He unslung his little pack, leaned his rifle against a tree, consigned to May-may-gwan a dog he was leading, and approached the wigwam.  He seemed in high good humour.

“Well, how goes it?” he greeted.

But at the sight of the man striding in his strength Dick’s dull anger had fallen on him again like a blanket.  Unreasonably, as he himself well knew, he was irritated.  Something held him back from the utterance of the hearty words of greeting that had been on his tongue.  A dull, apathetic indifference to everything except the chains of his imprisonment enveloped his spirit.

“All right,” he answered, grudgingly.

Sam deftly unwound the bandages, examining closely the condition of the foot.

“Bone’s in place all right,” he commented.  “Has the girl rubbed it and moved it every day?”

“Yes.”

“Any pain to amount to anything now?”

“Pretty dull work lying on your back all day with nothing to do.”

“Yes.”

“Took in the country to southeast.  Didn’t find anything.  Picked up a pretty good dog.  Part ‘husky.’”

Dick had no comment to make on this.  Sam found May-may-gwan making friends with the dog, feeding him little scraps, patting his head, above all wrinkling the end of his pointed nose in one hand and batting it softly with the palm of the other.  This caused the dog to sneeze violently, but he exhibited every symptom of enjoyment.  The animal had long, coarse hair, sharp ears set alertly forward, a bushy tail, and an expression of great but fierce intelligence.

[Illustration:  “Listen, Little Sister,” said he.  “Now I go on a long journey”]

“Eagle-eye does well,” said the woodsman.

“I have done as the Little Father commanded,” she replied, and arose to cook the meal.

The next day Sam constructed a pair of crutches well padded with moss.

“Listen, Little Sister,” said he.  “Now I go on a long journey, perhaps fifteen suns, perhaps one moon.  At the end of six suns more Jibibanisi may rise.  His leg must be slung, thus.  Never must he touch the foot to the ground, even for an instant.  You must see to it.  I will tell him, also.  Each day he must sit in the sun.  He must do something.  When snow falls we will again take the long trail.  Prepare all things for it.  Give Eagle-eye materials to work with.”

To Dick he spoke with like directness.

“I’m off again, Dick,” said he.  “There’s no help for it; you’ve got to lay up there for a week yet.  Then the girl will show you how to tie your leg out of the way, and you can move on crutches.  If you rest any weight on that foot before I get back, you’ll be stiff for life.  I shouldn’t advise you to take any chances.  Suit yourself; but I should try to do no more than get out in the sun.  You won’t be good for much before snow.  You can get things organised.  She’ll bring you the stuff to work on, and will help.  So long.”