Show MAR CHAPTER VIII continued 13 there garth and etienne found them the al lying beside his kill etienne bent to stare with an oath into the features knotted in their death grimace of joe ambush us eh snarled alie halt breed you do fine job joe moko man and he spurned the body iab the bow of his snowshoe so he meant to get that fur it he had to bury us in the snow said il garth turning from the ugly picture to his dog still whining with the beat of battle good old Shott lel aal the man hugged the hairy shoulder of his friend you tracked him down for garth dlan t you old comrade ot mine lie dam good dog shot eh cried Ft lenne slapping the shaggy back lie know more dan some men he know joe he hunt us he thought joe was a german sharpshooter dlan t you shot and seated on the snow garth rocked to and fro rubbing the ears of his dog his excitement in the low notes of a language none but the wriggling al understood wal we buree als skunk een de enow and let maleu fox deeg him out all we can do he must have heard from the traveling indians we were bound for the canoe and decided to stop us do you suppose that mcdonald knows we are here and kicked him on us etienne shook his head lie bin cp als end de islan so de hunter say im sorry this happened said garth there s no telling what kind of a tale they 11 make of it I 1 wish a bled would show up so we could show our evidence I 1 beet we stay on islan after mcdonal hear hees man ees dead we have to fight for sure im not afraid of mcdonald laughed garth but I 1 don t want the indians drawn into the haht were here for fur not trouble and have to answer to my luper lors for what why I 1 want you to be careful ahen we meet bouce ro fighting understand savanne nodded de hunter know bienne savanne said the half breed with finality dey weel not start ald heem all right 1 now lets make tracks for th canoe and that medicine lodge of soucis with their snowshoes they heaped n mound of snow over the body of the in the spruce to be found by atie lynx and foxes and started at noon the team turned down into the alley ot the canoe in the windbreak of the spruce on the shore of the frozen river the men from elkman found alie of the hunters from north and east and bouth had come the fox trappers with their families for the great medicine making of the shaman the wigwams hummed with gossip of the crossing of the strait by the tall fie tor of elkman to fight for the trade with mcdonald hal hat from al ley to valley had traveled urging the hunters to go to the fc hooner black bricault Br cault too and skene had many of the camps but as yet the wily hunters had sold little fur hoping by their seeming reluctance luc tance to obtain higher prices also in the last few days rumors vague terrifying had been adrift A hunter from the ptarmigan claimed he had been down to the hills above seal cove and seen fire dancing on the roasts of the boat at night that black magic was being made by the man with the face of a mad wolverine another swore that his cousin trapping on the calling river had been to the schooner and heard devil music from a box an old squaw had already planted panic among the women with a story tint bewitched hunters would leive me donalds ship to desert their wives and children all this and more the industrious etienne gathered from the gossiping crees from the bikwan while garth made camp and fed and chinned the dogs ilia seeds planted with such care in the camps of the ptarmigan and rabbit had indeed sprouted were in fact already bearing fruit the creba were III at ease suspicious of these stringers who had come to the island with their smiles and trade boods and in the conjury of old saul 1 that night they hoped and waited for the advice and assurance that it would be safe oa well as wise for them to carry their fox pelts to the schooner at seal cove As for the old shaman learned that he was camped down stream beside his medicine lodge alone preparing himself for comman f ion with his contreres confreres con freres the spirits f which that night beneath alie star t lie would summon with his magic to to the crees and remove from their hearts alie doubts and fears which harabed har ased them ah hah I 1 mused as he returned to garth busy cooking supper old saul he keep away he not bee savanne but gratifying as waa the news he had ed up among the gossiping ti lavanne knew his indians and feared wha the night would bring forth for the old azard was past muster in the art of pinning on the superstitions of the creca and with his incantations and 1 would doubtless per duade them into starting at once for benl arve but etienne ano no intention of alv by GEORGE MARSH copyright by the penn co liia a free hand secretly be fore the ceremony and openly when from the tent delivered the ad munitions monitions ions of the spirits he would brand the old man as the of mcdonald friend of devils if the outraged saul dared to trouble toils might be dangerous ding erous the cieck in a high state of excitement but the arm of the company w is long its hand heavy and ailenne its servant feared as a fighter the length of the coast so alie prospect of trouble gave E lenne little concern but the loss of twenty thousand dal lars in fur which the crees had with them would be little short of a cionni ity on his return to his tant his active mind groped for the best meth ed of that night hanging the shaman with his own rope well what did you hear ed garth did you see saul 0 o he keep ver quiet de cgee have mooch fur and manee of de men would go to mcdonal but de squaw leave fear of devil A feller bv de name of savanne he tell de squaw down on de some bad story also up on de rabbit an beet mak dem squaw vei nervous eilenne smiled at the success of his efforts that was certainly a good bit of strategy eilenne Et lenne but you say the men he returned to garth busy cookin supper are now babbling wab bling in favor of the schooner ah hah I 1 tank dat ald hees spirit weel beat us tonight eve got to think of something to do we cant let him get away with all the fox in tills camp roan 1 urged garth handing his friend a heaping plate of beans and bacon As eilenne ate his swarthy face was grave with the problem confront ing alna hat could be done he even considered secreting himself in the medicine tent downstream bind ing and gagging the old man as he entered and placing shaman himself but the danger of discovery by the outraged crees would be too great failure would make matters even worse the medicine rite was to take place under the moon was late so deep in council of war lingered white man and half breed until the silver disk rode above the white tundra al ready lit by low swinging stars then eilenne returned from a bhart recon nals sance to report the hunters and squads squaws already moving to the downstream where a fire glowed in the spruce small and cylindrical in shape its tanned caribou hide walls painted in red and black with the shapes of animals the sun and arl faces of atie frie nils of lie conjurer the medicine lodge a short di from alie fire oath ered in the warmth of the los shirled women and hooded hunters heads taher conversed in low tonis over the lundn above the valley the acon the star In crusted it tt is a flight for lind as curious eis shifted from the awed crac to the medicine tent guthorle despaired of the efforts of in such a setting to nullify the necromancy of old S lul loon and stars and the nu roia joined with the purple to lend invincible to the arts of the loiterer loi cerer these simple children of alie snows bewitched by the masten and magic of lie night would fall willing victims to the voices of the palts the muttered of enne at ills ide aroused him dere ne KO faintly to the measured of a caribou hide drum from alie tenc lifted ipa walling seizing the arms of their men tho women at the fire stiffened swart faces went gray gradually the walling drifted into a sing song which accompanied by the shell rattle rhythmically swelled and died eniy the song ceased growls and snarls whines and mew ing the bickering of beasts filled the forest shrieks of a mating wolver ine followed the caterwauling of a lynx A wolf howled lonell for his kind from a september ridge drift ed the moaning call of a cow moo in a swamp a bittern chugged a whooping crane startled with his bonelike bone like blast from the gloom drifted the hoot of the snowy owl wind in full cry and canadas blue geese and brant through a repertory of the voices of the night and the sunlit forest wan dered the ventriloquist in a canelous ma imitation of nature guthorle turned in surprise to etl enne hes a wonder 1 wait was the laconic reply amid groins and eerie cries s as of souls in torment alie whimper of children sobs of women in anguish men tortured the voice of the shaman addressed the spirits he had conjured from the world of de mons ills kinsmen the crees were in great doubt and perplexity and had begged him to call i pon ills familiar spirits who saw into the future as one looks from a hill to whom the devils peeking to destroy the arce were as children harmless the hunters continued the shaman pos hesed much fur Et lennes hind gripped barths arm as he interpreted alie speech of ciul now he anek de spirit tell dem to go to mcdonal fur of much value which they have tolled for on the cold barrens where the wind always blows the sepulchral voice went on it Is the time to go to the traders for the new years feast but the hearts of the hunters are troubled at the schooner of the trader who waits at be alcove the crees have been told evil spirits bod devils wilt to bewitch them and the women have begged their men to tal e their fur across the tee to alk wan alth a pulled look eilenne staled into barths aies wat he do now I 1 dori under stand whispered alie half breed garth waited hardly breathing through the silence which followed then on the hushed boomed a voice hollow sepulchral oh loucil great shaman of the it Is well you call us to warn sour people lias come 0 o alie island a sorcerer from a far country to destroy ali hunters of I 1 ly garl and tle tl e fingers of enne eliut e a bear trap on alie arm of the wan beside him we are de beeg fools he muttered interprets alie reply of the spirit to the ing garth this conjurer went on the voice from the as the listening gindlin gasped with surprise and fear was bitten tn the face bv the devil match himself he Is alie friend 01 demons and woe to the crees he bring their fur to him for wives hill see them no moie Ahu 1 rom alie at the anre rose a low wall as chev clung aiji to the cowed hunters do not to heal cove hut across athe ice tor there the ones mir trade anil denst in s id ly 0 he voice dad lreh antly another answered in lie scinie vein and air her while the aid ah ulue 1 I 1 alenne and guthorle who j anid so lie illy hie treachery of old isaul as a proved fact electro ned by alie few aft turn of fortune listened with admiration nd gratitude alth alie of a master saul had upon lie known weak nesses of his people greiving on mv stories of the hodoe rather n his person il win nans tte aws by alie ju acu planting of rumors us lind lucaine and stampeding the men with a single stroke at alie medicine rits for no indian who heild that unearthly voice from the would now dare to trade with mcdonaad McDo the old son of a gun chuckled garth lie went to eliat ship to throw them off tl e scent and keep them ariy biorn tills end of the island he gets a life job with lie company tor this night s w rk in an overawed over awed whispering group the hunters and their returned to their where deep into the night was discussed the marvel of the spirit voices which the gibat magi clan of the lia wan had indol ed for the safety and guidance of his people in the privacy of their tent the two men still dazed by the for success of their mission to the island gossiped by the alre forty six ethers and elighte black besides a lot of cross and patch you say gartla repeated elated with the ande tint would come eliat christ mas to elkman vor twenty lousind collir de trade evner mak e do good job w en w e breena saul from de hc adwater catl ou and saul turned the trick eilenne I 1 can t think vou enough in his second year in the trio garth had ande a telling business stroke in alie fice of the higher prices of the free trader of what seemed inevitable failure lie had with the help of the crafty old cgee swung a huge trade to his they could hug their fire at kapiskas kapiskau Kapi skau and at bajt he had the fight straight to the enemy and had won going out to shot snug in his snow hole girth poured his gnp alness into a inary and comprehend ing ear before lie rolled into 1 bann bets the staunch who had ande it poss hie CHAPTER IX queer we heard from toe yet mcdonaad McDo said to cne in the ciban of lie ghost two davs before christmas time enough answered the heard ed mate he w is to round up alie hunters in alie north you 1 now and biln them down the shore ice uell vieve made a good start wove silvers now with alie three hut cune tn tills mo nang and twelve bl id s not to aunt the crosa and pitch eliou in tills work for us sl cne 1001 cd lard at hlo glihf ant you oln to do with voigt share of the fur we I 1 ind in st johnsl alie deep blue of lie inta closed us alie do with mine hat Is there to do with it coln to head for alie states und drink it up mcdonaad McDo laughed without mirth drink it up 1111 to hunt up the family of a vest at my itlie H wife and biddles out in alberta I 1 m coln to share mine with cm for a splice baene ed tn sl lence once or twice be glanced curl bously nt alie ann op osle who sit with licad in hands staring at the floor it II 11 be gome surprise to mv old girl with a nest egg he at length she aint bad a too soft a life with me mcdonald McDon uld made no answer ind went on I 1 in coln to icv a little place tor her and the two garli a cow or two and a horse to ret around with then have me n tlde and summers go cod on the I 1 abrader chats sensible vouchsafed the other you owe it to alie acs sues never whimpered amien I 1 enlisted she turned to like a soldier and carried on I 1 owe her a gool home now and a little of my corn pany mcdonaad McDo s broken mouth widened in smile your conant cona nj ou old scalawag 1 how many weeks in ilie year will he keep a restless 0 d pirate like you on the farm you cun laugh crogg but im fw a honk now except that la tu summer TO tab A lik |