Show under U n d er F frozen r ozen stars st a rs by GEORGE MARSH br iry raa rm ib rub 00 0 awn alel CHAPTER vl VI continued Coutin ud 11 good by sobbed the bin vin turning his fuco twisted with grief froni from the sober eyes of his friend 1 I loved every black hair v ca you jim will never forget I 1 good by tel well you anted to meet him again gala and yoa you had your wish aid said jim as they filled the magazines of their rifles and nod started back for the canoe pow did leblond lie to us and end send him here to bile or ii is paradis disobeying orden I 1 aish I 1 knew the muscle ridged on omars clamped jam jas is 11 he scowled his disappointment beef he onlee jump jamp me wid dose oders be sighed then bis big hand slid back to the empty sheath on his lash sash dey get ay wy knife wen dey hit bit me front behind dey get jour your knife tool too you bays moch trouble wid dem they got mine too but I 1 peeled it up 1 jim at omari omars matter of fact reference to his fits struggle to free himself of the two ojibway we ine must wash these scratches omar he went on examining the bulging shoulders protruding through the ripped shirt of his friend they clawed you ton like a lynx omara omars marked face fuce wrinkled in perplexity wy yoa you tink dat dot Para dees try to tak us ft uld id hees bees hand band vcr verl strange tangi 1 I dont know maybe he wanted to keep us lo 10 a cage to show ns us to the indians up here laughed jim one lone things certain if he caught us wed have never seen home agahi but that was a clever trick of yours clubbing them with the boat you old wolverine these young bucks of 0 paradis wont tor for get the trimming you gave them there were three or four decorah ing the trail when I 1 got loose and started to help you how laugh at gods lake at these people trying to take omar boisvert Bols Bol vert siert with their hands I 1 omar omars mouth widened across bis his square fare tam dese young feller on de sturgeon keep dere hand off omar Bols boisvert vert in oh hah laughed the swart son of anak dey got sore neck all right ayou suppose come to and are waiting for us with guns to come back tor for the boat omar shook his bead wo we go 90 an see I 1 t link ink dey got dere fill for today paradis run ran dey run ran be ile keep deru gua gun een bees canoe he want to lak tak us alive allie rot dare geeve seeve dem dern de gun tou you kill any of em break any ray necks with those bear beer traps of hands bands omar thoughtfully scratched his head bead wan I 1 twist hees bees neck verl ver hard then the narrow eyes of the half breed suddenly clouded esau esaul I 1 he gasped dey know we come by gar dey get esau 11 I 1 the canoe of the old indian a day ahead of them on th tho river must have lave run into the party of garadis he told me he would travel only at night the deep chest cheet of the halt breed lifted in a heavy sigh widest esau we are no good gool he said as they started darted back to the canoe he may have miffed them theres therea nothing to do but keep on cautiously deep in the bash bush on either side of the portage trail trall the two men approached their canoe As omar had said it was unlikely tint 1 1 1 ind hi s men I 1 to carry rifles to the ambush for or in their excitement the indians would have bare used them and for some subtle reason be he wanted to take omar and jim unhurt nevertheless 1 the two men stalked stalled their canoe as if ure pure that trouble awaited them but the ojibway recovered from their rough handling has disappeared leaving the canoe and outfit with omars knife lying on the trail trall untouched dey were scare we come back wid our guns and dey make for dere canoe yes they must have bare had bad another boat downstream As the peterboro peter boro was brought to the river and slid into the water jim pointed at a patch of mud cooki there they are smokes tracks I 1 the two men bent over the deep impressions of a dog dogs a feet in the mud of the shore he jumped from here baere lucres a where he landed see that print he was right after them as they put in the canoe I 1 they t tolas him shot him drad dr d ad adl I 1 foot ty y toot foot jim and omar searched tha the mud of the shore but found no further traces of the van dished dog poor old keyl cournel jim you died like a soldier facing em emi I 1 and jim can cant t give you a decent grave stuart straightened and gazing down downstream tream where the stiffened AS THE STORY OPENS at his fur net sunset house in the ta canadian north jim stuart trader la in charge rith with hit bit bea van omar rescues A drifter oa an in a canoe aurora Le LeD Blood lond daughter of hll we rival lo 10 thi the fur business bai she proves a chirm ing companion and there springs up a mutual ferlins ol 01 admiration lalond LD LeDi lond ond with hi his half breed lieutenant 1 in a search 0 of thi the milling missing girl irl astals displays enmity toward jim jina stuart superior lu perlor andrew carill Ch Lb rill ristle die pleased at the trad trade showing holn allows stuart at his request oni one year to make good returning to sublet house jim and omar arc are fired upon from ambush i a baa his bribed an indian to kill or dinatle them the attempt till fills and jim likes thi the indian to after bearing the tory story ledfond d jim ml and aurore acknowledge their mutual love though aurora li Is returning to winnipeg aid and jim hn bat planned a personal appeal to the indian who hair bay re fused to trade their furs un with ith the com I 1 any he represents jim ind and omar travel iron from camp to camp denouncing I 1 Jing wik medicine man aad and stuart s enemy ai as a paid agent of and leblond meeting with tomi some success enu esau jimi jims loyal hall breed ideal lie hll his two friends tri end on a anteri journey which they bop hope will in the th overthrow of lin lingwai gwak pirtel Pirt por sais dl with bit indiana makel mates ao all open attack oa an jim aad and omar but they drive aff the attackers rattail escapes after smoke jinn jima favorite ir dog body of bli his dog rode the swift current on its way to the lea sea brought big his hand to his forehead in salute the friends dropped a mile down river and cutting back into the timber made a email small ore and ate to avoid a it possible ambush they waited the moon then hugging the shadows of the shore traveled until stopped by the chum of broken water ahead at dawn davin they carried around the white water which seemed impassable and all day lay hidden bidden in the brush below watching the rier and wondering what chances two oy who had lad beaten their young men would have with the wild ojibway of sturgeon lake since the meeting with paradas and his men the mission to sturgeon lake la in search of seemed but a forlorn hope to jim stuart the presence in the country of leblond a man had put a new face on things at the best the indians would refuse to listen to them once they had beard of the fight on the portage at the worst it looked as if the prediction of the old ojibwa at the la lake ke of the great stones would be fulfilled the peter boro would never return up the sturgeon of course jim knew that be he and omar could not disappear off the face of the earth without a search by company men and the provincial police the first arst sledding snow would bring dog teams from the south into the sturgeon valley clean faced trackers who would follow indian or white man wanted for murder into the uttermost north clear to the frozen tea sea and beyond there would be trouble in the pipestone and sturgeon river country if the factor of sunset house and his head bead man did not come back but unless paradis was betrayed how were these grim man hunters from the south to prove that the missing men had been shot out of their canoe from ambush or stabbed as they slept whom could they accuse unless by some miracle esau returned to sunset house all that men would ever know would be that three voyagers and a dog had like thousands before them faded into the north leaving no trace res yes the two friends agreed having shown his band hand there was no daht that paradis ls for bis his own personal safety bould bunt hunt them down when he found they bad had continued north to sturgeon lake lale in keeping on and attempting to find had Jin gwak supported by leblond Le Blonds s man they were paddling into certain disaster for after the lesson on the portage paradas would never again try to take them with bare hands and et et as they planned while alle they waited for darkness and the deep set eyes of the factor of sunset mc acma act the knotted squint of omars swart face no suggestion of turning back was voiced by either ahead of them they hoped against hope a dauntless old man still traveled on his lonely mission to geon lake a mission which would mean if it he were met and recognized by Pa paradela ls the swift of esau kotchig they had let him go alone on this mad search for tle sorcerer they would follow and find him lim if alive and make male their fight together jim would have as Us soon deserted the old ojibwa in bis his present need as he would have left a wounded man between the lines in flanders As the moon rose md they pushed off into the shadows of the river shore the words ot of aurare leblond die tor for love so you say but your duty haunted jims thoughts had he played fair with this girl kiri who had so frankly shown him her hea bet lie had allowed a I sense of duty of loyalty to the company to 0 cheat them of priceless hours together before she went south and now this loyalty was to rob them of their birthright for even the mas gerful omar admitted that and paradis would never allow the peterboro peter boro horo to return to sunset house and now that he felt in his heart that he had said good by forever jim lived again agala and again each treasured moment he had spent with her once more as the boat slid past the shadow packed river shore be he felt the warm caress of her up beard heard her low whisper gazed into the dark depth depths of her eyes and crushed her lithe body to his heart I 1 alood by aurore I 1 I 1 he murmured and above the fret of the river on the dear near shore be again heard be her goodby good by magician dont forget met but he had forgotten her the brooding bowman told himself when he left her and came north to hia hla defeat to him in his lone mess had come this miracle of the love of aurore and he had forced turned from it pot put it aside as if a thing of little worth this miracle of her love CHAPTER VII I 1 TN X THE gray dawn the canoe A nosed out of the river through the blanket of mist masking the still surface of Nam egami the lake of the sturgeon here living largely on their geon set lines and white atte fish nets many culters came with their fan tam I 1 N he H would draw the old man out and learn about esau hies illes to pass the swift weeks of 0 humr summer er before they returned to the far valleys and of their trapping country here the pipestone indians had bad told jim and omar made his home ad from here in december and june he be led the hunters south to the trade at Le Blonds before the rising sun cleared the smoking surface of the lake jim and omar went ashore and hiding their canoe in the brush ate and slept from now on the price of their safety would be eternal vig ilance their escape to the south would mean that henceforth para els dig would be a wanted man an outlaw for him the dog teams of the police would comb a thousand mica m its of fore forest t from house to fort severn his appear ance at a post would mean arrest the very existence of 0 the north west company would bang hang on their repudiation of hig his deeds in their behalf leblond might have secret ly sent him to hide on the sturgeon but it if stuart returned south the master of bonne chance must for ever wash his hands of paradis and this paradis himself only too well knew so la in the search to learo learn the fate of old csan esau the roea men from sunset house must use the caution of the hunted creatures of the foerst but the lake like haq wa a large one with many islands other connecting labes lay beyond and he the sole means of learning whether esau had bad avoided paradis and reached the sturgeon was by talking to the who might have seen or bet met him in time some of these indians would carry the news of jims jima presence to paradis but it could noi not be avoided they were here now to save old esau it alive then if possible get out cf ef the country the on against the sorcerer JIn gwak had bad come to this a bare fight for life and neither jim nor omar thought they could win mn after dark darl the peterboro peter boro started down the lake knitli ith inured pad des on the shore in the distance a fire ore twinkled like a star for the nights were growing cool I 1 shall we mak maae e a stab and tee see what they know suggested jim by daylight esau would bare passed in to bight eight of thil this camp ah hah bah dese deop are alone here act might be long tarn tam be fore dey x e odors an tell dem about us so they landed at tho camp jim approached the small fire with the customary bo bol jos abile omir squatted la in the gloom nt at the bow of tho canoe nil ills right band hand bich rested inside the gunwale gripped a cocked rifle godot bocol the old indian at the alro 0 r e rose at jime jims approach stuarts roving eyes saw that he wag ws alone the fire glow fell upon a opt of caribou bide the door naps of which were closed the bright mink like eyes of the old banter hunter measured the tall figure of the white man from felt bat hat to moccasins but his big weather cured face seamed by the years evidenced neither excitement nor curl osley as he said in ojibwa you come far yes jim answered in the same tongue we come far to talk with the people of the sturgeon coun try 11 what have bare you to tell them that Jing Ji ngak mak the shaman grows fat on the flour and sugar of tho trader ls jim searched the shrewd eyes of the indian for signs of the derision which the speech implied but found none still the ojibwa had used the be identical words employed by stuart at the Pl pipestone lakes this was interesting ue he would draw the old man out and learn about esau handing the ojibwa a aluz aa of tobacco he filled his fits own pipe 11 1 I have much to tell then them 11 jim answered it may be that you have much to tell me ml are you alone where Is to your family the indian gestured toward the eipl she la Is slav sick lour your wife here was a stroke of luck stuart carried a small medicine case it might be that the woman had some slight ailment that he could aid he ile had often dressed wounds for the indrani and knew the use of simple medical rem remedies edles yes she cut her hand and her aria arm Is I 1 large with much pain pail infected thought jim if it gone too far I 1 can clean it up that means gratitude abe friendship of these people they may be useful and theres no time to 11 fly you on have no ton bon to help yoa you on your trap lines this winter jim asked the old man gazed grimly into the fire as be lie shook his bead 1 11 l ta am clone alone I 1 had a son but he Is a son sort 2 no more he left me to follow the trader paradis and the long s snows aws I 1 have seen fall tall and melt to awell swell the ri aliers ers are many 11 here was luck luell 1 omar come up here I 1 jim called in english to the sentinel at the canoe I 1 go into the tipi and look at the sick squaw came the guttural demand from the gloom beyond the firelight the wily half breed was not to be drawn into a po possible sIble trap alth cocked rifle he be waited for proof ot of the ojibwa s story invisible be he commanded tie je tipi and the fire bre 1 1 I ba have v e fedt medicine cl ne an and d it have av e cured many indians at the lake of the sand beaches jim said tour your wife has poisoned her hand the poison moves fast up the arm it will reach berneck her neck then herb her h art if you would |