rts, no persuasions, could induce them to come near the fire; they
took their seats in a remote part of the lodge, and drew their
garments about their persons in such a manner as almost completely to
hide their faces. They seemed shy and taciturn, spoke not, and
remained as motionless as stones fixed in the earth. Occasionally,
though but seldom, glimpses could be caught of their faces, which were
pale and ghastly, even to the hue of death. Their eyes she saw were
vivid but sunken, their cheek-bones as prominent as if all flesh had
left them, and their whole persons, as far as could be judged,
emaciated and fleshless. Seeing that her strange guests, of whom she
now began to feel much fear, avoided all conversation, and appeared
anxious to escape observation, she forbore to question them, and sat
in silence until her husband entered. He had been led farther than
usual in pursuit of game, but returned with the carcase of a large and
very fat deer. No sooner had he laid his spoil on the floor of his
cabin, than the mysterious females, exclaiming, "Behold! what a fine,
fat animal!" immediately ran up, and pulled off pieces of the whitest
fat, which they ate with great avidity. As this is esteemed the
choicest part of the animal, and is generally, by Indian courtesy,
left to the share of the master of the lodge, such conduct appeared
very strange to the hunter. Supposing, however, that they had been a
long time without food, for he attributed their extreme leanness and
ghastliness to hunger and privation, he forbore to accuse them of
rudeness, and his wife, following her husband's example, was equally
guarded in her language. On the following evening, the same scene was
repeated. He brought home the best portions of the deer he had killed,
and, while in the act of laying it down before his wife, according to
custom, the two females again ran up, and tore off, as on the first
night, the choicest and most delicate portions, which they ate with
the same eagerness and unappeasable avidity as before. Such unhandsome
behaviour, such repeated abuses of his hospitality, were calculated to
raise displeasure on the brow of the hunter, but still the deference
due to strange guests induced him to pass it over in silence.
Observing their partiality for this part of the animal, he resolved
the next day to anticipate their wants, by cutting off and tying up a
portion of the fat for each. These parcels he placed upon the top of
his burthen,