aversing the wilderness in
search of his lost lamb, though the lamb knew it not.

But Poosk's disasters were not yet over. Although brave at heart and,
for his years, sturdy of frame, he could not withstand the tremendous
cold peculiar to those regions of ice and snow; and ere long the fatal
lethargy that is often induced by extreme frost began to tell. The
first symptom was that Poosk ceased to feel the cold as much as he had
felt it some time before. Then a drowsy sensation crept over him, and
he looked about for a convenient spot on which to sit down and rest.
Alas for the little savage if he had given way at that time!
Fortunately a small precipice was close in front of him, its upper edge
concealed by wreaths of snow. He fell over it, turning a somersault as
he went down, and alighted safely in a snow-bed at the bottom. The
shock revived him, but it also quelled the stoic in his breast. Rising
with difficulty, he wrinkled up his brown visage, and once again took to
howling. Half an hour later his father, steadily following up the
little track in the snow, reached the spot and heard the howls. A smile
lit up his swarthy features, and there was a gleam of satisfaction in
his black eyes as he descended to the spot where the child stood.

Sudden calm after a storm followed the shutting of Poosk's mouth and the
opening of his eyes. Another moment, and his father had him in his
strong arms, turned him upside down, felt him over quietly, shook him a
little, ascertained that no bones were broken, put him on his broad
shoulders, and carried him straight back to the Mission Hall, where the
feasters were in full swing--having apparently quite forgotten the
little "waif and stray."

North American Indians, as is well-known, are not demonstrative. There
was no shout of joy when the lost one appeared. Even his mother took no
further notice of him than to make room for him on the form beside her.
She was a practical mother. Instead of fondling him she proceeded to
stuff him, which she was by that time at leisure to do, having just
finished stuffing herself. The father, stalking sedately to a seat at
another table, proceeded to make up for lost time. He was marvellously
successful in his efforts. He was one of those Indian braves who are
equal to any emergency.

Although near the end of the feast and with only _debris_ left to
manipulate, he managed to refresh himself to his entire satisfaction
before the tables