ht of the sleeping Bigbeam, still extended in all its
glory the wonderful robe of furs. Again they entered the post and
unceremoniously pulled from her pleasant resting place the helpmate of
Red Dog, the hunter. The cloak was seized upon and the two men hurried
with it to the inner apartments, where it was studied carefully and with
vigorous expressions of admiration.

"He's got it!" exclaimed McGlenn. "He's got it, the foxy rascal! It's
only a trick of Red Dog's; but the buck who knows furs as well as that
and who lives in a region where such furs can be found, and who's been
sharp enough to utilize his squaw for a scheme like this, deserves the
new post anyhow. You'll have to go up there, Johnson, and take some of
the voyageurs with you, as soon as the river is open to the head, and
establish a new post there. There'll be profit in it." Then Red Dog was
ordered to come in.

How, recognizing the effect already produced upon the factor by
Bigbeam's cloak, Red Dog waxed eloquent in description of the fur
producing facilities of his region cannot here be described at length.
From the picture he drew vehemently in bad French-Canadian language it
would appear that the otter and the beaver fought together for mere
breathing places in the streams, that the sable and the marten and the
ermine were household pets, and that as for the foxes, blue and silver
gray, they were so numerous that the spruce grouse had learned to build
their nests in trees! Turning his regard from his own country, he
referred to that of Little Peter. He described Little Peter as a
desperate character with a black heart and with no skill at all in the
capture of wild things. As to Little Peter's country, it was absurd to
talk about it! It was a desolate waste of rocks and shrub, whereon even
the little snowbirds could not live, and where the few bad Indians who
found a home there subsisted upon roots alone. It was a great oration.

The factor and his assistant listened and laughed and made allowances,
but did not alter the decision reached. Red Dog was told that the new
post would be established in his own hunting grounds. As a special
favor, he was given a quart bottle of whisky and ordered sternly to
conduct himself as well as he could under the circumstances. Never was
prouder Indian than Red Dog when he emerged from the storeroom. Before
the day had ended, his furs were all disposed of, including the
marvelous cloak, and in his big canoe were store