What you give costs
you nothing; and what you get may be worth nothing; so, if you don't
gain much, you don't lose, at all events. "So," sais I, "what in natur
is pemican?"
1 See Dunn's "Oregon."
"Why," sais he, "it is formed by pounding the choice parts of venison
or other meat very small, dried over a slack fire, or by the frost,
and put into bags, made of the skin of the slain animal, into which a
portion of melted fat is poured. The whole being then strongly
pressed, and sewed up in bags, constitutes the best and most portable
food known; and one which will keep a great length of time. If a
dainty man, like you, wishes to improve its flavour, you may spice
it."
"What a grand thing that would be for soldiers during forced marches,
wouldn't it. Well, Doctor," sais I, "that's a wrinkle, ain't it? But
who ever heard of a colonial minister knowing anything of colony
habits?"
"If we have a chance to kill a deer," he said, "I will show you how to
make it," and he looked as pleased to give me that information as if
he had invented it himself. "So I use this instead of a gun," he
continued, producing a long, thick-barreled pistol, of capital
workmanship, and well mounted. "I prefer this, it answers every
purpose: and is easy to carry. There are no wolves here, and bears
never attack you, unless molested, so that the gun-barrel is not
needed as a club; and if Bruin once gets a taste of this, he is in no
hurry to face it again.
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