IN QUEST OF TREASURE 57 



firmly in the river bottom. Then he would fix his own a little 

 farther ahead and throw all his weight and strength upon it, 

 while at the same moment his companion went the same round. 

 Then he would firmly re-fix his pole a little farther up stream, 

 and then once again shoved in unison. Thus foot by foot we 

 crept up stream. It was hard but joyous work, for standing 

 up in a canoe surrounded by a powerful and treacherous cur- 

 rent gave us the thrill of adventure. 



OO-KOO-HOO VISITS BEAVERS 



All the canoes having mounted the white water, however, 

 in safety, it was decided, though sunset was several hours away, 

 to spend the night at the head of the rapids, as the place 

 afforded an excellent camping ground and besides, the next 

 day was Sunday, a day upon which all good trippers cease to 

 travel. While the canvas tepee, and my tent, too, were being 

 erected, we heard the dogs barking and growling several hun- 

 dred yards away, so Amik, slipping on his powder horn and 

 bullet pouch, ran to investigate. Presently the report of his 

 gun was added to the din, then silence reigned; and when we 

 went to see what had happened we found that the hunter had 

 shot a two-year-old moose heifer that the dogs had bayed. 

 Then, as was her custom, Granny came with her pail to catch 

 the blood, and to select the entrails she needed to hold it. By 

 supper time the moose had not only been skinned but the 

 carcass dressed, too. After the meal was over, Granny washed 

 the entrails inside and out and then stuffed them with a mixture 

 of blood and oatmeal that she had prepared and seasoned with 

 salt, and hung her home-made sausages high up inside the tepee 

 to let them congeal and also to be out of reach of the dogs. In 

 the meantime, Amik had made two frames, and Naudin and her 

 daughters had stretched and laced into them, not only the 

 moose hide, but the skin of the caribou as well; and when the 



