Part 3 (2/2)
But in this wilderness of rock-strewn barrens and thick forest it would take at least two
Leaving notice of his having occupied the cabin bya clean board with a charred eain, and by the hardest kind of work covered fiftycaribou tracks, he delayed his departure until he had killed a fat cow, for his supplies were running low
His way now led up one of the tiny tributaries of the Sachigo At a point directly east of a little river that eeon Lake', he struck across country again until he reached this streaain on a river-bed, ive up his chase of Charley Seguis temporarily, McTavish put the ies to the work at hand Late on the afternoon of the second day, he kneas approaching the lake, and proceeded cautiously, hugging the banks with their dark background of forests
At length, the shore suddenly widened, and he looked across a vast expanse of glaring snow Ten ht shore of the lake, was a headland Pointing this out to Mistisi, he set the dog's nose toward it, and clie The lake seeures betrayed the presence ofdarkness, he felt coht under the lee of the headland
And, now, a faint stirring of fear that Jean's e had been a false alarm took possession of hiuis was delayed just that ht The certainty of ultimate success that has made the whitein him He merely did not like the prospect of the half-breed's additional start
Reaching the headland, Donald halted the dogs, and disembarked
He had turned his back to unstrap the pack, when he heard a sound behind hi, McTavish looked into the barrels of two leveled rifles in the steady hands of as many men
They hite nized one of them as Voudrin, the French trapper His hands went slowly up
[Illustration: They hite nized one of them as Voudrin, the French trapper His hands went slowly up]
Protected by the rifle of his companion, the other relieved Donald of the rifle, revolver, sheath-knife, and hooked-shaped hunter's knife Then, they pere, and, shouting, ”_Marche donc, s around the headland His companion followed on foot in company with the captive
”What does this er ”I am McTavish, of the Fort dickey post, and, when the factor hears of this, it will go hard with you men I am on official business, and I demand an explanation of such treath,” replied the other, unmoved ”You see, it isn't our idea that the factor hear of the occurrence”
There was so in his tone that caused Donald to eye the fellow curiously
”Just what do you mean by that, my friend?” he inquired
”Don't ask so many questions,” replied the other curtly, and continued thereafter to maintain a stubborn silence
On the far side of the headland they cans of civilization Tucked into a little bay was a sort of settle, and around it were grouped some score or more shanties such as that Voudrin had occupied on the Beaver River On one side of the settleh stockade of heavy timber was set It appeared that it was at first intended to surround the entire group, but that the cold weather had put a stop to the work
Voudrin, with the dog-train and sledge, was already ashore on the beach where a nu These now advanced over the frozen lake to greet the two on foot McTavish looked the their faces for future use It was not long before he located Whiskey Bill and a number of the other hunters and trappers that were frequent visitors to the dickey River-post
In almost total silence, the procession reached the beach, and wound up the slight declivity to the large house in the center of the settlement Here McTavish was led inside, and discovered that the building was divided off into a number of small roo after him A little while later an Indian packer appeared with the traps that had been taken off his sledge, and du hi, even matches, and McTavish built a small chip fire such as he was accusto the s in one corner of the room The floor was beaten earth as hard as a rock
Perplexed and as-on about hiht to explain the presence of the men here, and his own extraordinary position Not for ten years, except in the case of the pursued cri at bay, had an officer in the Co and disrespectful treatment Here, discipline and propriety, the two cardinal virtues arossly violated, and by men who knew the consequences
Discipline and propriety! On those great beahty structure of the Hudson Bay Trading Company been built
It was reverence for them that caused a dozen men a thousand miles from the nearest settlement to sit down to dinner in order of precedence, and be served correctly in that order It was reverence for them that caused traders to thrash insolent Indians two years after their insults had been spoken!