Show ara z e n tn m 0 m copyright by penn pub co LM q GEORGE MARSH service Berv lct CHAPTER V continued 10 take lake her away fro from jim flown down there in the city smoke they wont let him have her but Sm okell always love old jim won the so the min man and the great dog he had bad once carried inside his fur parka as a PUP puppy Y sat side by side in perfect understanding while the flush of the sky eky slowly faded through the long northern twilight in the mirror of the lake then as jim held a lighted natch match to his pipe in the indigo gloom of the spruce of the mainland across the he straight there was the flash and of a rifle followed swiftly by another A bullet wrenched the shattered pipe from stuarts teeth then he dove headlong for the bushes as omar and esau took cover on the opposite side elde of the dead fire 1 you heet beet called omar I 1 noll nol growled jim hunching bunching hun ching toward his gun which stood propped against a bush if they want war give it to em deml I 1 again the twilight silence was split by the guns on the mainland and bullets spattered around the camp while the excited smoke yelped as he be raced back and forth still untouched ruin the canoe it if we dont I 1 top deml stormed the maddened fur trader as he drew himself within reach of hla his gun here smoke get youl herel down I 1 1 then the rifles of omar and esau opened on the ambush two hundred yards across the he strait shortly the repeating guns of the three men firing bring at the flashes made the opposite shore too hot for the single shot rifles in the ambush the shooting stopped i well the war on the pipestone Is jon on emarl called jim 11 1 I think making their getaway afraid well cross in the canoe in the dusk land and hunt lem cm knowing that rifle sights were now invisible in the murk of the opposite shore jim stood up to find omar calmly examining the canoe now who do you suppose pulled that trick esau dose young men follow us from de camp I 1 1 I suppose some of paradis ts people only they dont know that never see him again omar approached jim and thrust a facia face into his the fierceness of which even the gathering dusk did riot not soften dey follow us and shoot to keel do I 1 use does dees now wen I 1 feel de neck of dat Para dees sr the halfbreed half halt breed pointed to the long skinning knife slung blung from the sash at his waist 1 I yes I 1 guess youre justified in using in anything ny thing now after us and get us too in this country it if were not careful came pretty close with that first shot got my pipe right under my hand I 1 know an in adlan could shoot so straight dese peorl got coln follow us said bau wen de moon go down we drop down de riviere an wait for dem eon en do de moraln all ah hahl agreed omar we mak la A lechle ambush for dem As the night thickened before the moon oon died at m midnight Id nIght the peterboro peter boro from sunset house silently left the liland island and dropped down through the shadows to the outlet and into the driver river A few miles downstream they turned in and made mad camp jim wrapped himself in his blanket with smoke beside him to wrestle with a difficult problem clearly the indians who had followed them down the lake would stop at nothing to drive them out of the country with these paid henchmen of paradis on his hl heels he be could not go eo on but to allow omar and esau to shot them out of their canoe in the morning much as they deserved it would be bad generalship eral ship they thay had kinsmen among the pipestone Pl who would take I 1 up the feud thus started and jims mission I nisO was 0 one of f conciliation yet he had to de defend fe n db himself I 1 maeef and omar and esau would be hard to handle the sun was high in the sky on the following morning before the three iwho waited in the river willows saw a canoe turn the bend above them clearly the two paddlers saddlers padd lers were confident that the peterboro peter boro was somewhere far ahead of them downstream for the men in the willows plainly heard their voices there was the muffled click of steel on steel as three rifles were cocked then the tha willows were flient client pres prea bontly as ag the birch bark canoe drifted breast abreast of the ambush there was a roar as the guns spat from the who paddle of the bowman fell from his hands with a cry of terror the swung the nose of the craft toward the opposite be bank R k as a the rifles again exploded in his fear the indian in the bow of the tha canoe plunged headlong into the river and made for the shore while his mate flattened on the floor of the canoe then from the willows two men paddled rapidly across the stream to the drifting canoe while the third covered the craft with his rifle running the peterboro peter boro alongside omar stepped into the birch bark and lifting the gray faced young ojibwa in his great arms with a curse threw him into the water we not shoot jijak do de skunk an we not shoot at you dis tarn tam I 1 roared the infuriated halfbreed half breed deprived of his vengeance by the commands of stuart but de next tarn tam I 1 weel split your broat lak I 1 stab de caribou As the frightened ojibwa swam for the shore omar returned to the peter boro and finished the work of the rifle shots in destroying the cz canoe moe by n take taka H her OF away from jim down there in the city smoke pening opening 0 great seams with his knife then he tossed overboard the bag of provisions with the rifles of the indians and abandoned the th waterlogged craft now travel home in your moccasins called the halfbreed half halt breed in ojibwa to the indian as he reached the shore and tell them how we gave you yon a swim and let you go gol P wondering what further evidence 0 of f Jing hostility awaited them but forced by the necessity of breaking the tha conjurers influence in the Pl country it if sunset house were to survive jim continued down the river CHAPTER VI through the pipestone Pl chain of lakes traveled the canoe from the south visiting the fishing camps and denouncing as a false shaman in an imposter Im the paid agent of paradis and LeD leblond lond often offen the appeals of jim and omar were met with sneers and shouts of dissent Pis dissent sent more than once superstitious indians r refused e to talk to them and frightened women herded their offspring into the at the coming of the white trader with the evil eye but to jims satisfaction most of the older indians listened while many were friendly and notwithstanding sullen and black faces among the younger men the progress of the peterboro peter boro through through the pipestone Pl country had not been again ma molested bested but one night an old ojibwa came to their camp on the lake of the great stones which emptied into the sturgeon you are going down into the sturgeon river country 1 he asked accepting the tobacco ind end dish of tea jim offered him yes replied jim in ojibwa toils false f lie shaman Jin gwak has turned the hunters against us for the pay of paradis ls we are going to find him and make him eat his lies iles for a long interval the old man smoked his bis silt I like ike eyes on the fire then he said do not go ile he Is waiting for you jim glanced at the interested faces of omar and esau was this man friendly or a spy he wondered 1 I am glad he said 1 I feared ho would run away the old indian lifted questioning eyes to the bronzed face of the white man for a space pace he seemed to measure u re the metal of tha th speaker whose cold gaze met his scrutiny then he quietly said ns he again looked into the fire you will never come back jim studied the wrinkled mask of the old ojibwa framed in its long grizzled locks had he come to warn them as a friend or was he seeking to learn their plans only to send the information ahead of them you have lived through many snows he said wisdom has come to you through the years you know that Is a liar or you would not sit here and look me in the eye tills this paradis has filled his with flour and tea and tobacco why because cau se ieng nak keeps the hunters from I 1 trading with the old company but this Is finished leblond has sent pa r a di 8 far a south to the Ni nipigon 11 the old indian looked up with puzzled eyes you say paradis has gone south yes the seamed visage of the indian stiffened in thought as his narrowed eyes sought his moccasin then he said ile he has put a spell upon the young men on the sturgeon river this jin gwak it if you go there they will kill you at the words omar boisvert Bols vert rose to his feet shaking with rage thrusting his clenched fists at the ojibwa lie he opened and closed his bis fingers with these hands he stormed 1 I will choke the breath from the lying throat of this wabeno go back and send your young men to tell him we are coming tell him that omar boisvert Bols vert who broke the neck of big pierre at fort severn with his flat fist Is coming to drive him out of the tha sturgeon river country tell him it if he stays omar boisvert Bols vert who sets seta bear I 1 traps with his hands will tear his tongue from his throat inflamed with pas passion slon omar stood over the squatting figureoa figure of the old indian who gazed up at him with a look of mingled surprise and regret you think me the friend of jing wak and this paradis ls he be said calmly you are wrong I 1 come here because I 1 am their enemy took my daughter from me in silence the indian rose shook hands and went to his bis As he pushed out from the shore he said to jim who followed him with the cust customary mary bo los jos your canoe will never pass this way again well what ayou make of him asked jim of the silent figures of his bis friends was wa he nosing around trying to find out something or was wai he bringing a friendly warning he to Is tren fren of Jin gwak said esau and Is scare ah hahl agreed omar he ees scare ile he got no Para Parade dees ei to help heem now but in spite of the confidence of his bis men jim was troubled what he desired was to bring about the downfall of the sorcerer by peaceable means to gain the friendship of the hunters but it looked as if he would fall it if the old indian was to be trusted they would be lucky to get out of the sturgeon with whole skins how far the adherents of were prepared to go he be already knew in the end it meant bloodshed and that meant defeat the enmity of many of the hunters whose trade he sought and defeat meant goodby good by to sunset house and aurore leblond for he would have not even a future in the com banys service to offer her As he brooded blooded with his thoughts the day on the island with the daughter of the roan man whose wiles were fast drawing the net et of defeat about the little fur post seemed more like something he had read more the fancy of a dream than reality those brief hours of unalloyed delight had been given him to torment bli memory in the years to come she would never return to the lake of the sand beaches the following morning esau left them traveling in a small canoe he had got by trade from an ojibwa the old man started ahead of them down the sturgeon on his lone lon search for or time and again jim had endeavored to learn how bow he h hoped to circumvent the medic medicine ineman man who had such n hold on the hunters of the sturgeon but esau had kept his own counsel with a i smile the wily old Indian had replied beet may be esau ees too old hoes back no longer carry de beeg load for or de companes com panee ills leg are stiff for de winter trail but he has seen manee ting and bees i memory ees long eef beef he nevalee come back bees head also ees no good M more 0 re he refused to say and omar who when questioned by the curious JI jim in had shaken his head doubtfully an aa he explained esaus reticence the old man was so wild in its details land and depended for its success so ao largely on luck that esau dared not divulge it to his chief so go stuart patted parted with hla his friend with misgiving in his heart the loyal old indian was going down the sturgeon into the en emlea country alone to fight tor for sunset house honse what could he do to in his stronghold one against many he gripped the old ojibway hand la in parting 1 I dont like to have you yon 9 go 0 alone esau jim said we ought to fight this out oat together you an your fader was d de a good freen ren of me replied esau his eyes bright with feeling 1 I am ole man soon 11 I 1 go talk to your fader wen I 1 meet heem ho he ask esau how you leeve do de boy I 1 wan to tell heem de boy leg ees vert ver fine wid de beeg trade at ide de house of de setting sun the old mans fingers gripped hard on i jims dat ees wy I 1 go to fin jing wak 11 turning esau shoved off the canoe end and was soon out of sight eight behind it timbered point in the gray eyes of jim stuart as he watched the dip and swing owing of esaus paddle until the bent b back a ck of the old man disappeared there was the mist of memory and the emotion of a full heart the father he be had burled buried on the shore of for far gods lake what would lie not give today tor for his companionship and his counsel it was september the moon of the mating ma ting of the caribou september w when hen through the wild valleys the lifting sun rolled back curtains of mist telling ridges touched here anil and there with yellow and gold by the magic mag levand wand odthe frost froit september when the muskegs muskets were blue with ripened berries and the loons loon a restless with the urge of far journeying called at sunset across nameless lakes north on the vast marshes of the great bay the legions of the geese were assembling for their autumn rendezvous later inter to ride the first stinging winds south over the green seas of the spruce and the flaming islands of the tha hardwood ridges passing over the spawning beds of the sturgeon at the outlet of the lake of the great stones where for a mile on the sandy bottom the dark shapes of the tha huge fish were visible beneath the peterboro peter boro jim and omar entered the iver from which the old ojibwa lad had warned them they would never return two days journey downstream where the river widened to form a large lake jim hoped to find the man they ought sought how when he found him he was to break the power of the sorcerer he did not know but the future of sunset house depended on it and in ills his desperation jim was waa prepared to go far how far the man who realized that failure in the trade would mean in the end the loss lose of aurore leblond did not dare admit to himself all the morning the peterboro peter boro rode the swift current of the sturgeon toward noon the drumbeat drum beat of rapids which the old ojibwa had warned them they could not ran run I 1 sounded la in their ears then as they dropped alongshore with their poles toward the first broken water they sw saw the portage trail leading from tha tb river shore back into the timber they landed and omar first swinging to his back on a tump line a haunch of 0 f the yearling moose they had shot a t daylight balanced the heavy wa ter soaked peterboro peter boro on its 10 center thwart across hla his thick shoulders and walked briskly on off up the trall trail to omar 0 ma r boisvert Bols vert the man who had packed five bags of company flour a half mile without resting this back load while awkward to balance in the thick brush was a toy TO VE BH CONTINUED |