HOW TO MAKE AN EXCHANGE. 381 



" Pale-face," said the chief, " I will give you in ex- 

 change some splendid furs which shall be worth a dozen 

 guns." 



To a proposal- so direct as this I listened more willingly, 

 because it left me still the alternative of a refusal ; and I 

 told Rahm-o-j-or I would decide when I had seen the furs 

 he proposed to barter with me. 



" Come," said he, " I will show you my store, and you 

 shall take what you will." 



I followed the Sioux chief to his tent, and there, to my 

 great astonishment, on removing a partition in his frail 

 wigwam, he showed me an enormous stock of superb 

 peltry the skins of martens, gray and blue foxes, ermines, 

 musk-rats, and other animals enough to have supplied 

 the stores of a fur-dealer for a very considerable period. 



" I am one of the principal purveyors," he said, " of 

 the North American Fur Company, and before you lies 

 the product of my hunting expeditions during the last 

 four months. In a couple of weeks or so the company's 

 agent will come here and purchase all you see. Choose 

 the first choose freely and take as many skins as you 

 think a fair equivalent for your gun." 



At this solemn moment I remembered that I had in 

 France a mother, some cousins, some aunts, some lady 

 friends, and I confess, I drew largely on the liberty which 

 Rahm-o-j-or accorded to me. Without hesitation, I put 

 my hand on twenty assorted martens' skins, fifty spotless 

 and snow-white ermines', twenty blue foxes', six black 

 bears', and eight bisons' skins. 



While making my selection, I watched the Sioux from 



