| Show amri JL I 1 aak 0 le VU IT V V ai alaa hi 11 kv tafv Y cf nt fe vo V T T faful ni i 9 ce arm s CHAPTER IV continued 9 9 what you told tile me lins tits been respected spec ted sir interrupted steele irritated at the manner of the older mail inan yes monsieur the fhe cue tor we have found you n ann hut but for n time I 1 suspected you of being a nie member niber of the provi belill police and that would have complicated mutters matters what do you ou lilean wicy if it were ever known up fil river that the pollee police had stayed here with me lite for some time before acting against laflamme the post might be burned over our heads they tire are a lawless crowd monsieur according to your sour story you sou are arc bound to lose tile the post whatever happens yes yea but there Is denise 1 I dont understand monsieur laflamme lius ling never neer stopped at anything ile he might not stop there you mean flint he Is in love with M st onge precisely I 1 and inight attempt to tal take e her b by force lie ile might attempt anything lie ile hus hns never respected the law ls Is it desperate mun mail but they would hunt him town down 11 he e could not get away in tills this country lie ile would be a madman to attempt it lie ile Is a madman monsieur steele was tempted to laugh in vie the face of its ills host lie would shortly have the opportunity of inea measuring siftIng tills this madman with tits ills own eyes ees st onge certainly was painting ailin in strong colors nut but they had wandered from froin tile the point 1 I have asked you for your confidence fi he began abruptly if you cannot see your way clear t to 0 allow me lite to aid tit you ou I 1 shall regret it ile he was thinking of the girl gill up at the house 11 monsieur steele we have hae decided that flint you ou deserve our confidence denise nit and I 1 but I 1 fear it will do no good now they have hae got us they demanded the american Amerl caa yes and the blood mounted to st bronzed face its as lie talked 1 I told you that La lind pur plied ned my daughter since the winter inter i we at AI albany Inny and now N with tile the ill appearance of this fur the post enn lo lie 10 closed as it shows a loss tin nn PI ny nv management lie ile can forve fone pip front from the companas comp anys service sen ice ruin wo rif in france I 1 have no property left ift I ft it Is f till all gone and I 1 am ain an old mm inon monsieur the face of st kt onge was yellow and avi wrinkled wiled but you will not consent to your our daughter lighter In vehemently protested tile lie younger man mail w when lien lie he was interrupted with ali ah monsieur you in do not know lier her I 1 fear that already slie site may ina ave la in alved lier herself elf I 1 liae have just warned site she sent it a letter by the lie last canoe to albany steeles St ecles deepest instincts revolted nj at the thought it was mons tM livable I 1 small wonder wander lie he had foert her playing her heart out tit at the rapids lie he knew now just what hope whitt heartache lay beneath bene till the farewell sit slip lint played on ill the hill to shield her fathers old age from the bittern bitterness ess of failure find and pop abble penury here in fit till tills new land site had deliberately offered to dp de stoy that glor lour dutli of hers nt at last capitulated c to io tills this intriguing cur of tin an inspector but that is not fill all went on st onge shortly before your a ealine brought this letter from froin ngoke steeles Sto cles lean nice lighted with curiosity sis as lie started to real read the lie letter hounded him film by the factor then the lie muscles DILl seles of ills his jaw bulged ns lis tits his teeth ground in anger monsieur st onge freres walling wailing river for the third fill and last time I 1 ani am writing you in ari tin litt attempt elIt to make you see it the light as a sensible man I 1 have reason to know that lescelles Is now ready to force your liand hand the ill airs s proved a fallu failure re ns as lie he in tended it should arid and you le now naw by GEORGE MARSH A door of 11 toller rollers odthe ot theT trail wil the whelps whelp of 0 the copyright by the he pern pac ne C co W N U ser service e to decide between leaving the company tr or giving your daughter to u ansin bozi you despise tile the offer I 1 have ninde made to you I 1 re pent peat from ngoke lithe lake we can keep oie lie Ite vIllon freres find and the hudsons Hud sons liny ilay company out of the walling iziver valley and control tile the sylfa swift current and drowning river trade its as well in live years we will retire rich 1 I olter offer your daughter a naine mime lion hon oreil ored for generations tit in thea rivers although I 1 have spent my iny life in tile the north my iny education ling liaa been of the host best not picked up in the lie barrack room like hice that hint of Lase lascelles elles monsieur it ie colonel the time has li ns collie when you are forced to make a choice between us its join fth me and in a few cars your daughter will live tit in luxury in in montreal or quebec and your our old ago age will ile be provided for choose lascelles and you will N never see tit the ice break up till on tile the walling for your our indians avill leave you I 1 have loved your daughter since I 1 saw her tit nt albany alli cun can illace her happy consider carefully before you decide to become the dog of Lase lascelles Lascell elles oi if it Is to be that rat of 61 n sous lieutenant I 1 warn you von now that you will find my birin long tile lie snow tiles I 1 will wait for your canoe LOUIS steele returned the lie letter to st onge with the comment monsieur you were a of france to n letter like tills this there Is but one reply for it a soldier there was ana a glitter in fit the eyes of the american na as they met inet those of the older man for n soldier repeated the frenchman jiann with excitement there Is but W j 1 LAE az but that Is s not 11 1 went on st onge one reply on oh guard I 1 would kill her with my own hand haid before giving her to that renegade why there Is a white woman now at ngoke and to write this insult insul tl 1 the american leaped to ills his feet colonel lie cried laflamme Lat lamme says you iou wont vont see aee the ice leave the walling lets call that bluff I 1 with your leave ill come collie buck on oil the snow und and well watch the ice go out tog together etherl the fiands of the two men met inet as they silently pledged each other then Ste St celes ples face sobered as I 1 ills I 1 Is mind turned ailed riled to the greater problem t that I 1 iut vol confronted blin hut lescelles Lus Ims celles how does laflamme know so much about him blin Lu namine was at fort albany four Y C ears irs sign ago attempting to make a deal with lie he was suspected of trying to lure him front from the frerer ein employ ploy it was there lie first saw denise since then lie lias has written u ninny letters once lie stop pd liere oil ills his way up tip river and threatened to take he her r away by force if slie she did not listen to him she lives in constant fear of him ahat explains much replied steele and tile letter slip she split sent to Lase lascelles elles when did it go down river tit the search pearch party vroni ironi albans long iong before you on readied reached here as much as two weeks Andi and tills this letter evidently accounts for lier her depres depression slon her sadness ness yes tills this motter matter mid and her ber fear of she believe belas that lie will keep tits ills word vord try to use force As A for ill lie letter she refuges to tell me what she wrote but I 1 can guess and of course lascelles will show up here before the river closes since site she lias has tit nt list last listened to lo him her inexplicable there Is no wy way out for tile lost was ns now clear that Is what wha t I 1 four fear lint what to do you intend to do monsieur nione mone vou kipust inui t ann lipavr e some pome plan impatiently demanded steele stacle what enn can I 1 do ive told tier her that I 1 shall never consent to it that I 1 would rill kill lier her tin and myself first there was no ito solution of tills this problem tit in the mind of the american it wits was it a situation which seemed boomed hopeless hopel esq i indeed if she refused to listen to lier her father site she surely wn too proud to brook interference front from a str beranger bl ranger rInger slie she lint had burned her bridges yet r something blust lie ile done spine sent tiling ething to pre pic vent her seli but what and chenho lien he remembered a star there haq this matter CHAPTER V tto the following morning the three friends were loading their canoe preparatory pitr atory to ascending tho the river on it a round of the lie fill fall mainpa of indians trading sit at the post when the lash flash of a far upstream aroused their hi interest terest ant ees queer taing commented machel cliel scowling darkly ee maleu laflamme Lat lamme come to milk trouble lie weel acl fin plenty here at tho the mention of davida small eyes narrowed the muscles of his thick forearms worked nervously as though lie already felt tits ills fingers nt at the throat of tho the free trader steeles Ste elus curiosity was keenly aroused for it ws was too late into tit in tho the year for the canoe of n trading i to visit st the post this boat was undoubtedly front from ngoke what new nev sc licilio had la le in ill mind it would he four weeks before tie loro the winter would break tile the limit lie lind had given ghon st onge for hla his answer it was not long before the hard driven craft was close enough to disclose hut but a n single occupant and dortly hort ly us its it kenred lie file shore machel called ilo illo jol jo I 1 ho jol jl Il errel wint wat you yon to do here ro BO far from de feather lake inke the indian grounded ills his boat on the beach and shaking the linna hand odthe of the head plan pian replied in ojibway as dald vad and steele joined them thein no bo jo michel I 1 the hunters tit at the berther lakes inkes tire are leaving for the medicine country for three nights the windigo howled on tile lie burnt ridge by nig feather take lake the people are weak with fear they will not trap there this winter did you sou hoar heir the alag voice of tile win dego pierre asked michel gravely no I 1 wits was netting whitefish at tho the lake of the deep water when I 1 returned to the camp they were leaving there will be no trap lines in that this long snows did the people see bee tle the tracks of the windigo no their blood was cold in their vellis bens they tit did not stay to look for a trail why should they they were afraid but why did you leave your sour family for the windigo to eat and come collie here last spring you traded trade your our fur at ngoke rasped rasbel michel so savagely that the ojibway backed away for tho the rawboned raw boned iroquois was feared the length of the walling 1 I need shells for or my gun and ngoke Is far weakly replied the other its his oies eyes shifting uneasily the swart fentules of machel twisted with anger you lie you have plenty I 1 lie he replied replie tI fiercely returning to english for steeles benefit you travel here to mak trouble wid your you sr beeg talk of to de windigo go and the lie long arm arin of the exasperated hea bondman dinan shot shootout out a crushing blow in the face of the ojibway As the indian staggered back with ith a cry front from the sit attack tack of tile infuriated steele stepped between them and pushing michel aside ordered sternly i enough I 1 the cowed indian nursing tits his bleeding 11 g lips and protesting tits lils innocence left the men on the beach and joined the post people who were discussing the coming of the stranger and tits his reception at the hands of michel evidently you dont lice that alerre laughed steele what made you so mad 1 I vink lie he cum here to talk to tote tete bottle was the significant reply icy ley oel anak lie ae medicine tonight to scare scarp to de windigo what Is lie a shaman a conjuror too ile he claim lie es beeg medle medicine lne man one of to de so BO I 1 put le dc devils dells een me now then 1111 jel related what hat had passed between hini him and pierre hut but you on cant blame him for fearing the IV Indigo or for coining liere if it Is nearer his hunting grounds ngoke 1 the inscrutable iroquois faced steele with snapping eves ees miny M iny long snows fill fall ni spence de jibway starve stane out on de walling riviere rh lerp maybe alc ten maybe more ainia ani lie die all brij ani leer dee roon tiec trec dat long snows for beet was war de benr of lie de rabbit plague and derevere derp dere were no ito nicos o dees cuni cum to fort ma dat tin an say lipes woman tile die but I 1 go to bees camp dat d it summer an I 1 fin her bonen bone eon do de husli ien een two three place till all roun louii lie ile keel heel hees woman and left her in 1 de I le P now for dp de wolverines rines an fo q nevalee starve stane lie he ees ee no good lie lib cum here to mak do dc trouble an scare ofir people pierre also apparently has a part in the conspiracy Is laflamme Laflam mc back cf tho the windigo scare TO nis III CONTINUED |
