Show aj K 3 if z W I 1 ia A im I 1 i THE LEAD DOG a 4 z 0 by GEORGE MARSH H 0 fa lull 1 rd copyright by the penn publishing co bervice CHAPTER XII continued 27 no then gasparas Gasp ards face suddenly sobered at a surmise velch chilled hs his heart 1 I go see sec he muttered leaving the fire beside the stiffened body of their old comrade of tho the trails gaspard found slit silt ear and rona kona mourning the dead in the manner of their near them ignored the indian lay rigid in the snow by gart garl yellow eye I 1 poor ole yellow uyel eye t muttered the boy sadly stinking shaking his head as hla his eyes found the wound through which th elife of the dauntless king dog had bad ebbed you oak maik beeg tight keel heem altair he be shoot youl you I 1 brave ole yet yel low eyel eye 1 gaspard knelt on the snow and dropping his hie mitten placed his bid hand on the great skull with its bared tangs fangs an anu its slant eyes glazed in death you were de good worker and de wise lead dog an you die for brock an anu gaspard I 1 you plentie rabbit in de happy hunting ground yellow eye ee with difficulty the saddened boy drove silt har ear and lcona kona before him to camp reaching tile the fire he nodded to the cree shoal he muttered huskily in the indians native tongue came a weak voice from the blankets what ou say chos shot not flash no poor ole yellow eye now you be still an sleep brock yellow 1 eye ye game old yellow eye I 1 I 1 saw 11 1 saw then the dazed brock slept in two days brocks clouded brain had cleared from the effects of the glatie hig blow of the bullet across tits his baull and ills his strength returned while konas shoulder was rapidly healing graphically brock related tile the story of the ambush and the tha tight in the forest with the revenge of the dying yellow eye which Gasp gasparas Gas purda ards had already revealed to the curious halfbreed through the map of tile the benow hearing the elie shots far upstream while he still followed the dog team of the free cree gaspard had bad boldly rustled rushed him film from the shore learning to his surprise surp that the boy had no lio intention of putting up u tight according to tile the prisoner who alio strangely seemed overjoyed at his capture the two indians who had bad ambushed um bushed brock had come from little carcajou take lake tu to tile the east and evidently had reached the river barely in time to discover the approaching team of the white boy the three with whom the prisoner had camped had not the firing or they would have turned back down river alver when brock learned how gaspard had found him guarded by flash who in his bla grief refused to share his dead the eyes of the boy winked hard as tits his hand sought the massive head bead that lifted with pricked ears as brock spoke his bis name then for brocks benefit the cree repeated in IL his bis native tongue what he had already told the greatly excited gaspard my name Is joe in the moon of the mating of tile the caribou my brother and I 1 hunted geese on the coast below fort severn one day strange indians ca e ashore to our camp from a large boat wh them was a bearded white man do ao offered us whisky and asked ui us to go 90 south to trap on this river the carcajou sly my brother and I 1 did not wish to go but they stole our guns in the night eight and forced us as three four sleeps north at the mouth of this river the big white man with the red beard winters with his boat they have hara a house of logs where the hunters huntera bring their fur three hunters were reni rant to look for you and did not return so eo the others are afraid they say that hat t u frenchman called 1131 black luck jack Is s hunting them but your father gaspard does be know what he know he be knowl know I 1 gaspard Gaspar dF dark features worked under the strain his eyes glittered with excitement and hope ile he say a frenchman a prisoner ees at de beeg camp ile he has fins not spik to heem but eel ees ces my I 1 lie he ees alive brockl brock I 1 my feider ce ees alovel you hear bear dat do thrilled brock wrung his partners hand dand golly wonderful news gaspard old partner part nerl 1 it might be true truc tills this story thought brock who could tell who are these people these white traders where are they from brock demanded in cree of joe they came from the west coast they are arc bad tren iren and many of their hunters are hiding from the red lied coats that Is why they are here how do you feel brock demanded gaspard gasp ard fine my heads beads a bit sore but that wont keep kapp me from traveling gaspard smiled tomorrow we start eh ehl you bet we do ill take flash this rooming morning and strike back into the limber ber to try my bead and limber ap my legs dodl goedl joe and gaspard got some taing to do now when brock broch had left with flash to stretch hla la legs gaspard and tho the indian scraped the snow enow from between two near the tha and putting t trio tody body of yellow kye on fl a sled drew tt t to the river there loter later tera found them co cohering ering the irp at husky witt heavy eavy sticks of spruce sp ruce that lit be might rest inviolate safe eafe from rom the profanation of prowling wolf or wolverine from the tha toe beath teath and claws of the vandalo ot of the forest fores then crocks brocks eyes widened ened as ai akey they rested on a neighboring spruce from which tile the lower branches id ad been topped lopped A lop etlick for yellow bye t he exclaimed claimed ex gaspard I 1 call this pretty flue of youl you I 1 going to the lop stick spruce shorn of its lower branches la in honor of the heroic husky brock bract read the cree characters burned into the white blaze by his friend the lop stick of yellow eyk eye tie he never missed the trail or bung back in tho the traces to dog or cr trian mian he never lowered his bla eyes for hla his friends he died A lop stick the tha monument and tribute of tie the north reserved for tile the celebration of the deeds of men had been won by a dog CHAPTER XIII the trail to the coast with joe team in the lead carrying on the sled some of the caribou meat fish and dour from the heavier to load ad of the boys toboggan the next morning they pulled out from their camp to the lie river shore there gaspard stopped the two teams facing in silence the lop spruce marking the grave of the who in his superb strength and pride had led tile the dog team north fi c th tin big fellow Yellow leg teg gaspard and brock raised their rifles s ond and tired fired the salute to the lead dead avola Avo Alvo lr yellow eye mon bravel brave 1 callei called the halfbreed lc in tits his fathers tongue goodby good by old king dog 1 choked brock you were a king every shaggy inch of you youl I 1 goodby good by yo ilow vye eyel I 1 As if they sensed the significance of tile the rifle shots shot flash silt BH ear and I 1 a tj M k 0 flash splitear split spilt ear and kona sat down dow on their traces and lifted their noses jn in melancholy walls kora kola sat down in their traces and lifted their noses in melancholy walls wails the teams pulled out to the river trail and tile the great husky who never adalu would lead his bis comrades tuto lito the teeth of a blizzard never again follow tile the game trails of forest toresia and muskeg never again point his nose to the freezing stars as he roared his bis chall challenge euge I 1 whose slant eyes would never again sweep wilderness lakes mirroring the alie autumn ridges was wag left in his grave la in the snow bold to the point of rashness the boys traveled all day on the hard bard river trail for they aliey had barely ten days food for themselves and dogs and now joe Nl pIssIng to feed on the way south for brock had promised tile the young cree to take him to hungry house and send him home to his people at lort fort severn lo in tile tho spring spring and hungry housel house 1 brock wondered if there would be any spring and home for those who ft ho were headed beaded north fur for the den of the wolves the second day they passed around a great lake not daring to hold bold to the beaten traill trail then with the rising of tile the late moon kept on down the river the country was flattening out the timber limber thinning and the shores gouged by the ice and the spring freshets fresh ets sifting lifting into cut banks and bare cliffs they were nearing the bay sleeping all the following day in a swamp tile the next night found the dog teams teama following th tin i scrub of at the back country for the cree announced that they ivere were nearing the winter camp of the free tree trader red billed bla macbeth cBeth at daylight announce that the elie bout boat and camp of the white men lay not two miles over the ridge which separated them from the carcajou leaving brock to teed feed the dogs and make cum cumi in the bever cever of the scrub with joe as guide gas rrt rd started river to reconnoiter recon the heart of the halfbreed pounded la in his bis chest as be followed the free cree at last iasi he be was to know l now to learn whether ills his father lived was even now within a mile m le or two in the camp of the men he so hated but why tf if he lived bad pierre Le lecroy croly not escaped according to the cree the strange frenchman was not confined a pil Nl pissing bad seen him but once fit at a and he b was not bound he was supposed to aid with the trading the fur and ald worl work around the camp TO BM BE CONTINUED |