Way, now that, and the first thought
was that it was caribou; but when there came the flash of sunlight
on metal from the midst of it, and the sound of rifle shots, there
was no longer any mistaking it for caribou.
As we came towards them the firing continued at intervals, and now
and then I sent back an answering shot from my revolver; but it was
not without a feeling of uneasiness that we approached. I thought
of many things which might happen and the men paddled very slowly;
but our amusement may be imagined when, on drawing nearer, we found
that they were all women and children. There was much screaming
and shouting from the hill.
"Go away, go away," they shrieked. "We are afraid of you. Our
husbands are away."
Their speech was that of the Montagnais Indians which George
understood, having learned to speak it while at Northwest River
post in the winter of 1903-1904.
"_Tanta sebo_?" (Where is the river?) shouted Job into the din,
"_Tanta sebo_?"
When they ceased their screaming to listen, George called to them
in Montagnais: "We are strangers and are passing through your
country."
A swift change followed these few words in their own familiar
tongue.
