-koo-hoo, he used
+to make me laugh, for at one moment he would be a jolly old Indian
+gentleman, and just as likely as not the next instant he would be
+posing as a rotten pine stump that had been violently overturned, and
+now resembled an object against which a bear might like to rub his back
+and scratch himself.
+
+Often have I proved the value of the old hunter's methods, and I could
+recite not a few instances of how easy it is to deceive either birds or
+animals; but I shall mention only one, which happened on the borderline
+of Alaska.  I was running through a grove of heavy timber, where the
+moss was so deep that my tread made no sound, when suddenly rounding a
+large boulder, I came upon a black bear less than fourteen paces away.
+It was sitting upon its haunches, directly in the footpath I was
+following.  As good luck would have it, I saw him first, and for the
+fun of it, I instantly became an old gray stump--or tried to look like
+one.  Presently the bear's head swung round, and at first he seemed a
+bit uneasy over the fact that he had not seen that stump before.  It
+appeared to puzzle him, for he even twisted about to get a better view;
+but after watching me for about five minutes he contentedly turned his
+head away.  A few minutes later, however, he looked again, and becoming
+reassured, yawned deliberately in my face.  But by that time, being
+troubled with a kink in my back, I had to straighten up.  Then, strange
+to say, as I walked quietly and slowly round him to gain the path
+ahead, the brute did not even get up off his haunches--but such
+behaviour on the part of a bear rarely happens.
+
+Perhaps you wonder why I didn't shoot the brute.  I never carry a gun.
+For when one is provided with food, one can carry no more useless thing
+than a gun; so far as protection is concerned, there is no more need to
+carry a gun in the north woods, than to carry a gun down Broadway; in
+fact, the wolves of Broadway--especially those of the female
+species--are much more dangerous to man than the wolves of the Great
+Northern Forest.
+
+
+SUNDAY IN CAMP
+
+Next morning being Sunday, we did not strike camp, and the first thing
+the women attended to, even while breakfast was under way, was the
+starting of a fire of damp, rotten wood, which smoked but never blazed,
+and over which, at a distance of about four feet, they leant the
+stretched deerskins, hair side up, to dry.  Besides those, other frames
+were made and erected over another slow fire, and here the flakes or
+slabs of moose flesh were hung to be dried and smoked into what is
+called jerked meat.  The fat, being chopped up and melted in a pail,
+was then poured into the moose bladder and other entrails to cool and
+be handy for future use.  Of course, it would take several days to dry
+out the deerskins; so each morning when we were about to travel, the
+skins were unlaced and rolled up, to be re-stretched and placed over
+another fire the following evening.
+
+Sunday was pleasantly spent, notwithstanding that so many different
+religious denominations were represented in camp: for while old Ojistoh
+counted her beads according to the Roman Catholic faith, Amik and
+Naudin were singing hymns, as the former was an English Churchman and
+his wife a Presbyterian; but Oo-koo-hoo would join in none of it as he
+had no faith whatever in the various religions of the white men and so
+he remained a pagan.  Part of the day we spent in pottering about, in
+doing a little mending here and there, smoking, telling stories, or in
+strolling through the woods; as both Oo-koo-hoo and Amik were opposed
+to doing actual work on Sunday.  In the afternoon I turned to
+sketching, and my drawing excited so much interest that Amik tried his
+hand, and in a crude way his sketches of animals and birds were quite
+graphic in character.  One sketch I made, that of the baby, so pleased
+Neykia, that I gave it to her, and when she realized my intention she
+seized it with such eagerness that she crumpled and almost tore the
+paper; for as the Ojibways have no word to express their thanks, they
+show their gratitude by the eagerness with which they accept a present.
+
+That, however, reminds me of having read in one of the leading American
+magazines an account of a noted American illustrator's trip into the
+woods of Quebec.  While there he presented a red handkerchief to an
+Indian girl.  The fact that she snatched it from him, and then ran
+away, was to him--as he stated--a sign that she was willing to comply
+with any evil intentions he might entertain toward her.  Such absolute
+rot!  The polite little maid was merely trying to express her unbounded
+thanks for his gift.
+
+The only thing that interrupted our paddling the following day was our
+going ashore to portage around a picturesque waterfall where two huge
+rocks, on the very brink of the cascade, split the river into three.
+When we had carried up the canoes, we found the children making a great
+to-do about wasps attacking them; for they had put down their packs
+beside a wasps' hole; and old Granny, seeing the commotion, had put
+down her end of the canoe, and with disgust exclaimed:
+
+"Oh, my foolish people, always standing around and waiting for old
+Granny to fix everything!"  So saying, she pulled a big bunch of long,
+dry grass, and lighting it, ran with a blanket over her head, and
+placed the fire against the wasps' hole; in a moment they ceased their
+attack and utterly disappeared.
+
+We were now nearing the fork of Crane River, that in its three-mile
+course came from Crane Lake, on the shore of which was Oo-koo-hoo's
+last winter's camping ground; the men therefore decided that it was
+best for Amik to push on in the light canoe and get the two deerskin
+winter tepee coverings, as well as their traps, that had been cached
+there last spring; and then return to the fork of the river where the
+family would go into camp and wait for him.
+
+
+NEARING TRIP'S END
+
+Transferring most of the cargo to the other canoes, Amik and I provided
+ourselves with a little snack and started at once for Oo-koo-koo's old
+camping ground.  It appeared about a three-mile paddle to the fork of
+the river.  Nothing save the quacking of ducks rushing by on the wing,
+the occasional rise of a crane in front of us, the soaring of an eagle
+overhead, and the rippling wakes left by muskrats as they scurried
+away, enlivened our hurried trip.  We found the leather lodge coverings
+in good order upon a stage, and securing them along with several
+bundles of steel traps that hung from trees, we put all aboard and
+found we had quite a load, for not only were the tepee coverings bulky,
+each bundle being about two feet thick by four feet long, but they were
+heavy, too, for each weighed about a hundred pounds.  Then, too, the
+traps were quite a load in themselves.  I didn't stop to count them,
+but it is surprising the number of traps a keen, hard-working hunter
+employs; and they ranged all the way from small ones for rat and ermine
+to ponderous ones for bears.  Also we gathered up a few odds and ends
+such as old axes, an iron pot, a couple of slush scoops, a bundle of
+fish-nets, and a lot of old snowshoes.  Crane Lake, like many another
+northern mere, was a charming little body of water nestling among
+beautiful hills.  After a cup of tea and some bannock, we once more
+plied our paddles.
+
+Now it was down stream and we glided swiftly along, arriving at the
+confluence of the Crane and Caribou just before twilight and found
+smiling faces and a good supper awaiting our return.  How human some
+Indians are, much more so than many a cold-blooded white.
+
+Next day we wanted to make the Height-of-land portage for our camp.  As
+it meant a long, stiff paddle against a strong current for most of the
+distance, we were up early, if not bright, and on our way before
+sunrise.  This time, however, no rapids impeded us and we reached the
+portage on the farther shore of Height-of-land Lake, tired and hungry,
+but happy over a day's work well done.  It was a pretty little lake
+about two miles long, surrounded by low-lying land in the midst of a
+range of great rock-bound hills, and its waters had a whimsical fashion
+of running either east or west according to which way the wind struck
+it.  Thus its waters became divided and, flowing either way, travel
+afar to their final destinations in oceans thousands of miles apart.
+But the western outlet, Moose Creek, being too shallow for canoes, a
+portage of a couple of miles was made the following day, to the fork of
+an incoming stream that doubles its waters and makes the creek
+navigable.  When we camped that night the hour was late.  Then a
+two-days' run--the second of which we travelled due north--took us into
+Moose Lake; but not without shooting three rapids, each of which the
+Indians examined carefully before we undertook the sport that all
+enjoyed so much.  An eastern storm, however, caught us on Moose Lake
+and not only sent us ashore on an island, but windbound us there for
+two days while cold showers pelted us.  Another day and a half up Bear
+River, with a portage round Crane Falls, landed us on the western shore
+of Bear Lake at the mouth of Muskrat Creek--and there we were to spend
+the winter.
+
+There, too, I remembered Thoreau when he said: "As I ran down the hill
+toward the reddening west, with the rainbow over my shoulder, and some
+faint tinkling sounds borne to my ear through the cleansed air, from I
+know not what quarter, my Good Genius seemed to say,--'Go fish and hunt
+far and wide day by day,--farther and wider,--and rest thee by many
+brooks and hearth-sides without misgiving.  Remember thy Creator in the
+days of thy youth.  Rise free from care before the dawn, and seek
+adventures.  Let the noon find thee by other lakes, and the night
+overtake thee everywhere at home'."  And furthermore: "Let not to get a
+living be thy trade, but thy sport.  Enjoy the land, but own it not.
+Through want of enterprise and faith men are where they are, buying and
+selling, and spending their lives like serfs."
+
+
+
+
+III
+
+OO-KOO-HOO'S EL DORADO
+
+OUR WINTER CAMP
+
+Bear Lake was beautiful.  Its shores were fringed here and there with
+marshy reeds or sandy beaches; and its rivulets, flowing in and out,
+connected it with other meres in other regions.  At dawn moose and
+caribou came thither to drink; bears roamed its surrounding slopes;
+lynxes, foxes, fishers, martens, ermines, and minks lived in its
+bordering woods.  Otters, muskrats, and beavers swam its inrushing
+creeks; wolverines prowled its rocky glens, and nightly concerts of
+howling wolves echoed along its shores.  The eagles and the hawks built
+their nests in its towering trees, while the cranes fished and the
+ruffed grouse drummed.  Nightly, too, the owls and the loons hooted and
+laughed at the quacking ducks and the honking geese as they flew
+swiftly by in the light of the moon.  Salmon-trout, whitefish, pike,
+and pickerel rippled its placid waters, and brook-trout leaped above
+the shimmering pools of its crystal streams.  It was Oo-koo-hoo's
+happiest hunting ground, and truly it was a hunter's paradise . . . a
+poet's heaven . . . an artist's home.
+
+"What fools we mortals be!"--when we live in the city!
+
+The site chosen for the lodges was on one of two points jutting into
+the lake, separated by the waters of Muskrat Greek.  On its northwest
+side ran a heavily timbered ridge that broke the force of the winter
+winds from the west and the north, and thus protected Oo-koo-hoo's
+camp, which stood on the southeast side of the little stream.  Such a
+site in such a region afforded wood, water, fruit, fish, fowl, and
+game; and, moreover, an enchanting view of the surrounding country.
+Furthermore, that section of The Owl's game-lands had not been hunted
+for forty-two moons.
+
+Immediately after dinner the men began cutting lodge poles, while the
+women cleared the tepee sites and levelled the ground.  On asking
+Oo-koo-hoo how many poles would be required for the canvas lodge which
+he had kindly offered me the use of for the coming winter, he replied:
+
+"My son, cut a pole for every moon, and cut them thirteen feet in
+length, and the base of the tepee, too, should be thirteen feet
+across."  Then looking at me with his small, shrewd, but pleasant eyes,
+he added: "Thirteen is our lucky number.  It always brings good
+fortune.  Besides, most canoes are made of thirteen pieces, and when we
+kill big game, we always cut the carcasses into thirteen parts.  My
+son, when I have time I shall carve a different symbol upon each of the
+thirteen poles of your lodge; they shall represent the thirteen moons
+of the year, and thus they will enable you to keep track of the phase
+of the season through which you are passing."
+
+All the poles were of green pine or spruce.  The thin ends of three of
+the stoutest were lashed together; on being erected, they formed a
+tripod against which the other poles were leant, while their butts,
+placed in a circle, were spread an equal distance apart.  Over that
+framework the lodge covering was spread by inserting the end of a pole
+into the pocket of each of the two windshields, and then hoisting the
+covering into place.  Next the lapping edges, brought together over the
+doorway, were fastened securely together with wooden pins, while the
+bottom edge was pegged down all round the lodge with wooden stakes.  In
+the centre of the floor-space six little cut logs were fastened down in
+the form of a hexagon, and the earth scooped from within the hexagon
+was banked against the logs to form a permanent and limited fireplace.
+The surrounding floor space was covered with a layer of fir-brush, then
+a layer of rushes, and finally, where the beds were to be laid, a heavy
+mattress of balsam twigs laid, shingle-fashion, one upon another, with
+their stems down.  Thus a springy, comfortable bed was formed, and the
+lodge perfumed with a delightful forest aroma.  Above the fireplace was
+hung a stage, or framework of light sticks, upon which to dry or smoke
+the meat.  Around the wall on the inner side was hung a canvas curtain
+that overlapped the floor, and thus protected the lodgers from draught
+while they were sitting about the fire.  The doorway was two feet by
+five, and was covered with a raw deerskin hung from the top.  A stick
+across the lower edge kept the skin taut.  A log at the bottom of the
+doorway answered for a doorstep and in winter kept out the snow.  Now
+the lodge was ready for occupation.
+
+As there are six different ways of building campfires, it should be
+explained that my friends built theirs according to the Ojibway custom;
+that is, in the so-called "lodge fashion", by placing the sticks
+upright, leaning them together, and crossing them over one another in
+the manner of lodge poles.  When the fire was lighted, the windshields
+formed a perfect draught to carry the smoke up through the permanently
+open flue in the apex of the structure, and one soon realized that of
+all tents or dwellings, no healthier abode was ever contrived by man.
+Indeed, if the stupid, meddlesome agents of civilization had been wise
+enough to have left the Indians in their tepees, instead of forcing
+them to live in houses--the ventilation of which was never
+understood--they would have been spared at least one of civilization's
+diseases--tuberculosis--and many more tribesmen would have been alive
+to-day.
+
+On entering an Indian tepee one usually finds the first space, on the
+right of the doorway, occupied by the woodpile; the next, by the wife;
+the third, by the baby; and the fourth, by the husband.  Opposite
+these, on the other side of the fire, the older children are ranged.
+To the visitor is allotted the warmest place in the lodge, the place of
+honour, farthest from and directly opposite the doorway.  When the dogs
+are allowed in the tepee, they know their place to be the first space
+on the left, between the entrance and the children.
+
+While the two leather lodges of the Indians stood close together with
+stages near at hand upon which to store food and implements out of
+reach of the dogs and wild animals, my tepee, the canvas one, stood by
+itself a little farther up the creek.  Taking particular pains in
+making my bed, and settling everything for service and comfort, I
+turned in that night in a happy mood and fell asleep contemplating the
+season of adventure before me and the great charm of living in such
+simplicity.  "In the savage state every family owns a shelter as good
+as the best, and sufficient for its coarser and simpler wants," says
+Thoreau, "but I think that I speak within bounds when I say that,
+though birds of the air have their nests, and the foxes their holes,
+and the savages their wigwams, in modern civilized society not more
+than one half the families own a shelter.  In the large towns and
+cities, where civilization especially prevails, the number of those who
+own a shelter is a very small fraction of the whole.  The rest pay an
+annual tax for this outside garment of all, become indispensable summer
+and winter, which would buy a village of Indian wigwams but now helps
+to keep them poor as long as they live. . . .  But how happens it that
+he who is said to enjoy these things is so commonly a _poor_ civilized
+man, while the savage, who has them not, is rich as a savage?"
+
+Next morning, while roaming about the point, I discovered two well-worn
+game trails that, converging together, led directly to the extreme
+outer end of our point.  The tracks were the wild animals' highways
+through that part of the woods, and were used by them when they desired
+to make a short cut across that end of the lake by way of a
+neighbouring island.  Worn fairly smooth, and from three to five inches
+in depth, by from eight to ten inches in width, these tracks were
+entirely free of grass or moss.  In following them a few hundred paces,
+I could plainly recognize the prints of the moose, the bear, the wolf,
+and the fox; and a few smaller and lesser impressions with regard to
+the origin of which I was not so sure.  The trails were much like the
+buffalo trails one used to see upon the plains.  To my delight, my
+lodge door was not more than ten paces from that wild Broadway of the
+Wilderness.
+
+
+INDIAN POLITENESS
+
+After breakfast Oo-koo-hoo suggested that a "lop-stick" should be cut
+in honour of the white man's visit.  Selecting a tall spruce, Amik,
+with a half-axe in hand, began to ascend it.  When he had climbed about
+three parts of the way up he began to chop off the surrounding branches
+and continued to do so as he descended, until he was about halfway
+down, when he desisted and came to earth.  The result was a
+strange-looking tree with a long bare trunk, surmounted by a tuft of
+branches that could be seen and recognized for miles around.
+
+Cutting lop-sticks is an old custom of the forest Indians.  Such trees
+are used to mark portages, camping grounds, meeting places, or
+dangerous channels where submerged rocks lie in wait for the
+unsuspecting voyageur.  In fact, they are to the Indian what
+lighthouses are to the mariner.  Yet, sometimes they are used to
+celebrate the beginning of a young man's hunting career, or to mark the
+grave of a famous hunter.  When made to indicate a wilderness
+rendezvous, the meeting place is commonly used for the purpose of
+coming in contact with their nearest neighbours or friends, and halting
+a day or so, while upon their voyage to the post, in order to discuss
+their affairs--the winter's hunt, the strange tracks they have seen,
+the strange sounds they have heard, the raiding of their hunting
+ground, and the like.  Always at such meetings a fire is kindled
+regardless of the season, an ancient custom of their old religion, but
+used to-day more for the purpose of lighting pipes.  Beside the fire a
+post stripped of its bark is erected, and on it a fire-bag containing
+tobacco for the use of all hands is hung.  Around the fire the women
+and children spread a carpet of brush, upon which the men sit while
+conversing.  At such meetings one never hears two Indians talk at
+once--a fine example for white people to heed--nor do they openly
+contradict one another as the vulgar white man does, for such an
+offence would be considered, by the savage, rude--and the offender
+would be regarded as no better than a white man; for they believe
+themselves to be not only the wisest and the bravest, but the politest
+people in the world; and when one stops to compare the average Indian
+with the average white man in North America, one must grant that the
+savage is right.
+
+In relation to their politeness I can go beyond my own observation and
+quote the experience of Sir Alexander Henry--whom they called
+Coseagon--while he was held a prisoner.
+
+"I could not let all this pass without modestly remarking that his
+account of the beginning of things was subject to great uncertainty as
+being trusted to memory only, from woman to woman through so many
+generations, and might have been greatly altered, whereas the account I
+gave them was written down by direction of the Great Spirit himself and
+preserved carefully in a book which was never altered, but had ever
+remained the same and was undoubtedly the truth.  'Coseagon,' says
+Canassatego, 'you are yet almost as rude as when you first came among
+us.  When young it seems you were not well taught, you did not learn
+the civil behaviour of men.  We excused you; it was the fault of your
+instructors.  But why have you not more improved since you have long
+had the opportunity from our example?  You see I always believe your
+stories.  That is, I never contradict them.  Why do you not believe
+mine?'  Contradiction, or a direct denial of the truth of what another
+says, is among the Indians deemed extremely rude.  Only great
+superiority, as of a father to a child, or of an old counsellor to some
+boy, can excuse it.  Alaquippy and the other Indians kindly made some
+apology for me, saying I should be wiser in time, and they concluded
+with an observation which they thought very polite and respectful
+toward me, that my stories might be best for the white people, but
+Indian stories were undoubtedly best for Indians."
+
+Furthermore, if we compare the philosophy of the red man and the white,
+we find that just because the white man has invented a lot of asinine
+fashions and customs, a lot of unnecessary gear and junk, and feeds
+himself on unhealthy concoctions that give him indigestion and make his
+teeth fall out, he flatters himself that he is the wisest man on earth,
+whereas, all things considered, in my humble opinion, he is the prize
+fool of the universe--for removing himself so far from nature.  And
+when the female follower of Dame Fashion goes mincing along the
+cement-paved street in her sharp-toed, French-heeled slippers, on her
+way to the factory, she flatters herself that she knows better than God
+how to perfect the human foot; then the All Wise One, in His just
+wrath, strikes back at her by presenting her with a luxuriant crop of
+varicose veins, corns, ingrowing nails, fallen arches, and bunions that
+supply her with suffering in plenty for the rest of her days.  Her red
+sister, on the contrary, in moccasined feet, walks naturally through
+the forest; and The Master of Life, beholding her becoming humility,
+rewards her with painless pleasure.
+
+But to return to the Indians' meeting places in the wilderness.  The
+important meetings held in the forest are always opened by smoking.  No
+man speaks without first standing up, and his delivery is always slow
+and in short, clear sentences.  In the past there were great orators
+among the red men as many of the old writers and traders affirm--but
+again I quote Sir Alexander Henry:
+
+"Old Canassatego, a warrior, counsellor, and the chief man of our
+village, used to come frequently to smoke and talk with me, while I
+worked at my new business (mending of gun locks), and many of the
+younger men would come and sit with him, pleased to hear our
+conversations.  As he soon saw I was curious on that head he took a
+good deal of pains to instruct me in the principles of their eloquence,
+an art (it may seem strange to say it, but it is strictly true) carried
+much higher among these savages than is now in any part of Europe, as
+it is their only polite art, as they practice it from their infancy, as
+everything of consequence is transacted in councils, and all the force
+of their government consists in persuasion."
+
+Once when questioning Oo-koo-hoo regarding old Indian customs, he
+informed me that among Indians bowing was a very recent innovation, and
+that the men of the olden time--the fire-worshippers or
+sun-worshippers--never deigned to bow to one another: they bowed to
+none but the Deity.  They took not the Great Spirit's name in vain; nor
+did they mention it save in a whisper, and with bowed head.  He
+regretted that since coming in contact with the irreverent and
+blaspheming white men, his people had lost much of their old-time godly
+spirit.
+
+
+TRAPPING EQUIPMENT
+
+For the next few days the work done by the men was confined to odd jobs
+in preparation for the coming winter, and the laying out of their
+future trapping trails.  They built some stages upon which to store the
+canoes, and others nearer the lodges, upon which to place their guns,
+sleds, and snowshoes.  They cut and shaved axe-handles and helved them.
+They overhauled traps, and got ready all their trapping gear.  It was
+always interesting to watch Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, even when they were
+engaged upon the most trivial forest work, for much of it was new to me
+and it was all so different from the ways of civilization.  Then, too,
+they had taken the boys in hand and were instructing them in relation
+to the hunter's art.
+
+The first thing they did with the traps, after seeing that the old ones
+were in working order, was to boil both the new ones and the old ones
+for about half an hour in pots in which was placed either pine, or
+spruce, or cedar brush.  This they did--Oo-koo-hoo explained--to
+cleanse the old traps and to soften the temper of the new ones, thus
+lessening the chances of their breaking in zero weather; and also to
+free both old and new from all man-smell and to perfume them with the
+natural scent of the forest trees, of which no animal is afraid.  The
+traps they used were the No. 1, "Rat," for muskrats, ermines, and
+minks; the No. 2, "Mink," for minks, martens, skunks, and foxes; the
+No. 3, "Fox," for foxes, minks, martens, fishers, wolves, wolverines,
+skunks, otters, and beavers; the No. 4, "Beaver," for beavers, otters,
+wolves, wolverines, and fishers; the No. 5, "Otter," for otters,
+beavers, wolves, wolverines, and small bears; and the "Bear" trap in
+two sizes--_A_, large, and _B_, small, for all kinds of bears and deer.
+Traps with teeth they did not use, as they said the teeth injured the
+fur.
+
+Next to the knife, the woodsman uses no more useful implement than the
+axe.  Even with the professional hunter, the gun takes third place to
+the knife and the axe.  As between the two makes of axes--the American
+and the Canadian--the former appears the best.  It is really a good
+fair-weather axe, but winter work proves the superiority of the
+Canadian implement.  The latter does not chip so readily in cold
+weather.  Furthermore, the eye of the American axe is too small for the
+soft-wood helve usually made in the northern forest, since in many
+parts no wood harder than birch is to be had.  But to reduce the high
+temper of the American axe, the hunter can heat the head in fire until
+it becomes a slight bluish tinge and then dip it in either fish oil or
+beaver oil.  The sizes of axes run: "Trappers," 1 1/2 lbs.;
+"Voyageurs," 2 1/2 lbs., "Chopping," 3 1/2 lbs., and "Felling," 4 lbs.
+
+At last the eventful morning arrived.  Now we were to go a-hunting.
+The trap-setting party was to be composed of four persons: Oo-koo-hoo,
+the two boys, and myself.  Our _ne-mar-win_--provisions--for four, to
+last a week, consisted of: one pound of tea, eight pounds of dried
+meat, four pounds of grease, four pounds of dried fish, and a number of
+small bannocks; the rest of our grub was to be secured by hunting.
+
+Of course, while hunting, Oo-koo-hoo always carried his gun
+loaded--lacking the cap--but it was charged with nothing heavier than
+powder and shot, so that the hunter might be ready at any moment for
+small game; yet if he encountered big game, all he had to do was to ram
+down a ball, slip on a cap, and then be ready to fire at a moose or a
+bear.
+
+
+SETTING FOX TRAP
+
+After the usual affectionate good-bye, and the waving of farewell as we
+moved in single file into the denser forest, we followed a game trail
+that wound in and out among the trees and rocks--always along the line
+of least resistance--and for a while headed westward through the valley
+of Muskrat Creek.  Oo-koo-hoo led the way and, as he walked along,
+would occasionally turn and, pointing at the trail, whisper:
+
+"My white son, see, a moose passed two days ago . . .  That's fox--this
+morning," and when we were overlooking the stream, he remarked: "This
+is a good place for muskrats, but I'll come for them by canoe."
+
+The principal object of the trip was to set fox and marten traps.
+Hilly timberland of spruce or pine, without much brushwood, is the most
+likely place for martens; and in fairly open country foxes may be
+found.  The favourite haunt of beavers, otters, fishers, minks, and
+muskrats is a marshy region containing little lakes and streams; while
+for lynxes, a willowy valley interspersed with poplars is the usual
+resort.
+
+Coming to an open space along the creek, the wise old Owl concluded
+from the fox signs he had already seen, and from the condition of the
+soil on a cut bank, that it was a desirable place in which to set a
+steel trap for foxes.  Laying aside his kit, he put on his trapping
+mits, to prevent any trace of man-smell being left about the trap, and
+with the aid of his trowel he dug into the bank a horizontal hole about
+two feet deep and about a foot in diameter.  He wedged the chain-ring
+of the trap over the small end of a five-foot pole to be used as a clog
+or drag-anchor in case the fox tried to make away with the trap.  The
+pole was then buried at one side of the hole.  Digging a trench from
+the pole to the back of the hole, he carefully set the trap, laid it in
+the trench near the back of the hole, so that it rested about half an
+inch below the surface of the surrounding earth, covered it with thin
+layers of birch bark (sewed together with _watap_--thin spruce roots)
+then, sifting earth over it, covered all signs of both trap and chain,
+and finally, with a crane's wing brushed the sand into natural form.
+Placing at the back of the hole a duck's head that Ne-geek had shot for
+the purpose, Oo-koo-hoo scattered a few feathers about.  Some of these,
+as well as the pan of the trap, had been previously daubed with a most
+stinking concoction called "fox bait"--hereafter called "mixed bait" to
+prevent confusing this with other baits.
+
+It was composed of half a pound of soft grease, half an ounce of
+aniseed, an eighth of an ounce of asafoetida, six to ten rotten birds'
+eggs, and the glands taken from a female fox--all thoroughly mixed in a
+jar and then buried underground to rot it, as well as for safe keeping.
+The reason for such a concoction is that the cold in winter does not
+affect the stench of asafoetida; aniseed forms a strong attraction for
+many kinds of animals; foxes are fond of eggs; and no stronger lure
+exists for an animal than the smell of the female gland.  So powerful
+is the fetor of this "mixed bait," and so delicious is the merest whiff
+of it, that it forms not only an irresistible but a long-range
+allurement for many kinds of fur-bearers.  Indeed, so pungent was it,
+that Oo-koo-hoo carried merely a little of it in a cap-box, and found
+that a tiny daub was quite sufficient to do his work.  The reason for
+using the two kinds of bait was that while the mixed bait would attract
+the animal to the trap by its scent, the sight of the duck's head would
+induce the fox to enter the hole, step upon the unseen trap while
+reaching to secure its favourite food, and thus be caught by a foreleg.
+
+The mention of an animal being caught by a foreleg reminds me of the
+strange experience that Louison Laferte, a French half-breed,
+manservant at Fort Rae, once had with a wolf.  Louison was quite a wag
+and at all times loved a joke.  One day while visiting one of his
+trapping paths with his four-dog team he came upon a wolf caught in one
+of his traps by the foreleg.  After stunning the brute, he found that
+its leg was in no way injured, for it had been in the trap but a short
+time.  Louison, in a sudden fit of frolic humour, unharnessed his
+Number 3 dog and harnessed in its place the unconscious wolf.  When the
+wild brute came to, and leaped up, the half-breed shouted:
+"_Ma-a-r-r-che_!" and whipped up his dogs.  Off they went, the two
+leading dogs pulling the wolf along from in front, while the sled-dog
+nipped him from behind and encouraged him to go ahead.  Thus into Fort
+Rae drove the gay Louison with an untamed timber-wolf in harness
+actually helping to haul his sled as one of his dog-team.  The
+half-breed kept the wolf for more than a month trying to train it, but
+it proved so intractable and so vicious that fearing for the children
+around the Post, eventually he killed it.
+
+
+DOG TRAILING FOX
+
+It is generally conceded by the most experienced fur-hunters of the
+northern forest, that while the wolverine is a crafty brute and
+difficult to hunt, yet of all forest creatures the coloured fox is the
+hardest to trap.  In hunting the two animals with dogs, however, there
+is little comparison.  The wolverine, being a heavy, short-legged
+beast, can soon be overhauled in an open country or on a beaten trail
+by a dog, or in deep snow even by a man on snowshoes; while the chances
+of a fox being run down by a dog are not so good.  Some hunters,
+however, kill many foxes by running them down with dogs, and for such
+work they use a light-weight, long-legged dog possessed of both long
+sight and keen scent.  Hunters declare that no animal, not even the
+wolf, has so much endurance as a good hunting-dog.
+
+When a hunting-dog sights a fox on a frozen lake he runs straight for
+him.  The fox, on realizing that he is being pursued, leaps wildly into
+the air two or three times, and then makes off at tremendous
+speed--much faster than the dog can run.  But in about half a mile the
+fox, becoming played out, stops to rest a moment and to look around to
+see if the dog is still following.  Then, on seeing the dog still in
+pursuit, he sets off in another great burst of speed.  Meanwhile, the
+dog has gained on him, and the fox, discovering this, bolts off at a
+different angle.  The dog, however, observing what has happened, takes
+advantage of his quarry, and cuts the corner and thereby makes another
+gain.  The fox, now more alarmed than ever, makes another turn, and the
+dog cuts another corner and makes another gain.  Thus the race goes on
+until the fox comes to the conclusion that the dog is sure to get him,
+loses both heart and wind and finally lies down from sheer exhaustion.
+The dog rushes at him, seizes him between the forelegs, and with one
+crunch the hunt is over.
+
+It is much the same in the deep snow of the timberland.  There the fox
+will start off with great bounds that sink him deep into the snow and
+make the scent only the stronger for the dog.  Meanwhile, the dog lopes
+steadily along, though far out of sight.  The fox stops to listen and
+learn if his enemy is still pursuing him.  When the dog finally comes
+into view, the fox changes his course, and the dog cuts the corner, and
+thus the story ends in the usual way.
+
+
+OTHER WAYS OF TRAPPING
+
+As the methods of hunting the wolf, the marten, the lynx, and the
+wolverine are founded on the various ways of trapping the fox, a full
+description of how foxes are hunted may be of interest.  Then, too, the
+reader will be enabled to understand more easily, without unnecessary
+repetition, the modes of trapping other animals.  My description,
+however, will apply only to the hunting of the crafty coloured foxes of
+the forest, and not to their stupid brethren of the Arctic coasts--the
+white and the blue foxes.
+
+Of course, every Indian tribe believes its own manner of hunting to be
+the master way, but it is conceded by experienced fur-traders that the
+Ojibway method is the best.  When setting a fox trap in the winter
+time, the first thing an Ojibway does is to jab into the snow, small
+end down, and in an upright position, the clog or drag-pole.  With his
+knife he then cuts a hole in the snow exactly the size of the set trap,
+the plate of which has already been daubed with mixed bait.  In this
+hole the trap is placed in such a position that it rests about half an
+inch below the surface of the snow.  A thin shield of birch bark covers
+this, and then with a crane's wing the snow is brushed over both trap
+and chain so that no sign remains.  Then in addition to the mixed bait,
+he plants about the spot food bait, such as bits of rotten fish or duck.
+
+Most hunters have a regular system for setting their traps so that they
+may know exactly where and how they are placed.  Usually he sets them
+east and west, then cutting a notch on a branch--about a foot from the
+butt--he measures that distance from the trap, and thrusts the branch
+into the snow in an upright position, as though it were growing
+naturally.  The stick serves not only to mark the trap, but in an open
+space to furnish the same attraction for a fox as a tree does for a
+dog; besides, when the hunter is going his rounds, at the sight of the
+branch he will remember where and how his trap is set, and can read all
+the signs without going too near.  The object of laying the sheet of
+birch bark over the trap is that when any part of the bark is touched
+the trap may go off; besides, it forms a hollow space beneath, and thus
+allows the animal's foot to sink deeper into the trap, to be caught
+farther up, and to be held more securely.
+
+The foregoing is the usual way of setting a fox trap, yet the Wood
+Crees and the Swampy Crees set their fox traps on mounds of snow about
+the size of muskrat houses.  For that purpose they bank the snow into a
+mound about eighteen inches high, bury the drag-pole at the bottom, set
+the trap exactly in the crest of the mound, and, covering up all traces
+of trap and chain with powdered snow, sprinkle food bait and mixed bait
+around the bottom of the mound.  The approaching fox, catching scent of
+the mixed bait, follows it up and then eats some of the food bait,
+which presently gives him the desire to go and sit upon the
+mound--which is the habit of foxes in such a condition--and thus he is
+caught.
+
+A curious thing once happened to a Dog-rib Indian at Great Slave Lake.
+One day he found a wolf caught in one of his traps and foolishly
+allowed his hunting-dog to rush at it.  The wolf leaped about so
+furiously that it broke the trap chain, and ran out upon the lake, too
+far for the hunter's gun.  In pursuit of the wolf, the dog drew too
+near and was seized and overpowered by the wolf.  In order to save his
+dog the hunter rushed out upon the lake; and when within fair range,
+dropped upon one knee and fired.  Unluckily, the ball struck the trap,
+smashed it, and set the wolf free; and all the hunter got for his pains
+was a dead dog and a broken trap--while the wolf went scot free.
+
+The Chipewyan and Slave Indians set their traps inside a lodge made of
+eight or ten poles, seven or eight feet in length, placed together
+lodge fashion and banked round with a wall of brush to prevent the fox
+entering except by the doorway.  The trap is set in the usual way, just
+outside the entrance, the chain being fastened to one of the door
+poles.  Instead, however, of being placed on the snow around the trap,
+the mixed bait is put on a bit of rabbit skin fastened in the centre of
+the lodge; the idea being that the fox will step on the trap when he
+endeavours to enter.  The Louchieux Indian sets his trap the foregoing
+way, but in addition he sets a snare in the doorway of the lodge, not
+so much to catch and hold the fox, as to check him from leaping in
+without treading on the trap.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo told me that whenever a trap set in the usual way had failed
+to catch a fox, he then tried to take advantage of the cautious and
+suspicious nature of the animal by casting about on the snow little
+bits of iron, and re-setting and covering his trap on the crest of some
+little mound close at hand without any bait whatever.  The fox,
+returning to the spot where he had scented and seen the bait before,
+would now scent the iron, and becoming puzzled over the mystery would
+try to solve it by going to the top of the mound to sit down and think
+it over; and thus he would be caught.
+
+Another way to try for a fox that has been nipped in a trap and yet has
+got away is to take into account the strange fact that the animal will
+surely come back to investigate the source of the trouble.  The hunter
+re-sets the trap in its old position and in the usual way; then, a
+short distance off, he builds a little brush tepee, something like a
+lynx-lodge, which has a base of about four feet, and by means of a
+snare fastened to a tossing-pole, he hangs a rabbit with its hind feet
+about six inches above the snow.  A mixed-bait stick is placed a little
+farther back, in order to attract the fox, while another trap is set
+just below the rabbit.  The idea of re-setting the first trap in the
+old position is to put the fox off his guard when he approaches the
+dead rabbit hanging in the snare.  As, no doubt, he has seen a rabbit
+hang many times before, and snares so baited he has often robbed.  The
+Indian in his extreme care to avoid communicating man-smell to the
+rabbit will even remain to leeward of it while he handles it, lest
+man-scent should blow against the rabbit and adhere to the fur.  If
+that happened, the fox would be so suspicious that he would not go near
+the rabbit.
+
+But to illustrate how stupid the white fox of the Arctic coast is in
+comparison with the coloured fox of the forest, the following story is
+worth repeating.  It happened near Fort Churchill on the northwest
+coast of Hudson Bay.  The trader at the post had given a certain Eskimo
+a spoon-bait, or spoon-hook, the first he had ever seen; and as he
+thought it a very wonderful thing, he always carried it about with him.
+The next fall, while going along the coast, he saw a pack of white
+foxes approaching, and having with him neither a trap nor a gun, he
+thought of his spoon-hook.  Tearing a rag off his shirt, he rubbed on
+it some porpoise oil which he was carrying in a bladder, fastened the
+rag about the hook, laid it on a log directly in the path of the
+approaching foxes, and, going to the end of the line, lay down out of
+sight to watch what would happen.  When the foxes drew near, one of
+them seized the bait, and the Eskimo, jerking the line, caught the fox
+by the tongue.  In that way the native caught six foxes before he
+returned to the post; but then, as everyone in the Far North knows,
+white foxes are proverbially stupid creatures.
+
+The more expert the hunter, the more pride he takes in his work.
+Before leaving a trap, he will examine its surroundings carefully and
+decide from which angle he wishes the animal to approach; then by
+arranging cut brush in a natural way in the snow he will block all
+other approaches, and thus compel the unsuspecting fox to carry out his
+wishes.
+
+When a fox springs a trap without being caught, he rarely pauses to eat
+the bait, but leaps away in fright.  The hunter, however, knowing that
+the fox will soon return, not only leaves the trap as the fox left it,
+but sets another trap, or even two more, without bait, close to the
+first, where he thinks the fox will tread when he makes his second
+visit.  If that fails, he will trace the fox's trail to where it passes
+between thick brush and there he will set a trap in the usual way, but
+without bait, right in the fox's track.  Then he will cut brush and
+shore up the natural bushes in such a way that, no other opening being
+left, the fox must return by his own track, and run the chance of being
+caught.  Should that method also fail, the hunter will set another trap
+in the trail close to the first, in the hope that if one trap does not
+catch the fox, the next will.
+
+Another device is to break a bit of glass into tiny slivers which the
+hunter mixes with grease and forms into little tablets that he leaves
+on the snow.  If the fox scents them, the chances are that he will
+swallow each tablet at a single gulp.  Presently he will feel a pain in
+his stomach.  At first this will cause him to leap about, but as his
+sufferings will only increase, he will lie down for an hour or so.
+When he finally rises to move away, he will feel the pain again.  Once
+more he will lie down, and the chances are that he will remain there
+until found either dead or alive by the hunter.
+
+
+FASHIONABLE FOOLS
+
+If my readers, especially my women readers, should feel regret at the
+great suffering resulting from fur-hunting, they should recall to mind
+its chief contributory cause--those devotees of fashionable
+civilization who mince around during the sweltering days of July and
+August in furs.  The mere thought of them once so filled with wrath a
+former acting Prime Minister of Canada--Sir George Foster--that he lost
+his usual flow of suave and classic oratory, and rearing up, roared out
+in the House of Parliament: "Such women get my goat!"
+
+Truly, there is much suffering in the wilderness, especially on account
+of civilization; but if my readers will be patient enough to wade
+through these few paragraphs of pain, they may later on find enough
+novelty, beauty, and charm in the forest to reward them for reading on
+to the end.
+
+But to return to foxes--they are much given to playing dead.  Once,
+while travelling in Athabasca with Caspar Whitney, the noted American
+writer on Sport and Travel, we came upon a black fox caught in a steel
+trap.  One of our dog-drivers stunned it and covered it with a mound of
+snow in order to protect its pelt from other animals, so that when the
+unknown trapper came along he would find his prize in good order.
+Three days later, when I passed that way, the fox was sitting upon the
+mound of snow, and was as alive as when first seen.  This time,
+however, my half-breed made sure by first hitting the fox on the snout
+to stun it, and then gently pressing his moccasined foot over its heart
+until it was dead--the proper way of killing small fur-bearing animals
+without either injuring the fur or inflicting unnecessary pain.
+
+Colin Campbell, a half-breed at York Factory, once had a different
+experience.  He had been on a visit to an Indian camp with his
+dog-train and on his way back found a white fox in one of his traps.
+He stunned it in the usual way and pressed his foot over its heart; and
+when he was sure it was dead, placed it inside his sled-wrapper and
+drove home.  On arriving at the Fort he unhitched his sled from the
+dogs, and leaving them harnessed, pulled his sled, still containing its
+load, into the trading room; where, upon opening the wrapper to remove
+the load, the fox leaped out and, as the door was closed, bolted in
+fright straight through the window, carrying the glass with it, and
+escaped before the dogs could be released from their harness.
+
+There are, however, other ways of catching the fox.  One is to chop a
+hole in the ice on a river or lake, fill the hole with water and place
+in it a "hung" white-fish, in such a position that, when the water
+freezes, about one third of the fish will protrude above the ice.  Then
+in the usual way, but without bait or sign, set one or two traps near
+the fish.  When the fox arrives, he may succeed in eating the fish's
+head, but when he tries to dig the rest of the fish out of the ice, he
+will become too interested to remain cautious, and in shifting his
+place of stance will soon be taken prisoner.  But sometimes a knowing
+old fox will first dig about in the snow, and on finding the trap, will
+thereafter be able to eat the fish in safety.
+
+Mention of the fish bait recalls what strange things occasionally
+happen in relation to hunting.  A half-breed hunter, named Pierre
+Geraud, living near Fort Isle a la Crosse, in laying out his trapping
+trail one winter, had set one of his mink deadfalls in a swamp close to
+the water-line; and on visiting the trap after the spring flood, found
+a large pike caught in it.  All the signs showed that when the flood
+had been at its height the fish had been swimming about, and on
+discovering the bait set for mink had seized it, and in trying to make
+away with it had set off the trap, the heavy drop-log falling and
+killing the fish.
+
+When I expressed surprise that an animal should have intelligence
+enough not only to find a buried trap, but to dig it up and then spring
+it without being caught, Oo-koo-hoo explained that it was not so much a
+matter of animal intelligence as of man's stupidity; for whenever that
+happened it did not prove to the animal's credit, but to man's
+discredit; the careless hunter having simply left enough man-smell on
+the trap to form a guide that told the animal exactly where the trap
+lay.  Then, the overwhelming curiosity of the fox had compelled it to
+investigate the mystery by digging it up, and when found, the fox in
+its usual way would play with the strange object; just as a domestic
+kitten would do, and so the fox would set off the trap.
+
+
+THE LAST RESORT
+
+On my first trips into the forest, whenever I questioned an Indian
+hunter as to the cause of this or that, the completeness of his graphic
+explanation always puzzled me; for I could not understand how it was
+that when he was not an eye-witness, he knew all the details of the
+affair as well as though the dead animal itself had told him the full
+story.  But when I, too, began to study Nature's book on woodcraft, it
+amazed me no longer; for then I realized that to those who had studied
+enough it was easy to read the drama of the forest; especially in the
+winter, for then Nature never fails to record it, and every story is
+always published just where it happens.  Even to those who have not
+taken the Indian degree in woodcraft, it is not difficult to read in
+winter time the annals of animal life in the forest, for then Nature
+describes with ample detail many an interesting story.  In winter time,
+too, even a blind Indian can follow a trail of which a town-bred man
+with normal sight could see no trace.
+
+If his steel traps fail, the Indian may resort to still another
+method--the gun trap--regardless of the fact that this may lessen the
+value of the animal's pelt.  A gun, first carefully cleaned and loaded
+with the exception of the cap, is placed in a nearly horizontal
+position about two feet above the snow and lashed securely to two
+posts; the barrel slanting downward to a point about a foot in height
+and eight feet away.  At that precise spot the bait stick is so fixed
+that when the fox seizes the bait, its head will be directly in line
+with the gun-barrel.  Fastened to the bait by one end will be a thong,
+the other end of which will be attached to the trigger, and will
+discharge the gun when the bait is seized.  When all is in readiness,
+the cap is put on the nipple, and a birch-bark shelter arranged to keep
+the gun-lock free from falling snow.  Brush is then placed in the snow
+in such a way that it will cause the fox to approach from only one
+direction, and that the one the hunter desires.  It is not a good trap,
+being very uncertain, as whiskey-jacks, ermine, mice, or rabbits may
+meddle with it, and set it off.  It is seldom used except for wolverine.
+
+Frequently the value an Indian places upon a certain pelt is determined
+not according to its quality, but according to the trouble the animal
+caused him in securing it, and for that reason he will sometimes expect
+more for a red fox pelt than for the skin of a beautiful black fox.
+Then, in order to retain the Indian's goodwill, the experienced trader
+will humour him by giving the price asked, and count on making up his
+loss in another way.
+
+In hunting fur-bearers poison should never be used, since it bleaches
+the fur and thus reduces its value.  Moreover, it is apt to kill in an
+almost endless chain many forest creatures besides the animal sought,
+as they may feed on the first victim to the deadly drug.
+
+The hunter's last resort in trapping the coloured fox is to set a snare
+for him.  In setting a snare the Chipewyan and northern Indians always
+use a tossing-pole, while most of the southern and eastern Indians use
+a spring-pole; the difference being that a tossing-pole is usually made
+by bending down a small tree--the size of the tree being determined by
+the size of the game--to the top of which is fastened the snare; or the
+tossing-pole may be made by cutting a pole for that purpose.  The
+result, however, being that the moment the snare is sprung the
+tossing-pole flies free, and hauling the game into the air, holds it
+there out of reach of other animals that might rob the hunter of his
+prize.  A spring-pole is made by setting a springy pole in such a
+position that when the snare is sprung, the tension is released, and
+the pole, springing up, hauls the animal against a stationary bar set
+horizontally above the loop of the snare, and holds the quarry there.
+Many kinds of animals are caught with snares, and in size they run all
+the way from rabbits to bears and even to the great bull-moose.
+
+
+HUNTER CAUGHT IN SNARE
+
+Snares, steel traps, and deadfalls that are set for large game are
+dangerous even for man to approach carelessly, and sometimes even the
+trapper himself has the misfortune to be caught in the very trap he has
+set for some other animal.  Early one winter, in fact, just after the
+first heavy snowfall, and while some bears were still roaming about,
+before turning in for their long winter sleep, an Indian hunter--I have
+forgotten his name--assisted by his son, had just set a powerful snare
+for bears.  Soon after starting for home, the hunter, discovering that
+he had left his pipe by the trap, told his son to go on to camp, and he
+would return to recover his treasure.  On arriving at the snare, he saw
+his pipe lying just beyond his reach at the back of the loop, but
+instead of walking round the brush fence and picking it up from behind,
+as he should have done, he foolishly put his leg through the snare in
+order to reach and dislodge his pipe.  By some evil chance his foot
+caught upon the loop; and instantly he was violently jerked, heels over
+head, into the air, and there hung head downward struggling for his
+life.  He had made the tossing-pole from a strong tree, up which his
+son had climbed with a line, and by their combined weight they had
+forced the tree top over and down until they could secure it by setting
+the snare.  The tossing-pole, when the snare went off, sprung up with
+such force that it not only dislocated the hunter's right leg at the
+knee, but it threw his knife out of its sheath, and, consequently, he
+had no means by which he could cut the line, nor could he unfasten it
+or even climb up--for he was hanging clear of the tree.  Presently,
+however, he began to bleed from the nose and ears; and in his violent
+effort to struggle free, he noticed that he was swinging from side to
+side; then it dawned upon him that if he could only increase the radius
+of his swing he might manage to reach and seize hold of the tree, climb
+up to slacken the line, unfasten the snare, and set himself free.
+This, after much violent effort, he finally accomplished; but even when
+he reached the ground, everything seemed utterly hopeless, for on
+account of his dislocated leg, he could not walk.  So there he lay all
+night long.  During twilight, as fate ordained, the wounded man had a
+visitor; it was a bear, and no doubt the very bear for which he had set
+his snare.  But the bear, in approaching, did not notice the man until
+it was almost on top of him, and then it became so frightened that it
+tore up into a neighbouring tree and there remained for hours.  By
+midnight, however, it came down, and then it was the suffering hunter's
+turn to become alarmed, for the big brute passed very close to him
+before it finally walked away.  A little after sunrise the hunter's son
+arrived, but not being able to carry his father, and fearing lest the
+bear might return before he could secure help, he decided to leave his
+father there, while he went in search of the bear.  Tracking it, he
+soon came upon it and shot it dead.  Back he hastened to camp and, with
+his mother, returned with a sled and hauled the wounded man home.
+
+
+THE FOX AT HOME
+
+The "coloured" foxes, including the red, the cross, the silver, and the
+black--the latter three being merely colour phases of the former and
+not separate species, as has frequently been proved, but all four
+having been found in the same litter--mate in February and March.  They
+pair and remain faithful partners.  The father also helps in feeding
+and caring for the young which are born about fifty days after the
+mating season.  The litter contains from three to ten, and when a few
+weeks old the young are as playful and as interesting as domestic
+kittens.  The den in which they are born may be a hollow tree, a hollow
+log, or more often an underground tunnel with several entrances and a
+storeroom besides the living chamber.  The nest is never lined, but
+left quite bare and is kept clean.  Their principal food is derived
+from mice, birds, fowl, and rabbits; and the parents frequently cache
+food for both their young and themselves.  No wonder they are good
+providers, for what with their keen sense of scent and their great
+speed they seldom fail in their hunts.  They are fond of open country
+and have an individual range of very few miles, perhaps ten at the
+most.  In winter they run singly until the mating season; seldom are
+the tracks of more than two foxes seen together, and their principal
+enemies are men, wolves, lynxes, and dogs.
+
+As the district through which we were passing was rich in fox-signs,
+Oo-koo-hoo set a number of traps.  Such work takes time, and when we
+reached a well-wooded grove of second-growth birch, poplars, and--along
+a little creek--willows, we began to think of where we should camp for
+the night.  Besides, the old hunter deemed it an ideal spot in which to
+set lynx and rabbit snares.  So while the boys cut wood for the fire
+and brush for our beds, and then turned to the cooking of supper,
+Oo-koo-hoo cut a great mass of birch, poplar, and willow branches and
+tops, and threw them into piles, not only to attract the rabbits
+thither, but to afford them a prolonged feast for many weeks, and thus
+fatten them for his own use; moreover, the gathering of the rabbits
+would prove a strong attraction for the lynxes of the region.
+Sometimes, at such a spot, hundreds of rabbits will feed, and in winter
+time the place may become such a network of runways that if it happens
+to be a fairly open hillside one can see from half a mile away the
+shadows of the endless tracks that mark the glistening snow in all
+directions.
+
+During the years of great plenty--which the Indians and traders assert
+come about every seventh year--the number of rabbits in some sections
+of the northern forest is almost beyond belief.  Then a plague suddenly
+overtakes them, almost wiping them out of existence, and several years
+elapse before the disease disappears and they begin to increase again.
+The plague, of course, is the rabbit's greatest enemy, then follows the
+lynx, the fox, the wolf, and many other animals and even birds such as
+the owl and the hawk; but somewhere among that destructive group man
+plays a prominent part.
+
+
+THE RABBIT AND THE HUNTER
+
+The rabbit, or more properly the varying-hare, of the northern forest
+is also called the snowshoe rabbit, from the fact that nature has
+provided it with remarkable feet that allow it to run with ease over
+the deepest and softest snow.  It wears a coat that changes colour with
+the changing seasons: brown in summer and white in winter.  Its food is
+derived principally from the bark of the poplar, the willow, and the
+birch.  In winter time rabbits are found to be fattest when the moon is
+full, and that is accounted for by the fact that they feed at night,
+and feed most when the moon is giving light.  Besides, on stormy
+nights, especially between moons, they remain more under cover and feel
+less inclined to venture out even to secure their needed food.  In all
+the north woods there is no animal that is of more use to man, beast,
+or bird, than the rabbit, nor is there any animal that is so friendly
+to all alike; yet no other creature of the wilderness is so preyed upon
+as the rabbit.  But in winter its safety lies not so much in the great
+speed it possesses as in its snowshoe feet and in its skill in dodging.
+Rabbits mate in March and April, the usual litter of three or four
+being born about a month later.  The nest is usually on the ground in
+some sheltered place under brushwood that forms a good protection, and
+the nest is lined with leaves, grass, or their own cast-off fur.
+
+A rabbit snare is made of fine babiche, sinew, cord, or wire, and the
+loop is hung over a rabbit runway just high enough to catch it round
+the neck.  In its struggles it sets off the spring or tossing-pole,
+thus usually ending its sufferings.  When thus caught the flesh is
+tender and sweet; but when caught by a leg the flesh is flabby and
+tasteless, the reason being that when caught by the neck the rabbit is
+killed almost instantly; but when snared by a leg it hangs struggling
+in pain for hours before it finally bleeds at the nose and dies, or is
+frozen to death.  When the latter happens, however, the rabbit is
+usually thrown to a dog or used for trap bait.  The reason Oo-koo-hoo
+set the rabbit snares was not so much for present needs as to provide
+meals for the hunter while on his future rounds; also to keep on hand a
+goodly supply of trap bait.
+
+Expert hunters, when they have time, prefer to hunt rabbits by calling
+them.  In the rutting season they imitate the love-call of the female,
+and in other seasons they mimic the cries of the young; in either case,
+the unsuspecting animals come loping from all directions, and the
+hunter bowls them over with fine shot.  Calling takes much practice,
+but when the hunter has become an adept, it is the easiest and the
+quickest way of catching them.
+
+In relation to setting snares for rabbits, Mrs. Wm. Cornwallis King,
+the wife of a well-known Hudson's Bay Company's chief trader, once had
+an unusual experience.  She had set for rabbits a number of snares made
+of piano wire, and when visiting them one morning she was astonished
+and delighted, too, to find caught in one of her snares a beautiful
+silver fox; stranger still, the fox was caught by its tongue.  As
+usual, after investigation, the snow told the whole story in a graphic
+way.  It showed that the fox had been pursuing a rabbit, both going on
+the full run, and the latter always dodging in the effort to escape
+from its enemy.  Finally, the rabbit had bolted past the snare, and the
+panting fox, with its tongue hanging out, following close behind,
+accidentally had touched its wet tongue against the wire, and the frost
+of many degrees below zero had instantly frozen it there.  Then the
+fox, struggling to get free, had set off the snare, which closing on
+its tongue had hauled it into the air, where it had hung with just the
+tip of its tail and its hind toes resting on the snow.  When Mrs. King
+found it, it was dead.
+
+That evening, when the fire sank low and we turned in, a pack of timber
+wolves for fully an hour sang us a most interesting lullaby; such a
+one, indeed, that it made the goose-flesh run up and down our backs--or
+rather my back--just as really fine music always does; and to tell the
+truth, I enjoyed it more than many a human concert I have heard.
+
+
+HUNTING THE LYNX
+
+It was cool next morning and cloudy and threatening snow.  Five rabbits
+had been caught during the night, and after breakfast we turned to
+setting lynx snares.  The steel trap is set for the lynx much in the
+same way as it is for the fox; but for the lynx, a snare is preferable.
+It is set with or without a tossing-pole, at the entrance of a
+brush-lodge, the base of which is about five feet wide.  The bait used
+is made by rubbing beaver castorum on a bit of rabbit skin placed in a
+split stick set vertically in the centre of the lodge.  A surer way,
+however, is to also set a steel trap in front of the lodge door, so
+that if the lynx does not enter, he may be caught while looking in.
+The Indians often hunt them with dogs, for, when pursued, the lynx soon
+takes to a tree and then is easily shot.  But the most proficient
+hunters like to hunt them by calling.  They imitate its screech and
+also its whistle, for the lynx whistles somewhat like a jack-rabbit,
+though the sound is coarser and louder.  Some Indians are very
+successful in this mode of hunting.
+
+Besides being able to whistle, the lynx far surpasses the domestic cat
+in the range and volume of his evening song; and during the rutting
+season, at sunrise and sunset, he has a peculiar habit of beating or
+drumming with his forepaws on the hard snow or earth.  No doubt it is a
+form of challenge, used much in the same way as the drumming of
+cock-grouse; martens and rabbits do the same.  The lynx is a wonderful
+swimmer and is dangerous to tackle in the water, for he can turn with
+remarkable agility, and board a canoe in a moment.  Of all northern
+animals he is perhaps the most silent walker, for in the night a band
+of five or six lynxes may pass close beside one's tent and never be
+heard, though a single rabbit, passing at the same distance, may make
+enough noise to awaken a sound sleeper.  Though he often behaves like a
+coward, hunters approach him with care when he is caught in a steel
+trap, as he can make a great spring and when he chooses, can fight
+desperately.  While in summer he is a poor runner, in winter he is
+greatly aided by his big feet, which act as snowshoes and help him over
+the soft snow and the deep drifts.  Few animals succeed in killing him,
+for what with his unusual speed in water and the fact that he can climb
+a tree with almost the ease of a monkey, his chances of escape are
+always good.
+
+[Illustration: The lynx is a wonderful swimmer and is dangerous to
+tackle in the water, for he can turn with remarkable agility, and board
+a canoe in a moment.  Of all northern animals he is perhaps the most
+silent walker.  Though he often behaves like a coward, hunters approach
+him with care when he is caught in a steel trap, as he can make a great
+spring and when he chooses, can . . .  See Chapter III.]
+
+Lynxes mate in March, the young being born about three months later,
+the litter consisting of from one to five.  The father assists in the
+support of the kittens, which are much like those of the domestic cat.
+The lynx's coat is gray mottled with brown, but in winter it turns a
+lighter colour; in weight he runs from thirty-five to forty-five
+pounds.  His principal food is derived from rabbits and any other
+animals he can kill, from beaver down, as well as grouse, ptarmigan,
+and other birds and fowl; occasionally he will tackle the young of
+deer, but he never dares to molest man.  When his catch is more than
+sufficient for his present need, he caches the remainder in snow or
+earth for future use.  He is as cleanly as a house cat, and his flesh
+when cooked resembles a cross between rabbit and veal.
+
+
+MARTEN TRAPPING
+
+After setting a number of snares for lynxes we resumed our march, and
+on rounding the end of a little lake, saw two fresh moose-tracks.
+Following them up, we finally came to a park-like region, where was
+very little underbrush, and where most of the trees were pine and
+spruce--an ideal spot for marten.  So Oo-koo-hoo, forgetting all about
+his moose-tracks, made ready to set some marten traps.
+
+For one marten an Indian catches in a steel trap he catches a dozen in
+wooden deadfalls; but with the white trapper it is different--he relies
+chiefly on the steel traps.  Steel traps are set either in the open or
+in the tracks of the marten in exactly the same way as for foxes, and
+either with or without tossing-poles.  The largest and best deadfalls
+used by the Indians are those they set for bears.  The city-dwelling
+author, or illustrator, who has not lived in the wilderness, would
+never think of depicting an Indian trapper with a big hand-auger
+hanging from his belt, perhaps no more than he would depict a pirate
+armed with a big Bible; yet, nevertheless, it is a fact that the Indian
+trapper nowadays carries an auger much as the old buccaneer carried his
+cutlass--thrust through his belt.  Somehow or other, I never could
+associate Oo-koo-hoo's big wooden-handled auger with his gun and
+powder-horn, and all the while I was curious as to what use he was
+going to make of it.  Now I was to have my curiosity satisfied.
+
+First he selected an evergreen tree about a foot in diameter--this time
+it was a pine--and with his axe cut a horizontal notch one to two
+inches deep; then he blazed the tree six or eight inches down to the
+notch, in order to form a smooth, flat surface; then he took his big
+auger and bored down into the tree, at an incline of about twenty
+degrees, a hole of two inches' diameter and nine inches deep.  Allowing
+at that spot for two feet of snow, he had bored the hole about thirty
+inches above ground.  Then taking two inch-and-a-quarter, thin,
+sharp-pointed nails he drove them obliquely into the tree just above
+the hole, so that about three quarters of each protruded into the hole.
+He did the same with two other nails below the hole, but this time
+drove them upward until they, too, protruded into the hole.  Both sets
+of nails were driven in about an inch and a quarter apart.  The bait
+used was a duck's head placed at the bottom of the hole.  The idea was
+that when the marten scented the bait, he would crawl into the hole to
+secure it; but when he tried to withdraw, he would find himself
+entrapped by the four sharp-pointed nails that, though they allowed him
+to slip in, now prevented him from backing out as they ran into his
+flesh, and held him until the hunter, placing two fingers of each hand
+over the four nail-points, seizing with his teeth the animal's tail,
+and throwing back his head, would draw his victim out.  But such work
+is rather risky, as the hunter may be bitten before he has a chance to
+kill the marten.
+
+Though it is a very recent mode of trapping--only about thirty-five
+years old--it is now considered the best of all ways for taking marten,
+as the traps not only remain set all winter, but they last for years.
+Later I learned from a chief factor that it was invented by a Saulteaux
+Indian named Ke-now-keoose, who was at one time employed as a servant
+of the Hudson's Bay Company, where he learned the use of carpenter's
+tools--later, when he left the service, he hunted and trapped along the
+Athabasca, the Slave, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Sometimes twenty-five
+to thirty such traps are set by a hunter in a single day.  Mink and
+ermine are often caught in them, and on one occasion even a wolverine
+was taken.  The wolverine, having scented the bait, followed it up, and
+while endeavouring to secure the dainty duck's head, thrust his forepaw
+into the hole and was thus taken prisoner.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo took pains to teach the boys everything in relation to
+trapping, and as soon as he was sure they had mastered the details of
+setting such traps, he went ahead with his axe to blaze the right
+trees, while the boys followed with the auger, and in the work of
+boring the holes and driving the nails took turn and turn about.  But
+after all, the old-fashioned deadfall is more humane than any other way
+of trapping, as it often ends the animal's suffering at once by killing
+it outright, instead of holding it a prisoner till it starves or is
+frozen to death, before the hunter arrives on his usual weekly round of
+that particular trapping path.
+
+Martens mate in February or March, the young being born about three
+months later, either in a hole in the ground or in a hollow tree; the
+nest being lined with moss, grass, or leaves, and the litter numbering
+usually from two to four.  The marten is a wonderfully energetic little
+animal, even more tireless than the squirrel and as great a climber.
+It is an expert hunter and its food includes birds, fish, chipmunks,
+birds' eggs, mice, fruit, and rabbits; and it stores its surplus food
+by burying it.
+
+
+MINK ON THE FUR TRAIL
+
+By the time Oo-koo-hoo and his grandsons had set twelve or fifteen
+traps it was nearing noon, so we had lunch before starting off in
+search of another rich game region.  While on our way that afternoon
+the old hunter again discovered signs of wolverines and it worried him,
+for it meant not only the destruction of many of his traps, but also
+the ruining of the pelts of some of the animals he might catch.
+Continuing, we soon entered an ideal valley for mink, where two
+turbulent little crystal streams roared at one another as they sprang
+together among the rocks and then fell down into dark, eddying pools
+where, no doubt, trout leaped after flies in due season.
+
+The mink is a small animal, about two feet long, including his tail.
+In colour he is of a dark, rich brown.  Though he is not a swift runner
+and is rather a poor climber, he is an excellent swimmer and is a
+desperate fighter of great strength.  Minks mate in February and March;
+the female burrowing in a bank, a rocky crevice, or beneath a log or a
+stump, or perhaps in a hollow tree; the nest is lined with moss,
+feathers, or grass, and the young are born about forty days after the
+mating season.  The minks' food may be flesh, fish, or fowl and, if
+overstocked, it is stored for future use.
+
+On land, the mink is caught exactly as the fox, the fisher, or the
+marten is caught, except, of course, that there is a difference in the
+size of the traps.  In water, the steel trap is set just below the
+surface and rests on the muddy or sandy bottom, where it is half
+covered with soil as it lies in readiness close to the bank where the
+mink is in the habit of passing in and out of the stream.  Mixed bait
+is placed on the branches of the near-by bushes.  In order, however, to
+better his chances of catching the mink, the hunter may build a
+deadfall near the trap, where the animal is in the habit of entering
+the bush.  Then extra bait of rancid fish or duck is used.  This mode
+of water-trapping applies, also, to muskrat, otter, and beaver.  The
+mink, however, is a stupid creature, and it does not require great
+skill to trap him; but the hunter, nevertheless, must take care when
+removing him from the trap, for the little brute has the heart of a
+lion and will tackle anything, regardless of size.
+
+We camped that night on the hillside overlooking "Mink Creek" as
+Oo-koo-hoo called it, and next morning we again set out on our circular
+way, for on leaving our lodges, we first headed almost due west for
+about three miles, then we turned south for two more, and gradually
+working round, we were soon facing east; that course we followed for a
+day, then on the morrow we worked round toward the north, and finally
+to the west again, as we neared home.  Thus the trapping path was laid
+in an elliptic form, somewhat suggesting the letter C, with the home
+camp between the two ends of the letter.  Many times during the winter
+circumstances proved the wisdom of Oo-koo-hoo's plan, especially when
+the sled became over-loaded with game, and a short cut to camp became
+desirable.  Though no part of his fur path lay more than five miles
+from the lodges, yet to make the full circuit on showshoes, to examine
+the traps, and to set some of them, it required a long day, as the path
+must have covered in a zig-zagging way more than twenty miles.  Later
+on he and Amik laid out two more such trapping paths: one to the north
+and the other to the east of Bear Lake.  The one to the northward was
+to be especially for bears and wolves as it was a good region for both
+those animals.  At supper time a snow flurry overtook us and whitened
+the forest.  As we sat around the fire that evening, the last evening
+of our trip, Oo-koo-hoo again began worrying about the presence of
+wolverines, recalling many of his experiences with those destructive
+animals.  But none of his stories equalled the following, told once by
+Chief Factor Thompson.
+
+
+MEGUIR AND THE WOLVERINE
+
+It happened years ago when an old Dog-rib Indian, called Meguir, was
+living and hunting in the vicinity of Fort Rae on Great Slave Lake.
+The Dog-rib and his family of five had been hunting Barren Ground
+Caribou, and after killing, skinning, and cutting up a number of deer,
+had built a stage upon which they placed the venison.  Moving on and
+encountering another herd of caribou, they killed again, and cutting up
+the game, stored it this time in a log cache.  Again setting out on the
+hunt--for they were laying in their supply of deer meat for the
+winter--they again met with success; but as it was in a district devoid
+of trees, they simply covered the meat with brush; and while Meguir and
+his wife set off to haul the first lot of meat to camp, the three
+grandchildren set to work to haul in the last.  On continuing their
+work the next day the children brought in word that a wolverine, or
+carcajou, had visited the log cache; so Meguir set off at once to
+investigate the story.
+
+When he arrived, he found the cache torn asunder, and the meat gone.
+Wolverine tracks were plentiful and mottled the snow in many
+directions, but on circling, Meguir found a trail that led away, and on
+following it up, he came upon a quarter of deer.  He circled again,
+trailed another track, found more meat, and after a few hours' work he
+had recovered most of the venison; but on smelling it, he found that
+the wolverine, in its usual loathsome way, had defiled the meat.  Then,
+on going to his stage, Meguir found that it, too, had been visited by
+the wolverine, as the stage had been torn down and the meat defiled.
+Indignant at the outrage, the old Dog-rib determined to hunt the
+carcajou and destroy it.  But before doing so, he made sure that all
+his deer meat was hauled to camp and safely stored upon the stages
+beside his lodge.  That night, however, his old wife woke up with a
+start and hearing the dogs growling, looked out, and discovered a
+strange animal scrambling down from one of the stages.  At once she
+screamed to her old man to get his gun as fast as The Master of Life
+would let him, as the wolverine was robbing them again.
+
+Half-awake, and that half all excitement, the old man rushed out into
+the snow with his muzzle-loading flintlock and let drive.  Instantly
+one of his dogs fell over.  Roaring with rage, the old Indian re-loaded
+with all speed, and catching another glimpse of the wolverine in the
+faint light of the Aurora Borealis, let drive again; but as ill-luck
+would have it, the gun went off just as another of his dogs made a
+gallant charge, and once more a dog fell dead--and the wolverine got
+away!
+
+Nothing would now do but that the old man must seek his revenge at the
+earliest possible moment, so when dawn broke he was already following
+the trail of the malicious raider.  All day he trailed it through the
+snow, and just before dusk the tracks told him that he was very near
+his quarry; but rather than run the risk of firing in a poor light, he
+decided not to despatch the brute until daylight came.
+
+According to the northern custom, when he camped that night, he stood
+his gun and snowshoes in the snow far enough away to prevent their
+being affected by the heat of the fire.  In the morning his snowshoes
+were gone.  Tracks, however, showed that the wolverine had taken them.
+Again the old man trailed the thief; but without snowshoes, the going
+was extra hard, and it was afternoon before he stumbled upon one of his
+snowshoes lying in the snow, and quite near his former camp, as the
+"Great Mischief Maker" had simply made a big circuit and come back
+again.  But of what use was one snowshoe?  So the old hunter continued
+his search, and late that day found the other--damaged beyond repair.
+
+That night, filled with rage and despondency, he returned to his old
+camp, and as usual placed his gun upright in the snow away from the
+heat of the fire.  In the morning it was gone.  New tracks marked the
+snow and showed where the carcajou had dragged it away.  Several hours
+later the old man found it with its case torn to ribbons, the butt
+gnawed, and the trigger broken.
+
+Tired, hungry, dejected, and enraged, old Meguir sought his last
+night's camp to make a fire and to rest awhile; but when he got there
+he found he had lost his fire bag containing his flint and steel--his
+wherewithal for making fire.  Again he went in search, but
+fresh-falling snow had so obliterated the trail and so hindered his
+progress, that it was late before he recovered his treasure, and
+regained his dead fireplace.  Yet still the wolverine was at large.
+
+But instead of thinking of wreaking his rage upon the wolverine, the
+poor old Indian was so completely intimidated by the wily brute, so
+discouraged and so despondent, that he imagined that the whole
+transaction was the work of some evil spirit.  As a result, he not only
+gave up hunting the wolverine, but he gave up hunting altogether, and
+he and his family would have starved had not friends come to their
+rescue and rendered them assistance until his grandsons were old enough
+to take charge.
+
+
+PREPARING FOR WINTER
+
+After our return to the home-camp we experienced several weeks of
+perfect Indian summer, and its passing was marked by one of the most
+beautiful natural phenomena I have ever seen.  It happened when the
+deciduous trees were at their height of autumnal glory, and when--as
+though to add still more to the wonderful scene--three inches of
+clinging snow having fallen during the night, glittered under the
+brilliant morning sun.  Truly it was a glory to behold--a perfect
+panorama of rioting greens, yellows, browns, blues, reds, grays,
+crimsons, purples, in fact, every colour which an artist's palette
+could carry; and through it all was ever woven a mass of lace-like
+brilliant white that dazzled the eyes of the beholder.  Only once in
+fifty years have I beheld a scene so enchanting.
+
+Next day, however, a strong wind blew wild-looking leaden clouds over
+the forest, and Autumn, taking fright, threw aside her gorgeous
+rustling mantle and fled away; while the loons on the lake fairly
+shrieked with laughter.
+
+Meanwhile, the work in preparation for the coming of winter had made
+good progress.  Already the women and children had laid out their own
+little trapping paths--principally for ermine, rabbits, partridges,
+muskrats, and skunks, the game found nearest camp; and many another
+thing had the women attended to.  Though they still possessed the
+sticking-plaster and the painkiller supplied by the trader, they
+refused to rely on the white man's trivial cure-alls, as they could
+gather better remedies from their own woods.  Their chief reason for
+buying "painkiller" was that they, like other Indians, relished it as a
+cocktail on festival occasions; and many a time have I seen a group of
+Indians--like civilized society people--topping off cocktails (of
+painkiller) before sitting down to dinner.
+
+In case of illness, however, the Indians resort much to bleeding, and
+this is the mode of operation: a sharp flint is fastened to the split
+end of a stick, a U-shaped piece of wood is laid over the intended
+spot, and the thickness of the wood determines the depth of the
+incision.  The flint end of the stick is raised while the other end is
+held down in such a way as to bend the stick; on releasing the end
+containing the flint, the stick strikes downward and drives the flint
+into the flesh to the required depth and no more.  The bowl of a pipe
+is then applied to the cut, and the blood is drawn off through the
+stem.  Young birch roots boiled in a second water make a tea which they
+sweeten with sugar and use as a laxative.  Yellow water-lily roots are
+boiled until a black sediment forms--somewhat similar to iodine in
+appearance--and with a feather dipped in this liquid wounds are painted
+in order to consume proud flesh and to prevent mortification.  The
+upper tips--about four inches long--of juniper trees having been
+boiled, and the outer bark removed, the inner bark is scraped off and
+mashed up for poultices.  The liquor in which the juniper has been
+boiled is employed for washing wounds, as it causes the rapid formation
+of a healing cicatrix.  To cure colic, the dried root of the "rat root"
+is chewed, and the juice swallowed.
+
+Among other work that was well under way was the making of the
+moccasins, known as the "mitten moccasin"--by far the best for
+snowshoeing, as the seam runs round only the outer side of the foot and
+leaves no puckering above the toes to cause blistering.  True, the
+mitten moccasin is not of the Ojibway style, but Mrs. Oo-koo-hoo had
+learned to make it when she and her husband formerly sojourned among
+the Wood-Crees on the upper Athabasca.
+
+Supplying the family with socks was a very easy affair, as these
+articles were simply rectangular shapes, 12 x 18 inches (for adults)
+cut from duffle--a woollen material resembling an extra closely woven
+H.B.C. blanket--and worn wrapped about the foot.  Such socks have an
+advantage over the ordinary kind as they are more easily dried, and
+they wear much longer, as the sock can be shifted about every time the
+wearer puts it on, thus warding off the evil day when holes appear.
+
+Amik, during the summer, had made a number of snowshoe frames, and now
+the women were lacing them.  They used fine caribou thongs, especially
+fine for the heel and toe.  I have seen snowshoes that white men have
+strung with cord; but cord is of little use, for cord, or rope, shrinks
+when wet and stretches when dry, whereas deerskin stretches when wet
+and shrinks when drying.  Of all deerskin, however, that of caribou
+stretches less when wet than any other; besides, it is much stronger
+and that is why it makes the best mesh for snowshoes.  In lacing a
+shoe, a wooden needle is used, but the eye, instead of being at one
+end, is in the centre.  Amik had also started work on several hunting
+sleds of the toboggan type--the only kind used by the natives of the
+Great Northern Forest.  They are made of birch wood and not of birch
+bark, as a noted American author asserted in one of his books on
+northern life.
+
+A hunting sled is made of two thin boards, split from a birch log by
+using wooden wedges, and the boards are shaved flat and smooth, first
+with the aid of a very sharp axe and then with a crooked knife.  A
+hunting sled is ten to twelve inches wide, and commonly eight feet
+long.  The widest part of the sled is at the first cross-bar, then it
+tapers both ways, an inch less at the tail, and four or five inches
+less at the end of its gracefully curved prow.  That is done to prevent
+jamming among trees.  The two boards are fastened to four cross-bars
+with deerskin thongs, never with pegs or nails, and the ground-lashing
+is made fast to the cross-bars.  A wrapper of deerskin is provided in
+which to lash the load.  The lashing thong is eighteen to twenty feet
+in length.  Dog-sleds are made much longer, and up to about sixteen
+inches in width, and are provided with an extra line that trails out
+behind, by which the driver holds back the sled when going down hill,
+in order to prevent it from over-running the dogs.  A hunting-sled,
+however, is usually hauled by man by means of a looped strap, or
+tump-line, with a broad centre which goes over the hunter's shoulders
+or head, and has its two ends fastened to the first cross-bar below the
+prow.
+
+During the next few days Oo-koo-hoo and Amik had also finished setting
+their traps, snares, and deadfalls for all the furred creatures of the
+woods, including wolves and bears.  Already the camp had taken on a
+business-like air, for the big stretching frames for the skins of
+moose, bear, and caribou had been erected near the lodges; and as the
+hunters had secured both moose and caribou, the frames were already in
+use.  Trapping had begun in earnest, and though fairly successful--a
+number of fine skins having been already taken--the hunters were still
+worried over the wolverines.  On one path alone they had found nothing
+but a fox's foot, and the tails of four martens; besides, several of
+their traps were missing.  In another place, where they had dressed a
+caribou killed by Oo-koo-hoo, and had left the meat overnight for the
+women and boys to haul in next day, wolverines had found it and defiled
+it in their usual way.
+
+The women, too, had had their troubles as owls had visited their
+snares, and robbed them of many a pelt.  Worse in some respects than
+the wolverine is the owl, for while the wolverine leaves a track that
+one can trail, and either find what is left of the game, or overtake
+and punish the marauder, the owl leaves no trail at all, and though he
+frequently eats only the brain or eyes of the game, he has a habit of
+carrying the game away and dropping it in the distant woods where it is
+seldom found.  So the women took to setting steel traps on the ends of
+upright poles upon which they judged the owls would alight, as these
+birds are much given to resting upon the tips of "ram-pikes," and in
+that way they had caught several.
+
+One evening early in November, after a hard day's travel through a big
+storm of wet, clinging snow, we sat by the fire in Oo-koo-hoo's lodge,
+and happily commented on the fact that we had got everything in good
+shape for the coming of winter.  Next morning, when we went outside, we
+found that everything was covered with a heavy blanket of clinging
+snow, and the streams and the lake beginning to freeze over.  We found,
+also, to our amazement that a big bull-moose had been standing on the
+bank of Muskrat Creek and watching the smoke rising from our lodges as
+the fires were lighted at sunrise--just as I have shown in my painting.
+
+[Illustration: Next morning we found that everything was covered with a
+heavy blanket of clinging snow, and the streams and the lake beginning
+to freeze over.  We found, also to our amazement that a big bull-moose
+had been standing on the bank of Muskrat Creek and watching the smoke
+rising from our lodges as the fires were lighted at sunrise.  After a
+hurried breakfast, we set out in pursuit of the moose, which we . . .
+See Chapter III.]
+
+After a hurried breakfast, we three men set out in pursuit of the moose
+which we overtook within a mile, and then there was meat to haul on
+sleds to our camp.  That day the temperature fell rapidly, and by night
+the little streams were strongly frozen, and around the lake the ice
+stretched far out from the shore.  So we gathered up the canoes and
+stored them for the winter upside down upon stages made for the
+purpose; and that night before we turned in we saw, for the first time
+that season, _Akwutinoowe_--"The Freezing Moon."
+
+
+
+
+IV
+
+OO-KOO-HOO PLAYS THE GAME
+
+TRAILING THE BEAR
+
+"My son, a good hunter is never long in doubt; for when he discovers a
+bear track and follows it for a few hundred paces, he knows whether the
+track was made by day or by night, whether the bear was large or small,
+old or young, male or female; whether its coat was in condition or not;
+whether the beast was merely wandering or travelling with a purpose in
+view; whether it was frightened or undisturbed; whether going fast or
+slow; and whether seeking friends or food.  Also, the hunter knows
+which way the wind was blowing when the track was made, he knows
+whether the bear felt tired or active, and, furthermore, whether or not
+it wanted to go to bed."
+
+I laughed aloud.
+
+Instantly the old man's kindly face was clouded with a frown and he
+exclaimed:
+
+"My son . . . that was the laugh of a _monias_ (greenhorn)", and
+glaring at me, he added: "At first, I thought better of you, but now I
+am sure that all white men are fools!"
+
+Realizing my mistake, I sobered, and suggested that if he would explain
+I would have a chance to learn the ways of a great hunter.
+
+"My son, it is a simple matter to read a track--that is, when one has
+learned the game.  For then one has but to look, remember, and reason,
+and then the whole story unfolds before your eyes; just as when you
+open and read what you white men call a book.  And some day, my son, if
+you try hard to learn, you, too, may be able to read the tales of the
+Strong Woods Country.  Now listen to your grandfather and he will
+explain: under ordinary conditions a deep, clear track implies action;
+a faint, shallow one, inaction; the length of the stride indicates the
+speed; if, when travelling slow, hair is found upon the underwood, the
+animal passed at night, for in daylight a bear is as careful as a lynx
+to avoid striking things; if the bear is young or middle aged, the claw
+marks are sharp and clean cut; if it is old, they are blunt and
+blurred.  The tracks of the male, though larger, are not so round as
+those of the female, and the male's toes are not only longer and spread
+farther apart, but the underside of his foot is not so hairy as that of
+his mate.  Then, too, as you know, there are other signs by which a
+tracker tells the sex of his quarry.  Now if the bear was travelling
+with a definite purpose in mind, he would travel straight, or as nearly
+straight as he could through the woods, and in order to save time, he
+might even occasionally climb a tree to spy out the lay of the land--as
+he frequently does.  Then, again, if he were feeding, the ground and
+growth beside his trail would show it; if suddenly startled, he would
+leave the familiar sign that all large animals usually leave when
+frightened; and, moreover, it would be left within fifty paces of the
+place where he took fright.  Furthermore, if he were tired and wanted
+to rest, he would begin circling down wind, so that he could come about
+close to his back trail, and then lie down, facing down wind, in such a
+position that he could see anything he could not scent, and scent
+anything he could not see.  Thus if an enemy approached, his eyes would
+guard his front while his scent would guard his rear.  And now, my son,
+as a bear usually travels up wind, even a _monias_ of a white man could
+surmise which way the wind was blowing when the track was made.  And
+always remember, my son, that only fools laugh at common sense.  But
+don't get discouraged, keep on trying hard to learn, and then perhaps
+some day, if you live long enough, you may become almost as wise as an
+ordinary Indian."
+
+The perfect season for hunting the black bear, and in fact all other
+fur-bearing animals, is between the coming of the snow in late autumn
+and the going of the snow in early spring, for during that intervening
+season the coat is in its prime; but as the bear spends much of the
+winter in hibernation, the hunter must make the best of his two short
+opportunities; that is, unless he already knows where the bear will
+"den up," and is counting on killing him in his _o-wazhe_--or as the
+white hunters and traders call it "wash"--his den.  His wash may
+consist of a hollow tree or a hollow log, a cave, or any suitable
+shelter formed by an uprooted tree.
+
+The finest wash I ever saw was in the woods of Quebec, where, many
+years ago, three birch saplings had taken root in a huge, hollow pine
+stump, and where, as time passed, the stump, gradually decaying, had
+allowed the roots of the fast-growing birches to penetrate through the
+cracks in the stump to the ground.  The roots eventually formed the
+rafters of a moss- and rotten-wood chinked, water-tight roof to the
+little cavern in which the old pine stump had once stood and where two
+winters ago slept a bear.  There was but a single entrance between two
+of the now massive birch roots, and it must have proved a tight squeeze
+when its tenant last entered.  The den was shown to me by a hunter who
+the spring before had happened that way.  While pausing to listen to
+some distant sound, he had heard a stranger one within ten feet of
+where he stood.  He had heard deep breathing and turning to look down
+at the roots of the birches, he had discovered a full-grown black bear
+lying there with its head protruding out of the den.  The head was
+turned toward him and the eyes were fixed upon him with a friendly
+expression.  Without moving a single step the hunter raised his rifle
+and fired, instantly killing the bear that lay motionless scarcely
+beyond the muzzle of his gun.
+
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT BEARS
+
+The black bear's coat is all of a glossy black, save just the muzzle,
+which is light brown.  In weight the black bear runs from two hundred
+to five hundred pounds.  Though he is found throughout the Great
+Northern Forest, he is a comparative stay-at-home, for he seldom roams,
+even in summer time, more than ten miles from his den, where, if
+undisturbed, he goes into the same winter quarters, year after year.
+Consequently, his paths are often clearly defined and well-beaten, for
+he has the habit of treading repeatedly in his old tracks, and
+occasionally he blazes his trail by clawing and biting, as high as he
+can reach, a neighbouring tree.  There, too, he frequently leaves other
+signs--as a dog does at a post.  Dog-like, also, other bears that
+happen along manifest pleasure or rage according to whether the sign
+has been left by friend or foe.  The mating season is in June, though
+the female rarely bears young except every second year.  The young are
+born in January while the mother is hibernating; and the cubs, usually
+two in number, are at birth very small, weighing only about ten ounces.
+The she-bear makes a good mother, for though she shows great affection
+for her babies, she nevertheless reprimands them, and cuffs them as
+well, whenever they misbehave or fail to comply with her wishes.  The
+cubs are easily tamed, and being natural little romps, they soon become
+proficient wrestlers and boxers, and in latter years, show so much
+agility in the manly art that they strike and parry with amazing power,
+speed, and skill.  When hurt, however, the cubs whimper and cry just
+like children, and if the little tots are badly wounded, the distress
+of the mother is pitiful to see, for she moans and sheds tears just as
+any tender-hearted human mother would.  Bear-cubs are droll little
+mischiefs.  Not only do they, when tamed, frequently get into trouble
+through the pranks they play, but they like to imitate at any risk to
+themselves the doings of others.  As the following example shows:
+
+Years ago, near Fort Pelly, on the Assiniboine River, an old Indian
+killed a she-bear that was followed by two cubs.  Though he skinned and
+cut up the carcass of the mother, he did not touch the whimpering
+babes, and on going to camp, he sent his wife out with a horse to bring
+in the meat.  When the Indian woman arrived at the spot, she found the
+two cubs cuddled up against the dressed meat of their mother, and
+crying as if their poor hearts would break.  Their affectionate
+behaviour so touched the motherly heart of the old woman that, after
+loading the meat aboard the _travois_--a framework of poles stretched
+out behind the horse--she picked up the sobbing children and, wrapping
+them in a blanket to keep them from falling off the _travois_, bestrode
+her horse, and brought them whimpering into camp.
+
+For some time she kept them tethered beside her lodge where she took
+good care of them, but when they grew larger and seemed well behaved,
+she released them and allowed them to run and play with the dogs around
+camp.  In the fall it was her habit to take a hand-net and go down to
+the river to fish.  Standing upon a rock and every once in a while
+casting in her net, she would land a fish on the bank.  For several
+days the cubs watched her with interest, and then one day, it seems,
+they decided they ought to try and help their foster-mother; so wading
+in on their hind legs till the water covered their little round
+tummies, they would stand perfectly still until a fish would swim near.
+Then they would make a violent lunge for it, and striking
+lightning-like blows with their paws, they, too, would land a fish upon
+the bank.  Over and over they repeated the manoeuvre, with evident
+excitement and pleasure.  At last, every time the old woman picked up
+her net to go fishing, these two went along and helped her with her
+work.  So fond of the sport did they become that, presently, they
+didn't even wait for her to accompany them, but scurried down to the
+river by themselves and would often have a day's fishing caught and
+ready for her before she had put in her appearance.
+
+But a few months later, when the cubs had grown still larger and
+stronger, they became so boisterous and mischievous that they not only
+handled the dogs too roughly, but when the old Indian and his wife left
+camp at any time, they went on the rampage: chasing the dogs about,
+ransacking the larder, turning the camp topsy-turvy, and scattering
+everything in confusion.  So the old couple decided that it was now
+high time to put their skins upon the skin-stretcher in readiness to
+sell to the fur-trader.
+
+The black bear is a good swimmer and an excellent tree climber, and the
+speed with which he can rush up a hillside is surprising.  His diet is
+a varied one, for he is always ready to eat vegetables, roots, berries,
+insects, nuts, fish, eggs, meat, fruit, and of course sugar or honey;
+furthermore, he is a killer of small game--when he is extra-hungry.
+The black bear has been given so bad a name by uninformed writers and
+dishonest story-tellers that most people dread to meet him in the
+woods; whereas, in truth he is usually more frightened at meeting human
+beings than they are of meeting him--for man is always his greatest and
+most dangerous enemy.  Though I have seen many bears in the
+bush--seventeen on one trip--they never caused me any anxiety, and at
+once took flight.  But on one of two rare occasions they did not run,
+perhaps because they were three in number and all full-grown.
+
+It happened up on the borderline of Alaska.  I was walking alone
+through the mountains on my way to Stewart, and wishing to cross the
+Marmot River, I took advantage of a great, permanent snowslide that had
+been annually added to by avalanches from the snow-capped glaciers.
+The snowslide not only completely blocked the canon, but on either side
+it reached many hundreds of feet up the almost perpendicular mountains,
+yet in the middle, where it bridged the river, it was no more than two
+hundred feet high, though it was about two thousand feet in width.
+Year in and year out that great snow-bridge spanned the little river,
+and now when I wanted to make use of it, I had no sooner started over
+than I discovered three bears with the same intention.  They, too, had
+just come out of the woods, and were only forty paces from me--as I
+afterward measured.  We were all going in the same direction, and
+though we were exactly opposite one another and all walking in a
+parallel line, no one ran, and for two thousand feet or more, without
+stick or stone between us, we had a good opportunity to study each
+other.  As usual, I was armed--as I always take care to be--with a
+penknife and a pocket handkerchief.
+
+Occasionally one reads in the daily press shocking stories of the
+ferocity of bears.  What a pity that the truth of these stories cannot
+always be run to earth!  Billy Le Heup, a prospector and guide of
+northern Ontario, once having occasion to call for his mail in a little
+backwoods settlement, opened a newspaper and was shocked to learn that
+a most harrowing affliction had befallen an old friend of his, by
+name--But I'm sorry I have forgotten it, so let us call him Jones.  The
+paper reported that while several of Jones's children were out
+berry-picking, a great, black bear had attacked them, and killing the
+youngest, a little girl, had devoured her entirely, save only one tiny
+fragment; for when the rescue party went in search of the poor little
+child they found nothing but her blood-stained right hand.  Le Heup was
+so overcome with sorrow and so filled with indignation that he then and
+there determined to get together a few trapper friends of his and at
+once start by canoe for the scene of the tragedy, only a few miles
+away; there to condole with the poor father, trail the huge brute and
+wreak vengeance upon the child-eating monster.  So Bill, with several
+of the best bear-hunters in that region, all well armed, set out in
+haste for the Jones's clearing.  When they arrived, Jones was splitting
+wood outside his shack.  The sorrowing trappers, with downcast eyes,
+moved slowly toward the bereaved father, and Le Heup, appointed
+spokesman, offered their condolences on the terrible death of his
+favourite child.  Jones was completely dumbfounded.  When it was
+explained to him what a dreadful thing had happened to his child, he
+swore he had no idea a bear had ever eaten any one of his children; but
+he was willing to put their story to the proof, so as he had a lot of
+children, he called them all out of the house to check them over.  To
+the joyful surprise of the visitors, there among them was little
+Eva--supposed to be eaten, and she even retained her right hand.  Thus
+another newspaper libel upon the poor old black bear--the buffoon of
+the forest--was shown to be devoid of truth; yet that story was
+published in the Toronto papers, and, no doubt, was copied all over the
+United States.
+
+But though the black bear is a shy, playful brute, usually ready for
+flight if danger approaches, the tyro should remember that if wounded
+or cornered he will readily fight.  Furthermore, if one is unlucky
+enough to get between a bear cub and its mother, and if the cub should
+cry out as though you were giving it pain, the mother will attack you
+as readily as any mother would--be she chicken, moose, or woman.
+
+
+THE WAYS OF THE BEAVER
+
+A few days later Oo-koo-hoo and Amik set out to hunt beavers--those
+wonderful amphibious animals of the Northland that display more
+intelligence, perseverance, prudence, and morality than many a highly
+civilized human being.
+
+In appearance the beaver somewhat resembles a greatly magnified
+muskrat, save that the beaver's hairless, scaly tail is very broad and
+flat.  The coat of the beaver is brown, and the darker the colour the
+higher the price it brings.  An adult beaver may measure from
+thirty-five to forty-five inches in length, and weigh anywhere from
+thirty to sixty pounds.  The beaver's home is usually in the form of an
+island house, built in the waters of a small lake or slowly running
+stream, to afford protection from prowling enemies, much in the same
+way that the old feudal lords surrounded the ramparts of their castles
+with broad moats and flooded the intervening space with a deep canal of
+water, in order to check the advance of enemy raiders.  The surrounding
+shores of the beaver's castle are nearly always wooded with poplars, as
+it is upon the bark of that tree that the beaver depends most for his
+food; though at times, other hardwoods contribute to his feast as well
+as water-lily roots and other vegetation.
+
+The beaver's island-like lodge is a dome-shaped structure that rises
+from four to seven feet above the water, and measures from ten to
+thirty feet in diameter on the water-line.  It is composed mostly of
+barkless sticks and poles from one to four inches in diameter, although
+at times much heavier material is used; and it is tightly chinked with
+stones and mud and matted vegetation.  Frequently, I have watched the
+building of their lodges.  A foundation of water-logged poles and
+sticks is laid upon the lake or river bottom, next mud and stones are
+added, then another lot of branches, thus the structure rises in a
+fairly solid mound until its dome-like top reaches the desired height
+above the water-line.  Then the beavers tunnel their two runways into
+the centre of the mass from an underwater level on the outside to an
+over-water level on the inside of the mound.  Next, by gnawing away the
+inside sticks and excavating the inner mass, the inside chamber is
+formed, measuring anywhere from four to fourteen feet in width, and a
+little over two feet in height, with its walls finished fairly smooth.
+Furthermore, the chamber is provided with two floors each of which
+covers about half the room.  While the lower floor rises from three to
+six inches above the water level, the upper floor rises from four to
+eight inches above the lower floor.  The tunnels open in the lower
+floor and it is the lower floor or level that is used as a drying place
+and a dining room.  The upper level, covered with a mattress of
+shredded wood, grass, or moss, forms the living and sleeping half of
+the chamber.  Though in winter time most of their meals are eaten in
+the house, the green, bark-covered sticks being brought into the
+chamber through the straightest tunnel, the house is kept quite clean
+and free of all rubbish or filth.  In fact, beavers are better
+housekeepers than some human beings I have known.
+
+A certain amount of ventilation is derived from a few little chinks in
+the apex of the roof.  During the first freezing nights of late fall
+the beavers plaster the above-water dome of their house with mud which
+they carry up between their forelegs and chin from the lake bottom, and
+placing it upon the roof of their house, spread it about in a thick
+coating, not with their tails, but with their forefeet, where it soon
+freezes into so solid a mass that it protects the inmates from the
+attacks of both the severest winter weather and the most savage of
+four-footed enemies.  So strong indeed does the roof then become that
+even a moose could stand upon it without it giving way.  While some
+writers doubt that beavers plaster the outside of their house with mud,
+I wish to add that I have not only examined their houses before and
+after the plastering was done, but on several moonlight nights I have
+actually sat within forty feet of them and watched them do it.
+
+The winter supply of food, being mostly poplar bark, is derived from
+the branches of green trees which the beavers cut down in the autumn
+for that very purpose.  While engaged in gnawing down trees the beavers
+usually work in pairs--one cutting while the other rests and also acts
+as a sentinel to give warning in case an enemy approaches.  While
+cutting down trees they stand or sit in an upright position upon their
+hind legs and are firmly supported by the tripod formed by the
+spreading out of their hind feet and tail.  They generally choose trees
+nearest the water on an inclined bank, and usually leaning toward the
+stream; and while they show no particular skill in felling trees in a
+certain position, they do display great perseverance, for if it
+happens, as it sometimes does, that a tree in its descent is checked
+and eventually held up by its neighbours, the beavers will cut the
+trunk for the second time, and in some cases even for the third time,
+in order to bring it down.
+
+At night I have frequently sat by the hour at a time, with the
+brush-screened bow of my canoe within ten feet of a party of beavers,
+while they were busily engaged in cutting the branches off a tree that
+they had felled into the water the previous evening.  They work
+quickly, too, for some mornings I have paddled past a big tree lying in
+the water, which they had dropped the night before and--on returning
+next day--have found all the branches removed, though some of them
+would have measured five inches in diameter.  But watching beavers work
+at night is not only interesting, it is easy to do, and I have
+frequently taken both women and children to share in the sport.
+Sometimes, right in the heart of the wilderness, I have placed children
+within fifteen feet of beavers while they were engaged in cutting up a
+tree.
+
+When branches measure from one to three inches in diameter they are
+usually cut in lengths of from five to ten feet, and the thicker the
+branch the shorter they cut the lengths.  If the cutting is done on
+land, the butt of the long thinner length is seized by the beaver's
+teeth and with the weight resting upon the animal's back, is dragged
+along the ground--over a specially cleared road--and eventually
+deposited in the water.  The shorter lengths, sometimes no longer than
+a couple of feet, but measuring perhaps six or eight inches in
+diameter, are rolled along the ground by the beaver pushing the log
+with the forefeet or shoulder.  When the wood is placed in the water,
+the beaver propels it to its under-water storage place near its lodge,
+where--the wood being green and heavy--it is easily secured from
+floating up and away, by placing a little mud over one end or by
+interlocking the stick with the rest of the pile.  The green wood,
+however, soon becomes waterlogged and gives no further trouble.  Thus,
+when the lake or river is frozen over, the beaver--for it does not
+hibernate--may live in comfort all winter long in its weather-proof
+lodge with plenty of food stored beneath the ice and just beyond the
+watery doorway of its home.
+
+
+HUNTING THE BEAVER
+
+The hunters, arriving at a small lake that lay about three miles to the
+northwest of Rear Lake, crossed it, and turning up a winding creek,
+followed the little river until they came to a beaver dam which caused
+the stream to expand into another little lake that flooded far beyond
+its old water-line.  In it was to be seen three beaver lodges.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo said the scene was somewhat altered since he had visited it
+four years before, as the dam had been increased both in height and
+length, and the pond, increasing, too, had reached out close to many a
+tree that formerly stood some distance from the water.  It was a
+beautiful little mere containing a few spruce-crowned islands, and
+surrounded by thickly wooded hills whose bases were well fringed with
+poplars, birches, willows, and alders--an ideal home for beaver.  Among
+the little islands stood three snow-capped beaver lodges.  Here and
+there wide-spreading, wind-packed carpets of snow covered the ice,
+while in between big stretches of clear, glassy ice, acting as
+skylights, lit up the beavers' submarine gardens around their
+ice-locked homes.
+
+The hunters were accompanied by three of their dogs, and before they
+had time to decide where they should first begin work, the dogs began
+barking at a point between the west lodge and the bank; so they went
+over to investigate.  Evidently the dogs had spied a beaver, for now,
+though none was in sight, the canines were rushing back and forth in
+great excitement over a fairly deep submarine runway or clear
+passageway, through the shallow, rush-matted water under the ice.
+
+Chopping a hole through the ice with his axe, Oo-koo-hoo drove down a
+couple of crossed poles to block the passageway, and Amik, finding
+other runways, did likewise at other places.  Several of the
+passageways led to the bank, where, Oo-koo-hoo said, they had what is
+called "bank lodges"--natural cavities in the river bank to which the
+beavers had counted on resorting in case their house was raided.  In
+other places, where the snow obscured the view, the Indians knocked on
+the ice with the backs of their axes, to find and follow the
+hollow-sounding ice that told of runways below, that other stakes might
+be driven down.  The rapping sound, however, instead of driving the
+beavers out of their lodge, had a tendency to make them remain at home,
+for as Oo-koo-hoo explained, cutting ice and working around their homes
+does not always frighten the beavers.
+
+Securing two stouter poles, the hunters now chopped the butts into
+wedge-shaped chisels, with which they proposed to break open the
+beavers' lodge.  Work was begun about a foot above the level of the
+snow on the south side, as they explained that the lodge would not only
+be thinner on that side, but that the sun would make it slightly
+softer, too--and before much headway was made the dogs, all alert,
+discovered that several of the beavers had rushed out of their house,
+but finding the passageways blocked had returned home.
+
+Now, strange to say, as soon as the side of the house was broken open
+and daylight let in, the beavers, becoming curious over the inflowing
+light that dazzled their eyes, actually came toward the newly made hole
+to investigate.  Then Oo-koo-hoo, with the aid of a crooked stick,
+suddenly jerked one of the unsuspecting animals out of the hole and
+Amik knocked it on the head.  Thus they secured four large ones, but
+left a number of smaller ones unharmed, as Oo-koo-hoo never made a
+practice of taking a whole family.
+
+In that house the portion of the chamber used for sleeping quarters was
+covered with a thick mattress of dry "snake-grass," and the whole
+interior was remarkably clean.  After blocking and patching up the hole
+and covering the place with snow, the hunters threw water over it until
+it froze into a solid mass, then they removed the stakes from the
+runways and left the rest of the beavers in peace.  Loading their catch
+upon their toboggans, all set out for home.
+
+
+BEAVER DAMS AND CANALS
+
+Resides erecting their remarkably strong houses there are two other
+ways in which the beavers display wonderful skill: in the building of
+their dams and in the excavating of their canals.  Their dams are built
+for the purpose of retarding, raising, and storing water, in order--in
+summer time--to circumvent their enemies by placing a well-watered moat
+between their foe and their castle; also to flood a wider area so that
+the far-reaching waters of their pond may lap close to the roots of
+many otherwise inaccessible trees and thus enable them to fell and
+float them to their lodge; and--in winter time--to raise the water high
+enough to secure their pond from freezing solid and imprisoning them in
+their lodges where they would starve to death, or if they gnawed their
+way to freedom, the intense cold of mid-winter would freeze their
+hairless tails and cause their death; furthermore, should they escape
+from the weather, they would be at the mercy of all their enemies and
+would not long survive.
+
+A dam, in the beginning, is usually erected in a small way, just to
+raise and expand the waters of some small creek or even those of a
+spring; then, as the years go by, it is constantly added to, to
+increase the depth and expansion of the pond, and thus the dam grows
+from a small one of a few yards in length to a big one of several
+hundred feet--sometimes to even four or five hundred feet in
+length--that may bank up the water four or five feet above the stream
+just outside the dam, and turn the pond into a great reservoir covering
+hundreds of acres of land.
+
+The dam is more often built of branches laid parallel to the current
+with their butts pointing up stream, and weighted down with mud and
+stones; thus layer after layer is added until the structure rises to
+the desired height and strength.  Some dams contain hundreds of tons of
+material.  They are usually built upon a solid bottom, not of
+rock--though big, stationary boulders often are included in the
+construction for the extra support they furnish.  When thus used,
+boulders often cause the beavers to divert the line of the dam out of
+its usual graceful and scientific curve that well withstands the
+pressure from even a large body of water.
+
+The beavers excavate canals--sometimes hundreds of feet in length--to
+enable them to reach more easily and float home the wood they have cut
+from freshly felled trees lying far beyond the reaches of their pond.
+The canals measure from two to three feet in width and a foot to a foot
+and a half in depth, and are not only surprisingly clean-cut and
+straight but occasionally they are even provided with locks, or rather
+little dams, to raise the water from one level to another--generally
+about a foot at a time--to offset the disadvantage of the wood lying on
+higher and more distant ground than is reached by the waters of the
+residential pond.  Sometimes their canals are fed by springs, but more
+often by the drainage of rainwater.  The building of many of their dams
+and canals displays remarkable skill and a fine sense of engineering,
+together with a spirit of perseverance that is astounding.  Is it any
+wonder that the Indians say that the beavers were once human beings,
+whom, for the punishment of some misconduct The Master of Life
+condemned to get down and grovel upon the ground as four-footed animals
+for the rest of their days.
+
+"Yes, my son," replied Oo-koo-hoo, when we were discussing beavers,
+"they are a very clever and a very wise people, and it would be better
+for us if we emulated them more than we do, for as you know, they
+believe in not talking but in working and making good use of the brains
+The Master of Life has given them, and that is the only way to be
+really happy in this world.  Besides, he is always true to his wife--a
+fine example to men--furthermore, he is a good provider who looks after
+his children, and is a decent, clean-living fellow who never goes out
+of his way to quarrel with any one, but just minds his own business and
+cuts wood."
+
+Could any nation choose a creature more fit for a national emblem?  I
+believe not.  For would any wise man compare a useless, screeching
+eagle, or a useless, roaring lion--each a creature of prey--to a
+silent, hard-working, and useful beaver who remains true to his wife
+all his life, who builds a comfortable home for his children, provides
+them well with food and teaches them . . . not how to kill other
+creatures . . . but how to work, . . . how to construct strong,
+comfortable houses, how to build dams to protect, not only their
+children, but their homes, too, how to chop down trees for food, how to
+dig canals to float the food home, how to store it for the winter, how
+to keep the home clean and in good order, how to mind their own
+business and never seek a quarrel, and, at the same time, how to defend
+themselves desperately if an enemy attacks them.
+
+For his size, the beaver is powerful, so powerful, indeed, that
+Oo-koo-hoo said: "Remember, my son, the beaver is a very strong animal,
+he can drag a man after him, and the only way for a hunter to hold
+him--if he is caught in a trap--is to lift him off his feet."
+
+Notwithstanding his great strength, however, he is a peace-loving chap,
+but when a just occasion arises, you ought to see him fight!
+
+
+BEAVER FIGHTS WOLVERINE
+
+One spring while hunting along a river, some years ago, Oo-koo-hoo
+discovered a beaver at work upon the bank, and wishing to observe him
+for a while, kept perfectly still.  The beaver was cutting poplar
+sticks to take them through a hole in the ice to the under-water
+entrance of his near-by home for his family to feed upon.  But
+presently Oo-koo-hoo discovered another moving object; it was a
+wolverine, and it was stalking the beaver.  When it drew near enough to
+the unsuspecting worker, it made a sudden spring and landed upon his
+back.  A desperate fight ensued.  The wolverine was trying to cut the
+spinal cord at the back of the beaver's neck; but the short, stout neck
+caused trouble, and before the wolverine had managed it, the beaver,
+realizing that the only chance for life was to make for the water-hole,
+lunged toward it, and with the wolverine still on his back, dived in.
+On being submerged, the wolverine let go and swam around and around in
+an effort to get out; but the beaver, now in his element, took
+advantage of the fact, and rising beneath the foe, leaped at it, and
+with one bite of his powerful, chisel-like teeth, gripped it by the
+throat, then let go and sank to watch it bleed to death.  A little
+later, the beaver had the satisfaction of seeing old Oo-koo-hoo walk
+off with the wolverine's skin.
+
+No . . . beavers do not believe in divorce . . . and on their wedding
+day--usually in February--they promise to be true to each other for the
+rest of their lives, and, moreover, unlike many human beings, they keep
+their promise.  About three months later the husband, seeing his wife
+is getting ready to welcome new relations, leaves his comfortable home
+just to be out of the way, and takes up new quarters in a hole in the
+river bank.  While he is there the children--any number from one to
+six--arrive, and then can be heard much gentle whimpering, just as
+though human babies were now living in the old homestead.
+
+When the beaver children grow older they romp in the water much as
+puppies do on land.  If danger approaches, the first beaver to sense it
+slaps the surface of the water with his broad, powerful tail, making a
+noise that resounds through the forest as though a strong man had
+struck the water a violent blow with the broad side of a paddle blade.
+Instantly the first beaver's nearest companion signals the danger to
+others by doing the same; then a second later they plunge out of sight
+in the water and leave behind nothing but a great sound--as though an
+elephant had fallen in.
+
+When married and settled down, the beaver is very domestic--a great
+stay-at-home--but when seeking a mate, he travels far and wide, and
+leaves here and there along the shore scent signals, in the hope of
+more easily attracting and winning a bride.  Beavers are full grown at
+three years of age, and by that time they have learned how to erect
+houses, build dams, dig canals, chop down trees, cut up wood, float it
+home and store it for the winter, and by that time too, they have, no
+doubt, learned that man is their worst enemy, though the wolverine,
+wolf, otter, lynx, and fisher are ever ready to pounce upon them
+whenever a chance offers.
+
+
+USEFULNESS OP BEAVER
+
+But I had almost forgotten that I owed the reader an explanation when I
+said that the beaver was a very useful creature.  I was not thinking of
+the value of his fur, because that is as nothing compared to the great
+service he has been rendering mankind, not only to-day, but for endless
+generations.  How?  By the great work he has been doing during the past
+hundreds and thousands of years.  How?  By going into rocky, useless
+valleys and building the dams that checked the rushing rivers that were
+constantly robbing much rich soil from the surrounding country and
+carrying it down and out to sea.  And his dams, moreover, not only held
+up those treacherous highwaymen, but took the loot from them and let it
+settle in the valleys, where, as years rolled on, it grew and grew into
+endless great expansions of level meadow lands that now afford much of
+the most fertile farming soil to be found in North America; and thus
+the great industry of those silent workers, who lived ages and ages
+ago, is even to-day benefiting mankind.  And thus, too, that great work
+is being steadily carried on by the living beavers of to-day.  Could
+any country in the world have chosen a more inspiring creature than
+Canada has chosen for her national symbol?
+
+When, on his fall and spring expeditions, Oo-koo-hoo was hunting
+beavers with the waters free of ice, he placed steel traps in their
+runways, either just below the surface of the water, or on the bank;
+and the only bait he used in both cases was the rubbing of castorum on
+near-by bushes.  Also, he built deadfalls much like those he built for
+bear, but of course much smaller; and again the bait was castorum, but
+this time it was rubbed on a bit of rabbit skin which was then attached
+to the bait stick of the deadfall.  The deadfalls he built for beavers
+were nearly always made of dead tamarack--never of green
+poplar--otherwise the beavers would have pulled them to pieces for the
+sake of the wood.
+
+Further, Oo-koo-hoo told me that in the spring he sometimes broke open
+beaver dams and set traps near the breaks in order to catch the beavers
+when they came to repair the damage.  Such a mode of trapping was, he
+said, equally successful whether or not there was ice upon the water.
+He also told me that he had seen other Indians catch beaver with a net
+made of No. 10 twine, with a three-and-a-half-inch mesh, but that,
+though the method worked rather well, he had never tried it.  The way
+of all others, that he liked best, was to hunt them by calling, and the
+best time for that was during the mornings and evenings of the rutting
+season.
+
+Later in the year, when the ice is gone, and the beaver is swimming,
+say a foot under water, the hunter can easily follow his course from
+the appearance of the surface.  The same applies to the muskrat, mink,
+and otter.  Muskrats and beavers swim much alike, as they are usually
+going in search of roots, and, knowing exactly where to find them, they
+swim straight; but minks and otters swim a zig-zag course for the
+reason that they are always looking for fish and therefore are
+constantly turning their heads about; and that rule applies whether
+their heads are above or below the surface.
+
+When a beaver--providing he has not slapped the water with his tail--or
+an otter dives, an observant hunter can judge fairly well as to where
+the animal is heading for, by simply noting the twist of the tail, a
+point that helps the hunter to gauge the place where it may rise.  The
+same applies to whales when they sound, though I found--while whale
+hunting--that few whalers realized it, and fewer still took advantage
+of it, for much time was lost while waiting for the whale to rise
+before the boat could be headed in the right direction.  But then the
+average Indian is much more observant than the average white man.
+
+If a beaver is caught in a steel trap, he will do his utmost to plunge
+into water and remain there even though he should drown, yet his house
+may not be in that river or pond; but if he is wounded, he will either
+try to reach his house or take to the woods.
+
+When in pursuit of beavers it is advisable to watch for them on
+moonlight nights about eight or nine o'clock, and it is best to be in a
+canoe, as then there is less danger of the beaver sinking before he can
+be removed from the water.  The hunter, while waiting for a shot, makes
+a noise with the handle of his knife against a stick in imitation of a
+beaver cutting wood--a sound somewhat similar to that of the boring of
+a large auger.  It is astonishing how far, on a still night, beavers
+will hear such a sound and come to help their friends at work.  When
+Oo-koo-hoo shot beaver he charged his gun with four slugs and fired for
+the head, as he explained that ordinary shot was too fine and scattered
+too much, while a single ball was too large.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO SHOOTS A BEAR
+
+The following morning Oo-koo-hoo and I set out to go the round of the
+northern trapping trail which for some distance followed the valley of
+Beaver River, upon the bank of which traps, snares, and deadfalls for
+bears were set.  Along that section of the river there were also traps
+set for otters, beavers, and muskrats; but the hunting of these
+amphibious animals was pursued with more diligence in the spring than
+in the winter.  Though we hauled a hunting toboggan, the snow was not
+yet deep enough for snowshoes, but what a feast of reading the forest
+afforded us!  What tragedies were written in the snow!  Here we
+followed a mink's track as it skirted the river bank that wound in and
+out among the trees, showing that the mink had leaped here, crouched
+there, or had been scratching beyond in the snow.  Evidently it was in
+search of food.  Presently we noticed another track, that of an ermine.
+The two trails were converging.  Now, apparently, the mink had seen its
+enemy, and, therefore, in order to get past the ermine and escape
+trouble, it had increased its speed.  At this point the ermine had
+spied it and had redoubled its speed.  Now they had both bounded along
+with all their might.  But as ill-fate would have it, they had met.  A
+violent struggle had ensued.  Blood was spattered upon the snow.  From
+the battle-ground only one trail led away.  It was that of the ermine.
+But though the snow was marked by the footprints of only one animal,
+the trail of two tails plainly showed.  It was evident that the ermine
+had seized its victim by the throat and throwing it over its back, had
+carried it away.  Many other tracks of beasts and birds were printed
+upon the snow and told in vivid detail stories of life in the winter
+wilderness.
+
+Beaver River was now frozen firmly enough to bear a man, except in a
+few places where rapid water kept the ice thin or left the stream open;
+and as we tramped along we examined a number of traps, from two of
+which we took an otter and a beaver.  But the bear and the wolf traps
+remained undisturbed though we saw a number of wolf tracks near at
+hand.  Turning westward we ascended a slope and came suddenly upon the
+fresh track of a bear.  It was fairly large, and was travelling slowly;
+merely sauntering along as though looking for a den in which to pass
+the winter.
+
+At once Oo-koo-hoo was all alert.  Carefully re-charging his gun with
+ball, and seeing that his knife and axe were at hand, he left the
+toboggan behind, lest it make a noise among the trees and alarm the
+quarry.  In less than a quarter of a mile, however, we came upon a sign
+that the bear had passed but a few minutes before.  The hunter paused
+to suggest that it would better his approach if I were to follow a
+little farther in the rear; then he noiselessly continued his pursuit.
+Slowly he moved forward, cautiously avoiding the snapping of a twig or
+the scraping of underbrush.  After peering through the shrubbery ahead
+or halting a moment to reexamine the track, he would move on again, but
+with scarcely any perceptible motion of the upper part of his body.
+When in doubt, he would stand stock-still and try by sight or hearing
+to get news of the bear.  Luckily, there was no wind, so it made little
+difference which way we turned in following the trail.  But just then
+there happened a disturbing and irritating thing, for a whiskey
+jack--Canada Jay--took to following us, and chirping about it, too.
+Crossing a rocky patch on the hillside, the bear came into view as it
+circled a little in order to descend.  Presently it left the shadow of
+the forest and emerging into sunlight on a snow-covered ledge, turned
+its head as though it had heard a sound in the rear.  It was Oo-koo-hoo
+speaking:
+
+[Illustration: The bear circled a little in order to descend.
+Presently it left the shadow of the forest and, emerging into sunlight
+on a snow-covered ledge, turned its head as though it had heard a sound
+in the rear.  It was Oo-koo-hoo speaking: "Turn your head away, my
+brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut short his sentence, and
+the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among, . . .  See Chapter IV.]
+
+"Turn your head away, my brother . . ." but the report of his gun cut
+short his sentence, and the bear, leaping forward, disappeared among
+the growth below.  Re-loading his gun, the hunter slowly followed, more
+cautiously than ever, for he saw from the blood upon the snow that the
+beast was wounded and, therefore, dangerous.  As he went he covered
+every likely place with his gun, lest the bear should be lurking there
+and rush at him.  At last I saw him pause much longer than usual, then
+move forward again.  Finally he turned, and in a satisfied tone
+exclaimed: "It's dead!"
+
+The ball had struck just behind the left shoulder and had entered the
+heart; and the hunter explained that when he saw his best chance, he
+spoke to the bear to make it pause in order to better his aim.
+
+"And what did you say to him?"
+
+"My son, I said: 'Turn your eyes away, my brother, for I am about to
+kill you.'  I never care to fire at a bear without first telling him
+how sorry I am that I need his coat."
+
+Then the skinning began, and by noon we had it finished.  Loading the
+head and part of the meat on the sled, I hauled it, while the hunter
+rolled up the heavy pelt and packed it upon his back with the aid of a
+tump-line.  Taking our loads back to the river and caching them there,
+we continued along the trapping trail.
+
+
+A DEADFALL FOR BEAR
+
+Soon we came to one of the best deadfalls I had ever seen.  It was set
+for bear, and was of the "log-house" kind, with walls nearly six feet
+high, and a base that was eight feet long by five feet wide in front,
+while only two feet in width in the rear.  It was built in conjunction
+with two standing trees that formed the two corner posts retaining the
+huge drop-log.  The front of the big trap was left quite open, save for
+the drop-log that crossed it obliquely.  While the thin end of the log
+was staked to the ground, the thick end, loaded with a platform,
+weighted with stones, projected beyond the far side of the trap at a
+height of about five feet from the ground.  It was ready to fall and
+crush any unlucky creature that might venture in and touch the
+bait-trigger.  Whatever the drop-log might fall upon, it would hold as
+though in a vise, and if the bear were not already dead when the hunter
+should arrive, he would take care to shoot the animal in the head
+before removing the drop-log.
+
+Snares are also set for bears, and the best of them are made of twenty
+strands of _babiche_ twisted into the form of a rope.  The loop is set
+about eighteen inches in diameter, and is attached to either a
+spring-pole or a tossing-pole--or, more correctly speaking, a tree
+sufficiently large to raise and support the weight of the bear.
+Sometimes a guiding-pole is used in connection with a snare.  One end
+is planted in the ground in the centre of the path and the other,
+slanting up toward the snare, is used as a guide toward the loop, since
+a bear walking forward would straddle the pole.  In a further effort to
+getting the animal's head in the right place, the hunter smears the
+upper end of the pole with syrup.
+
+Another wooden trap is that of the stump and wedge.  It is made by
+chopping down a tree of not less than half a foot in diameter, so that
+a stump is left about six feet high.  The stump is then split, and a
+long, tapering wedge, well greased, is driven in, and upon it is
+smeared a coating of syrup or honey as a bait.  The bear will not only
+try to lick off the bait, but in his eagerness to pull out the wedge
+and lick it, too, will spring the trap and find a paw caught between
+the closing stump.  Also, the Indians sometimes use a stage from the
+top of which they shoot the bear at night while he passes on his
+runway; and to attract the bear they imitate the cry of a cub in
+distress.  Steel traps, too, are set for bears.  They are very strong
+with big double springs and weigh about twenty pounds.  They, too, are
+set on the runway of the bears, and are carefully covered with leaves
+or moss.  No bait is used on the trap, but syrup or honey is spread
+upon a near-by tree to induce the bear to step in the trap.
+
+
+MARASTY AND THE BEAR
+
+But all bear traps are dangerous to mankind and not infrequently a man
+is caught in one.  In 1899 a half-breed hunter by the name of Marasty,
+who lived near Green Lake, about 150 miles north of Prince Albert, went
+one late spring day to visit his traps, and in the course of his trip
+came upon one of his deadfalls set for bear, from which he noticed the
+bait had been removed, although the trap had not been sprung.  Before
+rebaiting it, however, he built a fire to boil his tea-pail, and sat
+down to eat his lunch.
+
+After refreshment, Marasty, being a lazy man, decided to enter the trap
+from in front, instead of first opening up the rear and entering from
+that quarter, as he should have done.  He got along all right until he
+started to back out, when in some way he jarred the trigger, and, just
+as he was all free of the ground-log save his right arm, down came the
+ponderous drop-log with its additional weight of platform and stones.
+It caught him just above the elbow, crushed his arm flat, and held him
+a prisoner in excruciating pain.  The poor wretch nearly swooned.
+Later, he thought of his knife.  He would try to cut the log in two and
+thus free himself.  He knew that, handicapped as he was, though he
+worked feverishly and incessantly, the task would demand many hours of
+furious toil.
+
+After a while the wind arose and re-kindled his dying fire into life.
+The sparks flew up and the flames ran over the dry moss toward him.
+Now there was added the dread of being burnt alive.  But he worked his
+feet violently and succeeded in roughening the ground sufficiently to
+turn the fire so, that it passed on either side of him, and though it
+continued beyond the wooden trap, eventually died down.
+
+Then he went on with his cutting, but night came on before he had dug
+into the log more than a few inches.  Growing faint, he rested awhile,
+and later fell asleep.  When he awoke, he discovered a full-grown black
+bear sitting upon its haunches watching him.  He shouted to drive the
+beast away, but, strange to say, the noise did not frighten the bear,
+for several times it got up and attempted to reach the syrup on the
+trap.  When the captive renewed his shouting and kicking, the bear
+merely stepped back, sat down, and persisted in maintaining its
+fearsome watch all night.  Nevertheless, the half-breed was afraid to
+stop shouting, so he kept it up at intervals all night long.  When,
+however, dawn came, the bear went away.
+
+At sunrise Marasty renewed his efforts to escape, and though his hand
+was now blistered and sore, he worked for several hours.  Then thirst
+attacked him; and he dug in the ground, but without avail, in the hope
+of finding moisture.  Again he turned to the cutting of the log, but
+soon exhaustion weakened his exertions.  Night came on again and with
+it came the bear; but this time he was glad to see the brute, for its
+presence made him feel less lonely and drove away despair.  This time,
+too, the bear sat around in such a friendly way, that Marasty felt
+relieved enough to sing some hymns and do a little praying; but when he
+began to sing a second time, the big black beast lost patience, got up
+and walked away, much to the regret of the imprisoned hunter.
+
+In the morning the now almost lifeless Marasty heard in the distance
+the voice of his brother calling his name; but though he shouted wildly
+in answer, no response came, for the wind was blowing in the wrong
+direction, and defeated his attempt to benefit by the help that was so
+near.  Later, the unhappy man swooned.
+
+About noon the brother, finding the sufferer's trail, arrived upon the
+scene, removed the drop-log, picked up the unconscious man, and
+carrying him to his canoe, cut away the thwarts and laid him in.  After
+a paddle of fifteen miles to the portage landing, he left the stricken
+wretch in the canoe, and ran four miles to get help.  With other men
+and two horses he speedily returned, rigged up a stage swung between
+the horses, and laying Marasty thereon, transported him through the
+bush to his home.
+
+In the meantime, an express had been despatched to Prince Albert to
+summon a doctor; but the old Indian women could not bear to wait so
+long for the coming of relief, so filing a big knife into a
+fine-toothed saw, they cut away the bruised flesh and sawed off the
+broken bones.  They made a clean amputation which they dressed with a
+poultice made from well-boiled inner bark of juniper, and not only did
+no mortification set in, but the arm healed nicely; and when the doctor
+arrived ten days later, he examined the amputation carefully and said
+that there was nothing for him to do: the old women had done their work
+so well.  Marasty quickly recovered, and next winter he was on the
+hunting trail again.
+
+
+HOW BEARS ARE HUNTED
+
+After spending three days upon the trapping trail we returned to camp;
+but because our toboggan was loaded with game, and also because we did
+not return by our outgoing route, the grandmother and the two boys set
+out to bring in the bear meat and the bear's head.  During the feast
+that followed Oo-koo-hoo addressed the bear's head with superstitious
+awe and again begged it not to be offended or angry because it had been
+killed since they needed both its coat and its fat and flesh to help
+tide them over the winter.  In this entreaty Amik did not join--perhaps
+because he was too civilized.  After the meal, the skull was hung upon
+a branch of a pine that stood near the lodges.  It reminded me that
+once I had seen at an old camping place eleven bear skulls upon a
+single branch; but the sight of bear skulls upon trees is not uncommon
+when one is travelling through the Strong Woods Country.
+
+That night, when I was sitting beside Oo-koo-hoo, we began talking
+about bear hunting and he said: "My son, some day you, too, may want to
+become a great bear-hunter, and when you do go out to hunt alone, don't
+do as I do, but do as I say, for I am growing old and am sometimes
+careless about the way I approach game."  Puffing away at his pipe, he
+presently continued: "In trailing bear, the hunter's method of
+approach, of course, depends entirely upon the information he has
+gained from the tracks he has discovered.  If the hunter sees the bear
+without being seen, he will approach to within about twenty paces or
+even ten of the brute before he fires; being, however, always careful
+to keep some object between him and his quarry.  And when he does fire,
+he should not wait to see the effect, but should immediately run aside
+for a distance of fifteen or twenty paces, as the first thing a bear
+does when it is shot is to bite the wound on account of the pain, next
+it tries to discover who hit it, and remembering from which direction
+the sound came, it looks up, and seeing the smoke, rushes for it.  Then
+the hunter has his opportunity, for on seeing the beast pass broadside,
+he fires, and thus stands a good chance of hitting a vital spot.
+
+"At a critical moment a good hunter's movements are not only swift but
+always premeditated.  Nor does he ever treat a bear with contempt: from
+first to last, he is always on guard.  He never takes a chance.  Even
+if the bear drops when the hunter fires, he will immediately re-load
+and advance very slowly lest the brute be feigning death.  The hunter
+advances, with his gun cocked and in readiness, to within perhaps five
+paces, and then waits to see if his quarry is really dead.  If the bear
+is not dead and sees that the hunter is off his guard, the chances are
+it will rush at him.  But an experienced hunter is not easily fooled,
+for he knows that if an animal makes a choking sound in its throat,
+caused by internal bleeding, it is mortally wounded; but if it makes no
+such sound--watch out!"
+
+"My son, no animal is ever instantly killed, for there is always a
+gradual collapse, or more or less of a movement caused by the
+contraction of its muscles, before death actually comes; but when an
+animal feigns death, it is always in too much of a hurry about it, and
+drops instantly without a final struggle, or any hard breathing--that
+is the time when one should wait and be careful.
+
+"Then again, my son, if a wounded or cornered bear comes suddenly upon
+a hunter, the beast will not at once rush at him, grab him or bite him,
+but will instantly draw back, just as the hunter will do; then it will
+sit up upon its haunches for a moment, as though to think over the
+situation; that pause, slight as it is, gives the hunter a moment to
+uncover his gun, cock it, and aim, and fire it at the beast's mouth.
+In such a situation the hunter prefers to fire at its mouth, because if
+shot in the heart, the bear can still lunge at the hunter before it
+falls, but if struck in the mouth, the brute is dazed and stops to rub
+its face; meanwhile, the hunter has a chance to re-load and try for a
+shot behind the ear, as that is even more fatal than one in the heart.
+But if the bear happens to be in a tree, the hunter does not try for
+either the brain or the heart, because the former is usually out of
+aim, and the latter is protected by the trunk or limb of the tree; so
+he shoots at the small of the back for that will paralyze it and cause
+it to let go hold of the tree, and drop to the ground.  The fall will
+leave very little fight in it, or will finish it altogether.  But if
+hit in the head or even in a paw, the chances are that the bear will
+jump; and then watch out, for it will either run or fight!
+
+"In hunting bears, however, the hunter must remember that he should
+guard most against scent and sound betraying him, since a bear's sight
+is not very keen.  If the bear happens to be feeding, the hunter may
+easily approach, provided that the wind is right and he keeps quiet;
+but if the bear hears the slightest sound or catches a single whiff of
+scent--away he goes!  If, however, the hunter approaches in an open
+place and the bear, seeing him, sits up to get a better look, the
+hunter should immediately stand perfectly still, and wait thus until
+the bear again resumes feeding or moves away.  Then the hunter rushes
+forward, but all the while watches keenly to see when it stops to look
+again; and at the first sign of that the hunter becomes rigid once
+more.  Such tactics may be successful two or three times but rarely
+more, so then the hunter had best fire.  Now, my son, when you go
+hunting you will know what to do, and if Amik would only pay attention
+to what I say, he, too, might become a better hunter, for I have had
+much experience in hunting both black and grizzly bears."
+
+
+NEYKIA AND HER LOVER
+
+As the weeks passed, the children devoted themselves to their winter
+play and spent most of their days in the open air.  Tobogganing was
+their greatest sport.  Often did they invite me to take part in this,
+and whenever, in descending a slope, a sled-load was upset, it always
+created hilarious laughter.
+
+The younger children, even during the severest part of the winter when
+it registered forty or more degrees below zero, were always kept
+comfortably warm, sometimes uncomfortably warm, in the rabbit-skin
+coats that their mother and their grandmother had made for them.  The
+rabbit skins were cut into thin, spiral strips and twisted, with the
+hair-side out, about thin thongs, and woven together like a
+small-meshed fish-net, so that, though the hair overlapped and filled
+every mesh completely, one's fingers might be passed through the
+garment anywhere.  They also made rabbit-skin blankets in the same way;
+and of all blankets used in the north woods, none has so many good
+qualities.  A rabbit-skin blanket is less bulky than that of the
+caribou skin; it is warmer than the famous four-point woollen blanket
+of the H. B. Co., and not only ventilates better than either of the
+others, but it is light to carry.  It has the drawback, however, that
+unless it is enclosed in a covering of some light material, the hair
+gets on everything, for as long as the blanket lasts it sheds rabbit
+hair.  I have tried many kinds of beds, and many kinds of blankets, and
+sleeping bags, too, even the Eskimo sleeping bag of double
+skin--hairless sealskin on the outside and hairy caribou skin on the
+inside--and many a night I have slept out in the snow when it was fifty
+degrees below zero, and experience has taught me that the rabbit skin
+blanket is best for winter use in the northern forest.  A sleeping bag
+that is large enough to get into is too large when you are in it; you
+cannot wrap it around you as you can a blanket, therefore it is not so
+warm; besides, it is harder to keep a bag free of gathering moisture
+than a blanket.
+
+But to return to the children.  It used to amuse me to see the boys
+returning from their hunts carrying their guns over their shoulders.
+The contrast in size between the weapons and the bearers of them was so
+great that by comparison the lads looked like Liliputians, yet with all
+the dignified air of great hunters they would stalk up to their sisters
+and hand them their guns and game bags to be disposed of while they
+slipped off their snowshoes, lighted their pipes, and entered the
+lodge.  By the way, I don't believe I have mentioned that in winter
+time the guns are never kept in the lodges, but always put under cover
+on the stages, as the heat of the lodges would cause the guns to sweat
+and therefore to require constant drying and oiling; and for the same
+reason, in winter time, when a hunter is camped for the night, he does
+not place his gun near the open fire, but sets it back against a tree,
+well out of range of the heat.
+
+On one of their rounds of the trapping trails the boys discovered a
+splendid black fox in one of Oo-koo-hoo's traps, and it was with great
+pride that the little chaps returned home with the prize.
+
+One sunny day, late in November, while tobogganing with the children on
+the hillside, our sport was interrupted by the approach of a young
+stranger, an Indian youth of about seventeen.  He came tramping along
+on snowshoes with his little hunting toboggan behind him on which was
+lashed his caribou robe, his tea-pail, his kit bag, and a haunch of
+young moose as a present to Amik and his wife.  In his hand he carried
+his gun in a moose-skin case.  He was a good-looking young fellow, and
+wore the regulation cream-coloured H. B. _capote_ with hood and
+turned-back cuffs of dark blue.  He wore no cap, but his hair was
+fastened back by a broad yellow ribbon that encircled his head.  At
+first I thought he was the advance member of a hunting party, but when
+I saw the bashful yet persistent way in which he sidled up to Neykia,
+and when I observed, too, the shy, radiant glance of welcome she gave
+him, I understood; so also did the children, but the little rogues,
+instead of leaving the young couple alone, teased their sister aloud,
+and followed the teasing with boisterous laughter.  It was then that I
+obtained my first impression of the mating of the natives of the
+northern forest.  The sylvan scene reminded me of the mating, too, of
+the white people of that same region, and I thought again of the
+beautiful Athabasca.  Was it in the same way that her young white man
+had come so many miles on snowshoes through the winter woods just to
+call upon her?  It set me thinking.  Again, I wondered who "Son-in-law"
+could be?  Whence did he come?  But, perhaps, after all he was no
+super-man, or, rather, super-lover, for had not Neykia's beau travelled
+alone in the dead of winter, over ninety miles, just to see her once
+again and to speak to her?  Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--as the Indians
+called him, stayed three days, but I did not see much of him, for I
+left early the following morning on another round of another
+trapping-path.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO AND THE WOLF
+
+As a faint gray light crept through the upper branches of the eastern
+trees and warned the denizens of the winter wilderness of approaching
+day, the door-skin flapped aside and a tall figure stepped from the
+cozy fire-lit lodge into the outer sombreness of the silent forest.  It
+was Oo-koo-hoo.  His form clad in fox-skin cap, blanket _capote_, and
+leggings, made a picturesque silhouette of lighter tone against the
+darker shadows of the woods as he stood for a moment scanning the
+starry sky.  Reentering the lodge, he partook of the breakfast his wife
+had cooked for him, then he kissed her and went outside.  Going to the
+stage, he took down his five-foot snowshoes, slipped his moccasined
+feet into the thongs, and with his gun resting in the hollow of his
+bemittened hand, and the sled's hauling-line over his shoulder, strode
+off through the vaulted aisles between the boles of the evergreens;
+while through a tiny slit in the wall of his moose-skin home two loving
+eyes watched the stalwart figure vanishing among the trees.
+
+[Illustration: Going to the stage, he took down his five-foot
+snowshoes, slipped his moccasined feet info the thongs, and with his
+gun resting in the hollow of his bemittened hand, and the sled's
+hauling-line over his shoulder, strode off through the vaulted aisles
+between the boles of evergreens; while through a tiny slit in the wall
+of his moose-skin home two loving eyes watched his stalwart figure
+vanishing among the . . .  See Chapter IV.]
+
+Later on, though the sun was already shining, it was still intensely
+cold.  As we went along, Oo-koo-hoo's breath rose like a cloud of white
+smoke fifteen or twenty feet in the air before it disappeared.  Only
+the faintest whisper of scuffling snowshoes and scrunching snow could
+be heard; the sound of the occasional snapping of a twig came as a
+startling report compared with the almost noiseless tread of the
+hunter.  A little cloud of powdery snow rose above the dragging heels
+of his snowshoes, and, whirling about, covered the back of his leggings
+with a coating of white.  Onward he strode, twisting through the
+tangled scrub, stooping under a fallen tree, stepping over a
+snow-capped log, or pacing along a winter-locked stream.
+
+When Oo-koo-hoo came to a district overgrown with willows interspersed
+with poplars, he stopped to examine a snare set for lynx.  It had not
+been disturbed, but a little farther on we saw the form of a dead lynx
+hanging from a tossing-pole above the trail.  The carcass was frozen
+stiff, and the face still showed the ghastly expression it had worn in
+its death struggle.  The rigid body was taken down and lashed to the
+sled.  Resetting the snare, we continued our way.  Farther on, in a
+hilly country timbered with spruce, where there was not much
+undergrowth, we came to marten traps.  In swampy places, or where there
+were creeks and small lakes, we examined traps and deadfalls set for
+mink, muskrat, beaver, fisher, and otter.  Where the country was fairly
+open and marked with rabbit runways we came upon traps set for foxes
+and wolves.
+
+The gray, or timber, wolf is trapped in the same way as the coloured
+fox, save only that the trap is larger.  Though the steel trap is much
+in vogue among white men and half-breeds, the deadfall, even to this
+day, is much preferred by the Indian.  Though, in the first place, it
+requires more labour to build, yet it requires less for transportation
+since the materials are all at hand; and, besides, when once built it
+lasts for years.  Then, again, it is not only cheaper, but it is more
+deadly than the steel trap, for once the animal is caught, it seldom
+escapes.  With the steel trap it is different, as animals often pull
+away from the steel jaws or even gnaw off a foot in order to get free.
+If, however, the hunter's deadfalls and traps have been set in vain,
+and if the wolf has been causing trouble and the hunter is determined
+to secure him, he will sit up for him at night in the hope of getting a
+shot at him.  Years ago many wolves were destroyed with poison, but
+nowadays it has gone out of use--that is, among the fur-hunters of the
+forest.
+
+When a wolf is caught in a trap and he sees a hunter approaching, he
+will at first lie down, close his eyes, and keep as still as possible
+to escape notice; but should he find that the hunter is still coming
+on, say to within twenty paces from him, he will fly into a rage, show
+his fangs, bristle his hair, and get ready for a spring.  The hunter
+usually takes a green stick about a yard long by two inches thick, and
+instead of striking a great, swinging blow with both hands, he holds
+the stick in one hand and strikes a short, quick, though powerful,
+blow, hitting the brute on the snout close to the eyes.  That stuns
+him, and then the hunter, with either foot or knee, presses over the
+heart until death ensues.  But clubbing the wolf is dangerous work, for
+the hunter may hit the trap and set the captive free, or it may bite
+him.  So the gun is frequently used, but only to shoot the wolf in the
+head, as a wound anywhere else would injure the fur.
+
+Late in the afternoon, as we were approaching a wolf trap, Oo-koo-hoo,
+who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and gazed ahead.  A large
+wolf was lying in the snow, evidently pretending to be dead.  One of
+its forepaws was held by the trap, and the hunter drew his axe and
+moved forward.  As we came near, the beast could stand the strain no
+longer, but rose up with bristling hair, champing fangs, and savage
+growl.  When Oo-koo-hoo had almost reached the deeply marked circle in
+the snow where the wolf had been struggling to gain its freedom, he
+paused and said:
+
+"My brother, I need your coat, so turn your eyes away while I strike."
+A momentary calmness came over the beast, but as the hunter raised his
+axe it suddenly crouched, and with its eyes flashing with rage, sprang
+for Oo-koo-hoo's throat.  Its mighty leap, however, ended three feet
+short of the mark, for the trap chain grew taut, jerked it down and
+threw it violently upon its back.  Instantly regaining its feet, it
+dashed away on three legs, and in its effort to escape dragged the clog
+through the snow.  The bounding clog sent the snow flying, and the
+hunter rushed in pursuit, while the wolf dodged among the trees to
+escape a blow from Oo-koo-hoo.  Then it bolted again, and ran straight
+for a few yards until the clog caught and held fast.  The hunter,
+pressing on with raised axe, had no time to draw back when the brute
+sprang for him as it did; luckily, however, his aim was true: the back
+of the axe descended upon the wolf's head, and it fell dead.  This was
+fortunate for the hunter, as unwarily he had allowed himself so to get
+between the clog and the beast that the chain almost swung over his
+snowshoes.  If he had missed his aim, no doubt it would have gone hard
+with him.
+
+[Illustration: As the wolf dashed away, the bounding clog sent the snow
+flying, and the hunter rushed in pursuit, while the wolf dodged among
+the trees to escape a blow from Oo-koo-hoo.  Then it bolted again, and
+ran straight for a few yards until the clog caught and held fast.  The
+hunter, pressing on with raised axe, had no time to draw back when the
+brute sprang for him . . .  See Chapter IV.]
+
+A few slant rays of the sun penetrating the deep gloom of the thick
+forest and reminding us that day was fast passing, we decided to camp
+there for the night.  So we cut a mattress of brush, made a fire, and
+refreshed ourselves with supper before we started to skin the wolf.
+
+
+THE WAYS OF A WOLF
+
+Talk of wolves prevailed all evening, and Oo-koo-hoo certainly had a
+store of information upon that subject.  In expressing surprise that a
+wolf had strength enough to jerk about a big drag-log, as though it
+were merely a small stick, he replied that once when he had killed a
+full-grown bull-moose and dressed and hung up the meat, he had left for
+camp with part of his prize, but on returning again to the cache, he
+had found a wolf moving off with one of the hindquarters.  It must have
+weighed close upon a hundred pounds.  But perhaps, if I quote Charles
+Mair, the strength and endurance of a wolf will be better realized: "In
+the sketch of 'North-Western America' (1868) Archbishop Tache, of St.
+Boniface, Manitoba, recounts a remarkable instance of persevering
+fortitude exhibited by a large, dark wolf caught in a steel trap at
+Isle a la Crosse many years ago.  A month afterward it was killed near
+Green Lake, ninety miles distant, with the trap and connecting
+wood-block still attached to one of its hind legs.  It had evidently
+dragged both around in the snow for many a mile, during a period of
+intense cold, and it is, therefore, not surprising that it was a
+'walking skeleton' when finally secured."
+
+Though the timber-wolf is a fast traveller, it cannot out-distance the
+greyhound or wolf hound; but though it is seldom seen in water it is a
+good swimmer.  Its weight may run from seventy-five to one hundred and
+fifty pounds, and an extra large wolf may stand close to thirty inches
+at the shoulder, and be over five feet in length.  In colour they range
+from white to nearly black, but the ordinary colour is a light brownish
+gray.  Usually they mate in February, but whether or not for life, it
+is hard to say.  They breed in a hollow log, or tree or stump, or in a
+hole in the ground, or in a cave.  The young are normally born in
+April, usually six or eight in a litter, and the father helps to care
+for them.
+
+Many of the wolves I have seen were running in pairs, some in families,
+and the greatest number I have ever seen together was seven.  That was
+in Athabasca in the winter time.  The seven were in a playful mood,
+racing around and jumping over one another; and though all were
+full-grown, five of them displayed the romping spirits of puppies, and
+I wondered if they could be but one family.  Though my dog-driver and
+I, with our dog-train, passed within about a hundred paces of them, and
+though we were all on a sunny lake, they never ceased their play for a
+single moment, nor did they show in any way that they had seen us.
+
+There are several voices of the wilderness that cause some city people
+alarm and dread, and they are the voices of the owl, the loon, and the
+timber-wolf.  But to me their voices bring a solemn, at times an eerie,
+charm, that I would gladly go miles to renew.  Though much of the
+wolf-howling has been of little appeal, I have heard wolf concerts that
+held me spell-bound.  On some occasions--but always at night--they
+lasted without scarcely any intermission for three or four hours.  The
+first part of the programme was usually rendered--according to the
+sound of their voices--by the youngest of the pack; later the
+middle-aged seemed to take the stage; but of all the performance,
+nothing equalled in greatness of volume or in richness of tone the
+closing numbers, and they were always rendered by what seemed to be
+some mighty veteran, the patriarch of the pack, for his effort was so
+thrilling and awe-inspiring that it always sent the gooseflesh rushing
+up and down my back.  Many a time, night after night, beneath the
+Northern Lights, I have gone out to the edge of a lake to listen to
+them.
+
+When hunting big game, such as deer, wolves assist one another and
+display a fine sense of the value of team-work in running down their
+prey.  Though the wolf is a shy and cautious animal, he is no coward,
+as the way he will slash into a pack of dogs goes far to prove.  In the
+North the stories of the wolf's courage are endless; here, for example,
+is one: "During our residence at Cumberland House in 1820," says
+Richardson, "a wolf, which had been prowling and was wounded by a
+musket ball and driven off, returned after it became dark, whilst the
+blood was still flowing from its wound, and carried off a dog, from
+amongst fifty others, that howled piteously, but had no courage to
+unite in an attack on their enemy."
+
+Nevertheless, wolves rarely attack man, in fact, only when they are
+afflicted with rabies or hydrophobia.  No doubt everyone has read, at
+one time or another, harrowing stories of the great timber-wolves of
+our northern forest forming themselves into huge packs and pursuing
+people all over the wilderness until there is nothing left of the
+unfortunate community save a few odds and ends of cheap jewellery.
+Even our most dignified and reliable newspapers are never loath to
+publish such thrilling drivel; and their ignorant readers gulp it all
+down, apparently with a relishing shudder; for the dear public not only
+loves to be fooled, but actually gloats over that sort of thing, since
+it is their hereditary belief.
+
+When I was a boy, I, too, thrilled over such nonsense, and when I made
+my first trip into the forest I began to delve for true wolf stories,
+and I have been delving ever since.  So far, after over thirty years of
+digging, I have actually dug up what I believe to be one authentic
+story of an unprovoked wolf having actually attacked and killed a man.
+On several occasions, too, I have had the satisfaction of running to
+cover some of the wolf stories published in our daily press.  I read a
+few years ago in one of Canada's leading daily papers--and no doubt the
+same account was copied throughout the United States--a thrilling story
+of two lumber-jacks in the wilds of Northern Ontario being pursued by a
+pack of timber-wolves, and the exhausted woodsmen barely escaping with
+their lives, being forced by the ferocious brutes to spend a whole
+night in a tree at a time when the thermometer registered -- below
+zero.  I am sorry I have forgotten the exact degree of frost the paper
+stated, but as a rule it is always close to 70 or 80 degrees below zero
+when the great four-legged demons of the forest go on the rampage.
+
+
+THE WOLVES AND GREENHORNS
+
+Several years later, when I was spending the summer at Shahwandahgooze,
+in the Laurentian Mountains, I again met Billy Le Heup, the hunter, and
+one night when we were listening to a wolf concert I mentioned the
+foregoing newspaper thriller.  Billy laughed and acknowledged that he,
+too, had read it, but not until several weeks after he had had a chance
+to investigate, first hand, the very same yarn; for he, too, had been
+trailing wolf stories all his life.
+
+It so happened that Le Heup's work had taken him through the timber
+country north of Lake Temiscamingue.  While stopping one day at a
+lumber camp to have a snack, three men entered the cookery where he was
+eating.  One of them was the foreman, and he was in a perfect rage.  He
+had discharged the other two men, and now he was warning them that if
+they didn't get something to eat pretty ---- quick and leave the camp
+in a ---- of a hurry, he would kick them out.  Then, just before he
+slammed the door and disappeared, he roared out at them that not for
+one moment would he stand for such ---- rot, as their being chased and
+treed all night by wolves.
+
+When quiet was restored and the two men had sat down beside Le Heup at
+the dining table, he had questioned them and they had told him a
+graphic story of how they had been chased by a great pack of wolves and
+how they had managed to escape with their lives by climbing a tree only
+just in the nick of time; and, moreover, how the ferocious brutes had
+kept them there all night long, and how, consequently, they had been
+nearly frozen to death.
+
+It was a thrilling story and so full of detail that even "old-timer" Le
+Heup grew quite interested and congratulated himself on having at last
+actually heard, first hand, a true story of how Canadian timber-wolves,
+though unprovoked, had pursued, attacked, and treed two men.  Indeed,
+he was so impressed that he decided to back-track the heroes' trail and
+count for himself just how many wolves the pack had numbered.  So he
+got the would-be lumber-jacks--for they were greenhorns from the
+city--to point out for him their incoming trail, which he at once set
+out to back-track.  After a tramp of three or four miles he came to the
+very tree which from all signs they had climbed and in which they had
+spent the night.  Then desiring to count the wolf tracks in the snow,
+he looked around, but never a one could he see.  Walking away for about
+a hundred yards he began to circle the tree, but still without success.
+He circled again with about an eighth of a mile radius, but still no
+wolf tracks were to be seen.  As a last resort he circled once more
+about a quarter of a mile from the tree, and this time he was rewarded;
+he found wolf tracks in the snow.  There had been three wolves.  They
+had been running full gallop.  Moreover, they had been trailing a
+white-tailed deer; but never once had either deer or wolves paused in
+their run, nor had they come within a quarter of a mile of the tree in
+which the greenhorns from the city had spent the night.  Of such
+material are the man-chasing, man-killing wolf stories made.
+
+Frequently I have had timber-wolves follow me, sometimes for half an
+hour or so; on one occasion two of the largest and handsomest
+timber-wolves I ever saw followed me for over two hours.  During that
+time they travelled all round me, ahead, behind, and on either side;
+and occasionally they came within sixty or seventy feet of me.  Yet
+never once, by action or expression, did they show any signs other than
+those which two friendly but very shy dogs might have shown toward me.
+
+
+THE WOLF THAT KILLED A MAN
+
+Of course, wolves will attack a man; when they are trapped, wounded, or
+cornered--just as a muskrat will; but of all the wolf stories I have
+ever heard, in which wolves killed a man, the following is the only one
+I have any reason to believe, as it was told me first-hand by a
+gentleman whose word I honour, and whose unusual knowledge of animal
+life and northern travel places his story beyond a doubt.
+
+One winter's day in the seventies, when Mr. William Cornwallis King was
+in charge of Fort Rae, one of the Hudson's Bay Company's posts on Great
+Slave Lake, he was snowshoeing to a number of Indian camps to collect
+furs, and had under his command several Indians in charge of his
+dog-trains.  On the way they came upon a small party of Dog-rib
+Indians, who, after a smoke and a chat, informed him that, being in
+need of meat, one of their party, named Pot-fighter's-father, had set
+out three days before to hunt caribou; and as he had not returned, they
+were afraid lest some evil had befallen him.  When Mr. King learned
+that it had been Pot-fighter's-father's intention to return to camp on
+the evening of the first day, he advised the Indians to set out at once
+in search of him.
+
+After following his tracks for half a day they came suddenly upon the
+footprints of an unusually large wolf which had turned to trail the
+hunter.  For some miles the brute had evidently followed close beside
+the trail of Pot-fighter's-father, diverging at times as though seeking
+cover, and then again stalking its prey in the open.  One Indian
+continued to follow the old man's trail, while another followed that of
+the wolf.  They had not gone far before they discovered that
+Pot-fighter's-father had come upon a herd of caribou, and a little
+farther on they found, lying on the snow, a couple of caribou carcasses
+that he had shot.  Strange to say, the animals had not been skinned,
+nor had their tongues been removed.  More remarkable still, the
+wolf--although passing close to them--had not stopped to feed.  Soon
+they came upon another dead caribou, and this time Pot-fighter's-father
+had skinned it, and had cut out its tongue; but again the wolf had
+refused to touch the deer.
+
+Continuing their pursuit, they discovered a brush windbreak where the
+hunter had evidently stopped to camp for the night.  Now they noticed
+that the tracks of the wolf took to cover among the scrub.  Approaching
+the shelter, they read in the snow the signs of a terrible struggle
+between a man and a wolf.  The hunter's gun, snowshoes, and sash
+containing his knife, rested against the windbreak, and his axe stood
+in the snow where he had been cutting brush.  From the snow the Indians
+read the story of the long-drawn fight.  Here it told how the great
+wolf had leaped upon the back of the unsuspecting man while he was
+carrying an armful of brush, and had knocked him down.  There it showed
+that the man had grappled with the brute and rolled it over upon its
+back.  Here the signs showed that the wolf had broken free; there, that
+the two had grappled again, and in their struggle had rolled over and
+over.  The snow was now strewn with wolf-hair, and dyed with blood.
+While the dreadful encounter had raged, the battleground had kept
+steadily shifting nearer the gun.  Just a couple of yards away from it
+lay the frozen body of poor old Pot-fighter's-father.  His deerskin
+clothing was slit to tatters; his scalp was torn away; his fingers were
+chewed off, but his bloody mouth was filled with hair and flesh of the
+wolf.
+
+After burying the body of old Pot-fighter's-father in a mound of
+stones, the Indians determined to continue in pursuit of the wolf.  Its
+tracks at last led them to a solitary lodge that stood in the shelter
+of a thicket of spruce.  There the hunters were greeted by an Indian
+who was living in the tepee with his wife and baby.  After having a cup
+of tea, a smoke, and then a little chat, the hunters enquired about the
+tracks of the great wolf that had brought them to the lodge.  The
+Indian told them that during the night before last, while he and his
+wife were asleep with the baby between them, they had been awakened by
+a great uproar among the dogs.  They had no sooner sat up than the dogs
+had rushed into the tepee followed by an enormous wolf.  Leaping up,
+the hunter had seized his axe and attacked the beast, while his wife
+had grabbed the baby, wrapped it in a blanket, and rushing outside, had
+rammed the child out of sight in a snowdrift, and returned to help her
+husband to fight the brute.  The wolf had already killed one of the
+dogs, and the Indian in his excitement had tripped upon the bedding,
+fallen, and lost his grip upon his axe.  When he rose, he found the
+wolf between himself and his weapon.  His wife, however, had seized a
+piece of firewood and, being unobserved by the wolf, had used it as a
+club and dealt the beast so powerful a blow upon the small of the back
+that it had been seriously weakened and had given the Indian an
+opportunity to recover his axe, with which at last he had managed to
+kill the wolf.
+
+It was Mr. King's belief, however, that such unusual behaviour of a
+wolf was caused by distemper, for the brute seemed to display no more
+fear of man than would a mad dog.  And he added that the behaviour of
+the wolf in question was no more typical of wolves in general than was
+the behaviour of a mad dog typical of dogs.
+
+
+COMING OF THE FUR-RUNNERS
+
+That night, when we returned home, Oo-koo-hoo said to his grandsons:
+"Ne-geek and Ah-ging-goos, my grandchildren, the fur-runner is coming
+soon.  To-morrow do you both take the dogs and break a two-days' trail
+on Otter River in order to hasten his coming."
+
+Next morning the boys set out to break the trail.  When they camped on
+Otter River on the afternoon of the second day they cached in the river
+ice some fish for the trader's dogs.  They chopped a hole and, after
+placing the fish in, filled it up with water, which they allowed to
+freeze, with the tail of a single fish protruding, in order to show the
+fur-runner what was cached below.  To mark the spot, they planted a
+pole with its butt in the hole, and rigged up a tripod of sticks to
+support it.  At the top of the pole they tied a little bag of tea and a
+choice piece of meat for the trader.  At the bend of the river below,
+where he would surely pass, they erected another pole with a bunch of
+fir twigs attached, for the purpose of attracting his attention to
+their tracks.
+
+On their return home they found Oo-koo-hoo and Amik sorting their furs
+in anticipation of the fur-runner's arrival.  Before them lay, among
+the other skins, the skin of the black fox, and when the boys entered
+the lodge Oo-koo-hoo addressed the whole family, saying:
+
+"Do not mention the black fox to the fur-runner, since I intend keeping
+it until I go to the Post, in the hope of making a better bargain
+there.  Now sort your skins, and set aside those you wish to give in
+payment on your debt to the Great Company."
+
+During the afternoon of the following day Lawson the fur-runner for the
+Hudson's Bay Company arrived with his dog-train.  He shook hands with
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik and the boys, and kissed the women and the girls,
+as the custom of the traders is.  It being late in the day, Oo-koo-hoo
+decided not to begin trading until next morning.  So they spent the
+evening in spinning yarns around the fire.  Shortly after breakfast
+strange dogs were heard.  The boys ran out and saw an unknown man
+approaching.  When the newcomer--a French-Canadian half-breed--had
+eaten, and had joined the others in a smoke, he gave me a letter from
+Free Trader Spear.  Then Oo-koo-hoo began questioning him:
+
+"My brother, you are a stranger in this country; so I have given you
+fire and food and tobacco in friendship.  Tell me now why and from
+whence you come?"
+
+The half-breed replied: "My brother, I come from the Border
+Lands--where the plains and the forests meet--and my name is Gibeault.
+I have come to trade regularly with you as I am now working for Free
+Trader Spear, whose post, as you know, is near Fort Consolation.  You
+will do well to encourage opposition to the Great Company, and thus
+raise the price of furs."
+
+The half-breed then presented the hunters with several plugs of "T &
+B," some matches, tea, sugar, flour, and a piece of "sow-belly."  For
+some time Oo-koo-hoo sat holding a little fresh-cut tobacco in his
+hand, until Gibeault, taking notice, asked him why he did not smoke it.
+
+"The Great Company always gives me a pipe," replied the hunter.
+
+The runner for the free trader, not to be outdone, gave him a pipe.
+
+"I suppose," began Oo-koo-hoo, "that your heart is glad to see me."
+
+"Yes," replied Gibeault, "and I want to get some of your fur."
+
+"That is all very well, but I will see which way you look at me,"
+returned the Indian.
+
+"Have you much fur?" asked the half-breed.
+
+"I have enough to pay my debt to the Great Company."
+
+"Yes, I know, but you will have some left, and I want to do business
+with you, so bring out your furs and I will treat you right."
+
+"That sounds well, but you must remember that though the Great Company
+charges more, their goods are the best goods, while yours are all cheap
+rubbish."
+
+Thinking the opportunity a favourable one, Gibeault assumed an air of
+friendly solicitude and said:
+
+"The Company has cheated your people so many hundred years that they
+are now very rich.  No wonder they can afford to give you high prices
+for your furs.  Free Trader Spear is a poor but honest man.  It is to
+your great advantage to trade part of your furs with me in order to
+make it worth his while to send me here every winter.  As you know, my
+presence here compels the Company to pay full value for your furs and
+so you are the one who reaps the greatest benefit."
+
+"That is partly true," answered Oo-koo-hoo, "but I must be loyal to the
+Company.  You are here to-day and away tomorrow; but the Company is
+here for ever.  But I will not be hard on you; I will wait and see how
+you look at me."
+
+For a while the dignified Indian sat puffing at his pipe and gazing at
+the fire.  Every line of his weather-beaten and wrinkled but handsome
+face was full of sterling character.  At times his small eyes twinkled
+as a flash of cunning crept into them, and a keen sense of humour
+frequently twitched the corners of his determined mouth.  Then he
+brought out a pack of furs and, handing it to Lawson, said:
+
+"This is to pay the Great Company for the advances they gave us last
+summer."
+
+Lawson took the bundle without opening it, as it would not be checked
+over until he delivered it at Fort Consolation.  Resenting the Indian's
+attitude toward Gibeault he began:
+
+"I see, now that there's another trader here, it's easy for you to
+forget your old friends.  The free trader comes and goes.  Give him
+your furs, an' he doesn't care whether you're dead to-morrow.  It's not
+like that with the Great Company.  The Company came first among your
+people, and since then it has been like a father, not only to all your
+people before you, but to you as well.  Whenever your forefathers were
+smitten with hunger or disease, who looked after them?  It wasn't the
+free trader; it was the Company.  Who sells you the best goods?  It
+isn't the free trader; it's the Company.  Who gave you your debt last
+fall and made it possible for you to hunt this winter?  It wasn't the
+free trader; it was the Company.  My brother, you have none to thank
+but the Great Company that you're alive to-day."
+
+With a grunt of disapproval Oo-koo-hoo sullenly retorted:
+
+"The Priest says it is The Master of Life we have to thank for that.  I
+am sure that the Commissioner of the Great Company is not so great as
+God.  It is true you give us good prices now, but it is also true that
+you have not given us back the countless sums you stole from our
+fathers and grandfathers and all our people before them; for did you
+not wait until the coming of the free traders before you would give us
+the worth of our skins?  No wonder you are great masters; it seems to
+me that it takes great rogues to become great masters."
+
+The angry Lawson, to save a quarrel, bit his moustache, smiled faintly
+and, presenting the hunter with even more than Gibeault had given, said:
+
+"Never mind, my brother, you're a pretty smart man."
+
+Without replying, Oo-koo-hoo accepted the present so eagerly that he
+jerked it out of the trader's hand.  That pleased Lawson.  Presently
+the Indian threw down a bear skin, saying:
+
+"My brother, this is to see how you look at me."
+
+Now the way of the experienced fur-runner is to offer a big
+price--often an excessive price--for the first skin.  He calculates
+that it puts the Indian in a good humour and in the end gives the
+trader a chance of getting ahead of the native.  That is just what
+Lawson did, and Gibeault refused to raise the bid.
+
+"My brother," said the Indian addressing the latter, "you had better go
+home if you cannot pay better prices than the Great Company."
+
+Gibeault, nettled, outbid his rival for the next skin, and thus it went
+on, first one and then the other raising the prices higher and higher,
+much to the delight of the Indians.  Oo-koo-hoo had already sold a
+number of skins for more than their market value before it dawned on
+the white men that they were playing a losing game.  Though glaring
+savagely at each other, both were ready to capitulate.  Lawson,
+pretending to examine some of Gibeault's goods, stooped and whispered:
+
+"We're actin' like fools.  If we keep this up our bosses will fire us
+both."
+
+"Let's swap even--you take every other skin at your own figure,"
+returned the French half-breed.
+
+"Agreed," said Lawson, straightening up.
+
+No longer outbidding one another, they got the next few skins below the
+market price.  But before the traders had made good their loss the
+Indian gathered up his furs and turning to the fur-runners with a
+smile, said:
+
+"My brothers, as I see that you have agreed to cheat me, I have decided
+that I and my people will keep all our furs until we go out next
+spring; so it is now useless for you to remain any longer."
+
+Having read the note Gibeault brought me from Free Trader Spear, I
+hastened to hand the half-breed my reply, accepting Mr. and Mrs.
+Spear's invitation to be their guest for a few days when everyone would
+be gathering at Fort Consolation to attend the New Year's dance; and
+again I wondered if "Son-in-law" would be there.
+
+
+
+
+V
+
+MEETING OF THE WILD MEN
+
+WHO IS SON-IN-LAW?
+
+Christmas week had arrived and now we were off for the New Year's dance
+to be held at Fort Consolation.  Instead of travelling round three
+sides of an oblong as we had done to reach Oo-koo-hoo's hunting ground
+by canoe, we now, travelling on snowshoes, cut across country, over
+hill and valley, lake and river, in a southeasterly direction, until we
+struck Caribou River and then turned toward White River and finally
+arrived at God's Lake.  Our little party included Oo-koo-hoo, his wife
+Ojistoh, their granddaughter Neykia, and myself.  Our domestic outfit
+was loaded upon two hunting sleds in the hauling of which we all took
+turns, as well as in relieving each other in the work of track beating.
+At night we camped in the woods without any shelter save brush
+windbreaks over the heads of our beds, our couches being made of
+balsam-twigs laid shingle fashion in the snow.  For the sake of warmth
+Ojistoh and Neykia slept together, while Oo-koo-hoo and I cuddled up
+close to one another and fitted together like spoons in a cutlery case,
+for the cold sometimes dipped to forty below.
+
+The prisoner of the city, however, may think sleeping under such
+conditions not only a terrible hardship but a very dangerous thing in
+the way of catching one's death of cold.  I can assure him it is
+nothing of the kind--when the bed is properly made.  And not only does
+one _never_ catch cold under such conditions, but it is my experience
+that there is no easier way to get rid of a bad cold than to sleep out
+in the snow, wrapped in a Hudson's Bay blanket, a caribou robe, or a
+rabbit-skin quilt, when the thermometer is about fifty below zero.  But
+rather than delay over a description in detail of the mere novelty of
+winter travel, let us hurry along to our first destination, and visit
+the Free Trader Mr. Spear and his family, and find out for our own
+satisfaction whether or not the mysterious "Son-in-law" had recently
+been courting the charming Athabasca.
+
+When we reached God's Lake, for a while we snowshoed down the centre,
+until at the parting of our ways we said good-bye, for the Indians were
+heading directly for Fort Consolation.  As I neared Spearhead and came
+in view of its one and only house, the Free Trader's dogs set up a
+howl, and Mr. Spear came out to greet me and lead me into the sitting
+room where I was welcomed by his wife and daughter.  Now I made a
+discovery: quartered in a box in the hall behind the front door they
+had three geese that being quite free to walk up and down the hall,
+occasionally strolled about for exercise.  As good luck would have it,
+supper was nearly ready, and I had just sufficient time to make use of
+the tin hand-basin in the kitchen before the tea bell rang.  Again,
+during the first half of the meal we all chatted in a lively strain,
+all save Athabasca, who, though blushing less than usual, smiled a
+little more, and murmured an occasional yes or no; all the while
+looking even more charming.  But her composure endured not long, for
+her mother presently renewed the subject of "Son-in-law":
+
+"Father, don't you think it would be a good idea if you took son-in-law
+into partnership very soon?"
+
+"Yes, Mother, I do, because business is rapidly growing, and I'll need
+help in the spring.  Besides, it would give me a chance to do my own
+fur-running in winter, and in that way I believe I could double, if not
+treble, our income."
+
+Athabasca turned crimson and I followed suit--for being a born blusher
+myself, and mortally hating it, I could never refrain from sympathizing
+with others similarly afflicted.
+
+"Precisely, Father," replied Mrs. Spear, "that's exactly what I
+thought.  So you see you wouldn't be making any sacrifice whatever, and
+such an arrangement would prove an advantage all round.  Everybody
+would be the happier for it, and it seems to me to delay the wedding
+would be a vital mistake."
+
+From that moment until we left the table Athabasca concentrated her
+vision on her plate; and I wondered more than ever who "Son-in-law"
+could be.  Then an idea came to me, and I mused: "We'll surely see him
+at Fort Consolation."
+
+After supper I discovered a new member of the household, a chore-boy,
+twenty-eight years of age, who had come out from England to learn
+farming in the Free Trader's stump lot, and who was paying Mr. Spear so
+many hundred dollars a year for that privilege, and also for the
+pleasure of daily cleaning out the stable--and the pig pen.  When I
+first saw him, I thought: "Why here, at last, is 'Son-in-law.'"  But on
+second consideration, I knew he was not the lucky man, for it was
+evident the Spears did not recognize him as their social equal, since
+they placed him, at meal time, out in the kitchen at the table with
+their two half-breed maid-servants.
+
+That evening, while sitting around the big wood stove, we discussed
+Shakespeare, Byron, Scott, and even the latest novel that was then in
+vogue--"Trilby," if I remember right--for the Spears not only
+subscribed to the _Illustrated London News_ and _Blackwood's_ but they
+took _Harper's_ and _Scribner's_, too.  And by the way, though
+Athabasca had never been to school, her mother had personally attended
+to her education.  When bedtime arrived, they all peeled off their
+moccasins and stockings and hung them round the stove to dry, and then
+pitter-pattered up the cold, bare stairs in their bare feet.  I was
+shown into the spare room and given a candle, and when I bade them
+good-night and turned to close the door, I discovered that there was no
+door to close, nor was there even a curtain to screen me from view.
+The bed, however, was an old-fashioned wooden affair with a big solid
+footboard, so I concluded that in case of any one passing the doorway,
+I could crouch behind the foot of the bed.  Then, when I blew out my
+candle, I got a great surprise, for lo and behold! I could see all over
+the house!  I could see "Paw and Maw" getting undressed, Athabasca
+saying her prayers, and the half-breed maids getting into bed.
+
+How did it happen?  The cracks between the upright boards of my
+partition were so wide that I could have shoved my fingers through.  As
+a matter of fact, Mr. Spear explained next day, the lumber being green,
+rather than nail the boards tightly into place, he had merely stood
+them up, and waited for them to season.
+
+During the night the cold grew intense, and several times I was
+startled out of my sleep by a frosty report from the ice and snow on
+the roof that reminded one of the firing of a cannon.
+
+In the morning when the geese began screeching in the lower hall, I
+thought it was time to get up, and was soon in the very act of pulling
+off a certain garment over my head when one of the half-breed
+maids--the red-headed one whose hair Mr. Spear had cut off with the
+horse clippers--intruded herself into my room to see if I were going to
+be down in time for breakfast, and I had to drop behind the foot of the
+bed.
+
+At breakfast, the first course was oatmeal porridge; the second,
+"Son-in-law"; the third, fried bacon, toast, and tea; after which we
+all put on our wraps for our five-mile trip across God's Lake to Fort
+Consolation.  Everyone went, maids, chore-boy, and all, and everyone
+made the trip on snowshoes--all save the trader's wife, who rode in
+state, in a carriole, hauled by a tandem train of four dogs.
+
+
+THE NEW YEAR'S DANCE
+
+It was a beautiful sunny day and the air was very still; and though the
+snow was wind-packed and hard, the footing was very tiresome, for the
+whole surface of the lake was just one endless mass of hard-packed
+snowdrifts that represented nothing so much as a great, stormy,
+white-capped sea that had been instantly congealed.  And for us it was
+just up and down, in and out, up and down, in and out, all the way
+over.  These solid white waves, however, proved one thing, and that was
+the truth of Oo-koo-hoo's woodcraft; for, just as he had previously
+told me, if we had been suddenly encompassed by a dense fog or a heavy
+snowstorm, we could never for a moment have strayed from our true
+course; as all the drifts pointed one way, south-by-southeast, and
+therefore must have kept us to our proper direction.
+
+There were many dogs and sleds, and many Indians and half-breeds, too,
+about the Fort when we arrived; and as the dogs heralded our approach,
+the Factor came out to greet us and wish us a Happy New Year.  At the
+door Mrs. Mackenzie, the half-breed wife of the Factor, was waiting
+with a beaming smile and a hearty welcome for us; and after we had
+removed our outer wraps, she led us over to the storehouse in which a
+big room had been cleared, and heated, and decorated to answer as a
+ballroom and banqueting hall.  Tables were being laid for the feast,
+and Indian mothers and maidens and children, too, were already sitting
+on the floor around the sides of the room, and with sparkling eyes were
+watching the work in happy expectation.  Around the doorway, both out
+and in, stood the men--Indians and half-breeds and a few French and
+English Canadians.  Some wore hairy caribou _capotes_, others hairless
+moose-skin jackets trimmed with otter or beaver fur, others again
+were-garbed in duffel _capotes_ of various colours with hoods and
+turned-back cuffs of another hue; but the majority wore _capotes_ made
+of Hudson's Bay blanket and trimmed with slashed fringes at the
+shoulders and skirt; while their legs were encased in trousers gartered
+below the knee, and their feet rested comfortably in moccasins.
+Though, when snowshoeing, all the men wore hip-high leggings of duffel
+or blanket, the former sometimes decorated with a broad strip of
+another colour, the latter were always befringed the whole way down the
+outer seam; both kinds were gartered at the knee.  Such leggings are
+always removed when entering a lodge or house or when resting beside a
+campfire--in order to free the legs from the gathered snow and prevent
+it from thawing and wetting the trousers.  The children wore outer
+garments of either blanket or rabbit skin, while the women gloried in
+brilliant plaid shawls of two sizes--a small one for the head and a
+large one for the shoulders.  The short cloth skirts of the women and
+girls were made so that the fullness at the waist, instead of being cut
+away, was merely puckered into place, and beneath the lower hem of the
+skirt showed a pair of beaded leggings and a pair of silk-worked
+moccasins.
+
+All the Indians shook hands with us, for in the Canadian Government's
+treaty with them it is stipulated that: "We expect you to be good
+friends with everyone, and shake hands with all whom you meet."  And I
+might further add that the Indian--when one meets him in the winter
+bush--is more polite than the average white man, for he always removes
+his mitten, and offers one his bare hand.  Further, if his hand happens
+to be dirty, he will spit on it and rub it on his leggings to try and
+cleanse it before presenting it to you.  But when he did that, I could
+never decide which was the more acceptable condition--before or after.
+
+When the Factor entered, he was greeted with a perfect gale of
+merriment, as it was the ancient custom of the Great Company that he
+should kiss every woman and girl at the New Year's feast.  After that
+historical ceremony was over--in which Free Trader Spear also had to do
+his duty--and the laughter had subsided, the principal guests were
+seated at the Factor's table, the company consisting of the three
+clergymen, the Spears, myself, the two North-West Mounted
+Policemen--who had just arrived from the south--and a few native
+headmen, including my friend Oo-koo-hoo.  Though the feast was served
+in relays, some of the guests who were too hungry to await their turn
+were served as they sat about the floor.  The dishes included the
+choice of moose, caribou, bear, lynx, beaver, or muskrat.
+
+Then a couple of picturesque, shock-haired French Canadians got up on a
+big box that rested upon a table, and tuning up their fiddles, the
+dance was soon in full swing.  In rapid succession the music changed
+from the Double Jig to the Reel of Four, the Duck Dance, the Double
+Reel of Four, the Reel of Eight, and the Red River Jig, till the old
+log storehouse shook from its foundation right up to its very rafters.
+The breathless, perspiring, but happy couples kept at it until
+exhaustion fairly overtook them, and then dropping out now and then,
+they sat on the floor around the walls till they had rested; and then,
+with all their might and main, they went at it again.  Among other
+things I noticed that the natives who were smoking were so considerate
+of their hosts' feelings that they never for a moment forgot themselves
+enough to soil the freshly scrubbed floor, but always used their
+upturned fur caps as cuspidors.
+
+The children, even the little tots, showed great interest in the
+dancing of their parents, and so delighted did they become that they
+would sometimes gather in a group in a corner and try to step in time
+with the music.
+
+Everyone that could dance took a turn--even Oo-koo-hoo and old Granny
+did the "light fantastic"--and at one time or another all the principal
+guests were upon the floor; all save--the priest.  The scarlet tunics
+of the corporal and the constable of the Royal North-West Mounted
+Police as well as the sombre black of the English Church and the
+Presbyterian clergymen, added much to the whirling colour scheme, as
+well as to the joy of the occasion.  But look where I would I could not
+find "Son-in-law," and though the blushing Athabasca was often in the
+dance, it was plain to see her lover was not there, for even the
+handsome policemen, though they paid her marked attention, gave no
+sign, either of them, of being the lucky one.  In the number of
+partners, Oo-koo-hoo's granddaughter outshone them all, and, moreover,
+her lover was present.  At every chance Shing-wauk--The Little
+Pine--was shyly whispering to her and she was looking very happy.  Even
+I rose to the occasion and had for my first partner our host's swarthy
+wife, a wonderful performer, who, after her husband's retirement from
+the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, became the most popular dancer
+in all Winnipeg.  Nor must I forget my dance with that merry, muscular,
+iron-framed lady, Oo-koo-hoo's better half--old Granny--who at first
+crumpled me up in her gorilla-like embrace, and ended by swinging me
+clean off my feet, much to the merriment of the Indian maidens.
+
+As the afternoon wore on the Rabbit Dance began, and was soon followed
+by the Hug-Me-Snug, the Drops of Brandy, and the Saskatchewan Circle,
+and--last but not least--the Kissing Dance.  And when the Kissing Dance
+was encored for the fifth time, the company certainly proclaimed it a
+Happy New Year.
+
+
+THE BEAUTIFUL ATHABASCA
+
+Again at tea time the guests gathered round the festive board; then, a
+little later, the music once more signalled the dancers to take their
+places on the floor.  Hour after hour it went on.  After midnight
+another supper was served; but still "the band"--consisting of a violin
+and a concertina--played on, and still the moccasined feet pounded the
+floor without intermission.  At the very height of the fun, when the
+Free Trader's charming daughter was being whirled about by a scarlet
+tunic, Mrs. Spear turned to me and beamed:
+
+"Doesn't Athabasca look radiantly beautiful?"
+
+"Indeed she does!" I blushed.
+
+"And what a delightful party this is . . . but there's just one thing
+lacking . . . to make it perfect."
+
+"What's that?" I enquired.
+
+"A wedding . . . my dear."  Then, after a long pause, during which she
+seemed to be staring at me--but I didn't dare look--she impatiently
+tossed her head and exclaimed:
+
+"My . . . but some men are deathly slow!"
+
+"Indeed they are," I agreed.
+
+About four o'clock in the morning the music died down, then, after much
+hand-shaking, the company dispersed in various directions over the
+moonlit snow; some to their near-by lodges, some to the log shacks in
+the now-deserted Indian village, and others to their distant hunting
+grounds.  It must have been nearly five o'clock before the ladies in
+the Factor's house went upstairs, and the men lay down upon caribou,
+bear, and buffalo skins on the otherwise bare floor of the living room.
+It was late next morning when we arose, yet already the policemen had
+vanished--they had again set out on their long northern patrol.
+
+At breakfast Mr. and Mrs. Spear invited me to return and spend the
+night with them, and as Oo-koo-hoo and his wife wanted to remain a few
+days to visit some Indian friends, and as the Factor had told me that
+the north-bound packet with the winter's mail from the railroad was
+soon due; and as, moreover, the Fur Brigade would be starting south in
+a few days, and it would travel for part of the way along our homeward
+trail, I accepted Mr. Mackenzie's invitation to return to Fort
+Consolation and depart with the Fur Brigade.
+
+It was a cold trip across the lake as the thermometer had dropped many
+degrees and a northwest wind was blowing in our faces.  As I had
+frequently had my nose frozen, it now turned white very quickly, and a
+half-breed, who was crossing with us, turned round every once in a
+while and exclaimed to me:
+
+"Oh my gud! your nose all froze!"
+
+The snow seemed harder than ever, and for long stretches we took off
+our snowshoes and ran over the drifts, but so wind-packed were they
+that they received little impression from our feet.  Of course, when we
+arrived at Spearhead, the house was cold and everything in it above the
+cellar--except the cats and geese--was frozen solid; but it is
+surprising how quickly those good old-fashioned box stoves will heat a
+dwelling; for in twenty or thirty minutes those wood-burning stoves
+were red-hot and the whole house comfortably warm.
+
+It's strange, but nevertheless true, that "Son-in-law" was never once
+mentioned at dinner, but later on, when Athabasca and I were sitting
+one on either side of the room, Mrs. Spear got up and, getting a
+picture book, asked:
+
+"Mr. Heming, are you fond of pictures?  Daughter has a delightful
+little picture book here that I want her to show you, so now, my dears,
+both sit over there on the sofa where the light will be better, and
+look at it together."
+
+Moving over to the old horsehair sofa--the pride of all Spearhead and
+even of Fort Consolation--we sat down together, much closer than I had
+expected, as some of the springs were broken, thus forming a hollow in
+the centre of the affair, into which we both slid without warning--just
+as though it were a trap set for bashful people.  Then Mrs. Spear with
+a sigh, evidently of satisfaction, withdrew from the room, and we were
+left alone together.  With the book spread out upon our knees we looked
+it over for perhaps----  Well, I am not sure how long, but anyway, when
+I came to, I saw something just in front of me on the floor.  Really,
+it startled me.  For in following it up with my eye I discovered that
+it was the toe of a moccasin, and the worst of it was that it was being
+worn by Mrs. Spear.  There, for ever so long, she must have been
+standing and watching us.  The worst of that household was that all its
+members wore moccasins, so you could never hear them coming.
+
+That night, when we were sitting around the stove, Mrs. Spear explained
+to me how she had educated her daughter and added: "But perhaps, after
+all, if the wedding is not going to take place right away, it might be
+well to send Daughter to some finishing school for a few months--say in
+Toronto," and then, after a little pause, and still looking at me, she
+asked: "To which school would you prefer us to send Athabasca?"
+
+When I named the most fashionable girls' school in that city, "Paw and
+Maw" settled it, there and then, that Daughter would attend it next
+fall, that is, unless it was decided to celebrate her wedding at an
+earlier date.
+
+Next morning, at breakfast, Mrs. Spear suggested that Athabasca should
+take me for a drive through the woods and Mr. Spear remarked:
+
+"You know, Mr. Heming, we haven't any cutter or any suitable sleigh,
+and besides, one of the horses is working in the stump lot; but I think
+I can manage."
+
+In a little while he led a horse round to the front door.  The animal
+had a pole attached to either side, the other end of which dragged out
+behind; across the two poles, just behind the horse's tail, was
+fastened a rack of cross poles upon which was placed some straw and a
+buffalo robe.  It was really a _travois_, the kind of conveyance used
+by the Plains Indians.  Getting aboard the affair, off we went, the old
+plug rumbling along in a kind of a trotting walk, while Athabasca held
+the reins.  The morning being a fine sunny one, and the trees being
+draped and festooned with snow, the scene was so beautiful when we got
+into the thicker woods that it made one think of fairyland.  A couple
+of fluffy little whiskey jacks followed us all the way there and back,
+just as though they wanted to see and hear everything that was going
+on; but those little meddlers of the northwoods must have been
+disappointed, for both Athabasca and I were not only too shy to talk,
+but too bashful even to sit upright; in fact, we both leaned so far
+away from one another that we each hung over our side of the trap, and
+did nothing but gaze far off into the enchanted wood.  We must have
+been gone nearly two hours when the house again came into view.  Yes, I
+enjoyed it.  It was so romantic.  But what I couldn't understand was
+why her parents allowed her to go with me, when they were already
+counting on "Son-in-law" marrying her.  It was certainly a mystery to
+me.  However, that afternoon I left for Fort Consolation.
+
+
+BACK TO FORT CONSOLATION
+
+On my way across the lake I noticed that the wind was veering round
+toward the east and that the temperature was rising.  When I arrived in
+good time for supper Factor Mackenzie seemed relieved, and remarked
+that the barometer indicated a big storm from the northeast.  That
+night, in front of the big open fire, we talked of the fur trade.
+Among other books and papers he showed me was a copy of the Company's
+Deed Poll; not published a century ago, but printed at the time of
+which I am writing, and thus it read:
+
+"To all whom these presents shall come, The Governor and Company of
+Adventurers of England Trading into Hudson's Bay send greeting.
+Whereas His Majesty King Charles the Second did, by His Royal Charter,
+constitute the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading
+into Hudson's Bay in a Body Corporate, with perpetual succession and
+with power to elect a Governor and Deputy Governor and Committee for
+the management of their trade and affairs----."
+
+From it I learned that the commissioned officers appointed by the
+Company to carry on their trade in Canada were: a Commissioner, three
+Inspecting Chief Factors, eight Chief Factors, fifteen Factors, ten
+Chief Traders, and twenty-one Junior Chief Traders, all of whom on
+appointment became shareholders in the Company.  While the Governor and
+Committee had their offices in London, the Commissioner was the
+Canadian head with his offices in Winnipeg, and to assist him an
+advisory council, composed of Chief Factors and Chief Traders, was
+occasionally called.  The Company's territory was divided into four
+departments--the Western, the Southern, the Northern, and the
+Montreal--while each department was again sub-divided into many
+districts, the total number being thirty-four.  The non-commissioned
+employees at the various posts were: clerks, postmasters, and servants.
+Besides the regular post servants there were others employed such as:
+voyageurs, among whom were the guides, canoe-men, boatmen, and scowmen;
+then, again, there were fur-runners, fort-hunters, and packeteers.
+
+In the morning a miserable northeaster was blowing a heavy fall of snow
+over the country, and the Factor offered to show me the fur-loft where
+the clerk and a few half-breed men-servants were folding and packing
+furs.  First they were put into a collapsible mould to hold them in the
+proper form, then when the desired weight of eighty pounds had been
+reached, they were passed into a powerful home-made fur-press, and
+after being pressed down into a solid pack, were corded and covered
+with burlap, and marked ready for shipment.  The room in which the men
+worked was a big loft with endless bundles of skins of many sizes and
+colours hanging from the rafters, and with long rows of shelves stacked
+with folded furs, and with huge piles of pelts and opened bales upon
+the floor.  Also there were moose and caribou horns lying about, and
+bundles of Indian-made snowshoes hanging by wires from the rafters, and
+in one corner kegs of dried beaver castors.
+
+
+THE WINTER MAIL ARRIVES
+
+On the morning of the second day of the storm I happened to be in the
+Indian shop, where I had gone to see the Factor and the clerk barter
+for the furs of a recently arrived party of Indian fur-hunters, when
+presently I was startled by hearing:
+
+"_Voyez, voyez, le pacquet_!" shouted by Bateese as he floundered into
+the trading room without a thought of closing the door, though the
+drifting snow scurried in after him.  Vociferously he called to the
+others to come and see, and instantly trade was stopped.  The Factor,
+the clerk, and the Indians, rushed to the doorway to obtain a glimpse
+of the long-expected packet.  For two days the storm had raged, and the
+snow was still blowing in clouds that blotted out the neighbouring
+forest.
+
+"Come awa', Bateese, ye auld fule!  Come awa' ben, an steek yon door!
+Ye dinna see ony packet!" roared the Factor, who could distinguish
+nothing through the flying snow.
+
+"_Bien, m'sieu_, mebbe she not very clear jus' now; but w'en I pass
+from de Mad Wolf's Hill, w'en de storm she lif' a leetle, I see two men
+an' dog-train on de lac below de islan's," replied the half-breed
+fort-hunter, who had returned from a caribou cache, and whose duty it
+was to keep the fort supplied with meat.
+
+"Weel, fetch me the gless, ma mon; fetch me the gless an' aiblins we
+may catch a glint o' them through this smoorin' snaw; though I doot
+it's the packet, as ye say."  And the Factor stood shading his eyes and
+gazing anxiously in the direction of the invisible islands.  But before
+the fort-hunter had returned with the telescope, the snowy veil
+suddenly thinned and revealed the gray figure of a tripper coming up
+the bank.
+
+"_Quay, quay_!  Ke-e-e-pling!" sang out one of the Indians.  He had
+recognized the tripper to be Kipling, the famous snowshoe runner.
+Immediately all save the Factor rushed forward to meet the little
+half-breed who was in charge of the storm-bound packet, and to welcome
+him with a fusilade of gunshots.
+
+Everyone was happy now, for last year's news of the "_Grand Pays_"--the
+habitant's significant term for the outer world--had at last arrived.
+The monotonous routine of the Post was forgotten.  To-day the long,
+dreary silence of the winter would be again broken in upon by hearty
+feasting, merry music, and joyous dancing in honour of the arrival of
+the half-yearly mail.
+
+All crowded round the voyageur, who, though scarcely more than five
+feet in height, was famed as a snowshoe runner throughout the
+wilderness stretching from the Canadian Pacific Railroad to the Arctic
+Ocean.  While they were eagerly plying him with questions, the crack of
+a dog-whip was heard.  Soon the faint tinkling of bells came through
+the storm.  In a moment all the dogs of the settlement were in an
+uproar, for the packet had arrived.
+
+With a final rush the gaunt, travel-worn dogs galloped through the
+driving snow, and, eager for the shelter of the trading room, bolted
+pell-mell through the gathering at the doorway, upsetting several
+spectators before the driver could halt the runaways by falling
+headlong upon the foregoer's back and flattening him to the floor.
+
+All was excitement.  Every dog at the post dashed in with bristling
+hair and clamping jaws to overawe the strangers.  Amid the hubbub of
+shouting men, women, and children, the cracking of whips, and the
+yelping of dogs, the packet was removed from the overturned sled and
+hustled into the Factor's office, where it was opened, and the mail
+quickly overhauled.  While the Factor and his clerk were busily writing
+despatches, a relay of dogs was being harnessed, and two fresh runners
+were making ready to speed the mail upon its northward way.
+
+Before long the Factor's letters were sealed and carefully deposited in
+the packet box, which was lashed on the tail of the sled, the forepart
+of which was packed with blankets, flour, tea, and pork for the
+packeteers, and frozen whitefish for the dogs.  Then amid the usual
+handshaking the word "_Marche_!" was given, and to the tune of cracking
+whips, whining dogs, and crunching snow, the northern packet glided out
+upon the lake with the Indian track-beater hurrying far ahead while the
+half-breed dog-driver loped behind the sled.  Thus for over two
+centuries the Hudson's Bay Company had been sending its mails through
+the great wilderness of Northern Canada.
+
+
+THE DOG BRIGADE
+
+That afternoon five dog-trains arrived from outlying posts.  They had
+come to join the Dog Brigade that was to leave Fort Consolation first
+thing in the morning on its southern way to the far-off railroad.  As I
+wished to accompany the brigade, I had arranged with Oo-koo-hoo that we
+should do so, as far as we could without going out of our way, in
+returning to his hunting grounds.  So to bed that night we all went
+very early, and at four o'clock in the morning we were astir again.
+Breakfast was soon over, then followed the packing of the sleds, the
+harnessing of the dogs, the slipping of moccasined feet into snowshoe
+thongs, the shaking of hands, and the wishing of farewells.  Already
+the tracker, or track-beater, had gone ahead to break the trail.
+
+"_M-a-r-r-che_!" (start) shouted the guide--as the head dog-driver is
+called.  Every driver repeated the word; whips cracked; dogs howled,
+and the brigade moved forward in single file.  At the head went the
+Factor's train of four powerful-looking and handsomely harnessed dogs
+hauling a decorated carriole in which the Factor rode and behind which
+trotted a picturesque half-breed driver.  Next in order went the teams
+of the Church of England clergyman and the Roman Catholic priest, both
+of whom happened to be going out to the railroad.  Behind these
+followed twelve sleds or toboggans, laden with furs, which the Hudson's
+Bay Company was shipping to its Department Headquarters.  When one
+remembers that black or silver fox skins are frequently sold for over a
+thousand dollars each, one may surmise the great value of a cargo of
+furs weighing nearly four thousand pounds, such as the Dog Brigade was
+hauling.  No wonder the Company was using all haste to place those furs
+on the London market before the then high prices fell.
+
+The brigade formed an interesting sight, as the Indians, half-breeds,
+and white men were garbed most curiously; and in strong contrast to the
+brilliant colours worn by the members of the brigade, the clergymen
+trotted along in their sombre black--the priest's cassock flowing to
+his snowshoes, and his crucifix thrust, daggerlike, in his girdle.
+
+The four dogs comprising each of the fur-trains hauled three hundred
+pounds of fur besides the camp outfit and grub for both driver and
+dogs--in all, about five hundred pounds to the sled.  When the
+sleighing grew heavy, the drivers used long pushing-poles against the
+ends of the sleds to help the dogs.
+
+
+TRAVELLING WITH DOG-TRAINS
+
+While the march always started in a stately way--the Factor's carriole
+in advance--it was not long before the trains abandoned their formal
+order; for whenever one train was delayed through any one of many
+reasons, the train behind invariably strove to steal ahead so that
+after a few hours' run the best dogs were usually leading.
+
+For several hours we followed the lake and the river, and just before
+daylight appeared in the southeastern sky the Aurora Borealis vanished
+from view.  Later, a golden glow tipping the tops of the tallest trees,
+heralded the rising of the sun.  Coming out upon a little lake--for we
+were now short-cutting across the country--we saw that the light over
+the distant hills had broken into a glorious flood of sunshine.  Half
+over the far-off trees, along the horizon, the sun was shining, and the
+whole southeastern sky seemed aflame with bands and balls of fire.  A
+vertical ribbon of gradually diminishing lustre, scarcely wider than
+the sun, was rising into the heavens to meet a vast semi-circle of
+rainbow beauty arched above the natural sun.  Where the strange halo
+cut the vertical flame and the horizon on either side three mock suns
+marked the intersection.  Above the natural sun and beneath the halo,
+four other mock suns studded the vertical band of light.  It was a
+wonderful sight and lasted fully twenty minutes--the sky was just as I
+have shown it in my picture of the York Factory Packet.
+
+Now the brigade was halted, in voyageur parlance, "to spell the dogs
+one smoke," which, being translated, meant that the dogs could rest as
+long as it took their masters to smoke a pipeful of tobacco.  The
+drivers, conversing in little groups or sitting upon sleds as they
+puffed at their pipes, watched the beautiful phenomenon, and the talk
+turned to the many remarkable sun-dogs that they had seen.  Presently
+the mock suns grew dim; the arch faded away; the band lost its colour;
+the true sun rose above the trees and then, as ashes were knocked from
+pipes, we resumed our journey.
+
+After leaving the lake we entered a muskeg that extended for miles.
+Its uneven surface was studded with countless grassy hummocks, many of
+them crowned with willow and alder bushes or gnarled and stunted
+spruces or jack pines.  It made hard hauling for the dogs.  From a
+distance, the closely following trains reminded one of a great serpent
+passing over the country, that--when it encountered a hummocky section
+requiring the trains to turn from side to side, and to glide up and
+down--seemed to be writhing in pain.  Near the end of the swamp an open
+hillside rose before us, and upon its snowy slopes the sun showed
+thousands of rabbit-runs intersecting one another in a maze of tracks
+that made one think of a vast gray net cast over the hill.
+
+Passing into a "bent-pole" district we encountered an endless number of
+little spruce trees, the tops of which had become so laden with snow
+that their slender stems, no longer able to sustain the weight, had
+bent almost double as they let their white-capped heads rest in the
+snow upon the ground.  Later, we entered a park-like forest where pine
+trees stood apart with seldom any brushwood between.  Fresh marten
+tracks were noticed in the snow.  A little farther on, two
+timber-wolves were seen slinking along like shadows among the distant
+trees as they paralleled our trail on the right.  The dogs noticed
+them, too, but they, like their masters, were too busy to pay much
+attention.  The wolves were big handsome creatures with thick fluffy
+coats that waved like tall grasses in a strong breeze as they bounded
+along.
+
+Coming to a steep hill everyone helped the dogs in their climb.  When
+at last the brigade, puffing and panting, reached the summit, pipes
+were at once in evidence and then another rest followed.  When the
+descent began, the drivers--most of them having removed their snowshoes
+that their feet might sink deeper into the snow--seized their
+trail-lines, and, acting as anchors behind the sleds, allowed
+themselves to be hauled stiff-legged through the deep snow in their
+effort to keep the sleds from over-running the dogs.  It was exciting
+work.  The men throwing their utmost weight upon the lines sought every
+obstruction, swerving against trees, bracing against roots, grasping at
+branches, and floundering through bushes.  Often they fell, and
+occasionally, when they failed to regain their footing, were
+mercilessly dragged downhill; the heavy sleds, gathering momentum,
+overtook the fleeing dogs, and their unfortunate masters were ploughed
+head-first through the snow.  At the foot of the steepest incline a
+tumult arose as men and dogs struggled together in an effort to free
+themselves from overturned sleds.  Above the cursing in French and
+English--but not in Indian--rose the howling of the dogs as lead-loaded
+lashes whistled through the frosty air.  One wondered how such a tangle
+could ever be unravelled, but soon all was set straight again.
+
+About eight o'clock we had our second breakfast and by twelve we
+stopped again for the noon-day meal, both of which consisted of
+bannock, pork, and tea.  While we ate, the dogs, still harnessed, lay
+curled up in the snow.
+
+Again the guide shouted "_Ma-r-r-che_!" and again the brigade moved
+forward.  Some of the trains were handsomely harnessed, especially the
+Factor's.  The loin-cloths of the dogs, called _tapis_, were richly
+embroidered and edged with fringe.  Above the collars projected pompons
+of broken colours and clusters of streaming ribbons, while beneath hung
+a number of bells.  All the dogs were hitched tandem, and every train
+was made up of four units.  Except the dogs of the Factor's train,
+there were few real "huskies," as Eskimo dogs are called, for most of
+the brutes were the usual sharp-nosed, heavy-coated mongrels that in
+the Strong Woods Country go by the name of _giddes_; some, however, had
+been sired by wolves.
+
+The track-beater's snowshoes, which were the largest used by any of the
+brigade, were Wood Cree "hunting shoes" and measured nearly six feet in
+length.  The other men wore Chipewyan "tripping shoes" about three feet
+long--the only style of Canadian snowshoes that are made in "rights and
+lefts."
+
+For a number of miles we passed through heavily timbered forest where
+shafts of sunlight threw patches of brilliant white upon the woodland's
+winter carpet, and where gentle breezes had played fantastically with
+the falling snow, for it was heaped in all manner of remarkable forms.
+Here and there long, soft festoons of white were draped about groups of
+trees where the living stood interlocked with the dead.  Among the
+branches huge "snow-bosses" were seen, and "snow-mushrooms" of wondrous
+shape and bulk were perched upon logs and stumps.  "Snow-caps" of
+almost unbelievable size were mounted upon the smallest of trees, the
+slender trunks of which seemed ready to break at any moment.  It was
+all so strangely picturesque that it suggested an enchanted forest.
+
+Early that afternoon we came upon an Indian lodge hiding in the woods,
+and from within came three little children.  It was then fully twenty
+below zero, yet the little tots, wishing to watch the passing brigade,
+stood in the most unconcerned way, holding each other by the hand,
+their merry eyes shining from their wistful faces while their bare legs
+and feet were buried in the snow.  Though they wore nothing but little
+blanket shirts, what healthy, happy children they appeared to be!
+
+Then out upon a lake we swung where the wind-packed snow made easy
+going.  Here the heavy sleds slid along as if loadless, and we broke
+into a run.  On rounding a point we saw a band of woodland caribou trot
+off the lake and enter the distant forest.  By the time we reached the
+end of the lake, and had taken to the shelter of the trees, dusk was
+creeping through the eastern woods and the rabbits had come out to
+play.  They were as white as the snow upon which they ran
+helter-skelter after one another.  Forward and backward they bounded
+across the trail without apparently noticing the dogs.  Sometimes they
+passed within ten feet of us.  The woodland seemed to swarm with them,
+and no wonder, for it was the seventh year, the year of Northland game
+abundance, when not only rabbits are most numerous, but also all the
+other dwellers of the wilderness that prey upon them.  Already,
+however, the periodical plague had arrived.  When I stopped to adjust a
+snowshoe thong I counted five dead hares within sight; next year
+starvation would be stalking the forest creatures.
+
+
+CAMPING IN THE SNOW
+
+While the sunset glow was rapidly fading, the brigade halted to make
+camp for the night.  All were to sleep in the open, for dog brigades
+never carry tents but bivouac on the snow with nothing but a blanket
+between the sleeper and the Aurora Borealis--though the thermometer may
+fall to sixty below zero.  Some of the men moved off with axes in their
+hands, and the sound of chopping began to echo through the forest.  On
+every side big dry trees came crashing down.  Then the huge "long
+fires", driving darkness farther away, began to leap and roar.  Then,
+too, could be seen the building of stages on which to place the
+valuable fur-laden sleds out of reach of the destructive dogs; the
+gathering of evergreen brush; the unhitching of dogs and the hanging up
+of their harness in the surrounding trees; the unloading of sleds; the
+placing of frozen whitefish to thaw for the dogs; the baking of
+bannocks, the frying of pork, and the infusing of tea.  Then, in
+silence, the men ate ravenously, while the hungry dogs watched them.
+
+When pipes had been filled and lighted each driver took his allotment
+of fish, called his dogs aside, and gave them a couple each.  Some of
+the brutes bolted their food in a few gulps and rushed to seize the
+share of others, but a few blows from the drivers' whips drove them
+back.
+
+When the dogs had devoured their day's rations--for they are fed only
+once every twenty-four hours--their masters sought out sheltered spots
+for them and cut a few branches of brush for their beds.  Some of the
+men cooked a supply of bannock to be eaten the following day.  Others
+hung their moccasins, mittens, and leggings on little sticks before the
+fires to dry.  It was an animated scene.  The "long fires" were huge
+structures, twelve or fifteen feet in length, so that each man might
+bask in the heat without crowding his neighbour.  A number stood with
+their back to the blaze while the rest sat or lounged on their blankets
+and, puffing away at their pipes, joined in the conversation that
+before long became general.
+
+Just then the dogs began to blow and then to growl, as a strange Indian
+strode out of the gloom into the brilliant glare of the fires.
+
+"_Wat-che_! _wat-che_?" (What cheer, what cheer?) sang out the men.
+The stranger replied in Cree, and then began a lively interchange of
+gossip.  The Indian was the track-beater of the south-bound packet from
+the Far North that was now approaching.  All were keenly interested.
+The cracking of whips and the howling of dogs were heard, and a little
+later the tinkling of bells.  Then came a train of long-legged,
+handsomely harnessed dogs hauling a highly decorated carriole behind
+which trotted a strikingly dressed half-breed dog-driver.  When the
+train had drawn abreast of our fire an elderly white man, who proved to
+be Chief Factor Thompson, of a still more northerly district of the
+Hudson's Bay Company, got out from beneath the carriole robes,
+cheerfully returned our greeting, and accepted a seat on the dunnage
+beside Factor Mackenzie's fire.  Two other trains and two other
+dog-drivers immediately followed the arrival of the Chief Factor, for
+they were the packeteers in charge of the packet.  Now the woods seemed
+to be full of talking and laughing men and snarling, snapping dogs.
+Twenty-two men were now crowding round the fires, and seventy-two dogs
+and eighteen sleds were blocking the spaces between the trees.
+
+
+NORTHERN MAIL SERVICE
+
+Chief Factor Thompson was the "real thing," and therefore not at all
+the kind of Hudson's Bay officer that one ever meets in fiction.  For
+instead of being a big, burly, "red-blooded brute," of the "he-man"
+type of factor--the kind that springs from nowhere save the wild
+imaginations of the authors who have never lived in the
+wilderness . . . he was just a real man . . . just a fine type of
+Hudson's Bay factor, who was not only brother to both man and beast,
+but who knew every bird by its flight or song; who loved children with
+all his heart--flowers, too--and whose kindly spirit often rose in
+song.  Yes, he was just a real man, like some of the men you know--but
+after all, perhaps he was even finer--for the wilderness does nothing
+to a man save make him healthier in body and in soul; while the cities
+are the world's cesspools.  He was rather a small, slender man, with
+fatherly eyes set in an intelligent face that was framed with gray hair
+and gray beard.
+
+After the Chief Factor and his men had been refreshed with bannock,
+pork, and tea, pipes were filled and lighted and for a time we talked
+of all sorts of subjects.  Later, when we were alone for a little
+while, I found Mr. Thompson a man richly informed on northern travel,
+for he had spent his whole life in the service of the Hudson's Bay
+Company, and at one time or another had been in charge of the principal
+posts on Hudson Bay, Great Slave Lake, and the Peace, the Churchill,
+the Athabasca, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Among other subjects
+discussed were dogs and dog-driving; and when I questioned him as to
+the loading of sleds, he answered:
+
+"Usually, in extremely cold weather, the Company allots dogs not more
+than seventy-five pounds each, but in milder weather they can handily
+haul a hundred pounds, and toward spring, when sleds slide easily, they
+often manage more than that."  Then dreamily puffing at his pipe he
+added: "I remember when six dog-trains of four dogs each hauled from
+Fort Chipewyan on Lake Athabasca to Fort Vermillion on the Peace River
+loads that averaged six hundred and fifty pounds per sled--not
+including the grub for the men and dogs and the men's dunnage.  Then,
+again, William Irving with Chief Factor Camsell's dogs brought to Fort
+Simpson a load of nine hundred pounds.  The greatest load hauled by
+four dogs that I know of was brought to Fort Good Hope by Gaudet.  When
+it arrived it weighed a trifle over one thousand pounds.  But Factor
+Gaudet is one of the best dog-drivers in the country."  Then,
+re-settling himself more comfortably before the fire, he continued:
+
+"And while I think of it we have had some pretty fine dogs in the
+service of the Company.  The most famous of all were certainly those
+belonging to my good friend Chief Factor Wm. Clark.  He bred them from
+Scotch stag hounds and "huskies"--the latter, of course, he procured
+from the Eskimos.  His dogs, however, showed more hound than husky.
+Their hair was so short that they had to be blanketed at night.  Once
+they made a trip from Oak Point on Lake Manitoba to Winnipeg, starting
+at four o'clock in the morning, stopping for a second breakfast by the
+way, and reaching Winnipeg by one o'clock at noon, the distance being
+sixty miles.  They were splendid dogs and great pets of his.  They used
+to love playing tricks and romping with him.  Frequently, when nearing
+a post, they would purposely dump him out of his carriole and leaving
+him behind, go on to the post, where, of course, on their arrival with
+the empty sled, they were promptly sent back for Mr. Clark.
+Understanding the command, they would at once wheel about and, without
+a driver, return on the full gallop to get their master.  When coming
+upon him they would rush around and bark at him, showing all the while
+the greatest glee over the trick they had played him.  He never used a
+whip upon them.  No snowshoer could be found who was swift enough to
+break a trail for those dogs and no horse ever overtook them.  Once,
+while going from Oak Point to Winnipeg, Factor Clark's train ran down
+six wolves, allowing him to shoot the brutes as he rode in his
+carriole.  Another time they overhauled and threw a wolf which Mr.
+Clark afterward stunned, and then bound its jaws together.  When the
+brute came to, it found itself harnessed in the train in place of one
+of the dogs, and thus Chief Factor Clark drove a wild timber-wolf into
+the city of Winnipeg."
+
+"They must have been wonderful dogs," remarked Father Jois, "but it's
+too bad they don't breed such dogs nowadays."
+
+"That's so," returned the Chief Factor.  "Twenty or thirty years ago at
+each of the big posts--the district depots--they used to keep from
+forty to fifty dogs, and at the outposts, from twenty to thirty were
+always on hand.  At each of the district depots a man was engaged as
+keeper of the dogs and it was his duty to attend to their breeding,
+training, and feeding."
+
+"Speaking of feeding, what do you consider the best food for dogs?" I
+asked.
+
+"By all means pemmican," replied the Chief Factor, "and give each dog a
+pound a day.  The next best rations for dogs come in the following
+order: two pounds of dried fish, four pounds of fresh deer meat, two
+rabbits or two ptarmigan, one pound of flour or meal mixed with two
+ounces of tallow.  That reminds me of the way the old half-breed
+dog-drivers used to do.  In such districts as Pelly and Swan River,
+where fish and other food for dogs was scarce, we had frequently to
+feed both men and dogs on rations of flour.  Some of the half-breeds
+would leave their ration of flour with their family, and count on
+eating the dog's ration while on the trip and letting the poor brutes
+go hungry, just because the dogs belonged to the Company.  So we put a
+stop to that by mixing coal oil with the dog's rations and having them
+bated into cakes before the trip was begun.  Such a mixture made the
+men sick when they tried to eat it, but the dogs didn't seem to mind it
+at all."
+
+"Then kerosene is not included in the regular rations the Company
+supplies for its trippers and voyageurs?" I ventured, laughingly.
+
+"Hardly, for in the Northland that would be rather an expensive
+condiment."  The old gentleman smiled as he continued: "In outfitting
+our people for a voyage, we supply what is known as a full ration for a
+man, a half ration for a woman or a dog, and a quarter ration for a
+child.  For instance, we give a man eight pounds of fresh deer meat per
+day while we give a woman or a dog only four pounds and a child two
+pounds.  A man's ration of fish is four pounds per day, of pemmican two
+pounds, of flour or meal two pounds, of rabbits or ptarmigan four of
+each," said he, as he knocked the ashes from his pipe.  I was afraid he
+was going to turn in, so I quickly asked:
+
+"Which is the longest of the Company's packet routes at the present
+day?"
+
+"That of the Mackenzie River packet from Edmonton to Fort Macpherson.
+In winter it is hauled two thousand and twelve miles by dog-train; and
+in summer it is carried by the Company's steamers on the Athabasca, the
+Slave, and the Mackenzie rivers.  Next comes the Peace River packet
+from Edmonton to Hudson's Hope, a distance of over a thousand miles.
+In summer it goes by steamer, and in winter by dog-train.  There's the
+York Factory packet from Winnipeg to Hudson Bay by way of Norway House,
+a distance of seven hundred miles.  In winter it is hauled by dogs from
+Selkirk as far as Oxford House, and from there to York Factory by men
+with toboggans.  In summer it is carried by canoe on Hay River and by
+steamboat on Lake Winnipeg.  Then there's the Liard River packet and
+the Reindeer Lake packet.  Each travels about five hundred miles by
+dogs in winter and by canoe in summer.  The Moose Factory packet from
+Temiscamingue to James Bay goes by canoe in summer, but by men in
+winter.  All mails in and out from Hudson Bay or James Bay to or from
+the next post in the interior, are hauled by men.  Dogs are seldom used
+on those routes, on account of the depth of the snow and the scarcity
+of dog feed."
+
+[Illustration: "There's the York Factory packet from Hudson Bay to
+Winnipeg, a distance of seven hundred miles.  In winter it is hauled by
+dogs between Selkirk and Or ford House, but between the latter post and
+York Factory it is hauled by men with toboggans.  All mails in and out
+from Hudson Bay to or from the next post in the interior are hauled by
+men.  Dogs are seldom used on those routes, on account of . . ."  See
+Chapter V.]
+
+Though I well knew that packeteers did not carry firearms, I asked
+Chief Factor Thompson--just for the sake of getting the truth from him
+and giving it to the public:
+
+"How does the Hudson's Bay Company arm their packeteers?"
+
+"Arm them?" the Chief Factor laughed outright, "why, we always provide
+them with an axe."
+
+"Firearms, I mean."
+
+"Firearms!  Why, they aren't allowed to carry firearms at all.  It's
+against the rules and regulations of the Company.  In the first place,
+packeteers are supplied with plenty of grub for the trip; in the next
+place, if they had a gun they might go hunting and fooling around with
+it instead of attending to their business; and, moreover, it doesn't
+matter whether the mail travels two hundred or two thousand miles,
+there is no occasion for packeteers to carry firearms, for there are no
+highwaymen and no animals in this country that would make an offensive
+attack upon them."
+
+And in truth, in all that wild brigade there were no fire-arms save
+Oo-koo-hoo's old muzzle-loader; but then The Owl was a hunter by
+profession, and he carried a gun only as a matter of business.  Now for
+the last twenty-five years that is exactly what I have wanted to tell
+the public.  When one reads a story, or sees a play or a moving
+picture, in which characters bristling with firearms are set forth as
+veritable representatives of life in the Canadian wilderness, he may
+rest assured that the work is nothing but a travesty on life in Canada.
+Any author, any illustrator, any playwright, any scenario writer, any
+actor or any director who depicts Canadian wilderness life in that way
+is either an ignoramus or a shameless humbug.  And to add strength to
+my statement I shall quote the experience of a gentleman who was the
+first City Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, and Tax Collector of Dawson
+City--Mr. E. Ward Smith:
+
+
+POLICE AND GUNMEN
+
+"The Mounted Police generally received word in advance when any
+particularly bad character was headed for the Yukon, and in all such
+cases he was met when he slipped off the boat.  I remember particularly
+one case of the kind, as I happened to be on hand when the American
+gunman landed.  He was a quiet enough looking individual and had no
+weapons of any kind in sight, but a close scrutiny revealed the fact
+that he had a particularly evil eye in his sandy-freckled face.  One of
+the Mounties picked him out unerringly and tapped him on the shoulder.
+
+"'Gat Gardiner?' he asked.
+
+"'No,' said the newcomer.  'My name is Davidson.'
+
+"'I happen to know you as Gat Gardiner,' insisted the policeman.  'Got
+any weapons on you?'
+
+"'Leave go of me,' flared the so-called Davidson, all the veneer of
+civility gone.  'You got nothing on me.  Let go, I say!'
+
+"'I've got something on you,' declared the policeman, hauling a
+revolver from the hip pocket of the man.  'Carrying concealed weapons
+is against the law on this side the line.  Back on the boat, you, and
+don't you dare put foot ashore or I'll have you in jail.  You go back
+the way you came.'
+
+"And Gardiner went.  I saw him leaning over the rail when the boat
+started on the return trip and he shook his fist at the policeman on
+the wharf and emitted a string of vile oaths.  But he never came back.
+
+"When the notorious 'Soapy' Smith was killed at Skagway, Alaska, his
+gang of desperadoes was promptly broken up and word came to Dawson that
+some of them were headed for the Canadian side.  They were gathered in
+as soon as they crossed the line, denuded of weapons, and sent back.
+Not one of the gang eluded the vigilance of the police.
+
+"The law against carrying concealed weapons was a big factor in keeping
+the peace.  Comparatively few men took advantage of their legal right
+to carry a revolver in sight.  I remember seeing an open box in a
+pawnshop containing the most amazing collection of weapons I had ever
+set eyes on--revolvers with silver handles, pistols of carved ivory,
+antiquated breech-loaders, weapons of fantastic design, and, probably,
+of equally fantastic history, strange implements of death that had come
+from all climes and bespoke adventures on all the seven seas.
+
+"'Where did you get the lot?' I asked the proprietor.
+
+"'They all sell their shooting irons.  No use for them here.  I get 'em
+for practically nothing.  Help yourself if you have any fancy that way.
+I'll make you a present of anything you want.'
+
+"So much for the wild Yukon of the novelists!  Instead of lurching into
+the dance hall and blazing away at the ceiling, picture the
+'old-timer', the hardened miner of a hundred camps, planking down his
+pistols on the counter of the pawnshop and asking 'How much?'  That's
+the truer picture."
+
+As part of my boyhood education was derived from the study of American
+illustrated magazines, I was led by those periodicals to believe that
+the North American wilderness was inhabited by wild and woolly men
+bedecked with firearms, and ever since I have been on the lookout for
+just such characters.  Now while I cannot speak for the Western States,
+I can at least speak for Canada; and I must now admit that, during my
+thirty-three years of contact with wilderness life, on one
+occasion--but on one only--I found that there was justification for
+describing the men of the northern wilderness as carrying firearms for
+protection.  But does not the one exception prove the rule?
+
+It happened near Stewart, on the borderline of Alaska, several years
+ago.  I encountered a prospector who wanted to cross Portland Canal
+from Alaska to Canada, and as I was rowing over, I offered to take him
+across.  When, however, he turned to pick up his pack I caught sight of
+something that fairly made me burst out laughing; for it was as funny a
+sight as though I had witnessed it on Piccadilly or Broadway.  At first
+I thought he was a movie actor who, in some unaccountable way, had
+strayed from Los Angeles and become lost in the northern wilderness
+before he had had time to remove his ridiculous "make-up"; but a moment
+later he proved beyond doubt that he was not an actor, for he blushed
+scarlet when he observed that I was focussing a regular Mutt-and-Jeff
+dotted-line stare at a revolver that hung from his belt, and he
+faltered:
+
+"But . . .  Why the mirth?"
+
+"Well, old man," I laughed again, "for over twenty-five years I have
+been roaming the Canadian wilderness from the borderline of Maine right
+up here to Alaska, and in all that time--with the exception of the
+Constables of the North-West Mounted Police--you are the first man,
+woman, or child, I have seen carrying a revolver.  And I swear, old
+dear, that that's the truth.  So now, do you wonder that I laugh?"
+
+
+RECORD TRAVELLING
+
+But to return to the Hudson's Bay Company's packet system, I asked
+Chief Factor Thompson:
+
+"Which is the more important, the summer or the winter mail?"
+
+"Oh, the winter; for, when inward bound, it bears the Commissioner's
+instructions to the district chief factors; and, when outward bound, it
+contains information regarding the results and the progress of the
+fur-trade, and orders for additional supplies."
+
+"How many miles a day do the packeteers average on their winter trips?"
+
+"Well," replied the Chief Factor, "I think the rate of speed maintained
+by our packeteers is remarkable; especially when one considers the
+roughness of the country, the hardships of winter travel, the fact that
+the men must make their bread, cook their meals, care for their dogs,
+and, when on the trail, cannot even quench their thirst without halting
+to build a fire and melt snow.  Yet the packeteers of the Mackenzie
+River mail cover their two thousand miles on snowshoes at an average
+rate of twenty-seven and a half miles a day, including all stoppages."
+
+"That is certainly splendid travelling.  Some of the packeteers, I
+should judge, have made great records; haven't they?"
+
+"Yes, that's true," acknowledged the trader, "the packeteers do make
+great efforts to break records between posts.  But, though they may
+have succeeded in cutting down the time, their achievement is never
+mentioned on the way-bill, nor does it affect the time allowed for the
+completion of the trip; for, though the mail be brought in ahead of
+time, it is never handed over to the relay until the appointed hour has
+struck.  Otherwise, the whole system would be thrown out of gear.
+Exceptionally fast runs are not shown upon the way-bills, because they
+would eventually affect the average time allowed for the trip; and in
+stormy weather that would be hard upon the packeteers.  The time
+allowed for the transmission of a packet is calculated on a ten-years'
+average.  No excuse for delay, except death, is tolerated.  At each
+post on certain fixed dates relays of men and dogs are kept in
+readiness to forward the mail without delay.  A through way-bill
+accompanies every packet from point of departure to point of delivery.
+At each post along the route the time of arrival and the time of
+departure of the mail must be entered upon the way-bill, as well as the
+names of the packeteers and of the officers in charge."
+
+"I understand that packets contain not only the despatches of the
+Company, but the private mail of the employees, that of missionaries of
+all denominations, that of chance 'explorers' or travellers, and even
+that of opposition fur-traders.  Is that a fact?"
+
+"Yes, sir, and moreover, no charge is made by the Company."
+
+"Do the Company's officers experience much trouble in procuring men to
+act as packeteers?"
+
+"Oh, no; none whatever.  As a rule, when men enter the Company's
+service, they stipulate that they shall be given a place on the packet;
+for that affords them an opportunity to pay a visit to the next post,
+and to join in the dance which is always held on the arrival of the
+mail.  Trippers consider themselves greatly honoured on being given
+charge of a packet; for it means that they are held to be trustworthy,
+and thoroughly familiar with the topography of the district."
+
+"Before the advent of the railroad and the steamboat, which was the
+longest of the Company's packet routes?"
+
+"By all odds that of the Yukon packet.  It made the journey from
+Montreal to Fort Yukon, which was then situated at the junction of the
+Porcupine and Yukon rivers.  It was routed by way of the Ottawa River,
+Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, the
+Athabasca River, the Slave River, and the Mackenzie River.  It was
+forwarded in summer by canoe, in winter by dog-train, for the enormous
+distance of four thousand five hundred miles.  And let me tell you, it
+is to-day, as it was two hundred years ago, the pride of the Company's
+people that not one packet was ever lost beyond recovery.  Packeteers
+have been drowned, frozen, burned, shot, smothered, and even eaten; but
+the packet has always reached its destination somehow."
+
+
+BEAR HOLDS UP MAIL
+
+A sudden burst of laughter from the men at a neighbouring fire
+attracted the attention of Chief Factor Thompson, and glancing over, he
+remarked to me:
+
+"Telling yarns, eh!  Let's go over and listen."
+
+Twelve or fifteen men were crowded round that fire--including Factor
+Mackenzie, the Rev. Mr. Wilson, Father Jois, and Oo-koo-hoo--and they
+were now coaxing "Old Billy Brass" to tell the next story.  He was a
+wiry little white man of about sixty who had seen much service in the
+Hudson's Bay Company.  He hesitated.  They clamoured again, and he
+began:
+
+"But talkin' 'bout bears reminds me of a little affair I once had on
+the Peace River," said the old man, glancing slyly from the corner of
+his eye to see what effect his statement made upon his campfire
+companions.  Billy was sitting cross-legged upon his caribou robe; and,
+as he turned the browning bannocks before the fire, he continued:
+
+"Well, as I was sayin', me an' Old-pot-head's son once had a go with a
+great big black bear away up on the Peace River.  But, don't you forget
+it, Billy Brass didn't lose the packet."
+
+"Come, Billy, tell us all about it," coaxed the Chief Factor, well
+knowing that if he were once started there would be on his part little
+need of urging in order to extract from the old tripper all he knew, or
+could invent to suit the occasion.
+
+"Well, gentlemen, if you ain't too sleepy, an' if some o' you boys'll
+watch the bannock, I don't mind tellin'," replied Billy as he leaned
+toward the fire, picked up a red-hot coal, and palmed it into his pipe.
+
+"But I can't give a funny bear story, the same as you've been tellin',
+because all my experiences with bears have been mighty serious.
+However, I'll try and tell you 'bout me an Old-pot-head's son; an' to
+my mind it's the most serious of 'em all.
+
+"As I was sayin', we was in charge of the Peace River packet; an' if it
+hadn't been for the charm Father La Mille blessed for me at Fort Good
+Hope, I don't know 's I'd be here to tell about it.
+
+"Anyway, me an' Old-pot-head's son was carryin' the packet and headin'
+for Hudson's Hope.  It was the fall packet, an'--as winter was just
+about due--we was hustlin' 'long for all we was worth, an' jabbin'
+holes in the river with our paddles as fast as we could, in fear o' the
+freeze up.
+
+"As bad lack would have it, that very night the ice overtook us, an' we
+had to leave the canoe ashore an' finish the voyage afoot.  Lucky for
+us, we was only about three-days' travel from the Fort, so we leaves
+our axe an' whatever we don't particular need with the canoe.
+
+"Mile after mile we walks along the river bank; an' as we don't have no
+extra moccasins, our bare skin was soon upon the sand.  What with
+havin' our duds torn by bushes, an' our fallin' in the mud once or
+twice, and several times a-wadin' creeks, we was a pretty sight when we
+stops to camp that night.  When the sun went down, we was so tired that
+we just stopped dead in our tracks.  We had been packin' our blankets,
+our grub, an' cookin' gear to say nothin' o' the packet; so, of course,
+we didn't give much thought to the campin' ground.  But after supper I
+looks round an' sees that we'd made our fire down in a little hollow,
+an' that the place was bare o' trees 'ception three that stood in a row
+'bout four lengths of a three-fathom canoe from our fire.  The middle
+one was a birch with a long bare trunk, an' on each side stood a pine.
+Now, I want you gentlemen to pay perticler 'tention to just how they
+stood; for them three trees is goin' to do a mighty lot o' figgerin' in
+this here story.
+
+"As I was sayin', there was two pines with a birch in between, an' all
+standin' in a row, with the upper branches o' pines runnin' square in
+among the branches o' the birch.  'Bout half ways between the birch and
+the east pine, but a trifle off the line, was a pool o' water.  Before
+I turns in for the night, I takes the packet an' sticks it on the end
+of a long pole, an' shoves it up against the birch tree, for fear o'
+the fire spreadin' an' burnin' up the mail.
+
+"Me an' Old-pot-head's son turns in an' sleeps as sound as any trippers
+could.  Some time in the night I wakes up with a mighty start that
+almost busts me heart.  Somethin' was maulin' me.  So, with me head
+still under the blanket, for I dassn't peep out, I sings out to the
+Injun an' asks him what in creation he's kickin' me for; an' if he
+couldn't wake me without killin' me.  Old-pot-head's son yells back
+that he hasn't touched me.  Then you bet I was scared; for the thing
+hauls off agen an' gives me a clout that knocks the wind plum' out o'
+me.
+
+"Just then I heard Old-pot-head's son shout, 'Keep still, Bill, it's a
+big black bear.' I grabs the edges o' me blanket an' pulls 'em in under
+me so hard I thinks I've bust it.  But the bear keeps on maulin' me,
+an' givin' me such hard swats that I began to fear it'd cave in me
+ribs."
+
+"But, Billy, why didn't you shoot it?" asked the Reverend Mr. Wilson.
+
+"Shoot?  Why, your reverence, don't you know, packeteers never carries
+a gun?" the old man exclaimed with disgust, and then continued his
+story:
+
+"Not content with that, the brute starts to roll me over an' over.  An'
+all the time I'm doin' me best to play dead.  Now you needn't laff.
+I'd like to see any o' youse pretendin' you was dead while a big bear
+was poundin' you that hard that you begin to believe you ain't
+shammin'.  An' when that ugly brute hauls off an' hits me agen, I
+decides then an' there that there's no occasion to sham it.  But just
+as soon as I makes up my mind I'm dead, the bear leaves me; an' when I
+can no longer hear him breathin', I peeps out of a tiny little hole,
+and sees the big brute maulin' me old friend the Injun.  Then I takes
+another peep roun', an' don't see no escape 'cept by way o' them three
+trees, so I just jumps up, an' lights out like greased lightnin' for
+the nearest tree.  After me comes the bear gallopin'.  I guess that was
+the quickest runnin' I ever done in all me life.  I just managed to
+climb into the lower branches o' the west pine as the bear struck the
+trunk below me.
+
+"When I stops for breath in the upper branches, I sees the old bear
+canterin' back agen to have another go with me pardner.
+
+"Just as soon as I was safe, the whole performance struck me as bein'
+pretty funny, an' I couldn't help roarin' out and a-laffin' when I saw
+the beast maulin' Old-pot-head's son, an' him tryin' for all he was
+worth to play dead.
+
+"Thinks I, I'll make me old friend laff.  So I starts in to guy him,
+an' he begins to snicker, an' that makes the bear mad, an' he begins to
+roll the Injun.  Then, you bet, I couldn't make him laff no more; for,
+what with shammin' dead, an' bein' frightened to death into the
+bargain, I don't think there was much laff left in him.
+
+"You know how bears will act when they sometimes comes across a handy
+log?  Well, that's just what the beast was doin' with Old-pot-head's
+son--it was rollin' him over an' over.  The very next second it rolls
+his feet into the fire.  Down the tree I slid, like snow down a
+mountain, an' stood at the foot of it an' pelted the bear with stones.
+The Injun's blanket began to smoke.  It was no laffin' matter, for I
+knowed if I didn't drive the brute off in a jiffy Old-pot-head's son
+would be a comin' out of his trance mighty sudden an' that meant a
+catch-as-catch-can with a great, big, crazy black bear.
+
+"As good luck would have it, the next time I threw a stone, it landed
+on the tip of the bear's snout, an' with a snarl he comes for me.  I
+waits as long as I dares, then up the tree I skips, with the brute
+follerin' me.  About half ways up I thinks I hears a human bein'
+laffin' in the east pine.  So I looks over, an' sure enuff, I sees me
+old pardner settin' on a limb an' fairly roarin'.  All the same, I was
+feelin' mighty squeemish, for the bear was comin' up lickety splinter
+after me.
+
+"Just then I spies a good stout branch that reaches out close against a
+big limb of the birch, an' I crawls over.  As the bear follers me, I
+slides down the trunk o' the birch, an' lights out for the east pine
+where me pardner was doin' the laffin'.  On its way down the bear
+rammed itself right smack against the mail-bag; and when the beast
+struck ground, it smelt the man smell on the packet, an' began to gnaw
+it.
+
+"Now me an' Old-pot-head's son knowed well enuff we had to save the
+mail-sack, so I slips down the east pine a ways, an' breaks off dead
+branches, an' pelts them at the bear while the Injun crosses over into
+the top o' the west pine.  Then we both at once slides down as low as
+we dares, an' I begins to lamm the brute with a shower o' sticks.  Up
+the tree it comes for me, while me pardner slips down, grabs the
+mail-sack, an' sails up the west pine again.
+
+"That was a mighty clever move, thinks I, but a bag is an orkad thing
+to portage when you're meanderin' up an' down a tree with a bear after
+you.  But the tump-line was on it, just as we carried it the day
+before, so it wasn't as bad as it might 'a' been.
+
+"Well, when I went up the east pine, the bear follered, an', as there
+wasn't any too much room between me an' the bear, I crosses over into
+the birch an' slides down its slippery trunk as tho' it was greased.  I
+hits the ground a little harder than I wanted to, but didn't waste no
+time in lightin' out for the west pine, where the Injun was restin';
+an' all the time the bear was tryin' to grab me coat-tails.
+
+"It was just a case of up to the west pine, cross over and down the
+birch; then up the east pine, cross over an' down the birch; then up
+the west pine, cross over an' down the birch, till we got so dizzy we
+could a hardly keep from fallin'.  If you could just 'a' seen the way
+we tore roun' through them trees, I'll bet you would 'a' done a heap o'
+laffin'.
+
+"The bear was mighty spry in goin' up, but when it came to goin' down
+he'd just do the drop-an'-clutch, drop-an'-clutch act.  That's just
+where me an' me pardner had the advantage on the brute; for we just
+swung our arms an' legs roun' that birch an' did the drop act, too;
+but, somehow, we hadn't time to do the clutch, so our coat-tails got
+badly crushed every time we landed.
+
+"It was a kind of go-as-you-please until about the tenth roun', when I
+accidentally drops the mail-bag on the bear's head, an' that makes him
+boilin' mad; so he lights out after us as tho' he had swallered a
+hornet's nest.
+
+"Then away we goes up an' down, up an' down, an' roun' an' roun' that
+perpendicular race track, until we made such a blur in the scen'ry that
+any fool with half an eye an' standin' half a mile away could 'a' seen
+a great big figger eight layin' on its side in the middle o' the
+landscape.  We took turns at carryin' the packet, but sometimes I
+noticed Old-pot-head's son was havin' a good deal of trouble with it.
+It didn't seem to bother him much when he was climbin' up; for he just
+swung it on his back with the loop o' the tump-line over his head, an'
+so he had his hands free.  But it was when he was comin' down the
+slippery birch that the weight of the bag made him rather more rapid
+than he wanted to be; an' so, when he an' the bag struck groun', they
+nearly always bounced apart; an' if the Injun failed to get his feet in
+time to ketch the sack on the first bounce, I ketched it on the second
+bounce as I glode by.  So between the two of us we managed to hang on
+to the packet.
+
+"By-an'-by, we was gettin' terribly tuckered out.  It was a good thing
+for us that the bear was gettin' winded an' dizzy as well; because, at
+about the sixty-seventh roun', the brute had no sooner gone down the
+birch than he bounded up agen just when Old-pot-head's son was
+a-climbin' thro' the upper branches o' the birch.  So he slips over
+into the top o' the east pine, while I stays in the top o' the west
+pine, an' the bear sits down in a upper crotch o' the birch.
+
+"Well, we puts in a good many heats of anywhere from twenty-five to
+seventy-five laps roun' that track by the time daylight comes, an'
+sunrise finds us all ketching our wind in the upper branches.  I
+noticed that whenever the brute wanted to stop the whirligig it always
+climbed up the birch just in time to separate me an' me pardner; an'
+there we would sit, me in the west pine, me pardner in the east pine,
+an' the black brute right in between.
+
+"About breakfast time me an' the Injun was feelin' mighty hungry.
+There we sat cussin' our luck an' castin' longin' glances down at the
+grub bag.  By the time I'd caught me wind a great idea strikes me.
+Durin' the next heat I would rush out.  So I sings out my intentions to
+me pardner; an' he says he thinks we can do it.  So while he was
+carryin' Her Majesty's mail I was to try an' grab the grub bag.
+
+"We got ready, an' dropped down them pines so fast that we both hits
+groun' before the bear knows what's doin'.  Then I leaves that tree
+like as if all the animals in the woods was after me.  I got on so much
+speed that by the time I grabs the grub bag I was goin' so fast that I
+couldn't turn roun' without slackin' down.  That's where I loses a
+terrible amount o' time, an' I was beginnin' to think it was all up
+with me.  By the time I got headed roun' agen for the tree, I sees that
+the bear is comin' down with his back to me.  When he hits groun' he
+sees the Injun dancin' roun' the foot o' the west pine; so he makes for
+the redskin, an' chases him up while I climbs the east pine.
+
+"Then we all went roun' an' roun' for maybe fifty laps, an' the way we
+wore the bark off them trees an' trod down the grass between 'em was a
+caution.  By-an'-by the bear gets so dizzy that he bucks up the birch
+agen, an' sure enuff that stops the performance.
+
+"I didn't need any breakfast bell to remind me to open the grub bag.  I
+just reaches in an' pulls out some busted bannock an' throws a chunk
+over to Old-pot-head's son, an' without even sayin' grace, we starts
+in.  Every little while I'd toss another chunk of bread over to me
+pardner an' just out o' sheer spite I'd chuck it so that it would go
+sailin' thro' the air right in front o' the bear's snout.  That makes
+him mad.  So he tried to catch the stuff as it flies by; but I just
+puts on a little more curve, an' that makes him madder still, an' he
+ups an' comes for me.
+
+"Then we all knocks off breakfast an' goes for another canter.  But it
+don't do no good, 'ceptin' that we all gets puffed out agen.  After a
+bit, the bear stops to ketch his breath, an' then me an' me pardner
+goes on with our breakfast.
+
+"With the bear exercisin' us the way he did, we had to take our
+breakfast in a good many courses.  That makes it so long drawn out that
+we gets mighty thirsty.  The Injun asks me if the cups is in the grub
+bag.  I puts me han' in an' feels, but they ain't there.  Then I
+remembers that we left them down by the fire.  We didn't either of us
+care to risk snakin' a cup, so I tells me pardner that the next time we
+goes roun' we'd best try an' grab a handful o' water.  We didn't have
+long to wait, for the bear soon gets another move on; an' then away we
+all goes sailin' roun' agen.  Every time me an' the Injun canters past
+the pool, we just makes a sudden dip an' grabs up a handful o' water
+an' throws it in.
+
+"It took so much exercise to get so little water that I thought I'd die
+of thirst while I was tryin' to drink me fill.  When the bear caught on
+to what we was doin', it just made him madder an' madder; an' he lights
+out after us at such a breathless clip that we had to fairly gallop up
+them pines, an' slide down the birch faster than ever.  It wasn't long
+before nearly every button was wore off, an' our clothes was so ripped
+up an' torn down that I'd blush every time I'd ketch the bear lookin'
+at me.  An' every time we ran 'long the groun' from one tree to
+another, me an' me pardner had to use both hands on our garments in
+order to keep up our--er--respectability.  However, the bear didn't
+have the laff on us altogether, for he had gone up an' down them trees
+so often an' so fast that he had worn all the hair off his stomach.
+
+"After a while we all gets tuckered out agen; an' while we rests in the
+trees me an' me pardner talks about the weather, lettin' on that there
+ain't no bear anywheres nigh.  So the time passed.  As we didn't
+recollect just how much grub we had at the start, or how much water
+there was in the pool first off, we couldn't for the life of us reckon
+just how long we'd been there.  Neither me nor Old-pot-head's son would
+care to take our oaths whether we'd been there a night an' half a day,
+or half a dozen nights an' days; the night time an' the day time was so
+mixed up together that we hadn't time to separate 'em.  We were sure,
+tho', that our grub was givin' out, the water was dryin' up, an' death
+was gettin' good an' ready for us.
+
+"We was in such a terrible tight place that I begins to think o' takin'
+off me shirt an' flyin' it from the top o' the tallest pine as a signal
+o' distress; for we was worse off than if we'd been shipwrecked.  Talk
+about bein' cast adrift on a raft!  Why, it wasn't in it with bein'
+fixed the way we was.  We just stayed in one spot with no chance of
+ever driftin' to'rds help.  As long as the bear kept tab on us there
+wasn't no sign of our ever gettin' a wink o' sleep.  And more, besides
+starvin' to death, we had to face bein' frozen; for our clothes was all
+wore off, an' winter was comin' on mighty fast.
+
+"At last, when me an' Old-pot-head's son had about given up hope, an'
+was just pickin' out which would be the easiest death, what should we
+see but somethin' bobbin' in an' out among the bushes.  Say, it was
+another bear!  When it comes a little closer, we makes out it was a
+little lady bear.  No sooner does our old stern-chaser spy her than he
+slides down to the groun', an' risin' up on his hind legs, throws out
+his chest, an' cocks his eye at her, for all the world like a man when
+he sees a pretty girl comin' his way.  But when her dainty little
+ladyship ketches sight of his bald-headed stomach, she just tosses up
+her nose with disgust, an' wheels roun' an' makes for the tall timbers
+with our affectionate friend limpin' the best he can after her.
+
+"An' that's the last we sees o' the bear that tried to hold up the
+Company's packet."
+
+After the laughter had died down, Chief Factor Thompson yawned:
+
+"Well, gentlemen, it's getting on.  I must be turning in or my men will
+be late in getting under way in the morning."
+
+
+GOD AND THE WILD MEN
+
+Drowsiness had indeed overtaken the camp.  But now I must digress a
+moment to tell you something that the public--at least the public that
+has derived its knowledge of northern wilderness life from fiction--may
+find it hard to believe.  And this is what I want to say: that every
+one in that whole brigade of wild men of the wilderness, from the
+lowest dog-driver right up to the Chief Factor--when each had fixed his
+bed in readiness for the night--knelt down, and with bowed head, said
+his evening prayer to The Master of Life.  Moreover, the fact that two
+clergymen were present had nothing whatever to do with it, for the
+"barbarians" of the forest would have done just the same had no priest
+been there--just as I have seen them do scores and scores of times.  In
+fact, in some sections of the forest the native wilderness man--red,
+white, or half-breed--who does not, is not the rule, but the exception.
+Then, too--unless one's ears are closed to such sounds--one may
+occasionally hear the voyageurs of the "North canoe" and the "York
+boat" brigades, while straining on the tracking line, singing, among
+other hymns:
+
+  Onward, Christian soldiers,
+    Marching as to war,
+  With the Cross of Jesus,
+    Going on before.
+
+And, furthermore, I wonder if the fiction-reading public will believe
+that the majority of the men in the fur brigades always partake of the
+holy sacrament before departing upon their voyages?  Nevertheless, it
+is the truth--though of course truth does not agree with the orgies of
+gun-play that spring from the weird imaginations of the stay-at-home
+authors, who, in their wild fancy, people the wilderness with
+characters from the putrescence of civilization.  It is time these
+authors were enlightened, for a man, native to the wilderness, is a
+better man . . . more honest, more chivalrous, more generous, and--at
+heart, though he talks less about it--more God-respecting . . . than
+the man born in the city.  That is something the public should never
+forget; for if the public remembers that, then the authors of
+wilderness stories will soon have to change their discordant tune.
+
+Yes, it is true, every one of those wild men said his evening prayer
+and then, with his blanket wrapped about him, lay down upon his thick,
+springy mattress of fir-brush, with his feet toward the fire, and
+slumbered as only a decent, hard-working man can.  Out among the
+dancing shadows that flitted among the snow-mantled bushes and heavily
+laden trees a hundred and fifty eyes glared in the brooding
+darkness--as though all the wolves in the forest were gathering there.
+Later, when the sound of heavy breathing was heard round the fires, a
+fierce, wolfish-looking dog, bolder than the rest, left its snowy bed
+to hunt for more sheltered quarters.  There was a whine, a snarl, then
+the sound of clashing teeth.  In a moment every dog leaped up with
+bristling hair.  Instantly bedlam reigned.  Over seventy dogs waged the
+wildest kind of war and the distant woods reechoed the horrible din.  A
+dozen blanketed mounds rose up, and many long lashes whistled through
+the air.  The seething mass broke away and flew howling and yelping
+into outer darkness followed by a roar of curses--but only in civilized
+tongues.
+
+Presently all was still again.  The men lay down, and the dogs, one by
+one, came slinking back to their resting places.  But in a couple of
+hours one of the half-frozen brutes silently rose up, cautiously
+stepped among the sleeping men, and lay couched close to a smouldering
+fire.  Another followed and then another until most of the dogs had
+left their beds.  Growing bolder, a couple of the beasts fought for a
+warmer spot.  In their tussle they sprawled over one of the men, but a
+few lusty blows from a handy frying-pan restored calm.  As the night
+wore on some of the dogs, not contented with sleeping beside the men,
+curled up on top of their unconscious masters.  Then for hours nothing
+but the heavy breathing and snoring in camp and the howling of distant
+wolves was heard.  Slumber had at last overtaken the wild men of the
+wilderness--who always made it a rule to kneel down every night, and
+ask God to bless their little children at home.
+
+Now, though time still sped on, silence possessed the forest--until:
+
+"Hurrah, _mes bons hommes_!  _Levey, levey, levey_!  Up, up up, up,
+up!" ending in a shrill yell from the guide startled the drowsy crew.
+It was three o'clock in the morning.  Had it not been for the
+brilliancy of the Northern Lights all would have been in darkness.  An
+obscure form bent over an ash-bed and fumbled something.  A tiny blaze
+appeared and rapidly grew until the surrounding forest was aflare.
+Over the fires frying-pans sizzled, while tea-pails heaped with snow
+began to steam.  A hurried breakfast followed.  The sleds were packed.
+The dogs, still curled up in the snow, pretended to be asleep.
+
+"Caesar!  Tigre!  Cabri!  Whiskey!  Tete Noire!  Pilot!  Michinass!
+Coffee!  Bull!  Brandie!  Caribou!" shouted the men.  A few of the dogs
+answered to their names and came to harness while some holding back
+were tugged forward by the scruff of the neck.  Others were still in
+hiding.  The men searched among the mounds and bushes.  Every now and
+then the crack of a whip and the yelp of a dog announced the finding of
+a truant.  Two trackers on large snowshoes had already gone ahead to
+break the trail.  It was easy to follow their tracks though the woods
+were still in darkness and remained so for several hours.  At dawn
+Oo-koo-hoo and our little outfit parted company with the Dog Brigade.
+Already the packet was many miles ahead.  As I turned on my western
+way, I thought of the work of these postmen of the wilderness, of the
+hardships they endured, and the perils they braved; and the Chief
+Factor's assertion that no packet had ever been lost beyond recovery,
+recalled to mind other stories that were worth remembering: For
+instance, a canoe express was descending the Mackenzie River; the canoe
+was smashed in an ice jam, and the packeteers were drowned.  A few
+weeks later passing Indians caught sight of a stick bobbing in the
+surface of the stream.  Though the water was deep and the current was
+running at the rate of three miles an hour, the stick remained in the
+same place.  So the Indians paddled over to investigate.  They found
+that to the floating stick was fastened a long thong, which on being
+pulled up brought the missing packet to light.
+
+Again, while making camp near the Athabasca River, the packeteers had
+slung the packet in a tree, the usual place for it while in camp.
+During the night their fire spread and burned up the whole equipment
+except the tree, which, being green, received little more than a
+scorching.  The packet was unharmed.
+
+On Great Slave Lake during a fierce snowstorm the packeteers became
+separated from their dogs, and were frozen to death.  But the packet
+was recovered.
+
+In one autumn two packeteers journeying from George's River Post to
+Ungava Post drew up their canoe on a sandy beach, and camped beneath a
+high, overhanging bank.  During the night the bank gave way and buried
+them as they slept.  When the ice formed, the trader at Ungava sent out
+two men to search for the missing packet.  They found the canoe on the
+beach; and from the appearance of the bank, conjectured what had
+happened.  Next spring the landslide was dug into, and the packeteers
+were found both lying under the same blanket, their heads resting upon
+the packet.
+
+
+
+
+VI
+
+WILD ANIMALS AND MEN
+
+WOLVERINE AND HUNTER
+
+One evening, while sitting before the fire in Oo-koo-hoo's lodge, we
+heard sounds that told us that Amik had returned, and presently he
+entered the tepee, full of wrath over the havoc a wolverine had wrought
+along his trapping path.  The pelts of more dead game had been ruined;
+deadfalls had been broken; and even some of his steel traps had been
+carried away.  There and then Oo-koo-hoo decided that he would drop all
+other work and hunt the marauder.
+
+For its size--being about three feet in length and from twelve to
+eighteen inches high--the wolverine is an amazingly powerful creature.
+In appearance it somewhat resembles a small brown bear.  Though it is
+not a fast traveller its home range may cover anywhere from five to
+fifty miles.  It feeds upon all sorts of small game, and has been known
+to kill even deer.  It mates about the end of March, dens in any
+convenient earthen hole or rocky crevice or cave that may afford
+suitable shelter; and it makes its bed of dry leaves, grass, or moss.
+The young, which number from three to five, are born in June.  Whenever
+necessary, the mother strives desperately to protect her young, and is
+so formidable a fighter that even though the hunter may be armed with a
+gun, he runs considerable risk of being injured by the brute.  It has
+been known to take possession of the carcass even of a caribou and to
+stand off the hunter who had just shot it.  Also, it has been known to
+drive a wolf, and even a bear, away from their quarry.  The
+superstitious Indian not only believes that the wolverine is possessed
+of the devil--for it is the most destructive animal in the northern
+world--but he considers it also to be endowed with great intelligence.
+The wily Indian, however, knowing the animal's habit of trying to
+destroy what it cannot carry away, takes advantage of that very fact
+and hunts it accordingly.
+
+All that has been said in relation to trapping the fox applies also to
+_le Carcajou_--_i.e._, the wolverine--save that the trap chain should
+be doubled, and everything else made stronger and heavier in proportion
+to the wolverine's greater size and strength.  That evening Oo-koo-hoo
+talked much of wolverines.
+
+"My son, no other animal surpasses it in devilish cunning.  For it is
+not content to merely spring a trap, but it will carry it away--more
+often for a short distance, but sometimes for miles--and hide or bury
+it.  Later on the wolverine may visit it again, carry it still farther
+away and bury it once more.  The wolverine has good teeth for cutting
+wood, and will sometimes free a trap from its clog by gnawing the pole
+in two.  My son, I have even known a wolverine go to the trouble of
+digging a hole in which to bury a trap of mine; but just in order to
+fool me, the beast has filled up the hole again, carried the trap to
+another place, and there finally buried it.  But as a good hunter is
+very observant, he is seldom fooled that way, for the wolverine, having
+very short legs, has difficulty in keeping both the chain and the trap
+from leaving tell-tale marks in the snow.
+
+"Yes, my son, the wolverine is a very knowing brute, and if he thinks
+he may be trailed, he will sometimes--without the slightest sign of
+premeditation--jump sideways over a bush, a log, or a rock, in order to
+begin, out of sight of any trailer, a new trail; or he may make a great
+spring to gain a tree, and ascend it without even leaving the evidence
+of freshly fallen bark.  Then, too, he may climb from tree to tree, by
+way of the interlocking branches, for a distance of a hundred paces or
+more, all the while carrying the trap with him.  Then, descending to
+the ground, he may travel for a considerable distance before eventually
+burying the trap.  I have known him even leave a trap in a tree, but in
+that case it was not done from design, for signs proved that the chain
+had been caught upon a branch."
+
+"How many wolverines," I asked, "do you suppose are causing all the
+trouble on your and Amik's trapping paths?"
+
+"Only one, my son, for even one wolverine can destroy traps and game
+for twenty or thirty miles around; and the reason the brute is so
+persistent in following a hunter's fur path is that it usually affords
+the wolverine an abundance of food.  Then, when the hunter finds the
+brute is bent on steady mischief, it is time for him to turn from all
+other work and hunt the thief.  If at first steel traps fail, he may
+build special deadfalls, often only as decoys round which to set,
+unseen, more steel traps in wait for the marauder.
+
+"If a hunter still fails, he may sit up all night in wait for the
+robber, knowing that the more stormy the night, the better his chance
+of shooting the brute.  Sometimes, too, I have found a wolverine so
+hard to catch that I have resorted to setting traps in the ashes of my
+dead fires, or beneath the brush I have used for my bed, while camping
+upon my trapping path."  Then he added with a twinkle about his eye and
+a shake of his finger: "But, my son, I have another way and I am going
+to try it before the moon grows much older."
+
+I asked him to explain, but he only laughed knowingly, so I turned the
+subject by asking:
+
+"Does an animal ever eat the bait after it is caught?"
+
+"No, my son, no animal ever does that, not even if it be starving, but
+it may eat snow to quench its thirst.  Animals, however, do not often
+starve to death when caught in traps, but if the weather be very
+severe, they may freeze in a single night.  If, however, the beast is
+still alive when the hunter arrives, the prisoner will in most cases
+feign death in the hope of getting free.  That is true of most animals,
+and, furthermore, it will feign death even when other animals approach;
+but then, more often, its purpose is to secure the advantage of making
+a sudden or surprise attack."
+
+An Indian named Larzie, who was engaged to hunt meat for the priests at
+Fort Resolution, once came upon a wolverine in one of his traps that
+had done that very thing and won the battle, too.  The snow, the trap,
+and the carcass of a wolf, silently told Larzie every detail of the
+fight.  The wolverine, having been caught by the left hind leg, had
+attempted by many means to escape, even trying to remove the nuts from
+the steel trap with its teeth, as well as trying to break the steel
+chain, and gnaw in two the wooden clog to which the trap was fastened.
+But before accomplishing this, the wolverine had spied a pack of five
+wolves approaching.  In an effort to save its life the wolverine worked
+itself down low in the snow and there lay, feigning death.  The
+cautious wolves, on sighting the wolverine, began circling about, each
+time drawing a little nearer.  Still suspicious, they sat down to watch
+the wolverine for a while.  Then they circled again, sat down once
+more, and perhaps did a little howling, too.  Then they circled again,
+each time coming closer, until at last, feeling quite sure the
+wolverine was dead, one of the wolves, in a careless way, ventured too
+near.  No doubt it was then that the wolverine, peeping through his
+almost closed eyelids, had seen his chance--that the nearest wolf was
+now not only within reach, but off guard, too--for the snow gave
+evidence of a sudden spring.  The wolverine had landed upon the back of
+the wolf, clung on with his powerful forelegs, and not only ripped away
+at the wolf's belly with the long, sharp claws of his free hind foot,
+but with his terrible jaws had seized the wolf by the neck and chewed
+away at the spinal cord.  Then, no doubt, the other wolves, seeing
+their comrade overpowered and done to death, had turned away and left
+the scene of battle.  Later, Larzie had arrived, and after killing the
+wolverine and skinning both the conqueror and the conquered, had
+lighted his pipe and leisurely read every detail of the story in that
+morning's issue of the forest publication called _The Snow_.
+
+Next morning, when I turned out before breakfast, I found that
+Oo-koo-hoo had left camp before daylight; and half the afternoon passed
+before he returned.  That evening he explained that during the previous
+night, the thought of the wolverine having haunted him and spoilt his
+rest, he had decided on a certain plan, risen before dawn, and started
+upon the trail.  Now he was full of the subject, and without my asking,
+described what he had done.  Securing a number of fish hooks--trout
+size--he had wired them together, enclosed them in the centre of a ball
+of grease which he had placed inside an old canvas bag, and fastened
+there with the aid of wires attached to the hooks.  Then, carrying the
+bag to where he found fairly fresh wolverine signs, he had dropped it
+upon the trail as though it had accidentally fallen there.  The
+wolverine, he explained, would probably at first attempt to carry away
+the bag, but on scenting the grease it would paw the bag about; then,
+upon discovering the opening, it would thrust its head inside, seize
+the ball of grease in its mouth, and start to pull it out.  "If that
+should happen," commented Oo-koo-hoo, "the wolverine would never leave
+that spot alive; it would just lie there and wait for me to come and
+knock it on the head."
+
+But now at last--as later events proved--Oo-koo-hoo, the great hunter,
+had encountered his match.  Now it was no longer an unequal contest,
+for now two could play at cunning--especially when both were masters at
+the game.  Three times The Owl visited his latest wolverine trap, only
+to learn that twice the brute had inspected it and spurned it, for its
+tracks proved that caution had kept the animal more than five feet
+away.  Later, as the winter wore on, the subject of wolverines was
+rarely mentioned as it did not add to the cheerfulness of Oo-koo-hoo's
+otherwise happy mood.
+
+
+THE BEST FOOT-GEAR
+
+About a week later, with a few days' outfit loaded upon our sled,
+Oo-koo-hoo and I were heading first for the Moose Hills where we were
+to hunt moose, and if successful, to cache the meat where Granny and
+the boys could find it; then continuing farther north we were to call
+upon The Owl's sister to deliver her a present from the children of
+Oo-koo-hoo.  In the meantime, Amik had gone upon one of his trapping
+paths, and the boys were off to a swampy region to examine deadfalls
+set for mink and fisher.  The boys had taken the dogs with them.
+
+It was a fine, cold, sunny morning when Oo-koo-hoo and I set out upon
+our hunt, and with every breath we seemed to be drinking aerial
+champagne that made us fairly tingle with the joy of living--for such
+is the northern air in winter time.  As we snowshoed along I felt
+thankful for the excellent socks with which the old hunter had provided
+me.  On the last hunt my snowshoe thongs had blistered my feet, but
+now, thanks to Oo-koo-hoo, I was shod with the most perfect footgear
+for winter travel I have ever known--a natural sock that was both
+blister- and cold-proof.  I had never heard of it before, but The Owl
+assured me that it had been long in fashion among the Indians.  On each
+foot I was now wearing next my bare skin a rabbit pelt--minus legs and
+ears--put on, hair side out, while the skin was still green and damp,
+and then allowed to dry and shape itself to the foot.  Over the rabbit
+pelts I wore my regular woollen socks, duffel neaps, and caribou-skin
+mitten moccasins.  The pelts had been removed from the rabbits by
+simply cutting them between the hind legs, and then peeling them off
+inside out.  With the inside of the skin next the foot blisters never
+form, nor does the hair wear off and ball up under the foot in such a
+way that it may hurt the wearer.  Though the rabbit pelt is very tender
+and tears easily, it can be worn for five or six days of hard travel.
+For warmth and comfort it is unexcelled.
+
+Early that afternoon we came upon many lynx tracks, evidently there had
+been a "pass of lynxes" as the hunters call it, for lynxes have a way
+of gathering in bands of about four to eight and passing through the
+forest.  Oo-koo-hoo stated that they migrated in that way from one
+region to another, covering many miles in search of game, especially
+during the years when the rabbit plague causes a great shortage of
+food; and had he known of their presence in time, he would have cut big
+heaps of poplar, birch, and willow branches to attract the rabbits, and
+thus furnish more food for the lynxes.  Hoping, however, that he was
+not too late, he set what few snares he had; nevertheless, he regretted
+that the boys had gone off with the dogs, for, if they had not, he
+would have tried to trail and tree the lynxes.
+
+The boys had taken the dogs because they wanted them to haul their
+sled.  It was, however, against the advice of their grandfather, for he
+had admonished them that only white men and half-breeds would use dogs
+to haul a sled on a trapping path; that a good hunter would never do
+such a foolish thing, and for many reasons: the traps--being usually
+set close to the path--were apt to be either set off or destroyed by
+the swinging sled; besides, the dogs' tracks would obliterate the
+tracks of game; also the dogs might be caught in the traps;
+furthermore, the smell of dogs always inspired fear in animals, again,
+the noise of driving dogs frightened the game away.  So, according to
+Oo-koo-hoo, the wise hunter either packs his load upon his back, or, by
+himself, hauls it upon his sled.  But one must remember that The Owl
+was an Ojibway and that those Indians as well as the Saulteaux Indians
+prefer to haul their own sleds on the hunting trail and to keep their
+dogs solely for trailing game; though all other Indians of the Strong
+Woods use their dogs for hauling sleds.  One advantage of the Ojibway
+custom is that hunting dogs--when running loose--never have to be fed.
+
+Amik, however, being a rather shiftless fellow, often spoilt his boys
+as much as the average white father spoils his, for he never thrashed
+them, though they frequently deserved it, and having given in to them
+on many previous occasions, he had now let them take the dogs.  But
+speaking of parents' treatment of children, even an old she-bear could
+give many a civilized father or mother pointers on how to bring up
+children, for even among animals and birds one frequently finds a model
+parent.
+
+According to the verdict of the old fur-traders, the best trapper is
+the uncivilized Indian.  Though, apparently, he does not derive the
+same amount of sport from his work as the white man does, he never
+shirks his work and always takes great pains to prepare for and perfect
+the setting of his traps.  Though he is slow, he is, nevertheless, sure
+and deadly in his work.  Oo-koo-hoo assured me that the secret of
+successful hunting was intelligence, caution, and patience.
+
+During December and January, or according to the Indians, Yeyekoopewe
+Pesim--"The Rime Moon," and Kakisapowatukinum--"The Moon When
+Everything Is Brittle," there is always a lull in the trapping, for the
+reason that then the days are shorter and the weather colder, and on
+that account and also on account of the fact that the sun and winds of
+March have not arrived to harden the deep soft snow, the forest
+creatures prefer to remain more at home.
+
+
+APPROACHING MOOSE
+
+In approaching the Moose Hills we saw many moose tracks, but they were
+old, the freshest having been made two days before.  The age of these
+the hunter was able to determine from the amount of newly fallen snow
+in the track, as well as from other conditions; for he well remembered
+how much snow had fallen each day for the last week or two, when and
+which way the wind had blown, and when the sun was strong and the cold
+severe.  Now selecting a two-day-old trail as the best for us to
+follow, he decided to camp for the night, and we spent the interval
+between supper and bedtime discussing not only the hunting of moose,
+but also their range and habits.
+
+The extreme range of a moose covers from five to fifteen miles.  More
+often it is confined to a much smaller area that merely includes the
+low-lying river and lake valleys that afford him the choicest of summer
+food--the pineapple-like roots of waterlilies--and also affords him
+protection from flies while he is wading and delving for those very
+roots; and the higher lands among the hills, where he spends the winter
+in the denser forest.
+
+But it is in midsummer that we can study the moose with greatest ease,
+for then he spends the sunrises and sunsets wading among the lily pads,
+and if we are careful to observe the direction of the wind to guard
+against being scented, and also careful to cease paddling or any other
+motion before the big brute looks at us, we may, with the greatest ease
+and safety, propel our canoe to within from a hundred yards to fifty or
+forty feet of the great beast as he stands looking at us with raised
+head and dilating nostrils trying to catch our scent.  If he catches
+it, he suddenly tosses his ponderous head, drops back slightly on his
+hind legs as he swings round, and is off with a grunt.  Nevertheless,
+he--or she--will pause long enough to leave the sign that all deer
+leave upon the ground when suddenly startled by--to them--the dreadful
+smell of human beings.  Or if it happens to be moonlight and the moose
+is a bit mystified by the steady, but silent, scentless, and motionless
+approach of our canoe, he may at first stand gazing at us, then grunt
+at us, then back out of the water up on to the bank and there stand,
+not fifty feet away, towering above us--for he may measure from six to
+seven feet at the shoulder and weigh three quarters of a ton--shaking
+his great antlers and grunting, or perhaps, more properly speaking,
+_barking_ at us while he stamps his big fore hoofs until he shakes the
+very river bank.
+
+How children love to take part in such sport!  How they thrill over
+such an experience!  Many a time I have taken them right up to even the
+largest of bulls until the little tots could look into the very eyes of
+the greatest of all living deer.  What fine little hunters, too, they
+made, never speaking, not even in a whisper; never moving--save only
+their eyelids.  In fact, I have been so close to wild moose that on one
+occasion I could have spanked a huge bull with my paddle.  He was
+standing belly-deep in the river with his head under water, and so
+close did my canoe glide past him that I had to turn it to prevent it
+from running in between his hind legs.  It was the sound of turning
+aside the canoe that brought his head up, and when he beheld the cause,
+he lunged forward and trotted away leaving a great wake of surging foam
+behind him.  His head, crowned with massive antlers, was a ponderous
+affair.  His body was as large as that of a Shire stallion and his back
+just as flat, while his legs were very much longer.  He was the largest
+moose I have ever seen--and yet, by leaning slightly toward him, I
+could have spanked him with my paddle!  One such experience with a
+great, wild animal, is more adventuresome, more thrilling and more
+satisfactory, than the shooting of a hundred such creatures.  It is
+more than the sport of kings--it is the sport of men of common sense.
+
+On another occasion, at Shahwandahgooze, in Quebec, in broad daylight,
+I paddled a friend of mine right in between three bulls and a cow, and
+there we rested with moose on three sides of us.  They were standing in
+a semicircle and no one of them was more than fifty paces away.  They
+were unusually fine specimens and had the bulls been triplets they
+could not have been more alike even to the detail of their antlers.
+The cow paid little attention to us and went on feeding while the
+bulls, with heads held much higher than usual, stood as though in
+perfect pose for some sculptor.  There wasn't a breath of wind and the
+wondrous spell must have lasted from eight to ten minutes; then a faint
+zephyr came and carried our tell-tale scent to them and they wheeled
+round and trotted away.  Yet the head hunter from the city, who usually
+stands off at long range and fires at the first sight of game, will
+argue that killing is the greatest sport; when in truth it requires
+greater courage and greater skill to approach, unarmed, so close to
+game that one may touch it with a fish pole, and the reward is a much
+greater and a more satisfactory thrill than the head hunter ever gets
+from lying off at long range with a high-powered rifle and utterly
+destroying life.  Furthermore, think of how much better one can study
+natural history by observing live animals in action, rather than
+motionless ones in death!  An artist, in his effort to render a perfect
+portrait of a human being, never murders his sitter, as the so-called
+"sportsman-naturalist" does.  It seems to me that if sportsmen were
+more active, more skilful, and more courageous, they would give up
+slaughtering animals and birds for the sake of the unbounded pleasure
+and adventure of observing wild game at closer quarters; but in truth,
+long experience has taught me that the average hunter from the city is
+something of a coward--never daring to walk alone in the forest without
+his trusty, life-destroying machines.
+
+But if those same hunters would only take a little more interest in
+nature, pluck up a little more courage, and remember that the wild
+animals of the northern forest are less vicious--when unmolested--than
+are many of the tame animals of civilization, how much more sane they
+would be.  Remember, it is much safer to approach the great bulls of
+the forest than it is to approach the smaller bulls of the farmers'
+fields.  Likewise, when tramping along the rural road one runs a much
+greater chance of being bitten by the farmer's dog, than one does, when
+travelling through the forest, of being bitten by a wolf.  Then, too,
+it is just the same of men, for the men of the cities are much more
+quarrelsome, dishonest, and evil-minded than are those of the
+wilderness, and that, no doubt, accounts for the endless slandering of
+the wilderness dwellers by fiction writers who live in towns, for those
+authors--never having lived in the wilderness--form their judgment of
+life, either as they have experienced it in cities or as they imagine
+it to be in the wilderness.
+
+
+THE OUTLAW AND NEW YORKER
+
+Now, in order to confirm my statement, I shall go to the very extreme
+and quote what Al Jennings, the notorious outlaw, says upon this very
+subject.  The quotation is taken from Jennings' reminiscences of his
+prison days, when he and the late lamented William Sydney Porter--the
+afterward famous author O. Henry--formed such a strong friendship.  In
+the following dialogue Jennings is in New York City visiting
+Porter--whom he calls "Bill"--and Porter is speaking:
+
+"I have accepted an invitation for you, Colonel."  He was in one of his
+gently sparkling moods.  "Get into your armor asinorum, for we fare
+forth to make contest with tinsel and gauze.  In other words, we mingle
+with the proletariat.  We go to see Margaret Anglin and Henry Miller in
+that superb and realistic Western libel, 'The Great Divide.'"
+
+After the play the great actress, Porter, and I, and one or two others
+were to have supper at the Breslin Hotel.  I think Porter took me there
+that he might sit back and enjoy my unabashed criticisms to the young
+lady's face.
+
+"I feel greatly disappointed in you, Mr. Porter," Margaret Anglin said
+to Bill as we took our places at the table.
+
+"In what have I failed?"
+
+"You promised to bring your Western friend--that terrible Mr.
+Jennings--to criticize the play."
+
+"Well, I have introduced him."  He waved his hand down toward me.
+
+Miss Anglin looked me over with the trace of a smile in her eye.
+
+"Pardon me," she said, "but I can hardly associate you with the lovely
+things they say of you.  Did you like the play?"
+
+I told her I didn't.  It was unreal.  No man of the West would shake
+dice for a lady in distress.  The situation was unheard of and could
+only occur in the imagination of a fat-headed Easterner who had never
+set his feet beyond the Hudson.
+
+Miss Anglin laughed merrily.  "New York is wild over it; New York
+doesn't know any better."
+
+Porter sat back, an expansive smile spreading a light in his gray eyes.
+
+"I am inclined to agree with our friend," he offered.  "The West is
+unacquainted with Manhattan chivalry."
+
+That is the truth in a sentence; and while O. Henry and Jennings have
+spoken for the West, may I add my own experience of wilderness men and
+say that the North, also, is unacquainted with Manhattan chivalry.
+
+
+LAW AND ORDER ENFORCED
+
+Furthermore, while upon this subject, I wish to add to my own protest
+against the novelists' wild dreams of outlawry in the Canadian
+wilderness, a quotation from E. Ward Smith's "Chronicles of the
+Klondyke."  Mr. Smith--as you no doubt remember--was the first city
+clerk, treasurer, assessor, and tax collector of Dawson City; and this
+is what he says:
+
+"I want to say at the very outset that the Yukon was, in my opinion at
+least, one of the most orderly corners of the earth.  Even in the early
+days of the boom, when miners and adventurers of all nationalities
+poured in, the scales of justice were held firmly and rigidly.  The
+spell of the Mounted Police hung over the snow-bound land and checked
+the evil-doer.  It may sound ridiculous when I assert that the
+Yukon--that gathering spot of so much of the scum of the earth--was
+better policed than Winnipeg, or Toronto, or Halifax; but,
+nevertheless, I believe it to be a fact.
+
+"Of course, crimes were committed, some of which were never solved.
+Doubtless, also many deeds of violence occurred whose authors never
+came to light.  But, on the whole, life and property were surprisingly
+secure.  One day I visited the cabin of my friend Lippy, who made a
+million or so upon El Dorado.  The door was partly open, so, on
+receiving no response to my knock, I walked in.  The cabin was empty.
+On the table was a five-gallon pail heaped high with glittering nuggets
+of gold!  I glanced around the place.  On the shelves and rafters, on
+chairs and under bunks, were cans filled with gold.  There was a snug
+fortune in sight.  Any one could have slipped in and stolen the lot.  I
+took Lippy to task about it when he came in.  He did not seem at all
+concerned, however.
+
+"Pshaw," he said, "I always have quite a lot of gold about.  But no one
+would steal it.  I've never lost anything."
+
+But as the Yukon and New York are a long way from where Oo-koo-hoo was
+hunting, let us return to his Moose Hills.
+
+
+THE WAYS OF THE MOOSE
+
+Moose mate in September and October, and during this period great
+battles between bulls frequently occur before the victor walks off with
+his hard-won spouse.  The young--either one or two, but generally two
+after the mother's first experience--are born in May, in some secluded
+spot, and the calves soon begin to follow their mother about, and they
+follow her, too, into their second year.  Horns begin to grow on the
+young bull before he is a year old, but they are mere knobs until he is
+a year and a half old, when spikes form; by the third year he is
+supplied with antlers.  The perfect antlers of a big bull sometimes
+measure seventy inches across, yet every winter--in January or
+February--the horns are shed.  During the mating season moose are
+frequently hunted by the method known as "calling."  The hunter, with
+the aid of a birch-bark megaphone, imitates the long-drawn call of the
+cow, to attract the bull.  Then, when a bull answers with his guttural
+grunt of Oo-ah, Oo-ah, the Indian imitates that sound, too, to give the
+first bull the impression that a second is approaching, and thus
+provokes the first to hurry forward within range of the hunter's gun.
+But when the rutting season is over, the hunting is done by snaring or
+stalking or trailing.  The moose derives its winter food principally
+from browsing upon hardwood twigs, and when the deep snows of midwinter
+arrive, he is generally to be found in a "yard" where such growth is
+most abundant.
+
+A moose yard is usually composed of a series of gutters from one foot
+to eighteen inches wide, intersecting one another at any distance from
+ten to fifty feet or more apart, and each gutter being punctured about
+every three feet with a post hole in which the moose steps as it walks.
+The space between the tracks is generally nothing but deep, soft snow,
+anywhere from three to five feet in depth.
+
+Beside the moose tracks that Oo-koo-hoo and I had seen that day was
+much silver birch and red willow, and from the signs of freshly cropped
+twigs we knew that the moose were not unusually tall, and we knew, too,
+from the fact that the tracks were sharply defined as well as from
+their ordinary size and that they were not deeply impressed in the
+snow, that the moose were those of about three years old.
+
+
+THE OWL TRACKS MOOSE
+
+That night, as Oo-koo-hoo was in a talkative mood, he told me much
+about the hunting of moose, as we sat before our snow-encircled fire in
+the still, silent, sombre woods.
+
+"We hunters usually take moose by shooting or snaring them, and the
+first thing to do is to find a track, and if it is old, follow it up
+until new signs appear.  And now, my son, as you may some day want to
+hunt moose on your own account, I shall tell you how to trail them and
+what to do when you find them.  Listen to my words and remember: As
+soon as you find a fresh track, look toward the sun to learn the time
+of day; for if it is between eight and nine on a winter morning the
+moose will be feeding, as it seldom lies down until between ten and
+three.  If feeding, the track will zig-zag about, and for a time head
+mainly up wind, until its feeding is nearly done, then if the wind is
+from the right, the moose will turn to the left and circle down wind
+and finally come about close to its old trail where it will lie down to
+rest.  So when you find a zig-zagging track about which the brush has
+been browsed, and when the wind comes from the right of the trail, you,
+too, should circle to the left, but instead of circling down wind as
+the moose has done, or is now doing, you circle up wind until you
+either approach the danger point where the wind may carry your scent to
+the moose, or otherwise, until you cut the moose's track.  In either
+case you should now retrace your steps for some distance and then begin
+a new circle, and this time, a smaller one.  If you now find a new
+trail, but still no sign that the moose has turned up wind, or is about
+to do so, you retrace your steps and begin a still smaller circle, then
+when you strike the trail again, you can judge fairly well--without
+even getting a sight of it--the exact position of your quarry.  Then is
+the time to take off your snowshoes and approach with greater care then
+ever; but remember, always keep to leeward of the track and always look
+up wind.  Should you now come to an open space, watch carefully any
+clumps of trees or bushes; if passing through heavy timber, watch for
+an opening, and if there should be fallen timber there, scan it most
+carefully where the dead trees lie, for there, too, your game may be
+lying.  Remember, my son, if you approach a moose directly he will
+either see or scent you, and in circling, you must understand that only
+the skill of the hunter in reading the signs can successfully determine
+the size of the circle--sometimes it may cover a quarter of a mile.
+
+"Then, too, my son, the seasons play a part in hunting.  In winter, a
+moose, of course, does not go to water, but eats snow to slake its
+thirst.  But whenever there is open water, a moose will go to drink
+about sunrise; in the fly season, however, all rules are broken, as the
+brute then goes to water night or day, to get rid of the pests, and it
+will even remain submerged with nothing above the surface--save its
+nose.  In stormy weather look for moose among heavy timber, and in fair
+weather search the open feeding places.  But in bad weather, though the
+hunter gains one advantage, the moose gains another; for while many
+twigs and sticks are apt to be broken by the high wind and thus the
+sound of the hunter's approach is less likely to be heard, the eddying
+currents of air are then more apt to carry the hunter's scent to the
+moose regardless of the fact that his approach may be faultless.
+
+"Also, my son, you must be careful not to disturb the little tell-tale
+creatures of the woods or success that seems so near may vanish in a
+moment; for a raven may fly overhead, and spying you, circle
+about--just as the pigeons used to do--and then crying out may warn the
+moose of your presence.  Or you may flush a partridge; or a squirrel,
+taking fright, may rush up a tree and begin chattering about you; or a
+rabbit may go drumming into a thicket, and the moose, reading these
+signs of alarm, will surely look about to learn the cause.
+
+"But, my son, should you spy a moose lying down, it is rather risky to
+fire at it in that position, as it is then hard to hit a vital spot.
+The better way is to stand with cocked gun covering the game, and then
+break a twig--not too sharply though, or you may scare away your
+quarry.  Watch its ears: if they flop back and forward, it has heard
+nothing, but if both ears point in your direction, keep still and be
+ready, for it has heard you, and now with one great spring it may
+disappear into a thicket.  Instead of breaking a twig, some hunters
+prefer to whistle like a startled rabbit while other hunters prefer to
+speak to the moose in a gentle voice, always taking care to use none
+but kindly words, such as for instance: 'Oh, my lazy brother, I see you
+are sleeping long this morning.'
+
+"For we Indians never speak harshly to so good an animal, nor do we
+ever use bad words, as bad words always bring bad luck to the hunter.
+
+"In winter, my son, a moose makes much noise in walking and feeding,
+for then he often breaks off the tops of little trees--though some of
+the trunks may be as thick as a man's arm.  The moose breaks down trees
+of such a size by placing his big shoulder against it, and curving his
+powerful neck round it, and then bending it over with his massive head.
+Then, too, he often rides down small trees, such as birch or poplars,
+just by straddling his fore legs about them and using his chest to
+force them over.
+
+"In shooting a moose, remember the best spot is just behind the
+shoulder, and while the next best is in the kidneys, the head is not a
+good shot for a smooth-bore gun, for bone often deflects a round ball.
+A good hunter always tries to get a clear view of his quarry, for even
+a twig may deflect his bullet.  And remember, too, my son, that as a
+rule, when coming upon a fresh track, it is wiser to back-track it than
+to follow it up at once, as back-tracking will provide the hunter with
+about all the information he may require, as the back trail will tell
+him if the game was travelling fast or slow, whether it was fleeing in
+fright or feeding; and if feeding, whether it was feeding quietly or in
+haste; and if in haste, the twigs would be torn off instead of being
+clean cut.  Sometimes a good hunter will back-track a trail several
+miles in order to assure the success of his hunt.
+
+"My son, if a moose is badly frightened by man-smell it may at first go
+off on the gallop and then settle down to a steady trot for four or
+five miles before it stops to listen--but not to feed.  Then, turning
+its head this way and that, and even trembling with excitement, as it
+throws its snout into the air, to test if danger is still following, it
+may then start off again on another long trot, but all the time it
+will, as much as possible, avoid open places.  Later it may attempt to
+feed by tearing off twigs as it hurries along, and then at last it will
+circle to leeward and finally rest not far from its old trail.  Under
+such conditions, the distance a moose travels depends largely upon the
+depth of the snow.  Two or three feet of snow will not hamper it much,
+but when the depth is four feet, or when the moose's belly begins to
+drag in the snow, the brute will not travel far.  An old bull will not
+run as far as a young one, and a cow will not travel as far as a bull;
+but when tired out a moose sleeps soundly, so soundly, indeed, that a
+hunter can easily approach as close as he pleases.  But don't forget,
+my son, that a good hunter never runs a moose--at least, not unless he
+is starving--as running a moose spoils the meat.
+
+"Sometimes, my son, a hunter may use a dog to trail a moose, but it is
+dangerous work for the dog, as the moose may turn at bay and strike at
+the dog with any one of its chisel-like hoofs or may even seize the dog
+by the back in its mouth, carry it for a little way, then throw it into
+the air and when it falls trample it to death.  So, my son, when
+hunting moose in that way, it is best to have two dogs or more, as then
+one dog may attack while another is being pursued.  But I warn you, if
+you are in pursuit of a moose and if he turns at bay for the first time
+. . . look out . . . for then he will surely attack you; if, however,
+he turns at bay through sheer exhaustion or from over-whelming pain, he
+will not always fight; but under the first condition, the hunter is a
+fool if he approaches within ten paces of a bayed moose."
+
+
+"THE OWL" MAKES A KILL
+
+Rising early next morning we made a very small fire to cook our
+breakfast and were ready to start as soon as dawn came to light us on
+our way.  Oo-koo-hoo took great care in loading his gun as he expected
+to come upon moose at any time.  He placed a patch of cotton about the
+ball before ramming it in, and made sure that the powder showed in the
+nipple before putting on the percussion cap.  And as he took his
+fire-steel and whetted a keener edge upon his knife, a smile of
+hunter's contentment overspread his face, because he well knew how soon
+he was to use the blade.  That morning he did not light his pipe as
+usual because, as he explained, he wanted to have his wits about him;
+furthermore, he did not wish to add to the strength of his man-smell;
+and whispering to me he added with a smile:
+
+"My son, when I smell some men, especially some white men, I never
+blame the animals of the Strong Woods for taking fright and running
+away."
+
+And that reminds me that while we white people consider the negro the
+standard-bearer of the most offensive of all human body smells, the
+Indian always unhesitatingly awards the palm to the white man, and
+sometimes even the Indian children and babies, when they get an
+unadulterated whiff from a white man, will take such fright that it is
+hard for their mothers to console them--a fact that has often made me
+wonder what the poor little tots would do if they scented one of those
+highly painted and perfumed "ladies" that parade up and down
+Piccadilly, Fifth Avenue, or Yonge Street?
+
+After following the trail for about fifteen minutes, we came to where
+the moose had been lying down, and the hunter whispered:
+
+"My son, I am glad I did not smoke, but I am sorry that we camped so
+near."  Then he added as he pointed to the impression of a moose's body
+in the snow: "A moose seldom lies twice in the same place in the snow,
+as the old bed would be frozen and hard as well as dirty."
+
+But as we had not made much noise, nor cut any big wood to make a fire,
+he was hopeful that our chances were still good; and at sunrise he
+concluded that it was time we should leave our sled behind and begin to
+track our quarry more cautiously.  From then on there was to be no
+talking--not even in a whisper.  Soon we came upon yesterday's tracks,
+then farther on we saw where the moose had circled before lying down
+again for the night, with their eyes guarding their front while their
+scent guarded their rear.
+
+At last we came upon still fresher signs that told that the moose might
+be within a hundred paces or less.  At a signal from the old hunter I
+imitated him by slipping off my snowshoes, and standing them upon end
+in the snow, and Oo-koo-hoo leading the way, began to circle to our
+right as a gentle wind was coming on our left.  Now our progress was
+indeed slow, and also perfectly noiseless.  It seemed to take an age to
+make a semicircle of a couple of hundred paces.  Again we came upon the
+tracks of the moose.  The signs were now fresher than ever.  Retracing
+our own tracks for a little way we started on another circle, but this
+time, a smaller one, for we were now very near the moose.  Silent ages
+passed, then we heard the swishing of a pulled branch as it flew back
+into place; a few steps nearer we progressed; then we heard the
+munching sound of a large animal's jaws.  Oo-koo-hoo rose slightly from
+his stooped position, peered through the branches of a dense spruce
+thicket, crouched again, turned aside for perhaps twenty paces . . .
+looked up again . . . raised his gun and saying in a gentle voice: "My
+brother, I need . . ." he fired.
+
+Instantly there was a great commotion beyond the thicket, one sound
+running off among the trees, while the other, the greater sound, first
+made a brittle crash, then a ponderous thud as of a large object
+falling among the dead under-branches.
+
+The hunter now straightened up and with his teeth pulled the plug from
+his powder horn, poured a charge into his gun, spat a bullet from his
+mouth into the barrel, struck the butt violently upon the palm of his
+left hand, then slipping a cap upon the nipple, moved cautiously
+forward as he whispered: "Its neck must be broken."  Soon we saw what
+had happened.  One moose was lying dead, the ball had struck it in the
+neck; it was a three-year-old cow--the one Oo-koo-hoo had
+selected--while the other, a bull, had left nothing but its tracks.
+
+Presently The Owl re-loaded his gun with greater care, then we returned
+for our snowshoes and to recover our toboggan before we started to skin
+the carcass.  On the way Oo-koo-hoo talked of moose hunting, and I
+questioned him as to why he had turned aside for the last time, just
+before he fired, and he answered:
+
+"My son, I did it so that in case I should miss, the report of my gun
+would come from the right direction to drive the moose toward home and
+also toward our sled; and in case, too, that I hit the moose and only
+wounded it, the brute would run toward our sled and not take us farther
+away from it.  Also, my son, if I had merely wounded the beast, but had
+seen from the way it flinched that it had been struck in a vital spot,
+I would not have followed immediately, but would have sat down and had
+a smoke, so as not to further disturb the wounded animal before it had
+time to bleed to death.  Besides, a mere glance at the trail would tell
+me whether or not I had mortally wounded the moose--whether the brute
+was hit high or low, and whether the blood was dark or light.  If hit
+high, the blood would be upon the branches as well as upon the snow; if
+the blood was black it would mean that an artery had been severed and
+that the moose was mortally wounded.  If the latter had happened, then
+would be the time for me to get out my pipe and have a smoke."
+
+
+SKINNING ANIMALS
+
+As we were to be busy for the rest of the day, we made a suitable camp
+and started a fire and by that time the moose had stiffened enough for
+proper handling while removing the skin.  As usual the hunter's first
+act was to cut the eyes, then to cut off the head, which he at once
+skinned and, removing the tongue, hung the head beside the fire to cook
+while we went on with our work.
+
+But while we propped up the moose and got it into good position, three
+whiskey jacks (Canada Jays) came, as they always seem to come at the
+first sign of smoke, to pay us a visit and partake of the feast.  They
+are fluffy, heavily feathered little birds of gray, with wings and tail
+of darker hue, and with a white spot on their forehead.  They are not
+unlike the blue jay in their calls and shrieks, though they have some
+notes of their own that are of a quieter, softer tone.  They are
+friendly little beggars that will at times come so near that they may
+occasionally be caught in one's hand; but while one likes to have them
+about for the sake of their companionship, they will, uninvited, take a
+share of anything that is good to eat.  They are the most familiar
+birds to be seen in the winter forest, and they have a remarkable way
+of laying their eggs and nesting in the month of March when the weather
+may register from twenty to forty below zero.
+
+In the forest there are several different ways of skinning animals: one
+is called "case skinning" and another is called "split skinning."  To
+case skin an animal such as ermine, fox, fisher, lynx, marten, mink,
+otter, muskrat, rabbit, or skunk, the skin is cut down the inner side
+of each hind leg until the two cuts meet just under the tail, and then
+the pelt is peeled off by turning it inside out.  To split skin an
+animal such as wood-buffalo, moose, wapiti, caribou, deer, bear,
+beaver, wolf, or wolverine, the skin is cut down the belly from throat
+to tail and also on the inside of each leg to the centre cut, and then
+the pelt is peeled off both ways toward the back.  All split skins are
+stretched on rectangular frames--all save beaver skins which are
+stretched on oval frames.  All case skins are stretched over
+wedge-shaped boards of various sizes--all save muskrat skins which are
+more often stretched over a hooped frame or a looped stick.  So, of
+course, our moose pelt was "split skinned," but there is still another
+way to skin an animal that is too large for one man to turn over, and
+that is--in case the animal is lying on its belly--to split the skin
+down the back and then peel it off both ways toward the belly.
+
+If the skin is to be used as a robe, the hair is left on, and the
+animal's brains are rubbed into the inner side of the pelt, after the
+fat has been removed, and then the skin is left to dry.  That softens
+the pelt; but traders prefer skins to be sun-dried or cold-dried.  If
+the skin is to be used as leather, the hair is cut off with a knife,
+and a deer's shin-bone is used as a dressing tool in scraping off the
+fat; both sides of the skin are dressed to remove the outer surface.
+It is easier to dress a skin in winter than in summer, but summer-made
+leather wears better, for the reason that the roots of the hair run all
+through a summer skin; whereas in winter the roots show only on the
+outer side; that is why a fur-trader--when looking only at the inner
+side--can tell whether a skin has been taken in winter or summer.  In
+dressing leather the inner side is rubbed well with brains which are
+then allowed to soak in for three or four days; then the skin is soaked
+in a vessel filled with water--but not in a river--for about two days
+more; then it is stretched again and let dry, then scraped with a bone,
+shell, or steel scraper--if it is a moose skin, only on one side, but
+if it is a caribou skin, on both sides.  The object of scraping is to
+further soften the skin.  After that, it is taken off the stretcher and
+rubbed together between the hands and pulled between two people.  Then
+it is stretched again and smoked over a slow fire that does not blaze.
+
+Woodsmen hunt moose for food and clothing.  Townsmen hunt moose for the
+satisfaction of killing.  But should the townsman fail in his hunt, he
+may hire a native "Head Hunter" to secure a head for him; and that
+reminds me of one night during the early winter, when a strange
+apparition was seen crossing the lake.  It appeared to have wings, but
+it did not fly, and though it possessed a tail, it did not run, but
+contented itself with moving steadily forward on its long, up-turned
+feet.  Over an arm it carried what might have been a trident, and what
+with its waving tail and great outspreading wings that rose above its
+horned-like head, it suggested that nothing less than Old Beelzebub
+himself had come from his flaming region beyond to cool himself on the
+snow-covered lake.  But in reality it was just Oo-koo-hoo returning
+with a fine pair of moose horns upon his back, and which he counted on
+turning over to the trader for some city sportsman who would readily
+palm it off as a trophy that had fallen to his unerring aim, and which
+he had brought down, too, with but a single shot . . . of $25.
+
+While at work I recalled how Oo-koo-hoo had surmised, before he had
+examined the carcass, that he had broken the moose's neck with his
+ball, and on questioning him as to how he knew, he replied:
+
+"My son, if an animal is hit in the neck and the neck is broken, the
+beast will collapse right where it is; but if hit in the heart, it will
+lunge forward; if hit in the nose, it will rear up; if hit in the
+spine, it will leap into the air.  Yes, my son, I have seen a great
+bull buffalo leap lynx-like, into the air, when it was struck in the
+spine."
+
+Knowing that the hunter had wanted to procure more than one moose I
+asked him why he had not at once pursued the other?  And he explained:
+
+"For two reasons, my son: first, because I don't want a bull, I want
+the tenderer meat and the softer skin of a cow; and secondly, even if I
+had wanted him, I would not have pursued him at once as that would
+cause him to run.  If a moose is pursued on the run, it overheats, and
+that spoils the meat, because the moose is naturally a rather inactive
+animal that lives on a small range and travels very little; but it is
+quite different with the caribou, for the caribou is naturally an
+active animal, a great traveller, that wanders far for its food, and to
+pursue it on the run only improves the flavour and the texture of its
+meat."
+
+
+OLD-TIME HUNTING
+
+After supper, as we sat in the comfortable glow of the fire, we talked
+much of old-time hunting, for in certain parts of the Great Northern
+Forest many of the ancient methods are practised to-day.  Fire is often
+made by friction; many hunters still use the bow and arrow, while
+others use the flintlock gun; frequently, too, they rely upon their
+spears; bone knives and awls as well as stone axes are still applied to
+work; fish nets are yet woven from the inner bark of cedar; and still
+to-day wooden baskets and birch-bark rogans are used for the purpose of
+heating water and boiling food.  Notwithstanding our far over-rated
+civilization the natives in some sections are dressed to-day in
+clothing entirely derived from the forest.
+
+One of the most ancient methods of hunting and one which is still in
+vogue in some remote localities is the "drive."  Two famous places for
+drive hunting in olden days were Point Carcajou on Peace River, and the
+Grand Detour on Great Slave River.  The former driving ground was about
+thirty miles long by about three miles across, while the latter was
+about fifteen miles long by about three miles across.  The mode of
+hunting was for a party of Indians to spread out through the woods, and
+all, at an appointed time, to move forward toward a certain point, and
+thus drive the game before them, until the animals, on coming out into
+the open at the other end, were attacked by men in ambush.  At those
+driving grounds in the right season--even if a drive of only a few
+miles were made--the Indians could count on securing two or three
+bears, three or four moose, and twelve or fifteen caribou.  But in
+later years, a number of the drivers having been accidentally shot from
+ambush, the practice has been discontinued in those localities.
+
+
+THE BEAR IN HIS WASH
+
+It is not an uncommon occurrence for a hunter, when travelling through
+the winter woods, to discover the place where a bear is hibernating;
+the secret being given away by the condensed breath of the brute
+forming hoar frost about the imperfectly blocked entrance to the wash.
+The Indians' hunting dogs are experts at finding such hidden treasure,
+and when they do locate such a claim, they do their best to acquaint
+their master of the fact.
+
+One day when Oo-koo-hoo was snowshoeing across a beaver meadow, his
+dogs, having gained the wooded slope beyond, began racing about as
+though they had scented game and were trying to connect a broken trail.
+So The Owl got out his pipe and sat down to have a smoke while his dogs
+were busily engaged.  Presently they centred on a certain spot, and
+Oo-koo-hoo, going over, discovered the tell-tale hoar frost.  Twisting
+out of his snowshoes--for an Indian never has to touch his hands to
+them when he puts them on or takes them off--he used one of them for a
+shovel, and digging away the snow, he came upon a bear's wash.  It was
+quite a cave and dark inside, and as the dogs refused to enter, the
+hunter crawled into the entrance and reaching in as far as he could
+with his hand, felt the forms of two bears.  Making sure of the exact
+position of the head of one of them, he then shoved his gun in until
+the muzzle was close to the ear of one of the bears and then he fired.
+The explosion aroused the other bear and as it crawled out Oo-koo-hoo
+killed it with his axe.  The latter was a brown bear while the former
+was a black.
+
+When a bear in his den shows fight and threatens danger, the hunter may
+wedge two crossed poles against the opening of the wash, leaving only
+enough space for the brute to squeeze through and thus prevent it from
+making a sudden rush.  Then when the bear does try to come out, the
+hunter, standing over the opening, kills it with the back of his axe.
+Sometimes a second hole is dug in order to prod the beast with a pole
+to make it leave its den.  The white hunter frequently uses fire to
+smoke a bear out, but not infrequently he succeeds in ruining the coat
+by singeing the hair.  It requires more skill, however, to find a
+bear's wash than it does to kill him in his den.  The Indians hunt for
+bear washes in the vicinity of good fishing grounds or in a district
+where berries have been plentiful.
+
+One winter when I happened to be spending a few days at Brunswick House
+an old Indian woman came to call upon the Hudson's Bay trader's wife,
+and, while she was having afternoon tea, she casually remarked that
+while on her way to the Post she had espied a bear wash.  Digging down
+into its den with one of her snowshoes, she had killed the brute with
+her axe, and if the other guests would care to see her prize, it was
+lying on her sled, just outside the door.  What a contrast to the way
+the Wild West movie actors would have done the deadly work with the aid
+of all their absurd artillery!  Nevertheless, that kindly spoken,
+smiling-faced, motherly old lady, did the deed with nothing but her
+little axe.
+
+But while the men of the wilderness laugh over the serious drivel of
+most fiction writers who make a specialty of northern tales, nothing is
+so supremely ludicrous as the attempts made by the average movie
+director to depict northern life in Canada.  Never have I seen a
+photoplay that truthfully illustrated northern Canadian life.
+
+
+THE WOLVERINE AND GILL NET
+
+Next day we again set out on a moose trail, but, as ill luck followed
+us in the way of a heavy snowstorm, we gave up the chase and continued
+on our way.  It was hard going and we stopped often.  Once we halted to
+rest beside a number of otter tracks.  Otters leave a surprisingly big
+trail for animals of their size.  A good imitation could be made of an
+otter's trail by pressing down into the snow, in a horizontal position,
+a long, irregular stove pipe of the usual size.  The reason the otter's
+trail is so formed, is that the animal, when travelling through deep
+snow, progresses on its belly and propels itself principally by its
+hind legs, especially when going down hill.  When making a hillside
+descent an otter prefers to use an old, well-worn track and glides down
+it with the ease and grace of a toboggan on its slide.  It was the
+sight of the otter's trail that set Oo-koo-hoo thinking of his younger
+days.
+
+"Years ago, my son, I very nearly killed a man.  It happened at just
+such a place as this: a little lake with a patch of open water above a
+spring.  It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one afternoon,
+after passing through heavy timber, I came out upon its shore, and
+there I discovered two men robbing one of my otter traps.  One man was
+holding up the otter by the tail and laughingly commenting on his gain,
+while the other was resetting the trap beneath the ice.  I raised my
+gun and was about to fire, when it occurred to me that, after all, a
+man's life was worth more than an otter's skin; so I let them go, and
+left it to the Redcoats (Mounted Police) to settle with them.  I knew
+them both.  They were half-breeds from near Montreal, and were well
+learned in the ways of the whites."
+
+[Illustration: It was on my father's hunting grounds, and late one
+afternoon, after passing through heavy timber, I came out upon its
+shore, and there I discovered two men robbing one of my traps.  One man
+was holding up the otter by the tail and laughingly commenting on his
+gain, while the other was resetting the trap beneath the ice.  I raised
+my gun and was about to fire, when . . .  See Chapter VI.]
+
+But before setting out on our way--I forgot to tell you--we cached our
+moose meat in a tree as was previously agreed upon with old Granny,
+who, with the boys, was to come and take it home; and in order to
+prevent wolverines from stealing or spoiling the meat, the hunter
+wrapped round the trunk of the tree an old bag to which were fastened
+many fish hooks, all with their barbs pointing downward and ready to
+impale any creature that tried to climb the tree.  Needless to say, as
+that tree stood alone, no wolverine touched that meat.
+
+That day we covered about twenty miles, and by the afternoon of the
+second day we had arrived at the lake on the far shore of which lived
+Oo-koo-hoo's sister, Ko-ko-hay--The Perfect Woman--with her daughter
+and her son-in-law and four granddaughters.  As we drew near the camp
+we found the women about a mile from shore fishing through the ice for
+salmon trout.  There were a number of holes--each of which was marked
+by a spruce bough set upright in the snow--and the fishing was being
+done with hook and line.  The hook dangling below the ice about a third
+of the water's depth, was held in position by a branch line to which
+was attached a suitable sinker.  The trout they had caught ran from ten
+to thirty pounds each--as near as I could judge--and as the women had
+already gained a good haul, they loaded their catch upon their sled and
+returned home with us.
+
+Gill nets are also used in the winter time.  They are strung under the
+ice beneath a series of holes by means of which the net is passed under
+the ice with the aid of a pole.  The lines being then secured at either
+end, the net can be readily drawn back and forth for the purpose of
+emptying and resetting.  Of course, floats and sinkers are used to
+spread the net and keep it in proper position.  In some
+localities--where the water is muddy--the nets are occasionally boiled
+with willow bark to keep them from being destroyed by worms.
+
+Gill nets, however, are frequently injured by animals, not only
+amphibious ones such as beaver and otter, but even by such animals as
+wolverines.  Some years ago, a Yellowknife Indian hunting near Fort
+Resolution had an experience of that kind.  He having set a gill net
+beneath the ice, failed to visit it for several days.  When, however,
+he did arrive, he saw that it had been tampered with, and found no
+difficulty in reading the story in the snow.  A wolverine, happening by
+on a mild day when the fishing holes were open, began sniffing about
+one of the poles to which the end lines of the net were secured; then
+scenting the smell of fish, he began chewing the pole; and incidentally
+his sharp teeth severed the cords that held the net.  Then, for the
+want of something better to do, he went to the other end, to which were
+attached the lines of the other end of the net.  Again scenting fish,
+he began to chew the second pole, but this time finding it give way, he
+hauled it out of the hole; and with the pole came part of the net; and
+with the net came a few fish.  In trying to free the fish from the
+tangled mesh, he hauled out more net which contained more fish; then,
+in an effort to feast royally, he ended by hauling out the whole net.
+The following day the Indian arrived and reading the story in the snow,
+set a trap for the robber.  Again the wolverine came, but so did the
+hunter, and much to his delight found the wolverine caught in the trap.
+Such an incident, indeed, is not rare, for the same thing has happened
+in other parts of the forest.
+
+
+"THE PERFECT WOMAN"
+
+The Perfect Woman's daughter was married to a half-breed by the name of
+Tastowich and the four granddaughters were nice-looking girls ranging
+in age from fourteen to twenty.  Though very shy, they were bubbling
+over with quiet fun and I enjoyed my visit.  That evening, among other
+subjects, we discussed the various hunting caps worn by Indian big-game
+hunters, and The Perfect Woman offered to make me one if I could supply
+her with the needed material; but when she saw that I had nothing but a
+double "four-point" Hudson's Bay blanket, she offered to make me a
+complete suit from that article and to lend me, for the rest of the
+winter, a rabbit-skin quilt to take the place of the blanket.  I
+accepted her kindly offer, but of course paid her for both the work and
+the quilt.
+
+So the older women set to work with nothing more modern in the way of
+tools than a pair of scissors, a thimble, and a needle and thread; and
+by bed time I was well rigged in Indian fashion, for the hunting trail.
+The cap they made me was the same as Amik wears in my picture of the
+lynx hunter.  The suit consisted of a coat and hip-high leggings, and
+though I have worn that suit on many a winter trip, and though it is
+now over twenty-five years old, I have never had to repair their
+excellent hand-sewing.
+
+When the work was finished the father and the mother crawled into a
+double bunk that was surrounded by a curtain; Ko-ko-hay wound herself
+up in a blanket and lay down upon the floor, and Oo-koo-hoo did
+likewise, yet there were two bunks still unoccupied.  But I was
+informed that I was to occupy the single one, while the four girls were
+to sleep in the big double one.  As I had not had my clothes off for
+several days and as I was counting on the pleasure of sleeping in my
+night-shirt, I planned to sit up late enough to make my wish come true,
+though I knew that the intended occupants of those two bunks would have
+to rely solely upon darkness to form a screen, as neither bunk was
+provided with a curtain.  After a little while, however, it began to
+dawn upon me that the girls were counting on doing the same thing, for
+they made no move to leave the open fire.  But the Sand Man finally
+made them capitulate.  At last, rising from their seats, they piled a
+lot of fresh wood upon the fire, then climbing into their big bunk,
+they took off their shawls and hanging them from the rafters, draped
+them completely about their bed.  Now my opportunity had arrived, and
+though the fire was filling the one-room log house with a blaze of
+light, I made haste to discard my clothes--for now the older people
+were all sound asleep.  In a few moments I was in the very act of
+slipping on the coveted garment when I heard a peal of merriment behind
+me.  On looking round I discovered that the shawls had vanished from
+around the bunk and four merry young ladies, all in a row, were peering
+at me from beneath their blankets and fairly shaking their bed with
+laughter.
+
+
+INDIANS AND CIVILIZATION
+
+Tastowich's home was built entirely of wood, deerskin, and clay.  The
+house was of logs, the glassless windows were of deerskin parchment,
+the door-lock and the door-hinges were of wood, the latch string was of
+deerskin, the fireplace and the chimney were of clay, the roof thatch
+was of bark.  The abode was clean, serviceable, and warm; and yet it
+was a house that could have been built thousands of years ago.  But
+consider, for instance, Oo-koo-hoo's comfortable lodge; a similar
+dwelling, no doubt, could have been erected a million years ago; and
+thus, even in our time, the pre-historic still hovers on the outskirts
+of our flimsy civilization.  A civilization that billions of human
+beings for millions of years have been struggling violently to gain;
+and now after all that eternal striving since the beginning of
+time--what has been the great outstanding gain--as the Indian sees it?
+"Baldness and starched underwear for men, high-heeled shoes and corsets
+for women, and for both--spectacles and false teeth."  Is it any wonder
+the red man laughs?
+
+But some of you will doubt that the Indian laughs, and more of you will
+even doubt whether the red man possesses a sense of humour.  A few days
+ago my Toronto oculist--you see I have been justly rewarded for
+hovering around civilization--and I were discussing Indians.  The
+doctor quoted his experience with them.  Some years before he had taken
+a trip into the forest where he had met an old Indian chief whose wife
+had had her eye injured by accident.  The doctor told the old man if
+ever he contemplated taking his wife to Toronto, to let the doctor know
+of their coming, and he would see what he could do to repair the
+injury.  A year or so later a letter arrived from the very same Indian
+reservation.  Though it was hard to read, the doctor made out that the
+Indian intended to bring his wife to Toronto so that the oculist could
+fulfil his promise; but as luck would have it, the doctor had not only
+forgotten the Indian's name, but he had great difficulty in reading the
+signature.  After much study, however, he decided that the old Indian
+had signed his name as "Chief Squirrel" so thus the doctor addressed
+his reply.  A couple of weeks later the postman arrived with a letter
+he was rather loath to leave at the doctor's house.  The oculist,
+however, on seeing that it was addressed to his own number on Bloor
+Street West, and that the name was preceded by the title of Doctor,
+believed that it was intended for him.  On opening it he found it was
+from the old Indian whom he had addressed as "Chief Squirrel."  Now,
+however, he realized he had made a mistake in giving the red man such a
+name, for another glance at the outside of the envelope not only proved
+that the Indian was indignant, but that he also possessed a sense of
+humour, for "Chief Squirrel" had, in return, addressed the noted
+oculist as "Doctor Chipmunk."
+
+While spending a couple of days at Tastowich's house the subject of
+hunting was never long omitted from the general conversation; and upon
+learning from the half-breed that caribou were plentiful about a day's
+travel to the westward, nothing would do but Oo-koo-hoo must take that
+route on his return home; though of course it meant many more miles to
+cover.  The excursion, however, was inviting, as a good trail could be
+followed all the way to the caribou country, as the Tastowichs had been
+hauling deer meat from that region.
+
+By the evening of the first day, as good fortune would have it, we
+baited among many signs of caribou, and not only were fresh caribou
+tracks to be seen, but also those of wolves, for the latter were
+trailing the deer.  The incident reminded Oo-koo-hoo of a former
+experience which he told as we sat by the fire.
+
+
+WOLVES RUNNING CABIBOU
+
+"It happened years ago.  For weeks, my son, I had had ill luck and my
+family were starving.  For days I had hunted first one kind of game and
+then another, but always without success.  Then, as a last resort, I
+started after caribou, though I well knew that I should have to travel
+a long distance before falling in with them.  But in the end I was
+rewarded.  The going was bad, mostly through a dense growth of small
+black spruce, where the trees stood so close together that I had
+difficulty in hauling my sled, being compelled, at times, to turn on
+edge, not only my toboggan, but also my snowshoes, in order to pass
+between.  After several hours' hard work the forest grew more open and,
+about noon of the third day, I discovered a band of caribou quietly
+sunning themselves on a large muskeg.
+
+"Some were feeding, others were lying down, fawns were scampering about
+in play, and young bulls were thrusting at each other with their
+prong-like horns.  There were over a hundred in all.  I watched them
+for some time before I was discovered by seven young bulls, and as they
+were nearest me, they stopped in their play, left the others, and came
+down wind to investigate the strange two-legged creature that also wore
+a caribou skin.
+
+"With heads held high and expanded nostrils quivering in readiness to
+catch scent of danger, they came on very slowly yet not without a great
+deal of high stepping and of prancing, with a sort of rhythmical
+dancing motion.  Every now and then they threw their heads down, then
+up, and then held them rigid again.  They were brave enough to come
+within sixty or seventy paces and even a little closer.  But as ill
+luck ordained, while I was waiting for a better chance to bring down
+one of them with my old flint-lock, they caught scent of me, and
+suddenly falling back--almost upon their haunches--as though they had
+been struck upon the head, they wheeled round, then fled in alarm to
+the main body.  Then, as caribou usually do, the whole band began
+leaping three or four feet into the air--much as they sometimes do when
+hit by a bullet.  Then, too, with tails up they swept away at full
+gallop and, entering the forest beyond, were lost to view.
+
+"It was a great disappointment, my son, and I became so disheartened
+that I made but a poor attempt to trail them that day.  That evening,
+when I lay down to rest upon the edge of a muskeg, the moon was already
+shining; and by midnight the cold was so intense that the frost-bitten
+trees went off with such bangs that I was startled out of my slumber.
+It was then that I discovered a pack of eight wolves silently romping
+about in the snow of the muskeg--just like a lot of young dogs.  Their
+antics interested me and it was some time before I fell asleep again.
+
+"In the morning, though a heavy rime (frozen mist) was falling and
+though it was so thick that it obliterated the surrounding forest, I
+set out again in search of game tracks, and having crossed the muskeg,
+not only found the tracks of many caribou, but learned, too, that the
+eight wolves were now trailing the deer in earnest.
+
+"About half way between sunrise and midday I came upon a lake, and
+there I discovered not only the same herd of caribou and the same
+wolves, but the deer were running at full speed with the wolves in full
+chase behind them.  My son, it was a fascinating sight.  The caribou
+were going at full gallop, covering twenty feet or more at a bound, and
+all running at exactly the same speed, none trying to outstrip the
+others, for the fawns, does, and bucks were all compactly bunched
+together.  It was as exciting and as interesting a sight as one may see
+in the Strong Woods.  Though the wolves did not seem to be putting
+forth their utmost speed, they nevertheless took care to cut every
+corner, and thus they managed to keep close behind, while their long,
+regular lope foretold their eventually overhauling their quarry.
+
+"Protected by a gentle southwest wind and a thick screen of underbrush,
+I watched the chase.  Three times the deer circled the lake, which was
+about half a mile in length.  For safety's sake the caribou carefully
+avoided entering the woods, even rounding every point rather than cut
+across among the trees.  On the fourth round I saw that the wolves had
+set their minds upon running down a single deer, for as they now
+suddenly burst forward at their top speed, the herd, splitting apart,
+allowed the wolves to pass through their ranks.  A few moments later an
+unfortunate doe, emerging in front, galloped frantically ahead with the
+wolves in hot pursuit; while the rest of the herd slowed down to a
+trot, then to a walk, and finally halted to rest in perfect
+indifference as to their companion's fate.
+
+"Round and round the lake the frightened creature sped, with the
+determined wolves behind her.  Presently, however, the wolves one by
+one turned aside, and lay down to rest, until only two continued the
+pursuit.  But as the deer came round the lake again several of the
+now-refreshed wolves again entered the chase, thus they relieved one
+another.  The ill-fated doe, in a vain hope of throwing aside her
+pursuers, twice rushed into the very centre of the caribou herd; but it
+was of no avail, for, as the wolves relentlessly followed her, the
+other deer wildly scattered away to a safer distance, where, however,
+they soon came together again, and stood watching their enemies running
+down their doomed comrade.  Now first one wolf and then another took
+the lead; closer and closer they pressed upon the exhausted doe whose
+shortening stride told that her strength was fast ebbing away.
+
+"My son, perhaps you wonder why I did not use my gun?  I was out of
+range, and, moreover, while I was afraid that if I ventured out of the
+woods I might frighten the game away, I knew I had but to wait a little
+while and then I should be sure of at least one deer without even
+firing my gun.  I did not have to wait long.  With a few tremendous
+leaps the leading wolf seized the doe by the base of the throat and
+throwing her, heels over head, brought her down.
+
+"Realizing that I must act at once, I rushed out upon the lake, but in
+my haste I fell and broke the stock off my gun--just behind the hammer.
+But as I still had my axe, I picked up the broken gun, and charged in
+among the wolves that now began to back away, though not without much
+snarling, glaring of angry eyes, and champing of powerful jaws.  As one
+remained too near, I let drive at it with a charge from my almost
+useless gun; and though I missed my aim, the report relieved me of any
+further trouble.  Cutting up the deer, I feasted upon it for several
+hours, then loaded my sled and hurried home with the meat for my
+starving family."
+
+There are three principal species of Canadian caribou: the smallest
+living on the Barren Grounds and taking their name from that region;
+the largest frequenting the Rocky Mountains west of the Mackenzie River
+and known as Woodland or Mountain caribou; and the intermediate size
+inhabiting the Great Northern Forest and called Woodland caribou.
+
+In comparison with moose, wapiti, and other deer of North America, the
+Woodland caribou ranks third in size.  In colour its coat is of a
+grayish brown with a white neck and belly.  In winter the heavy growth
+of neck hair really amounts to a mane.  Of the three breeds, the
+Woodland caribou have the smallest horns, the Barren Ground the
+slenderest, while the Mountain caribou have the most massive.  Record
+antlers range from fifty- to sixty-inch beams, with a forty- to
+fifty-inch spread, and possessing from sixty to seventy points.  The
+does are usually provided with small horns, and in that way they are
+distinct from all other Canadian deer.
+
+On account of its wide-spreading and concave hoofs the Woodland caribou
+does not have to "yard" as other deer do in winter time, for thus
+provided with natural snowshoes, the caribou can pass over the deepest
+snow with little trouble.  Also, throughout the year it is an extensive
+traveller, and as its food is found everywhere within its wide range,
+its wanderings are determined chiefly by the wind.  Indeed, so great a
+traveller is it that, when thoroughly alarmed, it may cover from fifty
+to a hundred miles before settling down again.  Rivers and lakes do not
+hinder its roaming for it is a powerful and a willing swimmer.  The
+mating takes place in October and the calves are born in June.
+
+The following morning while at breakfast Oo-koo-hoo discoursed upon the
+game we were about to hunt:
+
+"My son, everything that applies to hunting the moose, applies to
+hunting the caribou, except that the hunter never tries to 'call' the
+caribou.  But now I recollect that there is one thing about moose
+hunting that I forgot to tell you and it applies also to hunting the
+caribou.  In some localities barriers are still in use, but nowadays
+they seldom make new ones.  In the old days whole tribes used to take
+part in barrier hunting and sometimes the barriers would stretch for
+fifteen or twenty miles and were usually made from one part of the
+river to another, and thus they marked off the woods enclosed in a
+river's bend.  Barriers are made by felling trees in a line; or, in an
+open place, or upon a river or lake, placing a line of little trees in
+the snow about ten paces apart.  Small evergreens with the butts no
+thicker than a man's thumb were often used; yet an artificial line of
+such brush was enough to turn moose or caribou and cause them to move
+forward in a certain direction where the hunters were hiding.  Even big
+clumps of moss, placed upon trees, will produce the same effect.
+Frequently, too, snares for deer are set in suitable places along the
+barrier, and while the snares are made of babiche the loops are kept
+open with blades of grass.
+
+"There is still another thing I forgot to tell you about moose
+hunting--my son, I must be growing old when I forget so much.  While my
+Indian cousins in the East use birch-bark horns for calling moose, my
+other cousins in the Far North never do, yet they call moose, too, but
+in a different way.  They use the shoulder blade of a deer.  Thus, when
+a bull is approaching, the hunter stands behind a tree and rubs the
+shoulder blade upon the trunk or strikes it against the branches of a
+neighbouring bush, as it then makes a sound not unlike a bull thrashing
+his horns about.  Such a sound makes a bull believe that another is
+approaching and ready to fight him for the possession of the cow, and
+he prepares to charge his enemy.  At such a moment the hunter throws
+the shoulder blade into some bushes that may be standing a little way
+off, and the enraged bull, hearing this last sound, charges directly
+for the spot.  Then, as the brute passes broadside, the hunter fires.
+
+"But, my son, to return to caribou hunting, you probably know that
+those deer are very fond of open places during sunny weather in winter
+time, such places as, for instance, rivers and small lakes where the
+wind will not be strong.  There they will spend most of the day resting
+or playing together in big bands of perhaps fifty or more.  Sometimes,
+however, when a high wind springs up, they have a curious custom of all
+racing round in a circle at high speed.  It is a charming sight to
+watch them at such sport.  Most of their feeding is done right after
+sunrise and just before sunset, and at night they always resort to the
+woods.
+
+"Then, too, when caribou go out upon a lake they have a habit of lying
+down beside the big ridges that rise three or four feet above the rest
+of the surface, where the ice has been split apart and then jammed
+together again with such power that the edges are forced upward.  They
+lie down there to avoid the wind while resting in the sun.  There the
+hunter sometimes digs a trench in the snow and lies in wait for the
+unsuspecting deer.  When he shoots one, he immediately skins it, but
+takes care to leave the head attached to the skin; then ramming a pole
+into the head at the neck, he drapes the skin over the pole and getting
+down on all fours places the skin over his back and pretends to be a
+caribou.  Thus he will approach the band, and should he tire of
+crawling along on his hands and knees he will even lie down to rest in
+sight of the deer, but he always takes care to keep down wind.  In such
+a guise it is not hard to come within gun-range of the band.
+
+"A very good thing to carry when hunting deer in the woods is a bunch
+of tips of deer horns, each about four inches long and all suspended
+from the back of the hunter's belt; as the horn tips will then tinkle
+together at every movement of the hunter, and make a sound as though
+the horns of a distant band of closely marching caribou were striking
+together.  In that way, my son, it is easier to approach, and when you
+are ready to fire, look carefully for a large, white, fat doe, and then
+let drive at her; for bands of deer are never led by bulls, but always
+by does and usually by a barren one.  If you shoot the leader first,
+the chances are the band will stand waiting for one of their number to
+lead the way.  Remember, too, that deer are never so frightened at
+seeing or hearing you as they are at scenting you, for the merest whiff
+of man-smell will drive them away.  When they first scent you they will
+take two or three jumps into the air with their heads held high, their
+nostrils extended, and their eyes peering about; then swinging round,
+they will gallop off and later settle down into a great high-stepping,
+distance-covering trot that will carry them many miles away before they
+halt.  There is still another good way to hunt caribou on a lake and
+that is to put on a wolf skin and approach on all fours, but it is not
+so successful as when the hunter wears a caribou skin."
+
+
+TRAILING IN THE SNOW
+
+Breakfast over, we slipped on our snowshoes and set out to follow a
+mass of tracks that led southward.  It was easy going on a beaten
+trail, a blind man could have followed it; and that reminds me of
+something I have failed to tell you about winter trailing in the
+Northland.  In winter, the men of the Northland don't trail human
+beings by scent, they trail them by sight or sometimes by touch.  Sight
+trailing, of course, you understand.  Trailing by touch, however, when
+not understood by the spectator, seems a marvellous performance.  For
+instance, when a husky dog, the leader of a sled-train, will come out
+of the forest and with his head held high, and without a moment's
+hesitation, trot across a lake that may be three or four miles wide,
+upon the surface of which the wind and drifting snow have left
+absolutely no visible sign of a trail, and when that dog will cross
+that great unbroken expanse and enter the woods on the far shore
+exactly where the trail appears in sight again, though no stick or
+stone or any other visible thing marks the spot--it does seem a
+marvellous feat.  But it is done, not by sight, sound, or scent, but by
+touch--the feel of the foot.  In winter time man, too, follows a trail
+in the same way, notwithstanding that he is generally handicapped by a
+pair of snowshoes.  Some unseen trails are not hard to follow--even a
+blind man could follow them.  It is done this way:
+
+Suppose you come to a creek that you want to cross, yet you can see no
+way of doing it, for there is nothing in sight--neither log nor
+bridge--spanning the river.  But suppose someone tells you that, though
+the water is so muddy that you cannot see an inch into it, there is a
+flat log spanning the creek about six inches below the surface, and
+that if you feel about with your foot you can find it.  Then, of
+course, you would make your way across by walking on the unseen log,
+yet knowing all the time that if you made a misstep you would plunge
+into the stream.  You would do it by the feel of the foot.  It is just
+the same in following an unseen trail in the snow--it lies hard-packed
+beneath the surface, just as the log lay unseen in the river.  What a
+pity it is that the writers of northern tales so rarely understand the
+life they have made a specialty of depicting.
+
+But to return to the caribou we were trailing, and also to make a long
+hunt short--for you now know most of the interesting points in the
+sport--I must tell you that we spent a full day and a night before we
+came up with them.  And that night, too, a heavy fall of snow added to
+our trouble, but it made the forest more beautiful than ever.  It was
+after sunrise when we picked up fresh tracks.  A heavy rime was
+falling, but though it screened all distant things, we espied five
+caribou that were still lingering on a lake, over which the main band
+had passed.  They were east of us and were heading for the north side
+of a long, narrow island.  As soon as they passed behind it, Oo-koo-hoo
+hurried across the intervening space, and ran along the southern shore
+to head them off.  The eastern end of the island dwindled into a long
+point and it was there that The Owl hoped to get a shot.  Sure enough
+he did, for he arrived there ahead of the deer.  Though he had lost
+sight of them, he knew they were nearing him, for he could hear the
+crunching sound of their hoofs in the frosty snow, and later he could
+even hear that strange clicking sound caused by the muscular action of
+the hoofs in walking--a sound peculiar to caribou.
+
+[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo could even hear the strange clicking sound,
+caused by the muscular action of the hoofs in walking--a sound peculiar
+to caribou.  He cautiously went down on one knee and there waited with
+his gun cocked and in position.  Now antlered heads appeared beyond the
+openings between the snow-mantled trees.  The hunter, taking aim,
+addressed them: "My brothers, I need your . . ."  Then the violent
+report of his gun shattered the . . .  See Chapter VI.]
+
+Oo-koo-hoo cautiously went down on one knee and there waited with his
+gun cocked and in position.  The air was scarcely moving.  Now antlered
+heads appeared beyond the openings between the snow-mantled trees.  The
+hunter, taking aim, addressed them:
+
+"My brothers, I need your . . ."  Then the violent report of his gun
+shattered the stillness, and the leader, a doe, lunged forward a few
+paces, staggered upon trembling legs, and then sank down into the
+brilliantly sunny snow.  But before Oo-koo-hoo could re-load for a
+second shot the rest of the little band passed out of range, and, with
+their high-stepping, hackney action, soon passed out of sight.  So,
+later on, with our sled again heavily loaded, and with packs of meat
+upon our backs, we set out for home.
+
+
+THE MAN WHO HIBERNATED
+
+Next morning, soon after sunrise, while I was breaking trail across a
+lake, I espied a log house in a little clearing beside a large beaver
+meadow.  As it was about the time we usually stopped for our second
+breakfast, I turned in the direction of the lonely abode.  It was a
+small, well-built house, and with the exception of the spaces at the
+two windows and the door, was entirely enclosed by neatly stacked
+firewood suitable for a stove.  Beyond, half built in the rising
+ground, stood a little log stable, and near it a few cattle were eating
+from haystacks.  Going up to the shack, I knocked upon the door, and as
+a voice bade me enter I slipped off my snowshoes, pulled the latch
+string, and walked in.  Entering from the dazzling sunlight made the
+room at first seem in darkness.  Presently, however, I regained my
+sight, and then beheld the interior of a comfortable little home--the
+extreme of neatness and order; and then I saw a human form lying
+beneath the blankets of a bunk in a far corner.  Later I noticed that
+two black eyes beneath a shock of black hair were smiling a welcome.
+
+"Good morning," I greeted.  "May I use your stove to cook breakfast?"
+
+"No, sir," replied the figure, then it sat up in bed, and I saw that it
+was a white man.  "I'll do the cooking myself, for you're to be my
+guest."
+
+"Thanks," I returned, "I'm travelling with an Indian and I don't wish
+to trouble you; but if I may use your stove I'll be much obliged."
+
+"If I have what you haven't got," my host smiled, "will you dine with
+me?"
+
+"All right," I agreed.
+
+"Potatoes," he exclaimed.
+
+"Good," I laughed.
+
+"Then sit down, please, and rest while I do the cooking."
+
+Oo-koo-hoo now came in and at the host's bidding, filled his pipe from
+a tobacco pouch upon the table.
+
+The accent of the stranger suggested that he was an English gentleman,
+and it seemed strange, indeed, to discover so refined and educated a
+man living apparently alone and without any special occupation in the
+very heart of the Great Northern Forest.  Curiosity seized me.  Then I
+wondered--was this the man? . . . could he be "Son-in-law"?
+
+But I refrained from questioning him.  So I talked about the woods and
+the weather, while Oo-koo-hoo brought in a haunch of venison from his
+sled and presented it to the stranger.  But with my host's every action
+and word the mystery grew.
+
+The stove, which was fireless, stood beside the bed, and reaching for
+the griddle-lifter, my host removed the lids; then picking up a stick
+of pine kindling from behind the stove, he whittled some shavings and
+placed them in the fire-box; and on top of this he laid kindling and
+birch firewood.  Then he replaced the lids, struck a match, and while
+the fire began to roar, filled the kettle from a keg of water that
+stood behind the stove, and mind you, he did it without getting out of
+bed.  Next, he leant over the side of the bunk, opened a little trap
+door in the floor, reached down into his little box-like cellar, and
+hauled up a bag containing potatoes, which he then put in a pot to
+boil, in their skins.  From the wall he took a long stick with a crook
+upon the end, and reaching out, hooked the crook round the leg and drew
+the table toward him.  Reaching up to one of the three shelves above
+his bunk, he took down the necessary dishes and cutlery to set the
+breakfast table for us three.  While the potatoes were boiling he took
+from another shelf--the one upon which he kept a few well-chosen
+books--a photograph album and suggested that I look it over while he
+broiled the venison steak and infused the tea.
+
+When I opened the album and saw its contents, it not only further
+excited my curiosity regarding the personal history of my host, but it
+thrilled me with interest, for never before or since have I seen an
+album that contained photographs of a finer-looking or more
+distinguished lot of people.  Its pages contained photographs of Lord
+This, General That, Admiral What's-his-name, and also the Bishop of
+I've-forgotten and many a Sir and Lady, too, as well as the beautiful
+Countess of Can't-remember.
+
+Breakfast was served.  The potatoes were a treat, the steak was
+excellent, the tea was good, and there we three sat and ate a hearty
+meal, for not only did we relish the food, but the company, the wit,
+and the laughter, too.  But all the while my healthy, jovial, handsome
+host remained in bed.  I studied the blankets that covered his
+legs--apparently there was nothing wrong with that part of him.  I
+could not fathom the mystery.  It completely nonplussed me.
+
+I glanced round the room; there were many photographs upon the walls,
+among them Cambridge "eights" and "fours"; and sure enough, there he
+was, rowing in those very crews; and in the football and tennis
+pictures he also appeared as one of the best of them all.  And how neat
+and clean was his one-room house!  Everything was in order.  A water
+keg behind the stove to keep the water from freezing.  A big barrel by
+the door in which to turn snow into water.  A woodpile across the end
+of the room--enough to outlast any blizzard.  Then when I glanced at
+him again, I noticed a crested signet ring upon his left little finger.
+Breakfast over, smoking began, and as he washed the dishes, I wiped
+them--but still I pondered.  Then, at last, I grew brave.  I would risk
+it.  I would ask him:
+
+"Why do you stay in bed?"
+
+First he responded with a burst of laughter, then with the question:
+
+"Why, what's the use of getting up?" and next with the statement: "I
+stay in bed all winter . . . or nearly so.  It's the only thing to do.
+I used to get up, and go for my mail occasionally . . . at least, I did
+a few years ago, but too many times I walked the forty miles to the
+Hudson's Bay Company's Flying Post at Elbow Creek only to find no
+letters for me . . . so I chucked it all.  Then, too, the first few
+winters I was here I used to do a little shooting, but I get all the
+game I want from the Indians now, so I have chucked the shooting, too.
+Now the only thing that gets me out of bed, or takes me out of doors,
+is to watch which way the wind blows.  Two winters ago, when I was away
+from here a week, the wind blew steadily from the north for five days
+or more, and my cattle ate so far into the south sides of the hay
+stacks that two of the stacks fell over on them and in that way I lost
+five head--they were smothered."
+
+Oo-koo-hoo, knocking the ashes from his pipe, began to tie his coat;
+apparently, he thought it was time we were going.  I opened the album
+again, and glanced through it once more as I sat upon the edge of my
+strange host's bunk.  I stopped my turning when I came to a photograph
+of a charming gentlewoman whose hair was done in an old-fashioned way
+so becoming to her character and beauty.  She must have been
+twenty-three.  He, then, was nearing forty.  I thought his hand
+lingered a little upon the page.  And when I commented on her beauty, I
+fancied his voice tremored slightly--anyway his pipe went out.
+
+But Oo-koo-hoo, getting up, broke the silence.
+
+I invited my still-unknown host to pay me a visit.  We shook hands
+heartily, and as I turned to close the door, I noticed that he had lain
+down again, and had covered up his head.  As a pleasant parting
+salutation--a cheering one as I thought--I exclaimed:
+
+"Perfectly stunning! . . . the most beautiful lot of women I have ever
+seen!"
+
+And then from beneath the bed clothes came--
+
+"Y-e-s . . . _the blighters_!"
+
+
+
+
+VII
+
+LIFE AND LOVE RETURN
+
+HYMEN COMES WITH SPRING
+
+"My son, it is ever thus, when spring is on the way," smiled
+Oo-koo-hoo, as Granny entered with glee and displayed a new deerskin
+work-bag, containing needles, thread, thimble, and scissors; a present
+from Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--Neykia's lover.
+
+"Now that Spring and Love are going to hunt together," further remarked
+the Indian, "the snow will run away, and the ice begin to tremble when
+it hears the home-coming birds singing among the trees.  Ah, my son, it
+reminds me of the days of my youth," sighed The Owl, "when I, too, was
+a lover."
+
+"Tell me," I coaxed.
+
+"It was many years ago, at the New Year's dance at Fort Perseverance
+that I first met Ojistoh.  She was thirteen then, and as beautiful as
+she was young. . . .  No; I shall never forget those days . . .  When
+she spoke her voice was as gentle as the whispering south wind, and
+when she ran she passed among the trees as silently and as swiftly as a
+vanishing dream; but now," added Oo-koo-hoo, with a sly, teasing glance
+at his wife, "but now look at her, my son . . .  She is nothing but a
+bundle of old wrinkled leather, that makes a noise like a she-wolf that
+has no mate, and when she waddles about she goes thudding around on the
+split end of her body--like a rabbit with frozen feet."
+
+But Granny, saying never a word, seized the wooden fire-poker, and
+dealt her lord and master such a vigorous blow across the shoulders
+that she slew his chuckle of laughter the moment it was born.  Then, as
+the dust settled, silence reigned.  A little later, as Granny put more
+wood upon the fire, she turned to me with twinkling eyes and said:
+
+"My son, if you could have seen the old loon when he was courting me,
+it would have filled your heart with laughter.  It is true he was
+always a loon, for in those days Oo-koo-hoo, the great hunter, was even
+afraid of his own shadow, for he never dared call upon me in daylight,
+and even when he came sneaking round at night he always took good care
+that it was at a time when my father was away from home.  Furthermore,
+he always chose a stormy evening when the snow would be drifting and
+thus cover his trail; and worse still, when he came to court me he
+always wore women's snowshoes; because, my son, he had not courage
+enough to come as a man."
+
+This sally, however, only made Oo-koo-hoo smile the more as he puffed
+away at his brier.
+
+"Did he always bring your grandmother a present?" I enquired.
+
+"No, my son, not always, he was too stingy," replied the old woman,
+"but he did once in a while, I must grant him that."
+
+"What was it?"
+
+"Oh, just a few coils of tripe."
+
+But Granny, of course, was joking, that was why she did not explain
+that deer tripe filled with blood was as great a delicacy as a suitor
+could offer his prospective grandmother-in-law; for among certain
+forest tribes, it is the custom that a marriageable daughter leaves the
+lodge of her parents and takes up her abode with her grandmother--that
+is, if the old lady is living within reasonable distance.
+
+Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--had come that day, and had been invited to
+sleep in Amik's tepee; yet he spent the greater part of his time
+sitting with Neykia in her grandmother's lodge.  As there are no cozy
+corners in a tepee, it is the Ojibway custom for a lover to converse
+with his sweetheart under cover of a blanket which screens the lovers
+from the gaze of the other occupants of the lodge.  Early in the
+evening the blanket always hung in a dignified way, as though draped
+over a couple of posts set a few feet apart.  Later, however, the posts
+frequently lost their balance and swayed about in such a way as to come
+dangerously near colliding.  Then, if the old grandmother did not speak
+or make a stir, the blanket would sometimes show that one support had
+given away.  Accordingly, the old woman was able to judge by the
+general contour of the blanket just how the courtship was progressing,
+and being a foxy old dame she occasionally pretended to snore just to
+see what might happen.
+
+One night, however, Granny's snoring was no longer pretense, and when
+she woke up from her nap, she found that both supports of the blanket
+were in immediate danger of collapsing.  Seizing the stick with which
+she used to poke the fire, she leaped up and belaboured the blanket so
+severely that it lost no time in recovering its proper form.
+
+Kissa Pesim (The Old Moon)--February, and Mikesewe Pesim (The Eagle
+Moon)--March, had flown and now Niske Pesim, (The Goose Moon)--April,
+had arrived; and with it had come the advance guard of a few of those
+numerous legions of migratory birds and fowls that are merely winter
+visitors to the United States, Mexico, and South America; while Canada
+is their real home--the place where they were born.  Next would follow
+Ayeke Pesim (the Frog Moon) of May, when love would be in full play;
+then a little later would come Wawe Pesim (The Egg Moon) otherwise
+June, when the lovers would be living together--or nesting.
+
+Yes, truly, the long-tarrying but wonderous Goose Moon had at last
+arrived, and at last, too, the spring hunt was on.  It was now a joyous
+season accompanied with charming music rendered by the feathered
+creatures.  Overhead the geese where honking, out upon the lake the
+loons were calling, near the shore the ducks were quacking, while all
+through the woods the smaller birds were singing.  Now, even among the
+shadows, the snow was slinking away; while the river ice, plunging
+along with a roar, ran down to the lake where it rested quietly in a
+space of open water.
+
+Now, too, it so happened that day, that Neykia, she of woodland grace
+and beauty, was strolling in the sunshine with her Little Pine; while
+on every side the trees were shaking their heads and it seemed
+gossiping about the hunting plans of that reckless little elfin hunter,
+Hymen, who was hurrying overland and shooting his joyous arrows in
+every direction, till the very air felt charged with the whisperings of
+countless lovers.  It made me think of the shy but radiant Athabasca,
+and I wondered--was her lover with her now?
+
+
+THE SPRING HUNT
+
+The Indians divide their annual hunt for fur into three distinct
+hunting seasons: the fall hunt--from autumn until Christmas; the winter
+hunt--from New Year's Day until Easter; and the spring hunt--from
+Easter until the hunters depart for their tribal summer camping ground.
+At the end of each hunting season--if the fur-runners have not traded
+with the hunters and if the hunter is not too far away from the
+post--he usually loads upon his sled the result of his fall hunt and
+hauls it to the Post during Christmas week; likewise he hauls to the
+Post the catch of his winter hunt about Easter time; while the gain
+from his spring hunt is loaded aboard his canoe and taken to the Post
+the latter part of May.  Easter time, or the end of the winter hunt,
+marks the closing of the hunting season for all land animals except
+bear; and the renewing of the hunting season for bear, beaver, otter,
+mink, and muskrat, all water animals save the first.
+
+Meanwhile, the canoes had been overhauled: freshly patched, stitched,
+and gummed, their thwarts strengthened, their ribs adjusted, and their
+bottoms greased.
+
+A few days later, loading some traps and kit--among which was the
+hunter's bow and quiver of arrows--aboard his small canoe, Oo-koo-hoo
+and I set out at sunrise and paddling around the western end of Bear
+Lake, entered Bear River.  It was a cold but delightful morning, and
+the effect of the sun shining through the rising mist was extremely
+beautiful.  We were going otter- and muskrat-hunting; and as we
+descended that charming little stream and wound about amid its marshy
+flats and birch- and poplar-clad slopes, every once in a while ducks
+startled us by suddenly whirring out of the mist.  Then, when long
+light lines of rippling water showed in the misty screen we knew that
+they were nothing but the wakes of swimming muskrats; and soon we
+glided into a colony of them; but for the time being they were not at
+home--the still-rising spring freshet had driven them from their
+flooded houses.
+
+The muskrat's little island lodge among the rushes is erected upon a
+foundation of mud and reeds that rises about two feet before it
+protrudes above the surface of the water.  The building material, taken
+from round the base, by its removal helps to form a deep-water moat
+that answers as a further protection to the muskrat's home.  Upon that
+foundation the house is built by piling upon it more reeds and mud.
+Then the tunnels are cut through the pile from about the centre of the
+over-water level down and out at one side of the under-water
+foundation, while upon the top more reeds and mud are placed to form
+the dome-shaped roof, after which the chamber inside is cleared.  The
+apex of the roof rises about three feet above the water.  In some
+localities, however, muskrats live in dens excavated in the banks of
+rivers or ponds.  To these dens several under-water runways lead.
+
+Muskrats feed principally on the roots and stalks of many kinds of
+sub-aqueous plants.  In winter time, when their pond is frozen over,
+and when they have to travel far under water to find their food, they
+sometimes make a point of keeping several water-holes open, so that
+after securing their food, they may rise at a convenient hole and eat
+their meal without having to make long trips to their house for the
+purpose.  In order to keep the water-hole from freezing, they build a
+little house of reeds and mud over it.  Sometimes, too, they store food
+in their lodges, especially the bulbous roots of certain plants.
+
+Muskrats, like beavers, use their tails for signalling danger, and when
+alarm causes them to dive they make a great noise, out of all
+proportion to their size.  Thus the greenhorn from the city is apt to
+take the muskrat's nightly plunges for the sound of deer leaping into
+water; and just in the same way does the sleepless tenderfoot mistake
+the thudding footfalls of the midnight rabbit for those of moose or
+caribou running round his tent.
+
+Muskrats are fairly sociable and help one another in their work.  They
+mate in April and their young are born about a month later.  The
+Indians claim that they pair like the beaver, and that the father helps
+to take care of the children.  The young number from three to eight.
+When they are full grown their coats are dark brown.  In length
+muskrats measure about eighteen inches, while in weight they run from a
+pound and a half to two pounds.
+
+Except in autumn, their range is exceedingly small, though at that
+season they wander much farther away from their homes.  If danger
+threatens they are always ready to fight, and they prove to be
+desperate fighters, too.  While slow on land, they are swift in water;
+and such excellent divers are they that in that way they sometimes
+escape their greatest enemy--the mink; though wolves, fishers, foxes,
+otters, as well as birds of prey and Indians are always glad to have a
+muskrat for dinner.
+
+But to return to our muskrat hunt: Oo-koo-hoo, stringing his bow and
+adjusting an arrow, let drive at one of the little animals as it sat
+upon some drift-wood.  The blunt-headed shaft just skimmed its back and
+sank into the mud beyond; the next arrow, however, bowled the muskrat
+over; and in an hour's time The Owl had eleven in his canoe.  When I
+questioned him as to why he used such an ancient weapon, he explained
+that a bow was much better than a gun, as it did not frighten the other
+muskrats away, also it did not injure the pelt in the way shot would
+do, and, moreover, it was much more economical.
+
+Occasionally Oo-koo-hoo would imitate the call of the muskrats;
+sometimes to arrest their attention, but more often to entice them
+within easy range of his arrows.  If he killed them outright while they
+were swimming, they sank like stones; but when only wounded, they
+usually swam round on the surface for a while.  Once, however, a
+wounded one dived, and, seizing hold of a reed, held on with its teeth
+in order to escape its pursuer; Oo-koo-hoo, nevertheless, eventually
+landed it in his canoe.
+
+In setting steel traps for them the hunter placed the traps either in
+the water or on the bank at a spot where they were in the habit of
+going ashore, and to decoy them to that landing Oo-koo-hoo rubbed
+castoreum on the branches of the surrounding bushes--just in the same
+way as he did for mink or otter.  Another way he had of setting traps
+was to cut a hole in the side of a muskrat's house, so that he could
+thrust in his arm and feel for the entrance to the tunnel, then he
+would set a trap there and close up the hole.
+
+One day when he was passing a muskrat house that he had previously
+opened for that purpose and closed again, he discovered that the hole
+was again open.  Thinking that the newly added mud had merely fallen
+out, he thrust his arm into the hole to reach for the trap, when
+without the slightest warning some animal seized him by the finger.  It
+was a mink that had been raiding the house; and in the excitement that
+followed, the brute escaped.  The hunter, however, made little of his
+injury; chewing up a quid of tobacco, he placed it over the wound and
+bound it securely with a rag torn from the tail of his shirt.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo explained that in winter time, when there was little snow,
+he often speared muskrats through the ice.  The spear point is usually
+made of quarter-inch iron wire and attached to a seven-foot shaft.
+Much of the spearing he did at the rats' feeding and airing
+places--those little dome-shaped affairs made of reeds and mud that
+cover their water-holes.  The hunter, enabled by the clearness of the
+ice, followed their runways and traced them to where the little fellows
+often sat inside their shelters.  Knowing that the south side of the
+shelter is the thinnest side, The Owl would drive in his spear and
+impale the little dweller.
+
+
+HUNTING THE OTTER
+
+That afternoon Oo-koo-hoo set a number of traps for otter.  When placed
+on land otter traps are set as for fox, though of course of a larger
+size, and the same statement applies to deadfalls; while the bait used
+for both kinds of otter traps is the same as that used for mink.  The
+otter is an unusually playful, graceful, active, and powerful animal;
+but when caught in a trap becomes exceedingly vicious, and the hunter
+must take care lest he be severely bitten.  Oo-koo-hoo told me that on
+one occasion, when he was hunting otters, he lost his favourite dog.
+The dog was holding an otter prisoner in a rocky pocket where the water
+was shallow, and the otter, waiting to attack the dog when off guard,
+at last got its chance, seized its adversary by the throat, and that
+was the end of the dog.
+
+The otter is not only easily tamed, but makes a charming pet, as many a
+trader has proved; and it is one of the few animals that actually
+indulge in a sport or game for the sheer sake of the thrill it affords.
+Thus the otter is much given to the Canadian sports of tobogganing and
+"shooting the chute," but it does it without sled or canoe; and at all
+seasons of the year it may be seen sharing its favourite
+slide--sometimes fifty or a hundred feet in length--with its
+companions.  If in summer, the descent is made on a grassy or clayey
+slope down which the animals swiftly glide, and plunge headlong into
+deep water.  If the sport takes place on a clay bank, the wet coats of
+the otters soon make the slide so slippery that the descent is made at
+thrilling speed.  But in winter time the sport becomes general, as then
+the snow forms a more convenient and easier surface down which to
+slide.  The otter, though not a fast traveller upon land, is a master
+swimmer, and not only does it pursue and overtake the speckled trout,
+but also the swift and agile salmon.
+
+Otters den in the river or lake bank and provide an underwater entrance
+to their home.  They mate in February and the young--never more than
+five, but more often two--are born in April; and though their food
+includes flesh and fowl--muskrats, frogs, and young ducks--it is
+principally composed of fish.
+
+Though slow on land an otter often travels considerable distances,
+especially in winter time, when it goes roaming in search of open
+water.  If pursued it has a protective way of diving into and crawling
+swiftly beneath the surface of the snow, in such a way that though its
+pursuer may run fast, he more often loses his quarry; I know, because I
+have experienced it.
+
+The otter not only has its thick, oily, dark-brown fur to keep it warm,
+but also a thick layer of fat between its skin and body; and thus,
+seal-like, it seems to enjoy in comfort the coldest of winter water.
+Otters measure three or four feet in length and in weight run from
+fifteen to thirty pounds.
+
+The Indians of the Strong Woods are very superstitious in relation to
+the otter.  They not only refuse to eat the flesh, but they don't like
+to take the carcass home, always preferring to skin it where it is
+caught.  Even then they dislike to place the skin in their hunting bag,
+but will drag it behind them on the snow.  Also, Indian women refuse to
+skin an otter, as they have a superstition that it would prevent them
+from becoming mothers.
+
+One afternoon, when Oo-koo-hoo and I were sitting on a high rock
+overlooking the rapids on Bear River, he espied an otter ascending the
+turbulent waters by walking on the river bottom.  We watched the animal
+for some time.  It was an interesting sight, as it was evidently
+hunting for fish that might be resting in the backwaters behind the
+boulders.  Every time it would ascend the rapids it would rise to the
+surface and then quietly float down stream in the sluggish, eddying
+shore currents where the bushes overhung the bank.  Then it would again
+dive and again make the ascent by crawling up the river bottom.
+
+"My son, watch him closely, for if he catches a fish you will see that
+he always seizes it either by the head or tail, rarely by the middle,
+as the fish would then squirm and shake so violently that the otter
+would not like it.  Sometimes, too, an otter will lie in wait on a rock
+at the head of a rapid, and when a fish tries to ascend to the upper
+reach of the river by leaping out of the water and thus avoiding the
+swift current, the otter will leap, too, and seize the fish in mid-air.
+It is a thrilling sight to see him do it."
+
+The snow was going so rapidly and the water running so freely that
+Oo-koo-hoo felt sure the bears had now all left their dens, otherwise
+water might be trickling into their winter beds.  So, for the next few
+days, the hunter was busily engaged in setting traps for bears,
+beavers, otters, minks, and muskrats; and thus the spring hunt went
+steadily on while the Goose Moon waned and then disappeared, and in its
+place the Frog Moon shone.
+
+
+LITTLE PINE'S LOVE SONG
+
+One sunny morning, while I was strolling along the beach, I heard the
+sound of distant drumming, and presently a youthful voice broke into
+song.  It was The Little Pine singing to his sweetheart.
+
+Now it was Maytime in the Northland.  Tender grasses were thrusting
+their tiny blades from under last year's leaves and here and there the
+woodland's pale-green carpet was enriched with masses of varying
+colours where wild flowers were bursting into bloom.  Yet the
+increasing power of the sun had failed to destroy every trace of
+winter--for occasional patches of snow were to be seen clinging to the
+shady sides of the steepest hills and small ice floes were still
+floating in the lake below.  But as summer comes swiftly in the Great
+Northern Forest, spring loses no time in lingering by the way.  Already
+the restless south wind was singing softly to the "Loneland" of the
+glorious days to come.
+
+The forest and all her creatures, hearing the song of spring time, were
+astir with joyous life.  Among the whispering trees the bees were
+humming, the squirrels chattering, and many kinds of birds were making
+love to one another.
+
+No wonder Shing-wauk--The Little Pine--sang his love song, too, for was
+not his heart aflame with the spring time of life?  Perched high among
+the branches of a pine the youth was relieving the monotony of his
+drumming by occasionally chanting.  At the foot of the thickly wooded
+hillside upon which the pine stood the indolent waters of Muskrat Creek
+meandered toward Bear Lake.  On the bank near the river's mouth stood
+the lodges, but neither Oo-koo-hoo nor Amik seemed to be at home; and
+the rest of the family may have been absent, too, for the dogs were
+mounting guard.
+
+Again the boy beat his drum; louder and louder he sang his love song
+until his soft rich voice broke into a wail.  Presently the door-skin
+of Granny's lodge was gently pushed aside, and Neykia stepped
+indolently forth.
+
+Shading her eyes with her hand, the girl gazed at the hillside, but
+failed to discern her lover in the tree top.  She listened awhile and
+then, upon hearing once more the love song above the beating of the
+drum, yielded to the dictates of her heart and began to climb the hill.
+Little Pine saw her coming, ceased his drumming, and slid down to hide
+behind the tree trunk.
+
+A faintly marked woodland path led close by, and along it the maiden
+was advancing.  As she came abreast of the tree the youth, in fun, gave
+a shout, and the maid--evidently pretending bashful alarm--took to
+flight.
+
+Though fleet of foot, she suffered him to overtake her soon and catch
+her by the arm, and hold her while she feigned to struggle desperately
+for freedom.  That won, she turned away with a laugh, sat down upon a
+bank of wild flowers, and with shyly averted face, began plucking them.
+Little Pine sat down beside her.  A moment later she sprang up and with
+merry laughter ran into the denser forest, and there, with her lover
+swiftly following her, disappeared from view.
+
+At sunset that evening Oo-koo-hoo and his wife sat smoking beside their
+fire; and when the hermit thrush was singing, the whippoorwill
+whippoorwilling, the owl oo-koo-hooing, the fox barking, the bull frog
+whoo-wonking, the gander honking, the otter whistling, the drake
+quacking, the squirrel chattering, the cock grouse drumming, and the
+wolf howling--each to his own chosen mate, the hunter turned to me and
+smiled:
+
+"Do you hear Shing-wauk singing?"
+
+I listened more attentively to the many mingling love songs of the
+forest dwellers, and sure enough, away off along the shore, I could
+hear Little Pine singing to his sweetheart.  It was charming.
+
+
+THE LOVE DANCE
+
+"My son," sighed Oo-koo-hoo, "it reminds me of the days when I, too,
+was a boy and when Ojistoh was a girl, away back among the many springs
+of long ago."
+
+"Yes, Nar-pim," smiled Granny--for an Indian woman never calls her
+husband by his name, but always addresses him as Nar-pim, which means
+"my man."
+
+"Yes, Nar-pim, don't you remember when I heard that drumming away off
+among the trees, and when I, girl-like, pretended I did not know what
+it meant, but you, saying never a word and taking me by the hand, led
+me to the very spot where that handsome little lover was beating his
+drum and making love to so many sweethearts?"
+
+"Yes, I remember it well, when I took little Ojistoh, my sweetheart, by
+the hand and we hurried to find the little drummer."  Then, turning to
+me, the hunter continued: "My son, one never forgets the days of his
+youth, and well can I recall picking our way in and out among the trees
+and undergrowth, tiptoeing here and there lest our moccasined feet
+should break a fallen twig and alarm the drummer or the dancers.  For
+it was the love dance we were going to see.  As the drumming sound
+increased in volume, our caution increased, too.  Soon we deemed it
+prudent to go down upon our hands and knees and thus be more surely
+screened by the underbrush as we stealthily approached.  Creeping on
+toward the sound, slowly and with infinite precaution, we discovered
+that we were not the only ones going to the dance: the whirring of
+wings frequently rustled overhead as ruffed grouse skimmed past us in
+rapid flight.
+
+"Once, my son, we felt the wind from a hawk's wing swooping low from
+bush to bush, as though endeavouring to arrive unheralded.  Twice we
+caught sight of a fox silently and craftily stealing along.  Once we
+saw a lynx--a soft gray shadow--slinking through the undergrowth ahead.
+It seemed as if all the Strong Woods dwellers were going to the love
+dance, too, and, I remember, Ojistoh began to feel afraid.  But,"
+smiled Oo-koo-hoo, "she was devoured with curiosity; and, besides, was
+not her young lover with her?  Why need she fear?
+
+"When we came to the foot of a ridge the drumming sounded very near.
+With utmost wariness we crawled from bush to bush, pausing every now
+and then, and crouching low.  Then, judging the way still clear, we
+crawled forward, and finally gained the top of the ridge.  With
+thumping hearts we rested a moment in a crouching posture, for we had
+at last arrived upon the scene.  Slowly and breathlessly raising our
+heads, we peered through the leafy screen and beheld the love dance in
+full swing.
+
+"And there, my son, on a clear sandy opening in the wood, twenty or
+thirty partridge hens were dancing in a semicircle, in the centre of
+which, perched upon a rotten log, a beautiful cock partridge drummed.
+He was standing with his small head thrust forward upon a finely arched
+neck which was circled by a handsome outstanding black ruff, fully as
+wide as his body.  His extended wings grazed his perch, while his
+superb tail spread out horizontally.
+
+"'Chun--chun--chun--chun--chun-nnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,' he hissed slowly at
+first, but with steadily increasing rapidity.  His bill was open; his
+bright eyes were gleaming; his wings were beating at such a rate that
+the forest resounded with the prolonged roll of his drumming.  Again
+and again he shrilled his love call, and again and again he beat his
+wondrous accompaniment.  Every little while the whirring of swiftly
+moving wings was heard overhead as other hens flew down to join in the
+love dance.  To and fro strutted the cock bird in all his pride of
+beauty--his wings trailing upon the log, his neck arched more haughtily
+than ever, his ruff rising above his head, and his handsome fan-like
+tail extended higher still.
+
+"Meanwhile, my son, the hens, too, were strutting up and down, and in
+and out among their rivals; some, with wings brushing upon the ground;
+others, with a single wing spread out, against which they frequently
+kicked the nearest foot as they circled round each other.  A continuous
+hissing was kept up, along with a shaking of heads from side to side, a
+ceremonious bowing, and a striking of bills upon the ground.
+But--though the cock was doing his best to dazzle them with the display
+of his charms--the hens appeared unconscious of his presence and
+indifferent to his advances.
+
+"There Ojistoh and I were gazing in silent admiration at the scene
+before us, when--without the slightest warning, and as though dropped
+from the sky--another cock landed in the midst of the dancers.
+Immediately the cock of the dance rushed at the intruder and fiercely
+attacked him.
+
+"But the newcomer was ready.  My son, you should have seen them.  Bills
+and wings clashed together.  In a moment feathers were flying and blood
+was running.  But the hens never paused in their love dance.  Again and
+again the feathered fighters dashed at each other, only to drop apart.
+Then, facing each other with drooping wings, ruffled plumes, extended
+necks, lowered heads, and gaping bills, they would gasp for breath.  A
+moment later they would spring into the air and strike viciously at
+each other with bill and wing, then separate again.  The sand was soon
+strewn with feathers and sprinkled with blood, yet the belligerents
+kept renewing the deadly conflict.  Unconcernedly, all the while, the
+stupid hens tripped to and fro in the evolutions of their love dance.
+
+"Already the intruder's scalp was torn; the left wing of the cock of
+the dance was broken; and both were bleeding copiously.  It was a great
+fight, my son, and the end was near.  At the next rush the intruder
+knocked the cock of the dance down, and leaping upon him, drove his
+bill into his skull, killing him.
+
+"After a brief rest to recover breath, the victor jumped over his late
+rival's body, took a short leap into the air, gave a back kick of
+contempt, flew up on the log, and looked round as though seeking for
+female applause.  But the hens, with apparently never a thought of him,
+still kept up their dancing.  Presently he, too, sounded his love call
+and drummed his accompaniment.  Then, strutting up and down, he
+inspected the dancers.  When he had made up his mind as to which was
+the belle of the dance, he made a rush for her.
+
+"But, my son, at that very moment a lynx sprang through the air, seized
+him by the neck, and bounded off with him among the bushes.  In the
+confusion that followed, the hens flew away and I, seizing Ojistoh,
+kissed her.  Startled, she leaped up, and with laughter ran away, but
+in hot pursuit I followed her."
+
+
+THE WAYS OF THE FEMALE
+
+"Ah, my son," commented Granny with a smile and a shake of her head as
+she drew her pipe from her mouth, "Nar-pim has always been like
+that . . . but he was worse in the days of his youth . . . fancy him
+taking a little girl to see the love dance . . . the old rabbit!"
+
+"The old rabbit . . . indeed?" Oo-koo-hoo questioned.  "Why, it was
+just the other way round.  It was you who wanted me to take you there;
+it was your hypocritical pretence of innocence that made me do it; and
+though, as you said, I took your hand, it was you who was always
+leading the way."
+
+Then was renewed the ancient and never-settled question as to who was
+at fault, the old Adam or the old Eve; but as Granny usually got the
+better of it by adding the last word, Oo-koo-hoo turned to me in
+disgust and grunted:
+
+"Listen to her . . . why, my son, it has always been the female that
+did the courting . . . all down through the Great, Great Long Ago, it
+has ever been thus . . . and so it is to-day.  Look at the cow of the
+moose, the doe of the deer, the she of the lynx, the female of the
+wolf, the she of the bear, the goose, the duck, the hen, and the female
+of the rabbit.  What do they do when they want a mate? . . .  They
+bellow and run, they meow and bow, they howl and prance, they twitter
+and dance . . . just as women have always done.  And when the male
+comes, what does the female do?  She pretends indifference, she feigns
+innocence, she runs away, and stops to listen, _afraid lest she has run
+too far_; and then, if he does not follow, she comes deceitfully back
+again and pretends not even to see him.  Remember, my son, that though
+the female always runs away, she never runs so fast that she couldn't
+run faster; and it makes no difference whether the female has wings or
+fins, flippers or feet, it is all the same . . . the female always does
+the courting."
+
+No doubt, had they ever met, Oo-koo-hoo and George Bernard Shaw would
+have become fast friends; for George, too, insists on the very same
+thing.  But does not the average man, from his great store of conceit,
+draw the flattering inference that it is he and he alone who does the
+courting, and that his success is entirely due to his wonderful display
+of physical and mental charm; while the average woman looks in her
+mirror and laughs in her sleeve--less gown.
+
+Though for some time silence filled the tepee and the dogs were asleep
+beside the door, the pipes still glowed; and Oo-koo-hoo, stirring the
+fire, mused aloud:
+
+"But, perhaps, my son, you wonder why the hen partridges dance that way
+and why the cock drums his accompaniment?"
+
+"It does seem strange," I replied.
+
+"But not, my son, if you know their history.  It is an old, old story,
+and it began away back in the Great, Great, Long Ago, even before it
+was the custom of our people to marry.  It happened this way: Once
+there was an old chief who used oftentimes to go away alone into the
+woods and mount upon a high rock and sing his hunting songs and beat
+his drum.  Since he was much in favour, many women would come and
+listen to his songs; also, they would dance before him--to attract his
+attention.
+
+"Now it came to pass on a certain day that a young chief of another
+tribe happened by chance upon that way.  Hearing the drumming, he
+resolved to find out what it was about.  Deep into the heart of the
+wood he followed the sound and came upon an open glade wherein were
+many women dancing before a huge boulder.  Wondering, with great
+admiration, the young chief gazed upon their graceful movements and
+comely figures, and determined to rush in and capture the most
+beautiful of them.  Turning thought into act, he bounded in among the
+dancers, and, to his amazement, discovered the old chief, who, at sight
+of him, dropped his drum, grasped his war club, and leaping down from
+his rocky eminence, rushed upon the young interloper in a frenzy of
+jealous fury.  The women made no outcry; for, like the female moose or
+caribou, they love the victor.  So to the accompaniment of the men's
+hard breathing and the clashing of their war clubs, they went
+unconcernedly on with their love dance.  In the end the young chief
+slew the older one, and departed in triumph with the women.  But, my
+son, when the Master of Life learned what had happened, he was
+exceeding wroth; insomuch that he turned the young chief and the women
+into partridges.  That is why the partridges dance the love dance even
+to this day."
+
+
+HUNTING WILD FOWL
+
+Next morning, while Oo-koo-hoo was examining a muskrat lodge from his
+canoe, he heard a sudden "honk, honk," and looking up he espied two
+Canada geese flying low and straight toward us; seizing his gun, he up
+with it and let drive at one of the geese as it was passing beyond him,
+and brought it down.  He concluded that they had just arrived from the
+south and were seeking a place to feed.  Later, we encountered at close
+range several more and the hunter secured another.
+
+As they were the first geese he had killed that season, he did not
+allow the women to touch them, but according to the Indian custom,
+dressed and cooked them himself; also, at supper time, he gave all the
+flesh to the rest of us, and saved for himself nothing but the part
+from which the eggs came.  Further, he cautioned us not to laugh or
+talk while eating the geese, otherwise their spirits would be offended
+and he would have ill-luck for the rest of the season.  And when the
+meal was finished he collected all the bones and tossed them into the
+centre of the fire, so that they would be properly consumed instead of
+allowing the dogs to eat them; and thus he warded off misfortune.
+
+As we sat by the fire that night Oo-koo-hoo busied himself making
+decoys for geese, by chopping blocks of dry pine into rough images of
+their bodies, and fashioning their necks and heads from bent willow
+sticks; as well as roughly staining the completed models to represent
+the plumage.  And while he worked he talked of the coming of the birds
+in spring.
+
+"My son, the first birds to arrive are the eagles; next, the snow-birds
+and the barking crows (ravens); then the big gray (Canada) geese, and
+the larger ducks; then the smaller kinds of geese and the smaller kinds
+of ducks; and then the robins, blackbirds, and gulls.  Then, as likely
+as not, a few days later, what is called a 'goose winter'--a heavy, wet
+snowstorm followed by colder weather--may come along and try to drive
+the birds all back again; but before the bad weather completes its
+useless work a timely south wind may arrive, and with the aid of a
+milder spell, will utterly destroy the 'goose winter'.  Then, after
+that, the sky soon becomes mottled with flying birds of many kinds:
+gray geese, laughing geese, waveys, and white geese, as well as great
+flocks of ducks of many kinds; also mud-hens, sawbills, waders,
+plovers, curlew, pelicans, swans, and cranes, both white and gray.
+Then another great flight of little birds as well as loons.  And last
+of all may come the little husky geese that travel farther north to
+breed their young than do those of any other kind."
+
+The next day the hunters built a "goose stand" on the sandy beach of
+Willow Point by making a screen about six feet long by three feet high
+of willow branches; and, as the ground was wet and cold, a brush
+mattress was laid behind the screen upon which the hunters could sit
+while watching for geese.  The site was a good one, as Willow Point
+jutted into the lake near a big marsh on its south side.  Beyond the
+screen they set their decoys, some in the water and others on the sand,
+but all heading up wind.  When they shot their first geese, the hunters
+cut off the wings and necks together with the heads and fastened them
+in a natural way upon the decoys.
+
+Oo-koo-hoo told me that when one wished to secure geese, he should be
+in readiness to take his position behind the stand before the first
+sign of morning sun.  Furthermore, he told me that geese were usually
+looking for open water and sandy beaches from eight to nine o'clock;
+from ten to twelve they preferred the marshes in order to feed upon
+goose grass and goose weed, as well as upon the roots and seeds of
+other aquatic plants.  Then from noon to four o'clock they sought the
+lakes to preen themselves; while from four to six they returned to the
+sandy beaches and then resorted to the marshes in which to spend the
+night.  That was the usual procedure for from ten to fifteen days, then
+away they went to their more northern breeding grounds where they spent
+midsummer.
+
+Seeing a hawk soaring overhead, Oo-koo-hoo said it reminded him of a
+hawk that once bothered him by repeatedly swooping down among his
+dead-duck decoys, and each time he had to rush from his blind to drive
+the hawk away or it would have carried away one of his dead ducks; and
+being short of ammunition, he did not care to waste a shot.  But he
+ended the trouble by taking up all his dead ducks save one.  Then he
+removed the pointed iron from his muskrat spear, and ramming the butt
+of the iron into the sand, left it standing up beside the duck as
+though it had been a reed.  The next time the hawk swooped down, he let
+it drive with full force at the dead duck, and thus impale itself on
+the muskrat spear.
+
+But one day, after the geese had passed on their northward journey,
+Oo-koo-hoo began making other decoys of a different nature, and when I
+questioned him, he replied that he was going to kill a few loons with
+his bow and arrow, as Granny wished to use the skins of their necks to
+make a work-bag for the Factor's wife at Fort Consolation.  After
+shaping the decoys, he mixed together gunpowder, charcoal, and grease
+with which to paint the decoys black--save where he left spots of the
+light-coloured wood to represent the white markings of those beautiful
+birds.  When the decoys were eventually anchored in the bay they bobbed
+about on the rippling water quite true to life and they even took an
+occasional dive, when the anchor thong ran taut.
+
+
+OO-KOO-HOO'S COURTING
+
+After supper, when we were talking about old customs, I questioned
+Oo-koo-hoo as to how the Indians married before it was the custom to go
+to the Post to get the clergyman to perform that rite; and in reply he
+said:
+
+"My son, Ojistoh and I were married both ways, so I don't think I can
+do better than to tell you how our own marriage took place.  It was
+this way, my son: one night, when old Noo-koom, Ojistoh's grandmother,
+became convinced that we lovers had sat under the blanket long enough,
+she decided that it was time we sat upon the brush together, or were
+married.  Accordingly, she talked the matter over with Ojistoh's
+parents.  They agreed with her, and Ojistoh's father said: 'It is well
+that Oo-koo-hoo and Ojistoh should be married according to the custom
+of our people, but it is also well that we should retain the friendship
+of the priest and the nuns.  On our return to Fort Perseverance,
+therefore, the children must be married in the face of the Church; but
+I charge you all not to let any one at the Post know that Oo-koo-hoo
+and Ojistoh have already been married after the custom of our people.
+It is well that we should live according to the ways of our
+forefathers, and it is also well that we should seem to adopt the ways
+of the white man.  Now call Ojistoh, and let me hear what she has to
+say.'
+
+"When Ojistoh came in, her father told her that I was a good boy; that
+I would certainly make a successful hunter; and that, if she would sit
+upon the brush with me, they would give her plenty of marrow grease for
+her hair and some porcupine quills for her moccasins.  They might even
+buy her some ribbon, beads, and silk thread for fancy work.
+Furthermore, they said I would be given enough moose skins to make a
+lodge covering.
+
+"Ojistoh chewed meditatively upon the large piece of spruce gum in her
+mouth, while she listened with averted eyes and drooping head.  But old
+Noo-koom, evidently supposing Ojistoh to be in doubt, interposed: 'You
+must sit upon the brush with him, because I have promised that you
+would.  Did we not eat the fat and the blood, and use the firewood he
+left at our door?'
+
+"The remembrance, no doubt, of all that dainty eating decided Ojistoh,
+and she gave her word that she would sit upon the brush with me if they
+would promise to buy her a bottle of perfume when they returned to Fort
+Perseverance.  When Ojistoh left the lodge, her father said to me:
+
+"'Listen, my boy, Noo-koom tells me that you have been sitting under
+the blanket with my daughter Ojistoh.  She is a good girl and will make
+you happy; for she can make good moccasins.'
+
+"'Yes,' I replied, 'I know the girl and I want her.'
+
+"'To-morrow, then,' said her father, 'you must sit upon the brush with
+her.  I will tell the women to prepare the feast.'
+
+"Next morning Ojistoh sat waiting in her lodge for me to come.  Already
+she wore the badge of womanhood, for not having a new dress she had
+simply reversed her old one and buttoned it up in front instead of the
+back.  For it is the custom of Ojibway girls to button their dresses
+behind and for married women to button theirs in front.
+
+"My son, you should have seen me that morning, for I was bedecked in
+all my finery, and upon entering Noo-koom's lodge, I seized Ojistoh by
+the hair of her head, and dragged her out.  Her struggles to escape
+from me were quite edifying in their propriety.  Her shrieks were
+heartrending--or rather, they would have been had they not alternated
+with delighted giggles.  By that time the wedding march had begun; for
+as we struggling lovers led the way, the children, bubbling with
+laughter, followed; and the old people brought up the rear of the
+joyous procession.  We, the happy couple, tussled with each other until
+we reached a spot in the bush where I had cleared a space and laid a
+carpet of balsam brush beside a fire.  There I deposited her.  With a
+final shriek she accepted the new conditions, and at once set about her
+matrimonial duties, while the others returned to their lodges to put
+the finishing touches to the wedding breakfast.
+
+"Oh, yes, my son, those were happy days," continued the hunter.
+"There, beside a great fire in the open, was laid a carpet of brush, in
+the centre of which a blanket was spread, and upon it the feast.  There
+were rabbits, partridges, and fish roasted upon sticks.  In a pot,
+boiled fresh moose and caribou meat; in another, simmered lynx
+entrails, bear fat, and moose steak.  In a third, stewed ducks and
+geese.  In a fourth, bubbled choice pieces of beaver, muskrat, lynx,
+and skunk.  Besides, there were caribou tongues, beaver tails, bear
+meat, and foxes' entrails roasted upon the coals.  Strong tea in
+plenty, fresh birch syrup, forest-made cranberry wine, a large chunk of
+dried Saskatoon berries served with bear's grease, frozen cranberries,
+and a little bannock made of flour, water, and grease, completed the
+fare.
+
+"Then, too, Ojistoh sat beside me and ate out of my dish.  She even
+used my pipe for an after-dinner smoke.  Then, after an interval of
+rest, dancing began, by the dancers circling the fire to the measured
+beat of a drum.  Round and round we moved in silence.  Then, breaking
+into a chant, we men faced the women, and from time to time solemnly
+revolved.  But the women never turned their backs upon the fire.  It
+was rather slow, monotonous measure, only relieved by the women and
+children throwing feathers at one another.  Between each dance the
+company partook of refreshments, and so the festivity proceeded until
+daylight.  Next morning Ojistoh's father gave us some wholesome advice
+and then we set up housekeeping on our own account, and, as you see,
+have continued it even to this day; haven't we, my little Ojistoh?"
+smiled the old hunter at his wife.
+
+
+NATURE'S SANCTUARIES
+
+One Sunday morning, when spring was all a-dance to the wondrous wild
+music of the woods, I sat in the warmth of the sun and thought of my
+Creator.  Later, I learned that Oo-koo-hoo and Amik were also thinking
+of Him; for in the wilderness one often thinks of The Master of Life.
+That morning I thought, too, of the tolling of village church bells and
+of cathedral chimes, and I contrasted those metallic sounds with the
+beautiful singing of the birds of the forest; also I contrasted the
+difference of a Sunday in the city with a Sunday in the wilderness; and
+my soul rested in supreme contentment.  Yet the ignorant city dwellers
+think of the wilderness as "God-forsaken."  Hunt the world over, and
+could one find any more holy places than some of Nature's sanctuaries?
+I have found many, but I shall recall but one, a certain grove on the
+Alaskan border.
+
+It was in one of the wildest of all wild regions of the northern world.
+"God-forsaken" . . . indeed?  In truth, it seemed to be the very home
+of God.  There, between the bases of two towering perpendicular ranges
+of mountains, mantled by endless snows and capped by eternal ice, lay
+the wildest of all box-canons: one end of which was blocked by a
+barrier of snow hundreds of feet high and thousands of feet thick--the
+work of countless avalanches; while the other end was blocked by a
+barrier of eternal ice thousands of feet in width and millions of tons
+in weight--a living and growing glacier.  And there, away down at the
+very bottom of that wild gorge, beside a roaring, leaping little river
+of seething foam, grew a beautiful grove of trees; and never a time did
+I enter there but what I thought of it as holy ground--far more holy
+than any cathedral I have ever known . . . for there, in that grove,
+one seemed to stand in the presence of God.
+
+There, in that grove, the great reddish-brown boles of Sitka
+spruces--four and five feet in diameter--towered up like many huge
+architectural columns as they supported the ruggedly beamed and
+evergreen ceiling that domed far overhead.  High above an altar-like
+mass of rock, completely mantled with gorgeously coloured mosses, an
+opening shone in the gray-green wall, and through it filtered long
+slanting beams of sunlight, as though coming through a leaded,
+sky-blue, stained-glass window of some wonderful cathedral.  While upon
+the grove's mossy floor stood, row upon row, a mass of luxuriant ferns
+that almost covered the velvet carpet, and seemed to form endless seats
+in readiness for the coming of some congregation.  But on only one
+occasion did I ever see a worshipper there.
+
+Weary from the weight of a heavy pack--seventy-five pounds of
+dynamite--I had paused to rest a moment in that wonderful place which
+so few human beings had ever discovered; where, too, on passing
+through, it was always my custom to remove my hat--just as any one
+would do on entering a church.  There that day, as I stood gazing at
+the glorious sunbeams as they filtered through the great chancel
+window, I listened to the enchanting music of the feathered choir high
+overhead, that seemed to be singing to the accompaniment of one of
+Nature's most powerful organs--the roaring river--that thundered aloud,
+as, with all its force, it wildly rolled huge boulders down its rocky
+bed.  Then, lowering my eyes, I discovered the one and only worshipper
+I ever saw there.  He was standing near a side aisle in the shadow of
+an alcove, and he, too, was gazing up at those radiant sunbeams and
+listening to the choir; moreover, notwithstanding that he was a big
+brown bear, he appeared too devout even to notice me--perhaps because
+he, too, felt the holy presence of "The Great Mystery" . . . our God.
+
+Yes, my friend, it is my belief that if there is any place on earth
+that is "God-forsaken," it is not to be found in even the wildest part
+of the wildest wilderness, but in that cesspool called a city.
+
+
+GOING TO THE POST
+
+After half of May had passed away, and when the spring hunt was over,
+Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, poling up the turbulent little streams, and
+following as closely as possible the routes of their fur trails, went
+the round of their trapping paths, removed their snares, sprung their
+deadfalls, and gathering their steel traps loaded them aboard their
+canoes.  That work completed, packing began in readiness for the
+postward journey; there, as usual, they would spend their well-earned
+holidays with pleasure upon their tribal summer camping grounds.
+
+[Illustration: After half of May had passed away, and when the spring
+hunt was over, Oo-koo-hoo and Amik, poling up the turbulent little
+streams, and following as closely as possible the routes of their fur
+trails, went the round of their trapping paths, removed their snares,
+sprung their deadfalls, and gathering their steel traps loaded them
+aboard their canoes.  That work completed, packing began in readiness
+for the . . .  See Chapter VII.]
+
+So, when all was in readiness, the deerskin lodge coverings were taken
+down, rolled up, and stored out of harm's way upon a stage.  Then, with
+hearts light with happiness and canoes heavy with the wealth of the
+forest, we paddled away with pleasant memories of our forest home, and
+looked forward to our arrival at Fort Consolation.
+
+Soon after entering Bear River the canoes were turned toward the
+western bank and halted at a point near one of their old camping
+grounds.  Then Naudin--Amik's wife--left the others, and took her way
+among the trees to an opening in the wood.  There stood two little
+wooden crosses that marked the graves of two of her children--one a
+still-born girl and the other a boy who had died at the age of three.
+Upon the boy's grave she placed some food and a little bow and some
+arrows, and bowed low over it and wept aloud.  But at the grave of her
+still-born child she forgot her grief and smiled with joy as she placed
+upon the mound a handful of fresh flowers, a few pretty feathers, and
+some handsome furs.  Sitting there in the warm sunshine, she closed her
+eyes--as she told me afterward--and fancied she heard the little maid
+dancing among the rustling leaves and singing to her.
+
+Like all Indian women of the Strong Woods, she believed that her
+still-born child would never grow larger or older; that it would never
+leave her; that it would always love her, though she lived to be a
+great-grandmother; that when sorrow and pain bowed her low this little
+maid would laugh and dance and talk and sing to her, and thus change
+her grief into joy.  That is why an Indian mother puts pretty things
+upon the grave of her still-born child, and that is why she never
+mourns over it.
+
+As our journey progressed those enemies of comfort and pleasure, the
+black flies, appeared, and at sunrise and sunset caused much annoyance,
+especially among the children.  Then, too, at night if the breeze
+subsided, mosquitoes swarmed from the leeward side of bushes and drove
+slumber away.
+
+One afternoon, while resting, we observed signs of beaver and
+Oo-koo-hoo, being reminded of an incident he once witnessed, related it
+to me:
+
+"Once, my son, while paddling alone, I rounded the bend of a river, and
+hearing a splash just beyond the turn, silently propelled my canoe
+beneath a screen of overhanging branches.  After waiting and watching
+awhile, I saw an otter fishing in the stream.  A moment later I beheld
+a beaver--evidently a female--swimming just beyond the otter, and
+pursued by two other beavers--evidently males.  The males, perceiving
+the otter swimming in the direction of the female, probably came to the
+conclusion that he was about to pay his court to her, for they suddenly
+swerved from their course and attacked the innocent otter.  He dived to
+escape his assailants, and they dived after him.  When he rose for
+breath, they came up, too, and made after him; so he dived again.
+Evidently, they were trying to wind their quarry, for whenever he came
+up for breath they endeavoured to reach him before he got it.  In a
+short time they had so exhausted him that he refused to dive again
+before he gained his breath.  He made for the shore.  The beavers
+rushed after him, overtook him, and just as he gained the bank, ripped
+his throat open.  Then I shot one of the beavers and tossed it into my
+canoe along with the otter."
+
+The journey to the Post was a delight all the way--save when the flies
+were busy.  One night those almost invisible little torments, the sand
+flies, caused us--or rather me--much misery until Granny built such a
+large fire that it attracted the attention of the little brutes, and
+into it they all dived, or apparently did--just as she said they
+would--for in less than half an hour not a single sand fly remained.
+
+On our way to God's Lake we had considerable sport in the way of
+shooting white-water.  One morning we landed at the head of a portage,
+and, as the rapid was not a dangerous one, Oo-koo-hoo and Amik
+determined to run it, but first went ashore to examine the channel.  On
+their return Oo-koo-hoo instructed the others to follow his lead about
+four canoe-lengths apart, so that in case of mishap they could help
+each other.  Down the canoes plunged one after the other.  The children
+wielded their little paddles, screaming with delight as they swiftly
+glided through the foaming spray past shores still lined here and there
+with walls of ice.
+
+As the canoes rounded a sharp bend in the rapid Oo-koo-hoo descried a
+black bear walking on the ice that overhung the eastern bank.  The
+animal seemed as much surprised as any of us, and, instead of making
+off, rose upon its haunches and gazed in amazement at the passing
+canoes.  But as we swept by there was no thought of firing guns.  The
+sight of the bear reminded Oo-koo-hoo of an experience some friends of
+his once had with a black bear; and when we reached slack water he told
+it to me.
+
+The friends in question were a mother and her daughter, and late one
+afternoon they were returning from berry picking.  As they rounded a
+bend in the river the daughter in the bow suddenly stopped paddling,
+and--without turning her face toward her mother in the stern--excitedly
+whispered: "_Muskwa_!  _Muskwa_!"
+
+Then as the older woman caught sight of a dark object fifty paces away,
+she uttered a few hurried commands.  Both fell to paddling with all
+their might.  With straining backs, stiffened arms, and bending blades,
+they fairly lifted the canoe at every stroke; and the waters gave a
+tearing sound as the slashing blades sent little whirlpools far behind.
+Their hearts were fired with the spirit of the chase, and--though their
+only weapons were their skinning knives--they felt no fear.  On they
+raced to head the bear, who was swimming desperately to gain the shore.
+They overhauled him.  He turned at bay.  The daughter soused a blanket
+in the water and threw it over his head.  The mother in the stern
+reached over as the canoe glided by, seized him by an ear as he
+struggled blindly beneath the smothering mantle, and drove her knife
+into his throat.  A broad circle of crimson coloured the water round
+the blanket.  The canoe was quickly brought about; the mother slipped a
+noose over his head, and in triumph they towed the carcass to their
+camp.
+
+On the last morning of our trip there was a flutter of pleasant
+excitement among our little party; and by the time the sun appeared and
+breakfast was over, everybody was laughing and talking, for we had made
+such progress that we expected to reach Fort Consolation by ten o'clock
+that forenoon.  Quickly we loaded the canoes again, and away we
+paddled.  In a few hours the beautiful expanse of God's Lake appeared
+before us.  When we sighted the old fort, a joyous shout rang out;
+paddles were waved overhead, and tears of joy rose to the eyes of the
+women--and of some of the men.
+
+Going ashore, we quickly made our toilets, donning our very finest in
+order to make a good appearance on our arrival at the Fort--as is the
+custom of the Northland.  Bear's grease was employed with lavish
+profusion, even Oo-koo-hoo and Amik and the boys using it on their
+hair; while the women and girls greased and wove their tresses into a
+single elongated braid which hung down behind.  The men put on their
+fancy silk-worked moccasins; tied silk handkerchiefs about their
+necks--the reverse of cow-boy fashion--and beaded garters around their
+legs; while the women placed many brass rings upon their fingers,
+bright plaid shawls about their shoulders, gay silk handkerchiefs over
+their heads, and beaded leggings upon their legs.  How I regretted I
+had not brought along my top-hat--that idiotic symbol of
+civilization--for if I could have worn it on that occasion, the Indians
+at Fort Consolation would have been so filled with merriment that they
+would have in all probability remembered me for many a year as the one
+white man with a sense of humour.
+
+For in truth, it is just as Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman) the
+full-blooded Sioux, says in his book on Indian Boyhood: "There is
+scarcely anything so exasperating to me as the idea that the natives of
+this country have no sense of humour and no faculty for mirth.  This
+phase of their character is well understood by those whose fortune or
+misfortune it has been to live among them day in and day out at their
+homes.  I don't believe I ever heard a real hearty laugh away from the
+Indians' fireside.  I have often spent an entire evening in laughing
+with them until I could laugh no more."
+
+
+CONTEST OF WITS
+
+When we arrived at Fort Consolation, Oo-koo-hoo and his party were
+greeted by a swarm of their copper-coloured friends, among whom were
+The Little Pine and his father, mother, and sister.  Making his way
+through the press, The Owl strode toward the trading room to shake
+hands with Factor Mackenzie; but the trader, hearing of Oo-koo-hoo's
+arrival, hastened from his house to welcome the famous hunter; and The
+Owl greeted him with:
+
+"_Quay, quay, Hu-ge-mow_" (good day, Master).
+
+On their way to the Indian shop they passed the canoe shed, where
+skilled hands were finishing two handsome six-fathom canoes for the use
+of the Fur Brigade; and they stopped to examine them.
+
+The building of a six-fathom or "North" canoe generally takes place
+under a shed erected for the purpose, where there is a clear, level
+space and plenty of working room.  Two principal stakes are driven at a
+distance apart of thirty-six feet, the length of the craft to be.
+These are connected by two rows of smaller stakes diverging and
+converging so as to form the shape of the canoe.  The smaller stakes
+are five feet apart at the centre.  Pieces of birch bark are soaked in
+water for a day and no more, sewn together with wat-tap--the roots of
+cedar or spruce gathered in spring--placed between the stakes with the
+outer side down, and then made fast.  The well-soaked ribs are then put
+in place and as soon as they are loaded with stones the bark assumes
+its proper form.  The gunwales, into which the ends of the ribs are
+mortised, are bound into position with _wat-tap_.  The thwarts are next
+adjusted.  The stones and stakes are then removed; the seams are
+covered with a mixture of one part grease to nine parts spruce gum; the
+craft is tested, and is then held in readiness for its maiden voyage.
+
+On entering the Indian shop or trading room, Oo-koo-hoo was ready to
+talk about anything under the sun save business, as he wanted to force
+the Trader to solicit his patronage; but as the Factor was trying to
+make the hunter do the same thing, they parted company a little later
+without having mentioned the word "trade."
+
+No wonder the Indians are glad to return to their tribal summer camping
+grounds; for it is there that they rest and play and spend their summer
+holidays.  It is there, too, that the young people enjoy the most
+favourable opportunity for doing their courting; as every event--such
+as the departure or the return of the Fur Brigade--calls for a festival
+of dancing which not infrequently lasts for several days.  Also, in
+many other ways, the boys and girls have chances of becoming
+acquainted.  Since young hunters often claim their sweethearts during
+the winter, many "marriages" take place after the Indian fashion.  On
+their return to the Post, however, the young couples are generally
+married over again, and this time after the white man's custom--"in the
+face of the Church."  The way the young people "keep company" at the
+summer camping grounds presents no feature of special interest.  It is
+during the winter season in the forest many miles beyond the Post that
+the old customs have full sway.  The re-marrying the young couples "in
+the face of the Church" frequently demands extreme vigilance, for in
+the confusion of the matrimonial busy season when the Indians first
+come in the little papoose is apt to be christened--unless the
+clergyman is very careful--before the parents have had time to arrange
+for their church wedding.
+
+Meanwhile, the women having erected the canvas lodge and put in order
+one of their last-year's birch-bark wigwams, called upon the Factor's
+wife and presented her with a handsome work-bag made of beautifully
+marked skins from the necks of the loons Oo-koo-hoo had shot with his
+bow and arrow for that purpose.
+
+After leaving the Indian shop, the hunter returned to his camp to talk
+matters over with Amik and the women.  He told them that he intended
+selling most of his furs to the Company, but that he thought it wise to
+stay away from the Factor until next day.  But as Granny, being a Roman
+Catholic, wanted to have Father Jois marry Neykia and The Little Pine,
+she suggested that Oo-koo-hoo go and call upon the priest at once.
+Notwithstanding that her mother was a Presbyterian, Neykia had joined
+the Roman Catholic Church and when asked why she had done so, she said
+it was because she thought the candles looked so pretty burning on the
+altar.
+
+Though The Owl was not in the least interested in any one of the white
+man's many religions, nor in the priest, the clergyman, or the minister
+of the three different denominations represented at the Post, he now
+called upon the priest as his wife wished him to.  During the course of
+their conversation the priest said:
+
+"My son, that was a beautiful silver fox you sold the Company three
+years ago.  I, myself, would have paid you well for it."
+
+"Would you look as well upon a black fox?" asked Oo-koo-hoo in
+surprise, as it is an unwritten law of the country that missionaries
+are not to carry on trade with the Indians.
+
+"Yes.  Have you one?" questioned the priest.
+
+"I have never seen a finer," replied the hunter.
+
+"But do either of the traders know you have it?" asked the priest.
+
+"No," answered Oo-koo-hoo, with a shake of his head.
+
+Later, when the priest saw the skin, he was delighted with it, and a
+bargain was soon made.  Oo-koo-hoo was to get one hundred "skins" for
+the black fox, and he was told to call next day.  But after returning
+to camp, he grew impatient and went back to the priest to demand his
+pay.  The priest said he would give him a tent and a rifle worth more
+than fifty skins and that he would say ten masses for him and his
+family, which would be a very generous equivalent for the other fifty
+skins.  But Oo-koo-hoo, suddenly flaring up, began to storm at the
+priest, and demanded the black fox back.  But the priest sternly
+motioned for silence with upraised hand, and whispered: "This is God's
+House.  There must be no noise or anger here."  And without another
+word he withdrew to get the rifle and the tent.  When he returned with
+an old tent and a second-hand rifle, Oo-koo-hoo would not deign to
+touch them.  Without more ado, he turned on his heel and walked away.
+
+On reaching camp, the old hunter learned from the children that the
+women had gone to pay a visit to the nuns; so he followed them, and,
+without even speaking to the Sisters, ordered the women to come home.
+On the way he eased his wrath by telling them that never again would he
+buy prayers or masses from the priest with black fox skins, and that if
+they ever wanted masses, he would pay for them with nothing but the
+skins of skunks.  He did not see why he had to pay for masses, anyway,
+when Free Trader Spear had made them a standing offer of all the
+prayers they wanted free of charge, provided that he, Oo-koo-hoo, would
+trade with him.  He added that he had half a mind to accept Spear's
+offer, just to spite the priest.
+
+So after meditating for a while upon his steadfast belief that any fool
+of an Indian is better than a white man, and that the only good white
+men are the dead ones, he got into his canoe and paddled across the
+lake to interview the opposition trader.
+
+When he told Spear what a splendid black fox he had, and how the priest
+had already offered him a hundred skins for it, the Free Trader said:
+
+"I'll give you a hundred and ten for it," and the old reprobate added,
+"and I'll throw into the bargain half-a-dozen prayers for the women."
+
+The offer was at once accepted.  On handing over the goods to
+Oo-koo-hoo, the trader asked where the black fox was, and was told that
+it was in keeping of the priest.  So without delay Mr. Spear paddled
+back with The Owl to get the skin.  When the priest learned how the
+hunter had stolen a march on him, he was righteously indignant; but he
+dared not complain, since he was not supposed to deal in furs.  There
+was nothing to do but hand over the magnificent skin to the Free Trader
+although he knew right well that in London or Paris it would bring
+twenty times the price paid for it.
+
+Next day old Granny came crying to Oo-koo-hoo and complaining that the
+priest had refused to officiate at the wedding on the day agreed upon.
+The nuns had told her that his refusal was due to his determination to
+discipline The Owl for his rudeness and irreverence.  That seemed to
+worry the hunter considerably, for, though he cared nothing for the
+priest's benediction, he did want the wedding to come off upon the day
+appointed.  It touched his pride to be balked in his plans.  He had
+already invited all the Indians at the Post to the ceremony.  Great
+preparations were being made.  If the wedding were put off even a
+single day, everybody would be curious to know why; and sooner or later
+it would be known that he had had to bow to the will of the priest.
+The thought rankled.  So he went to the Factor and told him the whole
+affair.
+
+"Ma brither," said the Factor, "we are auld freens; it is weel that we
+shud staun' thegither.  If ye will trade a' yir furs wi' me this day,
+I'll get the meenister o' the Presybyterian Kirk tae mairry yir
+gran'dochter.  He'll be gled eneuch tae gi'e Father Jois a dour by
+mairryin' twa o' his fowk.  Sell me yir furs, an' I'll warrant ye ye'll
+hae the laff on Father Jois."
+
+
+MISSIONARIES AND INDIANS
+
+That settled it.  Factor Mackenzie got all the furs Oo-koo-hoo and his
+family possessed.  The Factor and the hunter were now the best of
+friends, and they even went so far as to exchange presents--and that's
+going some . . . for a Scotsman.
+
+Should the foregoing amuse the Protestant reader, the following may be
+of interest to the Roman Catholic.  One winter, while halting at a
+certain Hudson's Bay post, I met a Protestant clergyman, who having
+spent a number of years as a missionary among the natives on the coast
+of Hudson Bay excited my interest as to his work among the Indians.
+That night, after supper, I questioned him as to his spiritual work
+among the "barbarians" of the forest, and in the presence of the
+Hudson's Bay trader, he turned to me and, with the air of being
+intensely bored by the subject, he replied: "Mr. Heming . . . the only
+interest I ever take in the Indian . . . is when I bury him."
+
+But while I have cited two types of clergymen I have known--the name of
+the priest being, of course, fictitious--merely to point out the kind
+of missionaries that should never be sent among the Indians, I not only
+wish to state that they are very much the exception to the rule, but I
+also want to make known my unbounded respect and admiration for that
+host of splendid men--and women--of all denominations, who have devoted
+their lives to the spiritual welfare of the people of the wilderness,
+and some of whom have already left behind them hallowed names of
+imperishable memory.
+
+But the lot of the missionary among the Indians is not altogether a
+joyous one.  In his distant and isolated outpost there are privations
+to endure and hardships to suffer.  Frequently, too, it happens that he
+is placed in a position exceedingly embarrassing to a man of gentle
+breeding and kindly spirit.
+
+A well-known Canadian priest was being entertained by an Indian family.
+The hospitable old grandmother undertook to prepare a meal for him.
+Determined to set before the "black-robe" a really dainty
+dish--something after the fashion of a Hamburg steak--and possessing no
+machine for mincing the meat, she simply chewed it up nice and fine in
+her own mouth.  After cooking it to a turn, she set it before her
+honoured guest, and was at a loss to understand why the good man had so
+suddenly lost his appetite.
+
+But there is often a brighter and also a graver side to the
+missionary's life among the red men.  Incidents occur which appeal
+irresistibly to his sense of humour.
+
+One Sunday afternoon a certain noted bishop of the English Church in
+Canada, who had spent most of his life as a missionary in the far
+Northwest, was discoursing at considerable length to a band of Dog-rib
+Indians camped at the mouth of Hay River on Great Slave Lake.  His
+Lordship dwelt earnestly upon the virtue of brotherly love, and
+enlarged upon the beauty of the Divine saying--"It is more blessed to
+give than to receive."  After the service an old Indian walked up to
+the preacher, piously repeated the sacred text, and intimated that he
+was prepared to become the humble instrument for bringing upon his
+reverence the promised blessing.  To that end he was willing to receive
+his lordship's hat.
+
+The good bishop was taken aback.  Realizing, however, that there was
+nothing else for him to do, he took off his hat and bestowed it with
+commendable cheerfulness upon his new disciple.
+
+Another red man, jealous of his brother who was now parading in all the
+splendour of the bishop's hat, claimed upon the same ground the
+prelate's gaiters, and received them.
+
+The two Indians, envious each of the other's acquisition, began to
+discuss with growing anger the comparative value of the articles.
+Unable to arrive at an agreement, they resolved to put up the hat and
+gaiters as a stake and gamble for them.
+
+The impressive head-gear and antique gaiters of an Anglican bishop
+never appeared to greater advantage than they did upon the old Indian,
+the winner of the game, when he proudly strutted before his dusky,
+admiring brethren, displaying on head and bare legs the Episcopal
+insignia, and having for his only other garment an old shirt whose
+dingy tail fluttered coyly in the summer breeze.
+
+
+NEYKIA'S WEDDING
+
+At ten o'clock, on the morning of Neykia's wedding, a motley mass of
+natives clothed in many colours crowded about the little church, which,
+for lack of space, they could not enter.  Presently the crowd surged
+back from the door and formed on either side of the path, leaving an
+opening down the centre.  A tall half-breed with a shock of wavy black
+hair stepped from the doorway, raised his violin, and adjusting it into
+position, struck up a lively tune to the accompaniment of the wailing
+of a broken concertina played by another half-breed who preceded the
+newly married couple.  Neykia wore a silk handkerchief over her head, a
+light-coloured cotton waist open at the throat, a silk sash over one
+shoulder, and a short skirt revealing beaded leggings and moccasins.
+Behind the bride and groom walked Oo-koo-hoo and the fathers of the
+bridal couple, then the mothers and the rest of the relations, while
+the clergy and the other guests brought up the rear.  As the little
+procession moved along, the men, lined up on either side of the path,
+crossed their guns over the heads of the wedding party, and discharged
+a _feu de joie_.
+
+On reaching a certain log-house the procession broke up.  The older
+people went in to partake of the wedding breakfast, while the bride and
+groom went over to one of the warehouses and amused themselves dancing
+with their young friends until they were summoned to the second table
+of the marriage feast.  Everybody at the Post had contributed something
+toward either the feast or the dance.  Out of respect for Oo-koo-hoo
+the Factor had furnished a liberal stock of groceries and had, in
+addition, granted the free use of the buildings.  The clerk had sent in
+a quantity of candies and tobacco.  The priest had given potatoes; the
+clergyman had supplied a copy of the Bible in syllabic characters; and
+the minister had given the silver-plated wedding ring.  The nuns had
+presented a supply of skim-milk and butter.  Mr. Spear provided jam,
+pickles, and coal-oil for the lamps.  The Mounted Police contributed
+two dollars to pay for the "band"--the fiddle and the concertina--and
+ammunition enough for the _feu de joie_.  The friends and relations had
+given a plentiful store of fresh, dried, and pounded fish; and had also
+furnished a lavish supply of moose, caribou, and bear meat; as well as
+dainty bits of beaver, lynx, muskrat, and skunk.
+
+The bridal party having dined, they and their elders opened the ball
+officially.  The first dance was--as it always is--the Double Jig, then
+followed in regular order the same dances as those of the New Year's
+feast.  After a frolic of several hours' duration some of the dancers
+grew weary and returned to the banquet room for refreshments.  And thus
+for three days and three nights the festivities continued.
+
+
+THE WEDDING SPEECHES
+
+During a lull in the dancing on the afternoon of the wedding day Little
+Pine's sister went up to him and said: "Brother, may I kiss you?  Are
+you ashamed?"  He answered: "No."  She kissed him, took his wife's
+hand, placed it in his with her own over both, and addressed the young
+wife:
+
+"As you have taken my place, do to him as I have done; listen to him,
+work for him, and, if need be, die for him."
+
+Then she lowered her head and began to cry.
+
+Ne-Geek, The Otter, Neykia's oldest brother, then went up to Little
+Pine and asked:
+
+"Are you man enough to work for her, to feed her, and to protect her?"
+
+"Yes," replied the new-made husband.
+
+The Otter put the husband's hand on his sister's hand, and--looking him
+straight in the eyes . . . shook his clenched fist at him and said in a
+threatening tone . . .  "Beware!"
+
+In the midst of one of the dances Oo-koo-hoo walked up to the "band"
+and knocked up the fiddle to command silence.  Pulling his _capote_
+tightly about him, he assumed a dignified attitude, slowly looked round
+the room to see that he had the attention of all present, and began to
+address the assemblage:
+
+"The step which Shing-wauk has taken is a very serious one.  Now he
+will have to think for two.  Now he must supply the wants of two.  Now
+he will realize what trouble is.  But the One who made us . . .  The
+Great Mystery . . .  The Master of Life . . . made us right.  The man
+has his work to do, and the woman has hers.  The man must hunt and kill
+animals, and the woman must skin and dress them.  The man must always
+stand by her and she by him.  The two together are strong . . . and
+there is no need of outside assistance.  Remember . . . my
+grandchildren . . . you are starting out together that way . . ."
+
+To illustrate his meaning, he held up two fingers parallel, and added:
+
+"If your tracks fork . . . they will soon be as far apart as sunrise is
+from sunset . . . and you will find many ready to come in between.
+Carry on in the way you have begun . . . for that is the way you should
+end.  And remember . . . if your tracks once fork . . . they will never
+come together again . . . my grandchildren . . .  I have spoken."
+
+After Little Pine's father, as well as several of the guests, had made
+their remarks, Naudin, Neykia's mother, rose to address her daughter.
+Overcome with nervousness, she pulled her shawl so far over her face as
+to leave only a tiny peep-hole through which to look.  Hesitatingly she
+began:
+
+"My daughter, you never knew what trouble is, now you will know.  You
+never knew what hard work is, now you will soon learn.  Never let your
+husband want for anything.  Never allow another woman to do anything
+for him; if you do . . . you are lost.  When you have children, my
+daughter, and they grow up, your sons will always be sons to you, even
+though they be gray-headed.  But with your daughters it will not be so;
+when they marry, they will be lost to you.  Once married, they are gone
+for ever."
+
+She stepped up to her daughter, kissed her, and sank to the floor,
+weeping copiously.
+
+Then Amik rose to speak.  He beckoned to his daughter.  She advanced
+and knelt down, holding the fringe of his legging while he addressed
+her:
+
+"Neykia, my daughter, you have taken this man.  Be good to him, work
+for him, live for him, and if need be, die for him.  Kiss me, Neykia,
+my daughter; kiss me for the last time."
+
+She kissed him, and he added:
+
+"You have kissed me for the last time: henceforth never kiss any man
+but your husband."
+
+Raising his hand with untutored dignity, he pronounced the words:
+
+"Remember . . .  I have spoken."
+
+
+
+
+VIII
+
+BUSINESS AND ROMANCE
+
+FAREWELL ATHABASCA
+
+Though Wawe Pesim (The Egg Moon), or June, had already brought summer
+to the Great Northern Forest, the beautiful Athabasca still waited in
+vain.  Son-in-law had not yet appeared.  After all--was he but a fond
+parents' dream?  I wondered.
+
+Soon the picturesque and romantic Fur Brigade would be sweeping
+southward on its voyage from the last entrenchments of the Red Gods to
+the newest outposts of civilization--a civilization that has debauched,
+infected, plundered, and murdered the red man ever since its first
+onset upon the eastern shores of North America.  If you don't believe
+this, read history, especially the history of the American fur trade.
+
+Meanwhile, canoes laden with furs and in charge of Hudson's Bay traders
+or clerks from outlying "Flying Posts" had arrived; and among the
+voyageurs was that amusing character, Old Billy Brass.  A little later,
+too, Chief Factor Thompson arrived from the North.  Now in the fur loft
+many hands were busily engaged in sorting, folding, and packing in
+collapsible moulds--that determined the size and shape of the fur
+packs--a great variety of skins.  Also they were energetically
+weighing, cording, and covering the fur packs with burlap--leaving two
+ears of that material at each end to facilitate handling them, as each
+pack weighed eighty pounds.
+
+A fur pack of one hundred pounds--for the weight varies according to
+the difficulty of transportation in certain regions--contains on an
+average fourteen bear, sixty otter, seventy beaver, one hundred and ten
+fox skins, or six hundred muskrat skins.  A pack of assorted furs
+contains about eighty skins and the most valuable ones are placed in
+the centre.
+
+During the next few days the great "North" or six-fathom canoes--made
+of birch bark and capable of carrying from three to four tons of
+freight in addition to their crews of from eight to twelve men--were
+brought out of the canoe house, and together with the two new ones, had
+their bows and sterns painted white in readiness for their finishing
+touch of decoration in the way of some symbol of the fur trade.
+
+As the principal Indian canoemen, who were to join the Fur Brigade,
+were already familiar with my ability as an artist, they waited upon
+the Factor and requested him to solicit my help in the final decorating
+of those beautiful canoes.  So it came to pass that on the bow of one a
+leaping otter appeared and on the bows of others, a rearing bear, a
+flying goose, a rampant caribou, a galloping fox, a leaping lynx, a
+rampant moose, and on still another the coat-of-arms of the Hudson's
+Bay Company.  Each in turn had its admirers, but Oo-koo-hoo, who was to
+have charge of all the voyageurs, sidled up to Factor Mackenzie and
+whispered that if Hu-ge-mow--Master--would let him take his choice of
+the canoes, he would not only give the Factor a dollar in return for
+the privilege, but he would promise to keep that particular canoe at
+the very head of the whole brigade, and never once allow another canoe
+to pass it during the voyage.
+
+The Factor was not only interested in the Indian's appreciation of art,
+as well as amused over the idea that he would accept a bribe of a
+dollar, but he was curious to know which canoe the Indian most
+favoured.  It was the one that displayed the Great Company's
+coat-of-arms; so Oo-koo-hoo, the famous white-water-man, not only won
+his choice and retained his dollar, but furthermore, he and his crew
+actually did keep the bow of that canoe ahead of all others--no matter
+where or when the other crews contested for the honour of leading the
+Fur Brigade.
+
+The next morning, at sunrise, the Fur Brigade was to take its
+departure.  Now it was time I visited Spearhead, to thank my friends,
+the Free Trader and his family, for all their kindness to me, and to
+bid them farewell; so I borrowed a small canoe and paddled across the
+lake.  When I arrived they invited me to dine with them.  At the table
+that day there was less talking--everyone seemed to be in a thoughtful
+mood.
+
+The windows and doors were open and the baggy mosquito netting sagged
+away from the hot sun as the cool breeze whispered through its
+close-knit mesh.  Outside, I could see the heifer and her mother lying
+in the shade of a tree on the far side of the stump-lot, and near the
+doorway the ducks and geese were sauntering about the grass and every
+now and then making sudden little rushes--as though they were trying to
+catch something.  There, too, in the pathway, the chickens were
+scratching about and ruffling their feathers in little dust holes--as
+though they were trying to get rid of something.  An unexpected grunt
+at the doorway attracted my attention and I saw a pig leering at me
+from the corners of its half-closed eyes--the very same pig the Free
+Trader and his wife had chosen to add to their daughter's wedding
+dowry--then it gave a familiar little nod, as though it recognized me;
+and I fancied, too, that its ugly chops broke into an insolent smile.
+What was it thinking about? . . .  Was it Son-in-law?  I wondered.
+
+I glanced at Athabasca.  How beautiful she looked!  The reflected
+sunlight in the room cast a delightful sheen over her lustrous brown
+hair, and seemed to enhance the beauty of her charmingly sun-browned
+skin, that added so much to the whiteness of her even teeth, and to the
+brilliancy of her soft brown eyes.  In a dreamy way she was looking far
+out through the window and away off toward the distant hills.  She,
+too, set me wondering; was she thinking of Son-in-law?
+
+At that moment, however, the pig gave another impatient grunt which
+startled Athabasca and caused her to look directly at me.  I blushed
+scarlet, then; so did she--but, of course, only out of sympathy.
+
+"Yes, we'll send her to that finishing school in Toronto," her mother
+mused, while Free Trader Spear scratched his head once more, and three
+house flies lazily sat on the sugar bowl and hummed a vulgar tune.
+
+After dinner Mr. Spear invited me into the trading room to see some of
+the furs he had secured.  Among them were four silver fox skins as well
+as the black one he had bought from Oo-koo-hoo.  They were indeed fine
+skins.
+
+It was now time for me to take my departure, so I returned to the
+living room, but found no one there.  Presently, however, Mrs. Spear
+entered, and though she sat down opposite me, she never once looked my
+way.  She seemed agitated about something.  Clasping her fingers
+together, she twirled her thumbs about one another, then she twirled
+them back the other way; later she took to tapping her moccasined toe
+upon the bare floor, I wondered what was coming.  I couldn't make it
+out.  For all the while she was looking at a certain crack in the
+floor.  Once more she renewed the twirling action of her thumbs, and
+even increased the action of her toe upon the floor.
+
+What did it all mean?  Had I done anything to displease her?  No; I
+could think of nothing of the sort, so I felt a little easier.
+Suddenly, however, she glanced up and, looking straight at me, began:
+
+"Mr. Heming . . . we have only one child . . . and we love her
+dearly . . ."
+
+But the pause that followed was so long drawn out that I began to lose
+interest, especially as the flies were once more humming the same old
+tune.  A little later, however, I was almost startled when Mrs. Spear
+exclaimed:
+
+"But I'll lend you a photograph of Athabasca for six weeks!"
+
+Thereupon Mrs. Spear left her chair and going upstairs presently
+returned with a photograph wrapped in a silk handkerchief; and as at
+that very moment the Free Trader and his daughter entered the room, I,
+without comment, slipped the photograph into my inside pocket, and
+wished them all good-bye; though they insisted upon walking down to the
+landing to wave me farewell on my way to Fort Consolation.
+
+
+MUSTERING THE FUR BRIGADE
+
+Next morning, soon after dawn, the church bells were ringing and
+everyone was up and astir; and presently all were on their way to one
+or another of the little log chapels on the hill; where, a little
+later, they saw the stalwart men of the Fur Brigade kneeling before the
+altar as they partook of the holy sacrament before starting upon their
+voyage to the frontier of civilization.
+
+Strange, isn't it, that the writers of northern novels never depict a
+scene like that?  Probably because they have never been inside a
+northern church.
+
+Next, breakfasts were hurriedly eaten, then the voyageurs assembled
+upon the beach placed those big, beautifully formed, six-fathom canoes
+upon the water, and paddled them to the landing.  Then Chief Factor
+Thompson and Factor Mackenzie joined the throng; and that veteran
+voyageur, Oo-koo-hoo, who was to command the Fur Brigade, touched his
+hat and conversed with the officers.  A few moments later the old guide
+waved his swarthy men into line.  From them he chose the bowmen,
+calling each by name, and motioning them to rank beside him; then, in
+turn, each bowman selected a man for his crew; until, for each of the
+eight canoes, eight men were chosen.  Then work began.
+
+Some went off with tump-line in hand to the warehouse, ascended the
+massive stairs, and entered the fur loft.  Tiers of empty shelves
+circled the room, where the furs were stored during the winter; but
+upon the floor were stacked packs of valuable pelts--the harvest of the
+fur trade.  The old-fashioned scales, the collapsible mould, and the
+giant fur press told of the work that had been done.  Every pack
+weighed eighty pounds.  Loading up, they rapidly carried the fur to the
+landing.  In the storeroom the voyageurs gathered up the "tripping" kit
+of paddles, tents, axes, tarpaulins, sponges; and a box for each crew
+containing frying-pans, tea pails, tin plates, and tea-dishes.  In the
+trading room the crews were supplied with provisions of flour, pork,
+and tea, at the rate of three pounds a day for each man.  They were
+also given tobacco.  Most of the voyageurs received "advances" from the
+clerk in the way of clothing, knives, pipes, and things deemed
+essential for the voyage.  Birch bark, spruce roots, and gum were
+supplied for repairing the canoes.
+
+All was now in readiness.  The loading of freight began, and when each
+canoe had received its allotted cargo the voyageurs indulged in much
+handshaking with their friends, a little quiet talking and affectionate
+kissing with their families and sweethearts.  Then, paddle in hand,
+they boarded their canoes and took their places.
+
+In manning a six-fathom canoe the bowman is always the most important;
+the steersman comes next in rank, while the others are called "midmen."
+
+
+DEPARTURE OF THE FUR BRIGADE
+
+Factor Mackenzie and his senior officer, sitting in the guide's or
+chief voyageur's canoe, which, of course, was Oo-koo-hoo's, gave the
+word; and all together the paddle blades dipped, the water swirled, and
+on the gunwales the paddle handles thudded as the canoes heaved away.
+
+The going and coming of the Fur Brigade was the one great event of the
+year to those nomadic people who stood watching and waving to the
+fast-vanishing flotilla.  Were they not bidding farewell to fathers,
+husbands, brothers, sons, or lovers, chosen as the best men from their
+village?  Had they not lent a hand in the winning of the treasure that
+was floating away?  If only the pelts in those packs could speak, what
+tales they would unfold!
+
+As I looked back the animated picture of the little settlement wherein
+we figured but a moment before gradually faded into distance.  The
+wild-looking assembly was blotted from the shore.  But still above the
+rapidly dwindling buildings waved the flag of the oldest chartered
+trading association in the world--the Hudson's Bay Company.
+
+Between eleven and twelve o'clock the brigade went ashore for a
+"snack."  The canoes were snubbed to overhanging trees, and upon a
+rocky flat the fires burned.  Hurriedly drinking the hot tea, the men
+seized pieces of frying pork and, placing them upon their broken
+bannock, ravenously devoured both as they returned to the canoes.  No
+time was lost.  Away we went again.  Then the brigade would paddle
+incessantly for about two hours; then they would "spell", and paddles
+were laid aside "one smoke."  As the way slackened the steersmen
+bunched the canoes.  The soft, rich voices of the crews blended as they
+quietly chatted and joked and laughed together.
+
+[Illustration: The departure of the Fur Brigade was the one great event
+of the year.  In manning six-fathom canoes the bowman are always the
+most important; the steersman coming next in rank, while the others are
+called "midmen."  The brigade would paddle incessantly for about two
+hours; then they would "spell", and paddles were laid aside "one
+smoke."  The soft, rich voices of the crews blended as they quietly
+chatted and joked and . . .  See Chapter VIII.]
+
+Later, a stern wind came along.  Nearing an island, some of the men
+went ashore and cut a mast and sprit-sail boom for each canoe.  They
+lashed the masts to the thwarts with tump-lines, and rigged the
+tarpaulins, used to cover the packs, into sails.  Again the paddles
+were shipped, save those of the steersmen; and the crews lounged about,
+either smoking or drowsing.  The men were weary.  Last night they had
+danced both hard and long, with dusky maids--as all true voyageurs do
+on the eve of their departure.  To voyageurs stern winds are blessings.
+Mile after mile the wild flotilla swept along.  Sunshine danced upon
+the rippling waves that gurgled and lapped as the bows overreached
+them.  Rugged islands of moss-covered rock and evergreen trees rose on
+every side.  The wind favoured us for about five miles, then shifted.
+Reluctantly the sails were let down, and masts and booms tossed
+overboard.  At four o'clock the brigade landed on a pretty island, and
+a hurried afternoon tea was taken; after which we again paddled on, and
+at sundown halted to pitch camp for the night.
+
+
+CAMP OF THE FUR BRIGADE
+
+The canoes--held off shore so as not to damage them by touching the
+beach--were unloaded by men wading in the water.  The fur packs were
+neatly piled and covered with tarpaulins.  Then the canoes were lifted
+off the water, and carried ashore, and turned upside-down for the
+night.  Tents were erected and campfires lit.  Upon a thick carpet of
+evergreen brush the blankets were spread in the tents.  The tired men
+sat in the smoke at the fires and ate their suppers round which black
+flies and mosquitoes hovered.
+
+Canadian voyageurs, being well used to both fasting and feasting,
+display great appetites when savoury food is plentiful, and though I
+have seen much feasting and heard astonishing tales of great eating, I
+feel I cannot do better than quote the following, as told by Charles
+Mair, one of the co-authors of that reliable book "Through the
+Mackenzie Basin":
+
+"I have already hinted at those masterpieces of voracity for which the
+region is renowned; yet the undoubted facts related around our
+campfires, and otherwise, a few of which follow, almost beggar belief.
+Mr. Young, of our party, an old Hudson's Bay officer, knew of sixteen
+trackers who, in a few days, consumed eight bears, two moose, two bags
+of pemmican, two sacks of flour, and three sacks of potatoes.  Bishop
+Grouard vouched for four men eating a reindeer at a sitting.  Our
+friend, Mr. d'Eschambault, once gave Oskinnegu,--'The Young Man'--six
+pounds of pemmican.  He ate it all at a meal, washing it down with a
+gallon of tea, and then complained that he had not had enough.  Sir
+George Simpson states that at Athabasca Lake, in 1820, he was one of a
+party of twelve who ate twenty-two geese and three ducks at a single
+meal.  But, as he says, they had been three whole days without food.
+The Saskatchewan folk, however, known of old as the Gens de
+Blaireaux--'The People of the Badger Holes'--were not behind their
+congeners.  That man of weight and might, our old friend Chief Factor
+Belanger, once served out to thirteen men a sack of pemmican weighing
+ninety pounds.  It was enough for three days; but there and then they
+sat down and consumed it all at a single meal, not, it must be added,
+without some subsequent and just pangs of indigestion.  Mr. B., having
+occasion to pass the place of eating, and finding the sack of pemmican,
+as he supposed, in his path, gave it a kick; but, to his amazement, it
+bounded aloft several feet, and then lit.  It was empty!  When it is
+remembered that in the old buffalo days the daily ration per head at
+the Company's prairie posts was eight pounds of fresh meat, which was
+all eaten, its equivalent being two pounds of pemmican, the enormity of
+this Gargantuan feast may be imagined.  But we ourselves were not bad
+hands at the trencher.  In fact, we were always hungry.  So I do not
+reproduce the foregoing facts as a reproach, but rather as a meagre
+tribute to the prowess of the great of old--the men of unbounded
+stomach!"
+
+And yet, strange as it may seem, fat men are seldom seen in the
+northern wilderness.  That is something movie directors should remember.
+
+Pemmican, though little used nowadays, was formerly the mainstay of the
+voyageurs.  It was made of the flesh of buffalo, musk-ox, moose,
+caribou, wapiti, beaver, rabbit, or ptarmigan; and for ordinary use was
+composed of 66 per cent. of dried meat pounded fine to 34 per cent. of
+hard fat boiled and strained.  A finer quality of pemmican for officers
+or travellers was composed of 60 per cent. of dried meat pounded extra
+fine and sifted; 33 per cent. of grease taken from marrow bones boiled
+and strained; 5 per cent. of dried Saskatoon berries; 2 per cent. of
+dried choke cherries, and sugar according to taste.  The pounded meat
+was placed in a large wooden trough and, being spread out, hot grease
+was poured over it and then stirred until thoroughly mixed with the
+meat.  Then, after first letting it cool somewhat, the whole was packed
+into leather bags, and, with the aid of wooden mallets, driven down
+into a solid mass, when the bags were sewn up and flattened out and
+left to cool; during the cooling precaution was taken to turn the bags
+every five minutes to prevent the grease settling too much to one side.
+Pemmican was packed 50, 80, or 100 lb. in a bag--according to the
+difficulty of transporting it through the country in which it was to be
+used.  The best pemmican was made from buffalo meat, and 2 lb. of
+buffalo pemmican was considered equal to 2 1/2 lb. of moose or 3 lb. of
+caribou pemmican.
+
+Later, a cool sunset breeze from over the water blew the little
+tormentors away, and then it was that those swarthy men enjoyed their
+rest.  After supper some made bannock batter in the mouths of
+flour-sacks, adding water, salt, and baking powder.  This they worked
+into balls and spread out in sizzling pans arranged obliquely before
+the fire with a bed of coals at the back of each.  It was an enlivening
+scene.  Great roaring fires sent glowing sparks high into the still
+night air, lighting up the trees with their intense glare, and casting
+weird shadows upon the surrounding tents and bushes.  Picturesque,
+wild-looking men laughed, talked, and gesticulated at one another.  A
+few with _capotes_ off were sitting close to the fires, and flipping
+into the air the browning flap-jacks that were to be eaten the
+following day.  Others, with hoods over their heads, lolled back from
+the fire smoking their pipes--and by the way, novelists and movie
+directors and actors should know that the natives of the northern
+wilderness, both white and red, do not smoke cigarettes; they smoke
+pipes and nothing else.  Some held their moccasins before the fire to
+dry, or arranged their blankets for turning in.  Others slipped away
+under cover of darkness to rub pork rinds on the bottom of their
+canoes, for there was much rivalry as to the speed of the crews.  Still
+more beautiful grows the scene, when the June moon rises above the
+trees and tips with flickering light the running waves.
+
+Sauntering from one crew's fire to another, I listened for a while to
+the talking and laughing of the voyageurs, but hearing no thrilling
+tales or even a humorous story by that noted romancer Old Billy Brass,
+I went over and sat down at the officers' fire, where Chief Factor
+Thompson was discussing old days and ways with his brother trader.
+
+
+THE LONGEST BRIGADE ROUTES
+
+After a little while I asked:
+
+"What was the longest route of the old-time canoe and boat brigades?"
+
+"There were several very long ones," replied Mr. Thompson, "for
+instance, the one from Montreal to Vancouver, a distance of about three
+thousand miles; also the one from York Factory on Hudson Bay to the
+Queen Charlotte Islands, and another from York Factory to the Mackenzie
+River posts.  Some of the portages on the main highway of canoe travel
+were rather long, for instance, the one at Portage La Loche was twelve
+miles in length and over it everything had to be carried on man back.
+
+"In winter time, travel was by way of snowshoes, dog-sled, or jumper.
+A jumper is a low, short, strong sleigh set upon heavy wooden runners
+and hauled by ox, horse, men, or dogs.  The freight load per dog--as
+you know--is a hundred pounds; per man, one to two hundred pounds; per
+horse, four to six hundred pounds; and per ox, five to seven hundred
+pounds.  In summer there were the canoe, York boat, sturgeon-head scow,
+and Red River cart brigades.  A six-fathom canoe carries from twenty to
+thirty packages; a York boat, seventy-five packages; a Sturgeon-head
+scow, one hundred packages; and a Red River cart, six hundred pounds.
+The carts were made entirely of wood and leather and were hauled by
+horse or ox.  With every brigade went the wife of one of the voyageurs
+to attend to the mending of the voyageurs' clothing and to look after
+the comfort of the officer in charge.  But the voyageurs always had to
+do their own cooking and washing.
+
+"In the old days, too, much of their food had to be procured from the
+country through which they travelled and therefore they relied upon
+buffalo, moose, wapiti, deer, bear, beaver, rabbit, fish, and
+water-fowl to keep them in plenty."
+
+Then for a while the Factors sat smoking in silence.  The moon had
+mounted higher and was now out of sight behind the tops of the
+neighbouring trees, but its reflection was brilliantly rippled upon the
+water.  At one of the fires a French half-breed was singing in a rich
+barytone one of the old _chansons_ that were so much in vogue among the
+voyageurs of by-gone days--_A la Claire Fontaine_.  After an encore,
+silence again held sway, until around another fire hearty laughter
+began to play.
+
+"The boys over there must be yarning again," remarked, the Chief
+Factor, as he pointed with his pipe, "let's go over, and listen awhile."
+
+
+BILLY BRASS TELLS ANOTHER STORY
+
+It was Oo-koo-hoo's fire and among his men was seated that ever-welcome
+member of another crew--Old Billy Brass.  Evidently he had just
+finished telling one of his mirth-provoking stories, as the men were
+good-naturedly questioning him about it; for, as we sat down, he
+continued:
+
+"Yes, sir, it's true; fire attraks 'em.  Why, I've knowed 'em come from
+miles round when they catched a glimpse of it, an' as long as there's
+danger o' white bears bein' round you'll never again find Old Billy
+Brass tryin' to sleep beside a big fire.  No, sir, not even if His
+Royal Highness the Commissioner or His Lordship the Bishop gives the
+word."
+
+Then he sat there slowly drawing upon his pipe with apparently no
+intention of adding a single word to what he had already said.  Lest
+something interesting should be lost, I ventured:
+
+"Was it the Bishop or the Commissioner that made the trouble?"
+
+"No, sir, neither; 'twas the Archdeacon," replied the old man as he
+withdrew his pipe and rubbed his smarting eyes clear of the smoke from
+the blazing logs.  Taking a few short draws at the tobacco, he
+continued:
+
+"There was three of us, me an' Archdeacon Lofty an' Captain Hawser, who
+was commandin' one of the Company's boats that was a-goin' to winter in
+Hudson Bay.  It happened in September.  The three of us was hoofin' it
+along the great barren shore o' the bay.  In some places the shore was
+that flat that every time the tide came in she flooded 'bout all the
+country we could see, an' we had a devil of a time tryin' to keep clear
+o' the mud.  We had a few dogs along to help pack our beddin', but,
+nevertheless, it was hard work; for we was carryin' most of our outfit
+on our backs.
+
+"One evenin' just before sundown we stumbled upon a lot o' driftwood
+scattered all about the flats.  As so much wood was lyin' around handy,
+we decided to spend the night on a little knoll that rose above
+high-water mark.  For the last few days we had seen so little wood that
+any of our fires could 'a' been built in a hat.  But that night the
+sight o' so much wood fairly set the Archdeacon crazy with delight, an'
+nothin' would do but we must have a great roarin' fire to sleep by.  I
+would have enjoyed a good warmin' as well as any one, but I was mighty
+leary about havin' a big fire.  So I cautioned the Archdeacon not to
+use much wood as there was likely to be bears about, an' that no matter
+how far off they was, if they saw that fire they would make for
+it--even if they was five or six miles out on the ice floes.  He
+wouldn't listen to me.  The Captain backed him up, an' they both set to
+an' built a fire as big as a tepee.
+
+"We was pretty well tuckered out from the day's walkin'.  So after
+supper we dried our moccasins an' was about to turn in early when--lo
+an' behold!--the Archdeacon got up an' piled more wood upon the fire.
+That made me mad; for unless he was huntin' for trouble he couldn't 'a'
+done a thing more foolish, an' I says somethin' to that effect.  He
+comes back at me as though I was afraid o' me own shadder, an' says:
+'Billy Brass, I'm s'prised that a man like you doesn't put more faith
+in prayin' an' trustin' hisself in the hands o' the Almighty.'
+
+"I was so hot over the foolishness of havin' such a big fire that I ups
+an' says:
+
+"'That may be all right for you, sir, but I prefer to use my wits
+first, an' trust in Providence afterwards.'
+
+"Nothin' more was said, an' we all turns in.  I didn't like the idea of
+every one goin' to sleep with a fire so big that it was showin' itself
+for miles aroun', so I kep' myself awake.  I wasn't exactly thinkin'
+that somethin' really serious was goin' to happen, but I was just
+wishin' it would, just to teach the Archdeacon a lesson.  As time went
+on I must 'a' done a little dozin'; for when I looks up at the Dipper
+again, I learns from its angle with the North Star that it was already
+after midnight.  An'--would you believe it?--that fire was still
+blazin' away nearly as big as ever.  The heat seemed to make me drowsy,
+for I began to doze once more.  All at once I heard the dogs blowin' so
+hard----"
+
+"Blowing?"
+
+"Yes, that's right; they were blowin'; for geddies don't bark like
+other dogs when they're frightened.  Well, as I was sayin', they were
+blowin' so hard that my hair nearly stood on end.  Like a shot I throws
+off me blanket an' jumps to me feet, for I knowed what was comin'.  The
+Captain an' the Archdeacon heard them, too, an' we all grabbed at once
+for the only gun, a single-barrelled muzzle-loader.
+
+"As ill luck would have it, the Archdeacon was nearest to that gun an'
+grabbed it, an' by the time we was straightened up we sees a great big
+white bear rushin' at us.  Quick as thought the Archdeacon points the
+gun at the bear an' pulls the trigger, but the hammer only snaps upon
+the bare nipple; for the cap had tumbled off in the scramble.  There
+was no time for re-cappin'; so, bein' the nearest to the chargin' bear,
+the Archdeacon just drops the old gun an' runs for dear life around
+that fire with me an' the Captin followin' close behind him.
+
+"When I seen the way the Archdeacon an' the Captin went a sailin' round
+that fire, it fairly took me breath away; for somehow I never had any
+idea that them two old cripples had so much speed left in 'em.  An' you
+can bet it kep' me unusually busy bringin' up the rear; an', anyway,
+the feelin' that the bear was for ever snappin' at me coat-tails kep'
+me from takin' things too easy.
+
+"Well, we tore round an' round an' round that fire so dang many times
+that we was not only rapidly losin' our wind but we was beginnin' to
+get dizzy into the bargain.  All the time we could hear the great beast
+thunderin' after us, yet we daren't slacken our pace; no, sir, not even
+enough to take a single glance behind just to see which was gainin'.
+It was a sure case of life or death, but principally death; an' you can
+depend on it we wasn't takin' any chances.
+
+"Me an' the Captin was crowdin' so close upon the Archdeacon's heels
+that in his terror lest we should pass him by he ups an' sets the pace
+at such a tremendous speed that the whole three of us actually catches
+up to the bear . . . without the brute's knowin' it.  If it hadn't been
+for the Archdeacon steppin' on the sole of the bear's upturned left
+hind foot as the hungry beast was gallopin' round the fire . . . we'd
+have been runnin' a good deal longer.
+
+"Well, sir, if you had just seen how foolish that bear looked when he
+discovered that we was chasin' him instead of him chasin' us, you'd
+have died laughin'.  Why, he was the most bewildered an' crest-fallen
+animal I ever did see.  But he soon regained his wits an'--evidently
+calculatin' that his only salvation layed in his overhaulin' us--lit
+out at a saprisin' gait in a grand effort to leave us far enough behind
+for him to catch up to us.  But it didn't work; for by that time we had
+all got our second wind an' he soon realized that we was determined not
+to be overhauled from the rear.  So he set to ponderin' what was really
+the best thing for him to do; an' then he did it.
+
+"You must understand that we was so close upon his heels that there
+wasn't room for him to stop an' turn around without us all fallin' on
+top of him.  So what do you think the cunnin' brute did?  Why, he just
+hauled off an' kicked out behind with his right hind foot, an' hit the
+Archdeacon a smashin' blow square on his stomach, an' knocked him bang
+against the Captin an' the Captin against me, an' me against the dogs;
+an' we all went down in a heap beside the fire.
+
+"Well, sir, that old brute had put so much glad an' earnest energy into
+its kick that it knocked the wind plum out of every one of us, an' for
+the next few seconds there was a mess of arms an' legs an' tails
+frantically tryin' to disentangle themselves.  But, as good luck would
+have it, I went down upon the gun.  As I rose to my feet, I slipped a
+cap on the nipple just as the bear comes chargin' around the fire
+facing us.  I ups an' lets him have it full in the mouth.  The shot
+nearly stunned him.  While he was clawin' the pain in his face I had
+time to re-load, an' lets him have it behind the ear, an' he drops dead
+without a whimper.
+
+"Then--would you believe it?--the Archdeacon goes up to the shaggy
+carcass, puts his foot on the bear's head, an' stands there lookin' for
+all the world like British Columbia discoverin' America, an' says:
+
+"'There, now, Billy Brass, I hope you have learned a lesson.  Next time
+you will know where to place your trust.'
+
+"Well, sir, the way he was lettin' on that he had saved the whole
+outfit made me mad.  So I ups an' says:
+
+"'Yes, sir, an' if I hadn't put me trust in me gun, there would have
+been another Archdeacon in heaven.'"
+
+
+THE TRUTH ABOUT WOODSMEN
+
+It was now growing late.  For a while the smiling Indians, half-breeds,
+and white men smoked in silence; then one after another, each knocked
+the ashes from his pipe, arose, stretched himself, and sauntered off to
+his bed, whether in a tent, under a canoe, or in the open.  Walking
+down to the water's edge I watched the moonlight for a while, then
+passed quietly from one smouldering fire to another.  Some of the men
+were still talking together in low tones so as not to disturb those who
+were already seeking slumber, while others were arranging their
+bedding; and still others were devoutly kneeling in prayer to The
+Master of Life.
+
+Thus during the four seasons of the year I had lived with and observed
+the men of the northern wilderness; and not only had I learned to like
+and respect them, but to admire their generosity and honesty, their
+simplicity and skill, their gentleness and prowess; and, above all, to
+honour their spiritual attitude toward this world and the next.  How
+different they were from the city dwellers' conception of them!  But
+still you may want further proof.  You may want first-hand knowledge of
+those northern men.  You may want to study their minds and to look into
+their hearts.  Then may I ask you to read the following letter, written
+a few years ago by an old Canadian woodsman--Mr. A. B. Carleton--who
+was born and bred in the northern wilderness.  Then you may become
+better acquainted with at least one of the men I have been trying to
+picture to you.
+
+"I was born in the heart of the northern forest, and in my wanderings
+my steps have ever gone most willingly back toward the pine-covered
+hills and the grassy glades that slope down to cool, deep waters.  The
+wanderlust has carried me far, but the lakes and waterfalls, the bluffs
+and the bays of the great northern No-Man's Land are my home, and with
+_Mukwa_ the bear, _Mah-en-gin_ the wolf, _Wash-gish_ the red deer, and
+_Ah-Meek_ the beaver, I have much consorted and have found their
+company quite to my liking.
+
+"But the fates have so dealt with me that for two years I have not been
+able to see the smile of Springtime breaking forth upon the rugged face
+of my northern No-Man's Land.  I have had glimpses of it, merely, among
+crowded houses, out of hospital windows.  Still, my mind is native to
+the forest, and my thoughts and fancies, breaking captivity, go back,
+like the free wild things they are, on bright days of springtime to the
+wild land where the change of season means what it never can mean in
+the town.
+
+"What does Spring mean to you town folk, anyway?  I will tell you.  It
+means lighter clothing, dust instead of sleet, the transfer of your
+patronage from fuel man to ice man, a few days of slushy streets and
+baseball instead of hockey.
+
+"What does it mean to the man of the woods?  That I will try to tell
+you.  It means that the deep snow which has mantled hill and valley for
+five months has melted into brooks and rivulets which are plunging and
+splashing away to find the ocean from whence they came.  It means that
+the thick ice which throughout the long winter has imprisoned the
+waters of the lakes, is now broken, and the waves, incited by the south
+wind, are wreaking vengeance by beating it upon the rocks of the
+northern shore, until, subdued and melted, it returns to be a mere part
+of the waves again.  Instead of the hungry winter howl of the wolf or
+the whining snarl of the sneaking lynx the air is now filled with
+happier sounds: ducks are quacking; geese are honking; waveys are
+cackling as they fly northward; squirrels among the spruce trees
+chatter noisily; on sandy ridges woodchucks whistle excitedly; back
+deep in the birch thicket partridges are drumming, and all the woodland
+is musical with the song of birds.
+
+"The trees, through whose bare branches the wind all winter has
+whistled and shrieked, are now sending forth leaves of tender green and
+the voice of the wind caressing them is softened to a tone as musical
+as the song of birds.  Flowers are springing up, not in the rigid rows
+or precise squares of a mechanically inclined horticulturist, but
+surprising one by elbowing themselves out of the narrowest crevices, or
+peeping bashfully out from behind fallen trees, or clinging almost
+upside down to the side of an overhanging cliff.
+
+"My camp on Rainy Lake faces the south and in front is a little stunted
+black ash tree, so dwarfed, gnarled, twisted, and homely that it is
+almost pretty.  I refrained from cutting it down because of its
+attractive deformity.  In the springtime, a few years ago, a pair of
+robins chose it as their nesting place.  One bright Sunday morning, as
+the nest was in course of construction, I was sitting in my doorway
+watching the pair.  The brisk little husband was hurrying toward the
+nest with a bit of moss; but the mild sun, the crisp air, the sweet
+breathing earth, the gently whispering trees seemed to make him so very
+happy he could not but tell of it.  Alighting on a twig he dropped the
+moss, opened his beak, and poured forth in song the joy his little body
+could no longer contain.  That is the joy of a northern No-Man's Land
+in the month of May.
+
+"We are so happy in our woodland home that we wish everyone might share
+it with us.  But perhaps some would not enjoy what we enjoy, or see
+what we see, and some are prevented from coming by the duties of other
+callings, and each must follow the pathway his feet are most fitted to
+tread.  For myself, I only want my little log cabin with the wild vines
+climbing over its walls and clinging to the mud-chinked crevices, where
+I can hear the song of wild birds mingled with the sleepy hum of bees
+moving from blossom to blossom about the doorway; where I can see the
+timid red deer, as, peeping out of the brush, it hesitates between the
+fear of man and the temptation of the white clover growing in front of
+my home, and where I can watch the endless procession of waves
+following each other up the bay.  Give me the necessity of working for
+my daily bread so that I will not feel as though I were a useless
+cumbrance upon the earth; allow me an opportunity now and then of doing
+a kindly act, even if it be no more than restoring to the shelter of
+its mother's breast a fledgling that has fallen from its nest in a tree
+top.  If I may have these I will be happy, and happier still if I could
+know that when the time comes for me to travel the trail, the sands of
+which show no imprint of returning footsteps, that I might be put to
+rest on the southern slope of the ridge beside my camp, where the
+sunshine chases the shadows around the birch tree, where the murmur of
+the waves comes in rhythm to the robin's song, and where the red deer
+play on moonlight nights.  Neither will I fear the snows of winter that
+come drifting over the bay, driven by the wind that whines through the
+naked tree tops, nor the howl of the hungry wolf, for what had no
+terror for me in life need not have afterward.  And if the lessons that
+I learned at my mother's knee be true; if there be that within me that
+lives on, I am sure that it will be happier in its eternal home if it
+may look back and know that the body which it had tried to guide
+through its earthly career was having its long rest in the spot it
+loved best."
+
+Did you ever meet a character like that in northern fiction?
+
+No, of course not; how could you? . . .  When the books were written by
+city-dwelling men.  Then, too, is not any production of the creative
+arts--a poem, a story, a play, a painting, or a statue--but a
+reflection of the composer's soul?  So . . . when you read a book
+filled with inhuman characters, you have taken the measure of the man
+who wrote it, you have seen a reflection of the author's soul.
+Furthermore, when people exclaim: "What's the matter with the movies?"
+The answer is: Nothing . . . save that the screens too often reflect
+the degenerate souls of the movie directors.
+
+But the Indian--how he has been slandered for centuries!  When in
+reality it is just as Warren, the Historian of the Ojibways,
+proclaimed: "There was consequently less theft and lying, more devotion
+to the Great Spirit, more obedience to their parents, and more chastity
+in man and woman, than exists at the present day, since their baneful
+intercourse with the white race."  And Hearne, the northern traveller,
+ended a similar contention--more than a hundred years ago--by saying:
+"It being well known that those who have the least intercourse with
+white men are by far the happiest."
+
+That night, as I turned in, I had occasion to look through my kit bag,
+and there I found, wrapped in a silk handkerchief, the photograph--lent
+to me for six weeks--of the charming Athabasca.  Being alone in my
+tent, I carefully unfolded its wrapper, and drawing the candle a little
+nearer, I gazed at her beautiful face.  Again I wondered about
+Son-in-law. . . .
+
+
+A RACE FOR THE PORTAGE
+
+At three o'clock next morning the camp was astir.  In the half light of
+early day, and while breakfast was being prepared, the men "gummed"
+afresh the big canoes.  Whittling handles to dry pinesticks, they split
+the butts half way down, and placed that end in the fire.  After a
+little burning, the stick opened like a fork; and, placing it over the
+broken seam, the voyageur blew upon the crotch, thus melting the
+hardened "gum"; then, spitting upon his palm, he rounded it off and
+smoothed it down.  By the time breakfast was ready the tents were again
+stowed away in the canoes along with the valuable cargoes of furs.
+
+Paddling up the mist-enshrouded river the canoes rounded a bend.  There
+the eddying of muddy water told that a moose had just left a water-lily
+bed.  The leaves of the forest hid his fleeing form; but on the soft
+bank the water slowly trickled into his deep hoof-prints, so late was
+his departure.  The tracks of bear and deer continuously marked the
+shores, for the woods were full of game.  From the rushes startled
+ducks rose up and whirred away.  How varied was the scenery.
+Island-dotted lakes, timber-covered mountains, winding streams and
+marshy places; bold rocky gorges and mighty cataracts; dense forests of
+spruce, tamarack, poplar, birch, and pine--a region well worthy to be
+the home of either Nimrod or Diana.
+
+Later in the day, when all the canoes were ranged side by side, their
+gracefully curved bows came in line; dip, swirl, thud; dip, swirl,
+thud, sounded all the paddles together.  The time was faultless.  Then
+it was that the picturesque brigade appeared in wild perfection.
+Nearing a portage, spontaneously a race began for the best landing
+place.  Like contending chargers, forward they bounded at every stroke.
+Vigorously the voyageurs plied their paddles.  Stiffening their arms
+and curving their backs, they bent the blades.  Every muscle was
+strained.  The sharp bows cleaved the lumpy water, sending it gurgling
+to the paddles that slashed it, and whirled it aside.  On they went.
+Now Oo-koo-hoo's canoe was gaining.  As that brightly painted craft
+gradually forged ahead, its swiftly running wake crept steadily along
+the sides of the other canoes.  Presently the wavelets were sounding
+"whiff, whiff, whiff," as the white bows crushed them down.  Then at
+last his canoe broke free and lunged away, leaving all the brigade to
+follow in its broadening trail.  The pace was too exhausting; the
+canoes strung out; but still the narrow blades slashed away, for the
+portage was at hand.  With dangerous speed the first canoe rushed
+abreast of the landing, and just as one expected disaster the bowman
+gave the word.  Instantly the crew, with their utmost strength, backed
+water.  As the canoe came to a standstill the voyageurs rolled their
+paddle-handles along the gunwales, twirling the dripping blades and
+enveloping the canoe in a veil of whirling spray.  Then, jumping into
+the shallow water, they lined up and quickly passed the packs ashore.
+The moment the cargo was transferred to the bank, the crew lifted the
+great canoe off the water and turned it bottom up, while four of them
+placed their heads beneath and rested the gunwales upon their
+_capote_-bepadded shoulders.  As they carried it off, one was reminded
+of some immense antediluvian reptile crawling slowly over the portage
+trail.
+
+There was now much excitement.  Other crews had arrived, and were
+rapidly unloading.  As the landing was over-crowded the portaging
+began.  Each man tied the thin, tapering ends of his tump-line--a
+fifteen-foot leather strap with a broad centre--about a pack, swung it
+upon his back, and, bending forward, rested its broad loop over his
+head.  Upon the first his companion placed two more packs; then,
+stooping beneath the weight of 240 pounds, the packers at a jog-trot
+set off uphill and down, over rugged rocks and fallen timber, through
+fern-covered marsh and dense underbrush.  Coming to an opening in the
+wood at the far end of the portage, they quickly tossed their burdens
+aside, and back again they ran.  Nowhere could one see more willing
+workers.  You heard no swearing or grumbling about the exceedingly hard
+task before them.  On the contrary, every man vied with the rest as to
+which could carry the greatest load and most swiftly cross the portage.
+Rivalry sped the work along.  Shirts and trousers reeked with
+perspiration.  The voyageurs puffed and panted as they went by, and no
+wonder--the portage was three quarters of a mile in length.
+
+Then away we went again, and up, up, up, we mounted day by day, toward
+the height-of-land, where a long portage over low-lying marshy ground
+brought us to the place where our descent began; then for days we ran
+with the current until it entered a larger river, and soon we found
+that endless rapids interrupted our work, and down many of them the
+canoes were run.  The Hudson's Bay Company, however, never allows its
+men to shoot rapids with fur-laden canoes; so it was on that wild
+stretch of our trip that the skill of the voyageur was tested most.
+
+
+FIGHTING WITH DEATH
+
+At the head of one of the great rapids Oo-koo-hoo, seeing that I mated
+well with one of his crew, invited me to take a paddle and help them
+through.  Tossing in an extra paddle for each canoeman we stepped
+aboard, and with a gentle shove the current caught the light canoe and
+carried us out to mid-stream.  Long before we sighted white water the
+roar of the cataract was humming in our ears.  We midmen sat upon
+dunnage sacks and braced our moccasined feet against the ribbing.
+Presently the bowman stood up and scanned the river.  Dark, ominous
+water raced ahead for a hundred yards then disappeared, leaving nothing
+but a great surging mass of white that leaped high and dropped out of
+sight in the apparently forsaken river-bed.  Then the steersman stood
+up, too, and Indian words passed between them.  Every moment we were
+gaining impetus, and always heading for the highest crest of foam.
+Waiting for the word to paddle was even worse than waiting for the
+starter's gun in a sculling race.  At last it came, just as we were
+twenty-five yards from the end of dark water.  With a wild shout from
+the bowman we drove our paddles home.  The great canoe trembled a
+little at first, as our work was somewhat ragged, but a moment later we
+settled into an even stroke and swept buoyantly among the tossing
+billows.  Now before us ran a strange wild river of seething white,
+lashing among great, gray-capped, dark greenish boulders that blocked
+the way.  High rocky banks standing close together squeezed the mighty
+river into a tumult of fury.  Swiftly we glide down the racing torrent
+and plunge through the boiling waters.  Sharp rocks rear above the
+flying spray while others are barely covered by the foaming flood.  It
+is dangerous work.  We midmen paddle hard to force the canoe ahead of
+the current.  The steersman in bow and stern ply and bend their great
+seven-foot paddles.  The bowman with eyes alert keenly watches the
+whirling waters and signs of hidden rocks below.  The roar of seething
+waters drowns the bowman's orders.  The steersman closely watches and
+follows every move his companion makes.  Down we go, riding upon the
+very back of the river; for here the water forms a great ridge, rising
+four or five feet above the waterline on either shore.  To swerve to
+either side means sure destruction.  With terrific speed we reach the
+brink of a violent descent.  For a moment the canoe pauses, steadies
+herself, then dips her head as the stern upheaves, and down we plunge
+among more rocks than ever.  Right in our path the angry stream is
+waging battle with a hoary bowlder that disputes the way.  With all its
+might and fury the frantic river hisses and roars and lashes it.  Yet
+it never moves--it only frowns destruction upon all that dares approach
+it.
+
+How the bowman is working!  See his paddle bend!  With lightning
+movements he jabs his great paddle deep into the water and close under
+the left side of the bow; then with a mighty heave he lifts her head
+around.  The great canoe swings as though upon a pivot; for is not the
+steersman doing exactly the very opposite at this precise moment?  We
+sheer off.  But the next instant the paddles are working on the
+opposite sides, for the bowman sees signs of a water-covered rock not
+three yards from the very bow.  With a wild lunge he strives to lift
+the bow around; but the paddle snaps like a rotten twig.  Instantly he
+grabs for another, and a grating sound runs the length of the heaving
+bottom.  The next moment he is working the new paddle.  A little water
+is coming in but she is running true.  The rocks now grow fewer, but
+still there is another pitch ahead.  Again the bow dips as we rush down
+the incline.  Spray rises in clouds that drench us to the skin as we
+plunge through the "great swell" and then shoot out among a multitude
+of tumbling billows that threaten to engulf us.  The canoe rides upon
+the backs of the "white horses" and we rise and fall, rise and fall, as
+they fight beneath us.  At last we leave their wild arena, and,
+entering calmer water, paddle away to the end of the portage trail.
+
+One morning, soon after sunrise, the brigade came to the end of its
+journey as it rounded a point and headed for a smoking steamboat that
+rested upon a shimmering lake; and so entirely did the rising mist
+envelop the craft that it suggested the silhouette of a distant
+mountain in volcanic eruption.  Then the canoes, each in turn, lay
+alongside the steamer; the fur packs were loaded aboard, and thence by
+steamboat and railroad they continued their journey to Montreal; where
+together with the "returns" from many another of the Hudson's Bay
+Company's thirty-four districts, they were reshipped in ocean-going
+craft for England where eventually they were sold by auction in London.
+
+A hundred years ago as many as ten brigades, each numbering twenty
+six-fathom canoes, sometimes swept along those northern highways and
+awoke those wild solitudes with the rollicking songs and laughter of
+fifteen or sixteen hundred voyageurs; but alas for those wonderfully
+picturesque days of bygone times!  The steamboats and the railroads
+have driven them away.
+
+In my youth, however, I was fortunate enough to have travelled with the
+last of those once-famous fur brigades; and also to have learned from
+personal experience the daily life of the northern woods--the drama of
+the forests--of which in my still earlier youth I had had so many
+day-dreams; and now if in describing and depicting it to you I have
+succeeded in imparting at least a fraction of the pleasure it gave me
+to witness it, I am well repaid.  But perhaps you are wondering about
+the beautiful Athabasca?
+
+
+ATHABASCA AND SON-IN-LAW
+
+Some years later, while on my second visit to Fort Consolation, I not
+only found a flourishing town of some four or five thousand inhabitants
+built on Free Trader Spear's original freehold, but in the handsome
+brick City Hall--standing in the original stump-lot--I met the old Free
+Trader himself, now holding office as the Mayor of Spearhead City.  Not
+only had he become wealthy--rumour said he was already a
+millionaire--but he had taken another man into partnership, for now
+over his big brick storehouse read a huge sign in golden letters "SPEAR
+AND . . ."  For like all day-dreams--if only dreamed often enough--the
+ever-present dream of the Free Trader and his wife had really come true.
+
+It was then that I learned that soon after my departure Prince Charming
+had come up out of the East, fallen in love with the beautiful
+Athabasca, become the actual Son-in-law, had been taken into
+partnership by her father, and together the lucky groom and his
+blushing bride had moved into their newly built log cabin, furnished
+with the long-promised bed, table, and chairs, the cooking stove,
+blankets, crockery, cutlery, and cooking utensils.  Round about their
+simple little home a heifer, a pig, and some ducks and geese stood
+guard while their beautiful mistress lived happy ever after--at least
+she did until prosperity inveigled her into a grand new brick mansion;
+and then, of course, her troubles began, because happiness always
+prefers a cabin to a castle.
+
+
+
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Drama of the Forests, by Arthur Heming
+
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