WITH BRUTES 73

go to satisfy his vengeance. So John had full oppor-
tunities to lodge a few more bullets into his carcass,
after which he was towed ashore. Without counting
his tail, the animal proved to be exactly seven feet
four inches in length.

It is a far cry from a grizzly to a grouse, and perhaps
we should pass over the little occurrence we have in
mind, were it not that our missionary had then more to
suffer from the grouse than he had previously from the
grizzly. Moreover, whilst we are on the theme: “with
brutes,’’ why be shy of another happening caused by a
denizen of the forest? If you will have an adequate idea
of Father Morice’s life in the wilds of the North, you
may as well be told of the dangers he ran there, even
should these have been of a seemingly trivial nature.

Furthermore, the reader may like to learn how, in
any circumstance, an encounter with a grouse can
have more serious consequences than one witha grizzly.
Of course, the poor harmless little creature could not of
itself have hurt anybody, and the puzzle must be
explained.

On his way to Fort McLeod, where he was to
evangelize the Sékanais, Father Morice, with two
companions and an embryo pack-train, had reached
a most rocky part of the wood, where it would have
been cruel to ride one’s horse because of the many
stones on the way. As he was trudging on foot along
the narrow path, the priest espied quite close a grouse
perched in a tree which seemed an excellent target for
a shot and promised a succulent meal for the evening.

Being unarmed, he shouted to Joseph Prince, per-
haps a hundred yards ahead:

“Bring me your little gun.”

The Indian had with him an old rusty pistol of very
large calibre. Meanwhile, the grouse was getting