As le Bourdon had been
up and down the river often, in his various excursions, he acted as
the pilot of the navigation; though all worked, even to the
missionary and the Chippewa. On such an expedition, toil was not
deemed to be discreditable to a warrior, and Pigeonswing used the
paddle and the pole as willingly, and with as much dexterity, as any
of the party.
It was only on the eleventh day after quitting the mouth of the
river, that the canoes came to in the little bay where le Bourdon
was in the habit of securing his light bark, when in the openings.
Castle Meal was in full view, standing peacefully in its sweet
solitude; and Hive, who, as he came within the range of his old
hunts, had started off, and got to the spot the previous evening,
now stood on the bank of the river to welcome his master and his
friends to the chiente. It wanted a few minutes of sunset as the
travellers landed, and the parting rays of the great luminary of our
system were glancing through the various glades of the openings,
imparting a mellow softness to the herbage and flowers. So far as
the bee-hunter could perceive, not even a bear had visited the place
in his absence.
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