that was ever placed before the mouth of man!«
    »Ay, ay, well you may call it strong!« returned the other, laughing after
his peculiar manner, in pure satisfaction at witnessing the infinite contentment
of his companion; »strong it is, and strong it makes him who eats it! Here,
Hector,« tossing the patient hound, who was watching his eye with a wistful
look, a portion of the meat, »you have need of strength, my friend, in your old
days as well as your master. Now, lad, there is a dog that has eaten and slept
wiser and better, ay, and that of richer food, than any king of them all! and
why? because he has used and not abused the gifts of his Maker. He was made a
hound, and like a hound has he feasted. Them did He create men; but they have
eaten like famished wolves! A good and prudent dog has Hector proved, and never
have I found one of his breed false in nose or friendship. Do you know the
difference between the cookery of the wilderness and that which is found in the
settlements? No; I see plainly you don't, by your appetite; then I will tell
you. The one follows man, the other natur'. One thinks he can add to the gifts
of the Creator, while the other is humble enough to enjoy them; therein lies the
secret.«
    »I tell you, trapper,« said Paul, who was very little edified by the
morality with which his associate saw fit to season their repast, »that, every
day while we are in this place, and they are likely to be many, I will shoot a
buffaloe and you shall cook his hump!«
    »I cannot say that, I cannot say that. The beast is good, take him in what
part you will, and it was to be food for man that he was fashioned; but I cannot
say that I will be a witness and a helper to the waste of killing one daily.«
    »The devil a bit of waste shall there be, old man. If they all turn out as
good as this, I will engage to eat them clean myself, even to the hoofs - how
now, who comes here! some one with a long nose I will answer; and one that has
led him on a true scent, if he is following the trail of a dinner.«
    The individual who interrupted the conversation, and who had elicited the
foregoing remark of Paul,