Show v a aI I VALLEY o GEORGE MARSH rr TOILERS OF THE TRAIL THE WHELPS OF THE WOLF Lv s 's by byTHE THE PENN PUBLISHING CO CHAPTER XI Continued XI-Continued Continued 18 16 18 By n gar You not drown con en c Frying Hon In We tot you o J dead men n By dam I glad to See you ou Daveed eed fend you ou J nil all allright allright right bot you two beeg in an stron strong jes de same The delighted Michel repeatedly wrung Tung the hand hands of or Ills his amused but perplexed friends Then Then Then-St St Onge reached readied Steele Mon Ion Dieu Mon Ion Dieu Dien Monsieur Steele Welcome to Walling Ither he exclaimed In a voice strained un strained-un- un- un unnatural natural natural Doubly welcome m my ray dear deal Steele We thought we looked at atthe atthe atthe the dead when wilen you ou entered that door MIchel Michel lIchel and I An Indian brought word that you ou were lost In the lie Jack fish Tack fish rapids last month We were hopeless and and now we are overjoyed ed Thank Thanh you ou sir I am nm glad to beback be beback back bacI We ran the rapids Its it's Its It's a long tale colonel St Onge suddenly started turnIng In bewilderment from Steele to MI Ml II chel What was that lint David doubled with laughter at the surprise of the Iroquois Again to the bewilderment of or the Frenchman and his Ills man headman the bloodhound outside raised a throated deep pro pro- protest protest test at nt the cold collI and his Ills empty stomach stomach stomach ach which initiated a n l e lam of howls from the lie huskies Why that's Windigo lies lie's hungry laughed Steele better Jetter look after them David before the home dogs start to fight That a dog o It sounded more liken like n a lion Ion Ive brought a bloodhound to track the Windigo o also to give him a n bit of his own medicine Ills name Is Pete Iele but David and I call him Windigo If wed we'd had him last full fall It might have hae been different But Mademoiselle St Onge Is she well 1 Steele hastened to ask The face of the older man sobered She has not been well lie he said pointedly since the news came from You mean Time TIle news of your drowning In the Frying Pan Ian monsieur Steele St ele thrilled led at the words Then the realization of what It had meant to Denise St Onge this One this blow to her hopes swiftly swiftly saddened ned him I 1 will go to her nt at once said St St One Onge The hock would be too great treat and and the J Joy y he lie added It I you ou will follow shortly will find you ou your our old room such as ns It t is read ready In the living room of the factors factor's quarters Denise St Onge waited forthe for forthe forthe the man returned from the lie dead Entering Steele went to her and tool took both her hands I have comeback come Denise St Onge ns as I promised he said as her lier dark darke e eyes es bravely met his but hut the convulsive convulsive sive movement of her tier lips betrayed time the Imminence of or tears We so are arc so glad so glad so glad you OU are archerd h here re I But hut the strain was too great and she turned turnell from him to hide her emotion It is Js a happy happ night for Walling tailing Wallin monsieur broke In St Onge RS as Steele turned to the factor to permit per per- permit permit mit his Ills daughter to regain her lier self self- self control control A happier one for me colonel replied the man inan who ho yearned earned to take the girl who had walked to the end of the room ln In lila arms and comfort promise her promise her that all uli should he be right In the end At supper St Onge Insisted on hear hear- hearing ing fug of or Steeles Steele's trip home Before I begin tell me It If Laflamme has shown his hand No 1 0 we have heard nothing One of Ills his Indians on the way to with a letter told Michel you run had hind been drowned That Is nIl nil all When I met him continued Steele he acted cold and suspicious suspicions wanted to know my m business but warmed d later asking me to dine with him tutu and the woman who passes as us Hose Ln La flamme He lIe became b ame so polite that Iwas I cans under the Impression that he lie be- be believed be he believed my lIlY tort story tor After dinner he was S suddenly called to the Hit trade house trade One of his men had started to bother Lother David who of or course had Ills his e eyes e pen which they evidently resented and ond Da ravid ld hI broke some of his fingers ers This worried v me considerably It meant leaving on the Jump In the morning before there was trouble And this tills Itose Hu e Laflamme what Is she Nhe asked Denise Steele S felt the blood In his face In spite of the legitimate ends for whIch hf he had lind worked the episode with Hose had heft an nn unsavory taste She Slue is a II striking looking woman with I 1 am nm confident a it strain of ot In-dinn In In ditto blood It was very Cry evident that she ahe lie and Laflamme were not on good that terms that she Bhe desired d to leave In fact fuet she ehe asked If It we would take her to the railroad She u asked ed you rou n rt stranger de- de de Deul o You 1 ou mean she is held there re against her will broke In St S1 St Ongo Oage Absolutely I 1 But lint Laflamme from what she he told m me fears she would tell what she knows Inform knows Inform the authorities ties What lYhal a n situation for a woman l I deprecated DenIse Yes she evidently hates hint hint- him hinted vaguely at runny many things when was absent at ot the trade house trade trade- house home But the only Information I ded In getting was that PIerre time the Indian who came here in Septem September Sept em- em LeI her was sent down rin river r partly to spread rumors lie He talked with fete Boule and left shortly aft after r nodded St St Onge Oil Oh 01 by time the lie way is Tete Boule the great sorcerer rel still here Yes although something happened when Michel 1 came back They The hind along n a alone long lone talk one night In Tete Tete-Boule's Tete shack I heard the lie trouble from the beach and found Michel threatening to cut his Ills throat Wh Why did you Interfere laughed Steele lies been useful as ns a n hunter and ond Im I'm so short handed But I am om Inter Inter- Interested interested Interested ested to hear hor- hor how you left monsieur and why you ou were so reck reck- reckless reckless reckless less as to attempt to run the lie Pan When I returned to the shack where we had left our bags I fount David repacking some of the stuff Laflamme had had our bag bags ge gesen sen searched rc relied h ed Did you accuse him of it I never had hall the opportunity nose lose Laflamme came to the shack nod and of- of offered offered of offered to tell all she he knew about La La- La La-flamme's La activities if I would take her o v Laflamme Had Had Our Luggage Lugg lO Searched that night to the railroad Steele boldly answered Ignoring the infer Infer- inferences Inferences Inferences which might be drawn rawn from front the statement i And you ou refused monsieur to aid aida aida a beautiful omun In distress distress Alt Ah that was not gallant Although h the static was facetious the eyes es of or Den Den- DenIse Denise Ise lse S1 St On Onge e w were re grave Steele felt that he lie lint been n put on the lie defensive I told her lier that we needed flour flour flour- would starve stane If we left that night At that moment David knocked a It man down outside who proved to be Le Laflamme La-damme La La- La Laflamme flamme What lie he had come for I donot do donot donot Inow not know Was it not clear clar to o you what he came for monsieur ur Learning Sill site was not In the house lie he went to the shack of 0 the lie gallant American to find It guarded b by Ills Ids faithful Indian The rIle girl smiled disconcertingly Steele urns puzzled at her tier mood Denise c protested protest d her lier father WIll you ou permit Monsieur Steele to t tell Ills hits story lr ft You 1011 are not fair tall Could It bo he possible that she did not believe him Steele arkel himself But the tho seeming composure of Denise St t On tinge Onge e disarmed him and ond Ie 1 went on ln David had clicked choked Into unconsciousness and of If cour course e we vve had to lo leave without lut our flour We all nil night nl ht pushed up the lie Hou Rouge l and over to 10 the tic We Wt also discovered that they had taken all our rille shells I was sure ure we wo had dis dis- distanced distanced distanced pursuit but at the Frying Pan Ian two Vo Indians who had traveled over over- overland overland overland land were waltIn waiting for us we were helpless and would come ashore the they didn't lire tire on us liS until the they saw we Intended to run the rap rap- rapIds rapids ids Then rhen one raised hIs Ills ride hut but was shot by David who hind lind found a cartrIdge which men had overlooked St One Once listened to teele's story In amazement amaze ment lie Ile sent Bent his men to kill you you keep you from getting out of the country lie ll rightly SIt saw that after what had happened he h couldn't afford to have hae us leave the bush You see not notwithstanding withstanding my two bags of I stuff lie he suspected me of spying on his place and place and probably chose the Frying Pan as ns a safe afe means of ot get get- getting getting et- et ettin tin ting rid of or us lie Ile wouldn't anticipate our running them them voluntarily but evidently hd hai ordered his Indians to rapture capture and throw us In Then If I our bodies or canoe were ever er found it would ap appear ap- ap appear appear pear like a straight case cac of drown drown- drowning drownIng ing But Davids David's shot stampeded the lie survivor into tiring firing at us that white white water And you ou went through water they say n has lias never ne been run I Yes eSt somehow we got through with a foot of water In her and 1011 a few leaks Jenks where we scraped some sharp ones They had left the supper taLI table and were In the tile living ln room anti and as a Steele finished he realized that Denise who sat with eyes yes on the lie rug ru nt lit her feet had been heen listening Was it tile the old he lie wondered wonderer or or- or And without shells hells for your our guns gums you ou tra el traveled d clear to the on oh short rations broke In St t Onge One Worse orse than that We got but few fish tish and before we reached on louse House were we're were down to one meal a 1 da lay day Denise looked up I 1 amery am very ery tired monsieur You will Viii pardon lime Good night nl ht And she slie left the lie room day lay Steele hind lind traveled forty milt miles to avoid n camping another nighton night nighton on the snow before seeing Denise St Onge Iday lIe He was tired from the hard ml I day dar on th the river ice and anI disturbed and mystified by tIle the mood of the fac fac- factor's factor's tors tor's daughter Once One he lie knew beyond all peradventure ture ture that lint this tills harassed girl cared for him bound though site she was once she unreservedly placed her future In hIs hands and rent the time veil nil of her lier former her reticence lier strange aloofness then the fight for time tile fortunes of Walling Wailing mn LIver r would be he a n battle of jo joy and at last lust when they met It seemed scented that his dream ream had come true that true that he bad won But hut her hel air all of Incredulity the on h-on irony of her comment on his stor story of that night nt at sent him to his bed mortified troubled stung with the Injustice of her attitude Was It t jealousy lie He had hind held held Denise St Onge on too high a n plane for such a descent Had she been merely merel face face- facetious facetious facetious or had she without benefit or of orthe the doubt drawn a sinister Inference from the coming to time shack of lose Hose Roseand and their surprise l Ly But Buthe Buthe he had frankly told the full details he argued That of or Itself was proof enough of the ness of his i actions at nt It seemed so for for- foreign foreign eign to his conception of the charac charac- character character character ter of Denise St S1 Onge that when wIlen his tired body bod finally drew him Into the oblivion lon of or sleep he had attributed her manner manlier and her tier silence to the strain of o overtaxed ed nerves CHAPTER XII The following morning the council coun ll of war wal met In the shack of Michel where as ns the IroquoIs was unmarrIed there would be no interruption Now Michel said Steele Ive kept my word and come back on the first snow and Ive I've brought a houn hound that will help us it if we have the luck to hear that Windigo again Ive I've also brought brough t these The speaker stripped the lashings from a n covered canvas co canvas ere cred bundle hundle which Oa David had carried in from the sled the night previous to reveal to the curious cUllous eyes of Michel two massive engines of torture their steel Jaws bristling with teeth By gar l Bear Lear trap exclaimed the he I Iroquois ro black eyes yes glittering Beauties arent aren't they God help the ii ute the they close on I 1 Then Steele lifted six smeller smaller smaller hut but no less wicked looking devices Ie- Ie designed de designed signed to snap on and hold In vise like vise vise- viselike like grip the time paw of the lie unwary unary prowler which h stepped in them them These Th e are the strongest wolf wolf traps de e and 1 I doubt if any nn could get out of one unless he be gnawed Ills his leg off of Now Michel 1 before Lefore making any plans I am ready to hear what hat you to tell me ale when w I returned returned- returned what you ou told David and feared to have me know Dat Oat ces ees right rl ht You keep tic de word an cum back to 10 tight light wid us Leesten 1 filled his pipe lipe lit it It and hastily opening tile the hoer door circled tile the cabin to assure himself of or absolute I privacy Th Then n Ie le began You Ink de tam lam you m meet ct mam maro selle below nt at de rapids dat she was alone When Wilen David and 1 I were acre packing up to 10 tile the post hali Ah hah nl al Michel was WitS dere What dou mean menn asked Stele Steele puzzled You Tau were taking care are of her lIer I Yes Did Dill she slie know It The Iroquois shook ills his head She Bhe not know lIat were you ou afraid of or so so near tile the post 7 lIec Antoine Steele stared staret In amazement at the I speaker Big Bi 1 I You man titan time lie one oae with the scar on Ills his fare The half reed nodded TO UE DE CONTINUED |