A MUSICAL HUNTER. 269 



per was speedily devoured, and soon afterwards, with our 

 feet before the fire, and our heads wrapped in our cover- 

 lets, we were all three snoring our loudest. 



Two hours before dawn I was aroused by Monai, who 

 was making his preparations for the hunt. The door of 

 the log-cabin was open, and from my bed of cedars I 

 could perceive a cloudless sky, and the star of morning 

 glittering on the horizon. The air was very keen ; but 

 as there was not a breath of wind, the cold was endur- 

 able. With a single bound I arose ; and, thanks to the 

 water of a spring which I heard murmuring at the foot 

 of a gigantic pine, a few paces from the hut, I speedily 

 recovered from the stiffness which one always feels after 

 sleeping in one's clothes. I felt so fresh and lively, that, 

 without thinking, I began to sing aloud, 



" Amis, la matinee est belle !" 



But I had scarcely terminated this first line before Mr. 

 Howard, rushing headlong from the hut, cried to me, in 

 a terrible voice, 



" Hold your tongue, simpleton ! Silence ! You will 

 set our game flying though they may be two leagues off ! 

 The cariboos have as fine an ear as the hares of Europe, 

 and their instinct is much greater than that of a fox." 



Monai, on his part, murmured a malediction on my 

 maladroitness, in his own language, which only Mr. How- 

 ard could comprehend. 



The breakfast was excellent and abundant ; so our 

 strength was doubled, and we hastened to don our snow- 

 shoes. The rays of the sun streamed on the horizon 



