Show I 1 der ada rda AT 4 za by GEORGE MARSH by penn pub co CA W service T f y cyri fyri vr FROM THE BEGINNING at lui his fur post port sunset house hour in the tb canadian north jim ace stuart trader tn in charge with kit bit headman omar rescues aurora aurare leblond lablond daughter ol of stuarts stuart rival in the tb fur ur business from an overturned canoe in the lake she ab proves prove a charming companio nAnd nd stuart 1 is nat naturally lly attracted tt jims superior andrw andrew christie displeased at stuarts stuart trade trad showing allows allow him at his request or on year to la malce make good paradis bribes bribe an indian to ambush jim and om omar the th attempt faits and jim takes the th indian to Lo Olond after hearing the story lory laland lf blood discharges dechar dl char Pax odis jim and aurora acknowledge their mutual love lov though aurora Is returning return to winnipeg and jun jim has haj planned a can canoe trip to make a personal apol appeal to the indians who wao have hav persistently reused refused to trade trad their furs with him he ha rinds that paradis hj has enlisted their sup erad tion to discourage duc ouray them from trading with stuart paradis men ambush jiro jim and omar again but they an am not harmed esau eau halfbreed half breed partisan of stuart levu ives OB am a mys gerlous journey which they hope bop will result la in the th overthrow of indian medicis can man in the per pay of foradis Fara dJ for tho the night ur the trader and omar roll their blankets in m ur the shape abapo of men mea sleeping heard the tb firs and hide bid nearby indiana attempt to knife tho the wen men supposedly up in th the blankets jim and nd his hi friend attack and kill them 1 CHAPTER VII continued 13 rabbit Rabbi tl 1 growled omar as the familiar thumping of the hind bind feet of a buck snowshoe was repeated you going to do hunt up old jinai in the morning and accuse win him of this whispered jim as with rines rifles across knees they settled down to their long watch for the possible appearance of others of the paradis band ah hahl bahl for he tell paradis all he know about us ns I 1 close hees bees mout there was no disputing the fact that the old mans knowledge of their search for esau would be a grave menace to their safety yet let it was unlikely that he would leave his wife to the die alone while he hunted tor for paradis and to the white man who sat through the hours beside the implacable halfbreed half breed who had already pronounced sentence of death on the ingrate it was unthinkable that the courageous old squaw should be deserted to a slow death but in holding omars hand in giving her her chance of recovery from the infection jim realized that he was gambling with his hia own life and that of his friend forgetting what he owed the girl at the lake of the sand beaches and yet he could not bring himself to td do oth otherwise erwim at dawn the watchers on the shore now confident that the would be assas ansas sins had come alone started a search for their canoe which they shortly found not far away and drew up and bid in the brush then leaving their own canoe for they did not wish to be seen they started through the umber timber for the of jinai squatted by a small ore fire over which simmered a tea pall pail they found the old indian frying a pan of fish at the sound of their approach to jims surprise eur prise the ojibwa hailed balled them with a bo jo without turning his head now how Is the woman asked stuart in ojibwa the deep lines of the old indians face softened as he be rose and faced the hostile eyes of the white man and the halfbreed half breed then a look of bewilderment shaped itself on his hawk like features as he glanced curiously from one to the other sleep has come to her he said at tie the first I 1 light ht she said the pain had grown little in her arm the medicine of the white man Is strong old jinai stared quizzically at the wrath in the black face of omar who stepped forward and started to speak when the raised hand of jim checked checked him neat some water ordered stuart 1 I will wash out her hand band putting a pall of water on the fire led jim into the ills his entrance was greeted from the pile of skins eking by a low nia nia I 1 you have cornel come I 1 your medicine Is strong tor for the pain has grown sni small all jim placed his hand on the wrinkled forehead the fever had dropped then he took the bandage off the arm and washed the incision he had bad made in the hand while the squaw mumbling her gratitude stoically refused to voice her pain sending jinai tor for more water jim quietly allied ai aced tier her was it your son who stopped here the last sleep after I 1 put medicine on your hand the eyes of the old woman sunken with hours of agony widened at the quest question lon there to Is no subterfuge here bere thought jim as she whimpered my son here the last sleep no he tas has forgotten he be comes no more there was no one here As jinai entered with the warm water stuart said we thought that you had sent two men to knife us in our sleep and we came here to make you pay 1 I saw it in your eyes said the indian calmly meeting jims gaze but I 1 did not know why your hearts had turned bitter the men of paradis paradas found you but lour medicine was too throng tt rong they will stalk no more sleeping men jim closely studied the wrinkled mask of old but in the expression sion there he found only mild surprise it was then the moon on a wet paddle as I 1 thought you saw their canoe no after you left I 1 saw far on the lake a flash then the moon was hid we you had sent them to rind and us gorrow sorrowfully fully the indian shook his nead bead jinai has bag little to give the white alta trader for hla his good medicine but his friendship he save gave him that tha the last sleep when he touched hands does the trader from the house of the sunset believe jinai now speaks with a single tongue rising jim gave the old man his hand 1 I do we shall be friends CHAPTER VIII when esau left jim jarn and omar and started down the sturgeon river on his mad mission in search of jin wak he traveled all the first night watching the passing shores for the red embers of a dying fire for once para dis als was warned of the coming of the men from sunset house he would lose no time in guarding the river road over which they must pass so the old man rode the swift current through the shadows his eyes straining in for the glow of a campfire campf lre on the foliage of the shore before dawn the roar of white wa ter drifted to his ears and he landed and for be would need the light to in inspect P t the strange rapids and decide whether he be could run them or would have to carry around so esau hid his canoe went deep into the forest boiled his tea over a diminutive ore fire masked from the river by thick timber ate and slept later in the morning he walked downstream to the head of the rapids across the river was the cleared space at the end of a portage trail the whitewater white water was impassable the indians carried around it but the veteran who had passed his life on the wild rivers of western Ki wedin did not return to his canoe and drop down to the portage along the opposite shore he followed the rock scarred whitewater white water as it foamed and churned and thundered through a half mlle mile of clamoring chaos then he returned to his canoe and started downstream for the head of the portage tor for not even the trained eyes of esau kotchig who in his youth had run the chutes of death on the and the long sault of the mad river had found a way through for his canoe the old indian was crossing the aher a quarter mlle mile above the rapids when to his consternation two men appeared on the portage with a lunge lange of his paddle esau swung the nose of the canoe to the opposite shore was it paradis on his way up river or traveling who would pay hl him in 6 slight light attention il he bad paddled but a few strokes when he be saw a canoe carried from llie forest and slid into the water leaping into the boat the two packers started straight across the head of the rapids they were trying to fo cut him boffl it was ls furiously esau drove his paddle angling across the current for the opposite shore as his keen brain grappled with the situation which confronted him ile he could land and take to the bush ambush the two men in the canoe if they dared follow him up but there were others behind them on the portage that meant losing canoe and outfit defeat without these he could not reach then at the head of the carry a third man appeared there was a puff of smoke a faint explosion of a T T i r air ii rifle above the drumming of the rapids and a bullet whined past esaus face As the two canoes swiftly approached pro ached each other the old ojibwa made his decision life meant little to him now there was one chance in ten of his coming through but he would make the great gamble tor for that one chance for jim and the memory of jims dead father the trail to led through the half balf mlle mile of white fury ahead ile he stopped paddling reached tor for his rifle and fired at the bowman in the boat cutting across his course hit the slumped back into the canoe close to the suck of the first drop the seized his pole and fought to check the drifting canoe as a second shot passed over esaus head then at the head of the portage the old man saw another canoe leaving the beach as again an indian fired at him from the shore ah hahl he cried his furrowed face glowing with the exaltation of his mad purpose so you catch old esau wal come catch beema esau sighted his rifle and fired at the battling with his pole to free the canoe from the fierce suction on the lip of the flume splintered by the bullet the bending pole snapped in the ojibway hands ile he lunged head first into the racing current and followed by hla his yawing canoe was swept into the rapids shifting his load forward to make the canoe bow heavy esau rose with will bli setting pole As his boat slid desperate he look his rifle from where it lay at his feet in the water and boldly drifted down on the waiting canoe toward the dip of the long chute the old man waved his hand baud at the pursuing canoe and the men on shore as cry and get mel mal was drowned la in the drumbeat drum beat ot of the rapids no rifle shots followed the doomed figure standing with setting pole in the stern of the birch bark as it leaped forward in awe the men of garadis watched the mad deliberately steer his craft into the maw of death down into the maelstrom of broken water plunged the canoe guided by the spruce pole of the gallant old ojibwa in the stern following the black water channels past boulders mounded with foam and knife edged rocks thrusting through the spume checking with ills his pole when the way was blind then on grazing calamity by a paddles breadth as he rode the roaring reaches went the dauntless old voyageur voyage ur drenched with spray his leaking canoe scarred with wounds from a hundred rocks he fought his way until suddenly the river widened into an unbroken barrier of whitewater with a groan esau read his i r tr T fim doom written in the burled buried boulders which barred his path Us he had bad made the fight taken the long chance for jim and now it was over overl I 1 but esau kotchig would go down figh into the chaos of foaming boulders dropped the canoe snubbed by the bending pole the bottom grounded on a rock was lifted off by the pole the boat was caught and swung into another by baffling cross currents but still the old nan man fought unconquered conquered nn in the face of certain disaster at last the unleashed river ilver caught the shattered canoe like ilka a straw rind and dropped it on a huge boulder bon lder over which the water mounded pivoting on the rock the canoe canoa rolled and started to fill it was the endl end I 1 with a desperate leap esau was in the water his feet braced on the submerged rock A heave and he freed the rapidly filling ailing boats boat swung her with the current and tell fell gasping on his hl knees inside clutching his pole shortly he be was wag clear of the shallows then on down through the riot of plunging river the bent beat figure la in the stern steered hla his boat the glitter of victory in hla his black eyes he had hung hang for a space on the up lip of death but he had won then his bis heart sank as he saw a canoe below him desperate he took his rifle from where it lay at his feet in the water end and boldly drifted down on the waiting canoe As he neared the craft the faces of 0 the occupants watched him with awe are you a Matil matilton tou a spirit gasped an ojibwa that you pass alive through the rapids of the win dego esau put down his gun 1 I am a great shaman in the land where the sun goes to sleep I 1 fear no rapids here was an opportunity to impress the indians of the sturgeon Sf argeon country and the keen witted old man swiftly made the most of it the spirits are your friends for the windigo allows no man to pass his rapids esau gravely nodded anh anh yes the spirits are my friends the indian exchanged frightened looks with the awed squaw who cowered in his bis canoe Jin gwak the shaman fears to pass these rapids in his canoe your medicine Is stronger than his A look of contempt crystallized on the face of the old man Jin gwak Is a wabeno who deceives the to get their fur for the trader paradis ls the spirits do not know him you go to the lake of the sturgeon yes tell the people there that you saw the shaman from the land of the setting sun who comes to talk to them pass unhurt from the rapids of the windigo go I 1 have traveled many sleeps to find the false shaman who speaks with a double tongue to the ojibway end drive him from the country with a sweep of hla his paddle esau left the spellbound hunter and his squaw and continued down the river going ashore behind the first bend he be rested then carried the canoe into the thick bush built a fire to dry his outfit and with pitch and spruce roots started the necessary repairs As he worked over the rock scarred craft the wrinkled face of the old man lit with smiles of satisfaction ne he had beaten garadis and lived through whitewater white water that no canoe had passed to start on its way the story ot of his charmed ufa life and marac miraculous powers which would travel swiftly from to bupt up and down the lake for a time he would hide while his mysterious appearance swayed the talk around the supper fires for he be knew his people then he would strike 0 0 0 0 0 0 for three days jim and omar camped near jinai while the infection in the arm of the old squaw rapidly cleared under stuarts care then when she could travel the grateful indian started down the great lake to endeavor to learn the fate of esau two nights later the canoe from sunset douso waited at the rendezvous the nattle rattlesnake snake had set la in a deep cove near the toot foot of the lake restless from days of doubt and forced inaction in which the absent esau might have so sorely needed their aid jim and omar sat gat beside their hidden canoe dere ees ces jinai announce announced ed omar as a black shadow slid in to toward the shore shore esau Is here on the lake began the old man who spoke no english 1 I have talked to the hunters at many camps A strange story has passed down the lake seven sleeps ago an indian and his bis woman saw a canoe pass out of the rapids of the windigo in it was a great shaman who told them his name was kotchig and he sought the sorcerer Jin gwak he ran those rapids rapid sl 1 JI jim pearel triumphantly into omars startled face by gar garl grunted the surprised halfbreed half breed illow how he do dat no canoe him has ever before passed the rapids ot ahe be added jinai the woman who saw sa it says the boat had wings and never rode roda the water TO US 3 |