ested a
cross pole. From the centre of the pole he suspended a piece of stout
twine, which reached nearly to the ground, and tied the lower end into
a noose.

Then it was that the goose, nicely prepared for cooking, was brought
forth. Through it at the wings George stuck a sharp wooden pin,
leaving the ends to protrude on each side. Through the legs he stuck a
similar pin in a similar fashion. This being done, he slipped the
noose at the end of the twine over the ends of one of the pins. And lo
and behold! the goose was suspended before the fire.

It hung low--just high enough to permit the placing of a dish under it
to catch the gravy. Now and then George gave it a twirl so that none
of its sides might have reason to complain at not receiving its share
of the heat. The lower end roasted first, seeing which, George took
the goose off, reversed it and set it twirling again. After a time he
sharpened a sliver of wood, stuck it into the goose and examined the
wound critically.

"Smells like a Christmas goose when one goes through the kitchen dead
hungry before dinner," said Hubbard.

"Um-m-n!" I commented.

In a little while George tried the sharp splinter again. Hubbard and I
watched him anxiously. White juice followed the stick. Two hours had
passed, and the goose was done!

Events now came crowding thick and fast. First, George put the
steaming brown goose in his mixing basin, and deftly and rapidly
disjointed it with his sheath knife. Meanwhile, with nervous haste,
Hubbard and I had drawn our knives, and with the tin basin of goose
before us, all three of us plumped down in a half-circle on the thick
moss in the light of the bright-blazing fire. Many of the rules of
etiquette were waived. We stood not on the order of our falling to,
but fell to at once. We eat, and we eat, at first ravenously, then
more slowly. With his mouth full of the succulent bird, George allowed
he would rather have goose than caribou. "I prefer goose to anything
else," said he, and proceeded to tell us of goose hunts "down the bay"
and of divers big Indian feasts. At length all the goose was gone but
one very small piece. "I'll eat that for a snack before I sleep," said
George, as he started to put the giblets to stew for breakfast.

The fire died down until nothing remained save a heap of glowing
embers. For a long time we sat in the darkness over an extra pot of
tea. At first, silence; and then, while George and I