That was why even the squaws and papooses came up the river with the
braves, all wondering if the stranger had brought gifts with him, all
eager for their shares; for it had been said by the courier of the tribe
that "Oshondonto," their name for the newcomer, was bringing mysterious
loads of well-wrapped bales and skins. Upon a point below the first
rapids of the Little Manitou they waited with their camp-fires burning
and their pipe of peace.
When the canoes bearing Oshondonto and his voyageurs shot the rapids to
the song of the river,
"En roulant, ma boule roulant,
En roulant, ma boule!"
with the shrill voices of the boatmen rising to meet the cry of the
startled water-fowl, the Athabascas crowded to the high banks. They
grunted "How!" in greeting, as the foremost canoe made for the shore.
But if surprise could have changed the countenances of Indians, these
Athabascas would not have known one another when the missionary stepped
out upon the shore. They had looked to see a grey-bearded man like the
chief factor who quarrelled and prayed; but they found instead a round-
faced, clean-shaven youth, with big, good-natured eyes, yellow hair, and
a roundness of body like that of a month-old bear's cub.
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