Show JOX 3 JJ JJr t II BAREE Son of Kazan Bv By JAMES OLIVER CUR CURWOOD WOOD Q Doubleday Doubled Pare Fire A Co lI Yf cr J. J 6 J ferric Chapter IX 15 15 Back Dack to Lac Bale Bain late In September September September Septem Septem- ber came MacDonald l the map For ten days Gregson the Investigating ing lag agent had been Bush Dush guest at the post and twice in that time It had come Into Maries Marie's mind to creep while he slept and kill him The Factor himself paid little attention to her now a fact which would have made her happy If It had hadnot hadnot hadnot not be been n for Gregson lie He was enraptUred enraptured enraptured with the wild sinuous beauty of ot the Cree girl and without without without with with- out Jealousy encouraged him He lie was tired of ot Marie t told Jd Gregson this He Be wanted to get rid of her and If It he he- he Gregson could Gregson-could could possibly take her on with him It would be a great favor faor He explained why A little later when the deep snow came he heas as was going to bring the daughter of Pierrot Du DuQuesne DuQuesne DuQuesne Quesne to the Post In the rottenness rottenness rottenness rotten rotten- ness of ot their brotherhood he told of his visit of ot the manner of his reception reception recep recep- tion and nd of the incident at the chasm In spite of ot all this he assured Gregson Gregson Gregson Greg Greg- son Pierrot's girl would soon be at Lac Bain Dain It n was at this time that MacDonald came He remained only one night and without knowing that he was adding add ing fuel to a fire already dangerously blazing he gave gae the photograph he had taken of to the Factor It Ic was u a splendid picture If It you ou can cn get It down to that girl some Borne day Ill I'll be mightily obliged he heBald said Bald to I promised her one Her fathers father's name Is Du Quesne Pierrot Du Quesne You probably know them And the girl girl His blood warmed as he described to how beautiful she was that day in her red dress which had ta taken en black in the photograph He did not guess how near the boiling point blood was The next day MacDonald started for Norway House did not show Gregson the picture He l kept ept It to himself and at night under the glow of ot his lamp he looked at it with thoughts that filled him with a growIng growing growing grow grow- ing resolution There was but one w nap way The scheme me had been In his mind for weeks weel weeks and and s-and and the picture determined determined determined de de- de- de him He lie dared not whisper his secret e ever en eIl to Gregson But Dut It was the the one one wa way It would give him Nep ese Only Only Only-he he must watt walt for the deep snows the midwinter snows They buried burled their tragedies deepest was gla glad when Gregson followed the map-maker map to Norway House Out of ot courtesy he accompanied accompanied accompanied nied him a days day's Journey on his way When he returned to the Post Marie was gone He was glad He sent off oil offa oila a runner with a load of presents for her people and the message Dont beat her Keep her She Is free Along with the bustle and stir of the beginning of ot the trapping season began to prepare his house for tor the coming of ot He knew what she liked In the way of cleanliness cleanliness ness and a few tew other things He had the log walls painted white with the lead lend and oil that were Intended for his York boats Certain partitions were torn down and new ones were built the Indian wife of his chief runner I made curtains for tor the windows and I he confiscated a small phonograph I that should have hae gone on to Lac la fiche Biche He had no doubts and he counted the days as they passed Down on the Gray Loon Pierrot and were busy at many things so busy that at times Pierrot's fears of the Factor at Lac Bain were forgotten forgot forgot- ten and they went out of the tile Willows Willow's mind entirely It was the lied Hed Moon and It thrilled with th the anticipation and excitement of the winter hunt carefully dipped a hundred traps trapi in boiling bolting fat caribou mixed with grease beaver e while wIllie Pierrot made mude fresh tresh ready for tor setting on his trails When he lie was gone more than a day from the cabin she was always with him But Dut at the cabin there was much to todo todo todo do for tor Pierrot like all his Northern br brotherhood did not begin to prepare until the tho keen tang of autumn was Inthe in inthe inthe the air There were snowshoes to be with new there was was wood to be cut in readiness for forthe forthe forthe the winter storms the cabin had to tobe tobe tobe be banked a new harness made sl skinning skin ln ning knives sharpened and winter moccasins to be manufactured a hundred hundred hun hun- dred and one affairs to be attended to to He repaired the meat ruck rack st Dt t the back of the cabin where from the beginning of ot cold weather until the end would hang the haunches of deer caribou and moose for tor the family faintly larder and end when fish was scarce the dogs' dogs rations In the bustle of ot all this was compelled to give less attention to Baree than during darIng the preceding weeks Th They y did not play so much they no DO longer lonser swam for or with the thc mornings there was deep frost on the ground and the water was turning icy co cold d they no longer wandered deep In Ih the forest after flowers and bevies berries For hours at a time Baree Daree would now DOW lie at the Willows Willow's feet teet watching her slender fingers as they ed swiftly In and out with her ho 4 and now and then would pause to lean over and put her hand on his head and talk to him for a moment sometimes moment sometimes In her soft Cree sometimes In English or or her fathers father's French It was the Willows Willow's voice olce which Baree had learned to understand and the movement of her lips her gesture the poise of her body the changing moods which brought shadow or sunlight sunlight sun sun- light into her face He knew what it meant when she smiled he shook himself himself him him- self an and often often Jumped about her In sympathetic rejoicing when she laughed her happiness was a part of him a stern word from her was worse than a n blow Twice Pierrot had struck him and twice Baree aree had sprung back and faced him with bared fangs and an angry snarl the crest along his back standing up like a brush Had on one of the other do logs dogs s done this Pierrot would have hae half killed him It would have been mutiny mutiny mutiny mu mu- tiny and the man must be master But Baree Daree was always safe A touch of the Willows Willow's hand a word from her lips and the crest slowly settled and the snarl went out of his throat Pierrot was not at all In displeased pleased DIeu I will never go so far as to try and whip that out of him he told himself He is a bar barbarian barbarian-a arlan-a arlan a wild beast beast and and her slave For her he would kill So It came through Pierrot himself him him- self and self and without telling his reason for it that It-that that Baree Daree dl did not become a sledge dog He was leas as allowed allowe his freedom freedom free tree dom and was as never ne tied like the others was glad bat did not guess the thought that w wits was S In Pierrot's mind To himself Pierrot chuckled She would never know why he kept Baree Daree always suspicious of ot him even een to the point of Qt hating him It required considerable skill and cunning cunning cun cun- ning on his part With himself he reasone reasoned If I make snake him hate hate- me he will hate all men oo Mey-oo That is good So he looked Into the future future for for Now the the tonic-filled tonic days and cold frosty nights of the Red ned Moon brought about the big change in Baree Daree It was Inevitable Pierre knew that it would eom come ome and the first night that Baree Daree settled back on his haunches and howled up at the Red ned Moon Pierrot prepared for ItHe ItlIe it It lIe fie is a wild dog Ma Ia he said to her He lie is half wolf and the Call will come to him strong He will go Into the forests He ne will disappear at times But we must not fasten him He will come back Ka he will wUl come comeback comeback back hack And he rubbed his hands In Inthe Inthe inthe the moon-glow moon until his knuckles cracked The Call came to Baree Daree like a thief entering slowly and cautiously Into a forbidden place He did not understand understand understand under under- stand It at first It made him nervous and uneasy so restless that frequently heard him whine softly in his sleep He ne was waiting for tor som some some- thing What was It Pierrot knew and smiled in his Inscrutable way And then then It came It was vas nl night ht a glorious night filled with moon and stars under which the earth was whitening whitening whit whit- ening with a film of frost trost when they hey heard the first hunt-call hunt of the wolves Pierrot knew that at last had come corne that for which Baree Daree had b been en waiting In an Instant Baree Daree had sensed It it His muscles grew taut as pieces of stretched rope as he stood up in the facing the direction from which floated the mystery and thrill of the sound They could hear him whining softly and Pierrot bending down so that he caught the light of the night properly could see him himI I trembling It is Mee Kool I he lie said In a whisper whisper whis whis- per to f That was It the call of the blood that was running swift in Baree's veins veins not not alone the call of ot his species species cies cles but the call of Kazan I and Gray GrayWolf GrayWolf Wolf am and of ot his lite forebears for generations generations generations genera genera- unnumbered It was the voice of ot othis his people So Pierrot had whispered and he was right In the golden night the Willow was waiting for It was Leas was she who had gambled most and it was she who must lose or win She watched Baree as he slowly faded away step by step in the shadows In a few tew moments more he was gone It was then that she stood straight and flung back her head hend with eyes that glowed in rivalry with the stars Baree naree she called Baree 1 I Barce Barce Baree Ba- Ba ree I 1 Baree Daree l He must have been near the edge of ot the forest for tor she had drawn a slow waiting breath or two before he was back at her side But Dut he had come straight as an arrow and he whined up into her face tace put her hands to his head hend You are right mon pere she said He ne will go to the wolves but he will wUl come back lIe He will never neer leave me for long With one hand still on Baree's Baree's Ba Da rees ree's head she pointed jointed with the other into the blackness of the forest Go to them Baree Daree she whispered But you must come back You must With Pierrot she went Into the cabin the door closed behind them and Baree Daree was alone A choking gathered in his throat He threw up his head Straight above him was the Red ned Moon inviting him to the thrill and mystery of the open world The sound grew In his throat and slowly It rose In volume until his answer was rising to the stars In their cabin Pierrot and the Willow heard it Pierrot Pierrot Pier Pier- rot shrugged his shoulders He Be Is gone he said Oui he is gone mon pere replied peering through the window No longer as in the days of old did the darkness of ot the forests hold a fear for Baree Daree This night his hunt-cry hunt had risen to the stars and the moon and In that cry he had for tor the first time sent forth his defiance of ot night and space his warning to all the wild and his acceptance of ot the Brother Brother- hood In that cry and the answers that came back to him he sensed new power the power the final triumph of ot nature in impinging on him the fact tact that the forests and the creatures they held were no longer lonser to be feared but that all things feared him Off Ort there beyond beyond beyond be be- yond the pale of ot the cabin and the influence Influence In in- fluence of ot were all the things thinks that the wolf blood in him found now most desirable companionship of ot his kind the lure of adventure the red sweet blood of ot the chase chase and and mate- mate hood This last after all was the dominant dominant- mystery that that- was urging him and yet least of all did he understand understand understand under under- stand It He ran straight into the darkness to the north and west slinking low under under under un un- der the pie he bushes his tall drooping his ears aslant the aslant the wolf as the wolf runs on the night trail The pack had hud swung d due e north and was traveling faster than he so that at the end of half an hour he could no longer hear hearit it It But Dut the lone wolf howl to the west was nearer and three times Baree Daree gave answer to it At the end of ot an hour he heard the pack pack again again swinging southward Pierrot Pier rot would easily have haye understood Their quarry had found safety beyond water or in a lake and the were were on a fresh trail By Dy this time not more than a quarter of ot a mile of the forest separated Baree from the lone wolf but the lone wolf was also an old wolf and with the directness and precision of long experience he swerved In the direction of ot the hunters hunters hunt hunt- ers compassing his trail so that he ho was leading for tor a point half haIt or three three- quarters of ot a mile In advance of ot the tha pack This w wa was a trick of ot the brotherhood which Baree Daree had yet to learn and the tha result of his Ignorance and lack of 01 skill was that twice within the next hour half he found himself near hear the tho pack without being able to Join It Then came a long and final silence The pack had pulled down Its kill and In their feasting they made no sound The Tile rest rest of the night fierce Baree wandered wandered wan wan- dered dere alone or at l least ast until the moon was well on the wane was wasa a long Iring way from the cabin and his trail had been an uncertain and twisting twisting twist twist- ing one Mae but he was no longer possessed pos with the discomforting sensation sensation sensa sensa- tion of being lost The last two or three months had been developing I strongly In him the sense of orIentation orientation orientation orienta orIenta- tion that sixth sense which guides the pigeon on Its Its' way and takes a bear straight as a bird might fi fly to its last years year's denning place TO BE CONTINUED |