The Portland daily press., 1890-09-03
NORTHERN MIIns-
Buffalo Express

NNN' DNV ShAiA IIldb III I6dllty hC 49,
more grateful they were not eleven.
The problem of his life, the worry OF at
tempting to solve which helped to bring
him to his grave, was how to provide a
living for us all AS he died before
single one of us was provided for, he
might have saved himself much anxiety.
Twas not the eldest of the family, but
the second son. The Oldest had been
sent to one of the universities, and had
followed the very glorious but impecuni-
Gus profession of his father, without a
Living" and without definite hope of
obtaining one. was intended for the
Indian civil service; possibly the viceroy-
ship, but the examiners at Burlington
house failed to recognize my fitness for
such great possibilities, therefore l de-
termined to emigrate, and a friend of
my mothers hearing of my determine
ton secured for me, by personal interest,
berth in the Hudson's Bay company.
was duly engaged and signed docu-
ment as long as a deed of transfer, by
which | bound myself to serve the COM
pany, even to the extent of defending
their property with my life.
sailed to Montreal and presenting my
credentials there was soon informed that
my services would be required at post
In the far north in charge of one John
McIvor. There was also intrusted to my
care pair of fowls, Plymouth Rocks,
with the request that would deliver
them safely into the hands of Mr.. Mclvor.
mention this fact seeing that these
fowls played an important part in the
events which l am about to relate.
On my arrival at my destination, after
sleeping about forty nights under canvas,
was glad of the comfort which reigned
at Fort Trial, due chiefly to the domestic
energy of Mrs. McIvor, bright, pleas
ant little woman, who seemed out of
place in the heart of this "great lone
land"
Mr.. Mclvor was Scotch rs his name
would imply, a rough and ready man,
with heart of steel, but which on occa-
sion could be as soft as woman's. After
reading the dispatches which handed
him he said:
"Weel, young mon, dinna see what
the likes O. you can do in a country like
this Had ma We better gaze back before
1t is too late?"
II won't go back, sir, unless you send
me back" answered.
"Ah, weel; boy, stay where you are.
It's no always the coarsest Irvine that
stands the biggest strain"
SO | entered into my duties without
another discouraging word from Mr..
McIvor, who, though q perfect martinez
In the matter of duty, was kindness it
self in the privacy of his own house.
There were two other clerks beside my
self, who stayed there only during the
summer, but who in the fall took charge
Of small trading establishments, out
posts as they are called, returning to
Fort Trial after the winters hunt was
oyer.
Like most young Englishmen l had
formed my ideas of Indians on a Feni-
more Cooper basis, but the noble red
man fell far short of my ideal. found
him to be selfish, ungrateful, treacher-
GUS savage, whose power for evil was
luckily curtailed by his cowardice. do
not say that there are no good points in
an Indians character; we find good
points in the character of dog or a
horse, but we do not set the horse or
dog on pedestal and proclaim him all
that is perfect; rather we keep clear of
his heels and teeth respectively until we
know something of the brute's idiosyn-
crasies. One has to do the same with
Indians. Be thoroughly on your guard
until you have proved that they can be
trusted, and don't trust them then. Mr..
McIvor had the most supreme contempt
for then2--a contempt which he never
tried to hide. He used to say:
They are towards, arrant towards,
and are afraid O you, cen like a dog"
1t was not long after my arrival that I
had a sort of adventure which gave
great sport to the other clerks, and even
Mr.. McIvor himself would occasionally
make joking illusions to it.
There was river running about 100
yards from the store; it was deep and
fairly swift. One day as was working
in the store heard scream which APP
peared to come from the river. ran
out and down to the bank, from where
saw an old woman struggling in the
water; she had been fishing and her
canoe had upset. There were about a
dozen Indians looking on, but they only
laughed and made not the slightest
movement toward helping her. Indians,
as a rule, are cruel to the old. They
look upon them as membranes from
which they are not sorry if an accident
relieves them. saw that this poor old
thing was in distress and likely to be
drowned, so jumped into the river and
swan out to her assistance, not before,
however, relieving my mind by abusing
soundly the men who would cheerfully
have let her sink before their eyes. 1t
was no difficult task to bring the poor
old thing ashore, and when had done
so the poor creature followed me as /
walked toward the house, crying in
earnest tones:
Mcegwitch meegwitch!'' meaning
Thank yo'', tank you" But ] found
this very annoying. for the Indians all
larehtd II re u my wet clothes and at
the aid woman, whose clothes were also
vet and very thin, as she chung to me,
with her incessant "Meegwitch, meeg-
witch"
The chaff that l suffered from my COM
panions was merciless. was dubbed
1.-THE Knight Errant," 1.-THE Heroic
Preserver," etc, until / grew sick of it;
but to have lost my temper would only
have made it worse, so suffered in 81
lence, and to aggravate my suffering the
old woman thought it her duty to pre-
sent me with every extra large fish that
she caught, or if her son-in-law threw
her beaver tail or a moose nose, or any
other delicacy especially priced by In
dians, they were sure to find their way
to my room, and each demonstration of
the kind only added to the fun. After a
time began to pick up the Indian Ian
guage, and as | always had sneaking
regard for the old woman, / often made
use Of her assistance in acquiring it. In
fact we became fast friends, / cementing
the friendship by gifts Of little -four,
sugar or tea.
/ received less chatting in the winter,
for the other clerks had long since taken
their departure for their respective out
posts, and | was left sole occupant of
theclerks' quarters, or ''clerks' house, as
1t was called.
1t was coming on to the end of March
when an event occurred which made me
glad that | had pulled the old woman
OUT OF the river and treated her with
some consideration, if not kindness. The
Two iowls which had brought safely to
tnelr destination had fairly survived the
psc ss,f4 l.1