cturesque
group of men, who, from the earnest manner in which they conversed, and
the energy of their gesticulations, were evidently discussing a subject
of more than ordinary interest. Most of them were clad in corduroy
trousers, gartered below the knee with thongs of deer-skin, and coarse,
striped cotton shirts, open at the neck, so as to expose their sunburnt
breasts. A few wore caps which, whatever might have been their original
form, were now so much soiled and battered out of shape by long and
severe service that they were nondescript; but most of these hardy
backwoodsmen were content with the covering afforded by their thick,
bushy locks.

"No, no," exclaimed a short, thick-set, powerful man, with a somewhat
ascetic cast of countenance; "I've seen more than enough o' these
rascally Huskies [Esquimaux]. 'Tis well for me that I'm here this
blessed day, an' not made into a dan to bob about in Hudson's Straits at
the tail of a white whale, like that poor boy Peter who was shot by them
varmints."

"What's a dan?" asked a young half-breed who had lately arrived at
Moose, and knew little of Esquimau implements.

"What a green-horn you must be, Francois, not to know what a dan is!"
replied another, who was inclined to be quizzical. "Why, it's a sort of
sea-carriage that the Esquimaux tie to the tail of a walrus or sea-horse
when they feel inclined for a drive. When they can't get a sea-horse
they catch a white whale asleep, and wake him up after fastening the dan
to his tail. I suppose they have conjurers or wizards among them, since
Massan told us just now that poor Peter was--"

"Bah! gammon," interrupted Francois with a smile, as he turned to the
first speaker. "But tell me, Massan, what is a dan?"

"It's a sort o' float or buoy, lad, used by the Huskies, and is made out
o' the skin o' the seal. They tie it with a long line to their whale
spears to show which way the fish bolts when struck."

"And did they use Peter's skin for such a purpose?" inquired Francois
earnestly.

"They did," replied Massan.

"And did you see them do it?"

"Yes, I did."

Francois gazed intently into his comrade's face as he spoke; but Massan
was an adept at what is usually called drawing the long bow, and it was
with the most imperturbable gravity that he continued--

"Yes, I saw them do it; but I could not render any assistance to the
poor child, for I was lying close behind a rock at the time, with an
arrow sticking b