ROMANCE AND ADVENTURE 9 



Presently the clock struck ten and we turned in, the Free 

 Trader sharing a big feather bed with me. 



THEIR SUMMER LIFE 



After breakfast next morning I strolled about the 

 picturesque point. It was a windless, hazy day. An early 

 frost had already clothed a number of the trees with their 

 gorgeous autumnal mantles, the forerunners of Indian summer, 

 the most glorious season of the Northern year. 



When I turned down toward the wharf, I found a score of 

 Indians and half-breed trippers unloading freight from a 

 couple of six-fathom birch-bark canoes. Eager men and 

 boys were good-naturedly loading themselves with packs and 

 hurrying away with them to the storehouse, while others were 

 lounging around or applauding the carriers with the heaviest 

 loads. As the packers hurried by, Delaronde, the jovial, 

 swarthy-faced, French-Canadian clerk, note-book in hand, 

 checked the number of pieces. Over by the log huts a group 

 of Indian women were sitting in the shade, talking to Dela- 

 ronde's Indian wife. All about, and in and out of the Indian 

 lodges, dirty, half-naked children romped together, and savage 

 dogs prowled around seeking what they might devour. The 

 deerskin or canvas covers of most of the tepees were raised a 

 few feet to allow the breeze to pass under. Small groups of 

 women and children squatted or reclined in the shade, smoking 

 and chatting the hours away. Here and there women were 

 cleaning fish, mending nets, weaving mats, making clothes, or 

 standing over steaming kettles. Many of the men had joined 

 the "goods brigade," and their return was hourly expected. 

 Many canoes were resting upon the sandy beach, and many 

 more were lying bottom up beneath the shade of trees. 



The most important work undertaken by the Indians during 

 the summer is canoe building. As some of the men are more 



