Indian Myths and Legends, 55 



by, and demanded to know where the Indian was, as he 

 desired to eat him," at which the latter became so terrified 

 that nothing subsequently would induce him to leave the 

 camp fire after nightfall. I moreover well recollect another 

 occasion when hunting Virginian deer with my excellent 

 friends Colonels Anderson and Wetmore. We had settled 

 down in a deserted shantie previous to beating a hard-wood 

 forest, when the native, a brother of the Indian just referred to, 

 after cooking our dinners and spreading the pine tops, on 

 which we reclined under rugs, and having piled the logs on 

 the fire for the night, betook himself, as usual, to his corner, 

 whilst we chattered and talked until one after another fell 

 asleep. However, from some cause or other (possibly being 

 my first night in camp) rest would not come to me, so dozing 

 and waking, I tossed about under the blanket. Besides, there 

 were porcupines calling in the forest, and strange sounds like 

 the breaking of dried twigs under feet, whilst mice kept pass- 

 ing over me to feed on the refuse of our dinners. Restless 

 and uncomfortable, I popped my head from under the rug to 

 find Sabates, the Indian, seated, with pipe in mouth, intently 

 gazing into the blazing fire. In a trice I was alongside of 

 him, whilst my two friends snored in concert under their 

 blankets. Talking of the porcupines, he assured me in the 

 first place that their noises always preceded a thaw, and 

 certainly such was our experience on the above occasion. 



Then reverting to the cracking of twigs, he would not posi- 

 tively say what was the reason ; perhaps a deer or a stray bear 

 might be about ; " there were sounds," he said, " sometimes 

 in the forest which no one could explain ! " At last, from one 

 thing to another, we got on ghosts, when Sabates warmed 

 rapidly, and at once proceeded with a long narrative, the 

 gist of which ran as follows. One night, when alone in a 

 very unfrequented portion of the forest, where he had been 

 hunting musk-rats, he was on the point of reclining under a 

 little temporary cover made of branches of trees placed on 



