HOW TOM WAS BORN A FRENCHMAN 349 



' None.' 



' Then let him take this knife, and be careful not to go 

 to sleep.' 



' And you ? ' asked Pamphile, hesitating to accept. 



' I have my tomahawk — silence ! ' 



So saying, he dropped his head between his hands 

 again and became immovable. 



The old woman raised the matting and brought in 

 supper, and the Captain slipped the knife into his belt. 



The woman's eyes turned to the chain once more. 



'No doubt,' said she, 'my son met some white man 

 on the war-path. He slew the man and took his 

 chain.' 



' You are mistaken, mother,' said the Captain ; ' I have 

 been hunting buffalo and beaver as far up as Lake 

 Superior ; then I took the skins to the town and changed 

 half for this watch-chain.' 



' I have two sons,' remarked the woman, placing the 

 supper on the table. ' They have hunted these ten years, 

 but have never managed to get such a chain as that. 

 My son said he was hungry and thirsty ; let him eat and 

 drink.' 



' Does not my brother of the prairie sup ? ' asked 

 Pamphile, drawing his stool to the table. 



' Pain stops appetite,' was the reply. ' I am not 

 hungry, but I am weary, and going to sleep. May the 

 Great Spirit keep my brother.' 



' How many skins did my son give for the chain ? ' 

 began the covetous woman. 



' Fifty,' said Pamphile at haphazard, falling to on 

 his supper. 



' I have ten bear and twenty beaver skins here. I will 

 give them for the chain.' 



'The chain is fastened to the watch,' replied the Cap- 

 tain. ' They cannot be separated, nor do I wish to get rid 

 of them.' 



'It is well,' said the woman with an evil smile. 'Let 



