THE INCONNU WHAT IT IS NOT 



"That?" said he. "Why, that's a conny. Didn't 

 you know it?" 



Now "conny" is Hudson Bay for inconnu. 



I sat and gazed at this creature for some time. 

 It did not look dangerous but, rather, quite decidedly 

 mild, especially as it was dead, the only dead fish 

 taken in the net. It had a reminiscent sort of look, 

 like some of the jokes in the Sunday newspaper. 



"I have seen your face before," you say some- 

 times when you meet a gentleman who will not tell 

 you his name. I had never seen this face before, 

 and neither had the artist who made its picture in 

 the encyclopedia a portrait which resembles the in- 

 connu about as much as an art photograph of a 

 dramatic celebrity looks like the same celebrity be- 

 fore breakfast. Even so, the picture is quite as 

 accurate as the context which goes with it in the 

 average encyclopedia. 



We paddled back to our steamship and displayed 

 our fish, much to the joy of the kippered passengers. 

 The deckhands, the purser, the captain, the soldiers, 

 villagers, and others all leaned over the rail of the 

 steamboat and looked at our mysterious strangers 

 and said : "Conny, huh ?" After that I felt the re- 

 port did not lack confirmation. It was thus that 

 one of my boyhood's dreams came true. We had 

 met the inconnu and it was ours ! 



73 



