Evening journal., 1907-03-06
By Lawrence Mott.

- RANG cfanE! Doom nctero-
Reneons lot OF old guns roared.
The fap OF my tent was hurriedly
pushed aside and Jimmy Shoes ex-
cited. hronzed face appeared (my
- head cuide). saying. "Dat pay man
es comcni" and vanished.
In explanation. OF this hrst paragraph OF
my article I state that the scene is Gull
River, west shore Of Nipigon Lake one
hundred and nifty miles from civilization,
IN the province OF Ontario; and the occa-
sion the arrival OF the indian agent. who
comes once a year 10 pay The wild men
their 81 a soul In return for che wilder
ness. which now belongs TO the govern
ment.
/ went out among the three hundred and
odd Indians. 10 was suning evening in
the latter part OF July. As the red sun
dwindled over the tall, silent forests IL
shed its last rays on the Canadian nag az
the masthead OF the little craft that had
brought the agent across Nipigon Lake
The dead water stream was mlrrorllke-
broken here and there by the swlrls OF
pike and pickerel chasing mlnnowa. All
the Indians we're drawn mp in line, and
every buck that owned any sort OF gun
worked IL franucally. The din was terri
Bile, what with the sharp spang OF rifles
the smooth roar OF muEzlc leaders and
the reverberant boom of shotguna. The
bright tongues OF flame leaped into the
evening mir Ike red fingers, while clouds
over everything. There was no wind, and
tho CHEEKY "Ah-heii Ah-heil' of the
agents Indian crew as they tugged at
the sweeps came softly over the marshes
when the nring ceased. Then the squaws'
yeis and shrieklngs disturbed the stiffness
againi
At last the "pay man" landed, accom-
panied by Father DugAts, Jesuit priest OF
the Nipigon, Tongue Lac and Fort Hope
districts. "Bo-ioul Bo-ioui" came from
overywhere-thls salutation being used by
Indians whether IL be morning noon or
night These now grave men clustered
on the shore and solemnly shook hands;
then they scattered noiselesay and nres
cleaned an about as the squaws cooked
the suppers
For some moments I watched the ami
mated, though quiet scene. Moving sul-
ieniy toward the lake, Gull River re-
feoted accurately the thousand night
lights OF the heavens and the North star
nickered brightly, faithful guide that Il Is.
Mosquitoes shrllcd and b-z-z-z'd while
myriads OF sandnies took possession Of
the atmosphere ] retreated.
Pere Dugats and the agent a.. II. Bonin)
dined with me, and ] am greatly indebted
10 both FOR much useful information and
data with regard 20 the Indians and FOR
confirmation OF my own Investigations as
10 the methods OF tho Honorable Hudson
Bay Company IN collecting their debt
this section, OF which ] shall write later.
The priest was distinctly human, broad
minded type OF man, with a magnificent
physique, and n delightful conversations
aiist
The supper passed thus pleasantly until
Shoe entered with a deferentiai grin and
spoke with the father in the Oiihway
language When he had gone Pere Due
Eats laughed. "Zey ask IT zey can have
danoei" and he chuckled. At my ques-
ton he related how the reserve indians
had had a dance" with a vengeance a
few weeks before. urged on 20 an sorts
Of dovilment by scoundrel named Hogan
who sold the poor creatures rotten whis-
key at enormous pront They all got
lighting mad, ot course. And how he did
lecture and threaten them with the wrath
Of "Dieu" the following Sunday az the
little mission church
'zince zen, voyez vous, zey do not quite
know whczaire ] will permit zcm to dance
OF not; but zere IS no wheeskey here TO-
night and I zal let zem have fun; I zau
tvatchl All oui. zall watchl" He laughed
again
This sentence OF the fathers shows his
great influence. II IS not TO be- wondered
thar he has Il. He plays ball with his
charges. enters enthusiastically into thell
sports OF all kinds, and in this way gains
their confidence. As he 80 truly said:-
zone cannot do AIMING II you have not
zein absolute trust"
So unliiSe rs thar man 10 the ordinary
narrow minded religionist, That 1, witt
his permission, dwell on his close rela'
liOnship with what he calls his zen
fants" and admire his personality; also
the hard work he has done and is steadily
doing among them.
The preliminary winnings Of a nddle in.
terrupted us.
Bonin ana followed the massive hgure
THE DANCE
The "dance house" was a small los
building. roughly n0ored with hewn VII
and rooted with axe split cedar shingles;
half a dozen candles epluttered and
wavered in birch bark stands as light for
The great occasion; and Denny Demiiohn
$50 called because he once stole that
amount OF Vhiskey successfully, fiddler,
Valiantly scraped and cajoled an old worm
out instrument 10 respond 10 his energetic
efforts with doeful squeaks and whimper-
ings. -Four couples OF buck and squaw
faced one another There was a pause
until Joe Bouchard. my half breed cook
and master OF ceremonies, hitched his
trousers an inch or two. grinned AT me
and announced bravely IN a high sing.
song voice.
"Bow ter yer pardners right and lef'
the-e-n gr-ran' prm 'nde all arounF
The dance was on.
Strangely enough, though not an Indiai
TreeeuI understood a word OF English. JO
called all sorts OF figures IN that lar
Fuage. Mr.. Bonin explained that the In
dians had learned the sound OF the word
long, long ago, and used them, KNOWN
only what they represented IN dance ng
ures and not their meaning.
The squaws wore partly civilized clotl
ing. Here and there among the crowd o
the benches a factory made shirt wal
was obvious because Of its gay, harln
colors; otherwise they wore caribou mo'
casins and short skirts 80 match, the
neat, trim ankles flashing IN and Of
from under them as the bucks whirl'
them roughly to and fro. The atmosphei
became hotter and more dense, what wit
a hundred breaths and eighty pipes. ~
old women that were not dancing smok,
hard The violin squealed still more ierc
~. ITS agltator doubled up fantastically
he tried to play fast and above the slil
ping. shufhing sound OF moccasined fe
Joe's can came harshly.-
"Iad-cee en- tn midi all hans rouu
Gents en- tn midi. an hans roun -no-o
gr-r-ran che-an ALL an kep-it-upi Ne
vel have a bow an bow 10 yer lef ha
partners, ehe-en jeeg step By th' bucl
and
HIS voice droned on and on. The swe
streamed, but the black eyes OF the dan
ers sparkled with life ana enjoyment
g continued. When one SET wefe ubs1lll
ly fag4ed- oli fresh lot took the ng
PITY the nddi-r