Show M an STORY FROM THE THC START garth guthrie Gul hric canadian war veteran bavi having n g to live in tho the open on accorn account t of weakened lunse Is factor of a hudsons Hud sons day bay post poet at elkman lie he came back from th the 0 conflict with ith a wh permanently be tired face which ach he realizes ces cost t him the love of his fiancee edith falconer sir charles guthrie Gu thrle his brother Is a millionaire war profiteer with etienne sa s1 vanne halfbreed his firm friend garth meets doctor quarrier geologist and his al bister s joan quarrier complains h he e has been robbed by a man known as laughing mcdonald McDo at elkman an indian nirl girl ninda tuberculosis victim whom garth has befriended Is dying joan trained war nurse nume cares for ninda but the girl dies three or of McDo party visit E elk ik wan seeking to buy gun eun shells from them garth carth learns of evil talk among the indians concerning him and ninda with etlen etien nes help garth wins the friendship of saul medicine man of the and gets his promise to persuade the crees to 0 take their furs to elkman instead of to mcdonald McDo garth Is ambushed by joe Mo koman Nin bindas das reputed father shot cartas Rf companion saves him and the indian Is taken a prisoner to elkman garth sends to mcdonald McDo with a message of Oe defiance flance and the war Is on garth halls hails with kith loy joy tile the freezing of the strait which till nill enable followers to bring their tura furs to ulkowan without difficulty di CHAPTER VII continued 11 lies iles stormed the startled halfbreed half breed but the germ of a suspicion of the old conjurers loyalty quickened in his brain are there camps at the head bead of the river in the barrens lie he ask asked eddeen ed keen heen to catch the ojibwa and old saul the traitor at their work yes you will see them before the light dies and there are more on the north fork remember cautioned the puzzled half halfbreed breed as he turned to ills his dogs the boat tit nt seal cove is full of demons bewitched those who go will never look again with joy on their wives and children and with this parting shot the shrewd savanne called bojo bo Do jo joi find and joined liis his chief As they again took the river trail from here on lee ice hard bard from cons constant tant use by the teams of the hunters etienne gave guthrie Gut lirie the lie gist of his talk old saul at the schooner its only a lie of that ojibwa objected garth gaith unable to reconcile the old mans simplicity and directness with this deceit A lie to weaken the effect of sauls coming to the island to work for us debbe so eo but I 1 tink so meting ver strange here dees camp ees ces near de shore why lias has saul not come here they may have hare lied lie ile may b have been here suggested garth etienne shook his head no lie nevalee cum here or dey talk more bout beem ile he ees medicine man and de squaw would talk mooch cef lie cum well lets see what the lie people above hoove here say then we can compare the stories and judge better what to believe and what our next move Is it if saul has turned yellow were surely done facing the man riding behind him etienne nodded def saul work for de schooner he weel tak do de elkman cree circe wid heem beem then the lean features of tile the halfbreed half breed tightened ills small eyes closed to blits as lie viciously cracked his whip cut but dat ol 01 shaman weel rank mak bees las medicine he rasped the late hate in ili the face of the dog driver was so intense that garth objected you cant shoot him up tor for that you know it would only re V act ct on marle pral the children arid and on me f Eti etiennej ennes mourn curled in dil an ln in cru table smile no one but saul souci weel know who meet heem on oe cie trall trail 1 1 guess be capable ot of nm am bushing him tor for this but were not dead let lets lee eee what the hie hunters at the hend head of 0 the river say ay in the scrub rimming the shores ot of the first lale lake from which chith the tundra undulated to the skyline tile the men in r quest 0 of saul found the cipis tipis of j k the hunters it was a camp of 0 three families and smoke from the supper ires fires already lifted above the spruce when alien the arrival of 0 tile the doe dg team raised a general alarm from the huskies fastened in the scrub called etienne Lt lenne and a shock of black hair was thrust through a door lap flap as a curious cree emerged to meet the strangers Gr angers iles hes oot not from elkman dropped guthrie disappointed as the indian approached to shake hands alto allo achille I 1 and etienne warmly gripped the hand of the indian who mho then greeted erected garth achille Achl lle laguerre from Kilpi skau end me ol oil tren f announced the like patently pleased lead head man to his chief well learn something now thought the factor as the drove the dogs into the spruce fed them hem their frozen arid and chained them separately to trees As the december sun run was long down and their tent lashed under tile toboggan cover etienne at a coated the hospitality of laguerre Is belled there with eyes 1 weeping from the unaccustomed smoke emoke garth ate boiled rabbit and late lait trout from the copper kettle hung by GEORGE MARSH copyright by the th penn publishing co Sr arvice vice above the fire from which the wife and numerous children of achille Ac lilIIe gorged in common but the appetite sharpened by the ride up the valley in tile the keen air was impervious to the informality of cree table manners and barths Gar llis tin cup went back to the steaming stew and the tea pall wit the regularity of his smoke e tanned host and hostess until his belt warned ot of surfeit lie ile passed to each of tile the crees ft a twist of company head and pipe smoke swiftly added to the opaqueness of the air then etienne who had avoided the subject of and the sc schooner booDer in his is gossip with the curious and perplexed laguerre orre opened with you know de strait ees froze achille nho mho spoke english gravely nodded you cum to de island act mus be so oon mon ami we are here act ees enough why achille Ac lilIIe laguerre ile he went nent on probing the small half bait shut eyes of the halfbreed half halt breed do 0 X 01 F 04 X 10 cd colenne accepted the hospitality of Lague smoke filled tipi slen guthrce Gu Gut thrle brie and 1 I etienne sa vancie cross de ice to mak talk wl wid it you yon etienne paused and blew a cloud of smoke aloi along the stem of his pipe which ills his teeth gripped achille grinned widely you cum to mak fight for de fox he chuckled you are mos smart man ma fren but you mak beeg mec mee stake we cum to tak tie ile fox fos back to wid de dc for beeg lam farm at la bonne annee new year ah hali hah I 1 1 I you ou go to kapiskas kapiskau Kapi skau achille the indian slowly shook ills his head 1 I go to de beeg boat lie ile pay beeg price for pelt garth leaned eagerly forward to hear the counter stroke which etienne was waiting to launch ah hahl bahl for a space the tha cracking of a spruce knot was the only sound in the then savanne began you not ver smart man achille you deeben to dat jiboa wabeno Mo koman ali liah hah you not so smart roan man we tak heem to dis island wid old houct you know why etienne paused dramatically to relight ills his pipe so mcdonall SIc Donal put de devil into heem nervously twist twisting log her hands the squaw of achille stared at the speaker from awe oiled filled eyes the stolid features of the halfbreed half breed reflected curiosity doubt but no tear fear 1 I put dat Moko roan de ice fee up de elkman he mak for us but we to have devil put een heem by mcdonal bial hal 11 was here dryly countered achille was houct wid acera snapped etienne as a dog a bone and barths pulse quickened as he waited for the reply no houct ees bovair de hill nord won wen you say saul was at de schooner again guthrie leaned to catch achilles return the halfbreed half breed willed waited spat into tile the fire then lien said you yon hear bear dat I 1 etienne nodded now he would learn tile lie truth from a friend who in tile the old days of their comradeship had never lied but in ills his extremity he himself launched laun clied brazenly into outrageous fabrication we sen old saul to de schooner to talk wid de devil of SIc Nc Donal DODal the self possession of achille fell from him like a leaf from it i tree you sen heem beem dere be demanded excitedly cit edly etienne was relieved lie ile had pierced the armor of ills his friend was at last making progress amazed and del delighted lighted nt at the resource of ills his head man and wonder ing where his astounding imagination would further lead him garth watched the changing expression on the dark art features of achille all ah hah bah casualty casually assented etienne we know its mcdonal ila iia ila iia mak bad medicine an de pore injun who go to alices boat nevalee love dere farr carrillee illee any more hut but travel tar far away a and rid leave dem to starve Al alguah iuah abiah I 1 walled wailed the terrified squaw and launched in croe cree n delirious outburst ot of entreaty and appeal achilles attempts to sooth her hysterics succeeded only in increasing the lamentations of the superstitious woman at length she calmed to a low inci moaning anIng which was joined by the walling of the awakened children under cover of the tusk dusk of the sinewy fingers gripped guthries foot with wilh the skill of a sorcerer etienne had planted the seeds of 0 superstitious terror in the tipi tip of his friend the work of saul find and was rapidly being undone by the shrewd savanne Sav annc then voices outside announced the coming of the hunters from the neighboring tipis cipis Crow crowding dirt through the door flap of the snow banked tent three indians from the Kapl skau river entered and sat down the fire was freshened and briefly achille explained the situation which had aroused the fears of his wife with the faces of stoles stoics the men smoked while the story of etienne ellenne was repeated but when they heard that ilo koman had been brought tu to the island with saul because of the witchcraft of mcdonald they too lost their gravity and their calm for that this mutilated stranger should tie be the intimate and crony of the spirits of darl darkness ness was not beyond tile the credulity of the impressionable cree and did not achille vouch for this savanne his old comrade from elkman it was true they argued the big roan man with the unspeakable face offered high prices for fox pelts hut but it 1 ts were in league with devils as lie he mittit be with that leer which never died of what use would be the trade goods he bartered to those who left the ship mad with the medicine and now that the women knew there would be no peace still souci would know and tell them they would go to the shaman who camped with his sons over the big barrens to the north so it was left and two gratified men from elliman rolled into their blankets in the tip of achille asbille laguerre CHAPTER VIII the stars alere pierced od the blue du dusk s k forerunner ot of the stinging dawn when a dog team pulled out of the bleck spruce and dwarf art art tamarack rimming it the headwater ponds of 0 t the he r ptarmigan in r mi and followed a trap line trail up into the tundra which billowed away to the wind whipped backbone of the island on they hurried the team ani and the alde file r an ing shot for somewhere in fil the valleys of the rabbit or tbt canoe Moko marl end tho the renegade were ica the hunters from anti Chris christinas troas was but six days away christmas with teams from the three winds drifting down doun tile the valley into elkman for the trade and the feast at new years there was little time to be lost it if they were to win the hunters of ALI akl alski and lead them hem across tile the strait so tile hie five dogs took the uphill work at a trot while the men trailed tho the sled in tile the middle of the morning the men left the trap line and breaking trail ahead of the dogs slowly climbed the last rise of the barrens in places the lack of snow on the brittle heath made the work of tile the dogs heart braking while the flat toboggan slid 01 cr the frozen tundra the huskies seeking a tooting footing constantly broke through shortly their bleeding feet forced a stop while moccasins were lashed to their legs cut but lit at last panting dogs and men stood on the root roof of the island through the glasses garth made ou out t the ii white bilte delta of the elkman anil and ills his thoughts drifted to two women who had once shared his quarters there two women who did not shrink nt at scars but it was bitter cold on the open ridge and the dog team turned down seeking the valley of the rabbit masked by intervening hills over the tundra the snowshoes packed tile the trail for the sliding toboggan while the logs dogs ran where the hard snow on the heath gave them footing and slaved where they broke through the low bushes of the brushed barren when they threw their wel weight bt into their collars As the day adv advanced alced the frost strengthened A veil of haze slowly curtained the low swinging sun and the hurried on for the night would fall in early afternoon and to he be caught on the high tundra by a wind meant swift freezing still before them the endless hill bill lifted to the horizon with no indication of the arc break ak of a low valley where timber would glie ghe them shelter and a cooking fire cre at noon it wa evident that etienne was worried never he fore had bad garth seen his head bead man use us the whip on ills his dogs as he used u aed it that day never in their journeys had the fur lined hood circled w with ith ice fee and rime turned so often while the eyes of the halfbreed half halt breed consulted the horizon deeg blow comin mooch snow she fall soon it cant be far now said garth weve surely made the twenty miles the rabbit mst mint head over that nil hill beef eef we dont get orf off dees lilge countree countr ce before de win blow we ne alre aire get oft off was the quiet rejoin der its colder already and garth took in the belt of ills his parka ue de dog weel not travel mooch more dere feet are cut 0 io pieces on ill dla s frozen bush on up the next ascent the lie lImPI limping dogs alth breath trailing behind like ribbons of smoke followed the trail breakers gaining the backbone of the ridge the men stood with startled eyes looking north instead of the wide basin of the rabbit headwaters with its scrub fringed takes lakes they looked across a treeless barren the grave eyes of etienne mcl MCI barths puzzled look those indians indiana lied no objected tile the halfbreed half breed W tra el ver slow feet ees 0 ovala air deri dere and lie he pointed to the far ridge it 11 will be dark when we hit it one hour more light and de win rl rise 11 muttered savanne as he patted castor who lay at his feet his bis steaming red tongue hanging from a mouth hung with ice you er cr tired castor you mak dat ridge 1 the powerful leader got to his sore fert feet and whined as it if lie he understood but the listless team lay sprawled on the trail its come announced garth as a curtain of know inow drifted I 1 in a from the tha northeast degol we go 1 up enfante aliens 1 castor an hour later five dogs sheathed in white plodding slowly behind two ghostlike shades sli apes reached tile ine rim of tile the basin of the rabbit headwaters dimly below them through the pall pail ot of snow and gathering dusk the men traced the scrub edging g the takes lakes with shadow As they stood in the rising mid ind US as the dogs rested night shut down wiping willing from their eyes the goal they sought as a sponge wipes clean a state ie got the compass comp asai direction north northwest said garth etienne shook his snow crusted hood keep de aiu in on right check so 50 long cheek check froze we licad head right for do da timber limber |