"Wan tam," he said, "when we work on de Got-no, I cut de whood, me, pour mak le souper, an' when I go back le shaintee—sacré bleu!—wan beeg bear she am got her head in de soup-pot. I trow down de whood an' run, me, for shure, lak wan wile moose. De bear she am skeart, an' she run, too. Le pot she steek on, too, lac wan blak hat. Dunno, me, how she fine le reever, but she run, and she sweem wit dat black pot till she reach the odder shore. Me an' de boss we tak le canot an' de gun pour chasser le bear an' we fine de pot, but we no see de bear."
"Bravo! old man; that's not bad," said Lord Dalhousie.
"Your turn now, Ephraim," said the Chief, addressing Meyers, who, ignoring the remark, went on smoking. There was an embarrassing silence as all eyes rested on the withered-looking face of the Yankee, who was evidently not ready with his contribution to the entertainment of the evening.
"Tell us about the squaw you found in the woods," suggested Christie.
"Wal," he said, "onct upon a time when we were runnin' the fifth concession line with Theodore Davis, we found an ole squaw who had been deserted by her children and left to find her way to Davy Jones's locker as best she could. Her poor ole body was bent almost double. She seemed very weak. Her only clothing was rabbit-skins sewed together with sinews, with the hair side next her skin. She mumbled a lot of things which we could not understand. D'ye mind Brown, the feller with the squaw wife?" he said, addressing the chief. "Wal, he told us that she lived on hares which she snared with sinews, an' that she lived alone an kep' herself from freezin' in winter by settin' fire to the end of a fallen log, and as the ashes cooled enough she would scoop out a nest to lie in. As the log burned she would follow the warm ashes an' move her nest closer to the fire, an' when one log was burned she would kindle another. She managed in this way to keep body and soul together for years alone in the forest."
"Is that true?" asked Colonel By, "or is it one of your Yankee yarns?"
"I reckon ye can fine out for yourself," retorted Meyers.
"It is quite true," said Bearie. "I have never seen her, but I know several who have."
"Now, Michael, you told us a good story the other night. Could you not tell us another before we roll ourselves up in our blankets?" said the Governor.
"Faith, an it's tirrible sorry I am that I'm not used to public shpaking, fur I cud tell yer Honor about Shparks an' the bear."