SHELTER FOR THE NIGHT. 49 



She answered in the affirmative, I walked in, took 

 a wooden stool, and quietly seated myself beside 

 the fire. The next object I observed was a finely 

 formed young Indian, resting his head between his 

 hands, with his elbows on his knees. A long bow 

 rested against the log wall near him, while a 

 quantity of arrows and two or three racoon-skins 

 lay at his feet. He moved not ; he apparently 

 breathed not. Accustomed to the habits of the 

 Indians, and knowing that they pay little attention 

 to the approach of civilised strangers, I addressed 

 him in French, a language not unfrequently par- 

 tially known to the people in that neighbourhood. 

 He raised his head, pointed to one of his eyes, and 

 gave me a significant glance with the other. His 

 face was covered with blood. The fact was, that 

 an hour before, as he was in the act of discharging 

 an arrow at a racoon in the top of a tree, the arrow 

 had split upon the cord, and sprung back with 

 such violence into his right eye as to destroy it 

 for ever. 



" Feeling hungry, I inquired what sort of fare I 

 might expect. Such a thing as a bed was not to 

 be seen, but many large untanned bear and buffalo 

 hides lay piled in a corner. I drew a fine time- 

 piece from my breast, and told the woman that it 

 was late, and that I was fatigued. She had espied 

 the watch, the richness of which seemed to operate 



