lodge, as
the fire was low, and served by its fitful flashes, rather to increase
than dispel their fears. "Merciful spirit!" cried a voice from the
opposite part of the lodge, "there are two corpses clothed with
garments." The hunter's wife turned around, but seeing nobody, she
concluded the sounds were but gusts of wind. She trembled, and was
ready to sink to the earth.

Her husband at this moment entered and dispelled her fears. He threw
down the carcass of a large fat deer. "Behold what a fine and fat
animal," cried the mysterious females, and they immediately ran and
pulled off pieces of the whitest fat,[43] which they ate with
greediness. The hunter and his wife looked on with astonishment, but
remained silent. They supposed their guests might have been famished.
Next day, however, the same unusual conduct was repeated. The strange
females tore off the fat and devoured it with eagerness. The third day
the hunter thought he would anticipate their wants by tying up a
portion of the fattest pieces for them, which he placed on the top of
his load. They accepted it, but still appeared dissatisfied, and went
to the wife's portion and tore off more. The man and his wife felt
surprised at such rude and unaccountable conduct, but they remained
silent, for they respected their guests, and had observed that they had
been attended with marked good luck during the residence of these
mysterious visitors.

In other respects, the deportment of the females was strictly
unexceptionable. They were modest, distant, and silent. They never
uttered a word during the day. At night they would occupy themselves in
procuring wood, which they carried to the lodge, and then returning the
implements exactly to the places in which they had found them, resume
their places without speaking. They were never known to stay out until
daylight. They never laughed or jested.

The winter had nearly passed away, without anything uncommon happening,
when, one evening, the hunter stayed out very late. The moment he
entered and laid down his day's hunt as usual before his wife, the two
females began to tear off the fat, in so unceremonious a way, that her
anger was excited. She constrained herself, however, in a measure, but
did not conceal her feelings, although she said but little. The guests
observed the excited state of her mind, and became unusually reserved
and uneasy. The good hunter saw the change, and carefully inquired into
the cause, but his