mber,
rhythmically alternating with the shrill voice of the interpreter, and
now and again, like the bell of the Lord, the wondering and meditative
"Hell" of the red-haired man.

"I am Imber of the Whitefish people." So ran the interpretation of
Howkan, whose inherent barbarism gripped hold of him, and who lost his
mission culture and veneered civilization as he caught the savage ring
and rhythm of old Imber's tale. "My father was Otsbaok, a strong man.
The land was warm with sunshine and gladness when I was a boy. The
people did not hunger after strange things, nor hearken to new voices,
and the ways of their fathers were their ways. The women found favor in
the eyes of the young men, and the young men looked upon them with
content. Babes hung at the breasts of the women, and they were
heavy-hipped with increase of the tribe. Men were men in those days. In
peace and plenty, and in war and famine, they were men.

"At that time there was more fish in the water than now, and more meat
in the forest. Our dogs were wolves, warm with thick hides and hard to
the frost and storm. And as with our dogs, so with us, for we were
likewise hard to the frost and storm. And when the Pellys came into our
land we slew them and were slain. For we were men, we Whitefish, and our
fathers and our fathers' fathers had fought against the Pellys and
determined the bounds of the land.

"As I say, with our dogs, so with us. And one day came the first white
man. He dragged himself, so, on hand and knee, in the snow. And his skin
was stretched tight, and his bones were sharp beneath. Never was such a
man, we thought, and we wondered of what strange tribe he was, and of
its land. And he was weak, most weak, like a little child, so that we
gave him a place by the fire, and warm furs to lie upon, and we gave him
food as little children are given food.

"And with him was a dog, large as three of our dogs, and very weak. The
hair of this dog was short, and not warm, and the tail was frozen so
that the end fell off. And this strange dog we fed, and bedded by the
fire, and fought from it our dogs, which else would have killed him. And
what of the moose meat and the sun-dried salmon, the man and dog took
strength to themselves; and what of the strength, they became big and
unafraid. And the man spoke loud words and laughed at the old men and
young men, and looked boldly upon the maidens. And the dog fought with
our dogs, and for all of his short hair