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I had brought twenty-five gallons of honey with me, as well as soton Trade was brisk, and by the evening, I had exchanged , cohosh, and--a real rarity--a chaga This iterows from ancient birch trees, had a reputation--or so I was told--for the cure of cancer, tuberculosis, and ulcers A useful iteht

As for the honey, I had traded that straight across, for twenty-five gallons of sunflower oil This was provided in bulging skin bags, which were piled up under the eaves of the house where ere staying, like a small heap of cannon balls I paused to look at the the soft, fragrant soap to befat! And with luck, I could sell the bulk of it for a high enough price to haire’s blood money, damn her eyes

The next day was spent in the orchards with i A tall, sweet-faced wolish, but so,so far limited to "Hello," "Good," and "More"

In spite of the Indian ladies’ increased fluency, I had soi"to, it seely--" out, I got it established that the word sees precisely, but rather to indicate a strong scent of so, still slender, but bearing decently, providing a sreen fruit that wouldn’t have impressed Luther Burbank, but which did have a nice crunchy texture and a tart flavor--an excellent antidote to the greasy taste of pigeon livers It was a dry year, Sungi said, frowning critically at the trees; not so ood, either

Sungi put her two young daughters in charge of Je toward the wood

"Is good the Bear-Killer co back to me, apple basket on her hip "This bear not-bear; is not speak us"

"Oh, ah," I said, nodding intelligently One of the other ladies helpfully a that a reasonable bear would pay attention to the shaman’s invocation, which called upon the bear-spirit, so that hunters and bears would meet appropriately Given the color of this bear, as well as its stubborn and malicious behavior, it was apparent that it was not a real bear, but rather son spirit that had decided to manifest itself as a bear

"Ah," I said, soently "Jackson mentioned ‘the Ancient White’--was it the bear he meant?" Surely Peter had said that white was one of the favorable colors, though

Another lady--who had given lish name of Anna, rather than try to explain what her Cherokee nahed in shock at that

"No, no! Ancient White, he the fire" Other ladies chipping in here, I finally gathered that the fire, while obviously powerful and to be treated with deep respect, was a beneficial entity Thus the atrociousness of the bear’s conduct; white animals normally were accorded respect and considered to be carriers of lanced sideways atin anywhat I did about the bear’s assistance from Josiah Beardsley and the "wee black devil," I could well understand this I didn’t want to implicate Josiah, but Iwhere I had heard thes Had they heard of this?

Oh, yes, they assured roup of the blacktoward the far side of the village, and the invisible canebrake and bottomlands beyond the river It was possible that these persons were demons, particularly since they came from the west

It was possible that they were not Soe hunters had found the to see what they did The hunters reported that the blackand without decent houses This see demons should live

However, they were too few and too poor to be worth raiding--and the hunters said there were only three woht be deers were content to leave thee, one lady added, wrinkling her nose; the dogs would sh the orchard, gathering ripe fruit froathered the windfalls froround

We went ho of apples, to find that the hunters had cohteen rabbits, and nine squirrels," Ja his face and hands with a dareat eons, we didna bother, save for a nice hawk that George Gist wanted for the feathers" He indblown, the bridge of his nose burned red, but very cheerful "And Brianna, bless her, killed a fine elk, just the other side of the river A chest shot, but she brought it down--and cut the throat herself, though that’s a dicey thing to do, and the beast’s still thrashing"

"Oh, good," I said, rather faintly, envisioning a flurry of sharp hooves and lethal antlers in the close vicinity of hter

"Dinna fash yourself, Sassenach," he said, seeing ht her the proper way of it She caood," I said, a little ine the hunters were impressed?"

"Verra much," he said cheerfully "Did ye ken, Sassenach, that the Cherokee let their women make war, as well as hunt? Not that they do it so often," he added, "but now and again, one will take it into her head, and go out as what they call a War Wo," I said, trying to ignore the vision this su invited to head up a Cherokee raiding party "Blood will out, I suppose"