Part 15 (2/2)

There was a perfectly white arrow-head marked in the dark-brown hair above his eyes, and all four feet hite Aside froe that marked him at once McTavish almost leaped from his cover

It was Mistisi, the leader of his own train Yes! and those others were his, Chibe and Keoha and Coh? With startled eyes, he tried to discover the face and figure huddled under the mass of robes, but could not

There was only one person it s after the adventure at Sturgeon Lake--Charley Seguis But as he doing here? Where were his comrades? Where was Jean?

Breathlessly, for he felt his peril to be very great, Donald watched the e down the bank to the river

He only prayed that the rider ht not see the hole he had cut in the ice

With a creak and lurch, the sleigh left the grade, and took the white snow edging the shoal water that led out to the deep green of the middle ice The watcher drew a sharp breath

”Great heavens! Doesn't the fool know that's thin ice?” he muttered, excitedly ”Does he want to drown?”

It all happened in a , and the dogs went into the biting water Another second, and the sledge careened and settled aed pieces of ice that surrounded it on all sides The figure rolled off with a cry

What should he do? Here was the opportunity to let nature end the feud between Seguis and hi hirio on to its inevitable close? All this in an instant Then, the law of humanity laid hold on Donald; the coh unheard-of perils to another's help

With a shout, he leaped from his cover, sped down the bank, and out upon the frozen river The dogs, tangled in their harness, were fighting their own last battle, while drifting down-streaed the aed ice

A hundred feet away, a point ran out into the water The fighting dogs would be there in a moment, for Mistisi, in his desperate attempts to climb upon the frail support, broke the ice in front of hith, and reached the point just as Mistisi careat animal was still alive, but the others had either disappeared, or were lying on their sides, dead Seizing the harness, Donald lifted the dog, and with tift slashes cut the traces Then, with a hty effort, he heaved Mistisi out of the water beside hi no longer, floated down, and the man seized it Aon the bank A quick glance assured hi for the other animals, and he turned his attention to the inert, unconscious body He folded back the _capote_, and uttered a great cry of joy and fear For he looked into the face of Jean Fitzpatrick!

Noorked like a ht freeze to death where she lay Stripping off his gloves, he thrust the fingers of his right hand into her ue This he pulled forward, so as to leave the air passage free Then, roughly, he rolled her over on her face and, holding her by the belt, lifted her so that the water ran out of her lungs

Laying her on her back again, he started artificial respiration

At the first convulsive gasp and shudder, he left her and frantically gathered wood for a fire This time, it was no trapper's fla blaze, which would melt the sheath of ice that had already for of Mistisi told hi, too, was clad in the like chill arain worked over Jean, so that, when the fire had begun to crackle and give out heat, he saw the upturned eyes swim down, and the blessed look of consciousness take the place of terrible blankness Then, with a sob of joy, he gathered her in his ar heat Forthwith, he hurried back to his hiding-place for one of the fish

A sound of choked weeping drew Donald again to the girl, and he saw that she recognized hi her as he would a child, and presently felt her aro round him in a desperate e while of silence, he spoke

”Jean” he said, ”do you knoho this is?

”Yes,” she replied simply, and he thrilled at the sound of the voice he loved ”Thank God, I am with you, at last,” she added

And the man felt that this oneand injustice he had undergone in the weeks past Frolorified the accursed earth, the rock-like trees and the bitter, iron cold In the springtirance of flowers, hear the entle airs

When she was herself again, Donald cooked the fish At this ti alnized his master with such round for fear as to the anih not to wander outside the fire-zone in his dripping condition, and stood stea joyfully and contentedly beside Jean, his face athe irl's story frouis had made the junction with Maria and Tom at the cabin, he had treated her with courtesy, but, fir that she was a ht ith her father The following day, the party of four, herself, Seguis, and the French and Indian trappers, had started back to Sturgeon Lake She received every attention and kindness from all of them In fact, it was this that precipitated the trouble, for the Frenchht her favor continually, and becah she treated both with coldest courtesy

One night, when they stopped to e had not yet been unloaded, when the trappers got into a violent argu, drew their knives and went at each other Jean screauis leaped in to prevent bloodshed Then, the girl saw her opportunity, and seized it She was still sitting on the sledge With a shrill cry and a crack of the whip that lay under her hand, she started the dogs off on a gallop Instantly, all personalities were forgotten and the three irl soon lost her pursuers in the distance, and, after traveling all night, struck across country in the general direction of Fort Severn What had become of the three men without supplies, she did not know, but she supposed they had returned to Sturgeon Lake, as they could have done easily

Then, Donald told his story briefly, and, when he had finished, they looked mournfully at each other

”Dearest,” said the captain boldly, ”here's the situation: The supplies are in the river Maybe, we can rescue so utensils; but I doubt it There's a cabin a mile from here that we can live in for the present There's no food but fish, for we haven't any gun or ammunition, unless--”

”No!” She shook her head ”They took the guns off the sledge before I ran aith it”