Charlevoix county herald., 1914-07-25

over to him and sat on the river
bank beside him.
"Thy daughter sells me that she
is going TO follow thee in the
woods, Nimissuts," he said.
The old chief looked at him for a
moment and nodded, for he was not
a man of many words.
"Thou and thy family have lived
well, without much thought of all
the help thy daughter caused thee to
have" said the agent.
at was according to the word
given by Lorimer Yellow Hair" re-
piled the old man quietly.
"True, but now that Yellow HaiH
is dead it will not be SO easy. Tho
art old and unable to hunt. Many
years ago no one else could compare
with thee in setting traps and bring
ing in great loads of pelts. This
year thy hunt was not large, and
other men did better by far"
when a man grows DID," said the
chief quietly, 'the younger ones
overtake him. 1t has always been
thus"
"But there is no reason for ~
toiling much longer" said CurraK
looking at the tobacco he was cut
ting for his pipe. "Yet if thou art
not wise the day will come when
thou shalt not come back to thy tent,
and maybe in another year thy bones
may be found OF. thy trapping line,
where in some blizzard thou had to lie
down and let death overtake thee.
Then the women of thy household
will be left alone without a man,
while thy wife's and daughters
young ones will know the great
hunger"
The old man was becoming inter
ested, for all this roundabout talk
was just what he deemed proper a
tween men before approaching the
real matter in hand.
He was shrewd and continued to
ply his file without appearing to pay
much attention.
There was an interval of silence.
Curran pulled at his pipe, also SEEM
ing nightly unconcerned.
Hast thou thought of these wo-
men and children 2" he asked after
a time.
Strong, able women are they"
said the old man, feeling the edge of
his axe with his thumb. "Thou
shouldst see my woman at the net
ting of whitefish and the stretching
of pelts. Her paddle in a canoe is
that of strong man, young and
well fed.
my daughter is the child of my
Younger days. Few are as able.
Neither of them after ! die will have
I +xn,,hln nhnnt eratfinu -, Aol
in trapping. Thou knowest that the
hunting grounds among our people
always belong to the woman. She
inherits it from her own mother.
Anishku, my wife, and AmeCA.
daughter of my first woman, haVt
trapping places that were owned BY
their people since before the white
man came to this post.
There will be many to seek
Ameou now for the sake of her beau
ty and for the goodness of her hunt
/ ing land. Even in ten years from
now, should i not die till then, there
might be suitors for Anishku. More
over, by that time her two boys
would be grown men,"
The old man was scraping out his
pipe suggestively. Curran handed
him plug.
81 have it in mind that | shall re-
main here many years." said Curran
after another silence. 81 need a
woman to look after the dwelling and
bear sons for me. do not wish to
speak to Ameou just now, because
she is still grieving; but | might con-
slider the taking of her for a wife.
Thus couldst thou live here quietly,
always in the midst of plenty for
thee and thine"
The old man had long ago dis
cerned the drift of all this talk. -
shook his head indifferently, as n
the matter concerned him little; vet
he was by no means displeased.
Lorimer had certainly proved a
liberal son-in-law, and the lines of
the chiefs living since the marriage
had certainly been cast in pleasant
places. He had not the slightest OBJ
lection to renewing such an agree
able state of affairs.
"Ameou is a line woman" he said
at length. Like her there is none
other for beauty of looks and dill
gence. A few weeks hence, when her
sorrow is less, ] may speak to her Of
this matter. ] can speak with thee
at some other time as to what | am
to get for the woman, as is our Gus
TOM"
Curran merely grunted in answer.
So far everything was all right. OF
course, ne had no prejudice against
the idea of paying for a wife.
(COntinued newt waoL