cked up the Indian language, after a
fashion, from the Crees, and French of a kind from the Canadian
half-castes, and even a smattering of Gaelic from the few Scotch
Highlanders in the service. He could use the axe as well as forge it,
and, in short, could turn his hand to almost anything. Among other
things, he could play splendidly on the violin--an instrument which he
styled a fiddle, and which MacSweenie called a "fuddle." His
_repertoire_ was neither extensive nor select. If you had asked for
something of Beethoven or Mozart he would have opened his eyes, perhaps
also his mouth. But at a Strathspey or the Reel o' Tulloch he was
almost equal to Neil Gow himself--so admirable were his tune and time.
In a lonesome land, where amusements are few and the nights long, the
power to "fuddle" counts for much.

Besides being MacSweenie's interpreter, Donald was also his storekeeper.

"Give them both a quid, Tonal', to begin with," said MacSweenie. "It
iss always politic to keep Indians in good humour."

Donald cut off two long pieces of Canada twist and handed it to them.
He cut them from a roll, which was large enough, in the estimation of
Mozwa, to last a reasonable smoker to the crack of doom. They received
the gift with an expression of approval. It would have been beneath
their dignity to have allowed elation or gratitude to appear in their
manner.

"Solemn humbugs!" thought the trader,--"ye know that you're as pleased
as Punch," but he was careful to conceal his thoughts. "Now, then, let
us hev a look at the furs."

It took the trader and his assistant some time to examine the furs and
put a price on them. The Indians had no resource but to accept their
dictum on the point, for there were no rival markets there. Moreover,
the value being fixed according to a regular and well-understood tariff,
and the trader being the servant of a Company with a fixed salary, there
was no temptation to unfair action on his part. When the valuation was
completed a number of goose-quills were handed to the Indians--each
quill representing a sum of about two shillings--whereby each man had a
fair notion of the extent of his fortune.

"What iss it you will be wanting now?" said the trader, addressing
himself to Nazinred with the air of a man whose powers of production are
illimitable.

But the chief did not reply for some time. It was not every day that he
went shopping, and he was not to be hurried. His own personal