when the
Fur Runners would arrive at his camp. So the Factor made out the
following calendar:

Fort Consolation 18 September 189-

LNE 1111X111111X1
NRU 11111X111111X111111X111111X1111
NVER 11X111111X111111X111111X111111

Hudson's Bay Company
per Donald Mackenzie, Factor

[Illustration: Oo-koo-hoo's calendar.]

The above characters to the left are syllabic--a method of writing
taught to the Indians by the missionaries. They spell the words
September, October, and November. The 1's represent week days, and the
X's Sundays. The calendar begins with the 18th of September, and the
crescent marks the 29th of November, the date of the arrival of the Fur
Runners. The Indian would keep track of the days by pricking a pin
hole every day above the proper figure.

Presently the Factor and I were alone for a few moments and he growled:

"Whit d'ye think o' the auld de'il?"

"Fine, I'll go with him, if he will take me."

So I had a talk with the old Indian, and when he learned that I had no
intention of killing game, but merely wanted to accompany him and his
son-in-law on their hunts, he consented and we came to terms. I was to
be ready to start early on the morning of the 20th. Then Oo-koo-hoo
turned to the trader and said:

"Master, it is getting late and it will be later when I reach my lodge.
I am hungry now, and I shall be hungrier still when I get home. I am
growing . . ."

"Aye, aye, ma birkie," interrupted the Factor, "I un'erstaun' fine."
He bestowed upon the confident petitioner a further gratuity of flour,
tea, sugar, and tallow, a clay pipe, a plug of tobacco and some
matches, so as to save him from having to break in upon his winter
supplies before he started upon his journey to the hunting grounds.
Oo-koo-hoo solemnly expressed his gratitude:

"Master, my heart is pleased. You are my father. I shall now hunt
well, and you shall have all my fur."

To show his appreciation of the compliment, the Factor gave him an old
shirt, and wished him good luck.

In the meantime, Oo-koo-hoo's wife had succeeded in obtaining from the
Factor's wife old clothes for her grandchildren, needles and thread,
and some food. Just as they got ready to go, the younger woman, Amik's
wife, remembered that the baby had brought a duck as a present for the
Factor's children so they had to give a present in return, worth at
least twice as much as the duck.

The Factor and his family were by t