r canoe,
and there, as contentedly as possible, wait for the storm to cease. It
raged furiously all that day and the next. The third day it began to
moderate. What made it worse for us was the scarcity, or rather the
entire absence, of food. We were unfortunately storm-bound in about the
worst part of that country for game. It was so late in the season that
the ducks and geese had gone south, the beaver and musk-rats were in
their houses, and we could find nothing. On some of our trips we
carried fishing-tackle, but this time we had nothing of the kind.
Fortunately we had some tea and sugar.

Without breakfast, dinner, or supper, we had to live on as best we
could. Before we lay down to sleep there had to be a considerable
tightening of the belts, or there would be no sleep at all, so keen were
the gnawings of hunger. I found it helpful to sleep to roll up my towel
as hard as possible, and then crowd it under my tight belt over the pit
of my stomach. Nearly three days without food was no pleasant ordeal
even in missionary work.

We held several religious services, even though our congregation was a
small one. We also found out that it was not at all helpful to piety to
try to worship on an empty stomach, and have been ever since in great
sympathy with these who would feed the poor first, and then preach to
them.

The third day one of the Indians, while walking along the shore, found
the old bleached shoulder-blade of a bear. With his knife he carved out
a rude fish-hook, and, taking the strings of his moccasins, and those of
others, he formed a line. A piece of red flannel was used as bait, and
a small stone served as a sinker. With this primitive arrangement he
began fishing. His method was to stand on a rock and throw the hook out
as far as his line would permit, and then draw it in rapidly, like
trolling.

Strange to say, with this rude appliance he caught a fish. It was a
pike weighing six or eight pounds. Very quickly was it scaled, cleaned,
and put in the pot. When cooked, about a third of it was put on my tin
plate, and placed before me with these words: "Please, Missionary, eat."
I looked at the hungry men around me and said, "No, that is not the
way." And then I put back the third of the fish with the rest, and,
taking out my hunting knife, I counted the company, and then cut the
fish into eight pieces, and gave each man his eighth, and took an equal
portion myself. It was right that I s