and leathery.

The treatment of the Horsehide was the same, once the hair was
removed, but the greater thickness needed a longer soaking in the "tan
dope."

After two days the Trapper scraped it clean and worked it on the
sharp-edged stake. It soon began to look like leather, except in one
or two spots. On examining these he said:

"H-m, Tanning didn't strike right through every place. So he buttered
it again with the mash and gave it a day more; then worked it as
before over the angle of the pole till it was soft and fibrous.

"There," said he, "that's Injun tan leather. I have seen it done by
soaking the hide for a few days in liquor made by boiling Hemlock or
Balsam bark in water till it's like brown ink, but it ain't any better
than that. Now it needs one thing more to keep it from hardening after
being wet. It has to be smoked."

So he made a smoke fire by smothering a clear fire with rotten wood;
then fastening the Horsehide into a cone with a few wooden pins, he
hung it in the dense smoke for a couple of hours, first one side out,
then the other till it was all of a rich smoky-tan colour and had the
smell so well known to those who handle Indian leather.

"There it is; that's Injun tan, an' I hope you see that elbow grease
is the main thing in tannin'."

"Now, will you show us how to make moccasins and war-shirts?" asked
Little Beaver, with his usual enthusiasm.

"Well, the moccasins is easy, but I won't promise about the
war-shirts. That's pretty much a case of following the pattern of your
own coat, with the front in one piece, but cut down just far enough
for your head to go through, instead of all the way, and fixed with
tie-strings at the throat and fringes at the seams and at the bottom;
it hain't easy to do. But any one kin larn to make moccasins. There is
two styles of them--that is, two main styles. Every Tribe has its own
make, and an Injun can tell what language another speaks as soon as
he sees his footgear. The two best known are the Ojibwa, with soft
sole--sole and upper all in one, an' a puckered instep--that's what
Ojibwa means--'puckered moccasin.' The other style is the one most
used in the Plains. You see, they have to wear a hard sole, 'cause the
country is full of cactus and thorns as well as sharp stones."

"I want the Sioux style. We have copied their teepee and war
bonnet--and the Sioux are the best Indians, anyway."

"Or the worst, according to what side you're on," was Caleb'