"I picked his bones," taunted the Jay; "he was dead, and cooked too, so it didn't matter."
"Cannibal!" grunted Bear.
"They eat you also, Muskwa; only when they're very hungry though,--they say your flesh is like bad pork, strong and tough."
Black Fox interrupted the discord. "Comrades," he pleaded, "don't mind Jack; he's only a Jay, and you know what chatterers they are. He means well--does he not tell us when the Trappers are coming, and where the Traps are?"
"Yes, and steal the Bait so you won't get caught," added Jay. "Oh, I am good--I help you. You're a lot of crawling fools--all but the King. You can run, and fight, but you don't know things. That's because you don't associate with Man, and sit in his camp as I do."
"I've been in his camp," asserted Carcajou, picking up a small stone slyly to shy at Jack.
"Not when he was home," retorted the Jay; "you sneaked in to steal when he was away."
"Stop!" commanded the King, angrily. "Your chatter spoils everything, do stop!"
Whisky-Jack spread his feathers till he looked like a woollen ball, and subsided.
"This is the end of the year," continued Black Fox, "and the great question is, are you satisfied with the rule--is it good?"