The canoes had by this time swept swiftly and with utmost skill into
two half-moons, their points cutting to the landing; and down the reach
of water between them, slightly ruffled into little waves and sparkling
ripples by the soft wind and the deftly dipping paddles, there came the
larger craft of Quamenoka the leader.
"Welcome, my brothers!" called Ridgar, in their own tongue, for this
man had been born on the shores of Hudson Bay and knew the speech of
every tribe, from the almost extinct Nepisingues, of the Nepigon, to
the far-away Ouinebigonnolinis on the sea coast. His hair was thickly
silvered from the years he had spent in the service of the H. B. C.,
and his heart was full of knowledge gathered from the four winds.
Therefore, his worth was above price and he hould have been factor of a
post of his own, instead of chief trader for young Anders McElroy.
"We greet our brother," gravely replied Quamenoka as he stepped from
his canoe, gathering his blanket around his body with a practised
sweep.
Swiftly four headmen disembarked from the first four canoes of the
half-moon which closed in with scarce a paddle dip, so deft were the
braves with their slender, shining blades of white ash, and stood
behind.
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