Chapter 28 - Page 2

friend is a Moose!" exclaimed the Huron. "His legs are
very long; they have given my young men trouble. But he is not a
fish; he cannot find his way in the lake. We did not shoot him;
fish are taken in nets, and not killed by bullets. When he turns
Moose again he will be treated like a Moose."

'Ay, have your talk, Rivenoak; make the most of your advantage.
'Tis your right, I suppose, and I know it is your gift. On that
p'int there'll be no words atween us, for all men must and ought to
follow their gifts. Howsever, when your women begin to ta'nt and
abuse me, as I suppose will soon happen, let 'em remember that if
a pale-face struggles for life so long as it's lawful and manful,
he knows how to loosen his hold on it, decently, when he feels that
the time has come. I'm your captyve; work your will on me."

"My brother has had a long run on the hills, and a pleasant sail
on the water," returned Rivenoak more mildly, smiling, at the same
time, in a way that his listener knew denoted pacific intentions.
'He has seen the woods; he has seen the water. Which does he like
best? Perhaps he has seen enough to change his mind, and make him
hear reason."

"Speak out, Huron. Something is in your thoughts, and the sooner
it is said, the sooner you'll get my answer."

"That is straight! There is no turning in the talk of my pale-face
friend, though he is a fox in running. I will speak to him; his
ears are now open wider than before, and his eyes are not shut. The
Sumach is poorer than ever. Once she had a brother and a husband.
She had children, too. The time came and the husband started for
the Happy Hunting Grounds, without saying farewell; he left her
alone with his children. This he could not help, or he would not
have done it; le Loup Cervier was a good husband. It was pleasant
to see the venison, and wild ducks, and geese, and bear's meat, that
hung in his lodge in winter. It is now gone; it will not keep in
warm weather. Who shall bring it back again? Some thought the
brother would not forget his sister, and that, next winter, he would
see that the lodge should not be empty. We thought this; but the
Panther yelled, and followed the husband on the path of death. They
are now trying which shall first reach the Happy Hunting Grounds.
Some think the Lynx can run fastest, and some think the Panther
can jump the farthest. The Sumach thinks both will travel so fast
and so far that neither will ever come back. Who shall feed her
and her young? The man who told her husband and her brother to
quit her lodge, that there might be room for him to come into it.
He is a great hunter, and we know that the woman will never want."

"Ay, Huron