and wonderfully diminutive, while his
little legs and arms were disproportionately small. He was so young as
to be barely able to walk, and yet there he stood, his black eyes
glittering with excitement, his tiny bow bent to its utmost, and a
blunt-headed arrow about to be discharged at a squirrel, whose flight
had been suddenly arrested by the unexpected apparition of Charley and
Jacques. As he stood there for a single instant, perfectly motionless,
he might have been mistaken for a grotesque statue of an Indian cupid.
Taking advantage of the squirrel's pause, the child let fly the arrow,
hit it exactly on the point of the nose, and turned it over, dead--a
consummation which he greeted with a rapid succession of frightful
yells.

"Cleverly done, my lad; you're a chip of the old block, I see," said
Jacques, patting the child's head as he passed, and retraced his steps,
with Charley, to the Indian camp.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

THE FEAST--CHARLEY MAKES HIS FIRST SPEECH IN PUBLIC, AND MEETS WITH AN
OLD FRIEND--AN EVENING IN THE GRASS.

Savages, not less than civilised men, are fond of a good dinner. In
saying this, we do not expect our reader to be overwhelmed with
astonishment. He might have guessed as much; but when we state that
savages, upon particular occasions, eat six dinners in one, and make it
a point of honour to do so, we apprehend that we have thrown a slightly
new light on an old subject. Doubtless there are men in civilised
society who would do likewise if they could; but they cannot,
fortunately, as great gastronomic powers are dependent on severe,
healthful, and prolonged physical exertion. Therefore it is that in
England we find men capable only of eating about two dinners at once,
and suffering a good deal for it afterward; while in the backwood we see
men consume a week's dinner in one, without any evil consequences
following the act.

The feast which was given by the Knisteneux in honour of the visit of
our two friends was provided on a more moderate scale than usual, in
order to accommodate the capacities of the "white men;" three days'
allowance being cooked for each man. (Women are never admitted to the
public feasts.) On the day preceding the ceremony, Charley and Jacques
had received cards of invitation from the principal chief, in the shape
of two quills; similar invites being issued at the same time to all the
braves. Jacques being accustomed to the doings of Indians, and aware of
t