have been better with conical points of steel, but none of these
were to be had. Second, the ordinary hunting arrows with barbed
steel heads, usuauy bought ready-made, or filed out of a hoop:
these were for use in securing such creatures as muskrats, ducks
close at hand, or deer. Third, the bird bolts: these were left
with a large, round, wooden head. They were intended for quail,
partridges, rabbits, and squirrels, but also served very often,
and most admirably, in punishing dogs, either the Indian's own
when he was not living up to the rules and was too far off for a
cuff or kick, or a farmer's dog that was threatening an attack.

Now the outfit was complete, Rolf thought, but one other touch
was necessary. Quonab painted the feather part of the shaft
bright red, and Rolf learned why. Not for ornament, not as an
owner's mark, but as a finding mark. Many a time that brilliant
red, with the white feather next it, was the means of saving the
arrow from loss. An uncoloured arrow among the sticks and leaves
of the woods was usually hidden, but the bright-coloured shaft
could catch the eye ioo yards away.

It was very necessary to keep the bow and arrows from the wet.
For this, every hunter provides a case, usually of buckskin, but
failing that they made a good quiver of birch bark laced with
spruce roots for the arrows, and for the bow itself a long cover
of tarpaulin.

Now came the slow drilling in archery; the arrow held and the bow
drawn with three fingers on the cord - the thumb and little
finger doing nothing. The target was a bag of hay set at twenty
feet, until the beginner could hit it every time: then by degrees