A. M. Chisholm

“ I suppose most of us who are getting along in life remember rare, far-off days when the sunlight seemed pure gold, and the light breezes extraordinarily fresh and sweet, and the little, crisping waves lisping to the beaches called and called, and their dancing play spoke to us as a babe's eyes to its mother. ”

“ The joy of life saturated my whole being. I felt the impulse which drives a healthy young animal to play, and I traveled fast because of it.
But when I had been going for some hours my superfluous energy worked out. I had fired a shot or two, as suggested by Ballou, but I had built no smokes. Toward noon I found a little, trickling creek, and by the mouth of it I built a fire with a big smoke. ”

“ But whatever it is we will never forget the sweetness of those rare, bygone days. At such times it seems to me we must have unconsciously brushed the hem of something better and higher than our everyday lives, and that is why we remember. ”

“ I told him where Ballou's camp was, and he flicked a quick glance at me.
"How many man stop?"
"Nine men. One woman."
Again his glance flickered at me, a sudden fire in it.
"Mebbe white woman?"
"No, she's an Indian."
He drew a long breath, exhaled a cloud of pungent smoke, and shook his head.
"No good!" he commented. "Nine white men, one klootchman. Mebbe she mesachie klootchman, hey?" ”

“ And they must have gone down the lake, as they could not have paddled against that wind. They would reason that whatever had happened to me could not be cured. But they would keep a close watch on the lake from some vantage point, and, not seeing any canoes on it, they might deduce a connection between that fact and my disappearance; for if Ballou had both furs and canoes naturally he would have pulled out without delay. ”

“ Having known Indians all my life and found them no worse than other people, according to their lights, I felt surprise merely, mingled with a certain annoyance that he should have been able to approach without my knowledge, for I had a very good opinion of my ears. ”

“ But he would not answer that, and merely repeated the words. When an Indian gets to repeating himself you might as well argue with a stump. So I gave it up.
"Why you make smoke?" he asked presently, and I told him. ”