it may be well here to remark that although lumley and i, as well as some of our men, had acquired a smattering of the indian tongue, our chief deemed it expedient to give us a regular interpreter whose knowledge of both languages was sufficiently extensive. such an interpreter had been found in the youth whom we had styled salamander, and whose real name i have now forgotten. this lad’s knowledge of indian was perfect. he also understood french well, and spoke it badly, while his comprehension of english was quite equal to any emergency, though his power of speaking it was exceedingly limited. what he spoke could scarcely be styled a broken tongue; it was rather what we may call thoroughly smashed-up english! such as it was, however, it served our purpose well enough, and as the lad was a willing, cheery, somewhat humorous fellow, he was justly deemed an acquisition to our party. while on this subject i may add that blondin, who brought the winter packet to dunregan, was one of our number—also, that both our scotsmen were highlanders, one being named donald bane, the other james dougall. why the first called the second shames tougall, and the second styled the first tonal’ pane is a circumstance which i cannot explain.
among the french-canadian half-breeds our blacksmith, marcelle dumont and our carpenter, henri coppet, were the most noteworthy; the first being a short but herculean man with a jovial temperament, the latter a thin, lanky, lugubrious fellow, with a grave disposition. both were first-rate workmen, but indeed the same may be said of nearly all our men, who had been chosen very much because of their readiness and ability to turn their hands to anything.
soon the kettles boiled. in one we infused tea. in another we prepared that thick soup so familiar to the nor’-wester, composed of pemmican and flour, which is known by the name of robbiboo. from a frying-pan the same substances, much thicker, sent up a savoury steam under the name of richeau.
there was not much conversation among us at the commencement of the meal, as we sat round the camp-fire, but when appetite was appeased muttered remarks were interchanged, and when tobacco-pipes came out, our tongues, set free from food, began to wag apace.
“dere is noting like a good souper,” remarked marcelle dumont, the blacksmith, extending his burly form on the grass the more thoroughly to enjoy his pipe.
“shames tougall,” said donald bane, in an undertone, and with the deliberate slowness of his race, “what does he mean by soopy?”
“tonal’,” replied dougall with equal deliberation, “ye’d petter ask his nainsel’.”
“it be de french for supper,” said salamander, who overheard the question.
“humph!” ejaculated dougall and bane in unison; but they vouchsafed no further indication of the state of their minds.
“you’re a true prophet, big otter,” said lumley, as a low rumbling of distant thunder broke the silence of the night, which would have been profound but for our voices, the crackling of the fire, and the tinkle of a neighbouring rill.
soon afterwards we observed a faint flash of lightning, which was followed by another and deeper rumble of heaven’s artillery. looking up through the branches we perceived that the sky had become overcast with heavy clouds.
suddenly there came a blinding flash of lightning, as if the sun in noonday strength had burst through the black sky. it was followed instantly by thick, almost palpable darkness, and by a crash so tremendous that i sprang up with a sort of idea that the end of the world had come. the crash was prolonged in a series of rolling, bumping thunders, as though giants were playing bowls with worlds on the floor of heaven. gradually the echoing peals subsided into sullen mutterings and finally died away.
