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INDIANS AS GUIDES i 137 
act as our guides and we purpose making 
you stick to your bargain.” 
This was said in a very determined way. 
Both Indians looked from one to the other 
and smiled. Then the elder spoke up: 
“You not make us. You say we break 
bargain. Allright. Thatsettled. We come 
from now on at three dollars a day. You 
pay for two days we comin’. You not 
agree, we go huntin’ here.” 
This was a poser. They had evidently 
_ broken the agreement purposely, so that 
they might make a new one at fifty cents a 
day more than they first asked. They also 
wanted full pay for the two days they were 
behind, and which we lost, and if we did not 
agree to give them all they asked they would 
hunt over the same ground as we had 
arranged to cover. 
There were only two things open for us 
to do—accept their terms or find another 
hunting ground. The former was distaste- 
ful, and the latter meant that our trip would 
be spoiled. 
We discussed the matter, pro and con, 
among ourselves, and finally, but reluctantly, 
agreed to meet their demands. At the 
same time we felt that we should not get 
much game. In the end we were pleasantly 
surprised, for the Indians worked well in- 
deed and we got all the deer and moose we 
wanted, and could have had as many more 
had not our sporting ethics bid us call a 
halt. 
This narrative shows how unreliable 
Indian guides can be at times, and while my 
experience with the brown guides has 
proven that they are fairly honorable, it 
has also shown me that some of them can 
be as crooked as a spiral spring when it 
suits them to be so. The best way, and the 
only safe one, is to know your man. This 
you cannot do at first off. But once you 
form an acquaintance with a fairly good 
guide, stick to him. You will find he im- 
proves as he comes to know you as a friend. 
Then, too, shall you find him more com- 
panionable and given to favoring you in 
little modest ways that will endear him to 
you for all time. 

