"Sishetakushin and Mookoomahn!" exclaimed Bob.
The moment they were recognised the two Indians strode forward,
laughing, and grasped Bob's hand in a manner that left no doubt of
their pleasure at meeting him, while both voiced their feeling in a
torrent of tumultuous words.
They were tall, lithe, sinewy fellows, clad in buckskin shirt,
tight-fitting buckskin leggings, and moccasins. They wore no hats, but
a band of buckskin, decorated in colours, passing around the forehead,
held in subjection the long black hair, which fell nearly to their
shoulders. In the hollow of his left arm each carried a long,
muzzle-loading trade gun, and Mookoomahn, the younger of the two, also
carried at his back a bow and a quiver of arrows.
"These be th' Injuns I were tellin' you of," Bob finally introduced,
when an opportunity offered. "Shake hands with un, Shad. This un is
Sishetakushin, an' this un is his son, Mookoomahn. I've been tellin'
they you're my friend."
In their attitude toward Shad they were dignified and reserved.
Neither could speak English, and Bob, who had a fair mastery of the
Indian tongue, interpreted.
"We are glad to meet the friend of White Brother of the Snow," said
Sishetakushin, acting as spokesman. "We welcome him to our country.
White Brother of the Snow tells us he will remain for many moons. He
will visit our lodge with White Brother of the Snow and eat our meat.
He will be welcome."
"I thank you," responded Shad. "'White Brother of the Snow has told me
how kind you were to him when he was in trouble, and it is a great
pleasure to meet you. I will certainly visit your lodge with him and
eat your meat."
The ceremony of introduction completed, Bob renewed the fire and
brewed a kettle of tea for his visitors. They drank it greedily, and
at a temperature that would have scalded a white man's throat.
"They's wonderful fond o' tea, and tobacco, too," explained Bob, "an'
they only gets un when they goes t' Ungava onct or twict a year."
Upon Bob's suggestion that, should they meet Indians, it would prove
an acceptable gift, Shad had purchased at the post and brought with
him a bountiful supply of black plug tobacco, such as the natives
used, and with this hint from Bob he gave each of the Indians a
half-dozen plugs. The swarthy faces and black eyes of the visitors
lighted with pleasure, and from that moment much of the reserve that
they had hitherto maintained toward him vanished.
"The friend of White Brother of the Snow is generous," said
Sishetakushin, in accepting the tobacco. "For four moons we have had
nothing to smoke but dried leaves and the bark of the red willow."
Each Indian carried at his belt a pipe, the bowl fashioned from soft,
red pipe stone, the stem a hollow spruce stick. Squatting upon their
haunches before the fire, they at once filled their pipes with
tobacco, lighted them with coals from the fire, and blissfully puffed
in silence for several minutes.
"How are Manikawan and her mother?" Bob presently inquired.
"The mother is well, but the maiden has grieved long because White
Brother of the Snow never returns," answered Sishetakushin. "She
watches for him when the Spirit of the Wind speaks in the tree-tops.
She watches when the moon is bright and the shadow spirits are abroad.
She watches when the evil spirits of the storm are raging in fury
through the forest. She watches always, and is sad. Young men have
sought her hand to wife, but she has denied them. White Brother of the
Snow will return. He will come again to our lodge, and the maiden will
be joyful."
Shad was unable to understand a word of this, but Bob's face told him
plainly that something not altogether pleasant to the lad had been
said.
"I cannot go now," said Bob, speaking in the Indian tongue. "We must
build our lodges and lay our trails. Winter will soon be upon us and
we must have the lodges built before the Frost Spirit freezes the
earth."
"Sishetakushin's lodge is always open to White Brother of the Snow. It
is pitched upon the shores of the Great Lake, two-days' journey to
the northward. The trail is plain. It lies through two lakes and along
water running to the Great Lake. The maiden is waiting for White
Brother of the Snow. He was made one of our people. He is welcome."
[Footnote: Lake Michikamau, the Great Lake of the Indians, situated on
the Labrador plateau.]
The Indians had risen to go, and Bob presented them with a package of
tea, as a parting gift, which they accepted.
"White Brother of the Snow will come to our lodge soon and bring with
him his friend," said Sishetakushin, in accepting the tea, and he and
Mookoomahn, like shadows, disappeared into the forest.
"Injuns be queer folk, but they were good friends t' me when I were
needin' friends," said Bob, when the Indians were gone.