LIFE AND LOVE RETURN 285 



been so filled with merriment that they would have in all 

 probability remembered me for many a year as the one white 

 man with a sense of humour. 



For in truth, it is just as Ohiyesa (Charles A. Eastman) 

 the full-blooded Sioux, says in his book on Indian Boyhood: 

 " There is scarcely anything so exasperating to me as the idea 

 that the natives of this country have no sense of humour and 

 no faculty for mirth. This phase of their character is well 

 understood by those whose fortune or misfortune it has been 

 to live among them day in and day out at their homes. I don't 

 believe I ever heard a real hearty laugh away from the Indians' 

 fireside. I have often spent an entire evening hi laughing with 

 them until I could laugh no more." 



CONTEST OF WITS 



When we arrived at Fort Consolation, Oo-koo-hoo and his 

 party were greeted by a swarm of their copper-coloured friends, 

 among whom were The Little Pine and his father, mother, and 

 sister. Making his way through the press, The Owl strode 

 toward the trading room to shake hands with Factor Macken- 

 zie; but the trader, hearing of Oo-koo-hoo's arrival, hastened 

 from his house to welcome the famous hunter; and The Owl 

 greeted him with: 



"Quay, quay, Hu-ge-mow" (good day, Master). 



On their way to the Indian shop they passed the canoe shed, 

 where skilled hands were finishing two handsome six-fathom 

 canoes for the use of the Fur Brigade; and they stopped to 

 examine them. 



The building of a six-fathom or "North" canoe generally 

 takes place under a shed erected for the purpose, where there is 

 a clear, level space and plenty of working room. Two principal 

 stakes are driven at a distance apart of thirty-six feet, the length 

 of the craft to be. These are connected by two rows of 



