Part 5 (2/2)

”Only a whisky jack,” said Roderick

This reply of Roderick's h; for the shrill, harsh cry of the Indians' sacred bird, called by the very unpoetical name of whisky jack, is not verybirds are all in the sunny South Land during these coldour brief su, they flit away and leave us so still and quiet”

”What about this saucy bird, here called whisky jack, that we meet with on all of our wintry journeys?” asked Alec

”Well,” replied Mrs Ross, ”you see, in the first place, that he is not very handsoe is not very attractive, but he has an inner coating of black down, and if you could strip him of both of these jackets you would find him to be a very small bird after all

The Indians used to call hiry they may be They have some beautiful traditions associated with hiends, the cry of a fairfrom a hateful suitor, was lost in a blizzard In vain she called for her oeetheart, until her once h that it lost its beauty To prevent her fro into the hands of her hated suitor, just as he was about [to seize] her the ed her, in answer to her prayer, into a bird, and this is the whisky jack”

”Our next an, or white partridge The colder the winter the more numerous they seem to be They are easily snared, like the rabbits, as they have certain favourite runs, and do not seem to observe the twine or wire loops into which they so foolishly run their heads”

”Where do they sleep at nights?” asked little Roderick

”Faith, and I know,” said Sahtened out oflate to the ca theh in the air, and then, like a stone, they just shot theht of myself and those ith me”

”Yes,” said Alec, ”and I well re up out of these queer beds in the deep snoay out from the dense woods It always occurred very early in the , shortly after we had left our caht I could hardly get used to the start they gave ht up frohosts, they were so very white, and s as well as o back to the saht?” asked Frank

”No,” said Mr Ross; ”they are birds that ood deal, and as far as the Indians' observations go the same flock or covey never sleep twice in the same place If they did the foxes and other ani on them would soon discover their retreats, and would make short work of them”

Thus the days and weeks passed by Sometimes all the boys, with Mr Ross and a nureat excursion after the bears or beavers At other tied, when but one or two of the boys would go

Then there were the hos were kept busy, and the skates and snowshoes were not forgotten

The visits between Sagasta-weekee and the an to appear as if Cupid had donned a fur er visit and fired a couple of his darts into the hearts of Frank and Alec, and on these darts were the nahters of the missionary Whether this be true or not, or only a ruulls, we cannot say, but Mrs Ross affirasta- weekee were these two young gentlemen so particular about their personal appearance, or so anxious to find soood and valid reason why they should be sent over to the home of the missionary It was also remarked, by those who saw their two beautifully painted carioles made ready for the trip, that an extra soft fur robe or tere placed therein Their skates were so with theenerally preferred starting early in the day, and it was an actual fact that, although the whole round trip need not have taken enerally did not return until long after dark Ruasta- weekee that on several occasions two beautiful carioles, with lovely white young ladies cozily wrapped up in costly furs, and driven by handso over the great icy routes, while the air was full of happy laughter that sounded very much in unison with theon the collars of the splendid dogs And further parties Frank and Alec were generally found skating with these sa ladies Their explanations were that their skates seelide more in unison with each other, and in fact that there was a sort of affinity between them Then their joy was complete when Mrs Ross invited the whole family froasta-weekee It was reenerally had word that the devoted s verythe distant bands of Indians, and it would be a capital idea for so back soestion was of course carried out, but it was observed that the carioles of the aforesaid young gentlemen, when they returned, only had in each of the lady, and they said that the trip had been ”perfectly lovely!”

What happy days those were! To Frank and Alec had co love-drea Cynics and crusty, disappointed old bachelors ht make fun of these youthful lovers and make some sarcastic remarks; still, after all, where is the noble, healthy, splendid young h these sa, survived? So let Frank and Alec have these daydreams and thus enjoy themselves They will be none the worse, but rather the better, when the ordeal is over, as it is with those who safely get through with a lingering attack of the measles or scarlet fever

One day Mr Ross sent old Mustagan out into the woods to select a place where the next year's supply of wood could be obtained His instructions were to find a dense forest of tall, symmetrical trees froasta-weekee Then choppers would be sent in, and some acres of this forest would be cut down and there left to dry for twelve months The result would be that at the end of the year's time the trees would be in splendid condition for firewood The next operation was to have these trees all cut up in lengths that could be easily handed, and then dragged ho sleds when there was abundance of snow on the ground

Saan As the as only a fewpaleface go with hih the forest, where there was not as yet the first vestige of a trail, they at once strapped on their snowshoes Mustagan's only weapon was his axe, while Sam carried a small rifle Very much sooner than they had anticipated they found a suitable grove, the lian at once proceeded to mark off with his axe These few marks thus made on some of the trees were all that was necessary to secure the property

They had seen but little ga rabbit or ptares cae balsam tree but a few hundred feet in front of theun instead of this rifle,” said Saes”

”Suppose we try and get thean, in a tone that seemed to indicate perfect confidence in the experiment