is gun was at his
shoulder, and after firing at, but unfortunately, in the excitement of
the moment, missing the bear, he attacked it with the butt of his gun,
which he soon shivered to pieces on its skull. This drew the animal for
a few moments from Wapwian; and Miniquan, in hopes of leading it from
the place, ran off in the direction of the village. The bear, however,
soon gave up the chase, and returned again to its victim. Miniquan now
saw that the only chance of saving his relative was to alarm the
village; so, tightening his belt, he set off with the speed of the
hunted deer in the direction of the camp. In an incredibly short time
he arrived, and soon returned with the trappers and myself. Alas!
alas!" said the guide with a deep sigh, "it was too late. Upon arriving
at the spot, we found the bear quite dead, and the noble, generous
Wapwian extended by its side, torn and lacerated in such a manner that
we could scarcely recognise him. He still breathed a little, however,
and appeared to know me, as I bent over him and tried to close his
gaping wounds. We constructed a rude couch of branches, and conveyed
him slowly to the village. No word of complaint or cry of sorrow
escaped from his wife as we laid his bleeding form in her tent. She
seemed to have lost the power of speech, as she sat, hour after hour,
gazing in unutterable despair on the mangled form of her husband. Poor
Wapwian lingered for a week in a state of unconsciousness. His skull
had been fractured, and he lay almost in a state of insensibility, and
never spoke, save when, in a fit of delirium, his fancy wandered back to
bygone days, when he ranged the forest with a tiny bow in chase of
little birds and squirrels, strode in the vigour of early manhood over
frozen plains of snow, or dashed down foaming currents and mighty rivers
in his light canoe. Then a shade would cross his brow as he thought,
perhaps, of his recent struggle with the bear, and he would again
relapse into silence.

"He recovered slightly before his death; and once he smiled, as if he
recognised his wife, but he never spoke to any one. We scarcely know
when his spirit fled, so calm and peaceful was his end.

"His body now reposes beneath the spreading branches of a lordly pine,
near the scenes of his childhood, where he had spent his youth, and
where he met his untimely end."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The guide paused, a