. St. Nicholas [serial]. rom the Olym-pics across to the Selkirks, from the Selkirks toBaker, from Baker to Rainier, and then back to igo3-l THE FIRE CAT, ^7 the Olympics, turning the whole of Puget Soundinto a smoke-veiled, ash-covered country. Thiswas August, and fire after fire had sprung fromthe hillsides close to the snow-line, in timbertoo poor to attract cruisers and too thick toallow mineral prospectors any chance at but the Fire Cat could have doneit, Simcoe thought. Besides, while the men wereat work on the dam he had trailed around thepeak and looked off to the north,
. St. Nicholas [serial]. rom the Olym-pics across to the Selkirks, from the Selkirks toBaker, from Baker to Rainier, and then back to igo3-l THE FIRE CAT, ^7 the Olympics, turning the whole of Puget Soundinto a smoke-veiled, ash-covered country. Thiswas August, and fire after fire had sprung fromthe hillsides close to the snow-line, in timbertoo poor to attract cruisers and too thick toallow mineral prospectors any chance at but the Fire Cat could have doneit, Simcoe thought. Besides, while the men wereat work on the dam he had trailed around thepeak and looked off to the north, where he halting. He even asked to hear the story, andlistened attentively as the red man resumed hisnarrative. The substance of the legend asSimcoe told it was this : When the Lummi first came to the Soundthere were lazy Indians in the islands who hadno lodges and knew not how to tan skins forclothing. The Lummi drove them away andsettled on the islands. Game was plenty, andevery summer the red salmon were taken in the. IIII: DAM. could see the peaks of the Selkirks just clearingthe smoke-clouds around their bases. Was notthat the track of the Fire Cat also ? I do not use the big words of the whiteman ; I use short talk, Simcoe went on. Myuncle heard the truth from his father in thelodges on Lummi Island, just as it has beentold from father to son since the Fire Cat wasset loose in the mountains. It is the truth asI will tell it to you sitting by this cool water,which is the only thing feared by the FireCat. The wood-chopper caught the earnest tone ofthe Indian, and found his own easy excuses passes and were dried for winter. The tribeprospered, and the great chief had many skinsand battle-spears. So rich did he grow that hestored great wealth in a cave in the Olympics,many days by canoe from the Lummi lodgeson the islands — a cave high up where noother Indian had ever been. He was a strongchief, and he caught a great cougar-cat andtrained her to dwell in the cave. She was
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Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873
