288 THE DRAMA OF THE FORESTS 



pany three years ago. I, myself, would have paid you well 

 for it." 



"Would you look as well upon a black fox?" asked Oo-koo- 

 hoo in surprise, as it is an unwritten law of the country that 

 missionaries are not to carry on trade with the Indians. 



"Yes. Have you one? " questioned the priest. 



" I have never seen a finer," replied the hunter. 



"But do either of the traders know you have it?" asked the 

 priest. 



"No," answered Oo-koo-hoo, with a shake of his head. 



Later, when the priest saw the skin, he was delighted with it, 

 and a bargain was soon made. Oo-koo-hoo was to get one 

 hundred "skins" for the black fox, and he was told to call next 

 day. But after returning to camp, he grew impatient and 

 went back to the priest to demand his pay. The priest said he 

 would give him a tent and a rifle worth more than fifty skins 

 and that he would say ten masses for him and his family, which 

 would be a very generous equivalent for the other fifty skins. 

 But Oo-koo-hoo, suddenly flaring up, began to storm at the 

 priest, and demanded the black fox back. But the priest 

 sternly motioned for silence with upraised hand, and whispered : 

 "This is God's House. There must be no noise or anger here." 

 And without another word he withdrew to get the rifle and 

 the tent. When he returned with an old tent and a second- 

 hand rifle, Oo-koo-hoo would not deign to touch them. With- 

 out more ado, he turned on his heel and walked away. 



On reaching camp, the old hunter learned from the children 

 that the women had gone to pay a visit to the nuns; so he 

 followed them, and, without even speaking to the Sisters, 

 ordered the women to come home. On the way he eased his 

 wrath by telling them that never again would he buy prayers 

 or masses from the priest with black fox skins, and that if they 

 ever wanted masses, he would pay for them with nothing but 

 the skins of skunks. He did not see why he had to pay for 



