I saw that it was only an open palm extended toward me, and I
placed mine therein for a friendly shake, my heart beating less heavily.

Then the hand was withdrawn, the salmon pushed toward me, and the hand
held out again.

"Hallo!" cried a voice, which made me glow with satisfaction. "Been
fishing, Gordon?"

Gunson strode up to us, and seeing the situation at a glance, he took
out his tobacco-pouch, opened it, pinched out a piece, and pointing to
the salmon, offered the cut-up herb to the Indian, who now stood out in
front of the young pines. I thought it ridiculous to offer what I
considered a pinch of rubbish for the salmon; but the Indian laughed,
darted back, and returned holding another quivering fish by the tail,
threw it down, and held out his hand for the tobacco, evidently well
pleased with his bargain.

"Fish is cheap out here," said Gunson, laughing. "Here, Quong, one to
cook and one to dry."

Our Celestial friend literally pounced upon the two salmon as prizes as
soon as he saw that there was no danger, and set to work cleaning and
splitting the fish, lightening them by getting rid of head and tail, and
then cutting some splints of wood to keep one well open for drying in
the sun and for easy carriage.

"There is nothing to mind," said Gunson. "It is only a fishing party;"
and leading the way through the line of young firs, which acted as a
screen, we came upon a group of Indians, two men and four women, all
busy cleaning and splitting the fish which another man kept hauling up
from the river in a rough net.

It seemed a very primitive way of fishing, and we stood looking on and
examining some of the salmon hung to dry upon several roughly rigged up
poles, before we went to the edge of the shelf upon which all this was
going on, to find straight below us the other Indian standing upon a
rough platform, made by driving a couple of stout poles into the wall of
rock at a fissure, and throwing a few branches across. This man had a
coarse net on a ring at the end of a long, stout pole, and watching his
opportunity as the fish came rapidly up the rushing water, he plunged
the net down, and brought it up with a gasping, struggling salmon. This
was transferred to a hanging basket, and hauled up by the Indian at the
edge, and carried to the party who were preparing and drying them in the
sun for their winter store.

It was all ridiculously easy. The Indian had only to keep on dipping
out fish as fa