ANTOINE GARDAPEE. 211 



giy, and was anxious to know all about the broken leg 

 and why so many Indians were so close to us. Not a 

 question would I ask of the old man. He would tell it 

 all in his own way if left alone, and would be better satis- 

 fied to do it in that way. We sat in front of the log fire 

 on three-legged stools which his axe had fashioned, and 

 smoked in silence until he said: "Han' me that plug 

 tobac." I passed him the tobacco, and he slowly sliced 

 a pipeful, ground it in his palms, filled his pipe and 

 lighted it with a sliver from a dry pine stick. I emptied 

 my pipe and followed suit. As he contemplated the 

 smoke curl up and mingle with that of the fire, he re- 

 moved the pipe and said: "Dese Injun jess lak w'ite man, 

 some smart an' some tarn fool." He was thawing out, 

 and to assist the process I kept silent and let him go on 

 thinking until he got ready to tell as much as he wished. 

 After a few more puffs he said : "De big fella dat was 

 here, hees name was 'She-kog,' an' dat mean de skunk; 

 but he ain't got no sense like a skunk. All dese men dey 

 go on up on a Flambeau riv', dey no stay on a Bad Ax 

 riv, an' She-kog he go fur to break a stick an' hit O-ge- 

 ma, the head man, an' broke his bone in his O-bwam, 

 w'at you call dat bone here?" indicating his thigh. 

 "Well, when I foun' ole O-ge-ma he say 'ugh'* an' I feel 

 hees laig. Sho 'nuff she was broke. I get some wood 

 f'um dry pine an' make splits an' tear up blanket, an' den 

 I take hees foot in bote han's an' put ma foot in hees 

 crotch an' I pull lak de dev' till bones slip togedder an' I 

 feel 'em all rite. Den de woman win' hees laig in 

 blanket, an' I put on some split wood an' more blanket 

 an' hees laig it get all rite. Dey go 'way in mornin' an* 

 carry O-ge-ma 'longside. Gimme dat tobac." 



*This Indian salutation has been Anglicized into "how," and further 

 polluted into "here's how." 



