Show M EN MAROONED CHAPTER VIII continued 13 there garth and etienne found them the alred alo lying beside ills his kill etienne bent to stare with willi an oath into the features knotted in their death grimace of joe ambush us ell eh snarled tile alie halfbreed you do fine job joe moko man and lie spurned the body with the bow of its his snowshoe so he meant to get that fur it lie he had to bury us in the snow said garth turning froni from the ugly picture to his dog still whining with will tile the heat of battle good old Shott Sli ottle lel alq the man hugged the halry hairy shoulder deri i of his friend you ti tracked ticked him film down for garth didn dian t you of old com comrade rilde of mine lie ile dam good dol do shot ell eh cried I 1 etienne slapping the shaggy hack back i lie ile know more dan clan some men he know joe he be hunt us lie ile thought joe was a german you shot and fronted on tile snow gaith rocked to and fro rubbing rub liing the ears of his do roo thing his excitement in lie low notes of a language none but tile wriggling air aired odile ile understood wal we burce dis skunk pen cen de enow and let ni sieu fox deeg him out all we can do ile ie must have heard from the alie traveling indians we vie were bound for the canoe canne and decided to stop us do you suppose that mcdonald McDo knows we are here and kicked him on us etienne shook ills his head lie ile bin aln up dis end de islan so de hunter say im sorry this happened said garth theres no telling what kind of a tale make of it it I 1 with wih a sled led would show up so we could coul d show our evidence if beef we stay on islan after sic ale donar donal hear bear hoes anfin ees dead we have to fight for sure im not afraid of iI Al cDonald laughed garth but I 1 dont want the indians drawn into the light were here for fur not dot trouble and ill have to answer to my Ruper superiors lors for what i happens why I 1 want you to be careful ahen we ve meet douel no 0 o fighting understand savanne nodded de hunter know etienne savanne said the halfbreed half breed knitli fill finality dey beel not stait will heem all right now kow lets make tracks for the th canoe and that tur medicine dicine lodge of soucis ls with their snowshoes they heaped a mound of snow oner the hotly body of tile the in the spruce to be found by the lynx slid and foes foxes and started at noon the team turned down luto into the valley of the C canoe aw e in ili the windbreak of 0 the spruce on the shote shoie of the filzen rier the men from klawan found the elpis of the lie hunters from north and east and south had come the fox trappers with their families for the great medicine making of houct the shaman the wig wigwams hummed bummed alth gossip of the crossing of the strait by the tall factor of elkman to fight for the trade with willi mcdonald McDo ila iia hal flat from valt ey to valley Mo honian had traveled urging the hunters to go to the schooner klack elack breault nr cault too and skene had sited visited many nt fit the camps c r tut lut as yet the wily ully hunters ila biad sold little fur hoping by their seeming reluctance luc tance to obtain higher prices also in tile last few days rumors vague terrifying had bad been adrift A hunter from the claimed he hall had been down to the hills libove above seal cove and seen ire fire dancing on the masts of tile boat fit at night chrit black magic was being made by the hie man with the face of a trial mad wolverine another swore that his cousin trapping tin on the lie calling ri aher er ila had been to the schooner and heard dell music from a box AT an old squaw equaw hall already planted plan teil dwile among tile lie women with a story unit that bewitched hunters would leme me ale donalds ship to debeir their wies and children all tills this and mure more the industrious etienne gathered gi from the gossiping crees from the elkman while oarth garth made camp and fell fed anil and chained the logs dogs ills seeds planted willi will such care lit in tile the C camps of tile the Itar ptarmigan 1 und 1 nil rabbit had indeed sprouted were 1 in tact fact elliel already MY bearing fruit the crees were ill lit at ense eam suspicious of these strangers stranger who had conic to the island willi their smiles find and trade boods and in HIP flip conjury of old saul y that night they hoped and waited for the hie advice adile will assurance that it would be safe as wall pit ng as wise wie for them to entry cairy their fox pelts to the at seal eoe cove As for the ill idd ilni Nha ninn etienne learned that lie wa was camped downstream beside lils ills medicine 14 lodge d ge alone preparing himself for communion with fill liis ills confreres contreres con freres tile which that clial night lit neath ill the e stars star s lie would summon willi his magic to speak to the crees anti and remove from their heairt i lip doubts and fears which them ali ah linh hah I 1 mused etienne as he rp returned turned to garth baisy cooking supper old adul lie keep kf all away lie not see bee etienne Saia Sain nue iut but gratifying as was the news lie in hit biad picked up aa among olig the hunters navienne Navi inne knew his 1113 indian mid and feared willi tile the night would bring foith for tile old wizard was vas past mutter roa liter in tile art of placing on the superstitions of tile the arve w wid willi ills hl incantations and crumbo jumbo would doubtless per aade them into starting at once for beni bend erve but alienne ban baa no intention of div by GEORGE MARSH copyright by the penn publishing co C burvice ing a free hand secretly be fore the lie ceremony and openly when from the tent delivered the nil ad of the he would brand tile the old man ns as the lie hireling of mcdonald Mc Donnld friend of devils it if the lie outraged saul to trouble tills this might be dangerous fang erous willi llie lie creca in a high state stale of exal excl lenient but of the company coni piny was long ions its hand heavy and El belletine letine savanne its servant feared as a fighter the length of the const coast so the prospect of trouble gaie gae ellenne little concern hut but the loss of twenty thousand dol lars in fur which the crees had with fill I 1 would bo be little choit of a calamity on ills his return to ills tent ills nethe mind groped for the lie best inelli aneth ell cd of that night hinging hanging the with its his own rope well what did you hear asked garth did you see S saul nil no he keep ver quiet ile ie cree it leave ave mooch fur and niante of de men would go to Me mcdonal Donal but de squaw line hilie fear of devil A feller by fie de name of Sa anne ine he tell de squaw down on tie de nn some bad story also up on tie de ROAM rabbit tin an beet milk mak dom dem squaw er nerous etienne smiled at the success of hn his efforts that was certainly a good bit of strategy etienne Et lenne but you say the men sa I 1 10 11 aili I 1 IT jv at naz I 1 J cars cS rS he returned to garth busy cookin supper are now babbling wab bling lu in favor of the schooner ahli ah all hah li th I 1 vink dat wid hees spirit weel beat us tonight weve got to think of to dowe do we cant let him get away with all the fox in this camp man dion urged garth handing his friend a heaping plate of leans beans find and bacon As etienne ate ills swarthy tice face was grae with the problem confronting him what could be done ile he even considered secreting himself in tile the medicine tent downstream binding and gagging tile llie old man as he entered find placing shaman himself but the danger of discovery by the outraged crees would be too great failure would make matters even w orse the medicine rite was to take place under the moon which was late so jeep deep in cout council icil of war lingered lin greil white title ninn man and halfbreed half breed until the llie ellei disk rode above the white tundra ill ivady lit by low swinging stars then etienne returned from a short recon to report llie lie hunters and squaws squads already moving to the rendezvous downstream where here a tire glowed lit in the pruce small and cylindrical lit in shape its t tanned cui cachou iliou tilde hide walls walla painted in ili red and black iab with the shapes of iii ilin ils tile sun and arl X 2 X X Z X Z 2 Z m 2 faces of the splint friends of the file ef conjurer injurer the medicine lod lodge C stood a short distance IN tance from the fire gathered in ili tile the warmth of the blazing logs women nil hooded hunters heads together co conversed mersed in low tones higher over oer the tundra above the lie valley llie file moon umang through the hie star etar incrusted heavens it was a night for magic und as ills curious ees shifted from the lie owed crees to the lie medicine tent guthrie despaired of the efforts of etienne Ul lenne in such a setting to nullify the necromancy of old saul lind and stars and the auroia rot a joined with the purple shallows shadows to lend invincible enchantment to the arts of tile sorcerer these simple children of the lie snows ben ditched itched by the mystery anil magic of the alie night bould fall willing victims to the voices of tile the spirits the muttered exclamation of ill enne at ills his side aroused him dere tie ne go co faintly to the measured tappan of a caribou hide drum from the tent lifted low walling wailing seizing tile arms of their men the women nt at the fire stiffened swart faces went gray Grachia gradually lly the wailing drifted into a singsong sing song sons which accompanied by the shell shelf ir rattle rhythmically swelled and died suddenly y the song ceased growls and snarls whines and mewing the bickering of beasts filled the forest shrieks of a mating wolverine followed tile caterwauling of a lynx A wolf howled lonely for ills his kind from a september ridge drifted the nio moaning nning call of a cow ennos in a swamp a bittern c chug hugged ged a whooping crime crane startled with willi his bis from bonelike bone like blast from the gloom drifted the loot of the snowy owl down wind in full cry swept find and canadas blue geese and brant through a repertory of the voices of the night and the sunlit forest wandered the ventriloquist in a marvelous imitation of nature guthrie turned in surprise to ellenne antl iles hes a wonder walt was the laconic reply then amid groans and eerie cries shi icks lelis as of souls in torment the whimper of children sobs of women in angul anguish h men tortured the voice of the shaman addressed the spirits lie lid had conjured from the world of demons ills kinsmen the crees ft bere iere ere in great doubt lind and perplexity and had begged him to call upon liis his familiar spirits who saw into the future as one looks from a hill to ft horn the devils denlis seeking to destroy tile the cree were as children harmless the hunters continued the shaman possessed much fur Eti etiennej ennes hand blind gripped barths arm as he interpreted interpret Inter pre ted the speech of saul now he nick de spirit tell dern dem to go to Aft MiDo Donal nul fur of much value which thich they have hale tolled for on tile cold barrens where the wind nind always blows the sepulchral chril voice went nent on it Is tile time to go to the trailers traders for the new years feast but the hearts if the hunters tire are troubled at the s c hooner of the trader who waits at sent seal cove the crees have been told toil evil spirits find devils wait to bewitch them and tile women have bae begged their men illen to take their heir fur across the ice to elk wan with a puzzled look etienne stared into barths Gar llis eyes abat he fie do now I 1 din understand whispered the halfbreed half breed garth carah waited hardly biell thing chiou b the silence which abich followed then on the lie hushed night boomed a voice olce hollow sepulchral oil great shaman of tile lie crees I 1 it is well you call us to warn your people lias has come to tile a sorcerer from a tar far country to destroy the hunters of Akl miski 11 by gar anil and the fingers of etl eti enne owl like a bear trap on the arm Z Z Z Z Z Z Z X X of the man beside him we are d de beer beeg fool 1 he muttered interpreting the reply of the spirit to the ing garth this conjurer went on the voice from tile lie opt as the listening indian Ind lanit gasped with willi ise lse rind anil fear wall wa bitten in tile lie face by the devil hatchl Mun Mard lluu fou himself ile ho Is the friend of 0 demons anti woe aoe to the crees whir bring their fur to him fur for their wives will see them no more shunli alinne Alin nh from the worner womer at the fire cre rose a tow low wall ns the clung in panic to lo the cowed hunters go co not to seal cove but across tin the ice fee fur for there the lie crees may tralle and feast in the voice tile died another anmie answered red in ID the same vein and yet another while tile astonished and ellenne find guthrie who find so lightly accepted the 3 of old saul as a pruned fact elec electro tirl lied fled by the swift turn of fortune listened with willi admiration and gratitude with the artistry of a muster master saul had played upon the known knon weak nesses of his li people cople rolling on flip na let les of the medicine lodge rather than on ills his personal influence winning the squads squaws by lie Jud loui planting of rumors its as lind hall etienne and stampeding the men with a single at the medicine rites for no indian who ho hoard heart that unearthly voice from the tip lip would now dare to trade with mcdonald McDo wild the old son of a gun chuckled garth he went to that ship to throw them off the scent and keep beep them away from this end of the island lie gets a life fire job willi the company for tills this nights work in on an oc awed whispering group the hunters and their squaws squads returned to their cipis tipis where deep into the night was discussed the marvel of the spirit voices which the great magician of if the elkman had bad invoked for the safety and guidance of his people in the privacy of their tent the two nien men still lazed dazed by the tor for success of their mission to the island gossiped by tile fire forty six silvers and elgh eight te eto black besides a lot of cross and patch you say garth repeated elated willi the lie trade that hint would come that christmas to bikwan ah liah hah wor twenty tousand dollar de trade elkman emali mak we do good job wen we breena saul houct from tie de headwater wat vat you and saul turned the tracil etienne I 1 cant thank you enough in his second year in the tram garth had bad made a telling business stroke in tile face of the the higher prices of the free trader of what inevitable failure he had wit the help of the crafty oil old cree swung a huge hilge trade to ills his company they could hug their firo fire at kapiskau kapiskas Kapi skau and but lie had carried the light fight straight to the enemy and had won going out to cliot hot snug nus s in liis ills snow hole garth poured his happiness into a halry hairy find and comprehending ear before lie rolled into his blankets beside the staunch halfbreed half breed who lind had made it possible CHAPTER IX queer we lent hoard heard from joe yet mcdanald sold to skene in the th e cabin of the lie ghost two days before christmas time enough answered tile heard beard ed mate he was to round up tile hunters in the north you know and bring brim them down the shore ice fee well made a good start weve got twenty slivers silvers now with the lie three lint clime came in tills this morning and blacks not to count tile the cross and patell patch theres fifty thou sand dollars in this winters work for us lolin john skene shene looked hard nt his chief what you goin to do with willi our s share of the fur we e land in st Jo johns lins the deep blue eyes of the giant half closed as the heavy brows contracted do with willi mine what Is there to do with it coln to head for the states and drink it up mcdonald laughed without |