And having found a fit
place to pass the winter, they built a wigwam. The man brought home the
game, the woman dressed and dried the meat, the small boy played about
shooting birds with bow and arrow; in Indian-wise all went well.
One afternoon, when the man was away and the wife gathering wood, she
heard a rustling in the bushes, as though some beast were brushing
through them, and, looking up, she saw with horror something worse than
the worst she had feared. It was an awful face glaring at her,--a
something made of devil, man, and beast in their most dreadful, forms.
It was like a haggard old man, with wolfish eyes; he was stark naked;
his shoulders and lips were gnawed away, as if, when mad with hunger,
he had eaten his own flesh. He carried a bundle on big back. The woman
had heard of the terrible Chenoo, the being who comes from the far, icy
north, a creature who is a man grown to be both devil and cannibal, and
saw at once that this was one of them.
Truly she was in trouble; but dire need gives quick wit, as it was with
this woman, who, instead of showing fear, ran up and addressed him with
fair words, as "My dear father," pretending surprise and joy, and,
telling him how glad her heart was, asked where he had been so long.
The Chenoo was amazed beyond measure at such a greeting where he
expected yells and prayers, and in mute wonder let himself be led into
the wigwam.
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