GREATEST FUR COMPANY OF THE WORLD 259 



"Montagnais ? Ah, bien, messieurs! Montagnais, he brave 

 man ! Venez ici — bien — so — I tole you 'bout heem," begins 

 some French-Canadian trapper with a strong tinge of Indian blood 

 in his swarthy skin. "Bigosh! He brave man! I tole you 

 'bout dat happen ! Montagnais, he go stumble t'rough snow — 

 how you call dat ? — hill, steep — steep ! Oui, by Gar ! dat vas 

 steep hill ! de snow, she go slide, slide, lak' de — de gran' rapeed, 

 see ?" emphasizing the snow-slide with illustrative gesture. "Bien, 

 done ! Mais, Montagnais, he stick gun-stock in de snow stop 

 heem fall — so — see ? Tonnerre ! Bigosh ! for sure she go off 

 wan beeg bang ! Sacre ! She make so much noise she wake wan 

 beeg ol' bear sleep in snow. Montagnais, he tumble on hees back ! 

 Mais, messieurs, de bear — diable ! 'fore Montagnais wink hees 

 eye de bear jump on top lak' wan beeg loup-garou ! Montagnais, 

 he brave man — he not scare — he say wan leetle prayer, wan 

 han' he cover his eyes ! Odder han' — sacre — dat grab hees 

 knife out hees belt — sz-sz-sz, messieurs. For sure he feel her 

 breat' — diable ! — for sure he fin' de place her heart beat — 

 Tonnerre ! Vite ! he stick dat knife in straight up hees wrist, 

 into de heart dat bear ! Dat bes' t'ing do — for sure de leetle 

 prayer dat tole him best t'ing do ! De bear she roll over — over 

 — dead's wan stone — e'est vrai ! she no mor' jump top Montagnais ! 

 Bien, ma frien' ! Montagnais, he roll over too — leetle bit scare ! 

 Mais, hees nose ! Ah ! bigosh ! de bear she got dat ; dat all nose 

 he ever haf no mor' ! C'est vrai, messieurs, bien !" 



And with a finishing flourish the story-teller takes to himself 

 all the credit of Montagnais's heroism. 



But in all the feasting, trade has not been forgotten ; and as 

 soon as the Indians recover from post-prandial torpor bartering 

 begins. In one of the warehouses stands a trader. An Indian 

 approaches with a pack of peltries weighing from eighty to a hun- 

 dred pounds. Throwing it down, he spreads out the contents. 

 Of otter and mink and pekan there will be plenty, for these fish- 

 eaters are most easily taken before midwinter frost has frozen 



