Show UA U W k G J P 1 E e sta GEORGE MARSH copyright by penn pub co 41 service SYNOPSIS J 10 from his fur post sunset house in rt 44 the canadian north jim stuart trader ain charge c rge ai gats an overturned canoe j in n the lake with his headman omar ahe ne rescues the drifter who proves to be e aurore ore leblond J daughter of his 11 1 rival in m the fur business made com fordable lor for table at the posts post aurore proves to 1 b be e a charming companion exchange ing badinage she and jim arrange to exchange change notes on a certain island leblond with paradis his unscrupulous halfbreed half breed lieutenant arrives tn in search of the missing girl CHAPTER I 1 continued 3 with a voice hoarse with feeling eline fe be ce said with a slight trace of accent OWL mr sua stuart my daughter says Ts sh she owes her life to you and 3 sour our man As they faced him the striking resemblance Bem blance in feature and ex expression between father ind and daughter impressed the man who entered the e room followed by renault and para paradis is the girl irl was wag the true daughter of louis leblond Le luckily we happen to see tier deprecated stuart yes but she tells me that her strength was gone she had already given up when she saw you leblond impulsively grasped the hand of the man who studied him we are rivals in business it cannot be helped but what nhat you have done for my child I 1 will not forget in a corner of the room the slim paradis ra radis dark as a halfbreed half balf breed talked excitedly to the thickset thick set renault across whose swart face a knife slash had left alipid a scar rear it was nothing replied stuart 1 I happened to see her canoe that was all you owe me bothin nothing sir As he spoke paradis left renault and whispered in leblonde Le Blonds s ear car sly my house Is at your tour disposal continued stuart will you and your daughter stay here tonight the eyes of the speaker hardened as he went on the gentleman who Is whispering to you and renault here are welcome to sleep in the trad ehouse you cant cross the lake against this wind the somewhat small email but regular features of paradis darkened in a scowl at the thrust but he continued his whispering slowly a look of doubt of perplexity crept into Le Blonds eyes but with a gesture of irritation be waved aside the insistent ra paradis radis turning he spoke poke rapidly in french to his daughter who iho replied vehemently her courageous black ey eyes es flashing in anger as she faced her father mr stuart said the patently embarrassed barr assed leblond you a found her in the afternoon yes in a flash stuart sensed what was coming what Par paradis aills had been whispering and you let us hunt the lake through six hours of 0 da light hunt tor for her thinking she was drowned leblond spoke more in regret than in anger why you send word added paradis with a sneer father the blood rose to aurore Le Blonds temples are you crazy do you know nhat abat youre saying Is this your gratitude the eyes of the girl flamed with indignation sir mr stuart wanted to take me home but 1 I go there was only the small canoe here and I 1 was afraid afraid of that lake and this Is your thanks to him I 1 oh ob im ashamed of you ashamed of you all 1 the enraged factor of sunset house was near the end of his self control as aa he faced LeL leblond lond you see fit to quibble over my actions today ive nothing to explain you found out what that the lake was out there when you crossed with the wind in your big canoe my large boats are bringing up my stuff and im alone with one man I 1 dont like your insinuations you cant take your daughter b back ac k tonight dig h t and I 1 offered you my quarters such as they are but as tor for this whispering assistant of yours I 1 take back my offer lie he cant atay here beret the speakers voice snapped like a brittle stick you tou understand english dont you Par paradis aills the room was silent in the glance of the girl as a she watched jims eyes blacken with anger was amu seme and approval with a swift movement the enraged garadis jerked his hand back to his belt but the squat renaults fingers gripped his arm the working features of leblond reflected his warring emotions this man who had saved ills bis daughter had bad also flagrantly affronted his friend for a space his bis tense of gratitude and his loyalty to paradis strove for mastery as he be looked into the cold eyes which challenged ills then he found his voice you have insulted us here in your own house lie burst out we want no hospitality from you then as if ashamed went on ob im grateful I 1 know what I 1 owe you but well bid you goodnight good night come aurore aurora ills ilis answer from the girl was contemptuous laughter oh ou on men are aunnee so funnell fun fuD neel felie cried so so BO ridiculous I 1 aldr stuart knocks pant paradis and paul fills our down your ears cars with a tool fool idoa idea of word not being sent ten miles against that wind and sea you forget that id be down there with the fish tonight if it been for omar and mr air stuart rah pahl I 1 you men are all tools fools I 1 she was serious now her scornful gaze over awing her fathers uneasy eyes in frank admiration stuart watched her as she waited for le blonds reply 1 I thank you for what you did for h her or said LeIl leblond lond at length turning defeated from the accusing eyes of his daughter come aurore paradis and renault sullenly left the room while the trader waited at the door for the girl who ibo had not moved so you think because of the hurt feelings ot of your pretty paul ill spend the night in front of a fire with my back against a tree she replied well I 1 will not 1 over the bold features of leblond crept an expression of helplessness 5 of impotence it was patent to stua stuart rt that this trader whose energy and determination were bywords in the fur trade was not the master of the girl who now faced him 1 I shall accept mr stuarts offered hospitality she continued As for you mon pere you can stay and help old sarah the cook guard the f C and this li Is your thanks to himl oh im ashamed of you ashamed of you aill sacred honor of your precious daughter or you can leave her to sarah and go and sit bit by your fire I 1 stay here do you understand english monsieur leblond Le Elond in the end leblond and his daughter passed the night in the quarters of stuart while the indignant sarah tossed through sleepless hours outraged by the thought that the roof above her should shelter the enemy who had boasted that the wolves should soon howl bowl in the deserted clearing of sunset house CHAPTER II 11 six years before when the boat brigade of the northwest north west trading company in command of one of the partners louis Le leblond Elond had passed through lake expanse on the trail to the who were camped at pelican portage on the way south to the spring trade with the hudsons Hud sons day bay company had been greatly excited turning in to the camp leblonde Le Blonds head voyageur voyage ur black jules renault had bad announced in their native tongue that a trading station was to be built on the great lake of the sand beaches two hundred miles north never again need they take the long trail to lake expanse but in the next net long snows would find a warm welcome a new years feast and the best of trade goods ready for exchange for their fur at the new post in three years leblond had made serious inroads into the trade of the old company ile he no longer could be ignored they must follow and fight him for the trade but on the word of hardheaded hard headed andrew christie of lake expanse inspector of a territory larger than an eastern state the man who could now wrest arest a share of the trade from the firmly In trenched leblond would need a particularly long head boundless nerve and the tenacity of the elie beaver such a man christie told his superiors in conclave at winnipeg he believed was now at gods cods lake in western a young man with a fine war record and a local reputation for ability and judgment in dealing with the indians in two months a mall canoe brought jim stuart orders from winnipeg to report to christie at lake expanse A month later with omar boisvert Bols vert and a gang of men stua stuart rt had cleared the forest and was peeling the logs for the building of sunset house the following three years had been for stuart a well nl nigh h hopeless struggle for a foothold in the trade tor for hla his rival possessed the frenchmans French mans uncanny talent for handling the indians backed by an experience of thirty years As he lay on his bunk in the trade house after leaving aurore leblond and her father in possession of his quarters jim stuarts thoughts thought traversed thu the hours since mid afternoon to the man who since the war had bad lieen been marooned in the forests of kiwe din ojibwa tor for the birthplace of the north wind the coming of this vivid creature swept into his hig life by the accident of wind and sea bad been like the burst of a shell on a black night ent but strong as was the appeal of this dark daughter of louis leblond to the eyes and senses of the man who had not seen three comely white women omen A in RS as many years she was he be realized only a spoiled child vain headstrong the pampered darling of FL a lonely father then his thoughts shifted to mary christie the loyal capable girl at lake expanse who ministered with head and hands to the well being and comfort of his chief andrew christie and who except tor for five years schooling in scotland had bad spent her life without complaint im aured in the northern forests lie ile pictured her frank disdain of the dress and manners of the girl who slept over in his quarters her outraged sense of propriety at the direct thought and speech of this self possessed daughter of the free trader she understand der stand this girl would condemn her on sight as overbold over bold light unwomanly but no one who had seen aurore leblond grimly refusing to be swept from her grip on that canoe as the seas burled buried her could doubt the metal of her courage she had proven that then he be found himself comparing the blond comeliness of the decorous daughter of andrew christie with the dark loveliness of aurore leblond the f following lowIng ol morning stuart walked with his guest to the beach where leblond had bad preceded them to his waiting canoe 1 I really think you about won sarah over when you patted her shoulder and put that silk scarf around her neck he said 1 I know sarah pretty well and the way that grin slowly widened across her face when you gave her the scarf and shook tier her hand makes me think ashes forgiven you your though of course she admit it she thinks me insane probably she know what to think then as they approached the shore she said hurriedly the split rock on the shore of the last of the islands look there in a few days you might find something goodby good by sir mr beem stuart she gave him her hand goodby good by aless when leblond stepped into his big freight canoe he said to stuart 1 I thank you again for what nhat you have done your people have seen fit to send you here to take the trade from me between the northwest north west and the hudsons Hud sons bay there can be no q quarter but to you yourself I 1 owe much m uch some day 1 may be able to repay As the factor of sunset house watched the departing peterboro peter boro nose an ever widening ripple out across the tha still lake which now mirrored the tha hills for the hie wind had dropped in the night to a flat calma calm a voice at his side roused him from his big thoughts we got a beel job ahead dai summer stuart looked into the grave face of omar we have omar but I 1 wish I 1 knew where to begin they heard at lake expanse that leblond pot got thirty thousand dollars worth of fur far from pipestone Ii lake and the sturgeon acon river country alone this year we get a pelt not one hunter from that country 1 I hear last night so some metIng tIns about dat 11 you did now how ayub mean heard beard do de men wid do de cano talk vile leblond go 90 to de house for de girl dey talk about Jin gwak jing wak the medicine man at pipestone Pl lake ah hah you know how he get all de hunter to trade wid ald leblond not one come to sunset house 1 no but id like to said the interested stuart wal tell all dern dem dat als place eos full of devil I 1 find dis out for one of dat crew had fear to stay on de beach slowly the blood filled the bronzed face of the man who listened so they are bribing the medicine men the file conjurors conjurers con jurors are they to keep the trade from sunset house II ouse it was clever of leblond Le Clond tor for the Pl ojibway Ojibwa a who came two hundred bundred miles south to trade were a wild superstitious lot easily influenced by a medicine man a shaman wat you tink fink of dat demanded the halfbreed half breed 1 I tell you we got good job ahead dis summer wen ven we get de trade stuff up from lak expanse omar weve got to get some soma of that Ii rl and sturgeon river trade we cant live on what we get from the rest of the country we going to do the swart Bols boisvert vert rose from his squatting position he ha was not tall but his scotch and french blood bad united with the ojibwa to create a rare example of natures skill in the building of human thew and muscle for in his compact one hundred and eighty pounds omar carried power and stamina which had been a byword among the voyageurs voya geurs of western Kl Ki wedin deliberately reaching to the rear the halfbreed half halt breed drew his skinning knife and lifting a foot stropped the tha blade slowly on his moccasin idere dere ees one ving we can do wid he said significantly you old wolf laughed stuart 1 I believe if I 1 said the word hunt him down doun this summer bummer and stick that in him omars small eyes met his chiefs cryptically as he said dere are manee way to kech a fox yes and we must find one to boat beat this Jin gwak but we cant hurt him you know there tire are laws in this country law I 1 grunted omar we got do ver I 1 we have omar admitted stuart if im licked here I 1 might as well look for a new job the Compan companell Company 11 never forgive me christie knows what the job Is here but hes not satisfied with the small email trade this year with an impulsive movement bols bois vert tort grasped the hand of the younger man we not tru yet yrtl I 1 dla DIs summer we go to ri pipestone lake two days later with the freight boats from lake expanse which carried the next years supplies and trade goods good for the little post and had been wind bound at the head bead of the lake came esau kotchig whose shoulders had rounded and lean face creased with furrows in the service of the company old esau a full blooded ojibwa who bad served thirty years with stuarts father and now followed the fortunes of the son to the in dla blau when the supplies were unloaded and the empty freighters had started back on the trail south omar related what lie he bad overheard on the tha beach how bow the hunters from the Pl country had bad been kept from trading kt bt sunset house by the tabu of the shaman jin gwak wak ah Ali hah hahl 1 esau muttered so din put de devil into sunset house wal we put de devil into good I 1 agreed stuart but how esaus beady eyes met the widening grin of omar as he answered omar evair tell you wat happen to li lakwa do de bee bees shaman at wolf riviere manee long snow back stuart shook his head bead no what happened als lakwa he clair he be mak do d beeg wede cine ile he come an say bay to do de ole wan man at wolf riviere you geeve lakwa de shaman flour tea trade good an you get all ail fur you not aleve geeve lakwa dis an n free trader he get de fur what ald d the Hud hudson soum day bay we ira say to tanti chrit TO BE BB |