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