220 Caribou -Hunting. 



" Who kill 'im that caribou ?" inquired Tomah ; " two shots fired." 



I had been dreading this for some time, but Sebatis cleverly 

 evaded the question, and prevented the endless discussion sure to 

 follow, by facetiously replying : 



" Well, I guess bullet kill 'im, sartin." 



Fortunately, in the hurry of skinning the caribou and cutting up 

 the venison, they either forgot, or had not time to examine whether 

 there was more than one bullet-hole in the skin ; and as the latter, 

 probably, would not be recovered until we were on the home-trail, I 

 flattered myself that the discussion would not be revived. However, 

 in this I was mistaken, as will be seen in the sequel. 



In appearance, no two men could differ more widely than my two 

 henchmen. Sebatis stood six feet and two inches in his moccasins, 

 had clear-cut features, and was possessed of infinite patience and 

 good humor. Under severe provocation, his temper was apt to be 

 short, but it was over quickly, and he never sulked. Tomah was very 

 short in stature, bow-legged, and had a countenance terrible to look 

 upon, the fierce expression of his restless eyes indicating unmistaka- 

 bly his savage ancestry; and yet, withal, he was not an ill-tempered 

 man ; and the deep, tragic tones in which he spoke, even when saying 

 the most commonplace things, made some of his utterances irresistibly 

 comical. His friendship for Sebatis was of long standing, and they 

 got on very well together, except when a dispute arose about the 

 shooting of a moose or caribou. At such times my ingenuity was 

 taxed to prevent a fight. Soon their united efforts as axe-men, with 

 my aid in carrying in, accumulated such a goodly pile of hard wood 

 as enabled us to laugh at the howling storm. 



" Sartin I think, no chance hunt 'im caribou to-morrow ; always 

 bad snow-shoein' when snow so light," said Sebatis, as he shook off 

 the snow from his clothes and prepared to cook our dinner of fat 

 caribou steaks. 



"Sebatis, where are our little friends, the birds? I haven't seen 

 one since our return to camp." 



"You see, hide somewhere when storm so heavy. S'pose sun- 

 shine, you see 'im comin' : ah-mon-a-tuk (cross-bill), kich-e-ge-gelas 

 (chickadee), ump-kanusis(moose-bird),an'ki-ha-neas (red-poll linnet)." 



Early next morning Tomah was absent, and I asked Sebatis 

 where he was. 



