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Show By GEORGIA MAUSH I'opyilulit by Tim rinn I'ublluhlhK IN. WNU Norvlco. Iiii; Solid ii free luinil. Secretly, he lore the ceremony, nm! openly, when Solid from the lent delivered Ihe admonitions ad-monitions of the spirits, he would In'iuiil Hie old limn ns the hireling of Md humid, friend of devils. If tin) outraged Smil tin red to start trouble, this might he dangerous wllh the (.'recs in n high state of excitement, hut the linn of the company was long, its hnml henvy, mid Mtlenne Snvimne, lis servant, fenred us a lighter the length of the const. So the prospect of trouble gave Ktlonne little concern, but the loss of twenty thoiisnud del bus In fur, which the Crecs had with them, would be Utile short of n eiilain-Ity. eiilain-Ity. On his return to his tent. Ids active mind groped for the best moth-ed moth-ed of. Hint night, bunging the sluiinnn with his own rope, "Well, whnt did you hour?" nsked Coin I). "1 id you see Saul?" "No, lie keep ver' ipiict. Po Creo have mooch fur, mid niiiuee of de men would go to Mclionnl', but de squaw have fear of devil. A feller by de name of Snvnnne. be tell de sipinw down on de rtnnnign:i some bud story, nlso up on de Rabbit, mi' cet mill;' dem squaw vcr' nervous." Ktlenno smiled nt the success of his efforts. "That wns certainly n good bit of strategy, Ktlcnne, but you suy the men ?W "'VvV- 1 niaelng faces of the spirit friends of the conjurer, the medicine lodge slooil a short illslance from the lire, (lalli-ercd (lalli-ercd In Hie warinlh of the blazing logs, shawled women and hooded hunters, heads together, conversed In low tones. Higher over the tundra above the valley, the moon liswung through the star Incriisted heavens. It was a night for magic, hiiiI as hl.s curious eyes shll'leil from the awed frees to the medicine tent, (iulhrle despaired of the efforts of Kllonno, In such a setting to nullify the necromancy of old Saul. Moon anil stars and the aurora au-rora Joined with the purple shadows to lend Invincible enchant nient to the arts of the sorcerer. These simple children of the snows, bewitched by the mystery and magic of the night, would fall willing victims to the voices of the spirits. The muttered exclamation of 1-7 1 1 -enne lit his side aroused him. "here lie go." I'll In tiy, to the measured tapplti" of n caribou hide drum, from the tent lifted low walling. Seizing the anus of their men, the women at tho lire stiffened. Swart faces went gray. Cradunlly the walling drifted Into a sing-song, which, accompanied by the shell rattle, rhythmically swelled and died. Suddenly the song ceased. irowl.s and snarls, whines and mewing mew-ing Hie bickering of beasts tilled the forest. Shrieks of n mating wolverine wolver-ine followed the caterwauling of a lynx. A wolf howled, lonely for his kind. From a September ridge drifted drift-ed the moaning call of h cow inooir. In a swamp a bittern chugged, a w hooping crane startled with his trombone-like blast. I-'roni the gloom drifted the hoot of the snowy owl. hown wind. In full cry, swept wavies and Camillas, blue geese anil brant. Through n repertory of the voices of the night and the sunlit forest wandered wan-dered the ventriloquist In a marvelous imitation of nature. Cuthrle turned In surprise to I'.'.-enne. I'.'.-enne. "He's a wonder!" "Writ I" was the laconic reply. Then, amid groans and eerie cries, sh icl:s, as of souls In torment, the whimper of childi-en, sobs of women In anguish, nu n tortured, the voice of the shaman addressed the spirits he had conjured from ihe world of demons. de-mons. His kinsmen, the frees, were In grear douh; and perplexity, ami had be::geil blm to call i:pon bis familiar spirits, who saw Into tin? futire as one Icoks from a bill; to whom the devils seeking to destroy the Cree were as children barn, less. "The hunters." continued the shaman, "pes. sossed much fur " Ktiemie's band gripped (hirth's arm. as he Interpreted the speech of Saul. "Now he luck' de spirit tell deni to go to Mchonal'." "Fur of much value which they have toiled 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-Year's .New-Year's feast. Put the hearts of the hunters are troubled. At the schooner of the trader who waits at Seal cove. Hie Crecs have been told evil spirits and devils wait to bewitch them. Am Hie women have begged their men to take their fur across the ice to F.ik-wnn." F.ik-wnn." With a puzzled look F-tienne stared into Carth's eyes. "Wat he do now? I don' understand." under-stand." whispered the half-breed. Garth waited, hardly breathing, through the silence which followed. Then, on the hushed night boomed a voice, hollow, sepulchral. "Oh, Souci! Great Shaman of the Crecs! It is well you call us to warn your people. There has come to the island a sorcerer from a far country to destroy the hunters of Alcimiskl " "P.y gar!" And the fingers of I-'.ti-enne shut like a hear trap on the arm CHAPTER VIM Conf.ni.evl TIkm-o Cm-Hi ii mt Kllcntio round , tlioni, tho nii-i'(lnU lvini; hosHIo his U Ml. KthMiito hoiit to stare, with in until, Into the f(-nnnvs, knotted 111 their denth prlnmeo, of --.lee MoUeinnii. "Anihnsh lis, oh'?" snnrled Ihe half-lirood. half-lirood. "You do tine Joh. .loo MoKo-num." MoKo-num." And ho spurned the hody with tho how of his snuwshoo. "So ho mount to jtet tlint fur It ho luul to Imry us In the snow 7" snhl Onrth, turnlni; from tho mily plot lire to Ids (UK, still whining with tho hent of buttle. "(!ood old Shottle!" And tho innn bussed tho hnlry shoulders of his friend. "You trucked him down for (liirth, dldii t you, old coiurmle of mine?" "llo ilnm iiooil (Iol;. Shot, oh?" cried Ftieiuio, shippiiii; tho shn.upv hnck. lie know more thin some men: ho know .loo, ho hunt us." "llo thought .loo wns n (ierninn stuirpshooter, didn't you. Shot':" And sentod on tho snow, (Inrtli rooked to nd fro. rulihini; tho ours of his doir. soothlni; his excitement In tho low notes (f n lmis;n:ij:o none hut tho wrislins nirednlo understood. "Ynl. wo huroe (lis skunk eon de snow and let- m'sieu' fox dees him out." "That's nil we can do. He must hnve hoard frimi the trnvolins Inilians we were hound for the Oinoo and de cided to stop us. Po you suppose that MePonahl knows we lire here and sicked him on us?" Ktienne shook his head. "He bin up dis end de islnn', so de hunter say." "I'm sorry this happened," said Onrth. "There's no tellins what kind of a tale they'll nmke of it. I wish n sled would show up so we could show our evidence." "Kef we stay on islnn' after Mo-Poind' Mo-Poind' hear lues man ees dead, wo have to tii:ht for sure." "I'm net afraid of McPonald." lauirhed Garth, "hut I don't want the Indians drawn Into the tiuht. We're here for fur. not trouble, and I'll have to answer to my superiors for whnt luii pons. That's why I want you to be careful v.'hen we meet Souci. .No fiL'htinix un derstand?" ' Snvnnne nodded. "Pe hunter know Ftionne Savar.ne." said t lie haif-hrced wi'.li finality. "Pey wool not start tiouid' wid heem." "Ail riirl.t ! Now let's make trucks for 'h Canoe and that medicine lodi-v of Soucrs." With their snowshoes, they heaped a mound of snow over the hody of the s':ulker in the spruce, to be found by ihe lynx and foxes, and started. At noon the team turned down into the valley of the Canoe. In the windbreak of the spruce on the shore of the frozen river, the men jyoui Elk wan found the tipis of the hunters. From north and east and tout 1 1 had come the fox trappers with their families for the irreat medicine making of Souci. the shaman. The v.-i.mvnius hummed with gossip of the crossii:- of the strait hy the tall factor fac-tor nf Elkwan to right for the trade with McDonald Iln! Ha ! From valley val-ley to valley Mokoman had traveled, urging t lie hunters to go to the fdiooner. IWack I'.reault, too, and S':ene had visited many of the camps, but as yet the wily hunters had sold little fur. hoping by their seeming reluctance re-luctance io obtain higher prices. Also, in the last few days, rumors, vague terrifying, had been adrift. A hunter from the I'tarniigan claimed he had h;'en down tn the hills above Seal cove and seen tire dancing on the masts of Ihe boat at n'giit; that black magic was being made by the man with the f..ce of a mad wolverine. Another swore that his cousin, trapping on the Calling river, had been to the schooner iii:d heard devil music from a box. An nid squaw had already planted panic among' the women with a story that newitclied hunters would leave Mc Plaid's ship to desert tl.eir wives Ri:d children. All this and more the industrious E'.ienne gathered from the gossiping frees from the E!!;wan while Onrth made camp and fed and chained the digs. His seeds, planted with such care in the camps of the I'tarniigan and Kalihit, had indeed sprouted, were in fact already bearing fruit. The frees were ill at ease suspicions of these strangers who hud come to t lie island with their smiles arid trade poods, and in the con.iury of old Saul, - that night, they hoped and waited for the. advice and assurance that It t would be safe as well as wise for them to carry their fox pelts to the schooner at Seal cove. As for the old shaman, Etienne learned that he was camped downstream, down-stream, beside his medicine lodge, alone, preparing himself for communion commun-ion with his confreres, the spirits which, that night beneath the stars, he would summon with his magic to speak to the Crees, and remove from their hearts the doubts and fears which harassed them. "Ah-hah !" mused Etienne as he returned to Garth, busy cooking supper. sup-per. "Old Saul, he keep away; he not see Etienne Savanne." But, gratifying gratify-ing as was the news he had picked up among the gossiping hunters, Savanne knew his Indians, and feared wha jhe night would bring forth. For the old wizard was past master In the art of playing on the superstitions of the Crees, ind with his incantations and mumbo-Jumho would doubtless persuade per-suade them into starting at once for Seal cove. But Etienne had no Intention of giv of the man beside hliu. "Wo lire d beeg fool I" ho mill lered, Inlerpn ' Ing the reply of Ihe spirit to the iiiiki oh-lug oh-lug Onrlli. ''This conjurer," went on the voice from tho tipl, ii m I ho listening Indians gai'ped wllli surprise and fear, "wn billon In the face by the devil. Malchl-Mnnllou, Malchl-Mnnllou, himself, lie Is the fi lend of demons and woe In tin; Croon who bring their fur to him, for their wives will see them no more." "Ahuali! Ahmili!" From t tic winner at Ihe lire rose a low wall as they clung In punlc to the cowed burners. "Co not to Seal cove hut acros'i the Ice, for there the Crees may trade nml feast In safely." The voice died. Presently another answered In the saine vein, and yet another, while the astonished and ashamed Filoiino and (iulhrle, who had so lightly accepted Ihe treachery of old Saul as a proved fact, oleclrl-lied oleclrl-lied by the swift (urn of forluno, listened lis-tened wllh admiral Ion and gratitude. Wllh tho artistry of a master, Saul had played upon the known weaknesses weak-nesses of his people, relying on the mysteries of the medicine lodge rather than on Ids personal Intlm-nee winning win-ning tho sipiuwH by tin; Judicious planting of rumors, as had Eilenne, and stampeding the men with a single stroke at the medicine rites, for no Indian who heard that unearthly voice from tho tipl would now dare to trade with McPonald. "The old son-of a-gun," chuckled Carlh. "He went to that ship to throw them off the scent and keep them away from this end of the Island. lie gets a life Joh with the companj for this night's work." In an overawed, whispering group, the hunters and their sipiuws returned to their llpls, where deep Into the night was discussed the marvel of the spirit voices, which the great magician magi-cian of the Elkwan had Invoked for the safety ami guidance of his people. In the privacy of their tent the two men, still dazed by the u:. hoped-for success of their mission to the Island., gossiped by the fire. ' "Forty-six silvers and eighte.' black, besides a lot of cross and patch you say?" Carth repeated, elated with the trade that would come that Christmas Christ-mas to Elkwan. "Ah-hah! Wor' twenty t'nusanfi dollar de heegest trade Elkwan evalf male'. We do good Job w'en we breenj; Saul Souci from de headwater. Wat'.''' "You and Saul turned the trick. Etlciiiie. I can't thank you enough." In his second year In the trade Car:h had made a toiling business I stroke. In tho face of the higher prices of ihe free-trader of what seemed Inevitable failure, he had. with the help of the crafty old Cree.-f'.vung Cree.-f'.vung a huge trade to his company They could hug their lire at Kapiskau and Attnwaplskrit. but he had carried , the light straight to the enemy, anil had won. Cuing out to Shot, snug in his snow hole, Carth poured his happiness hap-piness into a hairy ami comprehending comprehend-ing ear. b-forc he rolled Into"' 's blankets blan-kets ho-dde the staunch half-breed who had made It possible. CHAPTER IX "Queer we haven't heard fro:i Joe yet." McDonald said to Skene, in the cabin of the Chost. two days before Christmas. ''Time em.ugli," answered the beard ed mate. "lie was to round up the hunters In the mirth, you know, and bring them down the shore Ice." "Well, we've made a good start. We've got twenty silvers now, with the three that came in this morning, and twelve blacks, not to count the cross nml patch. There's fifty thousand thou-sand dollars in this winter's work for us. John." Skene looked hard at his chief "What you goin' to do with youi share of the fur we land in St. Johns?" The deep blue eyes of the giant halt closed as the heavy brows contracted "Do with mine? What is (here to do with it?" "Coin' to head for the states and drink it up?" .McDonald laughed, without mirth "Drink it up? Xo, I'm gjn , ,mil up t lie family of a pal who 'went West' at Vimy Itidge. There's a wif,' and kiddies, out in Alberta. I'm goin' to share mine with 'em." j For a space Skene smoked In si. lence. Once or twice he glanced curl-ously curl-ously at the man opposite, who sat witli head in hands, staring at the door. "It'll be some surprise to my old girl with a nest-egg," he said at length. "She ain't had a too soft a lire with me." McDonald made no answer ami Skene went on : "I'm goin' to buy a little place for her and the two girls a cow or two, and a horse to get around with; then I'll have me a tidy schooner, and summers go cod-lishin' on the Labrador." "That's sensible," vouchsafed the other. "You owe it to thewoman."" "Yes. she's never whimpered. When I enlisted, she turned to like a soldier and carried on. I owe her a go-id home, now and a little of my com- I pnny." j McDonald's broken mouth widened I In a smile. "Your company, you old j scalawag! How ninny weeks in the ! year will she keep a restless old pirn to ' like you on the farm?" "Y'ou can laugh, Craig, hut I'm for j a home now, except that lishiu' in the I summer." j (TO BE CONTINUED.) j He Returned to Garth, Busy Cookin Supper. are now wnhhling in favor of tho schooner?" "Ah-hah. I t'inl; dat Pouel, will hees spirit, weel heat us tonight." "We've pot to think of sonif!i:in to llo we cun't let him ret uway with all the fox in this camp, man i" urpei Garth, hamlinp his friend a heaping plate of beans ami bacon. As Etienne ate. his swarthy face was grave with the problem confronting confront-ing him. What coulil he done? He even considered secretin.!; himself In the medicine tent downstream, binding bind-ing ami gagging the old man ns he entered, and playing shaman himself. Dut the danger of discovery hy the outraged Crees would be too great. Failure would make matters even worse. The medicine rite was to take place under the moon, which was late, so deep in council of war lingered white man and half-breed, until the silver disk rode above the white tundra already al-ready lit hy low-swinging stars. Then Etienne returned from a short reconnaissance recon-naissance to report the hunters and siiuaws already moving to the rendezvous rendez-vous downstream where a fire glowed in the spruce. Small and cylindrical in shape, its tanned caribou-hide walls minted in red and black with the shapes of animals, the sun, and gri- |