44 MOOSWA 



wondrous devoid of knowledge. Have you 

 seen Red Jack, the Hermit ? &quot; 



&quot; I have/ declared Pisew, &quot; he has a piece OUT: 

 of the side of his tail.&quot; 



&quot; Perhaps you have, perhaps you have ; bui 

 all hermits are marked that way Chat s the 

 sign. You see, once in a while a Eeaver is born 

 lazy won t work will do norhing but steal 

 other people s Poplar and &amp;lt;eat it. First we 

 reason with him, and try to encourage him to 

 work ; if that fails we bite a piece out of his tail 

 as a brand, and turn him out of the community. 

 I marked Red Jack that way myself; I boarded 

 him for a whole Winter, though, first.&quot; 



&quot; Served him right,&quot; concurred Whisky-Jack. 



&quot; Yes, Nichemous is a bad lot,&quot; said Carcajou, 

 reflectively ; &quot; but he s no worse than Fra^ois.&quot; 



Black Fox rose, stretched himself, yawned, and 

 said : &quot; The Meeting is over for to-day ; three 

 spaces of darkness from this we meet here again ; 

 there is some business of the Hunting Boundaries 

 to do, and Wapoos has a complaint to make.&quot; 



&quot;I m off,&quot; whistled Whisky-Jack. &quot;Good 

 bye, Your Majesty. You fellows have got to 

 hunt your dinner, I m going to dine with some 

 Men I like my food cooked.&quot; 



Each of the Animals slipped away, leaving 

 Black Fox and his Mother, the Red Widow. 



