THE GREATEST FUR COMPANY OF THE WORLD 189 



oP bear sleep in snow. Montagnais, he tumble on hees 

 back ! Mais, messieur, de bear diable ! fore Mon- 

 tagnais 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, messieur. 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 c 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 messieur, bien ! &quot; 



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 forgot 

 ten; and as soon as the Indians recover from post 

 prandial torpor bartering begins. In one of the ware 

 houses stands a trader. An Indian approaches with a 

 pack of peltries weighing from eighty to a hundred 

 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 the streams solid. In recent years 

 there have been few beaver-skins, a closed season of 

 several years giving the little rodents a chance to mul 

 tiply. By treaty the Indian may hunt all creatures 

 of the chase as long as &quot; the sun rises and the rivers 

 flow &quot; ; but the fur-trader can enforce a closed season 

 by refusing to barter for the pelts. Of musk-rat-skins, 



