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"Heap hunt here," he said, pointing to the meat and the hides stretched on the ground. "Kill three bear. Catch-um plenty fish. By-and-by schooner come." "When schooner come?" asked the chief, with a cunning gleam in his eye. "Pretty soon, by-and-by," said Rob, sternly. "Plenty white mans come pretty soon."
"I wonder if you ever will get enough to eat, John!" said Rob, reprovingly. "We have only had breakfast an hour or so. But I'm agreed that young wild goose will make a good change of diet for luncheon." He patted Skookie on the shoulder to compliment him on his skill. "Plenty times me catch-um," said Skookie, proudly, as he untangled his cords. "Plenty times my peoples come dis place."
Years afterward, when I found old Noel's trap on Keeonekh's portage, I asked Simmo why no bait had been used. "No good use-um bait," he said, "Keeonekh like-um fresh fish, an' catch-um self all he want." And that is true. Except in starvation times, when even the pools are frozen, or the fish die from one of their mysterious epidemics, Keeonekh turns up his nose at any bait.
I don't suppose Skookie could hit anything very far." "I don't know," mused Rob. "But why not let him try? If the birds are done nesting, and the young ones are flying, they would make a mighty good addition to our table if we could get some of them." Another flock of geese passed by. Rob pointed from the thong-cords toward the geese. "S'pose you catch-um?" he asked of Skookie.
"Billy," said Jim, indicating that sable hero. "In a common walk. Fed him over. All right, now, Billy, you catch-um kangaroo, wallaby d'you hear?" Billy showed a set of amazingly white teeth in a broad grin, and departed swiftly and silently. "Where's Lee Wing?" "Had to tear him off Hogg!" Jim grinned. "You never saw such a shindy. They've retired in bad order." "Where's Fudge?"
Again, if I stopped casting suddenly at the deep trout pool opposite a grassy shore, to follow with my eyes a tall, gray-blue shadow on stilts moving dimly alongshore in seven-league-boot strides for the next bog, where frogs were plenty, Simmo would point with his paddle and say: "See, Ol' Fader Longlegs go catch-um more frogs for his babies.
You jump to your feet and grab your rifle; but Simmo, who is down on his knees before the fire frying pork, only turns his head to listen a moment, and says: "Upweekis catch-um rabbit dat time." Then he gets closer to the fire, for the screech was not pleasant, and goes on with his cooking. You are more curious than he, or you want the big cat's skin to take home with you.
"White mans come here by-and-by Uncle Sam white mans. Suppose bad mans steal; Uncle Sam catch-um. You no touch-um bad mans!"
John turned to his friend Skookie. "S'pose you catch-um geese, Skookie?" he asked. The Aleut boy surprised them very much by his sudden use of English. "Sure!" he said. He had perhaps learned this word from associating with whites somewhere down the coast. His prompt reply made them all laugh, but none the less it was of yet greater interest than this. "How do you mean, Skookie?" asked Rob.
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