Spear, however, seemed
much in favour of my going with an Indian called Oo-koo-hoo. Presently
the clock struck ten and we turned in, the Free Trader sharing a big
feather bed with me.

THEIR SUMMER LIFE

After breakfast next morning I strolled about the picturesque point.
It was a windless, hazy day. An early frost had already clothed a
number of the trees with their gorgeous autumnal mantles, the
forerunners of Indian summer, the most glorious season of the Northern
year.

When I turned down toward the wharf, I found a score of Indians and
half-breed trippers unloading freight from a couple of six-fathom
birch-bark canoes. Eager men and boys were good-naturedly loading
themselves with packs and hurrying away with them to the storehouse,
while others were lounging around or applauding the carriers with the
heaviest loads. As the packers hurried by, Delaronde, the jovial,
swarthy-faced, French-Canadian clerk, note-book in hand, checked the
number of pieces. Over by the log huts a group of Indian women were
sitting in the shade, talking to Delaronde's Indian wife. All about,
and in and out of the Indian lodges, dirty, half-naked children romped
together, and savage dogs prowled around seeking what they might
devour. The deerskin or canvas covers of most of the tepees were
raised a few feet to allow the breeze to pass under. Small groups of
women and children squatted or reclined in the shade, smoking and
chatting the hours away. Here and there women were cleaning fish,
mending nets, weaving mats, making clothes, or standing over steaming
kettles. Many of the men had joined the "goods brigade," and their
return was hourly expected. Many canoes were resting upon the sandy
beach, and many more were lying bottom up beneath the shade of trees.

The most important work undertaken by the Indians during the summer is
canoe building. As some of the men are more expert at this than
others, it often happens that the bulk of the work is done by a few who
engage in it as a matter of business. Birch bark for canoe building is
taken from the tree early in May. The chosen section, which may run
from four to eight feet in length, is first cut at the top and bottom;
then a two-inch strip is removed from top to bottom in order to make
room for working a chisel-shaped wooden wedge--about two feet
long--with which the bark is taken off. Where knots appear great care
is exercised that the bark be not torn. To make it eas