THE HALF-BREED. 169 



us, but the sight of Shack's ivory, as he grinned 

 threateningly at 'them, seemed to cool their courage, 

 and they slunk away to their kennel. The woman 

 met us at the door, gazing stupidly at us. She under- 

 stood no English, while her mongrel French and In- 

 dian was equally unintelligible to us. She was cer- 

 tainly no beauty, nor yet remarkable for cleanliness 

 of person, with a face and neck the color of sole 

 leather, and hair half-combed, tied in a loose knot at 

 .the back of her head. Her husband, if such he was, 

 we saw in his canoe, near the opposite side of the lake. 

 Towards sundown he returned. He spoke broken 

 English, and we understood each other very well. 

 V^e slept in his cabin that night ; but let no man be 

 guilty of so great a folly hereafter. He had a toler- 

 ably decent bed made of the feathers 'of ducks and 

 other wild birds. The sheets were none of the 

 whitest, but they were not positively dirty; and I 

 thought it would be a luxury to sleep in a bed once 

 more. After bathing in the clear cold waters of the 

 lake, I undressed while the woman was out, and 

 turned in. I felt exceedingly comfortable, and soon 

 fell asleep. Towards morning I awoke, with hun- 

 dreds of fleas, and bed-bugs fast hold of me, and aa 



8 



