Adventure and adventurers > Away in the wilderness, or, Life among the red Indians and fur-traders of North America

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AWAY IN THE WILDERNESS.
around it. A dirtier family and filthier tent one
could not wish to see. The father was a poor
weakly man and a bad hunter ; the squaw was
thin, wrinkled, and very dirty, and the children
were all sickly-looking, except the boy before men¬
tioned, who seemed to enjoy more than his fair
share of health and rotundity.
“ Have ye got anything to eat ¥’ inquired
Jasper, when the canoe reached the place.
They had not got much, only a few fish and an
owl.
“ Poor miserable critters,” said Jasper, throw¬
ing them a goose and a lump of venison ; “ see
there—that’ll keep the wolf out o’ yer insides for
some time. Have ye got anything to smoke ?”
No, they had nothing to smoke but a few dried
leaves.
“ Worse and worse,” cried Jasper, pulling a
large plug of tobacco from the breast of his coat ;
“ here, that’ll keep you puffin’ for a short bit, any¬
how.”
Heywood, although no smoker himself, carried
a small supply of tobacco just to give away to
Indians, so he added two or three plugs to Jasper’s
gift, and Arrowhead gave the father a few charges
of powder and shot. They then stepped into their
canoe, and pushed off with that feeling of light¬
hearted happiness which always follows the doing
of a kind action.