These gifts he considered as necessarily related, and the exercise of each was always in conjunction with the other, for no man ever heard Macmillan swear in ordinary conversation or on commonplace occasions.

But when his team became involved in a sleugh, it was always a point of doubt whether he aroused more respect and admiration in his attendants by his rare ability to get the last ounce of hauling power out of his team or by the artistic vividness and force of the profanity expended in producing this desired result.

It is related that on an occasion when he had as part of his load the worldly effects of an Anglican Bishop en route to his heroic mission to the far North, the good Bishop, much grieved at Macmillan's profanity, urged upon him the unnecessary character of this particular form of encouragement.
"Is it swearing Your Riverence objects to ?" said Macmillan, whose vocabulary still retained a slight flavour of the Old Land.

"I do assure you that they won't pull a pound without it." But the Bishop could not be persuaded of this, and urged upon Macmillan the necessity of eliminating this part of his persuasion.
"Just as you say, Your Riverence.

I ain't hurried this trip and we'll do our best." The next bad sleugh brought opportunity to make experiment of the new system.