CHAPTER XVI. 



PIERRE'S NARRATIVE OF HIS MORNING'S ADVENTURE A STRANGE CRY THE 

 CANADA PORCUPINE AND THE LYNX PIERRE SHOOTS A BUCK OLD JAKE'S 

 SCRUPLES SUPERSTITION OP BACKWOODSMEN REGARDING THE WHIP-POOR- 

 WILL PIERRE'S ACCOUNT OF THE WHIP-POOR-WILLINDIAN BELIEF AS TO 

 ITS ORIGIN A SALT LICK JAKE'S FIRE-STICK A NIGHT AT THE LICK A 

 WOLVERINE A " PAINTER "DEATH OF A WOLVERINE PIERRE SHOOTS A 

 DEER RETURN TO THE HUT. 



" WHEN I left the camp," he began, " I struck out 

 straight from the river. You may be sure I kept my 

 bearings well as I proceeded, knowing how dangerous 

 it would be to get lost in these trackless forests. I had 

 some hopes of falling in with a deer before very long, 

 as I noticed that their tracks were plentiful in every 

 soft spot ; and, indeed, I once or twice started the ani- 

 mals themselves in the young spruce thickets, but the 

 cover was so dense that I could not see ten yards 

 ahead ; and although I heard the creatures bound 

 away, I could not even get a glimpse of them. 



" Still, it was encouraging to find that there was no 

 scarcity of game in the neighbourhood. Full of hope, 

 I held on, keeping a sharp look-out down every vista 

 that opened out among the tree trunks. I was not 

 very particular as to what kind of game I brought 



