THE HIDEOUS PHILOSOPHER. 151 



Hunter cleaned out all the rest of everything but 

 guns and knives, and the vistors departed, not in 

 the least depressed by their bad fortune. 



One Indian and his squaw still remained. He was 

 a gigantic fellow, of more than six feet high, and the 

 bones of his huge frame stood out conspicuous at 

 the joints and angles, and the muscles showed dis- 

 tinct in his gaunt meagreness. His aspect was 

 positively hideous. His large nose had been driven 

 perfectly flat upon his face, over one eyeless orbit was 

 a black greasy patch, while in his gums two long 

 canine teeth alone remained. He had suffered this 

 in a fight with a grisly bear, a stroke of whose paw 

 had torn out one eye, smashed in his nose, and 

 knocked out his teeth. The man was in what 

 seemed a hopeless state of destitution. He had 

 gambled away literally every single thing he pos- 

 sessed, with the exception of his wife, child, and a 

 miserable dog. A few ragged pieces of blanket were 

 all the protection they had from the cold, when the 

 thermometer stood at 25° below Zero, and the north 

 wind blew fiercely. They possessed not a mouthful of 

 food, nor had the man any gun, ammunition, knife, 

 snow-shoes, or other appliance required by a hunter. 



For two days this fellow remained in Cheadle's 

 camp, eating from morning till night. His toothless 

 gums were never at rest. He consumed not only 

 all they gave him, but quietly "annexed" all the 

 offal which was thawing at the fire for the dogs. 



When the party started homewards two days 

 afterwards, they left him seated by the fire with his 



