THE BARRIER

BY

REX BEACH

AUTHOR OF "THE SPOILERS"

ILLUSTRATED BY DENMAN FINK

 CONTENTS

 I. THE LAST FRONTIER II. POLEON DORET'S HAND IS QUICKER THAN HIS TONGUE III. WITHOUT BENEFIT OF CLERGY IV. THE SOLDIER FINDS AN UNTRODDEN VALLEY V. A STORY IS BEGUN VI. THE BURRELL CODE VII. THE MAGIC OF BEN STARK VIII. THE KNIFE IX. THE AWAKENING X. MEADE BURRELL FINDS A PATH IN THE MOONLIGHT XI. WHERE THE PATH LED XII. A TANGLED SKEIN XIII. STARK TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME XIV. A MYSTERY IS UNRAVELLED XV. AND A KNOT TIGHTENED XVI. JOHN GALE'S HOUR XVII. THE LOVE OF POLEON DORET XVIII. RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE XIX. THE CALL OF THE OREADS

ILLUSTRATIONS

"GREAT LOVELY DOVE!" EJACULATED BURRELL, FERVENTLY . .. WONDERING IFTHIS GLORIOUS THING COULD BE THE QUAINT HALF-BREED GIRL OF YESTERDAY

"I MISSED YOU DREADFULLY, DADDY, " SAID NECIA. "THERE WASN'T ANY FUN INTHINGS WITHOUT YOU"

POLEON FOLLOWED HER WITH HIS EYES. "AN' DAT'S DE END OF IT ALL, " HEMUSED. "FIVE YEAR I'VE WAIT--AN' JUS' FOR DIS"

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" THE GIRL DEMANDED, IMPERIOUSLY

THE COMBATANTS WERE DRAGGED APART . .. "I GOT YOU, BENNETT!" CRIED THETRADER, HOARSELY. "YOUR MAGIC IS NO GOOD"

NECIA SAW RUNNION RAISE HIS GUN, AND WITHOUT THOUGHT OF HER OWN SAFETY, THREW HERSELF UPON HIM

THE BARRIER

CHAPTER I

THE LAST FRONTIER

Many men were in debt to the trader at Flambeau, and many counted himas a friend. The latter never reasoned why, except that he had donethem favors, and in the North that counts for much. Perhaps they builtlikewise upon the fact that he was ever the same to all, and that, indays of plenty or in times of famine, his store was open to every man, and all received the same measure. Nor did he raise his prices when theboats were late. They recalled one bleak and blustery autumn when thesteamer sank at the Lower Ramparts, taking with her all their winter'sfood, how he eked out his scanty stock, dealing to each and every onehis portion, month by month. They remembered well the bitter winterthat followed, when the spectre of famine haunted their cabins, andwhen for endless periods they cinched their belts, and cursed and wenthungry to sleep, accepting, day by day, the rations doled out to themby the grim, gray man at the log store. Some of them had money-beltsweighted low with gold washed from the bars at Forty Mile, and therewere others who had wandered in from the Koyukuk with the first frosts, foot-sore and dragging, the legs of their skin boots eaten to theankle, and the taste of dog meat still in their mouths. Broken anddispirited, these had fared as well through that desperate winter astheir brothers from up-river, and received pound for pound of mustyflour, strip for strip of rusty bacon, lump for lump of precious sugar. Moreover, the price of no single thing had risen throughout the famine. 

Some of them, to this day, owed bills at Old Man Gale's, of which theydared not think; but every fall and every spring they came again andtold of their disappointment, and every time they fared back into thehills bearing another outfit, for which he rendered no account, noteven when the debts grew year by year, not even to "No Creek" Lee, themost unlucky of them all, who said that a curse lay on him so that whena pay-streak heard him coming it got up and moved away and hid itself. 

There were some who had purposely shirked a reckoning, in years past, but these were few, and their finish had been of a nature to discouragea similar practice on the part of others, and of a nature, moreover, tolead good men to care for the trader and for his methods. He mixed inno man's business, he took and paid his dues unfalteringly. He spoke ina level voice, and he smiled but rarely. He gazed at a stranger onceand weighed him carefully, thereafter his eyes sought the distancesagain, as if in search of some visitor whom he knew or hoped or fearedwould come. Therefore, men judged he had lived as strong men live, andwere glad to call him friend. 

This day he stood in the door of his post staring up the sun-lit river, absorbing the warmth of the Arctic afternoon. The Yukon swept downaround the great bend beneath the high, cut banks and past the littletown, disappearing behind the wooded point below, which masked theup-coming steamers till one heard the sighing labor of their stacksbefore he saw their smoke. It was a muddy, rushing giant, bearing aburden of sand and silt, so that one might hear it hiss and grind bystooping at its edge to listen; but the slanting sun this afternoonmade it appear like a boiling flood of molten gold which issuedsilently out of a land of mystery and vanished into a valley offorgetfulness. At least so the trader fancied, and found himselfwishing that it might carry away on its bosom the heavy trouble whichweighed him down, and bring in its place forgetfulness of all that hadgone before. Instead, however, it seemed to hurry with news of thosestrange doings "up-river, " news that every down-coming steamboatverified. For years he had known that some day this thing would happen, that some day this isolation would be broken, that some day greathordes of men would overrun this unknown land, bringing with them thatwhich he feared to meet, that which had made him what he was. And nowthat the time had come, he was unprepared. 

The sound of shouting caused him to turn his head. Down-stream, athousand yards away, men were raising a flag-staff made from the trunkof a slender fir, from which the bark had been stripped, heaving ontheir tackle as they sang in unison. They stood well out upon theriver's bank before a group of well-made houses, the peeled timbers ofwhich shone yellow in the sun. He noted the symmetrical arrangement ofthe buildings, noted the space about them that had been smoothed for adrill-ground, and from which the stumps had been removed; noted thatthe men wore suits of blue; and noted, in particular, the figure of anofficer commanding them. 

The lines about the trader's mouth deepened, and his heavy browscontracted. 

"That means the law, " he murmured, half aloud, while in his voice wasno trace of pleasure, nor of that interest which good men are wont toshow at sight of the flag. "The last frontier is gone. The trail endshere!"

He stood so, meditating sombrely, till the fragment of a song hummedlightly by a girl fell pleasantly on his ears, whereupon the shadowsvanished from his face, and he turned expectantly, the edges of histeeth showing beneath his mustache, the corners of his eyes wrinklingwith pleasure. 

The sight was good to him, for the girl approaching down the trail waslike some wood sprite, light-footed, slender, and dark, with twinbraids of hair to her waist framing an oval face colored by the windand sun. She was very beautiful, and a great fever surged up throughthe old man's veins, till he gripped the boards at his side and bitsharply at the pipe between his teeth. 

"The salmon-berries are ripe, " she announced, "and the hills back ofthe village are pink with them. I took Constantine's squaw with me, andwe picked quarts and quarts. I ate them all!"

Her laughter was like the tinkle of silver bells. Her head, thrown backas she laughed gayly, displayed a throat rounded and full and smooth, and tanned to the hue of her wind-beaten cheeks. Every move of hergraceful body was unrestrained and flowing, with a hint of Indianfreedom about it. Beaded and trimmed like a native princess, hergarments manifested an ornature that spoke of savagery, yet they wereneatly cut and held to the pattern of the whites. 

"Constantine was drunk again last night, and I had to give him atalking to when we came back. Oh, but I laid him out! He's frightenedto death of me when I'm angry. "

She furrowed her brow in a scowl--the daintiest, most ridiculous puckerof a brow that ever man saw--and drew her red lips into an angry poutas she recounted her temperance talk till the trader broke in, hisvoice very soft, his gray-blue eyes as tender as those of a woman:

"It's good to have you home again, Necia. The old sun don't shine asbright when you're away, and when it rains it seems like the moss andthe grass and the little trees was crying for you. I reckon everythingweeps when you're gone, girl, everything except your old dad, andsometimes he feels like he'd have to bust out and join the rest ofthem. "

He seated himself upon the worn spruce-log steps, and the girl settledbeside him and snuggled against his knee. 

"I missed you dreadfully, daddy, " she said. "It seemed as if those daysat the Mission would never end. Father Barnum and the others were verykind, and I studied hard, but there wasn't any fun in things withoutyou. "

"I reckon you know as much as a priest, now, don't you?"

"Oh, lots more, " she said, gravely. "You see, I am a woman. "

He nodded reflectively. "So you are! I keep forgetting that. "

Their faces were set towards the west, where the low sun hung over aragged range of hills topped with everlasting white. The great valley, dark with an untrodden wilderness of birch and spruce and alder, lay onthis side, sombre and changeless, like a great, dark-green mat toolarge for its resting-place, its edges turned up towards the line ofunmelting snow. Beyond were other ranges thrust skyward in amagnificent confusion, while still to the farther side lay the purplevalley of the Koyukuk, a valley that called insistently to restlessmen, welcoming them in the spring, and sending them back in the latesummer tired and haggard with the hunger of the North. Each year atithe remained behind, the toll of the trackless places, but the restwent back again and again, and took new brothers with them. 

"Did you like the books I sent you with Poleon when he went down to thecoast? I borrowed them from Shakespeare George. "

The girl laughed. "Of course I did--that is, all but one of them. "

"Which one?"

"I think it was called The Age of Reason, or something like that. Ididn't get a good look at it, for Father Barnum shrieked when he sawit, then snatched it as if it were afire. He carried it down to theriver with the tongs. "

"H'm! Now that I think of it, " said the old man, "Shakespeare grinnedwhen he gave it to me. You see, Poleon ain't much better on the readthan I am, so we never noticed what kind of a book it was. "

"When will Poleon get back, do you suppose?"

"Most any day now, unless the Dawson dance-halls are too much for him. It won't take him long to sell our skins if what I hear is true. "

"What is that?"

"About these Cheechakos. They say there are thousands of tenderfeet upthere, and more coming in every day. "

"Oh! If I had only been here in time to go with him!" breathed thegirl. "I never saw a city. It must be just like Seattle, or New York. "

Gale shook his head. "No. There's considerable difference. Some timeI'll take you out to the States, and let you see the world--maybe. " Heuttered the last word in an undertone, as if in self-debate, but thegirl was too excited to notice. 

"You will take mother, too, and the kiddies, won't you?"

"Of course!"

"Oh! I--I--" The attempt to express what this prospect meant to her wasbeyond her girlish rapture, but her parted lips and shining eyes toldthe story to Gale. "And Poleon must go, too. We can't go anywherewithout him. " The old man smiled down upon her in reassurance. "Iwonder what he'll say when he finds the soldiers have come. I wonder ifhe'll like it. "

Gale turned his eyes down-stream to the barracks, and noted that thelong flag-staff had at last been erected. Even as he looked he saw abundle mounting towards its tip, and then beheld the Stars and Stripesflutter out in the air, while the men below cheered noisily. It wassome time before he answered. 

"Poleon Doret is like the rest of us men up here in the North. We havetaken care of ourselves so far, and I guess we're able to keep it upwithout the help of a smooth-faced Yankee kid for guardian. "

"Lieutenant Burrell isn't a Yankee, " said Necia. "He is a blue-grassman. He comes from Kentucky. "

Her father grunted contemptuously. "I might have known it. Those rebelsare a cultus, lazy lot. A regular male man with any ginger in him wouldshed his coat and go to work, instead of wearing his clothes buttonedup all day. It don't take much 'savvy' to run a handful ofthirteen-dollar-a-month soldiers. " Necia stirred a bit restlessly, andthe trader continued: "It ain't man's work, it's--loafing. If he triesto boss us he'll get QUITE a surprise. "

"He won't try to boss you. He has been sent here to build a militarypost, and to protect the miners in their own self-government. He won'ttake any part in their affairs as long as they are conducted peaceably. "

Being at a loss for an answer to this unexpected defence, the old mangrunted again, with added contempt, while his daughter continued:

"This rush to the upper country has brought in all sorts of people, good, bad--and worse; and the soldiers have been sent to preventtrouble, and to hold things steady till the law can be established. TheCanadian Mounted Police are sending all their worst charactersdown-river, and our soldiers have been scattered among the Americancamps for our protection. I think it's fine. "

"Where did you learn all this?"

"Lieutenant Burrell told me, " she replied; at which her father regardedher keenly. She could not see the curious look in his eyes, nor did sheturn when, a moment later, he resumed, in an altered tone:

"I reckon Poleon will bring you something pretty from Dawson, eh?"

"He has never failed to bring me presents, no matter where he camefrom. Dear old Poleon!" She smiled tenderly. "Do you remember thatfirst day when he drifted, singing, into sight around the bend upyonder? He had paddled his birch-bark from the Chandelar without athing to eat; hunger and hardship only made him the happier, and thecloser he drew his belt the louder he sang. "

"He was bound for his 'New Country'!"

"Yes. He didn't know where it lay, but the fret for travel was on him, and so he drifted and sang, as he had drifted and sung from the foot ofLake Le Barge. "

"That was four years ago, " mused Gale, "and he never found his 'NewCountry, ' did he?"

"No. We tied him down and choked it out of him, " Necia laughed. "Dear, funny old Poleon--he loves me like a brother. "

The man opened his lips, then closed them, as if on second thought, androse to his feet, for, coming towards them up the trail from thebarracks, he beheld a trim, blue-coated figure. He peered at theapproaching officer a moment, set his jaw more firmly, and disappearedinto the store. 

"Well, we have raised our flag-staff, " said the Lieutenant as he took aseat below Necia. "It's like getting settled to keep house. "

"Are you lazy?" inquired the girl. 

"I dare say I am, " he admitted. "I've never had time to find out. Why?"

"Are you going to boss our people around?" she continued, bent on herown investigation. 

"No. Not as long as they behave. In fact, I hardly know what I am todo. Maybe you can tell me. " His smile was peculiarly frank and winning. "You see, it's my first command, and my instructions, althoughcomprehensive, are rather vague. I am supposed to see that miningrights are observed, to take any criminals who kindly offer themselvesup to be arrested, and to sort of handle things that are too tough forthe miners themselves. "

"Why, you are a policeman!" said Necia, at which he made a wry face. 

"The Department, in its wisdom, would have me, a tenderfoot, adjustthose things that are too knotty for these men who have spent theirlives along the frontier. "

"I don't believe you will be very popular with our people, " Neciaannounced, meditatively. 

"No. I can see that already. I wasn't met with any brass-bands, and Ihaven't received any engraved silver from the admiring citizens ofFlambeau. That leaves nothing but the women to like me, and, as you arethe only one in camp, you will have to like me very much to make up forits shortcomings. "

She approved of his unusual drawl; it gave him a kind of deliberationwhich every move of his long, lithe body belied and every glance of hiseyes contradicted. Moreover, she liked his youth, so clean and freshand strange in this land where old men are many and the young ones oldwith hardship and grave with the silence of the hills. Her life hadbeen spent entirely among men who were her seniors, and, although shehad ruled them like a spoiled queen, she knew as little of their sex asthey did of hers. Unconsciously the strong young life within her hadclamored for companionship, and it was this that had drawn her toPoleon Doret--who would ever remain a boy--and it was this that drewher to the young Kentuckian; this, and something else in him, that theothers lacked. 

"Now that I think it over, " he continued, "I'd rather have you like methan have the men do so. "

"Of course, " she nodded. "They do anything I want them to--all butfather, and--"

"It isn't that, " he interrupted, quickly. "It is because you ARE theonly woman of the place, because you are such a surprise. To think thatin the heart of this desolation I should find a girl like--like you, like the girls I know at home. "

"Am I like other girls?" she inquired, eagerly. "I have often wondered. "

"You are, and you are not. You are surprisingly conventional for thesesurroundings, and yet unconventionally surprising--for any place. Whoare you? Where did you come from? How did you get here?"

"I am just what you see. I came from the States, and I was carried. That is all I can remember. "

"Then you haven't lived here always?"

"Oh, dear, no! We came here while I was very little, but of late I havebeen away at school. "

"Some seminary, eh?"

At this she laughed aloud. "Hardly that, either. I've been at theMission. Father Barnum has been teaching me for five years. I cameup-river a day ahead of you. "

She asked no questions of him in return, for she had already learnedall there was to know the day before from a grizzled corporal in whomwas the hunger to talk. She had learned of a family of Burrells whosename was known throughout the South, and that Meade Burrell came fromthe Frankfort branch, the branch that had raised the soldiers. Hisfather had fought with Lee, and an uncle was now in the service atWashington. On the mother's side the strain was equally militant, butthe Meades had sought the sea. The old soldier had told her much more, of which she understood little; told her of the young man's sister, whohad come all the way from Kentucky to see her brother off when hesailed from San Francisco; told her of the Lieutenant's many friends inWashington, and of his family name and honor. Meade Burrell wasundoubtedly a fine young fellow in his corporal's eyes, and destined toreach great heights, as the other Burrells had before him. The oldsoldier, furthermore, had looked at her keenly and added that theBurrells were known as "divils among the weemen. "

Resting thus on the steps of Old Man Gale's store, the two talked ontill they were disturbed by the sound of shrill voices approaching, atwhich the man looked up. Coming down the trail from the town was asquaw and two children. At sight of Necia the little ones shoutedgleefully and scampered forward, climbing over her like half-grownpuppies. They were boy and girl, both brown as Siwashes, with eyes likejet beads and hair that was straight and coarse and black. At a glanceBurrell knew them for "breeds, " and evidently the darker half wascloser to the surface now, for they choked, gurgled, stuttered, andcoughed in their Indian tongue, while Necia answered them likewise. Ata word from her they turned and saw him, then, abashed at the strangesplendor of his uniform, fell silent, pressing close to her. The squaw, also, seemed to resent his presence, for, after a lowering glance, shedrew the shawl closer about her head, and, leaving the trail, slunk outof sight around the corner of the store. 

Burrell looked up at his companion's clear-cut, delicate face, at thewind-tanned cheeks, against which her long braids lay like theblue-black locks of an Egyptian maid, then at her warm, dark eyes, inwhich was a hint of the golden light of the afternoon sun. He notedcovertly the slender lines of her body and the dainty, firm, brownhands flung protectingly about the shoulders of her little friends, whowere peering at him owlishly from their shelter. 

The bitter revolt that had burned in him at the prospect of a longexile in this undiscovered spot died out suddenly. What a picture shemade! How fresh and flower-like she looked, and yet the wisdom of her!He spoke impulsively:

"I am glad you are here, Miss Necia. I was glad the moment I saw you, and I have been growing gladder ever since, for I never imagined therewould be anybody in this place but men and squaws--men who hate the lawand squaws who slink about--like that. " He nodded in the direction ofthe Indian woman's disappearance. "Either that, or, at best, a few'breeds' like these little fellows. "

She looked at him quickly. 

"Well! What difference would that make?"

"Ugh! Squaws and half-breeds!" His tone conveyed in full his uttercontempt. 

The tiny hands of the boy and girl slid into her own as she arose. Acuriously startled look lay in her eyes, and an inquiring, plaintivewrinkle came between her brows. 

"I don't believe you understand, " she said. "Lieutenant Burrell, thisis my sister, Molly Gale, and this is my little brother John. " Bothround-eyed elfs made a ducking courtesy and blinked at the soldier, whogained his feet awkwardly, a flush rising into his cheeks. 

From the regions at the rear of the store came the voice of an Indianwoman calling:

"Necia! Necia!"

"Coming in a moment!" the girl called back; then, turning to the youngofficer, she added, quietly: "Mother needs me now. Good-bye!"

CHAPTER II

POLEON DORET'S HAND IS QUICKER THAN HIS TONGUE

The trader's house sat back of the post, farther up on the hill. It wasa large, sleepy house, sprawling against the sunny side of the slope, as if it had sought the southern exposure for warmth, and had dozed offone sultry afternoon and never waked up from its slumber. It was ofgreat, square-hewn timbers, built in the Russian style, the under sideof each log hollowed to fit snugly over its fellow underneath, uponwhich dried moss had previously been spread, till in effect thefoot-thick walls were tongued and grooved and, through years ofseasoning, become so tinder dry that no frosts or heats could penetratethem. Many architects had worked on it as it grew, room by room, through the years, and every man had left behind the mark of hisindividuality, from Pretty Charlie the pilot, who swung an axe betterthan any Indian on the river, to Larsen the ship's carpenter, whoworked with an adze and who starved the summer following on theKoyukuk. It had stretched a bit year by year, for the trader's familyhad been big in the early days when hunters and miners of both breedscame in to trade, to loaf, and to swap stories with him. Through thewinter days, when the caribou were in the North and the moose werescarce, whole families of natives came and camped there, for Alluna, his squaw, drew to her own blood, and they felt it their due to eat ofthe bounty of him who ruled them like an overlord; but when the firstgoose honked they slipped away until, by the time the salmon showed, the house was empty again and silent, save for Alluna and theyoungsters. In return these people brought him many skins and muchfresh meat, for which he paid no price, and, with the fall, his cachewas filled with fish of which the bulk were dried king salmon as longas a grown man's leg and worth a dollar apiece to any traveller. 

There are men whose wits are quick as light, and whose muscles havebeen so tempered and hardened by years of exercise that they are likethose of a wild animal. Of such was John Gale; but with all hisintelligence he was very slow at reading, hence he chose to spend hisevenings with his pipe and his thoughts, rather than with a book, aslonesome men are supposed to do. He did with little sleep, and manynights he sat alone till Alluna and Necia would be awakened by hisheavy step as he went to his bed. That he was a man who could reallythink, and that his thoughts were engrossing, no one doubted who sawhim sitting enthralled at such a time, for he neither rocked, nortalked, nor moved a muscle hour after hour, and only his eyes werealive. To-night the spell was on him again, and he sat bulked up in hischair, rocklike and immovable. 

From the open door of the next room he could hear Necia and the littleones. She had made them ready for bed, and was telling them the tale ofthe snow-bird's spot. 

"So when all the other birds had failed, " he heard her say, "the littlesnowbird asked for a chance to try. He flew and flew, and just beforehe came to the edge of the world where the two Old Women lived hepulled out all of his feathers. When he came to them he said:"

"'I am very cold. May I warm myself at your fire?'"

"They saw how little and naked he was, and how he shivered, so they didnot throw sticks at him, but allowed him to creep close. He watched hischance, and when they were not looking he picked up a red-hot coal inhis beak and flew back home with it as fast as ever he could--and thatis how fire came to the Indian people. "

"Of course the coal was hot, and it burned his throat till a drop ofblood came through, so ever since that day the snowbird has had a redspot on his throat. "

The two children spoke out in their mother's tongue, clamoring for thestory of the Good Beaver who saved the hunter's life, and she began, this time in the language of the Yukon people, while Gale listened tothe low music of her voice, muffled and broken by the log partition. 

His squaw came in, her arrival unannounced except by the scuff of hermoccasins, and seated herself against the wall. She did not use achair, of which there were several, but crouched upon a bear-skin, herknees beneath her chin, her toes a trifle drawn together. She sat thusfor a long time, while Necia continued her stories and put the littleones to bed. Soon the girl came to say good-night. 

John Gale had never kissed his daughter, and, as it was not a custom ofher mother's race, she never missed the caresses. On rare occasions theold man romped with the little ones and took them in his arms and actedas other fathers act, but he had never done these things with her. Whenshe had gone he spoke without moving. 

"She'll never marry Poleon Doret. "

"Why?" inquired Alluna. 

"He ain't her kind. "

"Poleon is a good man. "

"None better. But she'll marry some--some white man. "

"Poleon is white, " the squaw declared. 

"He is and he ain't. I mean she'll marry an 'outside' man. He ain'tgood enough, and--well, he ain't her kind. " Alluna's grunt ofindignation was a sufficient answer to this, but he resumed, jerkinghis head in the direction of the barracks. "She's been talking a lotwith this--this soldier. "

"Him good man, too, I guess, " said the wife. 

"The hell he is!" cried the trader, fiercely. "He don't mean any goodto her. "

"Him got a woman, eh?" said the other. 

"No, no! I reckon he's single all right, but you don't understand. He'sdifferent from us people. He's--he's--" Gale paused, at a loss forwords to convey his meaning. "Well, he ain't the kind that would marrya half-breed. "

Alluna pondered this cryptic remark unsuccessfully, and was stillseeking its solution when her lord continued:

"If she really got to loving him it would be bad for all of us. "

Evidently Alluna read some hidden meaning back of these words, for shespoke quickly, but in her own tongue now, as she was accustomed to dowhen excited or alarmed. 

"Then this thing must cease at once. The risk is too great. Better thatyou kill him before it is too late. "'

"Hardly that, " said the trader. 

"Think of the little ones and of me, " the squaw insisted, and, encouraged by his silence, continued: "Why not? Soon the nights willgrow dark. The river runs swiftly, and it never gives up its dead. Ican do it if you dare not. No one would suspect me. "

Gale rose and laid his big hand firmly on her shoulder. 

"Don't talk like that. There has been too much blood let already. We'llallow things to run along a bit as they are. There's time enough toworry. "

He rose, but instead of going to his room he strode out of the houseand walked northward up the trail, passing through the town and out ofsight. Alluna sat huddled up in the doorway, her shawl drawn closeabout her head, and waited for him until the late sun--which at thistime of year revolves in a great circle overhead--dipped down below thedistant mountains for the midnight hour, then rolled slanting out againa few points farther north, to begin its long journey anew; but he didnot return. At last she crept stiffly in-doors, like an old and wearywoman, the look of fright still staring in her eyes. 

About nine o'clock the next morning a faint and long-drawn cry camefrom the farthest limits of the little camp. An instant later it wasechoed closer, and then a dog began to howl. Before its voice had diedaway another took it up sadly, and within three breaths, from tip anddown the half-mile of scanty water-front, came the cry of"Steam-bo-o-a-t!" Cabin doors opened and men came out, glanced up thestream and echoed the call, while from sleepy nooks and sun-warmedroofs wolf-dogs arose, yawning and stretching. Those who had slept latedressed as they hurried towards the landing-place, joining in theplaint, till men and malamutes united in the shrill, slow cry. 

Down-stream came the faint-sighing whoof-whoof of a steamer, and thenout from behind the bend she burst, running on the swift spring currentwith the speed of a deer. She blew hoarsely before the tardy ones hadreached the bank, and when abreast of the town her bell clanged, thepatter of her great wheel ceased, she reversed her engines and swunggracefully till her bow was up against the current, then ploughed back, inching in slowly until, with much shouting and the sound of manygongs, she slid her nose quietly into the bank beneath the trading-postand was made fast. Her cabin-deck was lined with passengers, most ofwhom were bound for the "outside, " although still clad in mackinaw andoveralls. They all gazed silently at the hundred men of Flambeau, whostared back at them till the gang-plank was placed, when they cameashore to stretch their legs. One of them, however, made sufficientnoise to make up for the silence of the others. Before the steamer hadgrounded he appeared among the Siwash deck-hands, his head andshoulders towering above them, his white teeth gleaming from a face asdark as theirs, shouting to his friends ashore and pantomiming hisdelight to the two Gale children who had come with Alluna to welcomehim. 

"Who's dose beeg, tall people w'at stan' 'longside of you, Miz Gale?"he called to her; then, shading his eyes elaborately, he cried, in agreat voice: "Wall! wal! I b'lieve dat's M'sieu Jean an' Mam'selleMollee. Ba Gar! Dey get so beeg w'ile I'm gone I don' know dem no more!"

The youthful Gales wriggled at this delicious flattery and dug theirtiny moccasined toes into the sand. Molly courtesied nervously andcontinuously as she clung to her mother, and the boy showed a gap wheretwo front teeth had been and was now filled by a very pink tongue. 

"Wen you goin' stop grow, anyhow, you two, eh?" continued theFrenchman, and then, in a tone of sadness: "If I t'ink you ack lak'dis, I don' buy all dese present. Dese t'ing ain' no good for olefolks. I guess I'll t'row dem away. " He made as if to heave a bundlethat he carried into the river, whereupon the children shrieked at himso shrilly that he laughed long and incontinently at the success of hissally. 

Lieutenant Burrell had come with the others, for the arrival of asteamboat called for the presence of every soul in camp, and, spyingNecia in the outskirts of the crowd, he took his place beside her. Hefelt constrained, after what had happened on the previous evening, butshe seemed to have forgotten the episode, and greeted him with herusual frankness. Even had she remembered it, there was nothing he couldsay in explanation or in apology. He had lain awake for hours thinkingof her, and had fallen asleep with her still in his mind, for therevelation of her blood had come as a shock to him, the full force ofwhich he could not appreciate until he had given himself time to thinkof it calmly. 

He had sprung from a race of Slave-holders, from a land where birth andbreed are more than any other thing, where a drop of impure bloodeffects an ineradicable stain; therefore the thought of this girl'signoble parentage was so repugnant to him that the more he pondered itthe more pitiful it seemed, the more monstrous. Lying awake andthinking of her in the stillness of his quarters, it had seemed a veryunfortunate and a very terrible thing. During his morning duties thevision of her had been fresh before him again, and his constantcontemplation of the matter had wrought a change in his attitudetowards the girl, of which he was uncomfortably conscious and which hewas glad to see she did not perceive. 

"There are some of the lucky men from El Dorado Creek, " she informedhim, pointing out certain people on the deck. "They are going out tothe States to get something to eat. They say that nothing like thosemines have ever been heard of in the world. I wish father had gone uplast year when the news came. "

"Why didn't he?" asked the Lieutenant. "Surely he must have been amongthe first to learn of it. "

"Yes. 'Stick' George sent him word a year ago last fall, when he madethe first discovery, but for some reason father wouldn't go. "

The men were pouring off the boat now, and through the crowd came thetall Frenchman, bearing in the hollow of each arm a child who clasped abundle to its breast. His eyes grew brighter at sight of Necia, and hebroke into a flood of patois; they fairly bombarded each other withquick questions and fragmentary answers till she remembered hercompanion, who had fallen back a pace and was studying the newcomer, whereupon she turned. 

"Oh, I forgot my manners. Lieutenant Burrell, this is NapoleonDoret--our Poleon!" she added, with proud emphasis. 

Doret checked his volubility and stared at the soldier, whom heappeared to see for the first time. The little brown people in his armsstared likewise, and it seemed to Burrell that a certain distrust wasin each of the three pairs of eyes, only in those of the man there wasno shyness. Instead, the Canadian looked him over gravely from head toheel, seeming to note each point of the unfamiliar attire; then heinquired, without removing his glance:

"Were'bouts you live, eh?"

"I live at the post yonder, " said the Lieutenant. 

"Wat biznesse you work at?"

"I am a soldier. "

"Wat for you come 'ere? Dere's nobody fightin' roun' dis place. "

"The Lieutenant has been stationed here, foolish, " said Necia. "Come upto the store quick and tell me what it's like at Dawson. " With afarewell nod to Burrell, she went off with Doret, whose speech wasimmediately released again. 

In spite of the man's unfriendliness, Burrell watched him withadmiration. There were no heels to his tufted fur boots, and yet hestood a good six feet two, as straight as a pine sapling, and it neededno second glance to tell of what metal he was made. His spirit showedin his whole body, in the set of his head, and, above all, in his dark, warm face, which glowed with eagerness when he talked, and that wasever--when he was not singing. 

"I never see so many people since I lef Quebec, " he was saying. "She'sjus' lak' beeg city--mus' be t'ree, four t'ousan' people. Every daysome more dey come, an' all night dey dance an' sing an' drink w'iskee. Ba gosh, dat's fine place!"

"Are there lots of white women?" asked the girl. 

"Yes, two, t'ree hondred. Mos' of dem is work in dance-halls. Dere'sone fine gal I see, name' Marie Bourgette. I tell you 'bout herby-an'-by. "

"Oh, Poleon, you're in love!" cried Necia. 

"No, siree!" he denied. "Dere's none of dem gal look half so purty lak'you. " He would have said more, but spying the trader at the entrance ofthe store, he went to him, straightway launching into the details oftheir commercial enterprise, which, happily, had been most successful. Before they could finish, the crowd from the boat began to drift in, some of them buying drinks at the bar and others making purchases oftobacco and so forth, but for the main part merely idling aboutcuriously. 

Among the merchandise of the Post there were for sale a scantyassortment of fire-arms, cheap shot-guns, and a Winchester or two, displayed in a rack behind the counter in a manner to attract the eyeof such native hunters as might need them, and with the rest hung apair of Colt's revolvers. One of the new arrivals, who had separatedfrom the others at the front, now called to Gale:

"Are those Colts for sale? Mine was stolen the other day. " Evidently hewas accustomed to Yukon prices, for he showed no surprise at the figurethe trader named, but took the guns and tested each of them, whereuponthe old man knew that here was no "Cheechako, " as tenderfeet are knownin the North, although the man's garb had deceived him at first glance. The stranger balanced the weapons, one in either hand, then he did the"double roll" neatly, following which he executed a move that Gale hadnot witnessed for many years. He extended one of the guns, buttforemost, as if surrendering it, the action being free and open, savefor the fact that his forefinger was crooked and thrust through thetrigger-guard; then, with the slightest jerk of the wrist, the gun spunabout, the handle jumped into his palm, and instantly there was a clickas his thumb flipped the hammer. It was the old "road-agent spin, "which Gale as a boy had practised hours at a time; but that this manwas in earnest he showed by glancing upward sharply when the traderlaughed. 

"This one hangs all right, " he said; "give me a box of cartridges. "

He emptied his gold-sack in payment for the gun and ammunition, thenremarked: "That pretty nearly cleans me. If I had the price I'd takethem both. "

Gale wondered what need induced this fellow to spend his last fewdollars on a fire-arm, but he said nothing until the man had loosenedthe bottom buttons of his vest and slipped the weapon inside the bandof his trousers, concealing its handle beneath the edge of hiswaistcoat. Then he inquired:

"Bound for the outside?"

"No. I'm locating here. "

The trader darted a quick glance at him. He did not like this man. 

"There ain't much doing in this camp; it's a pretty poor place, " hesaid, guardedly. 

"I'll put in with you, from its looks, " agreed the other. "It's got toomany soldiers to be worth a damn. " He snarled this bitterly, with apeculiar leering lift of his lip, as if his words tasted badly. 

"Most of the boys are going up-river, " said Gale. 

"Well, those hills look as if they had gold in them, " said thestranger, pointing vaguely. "I'm going to prospect. "

Gale knew instinctively that the fellow was lying, for his hands werenot those of a miner; but there was nothing to be said. His judgmentwas verified, however, when Poleon drew him aside later and said:

"You know dat feller?"

"No. "

"He's bad man. "

"How do you know?"

"She's leave Dawson damn queeck. Dose Mounted Police t'row 'im on deboat jus' before we lef. " Then he told a story that he had heard. Theman, it seemed, had left Skagway between two suns, upon the disruptionof Soapy Smith's band of desperadoes, and had made for the interior, but had been intercepted at the Pass by two members of the Citizens'Committee who came upon him suddenly. Pretending to yield, he hadexecuted some unexpected coup as he delivered his gun, for both menfell, shot through the body. No one knew just what it was he did, norcared to question him overmuch. The next heard of him was at LakeBennett, over the line, where the Mounted Police recognized him andsent him on. They marked him well, however, and passed him on from postto post as they had driven others whose records were known; but he hadlost himself in the confusion at Dawson for a few weeks, until thescarlet-coated riders searched him out, disarmed him, and forced himsullenly aboard this steamer. The offscourings of the Canadian frontierwere drifting back into their native country to settle. 

Old Man Gale cared little for this, for he had spent his life amongsuch men, but as he watched the fellow a scheme outlined itself in hishead. Evidently the man dared not go farther down the river, for therewas nothing save Indian camps and a Mission or two this side of St. Michael's, and at that point there was a court and many soldiers, whereone was liable to meet the penalty of past misdeeds, hence he wasprobably resolved to stop here, and, judging by his record, he was aman of settled convictions. Continued persecution is wont to stircertain natures to such reckless desperation that interference isdangerous, and Gale, recalling his sullen look and ill-concealedcontempt for the soldiers, put the stranger down as a man of this type. Furthermore, he had been impressed by the fellow's remarkable dexterityof wrist. 

The trader stepped to the door, and, seeing Burrell on the deck of thesteamer, went down towards him. It was a long chance, but the stakeswere big and worth the risk. He had thought much during the nightprevious--in fact, for many hours--and the morning had found him stillundecided, wherefore he took this course. 

"Necia tells me that you aim to keep law and order here, " he began, abruptly, having drawn the young man aside. 

"Those are my instructions, " said Burrell, "but they are so vague--"

"Well! This camp is bigger than it was an hour ago, and it 'ain'timproved any in the growth. Yonder goes the new citizen. " He pointed tothe stranger, who had returned to the steamer for his baggage and wasdescending the gang-plank beneath them, a valise in each hand. "He's athief and a murderer, and we don't want him here. Now, it's up to you. "

"I don't understand, " said the Lieutenant, whereupon the trader toldhim Doret's tale. "You and your men were sent here to keep thingspeaceable, " he concluded, "and I reckon when a man is too tough for theCanuck police he is tough enough for you to tackle. There ain't a lockand key in the camp, and we ain't had a killing or a stealing in tenyears. We'd like to keep it that way. "

"Well--you see--I know nothing of that shooting affray, so I doubt ifmy authority would permit me to interfere, " the soldier mused, half tohimself. 

"I allowed you were to use your own judgment, " said the elder man. 

"So I am, I suppose. There is one chance, Mr. Gale. If you'll back meup I'll send him on down to St. Michael's. That is the most I can do. "

The Lieutenant outlined his plan, and as he went on the trader noddedapproval. 

The young man gazed back at him so squarely, his eyes were so pleasantand friendly, his whole person breathed such straight-up honesty andfreshness, that shame arose in the old man, and he had hard shift tokeep his glance from wavering. Without forethought he answered, impulsively:

"He's desperate and he's dangerous. I sold him a '45' just now. " He wasabout to tell him where the man wore it, and to add a word concerninghis dexterity with the gun, when the very fearless deliberation of theyouth deterred him. On second thought, Gale yielded to an impulse towait and see how Meade Burrell would act under fire. If the soldieremerged scathless, it would give him a line on his character; if he didnot--well, that would be even better. The sight of his blue and brassawoke in the elder man dread and cowardice, emotions he had neverexperienced before. Anyhow, he owed it to himself, to Necia, and to theothers to find out what kind of man this soldier was. 

The crowd was coming back to the steamer, which had discharged her fewbundles of freight, and there was no one inside the log post as theyentered except Doret and the stranger, who had deposited his baggage atthe rear and was talking with the Frenchman at the bar. At sight of theLieutenant he became silent, and turned carelessly, although with adistrustful stare. Burrell wasted no time. 

"Are you going to locate here?" he began. 

"Yes. "

"I notice you go skeleton-rigged, " the soldier continued, indicatingthe man's baggage. "Pretty small outfit for a miner, isn't it?"

"It's plenty for me. "

"Have you enough money to buy your season's grub?"

"I guess that's my business. "

"Pardon me, it is my business also. "

"What is this--a hold-up?" The man laughed harshly, at the same timeswinging around till he faced his questioner. Gale noted that his righthand now hung directly over the spot where his suspenders buttoned onthe right side. The trader moved aside and took up a position at somedistance. 

"My orders are to see that all new-comers either have an outfit or areable to buy one, " said Burrell. "Those that are not equipped properlyare to be sent down-river to St. Michael's, where there is plenty ofeverything and where they will be taken care of by the government. Mr. Gale has only sufficient provisions to winter the men already in thisdistrict. "

"I can take care of myself, " said the man, angrily, "whether I'm brokeor not, and I don't want any of your interference. " He shot a quickglance at Poleon Doret, but the Frenchman's face was like wood, and hishand still held the neck of the whiskey bottle he had set out for thestranger before the others entered. Gale leaned against the oppositecounter, his countenance inert but for the eyes, which were fixed uponthe Lieutenant. 

"Come, " said the officer, peremptorily, "I have heard all about you, and you are not the kind of citizen we want here, but if you haveenough money for an outfit I can't send you away. If you haven't--"

"I'm broke, " said the man, but at the note in his voice Poleon Doret'smuscles tightened, and Burrell, who also read a sinister message in thetone, slid his heavy service revolver from its holster beneath his coat. 

He had never done this thing before, and it galled him. He had neverdrawn a weapon on a man, and this playing at policeman became suddenlymost repugnant, stirring in him the uncomfortable feeling that he wasdoing a mean thing, and not only a mean thing, but one of which heought to be heartily ashamed. He felt decidedly amateurish, especiallywhen he saw that the man apparently intended no resistance and made nomove. However, he was in for it now, and must end as he had begun. 

"Give me your gun, " he said; "I'll unload it and give it back to you atthe gang-plank. "

"All right, you've got the upper hand, " said the man through lips thathad gone white. Drawing his weapon from beneath his vest, he presentedit to the officer, butt foremost, hammer underneath. The cylinderreposed naturally in the palm of his hand, and the tip of hisforefinger was thrust through the trigger-guard. 

Burrell lowered the barrel of his revolver and put out his left handfor the other's weapon. Suddenly the man's wrist jerked, the soldiersaw a blue flicker of sunlight on the steel as it whirled, saw the armof Poleon Doret fling itself across the bar with the speed of astriking serpent, heard a smash of breaking glass, felt the shock of aconcussion, and the spatter of some liquid in his face. Then he saw theman's revolver on the floor half-way across the room, saw fragments ofglass with it, and saw the fellow step backward, snatching at thefingers of his right hand. A smell of powder-smoke and rank whiskey wasin the air. 

There are times when a man's hand will act more swiftly than histongue. Napoleon Doret had seen the manner of the stranger's surrenderof his gun, and, realizing too late what it meant, had acted. At thevery instant of the fellow's treachery, Doret struck with his bottlejust in time to knock the weapon from his hand, but not in time toprevent its discharge. The bullet was lodged in the wall a foot fromwhere Gale stood. As the stranger staggered back, the Frenchman vaultedthe bar, but, though swift as a cat, the soldier, who had also leaped, was before him. Aiming a sweeping downward blow with his Colt, Burrellclipped the Skagway man just above the ear, and he reeled; then as hefell the officer struck wickedly again at his opponent's skull, butDoret seized him by the arm. 

"Ba Gar, don't kill 'im twice!"

Burrell wrenched his arm free and turned on Doret a face that remainedlong in the Frenchman's memory, a face suffused with fury and convulsedlike that of a sprinter at the finish of a race. The two men stared ateach other over the fallen figure for a brief moment, until the soldiergained mastery of himself and sheathed his weapon, when Poleon smiled. 

"I spoil' a quart of good w'iskee on you. Dat's wort' five dollar. "

The Lieutenant wiped the liquor from his face. 

"Quick work, Doret, " he said. "I owe you one. "

Gale's face was hidden as he bent over the prostrate man, fingering along and ragged cut which laid the fellow's scalp open from back of theear to the temple, but he mumbled something unintelligible. 

"Is he hurt badly?"

"No, you chipped him too low, " said the trader. "I told you he was bad. "

"He's goin' have nice birt'-mark, anyhow, " said Doret, going back ofthe bar for some water. They revived the man, then bound up his injuryhastily, and as the steamer cast off they led him to the bank andpassed his grip-sacks to a roustabout. He said no word as he walkedunsteadily up the plank, but turned and stared malignantly at them fromthe deck; then, as the craft swung outward into the stream, he grinnedthrough the trickle of blood that stole down from beneath his wide hat, if the convulsive grimace he made could be termed a grin, and cried:

"I'd like to introduce myself, for I'm coming back to winter with you, Lieutenant! My name is Runnion. " And until the steamer was hiddenbehind the bend below they saw him standing there gazing back at themfixedly. 

As Burrell left the two men at the store, he gave his hand frankly tothe French-Canadian, and said, while his cheeks flushed:

"I want to thank you for saving me from my own awkwardness. "

Doret became even more embarrassed than the Lieutenant at this show ofgratitude, and grunted churlishly. But when the young man had gone heturned to Gale, who had watched them silently, and said:

"He's nice young feller, ole man. Sapre! Wen he's mad his eye got sored lak' my ondershirt. "

But the trader made no reply. 

CHAPTER III

WITHOUT BENEFIT OF CLERGY

When the steamer had gone Napoleon Doret went to look for Necia, andfound her playing with the younger Gales, who revelled in the gifts hehad brought. Never had there been such a surprise. Never had there beensuch gorgeous presents for little folks. This was a land in which therewere no toys, a country too young for babes; and any one whose youthhad been like that of other children would have seen a pathos in thejoy of these two. Poleon had been hard put to it to find anythingsuitable for his little friends, for although there was all manner ofmerchandise coming into Dawson, none of it was designed for tinypeople, not even clothes. 

It was evident that he had pleased them, for when he appeared they ranat his legs like twin cubs, incoherent and noisy, the pleasure withinthem too turbulent for expression. They had never played with a toythat Poleon had not built for them, nor worn a garment that Alluna hadnot made. This, then, was a day of revelations, for the first thingthey beheld upon opening their packs was a pair of rubber boots foreach. They were ladies' knee-boots, the smallest size in stock, but theGales entered them bodily, so to speak, moccasins and all, clear totheir hips, like the waders that duck-hunters use. When they ran theyfell down and out of them, but their pride remained upright and serene, for were not these like the boots that Poleon wore, and not of Indianmake, with foolish beads on them? Next, the youthful heir had found astraw hat of strange and wondrous fashion, with a brim like a board anda band of blue, which Poleon had bought from a college man who hadretained this emblem of his past to the final moment. Like the boots, it was much too large for little John, and hard to master, but it madea brave display, as did a red cravat, which covered his front like abaseball catcher's harness. Molly had also two sets of side-combs, gorgeously ornamented with glass diamonds, and a silver-handledtooth-brush, with which she scrubbed the lame puppy. This puppy hadthree legs and the mange, and he was her particular pride. 

There were certain other things, the use of which they did notunderstand, like queer-smelling, soft, yellow balls which Necia saidwere oranges and good to eat, although the skins were leathery and verybitter, nor were they nearly so pleasant to the nose as the toiletsoap, which Necia would not allow them even to taste. Then there was abox of chocolate candies such as the superintendent at St. Michael'ssent them every spring, and an atomizer, which Necia had filled withFlorida Water. This worked on the puppy even better than thetooth-brush. 

The elder girl laughed gladly as Poleon entered, though her eyes werewet with the pity of it. 

"You seem to bring sunshine wherever you go, " she said. "They havenever had things to play with like other children, and it makes me cryto watch them. "

"Ho, ho!" he chuckled, "dis ain'no time for cryin'. Ba gosh! I guessyou don' have so much present w'en you was li'l' gal you'se'f, w'at?Mebbe you t'ink I forget you. Wal, I didn't. "

He began to undo the fastenings of a parcel he carried in his arms, forNapoleon Doret had brought other things from Dawson besides his giftsto the children. Necia snatched at the package. 

"Don't you dare open it! Why, that's half the fun. " She was a childherself now, her face flushed and her hands a-tremble. Taking thepackage to the table, she hurriedly untied the knots while he stoodwatching her, his teeth showing white against his dark face, and hiseyes half shut as if dazzled by the sight of her. 

"Oh, why didn't you tie more knots in it?" she breathed as she undidthe last, and then, opening the wrappings slowly, she gasped inastonishment. She shook it out gently, reverently--a clinging blacklace gown of Paris make. Next she opened a box and took from it apicture hat, with long jet plumes, which she stroked and pressed fondlyagainst her face. There were other garments also--a silken petticoat, silk stockings, and a pair of high-heeled shoes to match, with certainother delicate and dainty things which she modestly forbore to inspectbefore the Frenchman, who said no word, but only gazed at her, and forwhom she had no eyes as yet. Finally she laid her presents aside, and, turning to him, said, in a hushed, awe-stricken voice:

"It's all there, everything complete! Oh, Poleon--you dear, dearPoleon!" She took his two big hands by the thumbs, as had been hercustom ever since she was a child, and looked up at him, her eyes wetwith emotion. But she could not keep away from the dress for long, andreturned to feast her eyes upon it, the two children standing besideher, sprouting out of their rubber boots, with eyes and mouths roundand protruding. 

"You lak' it, eh?" pressed Poleon, hungry for more demonstrativeexpression. 

"Oh-h, " she sighed, "can't you SEE? Where on earth did you get it?"Then suddenly realizing its value, she cried, "Why, it must have cost afortune!" A quick reproach leaped into her face, but he only laughedagain. 

"Wan night I gamble in beeg saloon. Yes, sir! I gamble good dat night, too. For w'ile I play roulette, den I dance, den I play some more, an'by-an'-by I see a new dance gal. She's Franche gal, from Montreal. Dat's de one I tol' you 'bout. Ba Gar! She's swell dress', too. She'sname' Marie Bourgette. "

"Oh, I've heard about her, " said Necia. "She owns a claim on BonanzaCreek. "

"Sure, she's frien's wit' Charlie McCormack, dat riche feller, but Idon' know it dis tam', so I ask her for dance wit' me. Den we drink abottle of champagne--twenty dollar. "

"'Mamselle, ' I say, 'how much you charge for sell me dat dress?'"

"'For w'y shall I sell im, ' she say; 'I don' wear 'im before tillto-night, an' I don' get no more dress lak' dis for t'ousan' dollar. '"

Necia exclaimed excitedly. 

'"For w'y you sell 'im?' I say. 'Biccause I'll tak' 'im down toFlambeau for Necia Gale, w'at never had no dress lak' dat in all herlife. ' Wal, sir, dat Marie Bourgette, she's hear of you before, an'your dad, too--mos' all dose Cheechakos know 'bout Old Man Gale--so shesay:

"'Wat lookin' kind of gal is dis Necia?' An' I tell her all 'bout you. Wen I'm t'rough she say:'"

"'But maybe your little frien' is more bigger as I am. Maybe de dresswon't fit. '"

"'Ha! You don' know me, mamselle, ' I say. 'I can guess de weight of acaribou to five poun'. She'll be same size la'kin' one inch 'roun' dewais'. '"

"'Poleon Doret, ' she say, 'you ain' no Franchemans to talk lak'dat. Look here! I can sell dis dress for t'ousan' dollar to-night, or I cantrade 'im for gol'-mine on El Dorado Creek to some dose Swede w'at wantto catch a gal, but I'm goin' sell 'im to you for t'ree hondred dollar, jus' w'at I pay for 'im. You wait here till I come back. '"

"'No, no, Mamselle Marie, I'll go 'long, too, for so you don' changeyour min', ' I say; an' I stan' outside her door till she pass me dewhole dam' works. "

"' Don' forget de little shoes, ' I say--an' dat's how it come!"

"And you paid three hundred dollars for it!" Necia said, aghast. TheCanadian shrugged. 

"Only for de good heart of Marie Bourgette I pay wan t'ousan', " saidhe. "I mak' seven hondred dollar clean profit!"

"It was very nice of both of you, but--I can't wear it. I've never seena dress like it, except in pictures, and I couldn't--" She saw his facefall, and said, impulsively:

"I'll wear it once, anyhow, Poleon, just for you. Go away quick, now, and let me put it on. "

"Dat's good, " he nodded, as he moved away. "I bet you mak' dosedance-hall women look lak' sucker. "

No man may understand the girl's feelings as she set about clothingherself in her first fine dress. Time and again she had studiedpictures from the "outside" showing women arrayed in the newest styles, and had closed her eyes to fancy herself dressed in like manner. Shehad always had an instinctive feeling that some day she would leave theNorth and see the wonderful world of which men spoke so much, andmingle with the fine ladies of her picture-books, but she never dreamedto possess an evening-gown while she lived in Alaska. And now, evenwhile she recognized the grotesqueness of the situation, she burned towear it and see herself in the garb of other women. So, with themorning sun streaming brightly into her room, lighting up themoss-chinked walls, the rough barbarism of fur and head and trophy, shedonned the beautiful garments. 

Poleon's eye had been amazingly correct, for it fitted her neatly, saveat the waist, which was even more than an inch too large, notwithstanding the fact that she had never worn such a corset as thewell-formed Marie Bourgette was accustomed to. 

She pondered long and hesitated modestly when she saw its low cut, which exposed her neck and shoulders in a totally unaccustomed manner, for it struck her as amazingly indecent until she scurried through hermagazines again and saw that its construction, as compared with others, was most conservative. Even so she shrank at sight of herself below theline of sunburn, for she was ringed about like a blue-winged teal, thedemarcation being more pronounced because of the natural whiteness ofher skin. The year previous Doret had brought her from the coast aSpanish shawl, which a salt-water sailor had sold him, and which hadlain folded away ever since. She brought it forth now and arranged itabout her shoulders, but in spite of this covering the fair fleshbeneath peeped through its wide interstices most brazenly. She hadnever paid marked attention to the fairness of her skin till now, andall at once this difference between herself and her little brother andsister struck her. She had been a mother to them ever since they came, and had often laughed when she saw how brown their little bodies were, rejoicing in blushing quietude at her own whiteness, but to-day sheneither laughed nor felt any joy, rather a dim wonder. She sat down, dress and all, in the thick softness of a great brown bear-skin andthought it over. 

How odd it was, now that she considered it, that she needed no aid withthese alien garments, that she knew instinctively their every feature, that there was no intricacy to cause her more than an instant'strouble. This knowledge must be a piece with the intuitive wit that hadbeen the wonder of Father Barnum and had enabled her to absorb histeachings as fast as he gave them forth. 

She was interrupted in her reverie by the passing of a shadow acrossher window and the stamp of a man's feet on the planks at the door. Ofcourse, it was Poleon, who had come back to see her; so she rosehastily, gave one quick glance at the mirror above her washstand, choosing the side that distorted her image the least, and, hearing himstill stamping, perfunctorily called:

"Come in! I'll be right out. "

She kicked the train into place behind her, looped the shawl carelesslyabout her in a way to veil her modesty effectively, and, with anexpectant smile at his extravagance of admiration, swept out into thebig room, very self-conscious and very pleasing to the eye. She crossedproudly to the reading-table to give him a fair view of her splendor, and was into the middle of the room before she looked up. Taken aback, she uttered a little strangled cry and made a quick movement ofretreat, only to check herself and stand with her chin high in the air, while wave after wave of color swept over her face. 

"Great lovely dove!" ejaculated Burrell, fervently, staring at her. 

"Oh, I--I thought you were Poleon. He--" In spite of herself sheglanced towards her room as if to flee; she writhed at the utterabsurdity of her appearance, and knew the Lieutenant must be laughingat her. But flight would only make it worse, so she stood as she was, having drawn back as far as she could, till the table checked her. Burrell, however, was not laughing, nor smiling even, for hisembarrassment rivalled hers. 

"I was looking for your father, " he said, wondering if this gloriousthing could be the quaint half-breed girl of yesterday. There wasnothing of the native about her now, for her lithe young figure wasdrawn up to its height, and her head, upon which the long, black braidswere coiled, was tipped back in a haughty poise. She had flung herhands out to grasp the table edge behind her, forgetful of her shawl, which drooped traitorously and showed such rounded lines as herordinary dress scarce hinted at. This was no Indian maid, the soldiervowed; no blood but the purest could pulse in such veins, no spiritsave the highest could flash in such eyes as these. A jealous rancorirked him at the thought of this beauty intended for the Frenchman'seyes. 

"Can't you show yourself to me as well as to Poleon?" he said. 

"Certainly not!" she declared. "He bought this dress for me, and I putit on to please him. " Now she was herself again, for some note in theLieutenant's voice gave her dominance over him. "After he sees it Iwill take it off, and--"

"Don't--don't take it off--ever, " said Burrell. "I thought you werebeautiful before, because of your quaintness and simplicity, but now--"his chest swelled--"why, this is a breath from home. You're like mysister and the girls back in Kentucky, only more wonderful. "

"Am I?" she cried, eagerly. "Am I like other girls? Do I really look asif I'd always worn clothes like these?"

"Born to them, " said he. 

A smile broke over her grave face, assuming a hundred different shadesof pleasure and making a child of her on the instant; all her reserveand hauteur vanished. Her warmth and unaffected frankness suffused him, as she stood out, turning to show the beauties of her gown, her brownhands fluttering tremulously as she talked. 

"It's my first party-dress, you know, and I'm as proud of it as Mollyis of her rubber boots. It's too big in here and too small right there;that girl must have had a bad chest; but otherwise it fits me as if ithad been made for me, doesn't it? And the shoes! Aren't they thedearest things? See. " She held her skirts back, showing her two feetside by side, her dainty ankles slim and shapely in their silk. 

"They won't shed water, " he said. 

"I know; and look at the heels. I couldn't walk a mile to save my life. "

"And they will come off if they get wet. "

"But they make me very tall. "

"They don't wear as well as moccasins. " Both laughed delightedly tillhe broke in, impulsively:

"Oh, girl, don't you know how beautiful you are?"

"Of course I do!" she cried, imitating his change of voice; then added, naively, "That's why I hate to take it off. "

"Where did you learn to wear things like that?" he questioned. "Wheredid you get that--well--that air?"

"It seems to me I've always known. There's nothing strange about it. The buttons and the hooks and the eyes are all where they belong. It'sinstinct, I suppose, from father's side--"

"Probably. I dare say I should understand the mechanism of adress-suit, even if I'd never seen one, " said the man, amused, yetimpressed by her argument. 

"I've always had visions of women dressed in this kind of clothing, white women--never natives--not dressed like this exactly, but indainty, soft things, not at all like the ones I wear. I seem to have amemory, although it's hardly that, either--it's more like a dream--asif I were somebody else. Father says it is from reading too much. "

"A memory of what?"

"It's too vague and tantalizing to tell what it is, except that Ishould be called Merridy. "

"Merridy? Why that?"

"I'll show you. See. " She slipped her hand inside the shawl and drewfrom her breast a thin gold chain on which was strung a band ring. "Itwas grandmother's--that's where I got the fancy for the name ofMerridy, I suppose. "

"May I look?"

"Of course. But I daren't take it off. I haven't had it off my necksince I was a baby. " She held it out for him to examine, and, althoughit brought his head close to hers, there was no trace of coquetry inthe invitation. He read the inscription, "From Dan to Merridy, " but hadno realization of what it meant, for he glimpsed the milk-white fleshalmost at his lips, and felt her breath stirring his hair, while thedelicate scent of her person seemed to loose every strong emotion inhim. She was so dainty and yet so virile, so innocent and yet so wise, so cold and yet so pulsating. 

"It is very pretty, " he said, inanely. 

At the look in his eyes as he raised his head her own widened, and shewithdrew from him imperceptibly, dismissing him with a mere inflection. 

"I wish you would send Poleon here. It's time he saw his present. "

As Burrell walked out into the air he shut his jaws grimly andmuttered: "Hold tight, young man. She's not your kind--she's not yourkind. "

Inside the store he found Doret and the trader in conversation with aman he had not met before, a ragged nondescript whose overalls wereblue and faded and patched, particularly on the front of the legs abovethe knees, where a shovel-handle wears hardest; whose coat was ofyellow mackinaw, the sleeves worn thin below the elbows, where they hadrubbed against his legs in his work. As the soldier entered, the manturned on him a small, shrewd, weather-beaten face with one eye, whilehe went on talking to Gale. 

"It ain't nothin' to git excited over, but it's wuth follerin'. If Iwasn't so cussed unlucky I'd know there was a pay streak som'ere closeby. "

"Your luck is bound to change, Lee, " said the trader, who helped him toroll up a pack of provisions. 

"Mebbe so. Who's the dressmaker?" He jerked his bushy head towardsBurrell, who had stopped at the front door with Poleon to examine someyellow grains in a folded paper. 

"He's the boss soldier. "

"Purty, ain't he?"

"If you ain't good he'll get you, " said Gale, a trifle cynically, atwhich Lee chuckled. 

"I reckon there's several of us in camp that ain't been a whole lot toogood, " said he. "Has he tried to git anybody yet?"

"No, but he's liable to. What would happen if he did? Suppose, forinstance, he went after you--or me?"

The one-eyed man snorted derisively. "It ain't wuth considerin'!"

"Why not?" insisted Gale, guardedly. "Maybe I've got a record--youdon't know. "

"If you have, don't tell me nothin' about it, " hastily observed Lee. "I'm a God-fearin' citizen myself, leanin' ever towards peace andquietudes, but what's past is dead and gone, and I'd hate to see alispin' child like that blue-and-yeller party try to reezureck it. "

"He's got the American army to back him up--at least five of them. "

"Five agin a hundred. He aims to overawe us, don't he?" snickered theunregenerate Lee, but his wrinkles changed and deepened as he leanedacross the counter confidentially. 

"You say the word, John, and I'll take some feller along to help me, and we'll transfer this military post. There's plenty that would likethe job if you give the wink. "

"Pshaw! I'm just supposing, " said the trader. "As long as they playaround and drill and toot that horn, and don't bother anybody, I allowthey're not in the way. "

"All right! It's up to you. However, if I happen to leap down on thispay streak before it sees me comin', I'm goin' to put my friends infirst and foremost, and shut out these dressmakers complete. So long!"He thrust his arms beneath the legs of a new pair of blue overalls thatformed his pack-straps, wriggled the burden comfortably into placebetween his shoulders, and slouched out past Doret, to whom he nodded, ignoring the "dressmaker. "

Having given Necia's message to Poleon, the Lieutenant took up hisbusiness with the trader. It concerned the purchase of certain suppliesthat had been omitted from the military outfit, and when this wasconcluded he referred to the encounter of that morning. 

"I don't want you to think I bungle everything in that manner, " hesaid, "for I don't. I want to work with you, and I want to be friendswith you. "

"I'm willing, " said Gale. 

"Nobody dislikes playing policeman more than I do, but it's a part ofmy duty, and I'll have to do it, " continued the young man. 

"I reckon you simply aim to keep peace, eh? You ain't lookin' fornobody in particular?"

"Of course not--outside of certain notorious criminals who have escapedjustice and worked north. "

"Then there is a few that you want, eh?"

"Yes, certain old-timers. The officers at every post have descriptionsof a few such, and if they show up we will take them in and hold themtill courts are established. "

"If you've got their names and descriptions, mebbe I could help you, "said the trader, carelessly. 

"Thank you, I'll bring up the list and we'll go over it together. Youmust have been here a good while. "

"About ten years. "

"Then Miss Necia was born out in the States?"

Gale shot a startled glance at the soldier before he answered in theaffirmative, but Burrell was studying a pattern of sunlight on thefloor and did not observe him. A moment later he inquired, hesitatingly:

"Is this your first marriage, Mr. Gale?" When the other did not answer, he looked up and quickly added:

"I beg your pardon, sir. What led me to ask was Miss Necia--she isso--well--she is such a remarkable girl. "

Gale's face had undergone a change, but he answered, quietly:

"I 'ain't never been married. "

"What?"

"When I took Alluna it wasn't the style, and neither one of us hasthought much about it since. "

"Oh, I see, " exclaimed Burrell, hurriedly. "I'll bring that list withme the first time I think about it, " and, nodding amiably, he saunteredout. But his mind was in a whirl, and even after he had reached hisquarters he found himself repeating:

"The other was bad enough. Poor little girl! Poor little girl!"

Gale likewise left the store and went into his house, the odd lookstill strong in his eyes, to find Necia posing in her new regalia forPoleon's benefit. At sight of her he fell into a strange and unexpectedhumor, and to their amazement commanded her roughly to take the thingsoff. His voice and manner were harsh and at utter variance with anymood he had ever displayed before; nor would he explain his unreasoningfury, but strode out again, leaving her in tears and the Frenchmanstaring. 

CHAPTER IV

THE SOLDIER FINDS AN UNTRODDEN VALLEY

During the weeks that followed Meade Burrell saw much of Necia. Atfirst he had leaned on the excuse that he wanted to study the curiousfreak of heredity she presented; but that wore out quickly, and he lethimself drift, content with the pleasure of her company and happy inthe music of her laughter. Her quick wit and keen humor delighted him, and the mystery of her dark eyes seemed to hold the poetry and beautyof all the red races that lay behind her on the maternal side. At timeshe thought of her as he had seen her that morning in the dance-girl'sdress, and remembered the purity of neck and breast it had displayed, but he attributed that to the same prank of heritage that had endowedher with other traits alien to her mother's race. 

He had experienced a profound sense of pity for her upon learning herfather's relation to Alluna, but this also largely vanished when hefound that the girl was entirely oblivious to its significance. He hadtried her in many subtle ways, and found that she regarded the matterinnocently, as customary, and therefore in the light of an acceptedconvention; nor did she seem to see anything in her blood or station torender her inferior to other women. She questioned him tirelessly abouthis sister, and he was glad of this, for it placed no constraintbetween them. So that, as he explored her many quaint beliefs and pagansuperstitions, the delight of being with her grew, and he ceased toreason whither it might lead him. 

As for her, each day brought a keener delight. She unfolded before theKentuckian like some beautiful woodland flower, and throughinnumerable, unnoticed familiarities took him into her innermostconfidence, sharing with him those girlish hopes and beliefs andaspirations she had never voiced till now. 

A month of this went by, and then Runnion returned. He came on anup-going steamer which panted in for a rest from its thousand-mileclimb, and for breath to continue its fight against the never-tiringsweep of waters. The manner of his coming was bold, for he stood fairlyupon the ship's deck, staring at the growing picture of the town, as hehad watched it recede a month before, and his smile was evil now, as ithad been then. With him was a stranger. When the boat was at restRunnion sauntered down the gang-plank and up to the Lieutenant, whostood above the landing-place, and who noted that the scar, close upagainst his hat-band, was scarce healed. He accosted the officer withan insolent assurance. 

"Well, I'm back again, you see, and I'm back to stay. "

"Very well, Runnion; did you bring an outfit with you?" The young manaddressed him civilly, although he felt that the fellow's presence wasa menace and would lead to trouble. 

"Yes, and I'm pretty fat besides. " He shook a well-laden gold-sack atthe officer. "I reckon I can rustle thirteen dollars a month mostanywhere, if I'm left alone. "

"What do you want in this place, anyhow?" demanded Burrell, curiously. 

"None of your damned business, " the man answered, grinning. 

"Be sure it isn't, " retorted the Lieutenant, "because it would pleaseme right down to the ground if it were. I'd like to get you. "

"I'm glad we understand each other, " Runnion said, and turned tooversee the unloading of his freight, falling into conversation withthe stranger, who had been surveying the town without leaving the boat. Evidently this man had a voice in Runnion's affairs, for he not onlygave him instructions, but bossed the crew who handled his merchandise, and Meade Burrell concluded that he must be some incoming tenderfootwho had grub-staked the desperado to prospect in the hills back ofFlambeau. As the two came up past him he saw that he was mistaken--thisman was no more of a tenderfoot than Runnion; on the contrary, he hadthe bearing of one to whom new countries are old, who had trod the edgeof things all his life. There was a hint of the meat-eating animalabout him; his nose was keen and hawk-like, his walk and movementsthose of the predatory beast, and as he passed by, Burrell observedthat his eyes were of a peculiar cruelty that went well with his thinlips. He was older by far than Runnion, but, while the latter wasmean-visaged and swaggering, the stranger's manner was noticeable forits repression. 

Impelled by an irresistible desire to learn something about the man, the Lieutenant loitered after Runnion and his companion, and enteredthe store in time to see the latter greet "No Creek" Lee, theprospector, who had come into town for more food. Both men spoke withquiet restraint. 

"Nine years since I saw you, Stark, " said the miner. "Where you bound?"

"The diggings, " replied Stark, as Lee addressed the stranger. 

"Mining now?"

"No, same old thing, but I'm grub-staking a few men, as usual. One ofthem stays here. I may open a house in Dawson if the camp is as good asthey say it is. "

"This here's a good place for you. "

Stark laughed noiselessly and without mirth. "Fine! There must be ahundred people living here. "

"Never mind, you take it from me, " said the miner, positively, "and getin now on the quiet. There's something doing. " His one sharp eyedetected the Lieutenant close by, so he drew his friend aside and begantalking to him earnestly and with such evident effect as to alterStark's plans on the moment; for when Runnion entered the store shortlyStark spoke to him quickly, following which they both hurried back tothe steamer and saw to the unloading of much additional freight andbaggage. From the volume and variety of this merchandise, it wasevident that Mr. Stark would in no wise be a burden to the community. 

Burrell was not sufficiently versed in the ways of mining-camps to knowexactly what this abrupt change of policy meant, but that there wassomething in the air he knew from the mysterious manner of "No Creek"Lee and from the suppressed excitement of Doret and the trader. Hiscuriosity got the better of him finally, and he fell into talk withLee, inquiring about the stranger by way of an opening. 

"That's Ben Stark. I knew him back in the Cassiar country, " said Lee. 

"Is he a mining man?"

"Well, summat. He's made and lost a bank-roll that a greyhound couldn'tleap over in the mining business, but it ain't his reg'lar graft. Herun one of the biggest places in the Northwest for years. "

"Saloon, eh?"

"Saloon and variety house--seven bartenders, that's all. He's thefeller that killed the gold-commissioner. Of course, that put him onthe hike again. "

"How do you mean?"

"Well, he had a record as long as a sick man's drug bill before he wentinto that country, and when he put the commissioner away them Canadianofficials went after him like they was killin' snakes, and it cost himall he had made to get clear. If it had happened across the line, thecoroner's jury would have freed him, 'cause the commissioner was drunkand started the row; but it happened right in Stark's saloon, and youknow Canucks is stronger than vitriol for law and order. Not bein' hisfirst offence, it went hard with him. "

"He looks like a killer, " said Burrell. 

"Yes, but he ain't the common kind. He always lets the other man begin, and therefore he ain't never done time. "

"Come, now, " argued the Lieutenant, "if it were the other man whoinvariably shot first, Stark would have been killed long ago. "

"I don't care what WOULD have happened, it 'AIN'T happened, and he'sgot notches on his gun till it looks like a cub bear had chawed it. Ifyou was a Western man you'd know what they say about him. "

"'The bullet 'ain't been run to kill him. ' That's the sayin'. Youneedn't grin, there's many a better man than you believes it. "

"Who is it that the bullet hasn't been run to kill?" said the trader'sdeep voice behind them. He had finished with his duties, and nowsauntered forward. 

"Ben Stark, " said Lee, turning. "You know him, John?"

"No, I never saw him, but I know who he is--used to hear of him in theCoeur d'Alenes. "

"That's him I was talking to, " said the miner. "He's an old friend ofmine, and he's going to locate here. "

Burrell thought he saw Lee wink at the trader, but he was not sure, forat that moment the man of whom they were speaking re-entered. Leeintroduced him, and the three men shook hands. While the soldier fellinto easy conversation with the new-comer, Gale gazed at him narrowly, studying him as he studied all men who came as strangers. As he wasdoing so Alluna entered, followed by Johnny and Molly. She had come forsugar, and asked for it in her native tongue. Upon her exit Stark brokeoff talking to the Lieutenant and turned to the trader. 

"Your squaw, Mr. Gale?"

The old man nodded. 

"Pah-Ute, eh?"

"Yes. Why, do you savvy the talk?"

"Some. I lived in California once. "

"Where?" The question came like a shot. 

"Oh, here and there; I followed the Mother Lode for a spell. "

"I don't recall the name, " said the trader, after a bit. 

 "Possibly. Where were you located?"

"I never lit on any one place long enough to call it home. "

It seemed to Burrell that both men were sparring cautiously in anindirect, impersonal manner. 

"Those your kids, too, eh?" Stark continued. 

"Yes, and I got another one besides--older. A girl. "

"She's a 'pip, ' too, " said "No Creek" Lee, fervently. "She's plumbbeautiful. "

"All of them half-breeds?" questioned Stark. 

"Sure. " The trader's answer was short, and when the other showed nointention of pressing the subject further he sauntered away; but nosooner was he out of hearing than Stark said: "Humph! They're allalike. "

"Who?"

"Squaw-men. "

"This one ain't, " Lee declared. "He's different; ain't he, Lieutenant?"

"He certainly is, " agreed Burrell. This was the first criticism he hadheard of Necia's father, and although Stark volunteered no argument, itwas plain that his opinion remained unaffected. 

The old man went through the store at the rear and straightway soughtAlluna. Speaking to her with unwonted severity in the Pah-Ute language, he said:

"I have told you never to use your native tongue before strangers. Thatman in the store understands. "

"I only asked for sugar to cook the berries with, " she replied. 

"True, but another time you might say more, therefore the less youspeak it the better. He is the kind who sees much and talks little. Address me in Siwash or in English unless we are alone. "

"I do not like that man, " said the woman. "His eyes are bad, like afish eagle's, and he has no heart. "

Suddenly she dropped her work and came close up to him. "Can he be theone?"

"I don't know. Stark is not the name, but he might have changed it; hehad reasons enough. "

"Who is this man Stark?"

"I don't know that, either. I used to hear of him when I was in BritishColumbia. "

"But surely you must know if he is the same--she must have told you howhe looked--others must have told you--"

Gale shook his head. "Very little. I could not ask her, and others knewhim so well they never doubted that I had seen him; but this much I doknow, he was dark--"

"This man is dark--"

"--and his spirit was like that of a mad horse--"

"This man's temper is black--"

"--and his eyes were cruel. "

"This man has evil eyes. "

"He lacked five years of my age, " said the trader. 

"This man is forty years old. It must be he, " said the squaw. 

Even Necia would have marvelled had she heard this revelation of herfather's age, for his hair and brows were grizzled, and his face hadthe look of a man of sixty, while only those who knew him well, likeDoret, were aware of his great strength and the endurance that beliedhis appearance. 

"We will send Necia down to the Mission to-night, and let Father Barnumkeep her there till this man goes, " said the squaw, after somedeliberation. 

"No, she must stay here, " Gale replied, with decision. "The man hascome here to live, so it won't do any good to send her away, and, afterall, what is to be will be. But she must never be seen in thatdance-girl's dress again, at least, not till I learn more about thisStark. It makes no difference whether this one is the man or not; hewill come and I shall know him. For a year I have felt that the timewas growing short, and now I know it. "

"No, no!" Alluna cried; "we have no strangers here. No white men exceptthe soldiers and this one have come in a year. This is but a littletrading-post. "

"It was yesterday, but it isn't to-day. Lee has made a strike--like theone George Carmack made on the Klondike. He came to tell me and Poleon, and we are going back with him to-night, but you must say nothing or itwill start a stampede. "

"Other men will come--a great many of them?" interrogated Alluna, fearfully, ignoring utterly the momentous news. 

"Yes. Flambeau will be another Dawson if this find is what Lee thinksit is. I stayed away from the Upper Country because I knew crowds ofmen would come from the States, and I feared that he might be amongthem; but it's no use hiding any longer, there's no other place for usto go. If Lee has got a mine, I'll have the one next to it, for we willbe the first ones on the ground. What happens after that won't mattermuch, you four will be provided for. We are to leave in an hour, one ata time, to avoid comment. "

"But why did this man stop here?" insisted the woman. "Why did he notstay on the steamboat and go to Dawson?"

"He's a friend of Lee's. He is going with us. " Then he added, almost ina whisper, "Before we return I shall know. "

Alluna seized his arm. "Promise to come back, John! Promise that youwill come back even if this should be the man. "

"I promise. Don't worry, little woman; I'm not ready for a reckoningyet. "

He gave her certain instructions about the store, charging her inparticular to observe the utmost secrecy regarding the strike, else shemight precipitate a premature excitement which would go far towardsruining his and Poleon's chances. All of which she noted; then, as heturned away, she laid her hand on his arm and said:

"If you do not know him he will not know you. Is it not so?"

"Yes. "

"Then the rest is easy--"

But he only shook his head doubtfully and answered, "Perhaps--I am notsure, " and went inside, where he made up a light pack of bacon, flourand tea, a pail or two, a coffee-pot and a frying-pan, which he rolledinside a robe of rabbit-skin and bound about in turn with a lighttarpaulin. It did not weigh thirty pounds in all. Selecting a new pairof water-boots, he stuffed dry grass inside them, oiled up hissix-shooter, then slipped out the back way, and in five minutes washidden in the thickets. Half an hour later, having completed a detourof the town, he struck the trail to the interior, where he found PoleonDoret, equipped in a similar manner, resting beside a stream, singingthe songs of his people. 

When Burrell returned to his quarters he tried to mitigate the feelingof lonesomeness that oppressed him by tackling his neglectedcorrespondence. Somehow, to-day, the sense of his isolation had comeover him stronger than ever. His rank forbade any intimacy with hismiserable handful of men, who had already fallen into the monotony ofroutine, while every friendly overture he made towards the citizens ofFlambeau was met with distrust and coldness, his stripes of officeseeming to erect a barrier and induce an ostracism stronger and morecomplete than if they had been emblems of the penitentiary. He began toresent it keenly. Even Doret and the trader seemed to share the generalfeeling, hence the thought of the long, lonesome winter approachingreduced the Lieutenant to a state of black despondency, deepened by theknowledge that he now had an open enemy in camp in the person ofRunnion. Then, too, he had taken a morbid dislike to the new man, Stark. So that, all in all, the youth felt he had good reason to be inthe dumps this afternoon. There was nothing desirable in thisplace--everything undesirable--except Necia. Her presence in Flambeauwent far towards making his humdrum existence bearable, but of late hehad found himself dwelling with growing seriousness on the unhappycircumstances of her birth, and had almost made up his mind that itwould be wise not to see her any more. The tempting vision of her inthe ball-dress remained vividly in his imagination, causing him hoursof sweet torment. There was a sparkle, a fineness, a gentleness abouther that seemed to make the few women he had known well dull andcommonplace, and even his sister, whom till now he had held as theperfection of all things feminine, suffered by comparison with thismaiden of the frontier. 

He was steeped in this sweet, grave melancholy, when a knock came athis door, and he arose to find Necia herself there, excited andradiant. She came in without sign of embarrassment or slightestconsciousness of the possible impropriety of her act. 

"The most wonderful thing has happened, " she began at once, when shefound they were alone. "You'll faint for joy. "

"What is it?"

"Nobody knows except father and Poleon and the two new men--"

"What is it?"

"I teased the news out of mother, and then came right here. "

He laughed. "But what--may I ask--"

"Lee has made a strike--a wonderful strike--richer than the Klondike. "

"So? The old man's luck has changed. I'm right glad of that, " said thesoldier. 

"I came as fast as I could, because to-morrow everybody will know aboutit, and it will be too late. "

"Too late for what?"

"For us to get in on it, of course. Oh, but won't there be a stampede!Why, all the people bound for Dawson on the next boat will pile offhere, then the news will go up-river and down-river, and thousands ofothers will come pouring in from everywhere, and this will be a city. Then we will stake our town lots and sell them for ever so much money, and go around with our noses in the air, and they will say to eachother:

"'Who is that beautiful lady with the fine clothes?' and somebody willanswer:

"'Why, that is Miss Necia Gale, the mine-owner. ' And then you will comealong, and they will say:

"'That is Lieutenant Burrell, the millionaire, and--'"

"Hold on! hold on!" said the soldier, stopping her breathless patter. "Tell me all about this. "

"Well, 'No Creek' came in this morning to tell dad and Poleon. Then theboat arrived with an old friend of Lee's, a Mr. Stark, so Lee told him, too, and now they've all gone back to his creek to stake more claims. They slipped away quietly to prevent suspicion, but I knew there wassomething up from the way Poleon acted, so I made Alluna tell me allabout it. They haven't more than two hours start of us, and we canovertake them easily. "

"We! Why, we are not going?"

"Yes, we are, " she insisted, impatiently--"you and I. That's why Icame, so you can get a mine for yourself and be a rich man, and so youcan help me get one. I know the way. Hurry up!"

"No, " said he, in as firm a tone as he could command. "In the firstplace, these men don't like me, and they don't want me to share inthis. "

"What do you care?"

"In the second place, I'm not a miner. I don't know how to proceed. "

"Nevermind; I do. I've heard nothing but mining all my life. "

"In the third place, I don't think I have the right, for I'm a soldier. I'm working for Uncle Sam, and I don't believe I ought to take upmining claims. I'm not sure there is anything to prevent it, butneither am I sure it would be quite the square thing--are you?"

"Why, of course it's all right, " said Necia, her eager face cloudingwith the look of a hurt child. "If you don't do it, somebody else will. "

But the Lieutenant shook his head. "Maybe I'm foolish, but I can't seemy way clear, much as I would like to. "

"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" she exclaimed, brokenly. "I do so want to go. Iwant you to be rich, and I want to be rich myself. I want to be a finelady, and go outside and live like other girls. It's--the onlychance--I ever had--and I'll never have another. Oh, it means so muchto me; it means life, future, everything! Why, it means heaven to agirl like me!" Her eyes were wet with the sudden dashing of her hopes, and her chin quivered in a sweet, girlish way that made the youthalmost surrender on the instant. But she turned to the window and gazedout over the river, continuing, after a moment's pause: "Pleasedon't--mind me--but you can't understand what a difference this wouldmake to me. "

"We couldn't possibly overtake them if we tried, " he said, as ifwilling to treat with his conscience. 

"No, but we could beat them in. I know where Lee is working, for I wentup last winter with Constantine and his dog-team, over a short cut byway of Black Bear Creek. We took it coming back, and I could find itagain, but Lee doesn't know that route, so he will follow the summertrail, which is fifteen miles farther. You see, his creek makes a greatbend to the southward, and heads back towards the river, so by crossingthe divide at the source of Black Bear you drop into it a few milesabove his cabin. "

While she made this appeal Burrell fought with himself. There werereasons why he longed to take this trip, more than he had longed foranything since boyhood. These men of Flambeau had disregarded him, andinsisted on treating him with contemptuous distrust, despite hisrepeated friendly overtures; wherefore he was hungry to beat them attheir own game, hungry to thrust himself ahead of them and compel themto reckon with him as an equal, preferring a state of open enmity, ifnecessary, to this condition of indifferent toleration. Moreover, heknew that Necia was coveted by half of them, and if he spent a night inthe woods alone with her it would stir them up a bit, he fancied. ByHeaven! That would make them sit up and notice him! But then--it mightwork a wrong upon her; and yet, would it? He was not so sure that itwould. She had come to him; she was old enough to know her mind, andshe was but a half-breed girl, after all, who doubtless was not sosimple as she seemed. Other men had no such scruples in this or anyother land, and yet the young man hesitated until, encouraged by hissilence, the girl came forward and spoke again, impulsively:

"Don't be silly, Mr. Burrell. Come! Please come with me, won't you?"

She took him by the edges of his coat and drew him to her coaxingly. Itmay have been partly the spirit of revolt that had been growing in himall day, or it may have been wholly the sense of her there beside him, warm and pleading, but something caused a great wave to surge upthrough his veins, caused him to take her in his arms, fiercely kissingher upturned face again and again, crying softly, deep down in histhroat:

"Yes! Yes! Yes! You little witch! I'll go anywhere with you! Anywhere!Anywhere!" The impulse was blind and ungovernable, and it grew as hislips met hers, while, strangely enough, she made no resistance, yielding herself quietly, till he found her arms wound softly about hisneck and her face nestling close to his. Neither of them knew how longthey stood thus blended together, but soon he grew conscious of thebeating of her heart against his breast, as she lay there like a littlefluttering bird, and felt the throbbing of his own heart swaying him. Her arms, her lips, and her whole body clung to his in a sweetsurrender, and yet there was nothing immodest or unmaidenly about it, for his strength and ardor had lifted her and drawn her to him as onthe sweep of a great wave. 

She drew her face free and hid it against his neck, breathing softlyand with shy timidity, as if the sound of the words she whispered halffrightened her. 

"I love you. I love you, Meade. "

It may happen that a man will spend months in friendly and charmingintimacy with a woman and never feel the violence or tenderness ofpassion till there comes a psychic moment or a physical touch thatsuddenly enwraps them like a flame. So it was with Burrell. The sweetburden of this girl in his arms, the sense of her yielding lips, thewarmth of her caressing hands, momentarily unleashed a leaping pack ofmad desires, and it was she who finally drew herself away to remind himsmilingly that he was wasting time. 

"My lips will be here when those mines are worked out, " she said. "No, no!" and she held him off as he came towards her again, insisting thatif they were going they must be off at once, and that he could have nomore kisses for the present. "But, of course, it is a long trip, and wewill have to sit down now and then to rest, " she added, shyly; at whichhe vowed that he was far from strong, and could not walk but a littleway at a time, yet even so, he declared, the trail would be too short, even though it led to Canada. 

"Then get your pack made up, " she ordered, "for we must be well uptowards the head of Black Bear Creek before it grows dark enough tocamp. "

Swiftly he made his preparations; a madness was upon him now, and hetook no pains to check or analyze the reasons for his decision. Thethought of her loveliness in his arms once more, far up among theperfumed wooded heights, as the silent darkness stole upon them, stirred in him such a fret to be gone that it was like a fever. Heslipped away to the barracks with instructions for his corporal, butwas back again in a moment. Finally he took up his burden of blanketand food, then said to her:

"Well, are you ready, little one?"

"Yes, Meade, " she answered, simply. 

"And you are sure you won't regret it?"

"Not while you love me. "

He kissed her again before they stepped out on the river trail thatwound along the bank. A hundred yards beyond they were hidden by thegroves of birch and fir. 

Two hours later they paused where the foaming waters of Black BearCreek rioted down across a gravelled bar and into the silent, sweepingriver, standing at the entrance to a wooded, grass-grown valley, withrolling hills and domes displayed at its head, while back of them laythe town, six miles away, its low, squat buildings tiny and toy like, but distinctly silhouetted against the evening sky. 

"Is it not time to rest?" said the soldier, laughingly, yet with a lookof yearning in his misty eyes as he took the girlish figure in hisarms. But she only smiled up at him and, releasing his hold, led theway into the forest. 

He turned for a moment and shook his fist at the village and those init, laughing loudly as if from the feel of the blood that leaped withinhim. Then he joined his companion, and, hand-in-hand, they left thebroad reaches of the greater stream behind them and plunged into theuntrodden valley. 

CHAPTER V

A STORY IS BEGUN

 "It's fonny t'ing how two brown eye Was changin' everything-- De cloud she's no more on de sky, An' winter's jus' lak' spring Dey mak' my pack so very light, De trail, she's not so long-- I'd walk it forty mile to-night For hear her sing wan song But now I'm busy mak' fortune For marry on dat girl, An' if she's tole me yass, dat's soon, Bonheur! I'm own de worl'!"

Poleon Doret sang gayly as the trader came towards him through the opengrove of birch, for he was happy this afternoon, and, being much of adreamer, this fresh enterprise awoke in him a boyish pleasure. ThenNecia had teased him as he came away, and begged him, as was always hercustom, to take her with him, no matter whence or whither, so long asthere was adventure afoot. Well, it would not be long now before hecould say yes, and he would take her on a journey far longer thaneither of them had yet taken--a journey that would never end. Had notthe gods looked with favor, at last, upon his long novitiate, and beenpleased with the faith he had kept? Had not this discovery of "NoCreek" Lee's been providentially arranged for his own especial benefit?A fool could see that this was a mark of celestial approbation, andnone but a fool would question the wisdom of the gods. Had he notwatched the girl grow from a slip of thirteen and spoken never a wordof his love? Had he not served and guarded her with all the gentlechivalry of an olden knight? Of course! And here was his reward, a giftof wealth to crown his service, all for her. Now that she was a woman, and had seen him tried, and knew he was a man, he would bring hisburden of prosperity and lay it at her feet, saying:

"Here is another offering, my Necia, and with it go the laughter andthe music and the heart of Poleon Doret. "

Sacré! It would not take her long to wake up after that! The world wasvery bright indeed this afternoon, and he burst again into song incompany with the voices of the forest people:

 "Chanté, rossignol, chanté! Toi qui à le coeur gai; Tu as le coeur à rire Mai j' l' ai-tà pleurer, Il y a longtemps que j' t'aime Jamais je ne t'oublierai. "

 [Footnote: "Sing, little bird, oh, sing away! You with the voice so light and gay! Yours is a heart that laughter cheers, Mine is a hearts that's full of tears. Long have I loved, I love her yet; Leave her I can, but not forget. "]

"Whew!" said Gale, slipping out of his pack-straps, "the skeeters isbad. "

"You bet your gum boots, " said Poleon. "Dey're mos' so t'ick as desummer dey kill Johnnie Platt on de Porcupine. " Both men woregauntleted gloves of caribou-skin and head harnesses ofmosquito-netting stretched over globelike frames of thin steel bands, which they slipped on over their hats after the manner of divers'helmets, for without protection of some kind the insects would havemade travel impossible once the Yukon breezes were left behind or oncethe trail dipped from the high divides where there was no moss. 

"Let's see. It was you that found him, wasn't it?" said Gale. 

"Sure t'ing! I'm comin' down for grub in my canoe, w'en I see disfeller on de bank, walkin' lak' he's in beeg horry. 'Ba Gar!' I say, 'dere's man goin' so fast he'll meet hese'f comin' home!' Den he turnroun' an' go tearin' back, wavin' hees arms lak' he's callin' me, tillhe fall down. Wen I paddle close up, I don' know 'im no more danstranger, an' me an' Johnnie Platt is trap togeder wan winter. Wat yout'ink of dat?"

"I saw a fellow killed that way at Holy Cross, " interpolated the trader. 

"'Hello, ' I say, 'w'at's de matter?' An' den I see somet'ing 'bout 'imdat look familiar. Hees face she's all swell' up an' bleedin' lak' rawmeat. " The Frenchman curled his upper lip back from his teeth and shookhis head at the remembrance. 

"Jesu, dat's 'orrible sight! Dem fly is drive 'im crazee. Hees nose an'ears is look lak' holes in beeg red sponge, an' hees eye are close uptight. "

"He died before you got him in, didn't he?"

"Yes. He was good man, too. Some tam' if I ever have bad enemy w'at Ilike to see catch hell I'm goin' turn 'im loose 'mong dose skeeter-bug. "

"Holy Mackinaw!" ejaculated Gale. "Who'd ever think of that? Why, that's worse than dropping water on his skull till he goes crazy, likethem Chinamen do. "

The Frenchman nodded. "It's de wors' t'ing I know. Dat's w'y I lak' togeeve it to my enemy. "

"Imagine fightin' the little devils till they stung you crazy andpizened your eyes shut!"

Gale fell to considering this, while Poleon filled his pipe, and, raising his veil, undertook to smoke. The pests proved too numerous, however, and forced him to give it up. 

"Bagosh! Dey're hongry!"

"It will be all right when we get out of the woods, " said the elder man. 

"I guess you been purty glad for havin' Necia home again, eh?" venturedthe other after a while, unable to avoid any longer the subjectuppermost in his mind. 

"Yes, I'm glad she's through with her schooling. "

"She's gettin' purty beeg gal now. "

"That's right. "

"By-an'-by she's goin' marry on some feller--w'at?"

"I suppose so. She ain't the kind to stay single. "

"Ha! Dat's right, too. Mebbe you don' care if she does get marry, eh?"

"Not if she gets a man that will treat her right. "

"Wal! Wal! Dere's no trouble 'bout dat, " exclaimed Doret, fervently. "No man w'at's livin' could treat her bad. She's too good an' too purtyfor have bad husban'. "

"She is, is she?" Gale turned on him with a strange glare in his eyes. "Them's the kind that get the he-devils. There's something about a goodgirl that attracts a bad man, particularly if she's pretty; and it goesdouble, too--the good men get the hellions. A fellow can't get so toughbut what he can catch a good woman, and a decent man usually draws acritter that looks like a sled and acts like a timber wolf. "

"Necia wouldn't marry on no bad man, " said Doret, positively. 

"No?" said Gale. "Let me tell you what I saw with my own eyes. I knew agirl once that was just as good and pure as Necia, and just as pretty, too--yes, and a thousand times prettier. "

"Ho, ho!" laughed Doret, sceptically. 

"She was an Eastern girl, and she come West where men were different towhat she'd been used to. Those were early days, and it was a newcountry, where a person didn't know much about his neighbor's past andcared less; and, although there were a heap of girls thereabouts, theywere the kind you'll always find in such communities, while this onewas plumb different. Man! Man! But she was different. She was a WOMAN!Two fellows fell in love with her. One of them lived in the same campas her, and he was a good man, leastways everybody said he was, but hewasn't wise to all the fancy tricks that pretty women hanker after;and, it being his first affair, he was right down buffaloed at the verythought of her, so he just hung around and slept late so that he mightdream about her and feel like he was her equal or that she loved backat him. You know! The other fellow came from a neighboring town, and hewasn't the same kind, for he'd knocked around more, and was a betterliar, but he wasn't right. No, sir! He was sure a wrong guy, as it cameout, but he was handsomer and younger, and the very purity andinnocence of the girl drew him, I reckon, being a change from what hehad ever mixed up with. "

"W'y don' dis good man tak' a shot at him?" asked Poleon, hotly. 

"First, he didn't realize what was going on, being too tied up withdreaming, I reckon; and, second, neither man didn't know the other bysight, living as they did in different parts; third, he was an ordinarysort of fellow, and hadn't ever had any trouble, man to man, at thattime. Anyhow, the girl up and took the bad one. "

"Wat does de good man do, eh?"

"Well, he was all tore up about it, but he went away like a sick quailhides out. "

"Dat's too bad. "

"He heard about them now and then, and what he heard tore him up worsethan the other had, for the girl's husband couldn't wear the harnesslong, and, having taken away what good there was in her, he made up indeviltry for the time he had lost. She stood it pretty well, and neverwhimpered, even when her eyes were open and she saw what aprize-package she had drawn. The fact that she was game enough to standfor him and yet keep herself clean without complaint made the manworse. He tried to break her spirit in a thousand ways, tried to makeher the same as he was, tried to make her a bad woman, like the othershe had known. It appeared like the one pleasure he got was to tortureher. "

"W'y don' she quit 'im?" said Doret. "Dat ain' wrong for quit a manlak' him. "

"She couldn't quit on account of the kid. They had a youngster. Then, too, she had ideas of her own; so she stood it for three years, livingworse than a dog, till she saw it wasn't any use--till she saw that hewould make a bad woman of her as sure as he would make one of thekid--till he got rough--"

"No! No! You don' mean dat? No man don' hurt no woman, " interjectedDoret. 

"By God! That's just what I mean, " the trader answered, while his facehad grown so gray as to match his brows. "He beat her. "

Poleon broke into French words that accorded well with the trader'sharsh voice. 

"The woman sent for the other man after that, for he had been livinglonely, loving her all the time, and you'd better believe he went. "

"Ha! Dat's fine! Dat's dam' fine!" said the other. "I'll bet dere'shell to pay den--w'at?"

"Yes, there was a kind of reckoning. " The old man lapsed into moodysilence, the younger one waiting eagerly for him to continue, but therecame the sound of voices down the trail, and they looked up. 

"Here comes Lee, " said Gale. 

"Wat happen' den? I'm got great interes' 'bout dis woman, " insistedPoleon. 

"It's a long story, and I just told you this much to show what I saidwas true about a good girl and a bad man, and to show why I want Neciato get a good one. The sooner it happens the better it will suit me. "

Neither man had ever spoken thus openly to the other about Neciabefore, and although their language was indirect, each knew the other'sthought. But there was no time for further talk now, for the otherswere close upon them. As they came into view, Gale exclaimed:

"Well, if he hasn't brought Runnion along!"

"Humph!" grunted Doret. "I don' t'ink much of dat feller. Wat's dematter wit' 'No Creek, ' anyhow?"

The three new arrivals dropped down upon the moss to rest, for theup-trail was heavy and the air sultry inside the forest. Lee was thefirst to speak. 

"Did you get away without bein' seen?" he asked. 

"Sure, " answered Gale. "Poleon has been here two hours. "

"That's good; I don't want nobody taggin' along. "

"We came right through the town boldly, " announced Stark; "but if theyhad seen you two they would have suspected something, sure. "

Runnion volunteered nothing except oaths at the mosquitoes and at hispack-straps, which were new and cut him already. As no explanation ofhis presence was offered, neither the trader nor Doret made any commentthen, but it came out later, when the old miner dropped far enoughbehind the others to render conversation possible. 

"You decided to take in another one, eh?" Gale asked Lee. 

"It wasn't exactly my doin's, " replied the miner. "Stark asked me tolet Runnion come 'long, bein' as he had grub-staked him, and he seemedso set on it that I ackeressed. You see, it's the first chance I everhad to pay him back for a favor he done me in the Cassiar country. There's plenty of land to go around. "

It was Lee's affair, thought the trader, and he might tell whom heliked, so he said no more, but fell to studying the back of the mannext in front, who happened to be Stark, observing every move and trickof him, and, during the frequent pauses, making a point of listeningand watching him guardedly. 

All through the afternoon the five men wound up the valley, followingone another's footsteps, emerging from sombre thickets of fir toflounder across wide pastures of "nigger-heads, " that wobbled andwriggled and bowed beneath their feet, until at cost of much effort andprofanity they gained the firmer footing of the forest. Occasionallythey came upon the stream, and found easier going along its gravelbars, till a bend threw them again into the meadows and mesas on eitherhand. Their course led them far up the big valley to another streamthat entered from the right, bearing backward in a great bow towardsthe Yukon, and always there were dense clouds of mosquitoes above theirheads. At one point Stark, hot and irritable, remarked:

"There must be a shorter cut than this, Lee?"

"I reckon there is, " the miner replied, "but I've always had a pack tocarry, so I chose the level ground ruther than climb the divides. "

"S'pose dose people at camp hear 'bout dis strike an' beat us in?"suggested Poleon. 

"It wouldn't be easy going for them after they got there, " Stark said, sourly. "I, for one, wouldn't stand for it. "

"Nor I, " agreed Runnion. 

"I don't see how you'd help yourself, " the trader remarked. "One man'sgot as good a right as another. "

"I guess I'd help myself, all right, " Stark laughed, significantly, asdid Runnion, who added:

"Lee is entitled to put in anybody he wants on his own discovery, andif anybody tries to get ahead of us there's liable to be trouble. "

"I reckon if I don't know no short-cut, nobody else does, " Leeremarked, whereupon Doret spoke up reassuringly:

"Dere's no use gettin' scare' lak' dat, biccause nobody knows w'ereLee's creek she's locate' but John an' me, an' dere's nobody w'at knowshe mak' de strike but us four. "

"That's right, " said Gale; "the only other way across is by Black BearCreek, and there ain't a half-dozen men ever been up to the head ofthat stream, much less over the divide, so I don't allow there's anyuse to fret ourselves. "

They went on their way, travelling leisurely until late evening, whenthey camped at the mouth of the valley up which the miner's cabin lay. They chose a long gravel bar, that curved like a scimitar, and madedown upon its outer tip where the breeze tended to thin the plague ofinsects. They were all old-stagers in the ways of camplife, so therewas no lost motion or bickering as to their respective duties. Theirpreparations were simple. First they built a circle of smudges out ofwet driftwood, and inside this Lee kindled a camp-fire of dry sticks, upon which he cooked, protected by the smoke of the others, while Galewent back to the edge of the forest and felled a dozen small firs, thebranches of which he clipped. These Poleon and Runnion bore down to theend of the spit for bedding, while Stark chopped a pile of dry wood forthe night. Gale noted that the new man swung an axe with the freedexterity of one to whom its feel was familiar, also that he never madea slip nor dulled it on the gravel of the bar, displaying an all-roundcompleteness and a knack of doing things efficiently that won reluctantapproval from the trader despite the unreasoning dislike he had takento him. 

Lee was ready for them by the time they had finished their tasks, and, fanned by the breeze that sucked up the stream and lulled by thewaters, they ate their scanty supper. Their one-eyed guide had lived solong among mosquitoes and had become so inoculated with their poisonthat he was in a measure impervious to their sting, hence the insectsgathered on his wrinkled, hair-grown hide only to give up in melancholydisgust and fly to other and fuller-blooded feeding-grounds. Camp hadbeen made early, at Gale's suggestion, instead of pushing on a fewmiles farther, as Lee had intended; and now, when the cool evening felland the draught quickened, it became possible to lay off gloves andhead-gear; so they sat about the fire, talking, smoking, and rubbingtheir tired feet. 

It is at such hours and in the smoke of such fires that men harkbackward and bring forth the sacred, time-worn memories they havetreasured, to turn them over fondly by the glow of dying embers. It isat such times that men's garrulity asserts itself, for the barriers ofcaution are let down, as are the gates of remembrance, and it is thenthat friends and enemies are made, for there are those who cannotlisten and others who cannot understand. 

"No Creek" Lee, the one-eyed miner who had made this lucky strike, toldin simple words of his long and solitary quest, when ill-luck had risenwith him at the dawn and misfortune had stalked beside him as hedrifted and drank from camp to camp, while the gloom of a settledpessimism soured him, and men began to shun him because of the evilthat seemed to follow in his steps. 

"I've been rainbow-chasin' forty years, " he said, "and never caughtnothin' but cramps and epidemics and inflammations. I'm the only minerin Alaska that never made a discovery of gold and never had a creeknamed after him. "

"Is that how you got your name?" asked Runnion. 

"It is. I never was no good to myself nor nobody else. I just occupiedspace. I've been the vermifuge appendix of the body politic; yes, worse'n that--I've been an appendix with a seed in it. I made myselfsore, and everybody around me, but I'm at the bat now, and don't younever let that fact escape you. "

"How are you going to spend your money?" inquired Stark. 

"I'm goin' to eat it up! I've fed on dried and desiccated and otherdisastrous and dissatisfactory diets till I'm all shrivelled up insidelike a dead puff-ball; now it's me for the big feed and the long drink. I'm goin' to 'Frisco and get full of wasteful and exorbitant grub, ofone kind and another, like tomatters and French vicious water. "

Poleon Doret laughed with the others; he was bubbling with the spiritsof a boy whose life is clean, for whom there are no eyes in the blackdark that lies beyond a camp-fire, and for whom there are nounforgettable faces in its smoke. When Lee fell silent the trader andStark resumed their talk, which was mainly of California, it seemed tothe Frenchman, who also noted that it was his friend who subtly shapedthe topics. In time their stories revived his memory of theconversation in the birch grove that morning, and when there occurred alapse in the talk he said:

"Say, John, w'at happen' to dat gal we was talkin' 'bout dis mornin'?"

Gale shook his head and turned again to his companion, but the youngman's mind was bent on its quest, and he continued:

"Dat was strange tale, for sure. "

"What was it?" questioned Runnion. 

"John was tell 'bout a feller he knowed w'at marry a good gal jus' tomak' her bad lak' hese'f. "

"How's that?" inquired Stark, turning curiously upon the old man; butGale knocked the ashes from his pipe and replied:

"Oh, it's a long story--happened when I was in Washington State. "

Poleon was about to correct him--it was California, he had said--whenGale arose, remarking sleepily that it was time to turn in if theywished to get any rest before the mosquitoes got bad again, thensauntered away from the fire and spread his blanket. The rest followedand made down their beds; then, drawing on gloves and hat-nets, androlling themselves up in their coverings, fell to snoring. All exceptthe trader, who lay for hours on his back staring up at the stars, asif trying to solve some riddle that baffled him. 

They awoke early, and in half an hour had eaten, remade their packs, and were ready to resume their march. As they were about to start, Galesaid:

"I reckon we'd better settle right now who has the choice of locationswhen we get up yonder. I've been on stampedes where it saved a heap ofhard feeling. "

"I'm agreeable, " said Stark. "Then there won't be any misunderstanding. "

The others, being likewise old at the game, acquiesced. They knew thatin such cases grave trouble has often occurred when two men have casteyes on the same claim, and have felt the miner's causeless "hunch"that gold lies here or there, or that the ground one of them covets iswanted by the other. 

"I'll hold the straws, " said Lee, "and every feller will have an evenbreak. " Turning his back on the others, he cut four splinters ofvarying lengths, and, arranging them so that the ends peeped evenlyfrom his big hand, he held them out. 

"The longest one has the first choice, and so on, " he said, presentingthem to Gale, who promptly drew the longest of the four. He turned toDoret, but the Frenchman waved him courteously to Stark, and, when bothhe and Runnion had made their choice, Lee handed him the remaining one, which was next in length to that of the trader. Stark and Runnionqualified in the order they drew, the latter cursing his evil luck. 

"Never min', ole man, " laughed Poleon, "de las' shot she's de sure wan. "

They took up their burdens again, and filed towards the narrow valleythat stretched away into the hazy distances. 

CHAPTER VI

THE BURRELL CODE

Not until his dying day will Burrell lose the memory of that march withNecia through the untrodden valley, and yet its incidents were neverclear-cut nor distinct when he looked back upon them, but blended intoone dreamlike procession, as if he wandered through some calenturewhere every image was delightfully distorted and each act deliriouslyunreal, yet all the sweeter from its fleeting unreality. They talkedand laughed and sang with a rush of spirits as untamed as the waters inthe course they followed. They wandered, hand-in-hand, into a land ofillusions, where there was nothing real but love and nothing tangiblebut joy. The touch of their lips had waked that delight which comes butonce in a lifetime and then to but few; it was like the moon-madness ofthe tropics or the dementia of the forest folk in spring. A gentlefrenzy possessed them, rendering them insensible to fatigue and causingthem to hurry the more breathlessly that they might sooner rest and sitbeside each other. At times they fell into sweet silences where thewaters laughed with them and the trees whispered their secret, bowingand nodding in joyous surprise at this invasion; or, again, the breezesromped with them, withdrawing now and then to rush out and greet themat the bends in boisterous pleasure. 

They held to the bed of the stream, for its volume was low and enabledthem to ford it from bar to bar. Necia had been raised in the open, with the wild places for her playground, and her muscles were likethose of a boy, hence the two swung merrily onward, as if in playfulcontest, while the youth had never occasion to wait for her or tomoderate his gait. Indeed, her footing was more sure than his, as hefound when she ventured out unhesitatingly upon felled logs that layacross swift, brawling depths. The wilderness had no mystery for her, and no terrors, so she was ever at his side, or in advance, while hereyes, schooled in the tints of the forest, and more active than thoseof a bird, saw every moving thing, from the flash of a camp-robber'swing through some hidden glade to the inquisitive nodding of a fool henwhere it perched high up against the bole of a spruce. They surprised amarten fishing in a drift-wood dam, but she would not let the soldiershoot, and made him pass it by, where it sat amazed till it realizedthat these were lovers and resumed its fishing. Gradually the streamdiminished, and its bowldered bed became more difficult to traverse, until, assuming the airs of a leader, the girl commanded him to lay offhis pack, at which he pretended to obey mutinously, though thrillingwith the keenest delight at his own submission. 

"What are you going to do?" he inquired. 

"Mind your own business, sir, " she commanded, sternly. 

From her belt she drew a little hunting-knife, with which she cut andtrimmed a slender birch the thickness of his thumb, whereupon hepretended great fright, and said:

"Please! please! What have I done?"

"A great deal! You are a most bold and stubborn creature. "

"All pack animals are stubborn, " he declared. "It's the only privilegethey have. "

"You are much too presumptuous, also, as I discovered in your quarters. "

"My only presumption is in loving you. "

"That was not presumption, " she smiled; "it was pre-emption. You mustbe punished. "

"I shall run away, " he threatened. "I shall gallop right off throughthe woods and--begin to eat grass. I am very wild. "

As she talked she drew from her pocket a spool of line, and took afly-hook from her hat; then, in a trice, she had rigged a fishing-rod, and, creeping out upon a ledge, she whipped the pool below of ahalf-dozen rainbow trout, which she thrust into his coat while theywere still wriggling. Then she as quickly put up her gear, and theyresumed their journey, climbing more steeply now, until, when the sunwas low, they quit the stream-bed and made through the forest towardsthe shoulder of an untimbered ridge that ran down into the valley. Andthere, high up on the edge of the spruce, they selected a mossy shelfand pitched their camp. 

They had become so intimate by now as to fall into a whimsical mode ofspeech, and Necia reverted to a childish habit in her talk that broughtmany a smile to the youth's face. It had been her fancy as a littlegirl to speak in adjectives, ignoring many of her nouns, and itsquaintness had so amused her father that on rare occasions, when thehumor was on him, he also took it up. She now addressed herself toBurrell in the same manner. 

"I think we are very smarts to come so far, " she said. 

"You travel like a deer, " he declared, admiringly. "Why, you have tiredme down. " Removing his pack, he stretched his arms and shook out theache in his shoulders. 

"Which way does our course lie now, Pathfinder?"

"Right up the side of this big, and then along the ridge. In two hourswe come to a gully running so"--she indicated an imaginarydirection--"which we go down till it joins another stream so, and rightthere we'll find old 'No Creek's' cabin, so! Won't they be surprised tosee us! I think we're very cunning to beat them in, don't you?" Shelaughed a glad little bubbling laugh, and he cried:

"Oh, girl! How wonderful you are!"

"It's getting very dark and fierce, " she chided, "and all the houseworkmust be done. "

So he built a fire, then fetched a bucket of water from a rill thattrickled down among the rocks near by. He made as if to prepare theirmeal, but she would have none of it. 

"Bigs should never cook, " she declared. "That work belongs to littles, "then forced him to vacate her domain and turn himself to the manlierduties of chopping wood and boughs. 

First, however, she showed him how to place two green foot-logs uponwhich the teapot and the frying-pan would sit without upsetting, andhow long she wished the sticks of cooking-wood. Then she banished him, as it were, and he built a wickiup of spruce tops, under the shelter ofwhich he piled thick, fragrant billows of "Yukon feathers. "

Once while he was busy at his task he paused to revel in the colorsthat lay against hill and valley, and to drink in the splendidisolation of it all. Below lay the bed of Black Bear Creek, silent andsombre in the creeping twilight; beyond, away beyond, across thewestward brim of the Yukon basin, the peaks were blue and ivory andgold in the last rays of the sun; while the open slopes behind and allabout wore a carpet of fragrant short-lived flowers, nodding as iftowards sleep, and over all was the hush of the lonely hills. A gustblew a whiff of the camp smoke towards him, and he turned back to watchNecia kneeling beside the fire like some graceful virgin at her altarrites, while the peculiar acrid out-door odor of burning spruce waslike an incense in his nostrils. 

He filled his chest deeply and leaned on his axe, for he found himselfshaking as if under the spell of some great expectancy. 

"Your supper is getting cold, " she called to him. 

He took a seat beside her on a pile of boughs where the smoke was leasttroublesome; he had chosen a spot that was sheltered by alichen-covered ledge, and this low wall behind, with the wickiupjoining it, formed an enclosure that lent them a certain air ofprivacy. They ate ravenously, and drank deep cupfuls of the unflavoredtea. By the time they were finished the night had fallen and the airwas just cool enough to make the fire agreeable. Burrell heaped on morewood and stretched out beside her. 

"This day has been so wonderful, " said the girl, "that I shall never goto sleep. I can't bear to end it. "

"But you must be weary, little maid, " he said, gently; "I am. "

"Wait, let me see. " She stretched her limbs and moved slightly to tryher muscles. "Yes, I am a very tired, but not the kind of tired thatmakes you want to go to bed. I want to talk, talk, talk, and not aboutourselves either, but about sensibles. Tell me about your people--yoursister. "

He had expected her to ask this, for the subject seemed to have aninexhaustible charm for her. She would sit rapt and motionless as longas he cared to talk of his sister, in her wide, meditative eyes theshadow of a great unvoiced longing. It always seemed to make her graveand thoughtful, he had noticed, so he had tried lately to avoid thetopic, and to-night in particular he wanted to do so, for this was notime for melancholy. He had not even allowed himself to think, as yet, and there were reasons why he did not wish her to do so; thought andrealization and a readjustment of their relations would come afterto-night, but this was the hour of illusion, and it must not be broken;therefore he began to tell her of other people and of his youth, makinghis tales as fanciful as possible, choosing deliberately to foster themerry humor in which they had been all day. He told her of his father, the crotchety old soldier, whose absurd sense of duty and whoseelaborate Southern courtesy had become a byword in the South. He toldher household tales that were prized like pieces of the Burrell plate, beautiful heirlooms of sentiment that mark the honor of high-bloodedhouses; following which there was much to recount of the Meades, fromthe admiral who fought as a boy in the Bay of Tripoli down to thecousin who was at Annapolis; the while his listener hung upon his wordshungrily, her mind so quick in pursuit of his that it spurred himunconsciously, her great, dark eyes half closed in silent laughter orwide with wonder, and in them always the warmth of the leapingfirelight blended with the trust of a new-born virginal love. 

Without realizing it, the young man drifted further than he hadintended, and further than he had ever allowed himself to go before, for in him was a clean and honest pride of birth, like his mother'sglory in her forebears, the expression of which he had learned torepress, inasmuch as it was a Dixie-land conceit and had beenmisunderstood when he went North to the Academy. In some this wouldhave seemed bigoted and feminine, this immoderate admiration for hisown blood, this exaggerated appreciation of his family honor, but inthis Southern youth it was merely the unconscious commendation of anupright manliness for an upright code. When he had finished, the girlremarked, with honest approval:

"What a fine you are. Those people of yours have all been good men andwomen, haven't they?"

"Most of them, " he admitted, "and I think the reason is that we've beensoldiers. The army discipline is good for a man. It narrows a fellow, Isuppose, but it keeps him straight. "

Then he began to laugh silently. 

"What is it?" she said, curiously. 

"Oh, nothing! I was just wondering what my strait-laced ancestors wouldsay if they could see me now. "

"What do you mean?" the girl asked, in open-eyed wonderment. 

"I don't care, " he went on, unheeding her question. "They did worsethings in their time, from what I hear. " He leaned forward to draw herto him. 

"Worse things? But we are doing nothing bad, " said Necia, holding himoff. "There's no wrong in loving. "

"Of course not, " he assured her. 

"I am proud of it, " she declared. "It is the finest thing, the greatestthing that has ever come into my life. Why, I simply can't hold it; Iwant to sing it to the stars and cry it out to the whole world. Don'tyou?"

"I hardly think we'd better advertise, " he said, dryly. 

"Why not?"

"Well, I shouldn't care to publish the tale of this excursion of ours, would you?"

"I don't see any reason against it. I have often taken trips withPoleon, and been gone with him for days and days at a time. "

"But you were not a woman then, " he said, softly. 

"No, not until to-day, that's true. Dear, dear! How I did grow all of asudden! And yet I'm just the same as I was yesterday, and I'll alwaysbe the same, just a wild little. Please don't ever let me be a bigtame. I don't want to be commonplace and ordinary. I want to benatural--and good. "

"You couldn't be like other women, " he declared, and there was moretenderness than hunger in his tone now, as she looked up at himtrustingly from the shelter of his arms. "It would spoil you to growup. "

"It is so good to be alive and to love you like this!" she continued, dreamily, staring into the fire. "I seem to have come out of a gloomyhouse into the glory of a warm spring day, for my eyes are blinded andI can't see half the beautifuls I want to, there are so many about me. "

"Those are my arms, " interjected the soldier, lightly, in an effort toward off her growing seriousness. 

"I've never been afraid of anything, and yet I feel so safe insidethem. Isn't it queer?"

The young man became conscious of a vague discomfort, and realizeddimly that for hours now he had been smothering with words and caressesa something that had striven with him to be heard, a something thatinstead of dying grew stronger the more utterly this innocent maidyielded to him. It was as if he had ridden impulse with rough spurs ina fierce desire to distance certain voices, and in the first mad gallophad lost them, but now far back heard them calling again more stronglyevery moment. A man's honor, if old, may travel feebly, but its pursuitis persistent. It was the talk about his people that had raised thisdamned uneasiness and indecision, he thought. Why had he ever startedit?

"The marvellous part of it all, " continued the girl, "is that it willnever end. I know I shall love you always. Do you suppose I am reallydifferent from other girls?"

"Everything is different to-night--the whole world, " he declared, impatiently. "I thought I knew myself, but suddenly I seem strange inmy own eyes. "

"I've had a big handicap, " she said, "but you must help me to overcomeit. I want to be like your sister. "

He rose and piled more wood upon the fire. What possessed the girl? Itwas as if she knew each cunning joint of his armor, as if she hadrealized her peril and had set about the awakening of his conscience, deliberately and with a cautious wisdom beyond her years. Well, she haddone it--and he swore to himself. Then he melted at the sight of her, crouched there against the shadows, following his every movement withher soul in her eyes, the tenderest trace of a smile upon her lips. Hevowed he was a reprobate to wrong her so; it was her white soul and herwoman's love that spoke. 

When she beheld him gazing at her, she tilted her head sidewisedaintily, like a little bird. 

"Oh, my! What a fierce you are all at once!"

Her smile flashed up as if illumined by the leaping blaze, and hecrossed quickly, kneeling beside her. 

"Dear, wonderful girl, " he said, "it is going to be my heart's work tosee that you never change and that you remain just what you are. Youcan't understand what this means to me, for I, too, was blinded, butthe darkness of the night has restored my vision. Now you must go tosleep; the hours are short and we must be going early. "

He piled up a great, sweet-scented couch of springy boughs, andfashioned her a pillow out of a bundle of smaller ones, around which hewrapped his khaki coat; then he removed her high-laced boots, and, taking her tiny feet, one in the palm of either hand, bowed his headover them and kissed them with a sense of her gracious purity and hisown unworthiness. He spread one of the big gray blankets over her, andtucked her in, while she sighed in delightful languor, looking up athim all the time. 

"I'll sit here beside you for a while, " he said. "I want to smoke abit. "

She stole a slim, brown hand out from beneath the cover and snuggled itin his, and he leaned forward, closing her lids down with his lips. Herutter weariness was manifest, for she fell asleep almost instantly, herfingers twined about his in a childlike grip. 

At times a great desire to feel her in his arms, to have her on hisbreast, surged over him, for he had lived long apart from women, andthe solitude of the night seemed to mock him. He was a strong man, andin his veins ran the blood of wayward forebears ho were wont to possessthat which they conquered in the lists of love, mingled with which wasthe blood of spirited Southern women who had on occasion loved notwisely, according to Kentucky rumor, but only too well. Nevertheless, they were honest men and women, if over-sentimental, and hadtransmitted to him a heritage of chivalry and a high sense of honor andcourage. Strange to say, this little, simple half-breed girl hadrevived this honor and courage, even when he tried most stubbornly tosmother it. If only her love was like her blood, he might have had noscruples; or if her blood were as pure as her love--even then it wouldbe easier; but, as it was, he must give her up to-night, and for alltime. Her love had placed a barrier between them greater and moreinsurmountable than her blood. 

He sat for a long time with the dwindling firelight playing about him, his manhood and his desires locked in a grim struggle, wondering at thehold this forest elf had gained upon him, wondering how it was that shehad stolen into his heart and head and taken such utter possession ofhim. It would be no easy task to shut her out of his mind and put heraway from him. And she. .. ?

He gently withdrew his fingers from her grasp, and, seeking the otherside of the wickiup, covered himself over without disturbing her, andfell asleep. 

It was early dawn when Necia crept to him. 

"I dreamed you had gone away, " she said, shivering violently anddrawing close. "Oh, it was a terrible awakening--"

"I was too tired to dream, " he said. 

"So I had to come and see if you were really here. "

He quickly rekindled the fire, and they made a hasty breakfast. Beforethe warmth of the rising sun had penetrated the cold air they hadclimbed the ridge and obtained a wondrous view of broken country, thehills alight with the morning rays, the valleys misty and mystical. They made good progress on the summit, which was paved with barren rockand sparsely carpeted with short moss, while there was never a hint ofinsects to annoy them. Merrily they swung along, buoyed up by anunnatural exaltation; yet now and then, as they drew near theirdestination, the young man had a chilling premonition of evil to come, and wondered if he had not been foolhardy to undertake this rashenterprise. 

"I wish Stark was not one of Lee's party, " he said once. "He maymisunderstand our being together this way. "

"But when he learns that we love each other, that will explaineverything. "

"I'm not so sure. He doesn't know you as Lee and Poleon and your fatherdo. I think we had better say nothing at all about--you and me--to anyone. "

"But why?" questioned the girl, stopping abruptly. "They will know it, anyhow, when they see us. I can't conceal it. "

"I am wiser in this than you are, " the soldier insisted, "and wemustn't act like lovers; trust this to me. "

"Oh, I won't play that!" cried Necia, petulantly. "If all this is goingto end when we get to Lee's cabin, we'll stay right here forever. "

He was not sure of all the logic he advanced in convincing her, but sheyielded finally, saying:

"Well, I suppose you know best, and, anyhow, littles should alwaysmind. "

They clung to the divide for several hours, then descended into the bedof a stream, which they followed until it joined a larger one a coupleof miles below, and there, sheltered in a grove of whispering firs, they found Lee's cabin nestling in a narrow, forked valley. Evidentlythe miner had selected a point on the main creek just below theconfluence of the feeders as a place in which to prospect, and Burrellfell to wondering which one of these smaller streams supplied the runof gold. 

"There's no one here, " said Necia, gleefully. "We've beat them in!We've beat them in!"

They had been walking rapidly since dawn, and, although Burrell's watchshowed two o'clock, she refused to halt for lunch, declaring that theothers might arrive at any moment; so down they went to the lower endof "No Creek" Lee's location, where Burrell blazed a smooth spot on thedown-stream side of a tree and wrote thereon at Necia's dictation. Whenhe had finished, she signed her name, and he witnessed it, then pacedoff four hundred and forty steps, where he squared a spruce-tree, whichshe marked: "Lower centre end stake of No. I below discovery. NeciaGale, locator. " She was vastly excited and immensely elated at hergood-fortune in acquiring the claim next to Lee's, and chattered like amagpie, filling the glades with resounding echoes and dancing about inthe bright sunlight that filtered through the branches. 

"Now you stake the one below mine, " she said. "It's just as good, andmaybe better--nobody can tell. " But he shook his head. 

"I'm not going to stake anything, " said he. 

"You must!" she cried, quickly, the sparkle dying from her eyes. "Yousaid you would, or I never would have brought you. "

"I merely said I would come with you, " he corrected. "I did not promiseto take up a claim, for I don't think I ought to do so. If I were acivilian, it would be different, but this is government land, and I ama part of the government, as it were. Then, too, in addition to thequestion of my right to do it, there would be the certainty of makingenemies of your people, old "No Creek" and the rest, and I can't affordthat now. With you it is different, for you are entitled to thisground. After Lee's friends have shared in his discovery I may changemy mind. "

All arguments and pleading were in vain; he remained obdurate andinsisted on her locating two other claims for herself, one on each ofthe smaller creeks where they came together above the house. 

"But nobody ever stakes more than one claim on a gulch, " objected thegirl. "It's a custom of the miners. "

"Then we'll call each one of these branches a different and separatecreek, " he said. "The gold was carried down one of those smallerstreams, and we won't take any chances on which one it was. When afellow plays a big game he should play to win, and, as this means sucha great deal to you, we won't overlook any bets. "

Necia consented, and when her three claims had been properly locatedthe couple returned to the cabin to get lunch and to await with someforeboding the coming of the others and what of good or ill it mightbring. 

CHAPTER VII

THE MAGIC OF BEN STARK

Before the party came in sight, the sound of their voices reached thecabin, and Burrell rose nervously and sauntered to the door. Uncertainhow this affair might terminate, he chose to get first look at hisenemies, if they should prove to be such, realizing the advantage thatgoes to a man who stands squarely on both feet. 

The trail came through the brush at the rear, and he heard Lee say:

"This here's the place, boys--the shack ain't fifty yards away. "

"Likely looking gulch, " Gale was heard to reply, in his deeptones--there was a crackle of dead brush, a sound as of a man trippingand falling heavily, then oaths in a voice that made the Lieutenantstart. 

"Ha, ha!" laughed Doret. "You mus' be tired, Meestaire R-r-unnion. Better you pick up your feet. Dat's free tarn' you've-"

They emerged into the open behind the house to pause in line back ofLee, who was staring at the stove-pipe of his cabin, from which came awisp of smoke. It seemed to Burrell that they held their position for along time. Then he heard Lee say:

"Well, I'll be damned! Somebody's here ahead of us. "

"We've been beaten, " growled Stark, angrily, pushing past him andcoming round the corner, an ugly look in his eyes. 

Burrell was standing at ease in the door, smoking, one forearm restingon the jamb, his wide shoulders nearly filling the entrance. 

"Good-afternoon, " he nodded, pleasantly. 

Lee answered him unintelligibly; Stark said nothing, but Runnion'sexclamation was plain. 

"It's that damned blue-belly!"

"When did YOU get here?" said Stark, after a pause. 

"A few hours ago. "

"How did you come?" asked Lee. 

"Black Bear Creek, " said the soldier, curtly, at which Runnion brokeinto profanity. 

"Better hush, " Burrell admonished him; "there's a lady inside, " and atthat instant Necia showed her laughing face under his arm, while thetrader uttered her name in amazement. 

"Lunch is ready, " she said. "We've been expecting you for quite awhile. "

"Ba Gar! Dat's fonny t'ing for sure, " said Poleon. "Who tol' you 'boutdis strike--eh?"

"Mother; I made her, " the girl answered. 

"Take off your packs and come in, " Burrell invited, but Stark strodeforward. 

"Hold on a minute. This don't look good to me. You say your mother toldyou. I suppose you're Old Man Gale's other daughter--eh?"

Necia nodded. 

"What time of day was it when you learned about this?"

"Cut that out, " roughly interjected Gale. "Do you think Idouble-crossed you?"

The other turned upon him. 

"It looks that way, and I intend to find out. You said yesterday youhadn't told anybody--"

"I didn't think about the woman, " said the trader, a trifledisconcerted, whereupon Runnion gave vent to an ironical sneer. 

"But here's your girl and this man ahead of us. I suppose there'sothers on the way, too. "

"Nonsense!" Burrell cut in. "Don't quarrel about this. Miss Gale gotwind of your secret, and beat you at your own game, so that ends it;but there's plenty of ground left for all of you, and no harm done. Nobody knows of this strike from us, I can assure you. "

"I call it dam' sleeck work, " chuckled the Canadian, slipping out ofhis straps. "De nex' tam' I go stampedin' I tak' you 'long, Necia. "

"Me, too, " said Lee. "An' now I'm goin' to tear into some of them beansI smell a bilin' in yonder. "

The others followed, although Stark and Runnion looked black and hadlittle to say. It was an uncomfortable meal--every one was ill at ease;Gale, in particular, was quiet, and ate less than any of them. His eyessought Stark's face frequently, and once the blood left his cheeks andhis eyes blazed as he observed the gambler eying Necia, gazing at herwith the same boldness he would have used in scanning a horse. 

"You are a mighty good-looking girl for a 'blood, '" remarked Stark, atlast. 

"Thank you, " she replied, simply, and the soldier's vague dislike ofthe man crystallized into hate on the instant. There was a tone back ofhis words that seemed aimed at the trader, Meade thought, but Galeshowed no sign of it, so the meal was finished in silence, after whichthe five belated prospectors went out to make their locations, for thefear of interruption was upon them now. 

First they went down-stream, and, according to their agreement, thetrader staked first, followed by Poleon and Stark, thus throwingRunnion's claim more than a mile distant from Lee's discovery. Fromhere they went up the creek to find the girl's other locations, one oneach branch, at which Stark sneeringly remarked that she had pre-emptedenough ground for a full-grown white woman. 

Runnion's displeasure was even more open, and he fell into foul-mouthedmutterings, addressing himself to Poleon and Stark while the trader wasout of earshot. 

"This affair don't smell right, and I still think it's a frame-up. "

"Bah!" exclaimed Doret. 

"The old man sent the girl on ahead of us to blanket all the goodground. That's what he did!"

"Dat's fool talk, " declared the Frenchman. 

"I'm not so sure, " Stark broke in. "You remember he hung back andwanted to go slow from the start; and didn't he ask us to camp earlylast night? Looks now as if he did it just to give her time to get infirst. He admitted that he knew the Black Bear trail, and if he liedabout keeping his mouth shut to the squaw, he'd lie about other--"

"Wait wan minnit, " interrupted Poleon, his voice as soft as a woman's. "I tol' you dat _I_ know all 'bout dis Black Bear Creek, too--you'member, eh? Wal, mebbe you t'ink I'm traitor, too. Wat? W'y don' youspik out?"

The three of them were alone, and only the sound of Gale's axe came tothem; but at the light in the Canadian's face Runnion hastilydisclaimed any such thought on his part, and Stark shrugged his denial. 

"I don' know you feller' at all, " continued Poleon, "but Ole Man Gale, he's my frien', so I guess you don' better talk no more lak' dat. "

"Don't get sore, " said Stark. "I simply say it looks bad. " But theother had turned his back and was walking on. 

There are men quite devoid of the ability to read the human face, andRunnion was of this species. Moreover, malice was so bitter in hismouth that he must have it out, so when they paused to blaze the nextstake he addressed himself to Stark loud enough for Poleon to hear. 

"That Lieutenant is more of a man than I thought he was. "

"How so?" inquired the older man. 

"Well, it takes nerve to steal a girl for one night and then face thefather; but the old man don't seem to mind it any more than she does. Iguess he knows what it means, all right. "

Stark laughed raucously. "I thought of that myself, " he said. 

"That's probably how Gale got his squaw, " concluded Runnion, with asneer. 

It seemed a full minute before the Frenchman gave sign that he hadheard, then a strange cry broke from his throat and he began to trembleas if with cold. He was no longer the singer of songs or the man whowas forever a boy; the mocking anger of a moment ago was gone; in itsplace was a consuming fury that sucked the blood from beneath his tan, leaving him the pallor of ashes, while his mouth twitched and his headrolled slightly from side to side like a palsied old man's. The red ofhis lips was blanched, leaving two white streaks against a faded, muddybackground, through which came strange and frightful oaths in a bastardtongue. Runnion drew back, fearful, and the older man ceased choppingand let his axe hang loosely in his hand. But evidently Poleon meant noviolence, for he allowed the passion to run from him freely until ithad spent its vigor, then said to Runnion:

"M'sieu, eider you are brave man or dam' fool. "

"What do you mean, Frenchy?" said the man addressed, uneasily. 

"Somebody goin' die for w'at you say jus' now. Mebbe it's goin' be you, m'sieu; mebbe it's goin' be him; I can't tell yet, but I'm hope an'pray it's goin' be you, biccause I t'ink w'at you say is a lie, an'nobody can spik dose kin' of lie 'bout Necia Gale. "

He went crashing blindly through the underbrush, his head wagging, hisshoulders slumped loosely forward like those of a drunken man, his lipsframing words they could not understand. 

When he had disappeared Runnion drew a deep breath. 

"I guess I've framed something for Mister Burrell this time. "

"You go about it queer, " said Stark. "I'd rather tackle a gang-saw thana man like Poleon Doret. Your frame-up may work double. "

"Huh! No chance. The soldier was out all night alone with thathalf-breed girl, and anybody can see she's crazy about him. What's theanswer?"

"Well, she's mighty pretty, " agreed the other, "most too pretty for amixed blood, but you can't make that Frenchman believe she's wrong. "

"Why, he believes it now, " chuckled Runnion, "or at least he's jealous, and that's just as good. Those two will have trouble before dark. Iwish they would--then I'd have a chance. "

"Have you got your eye on her, too?"

"Sure! Do you blame me?"

"No, but she's too good for you. "

"Then she's too good for them. I think I'll enter the running. "

"Better stay out, " the gambler advised; "you'll have sore feet beforeyou finish. As a matter of fact, I don't like her father any betterthan you like her lovers--"

"Well, it's mutual. I can see Gale hates you like poison. "

"--and I don't intend to see him and his tribe hog all the best groundhereabouts. "

"They've already done it. You can't stop them. "

Before answering, Stark listened for the trader, but evidently Gale hadfinished his task and returned to the shack, for there was neither signnor sound of him. 

"Yes, I can stop them, " said Stark. "I want the ground that girl hasstaked, and I'm going to get it. It lies next to Lee's, and it's sureto be rich; ours is so far away it may not be worth the recorder'sfees. This creek may be as spotted as a coach-dog, so I don't intend totake any chances. "

"She made her locations legally, " said Runnion. 

"You leave that to me. When will the other boys he here?"

"To-morrow morning. I told them to follow about four hours behind, andnot to run in on us till we had finished. They'll camp a few miles downthe creek, and be in early. "

"You couldn't get but three, eh?"

"That's all I could find who would agree to give up half. "

"Can we count on them?"

"Huh!" the other grunted. "They worked with me and Soapy on the Skagwaytrail. "

"Good. Five against three, not counting the girl and the Lieutenant, "Stark mused. "Well, that will do it. " He outlined his plan, then thetwo returned to the cabin to find Lee cooking supper. Poleon was therewith the others, but, except for his silence, he showed no sign of whathad taken place that afternoon. 

Stark developed a loquacious mood after supper, devoting himselfentirely to Necia, in whom he seemed to take great interest. He was anengaging talker, with a peculiar knack of suggestion instory-telling--an unconscious halting and elusiveness that told morethan words could express--and, knowing his West so well, he fascinatedthe girl, who hung upon his tales with flattering eagerness. 

Poleon had finished several pipes, and now sat in the shadows in theopen doorway, apparently tired and dejected, though his eyes shone likediamonds and roved from one to the other. Half unconsciously he heardStark saying:

"This girl was about your size, but not so dark. However, you remind meof her in some ways--that's why it puts her in my mind, I suppose. Shewas about your age at the time--nineteen. "

"Oh, I'm not eighteen yet, " said Necia. 

"Well, she was a fine woman, anyhow, the best that ever set foot inChandon, and there was a great deal of talk when she chose youngBennett over the Gaylord man, for Bennett had been running second bestfrom the start, and everybody thought it was settled between her andthe other one. However, they were married quietly. "

The story did not interest the Canadian; his mind was in too greatagitation to care for dead tales; his heart burned within him toofiercely, and he felt too great a desire to put his hands to work. Ashe watched Burrell and Runnion bend over the table looking at a littlecan of gold-dust that Lee had taken from under his bunk, his eyes grewred and bloodshot beneath his hat-brim. Which one of the two would itbe, he wondered. From the corner of his eye he saw Gale rise from Lee'sbed, where he had stretched himself to smoke, and take his six-shooterfrom his belt, then remove the knotted bandanna from his neck, andbegin to clean the gun, his head bowed over it earnestly, his face inthe shadow. He had ever been a careful and methodical man, reflectedPoleon, and evidently would not go to sleep with his fire-arm in badcondition. 

"Nobody imagined that Gaylord would cause trouble, " Stark was saying, "for he didn't seem to be a jealous sort, just stupid and kind ofheavy-witted; but one night he took advantage of Bennett's absence andsneaked up to the house. " The story-teller paused, and Necia, who wasunder the spell of his recital, urged him on:

"Yes, yes. What happened then? Go on. " But Stark stared gloomily at hishands, and held his silence for a full minute, the tale appearing tohave awakened more than a fleeting interest in him. 

"It was one of the worst killings that ever happened in those parts, "he continued. "Bennett came back to find his wife murdered and the kidgone. "

"Oh!" said the girl, in a shocked voice. 

"Yes, there was the deuce of a time. The town rose up in a body, andwe--you see, I happened to be there--we followed the man for weeks. Wetrailed him and the kid clear over into the Nevada desert where we lostthem. "

"Poor man!"

"Poor man?" The story-teller raised his eyes and laughed sinisterly. "Idon't see where that comes in. "

"And you never caught him?"

"No. Not yet. "

"He died of thirst in the desert, maybe, he and the little one. "

"That's what we thought at the time, but I don't believe it now. "

"How so?"

"Well, I've crossed his trail since then. No. Gaylord is alive to-day, and so is the girl. Some time we'll meet--" His voice gave out, and hestared again at the floor. 

"Couldn't the little girl be traced?" said Necia. "What was her name?"

Stark made to speak, but the word was never uttered, for there came adeafening roar that caused Lee's candle to leap and flicker and the airinside the cabin to strike the occupants like a blow. Instantly therewas confusion, and each man sprang to his feet crying out affrightedly, for the noise had come with utter unexpectedness. 

"My God, I've killed him!" cried Gale, and with one jump he clearedhalf the room and was beside Stark, while his revolver lay on the floorwhere he had been sitting. 

"What is it?" exclaimed Burrell; but there was no need to ask, forpowder-smoke was beginning to fill the room and the trader's face gaveanswer. It was whiter than that of his daughter, who had crouchedfearfully against the wall, and he shook like a man with ague. ButStark stood unhurt, and more composed than any of them; following thefirst bound from his chair, he had relapsed into his customary quiet. There had blazed up one momentary flash of suspicion and anger, but itdied straightway, for no man could have beheld the trader and not feltcontrition. His condition was pitiable, and the sight of a strong manovercome is not pleasant; when it was seen that no harm had been donethe others strove to make light of the accident. 

"Get together, all of you! It's nothing to be excited over, " said Stark. 

"How did it happen?" Runnion finally asked Gale, who had sunk limplyupon the edge of the bunk; but when the old man undertook to answer hiswords were unintelligible, and he shook his head helplessly. 

Stark laid his finger on the hole that the bullet had bored in the logclose to where he was sitting, and laughed. 

"Never mind, old man, it missed me by six inches. You know there neverwas a bullet that could kill me. I'm six-shooter proof. "

"Wha'd I tell you?" triumphantly ejaculated Lee, turning his one eyeupon the Lieutenant. "You laughed at me, didn't you?"

"I'm beginning to believe it myself, " declared the soldier. 

"It's a cinch, " said Stark, positively, Doret, of all in the cabin, had said nothing. Seated apart from theothers, he had seen the affair from a distance, as it were, and nowstepped to the bed to lay his hand on Gale's shoulder. 

"Brace up, John! Sacré bleu! Your face look lak' flour. Come outsidean' get li'l' air. "

"It will do you good, father, " urged Necia. 

The trader silently rose, picked up his hat, and shambled out into thenight behind the Frenchman. 

"The old man takes it hard, " said Lee, shaking his head, and Burrellremarked:

"I've seen things like that in army quarters, and the fellow whoaccidentally discharges his gun invariably gets a greater shock thanhis companion. "

"I call it damned careless, begging your pardon, Miss Necia, " saidRunnion. 

Poleon led his friend down the trail for half a mile without speaking, till Gale had regained a grip of himself and muttered, finally:

"I never did such a thing before, Poleon, never in all my life. "

The young man turned squarely and faced him, the starlight illuminingtheir faces dimly. 

"Why?" said Doret. 

"Why?" echoed Gale, with a start. "Well, because I'm careful, Isuppose. "

"Why?" insisted the Frenchman. 

"I--I--I--What do you mean?"

"Don' lie wit' me, John. I'm happen to be watch you underneat' my hatw'en you turn roun' for see if anybody lookin'. "

"You saw?"

"Yes. "

"I thought you were asleep, " said Gale. 

CHAPTER VIII

THE KNIFE

In every community, be it never so small, there are undesirablecitizens; and, while the little party was still at breakfast on thefollowing morning, three such members of society came around the cabinand let fall their packs, greeting the occupants boisterously. 

"Well, well!" said Lee, coming to the door. "You're travellin' kind ofearly, ain't you?"

"Yes--early and late, " one of them laughed, while the other twosprawled about as if to rest. 

"How far are you goin'?"

"Not far, " the spokesman answered. 

Now in the North there is one formality that must be observed withfriend or enemy, and, though Lee knew these men for what they were, hesaid:

"Better have some breakfast, anyhow. "

"We just ate. " There was an uncomfortable pause, then the speakercontinued: "Look here. It's no use to flush around. We want a piece ofthis creek. "

"What are you goin' to do with it?"

"Cut that out, Lee. We're on. "

"Who wised you up to this?" inquired the miner, angrily, for he hadother friends besides those present whom he wished to profit by thisstrike, and he had hoped to keep out this scum. 

"Never mind who put us Jerry. We're here, ain't we?"

Stark spoke up. "You can't keep news of a gold strike when the windblows, Lee. It travels on the breeze. "

The harm was done, and there was no use in concealment, so Leereluctantly told them of his discovery and warned them of the stakesalready placed. 

"And see here, you fellers, " he concluded, "I've been forty years atthis game and never had a creek named after me, but this one is goin'to be called '"No Creek" Lee Creek' or I fight. Does it go?"

"Sure, that's a good name, and we'll vote for it. "

"Then go as far as you like, " said the miner, dismissing them curtly. 

"I'll step along with the boys and show them where our upper stakesare, " volunteered Stark, and Runnion offered to do the same, addingthat it were best to make sure of no conflict so early in the game. Thefive disappeared into the woods, leaving the others at the cabin tomake preparations for the homeward trip. 

"That man who did the talking is a tin-horn gambler who drifted in amonth ago, the same as Runnion, and the others ain't much better, " saidGale, when they had gone. "Seems like the crooks always beat thestraight men in. "

"Never knowed it to fail, " Lee agreed. "There's a dozen good men incamp I'd like to see in on this find, but it'll be too late 'gin we getback. "

"Dose bum an' saloon feller got all de bes' claims at Klondike, " saidPoleon. "I guess it's goin' be de same here. "

"I don't like the look of this, " observed the Lieutenant, thoughtfully. "I'm afraid there's some kind of a job on foot. "

"There's nothing they can do, " Gale answered. "We've got our groundstaked out, and it's up to them to choose what's left. "

They were nearly ready to set out for Flambeau when the five menreturned. 

"Before you go, " said Stark, "I think we'd better organize our miningdistrict. There are enough present to do it. "

"We can make the kind of laws we want before the gang comes along, "Runnion chimed in, "and elect a recorder who will give us a squaredeal. "

"I'll agree if we give Lee the job, " said Gale. "It's coming to him asthe discoverer, and I reckon the money will be handy, seeing the hardluck he's played in. "

"That's agreeable to me, " Stark replied, and proceeded forthwith tocall a miners' meeting, being himself straightway nominated as chairmanby one of the strangers. There was no objection, so he went in, as didLee, who was made secretary, with instructions to write out thebusiness of the meeting, together with the by-laws as they were passed. 

The group assembled in the cleared space before the cabin to make rulesand regulations governing the district, for it is a custom in allmining sections removed from authority for the property holders thus tomake local laws governing the size of claims, the amount of assessmentwork, the size of the recorder's fees, the character of those who mayhold mines, and such other questions as arise to affect their personalor property interests. In the days prior to the establishment of courtsand the adoption of a code of laws for Alaska, the entire country wasgoverned in this way, even to the adjudication of criminal actions. Itwas the primitive majority rule that prevails in every new land, andthe courts later recognized and approved the laws so made andadministered, even when they differed in every district, and even whenthese statutes were often grotesque and ridiculous. As a whole, however, they were direct in their effect and worked no hardship; infact, government by miners' meeting is looked upon to this day, bythose who lived under it, as vastly superior to the complicatedmachinery which later took its place. 

The law permits six or more people to organize a mining district andadopt articles of government, so this instance was quite ordinary andproper. 

Lee had come by his learning slowly, and he wrote after the fashion ofa school-boy, who views his characters from every angle and followstheir intricacies with corresponding movements of the tongue, hence thebusiness of the meeting progressed slowly. 

It was of wondrous interest to Necia to be an integral part of suchimportant matters, and she took pride in voting on every question; butBurrell, who observed the proceedings from neutral ground, could notshake off the notion that all was not right. Things moved too smoothly. It looked as if there had been a rehearsal. Poleon and the trader, however, seemed not to notice it, and Lee was wallowing to the waist inhis own troubles, so the young man kept his eyes open and waited. 

The surprise came when they had completed the organization of thedistrict and had nearly finished adopting by-laws. It was so boldlyattempted and so crude in its working-out that it seemed almostlaughable to the soldier, until he saw these men were in deadly earnestand animated by the cruelest of motives. Moreover, it showed the firstglimpse of Stark's spite against the trader, which the Lieutenant haddivined. 

Runnion moved the adoption of a rule that no women be allowed to locatemining claims, and one of the strangers seconded it. 

"What's that?" said Lee, raising his one eye from the note-book inwhich he was transcribing. 

"It isn't right to let women in on a man's game, " said Runnion. 

"That's my idea, " echoed the seconder. 

"I s'pose this is aimed at my girl, " said Gale, springing to his feet. "I might have known you bums were up to some crooked work. "

Poleon likewise rose and ranged himself with the trader. 

"Ba Gar! I don' stan' for dat, " said he, excitedly. "You want for jumpNecia's claims, eh?"

"As long as I'm chairman we'll have no rough work, " declared Stark, glaring at them. "If you want trouble, you two, I reckon you can haveit, but, whether you do or not, the majority is going to rule, andwe'll make what laws we want to. "

He took no pains now to mask his dislike of Gale, who began to movetowards him in his dogged, resolute way. Necia, observing them, hastened to her father's side, for that which she sensed in the bearingof both men quite overcame her indignation at this blow against herself. 

"No, no, don't have any trouble, " she pleaded, as she clung to thetrader. "For my sake, daddy, sit down. " Then she whispered fiercelyinto his ear: "Can't you see he's trying to make you fight? There's toomany of them. Wait! Wait!"

Burrell attempted to speak, but Stark, who was presiding, turned uponhim fiercely:

"Now this is one time when you can't butt in, Mr. Soldier Man. This isour business. Is that plain?"

The Lieutenant realized that he had no place in this discussion, andyet their move was so openly brazen that he could restrain himself withdifficulty. A moment later he saw the futility of interference, whenStark continued, addressing the trader:

"This isn't aimed at you in particular, Gale, nor at your girl, for amotion to disqualify her isn't necessary. She isn't old enough to holdmining property. "

"She's eighteen, " declared the trader. 

"Not according to her story. "

"Well, I can keep her claims for her till she gets of age. "

"We've just fixed it so you can't, " grinned Runnion, cunningly. "No mancan hold more than one claim on a creek. You voted for that yourself. "

Too late, Gale saw the trick by which Stark had used him to rob his owndaughter. If he and his two friends had declined to be a part of thismeeting, the others could not have held it, and before another assemblycould have been called the creek would have been staked from end toend, from rim to rim, by honest men, over whom no such action couldpass; but, as it was, his own votes had been used to sew him up in amesh of motions and resolutions. 

"No Creek" Lee had the name of a man slow in speech and action, and onewho roused himself to anger deliberately, much as a serpent stingsitself into a painful fury; but now it was apparent that he was boilingover, for he stammered and halted and blurted explosively. 

"You're a bunch of rascals, all of you, tryin' to down a pore girl andget her ground; but who put ye wise to this thing, in the first place?Who found this gold? Just because there's enough of you to vote thatmotion through, that don't make it legal, not by a damned sight, and itwon't hold, because I won't write it in the book. You--you--" He glaredat them malevolently, searching his mind for an epithet sufficientlyvile, and, finding it, spat it out--"dressmakers!"

So this was why both Stark and Runnion had gone up the creek with thethree new men, thought Burrell. No doubt they had deliberately arrangedthe whole thing so that the new arrivals could immediately relocateeach of Necia's claims--the pick of all the ground outside Lee'sdiscovery, and the surest to be valuable--and that Stark would share inthe robbery. He or Runnion, or both of them, had broken Lee's oath ofsecrecy even before leaving camp, which accounted for the presence ofthese thugs; and now, as he revolved the situation rapidly in his mind, the soldier looked up at a sudden thought. Poleon had begun to speak, and from his appearance it seemed possible that he might not cease withwords; moreover, it was further evident that they were all intent onthe excited Frenchman and had no eyes for the Lieutenant. Carefullyslipping around the corner of the cabin, and keeping the house betweenhim and the others, Burrell broke into a swift run, making the utmostpossible speed for fear they should miss him and guess his purpose, or, worse yet, finish their discussion and adjourn before he could completehis task. He was a light man on his feet, and he dodged through theforest, running more carelessly the farther he went, visiting first theupper claims, then, making a wide detour of the cabin, he came back tothe initial stake of Necia's lower claim, staggering from hisexertions, his lungs bursting from the strain. He had covered nearly amile, but, even so, he laughed grimly as he walked back towards thecabin, for it was a game worth playing, and he was glad to take a handon the side of the trader and the girl. Coming within earshot, he heardthe meeting vote to adjourn. It could not have terminated moreopportunely had he held a stopwatch on it. 

From the look of triumph on Runnion's face, the Lieutenant needed noglance at Gale or Poleon or Necia to know that the will of the majorityhad prevailed, and that the girl's importunities had restrained heradvocates from a resort to violence. She looked very forlorn, like alittle child just robbed and deceived, with the shock of its firstgreat disillusionment still fresh in its eyes. 

Runnion addressed the other conspirators loudly. 

"Well, boys, there are three good claims open for relocation. I'm sorryI can't stake one of them. "

"They won't lie open long, " said one of the undesirable citizens, starting to turn down-stream while his two companions made for theopposite direction. But Burrell stopped them. 

"Too late, boys. Your little game went wrong. Now! Now! Don't getexcited. Whew! I had quite a run. "

Gale paused in his tracks and looked at the young man queerly. 

"What do you mean?"

"I've jumped those claims myself. "

"YOU jumped them!" cried Necia. 

"Sure! I changed my mind about staking. "

"It's a lie!" cried Runnion, at which Burrell whirled on him. 

"I've been waiting for this, Runnion--ever since you came back. Now--"

"I mean you haven't had time, " the other temporized, hurriedly. 

"Oh, that sounds better! If you don't believe me take a look foryourself; you'll find my notice just beneath Miss Gale's. " Then to "NoCreek" Lee he continued, "Kindly record them for me so there will be noquestion of priority. "

"I'll be damned if I do!" said the belligerent recorder. "You'reworse'n these crooks. That ground belongs to Necia Gale. "

Up to this time Stark had remained silent, his impassive face betrayingnot a shadow of chagrin, for he was a good loser; but now he spoke atlarge. 

"Anybody who thinks the American army is asleep is crazy. " Then toBurrell, "You certainly are a nice young man to double-cross yourfriends like that. "

"You're no friend of mine, " Meade retorted. 

"I? What do you mean?"

"I double-crossed you, Stark, nobody else. "

The Kentuckian glared at him with a look like that which Runnion hadseen in his face on that first day at the trading-post. The thought ofthese five men banded together to rob this little maid had caused agiddiness to rise up in him, and his passions were beginning to whirland dance. 

"There's no use mouthing words about it, " said he. "These thugs areyour tools, and you tried to steal that ground because it's sure to berich. "

Stark exclaimed angrily, but the other gave him no time to break in. 

"Now, don't get rough, because THAT is my game, and I'd be pleasedenough to take you back a prisoner. " Then turning to Lee, he said:"Don't make me force you to record my locations. I staked those claimsfor Miss Gale, and I'll deed them to her when she turns eighteen. "

Poleon Doret called to Runnion: "M'sieu, you 'member w'at I tol' youyestidday? I'm begin for t'ink it's goin' be you. "

The man paled in his anger, but said nothing. Necia clapped her handsgleefully. 

Seeing that the game had gone against him, Stark got his feelings undercontrol quickly, and shrugged his shoulders as he turned away. 

"You're in the wrong, Lieutenant, " he remarked; "but I don't want anytrouble. You've got the law with you. " Then to Runnion and the othershe said, "Well, I'm ready to hit the trail. "

When they had shouldered their packs and disappeared down the valley, Gale held out his hand to the soldier. "Young man, I reckon you and Iwill be friends. "

"Thank you, " said Burrell, taking the offer of friendship which he knewwas genuine at last. 

"I'm in on that!" said "No Creek" Lee; "you're all right!"

Poleon had been watching Stark's party disappear, but now he turned andaddressed the young soldier. 

"You mak' some enemies to-day, M'sieu. "

"That's right, " agreed Lee. "Ben Stark will never let up on you now. "

"Very well, that is his privilege. "

"You don't savvy what it means to get him down on you, " insisted Lee. "He'll frame things up to suit himself, then pick a row with you. He'sthe quickest man on a trigger in the West, but he won't never make noopen play, only just devil the life out of you with little things tillyou flare up, then he'll down you. That's how he killed the goldcommissioner back in British Columbia. "

Necia had said little so far, but the look in her eyes repaid thesoldier for his undertaking in her behalf, and for any mischief thatmight ensue from it. She came forward and laid her hands upon his. 

"Promise that you won't have trouble with him, " she begged, anxiously, "for it's all my fault, and I'd--I'd always blame myself if any hurtcame to you. Promise! Won't you?"

"Don't worry, daughter, " reassured Gale. "There's nothing Stark can do, and whatever happens we're with the Lieutenant. He's our kind ofpeople. "

Burrell liked this grizzled old fellow with the watchful eyes, and wasglad now that he could grip his hand and face him squarely with noguilt upon his conscience. 

By this time Doret had finished with their blankets, and the four setout for town, but instead of following the others they accepted Neciaas guide and chose the trail to Black Bear Creek. They had not gone farbefore she took occasion to lag behind with the Lieutenant. 

"I couldn't thank you before all those people--they would have read oursecret--but you know how I feel, don't you, Meade?"

"Why! It was a simple thing--"

"It was splendid when you defied them. My, what a fierce you are! Oh, boy! What if something should happen to you over this!"

"But there's no chance. It's all done, and you'll have your finedresses and be able to hold your nose just as high as you want. "

"Whatever I get I will owe to you. I--I've been thinking. Suppose--well, suppose you keep two of those claims; they are sure tobe rich--"

"Why, Necia!" he exclaimed. 

"They're yours, and I have no right to them under the law. Of course itwould be very handsome of you to give me one--the poorest. "

"You ought to have your ears boxed, " he laughed at her. 

"I don't see why. You--you--may be very poor, for all I know. "

"I am, " he declared, "but not poor enough to take payment for a favor. "

"Well, then, if they are really mine to do with as I please, I'll sellone to you--"

"Thanks. I couldn't avail myself of the offer, " he said, with mockhauteur. 

"If you were a business man instead of a fighting person you wouldlisten to my proposition before you declined it. I'll make the priceright, and you may pay me when we get behind yonder clump of bushes. "She pouted her lips invitingly, but he declared she was a minor and assuch her bargain would not hold. 

It was evidently her mood to re-enter the land of whims and travelagain, as they had on the way from town, but he knew that for him sucha thing could not be, for his eyes had cleared since then. He knew thathe could never again wander through the happy valley, for he vowed thismaid should be no plaything for him or for any other man, and as therecould be no honorable end to this affair, it must terminate at once. Just how this was to be consummated he had not determined as yet, nordid he like to set about its solution, it hurt him so to think oflosing her. However, she was very young, only a child, and in timewould come to count him but a memory, no doubt; while as for him--well, it would be hard to forget her, but he could and would. He reasonedglibly that this was the only honest course, and his reasoningconvinced him; then, all of a sudden, the pressure of her warm lipscame upon him and the remembrance upset every premise and process ofhis logic. Nevertheless, he was honest in his stubborn determination toconclude the affair, and finally decided to let time show him the way. 

She seemed to be very happy, her mood being in marked contrast to thatof Poleon and the trader, both of whom had fallen silent and gloomy, and in whom the hours wrought no change. The latter had tacitlyacknowledged his treachery towards Stark on the previous night, butbeyond that he would not go, offering no motive, excuse, orexplanation, choosing to stand in the eyes of his friend as an intendedmurderer, notwithstanding which Poleon let the matter drop--for was nothis friend a good man? Had he not been tried in a hundred ways? Theyoung Frenchman knew there must have been strong reason for Gale'soutburst, and was content to trust him without puzzling his mind todiscover the cause of it. 

Now, a secret must either grow or die--there is no fallow age forit--and this one had lived with Gale for fifteen years, until it hadmade an old man of him. It weighed him down until the desire to be ridof it almost became overpowering at times; but his caution wasingrained and powerful, and so it was that he resisted the temptationto confide in his partner, although the effort left him tired andinert. The only one to whom he could talk was Alluna--she understood, and though she might not help, the sound of his own voice at leastalways afforded him some relief. 

As to Poleon, no one had ever seen him thus. Never in all his life ofdream and song and romance had he known a heavy heart until now, for ifat times he had wept like a girl, it was at the hurts of others. He hadloved a bit and gambled much, with equal misfortune, and the next dayhe had forgotten. He had lived the free, clean life of a man who winsjoyously or goes down with defiance in his throat, but this venomousthing that Runnion had planted in him had seeped and circulated throughhis being until every fibre was penetrated with a bitter poison. Mostof his troubles could be grappled with bare hands, but here was oneagainst which force would not avail, hence he was unhappy. 

The party reached Flambeau on the following day, sufficiently ahead ofStark and his men for Lee to make known his find to his friends, and bysunset the place was depopulated, while a line of men could be seencreeping slowly up the valleys. 

Gale found Alluna in charge of the store, but no opportunity of talkingalone with her occurred until late in the evening, after Necia had putthe two little ones to bed and had followed them wearily. Then he toldhis squaw. She took the news better than he expected, and showed noemotion such as other women would have displayed, even when he told herof the gunshot. Instead, she inquired:

"Why did you try it there before all those others?"

"Well, when I heard him talking, the wish to kill him was more than Icould stand, and it came on me all at once, so that I was mad, Isuppose. I never did the like before. " He half shuddered at the memory. 

"I am sorry, " she said. 

"Yes! So am I. "

"Sorry that you failed, for you will never have as good a chance again. What was the matter with your aim? I have seen you hit a knot-hole, shooting from the hip. "

"The man is charmed, " declared Gale. "He's bullet-proof. "

"There are people, " she agreed, "that a gunshot will not injure. Therewas a man like that among my people--my father's enemy--but he was notproof against steel. "

"Your old man knifed him, eh?"

She nodded. 

"Ugh!" the man shivered. "I couldn't do that. A gun is a straight man'sfriend, but a knife is the weapon of traitors. I couldn't drive ithome. "

"Does this man suspect?"

"No. "

"Then it is child's play. We will lay a trap. "

"No, by God!" Gale interrupted her hotly. "I tried that kind of work, and it won't do. I'm no murderer. "

"Those are only words, " said the woman, quietly. "To kill your enemy isthe law. "

The only light in the room came from the stove, a great iron cylindermade from a coal-oil tank that lay on a rectangular bed of sand heldinside of four timbers, with a door in one end to take whole lengths ofcord-wood, and which, being open, lit the space in front, throwing thesides and corners of the place into blacker mystery. 

When he made no answer the squaw slipped out into the shadows, leavinghim staring into the flames, to return a moment later bearing somethingin her hands, which she placed in his. It was a knife in a scabbard, old and worn. 

"There is no magic that can turn bright steel, " she said, then squattedagain in the dimness outside of the firelight. Gale slid the case fromthe long blade and held it in his palm, letting the firelight flickeron it. He balanced it and tested the feel of its handle against hispalm, then tried the edge of it with his thumb-nail, and found it honedlike a razor. 

"A child could kill with it, " said Alluna. "Both edges of the blade areso thin that a finger's weight will bury it. One should hold the wristfirmly till it pierces through the coat, that is all--after that theflesh takes it easily, like butter. "

The glancing, glinting light flashing from the deadly thing seemed tofascinate the man, for he held it a long while silently. Then he spoke. 

"For fifteen years I've been a haunted man, with a soul like a dark anddismal garret peopled with bats and varmints that flap and flutter allthe time. I used to figger that if I killed this man I'd kill thatmemory, too, and those flitting, noiseless things would leave me, butthe thought of doing it made me afraid every time, so I ran away, whichnever did no good--you can't outfoot a memory--and I knew all the whilethat we'd meet sooner or later. Now that the day is here at last, I'mnot ready for it. I'd like to run away again if there was any place torun to, but I've followed frontiers till I've seen them disappear oneby one; I've retreated till my back is against the Circle, and thereisn't any further land to go to. All the time I've prayed and plannedfor this meeting, and yet--I'm undecided. "

"Kill him!" said Alluna. 

"God knows I've always hated trouble, whereas it's what he lives on. I've always wanted to die in bed, while he's been a killer all his lifeand the smoke hangs forever in his eyes. Only for an accident we mighthave lived here all our days and never had a 'run-in, ' which makes mewonder if I hadn't better let things go on as they are. "

"Kill him! It is the law, " repeated Alluna, stubbornly, but he put heraside with a slow shake of the head and arose as if very tired. 

"No! I don't think I can do it--not in cold blood, anyhow. Good-night!I'm going to sleep on it. " He crossed to the door of his room, but ashe went she noted that he slipped the knife and scabbard inside thebosom of his shirt. 

CHAPTER IX

THE AWAKENING

Early the next morning Corporal Thomas came into the store and foundNecia tending it while Gale was out. Ever since the day she hadquestioned him about Burrell, this old man had taken every occasion totalk with the girl, and when he asked her this morning about thereports concerning Lee's strike, she told him of her trip, and all thathad occurred. 

"You see, I'm a mine-owner now, " she concluded. "If it hadn't been asecret I would have told you before I went so you could have been oneof the first. "

"I'm goin', anyhow, " he said, "if the Lieutenant will let me and ifit's not too late. "

Then she told him of the trail by Black Bear Creek which would save himseveral hours. 

"So that's how you and he made it?" he observed, gazing at hershrewdly. "I supposed you went with your father?"

"Oh, no! We beat him in, " she said, and fell to musing at the memory ofthose hours passed alone with Meade, while her eyes shone and hercheeks glowed. The Corporal saw the look, and it bore out a theory hehad formed during the past month, so, as he lingered, he set about atask that had lain in his mind for some time. As a rule he was not acareful man in his speech, and the delicacy of this manoeuvre taxed hisingenuity to the utmost, for he loved the girl and feared to say toomuch. 

"The Lieutenant is a smart young fellow, " he began; "and it was slickwork jumpin' all those claims. It's just like him to befriend a girllike you--I've seen him do it before--"

"What!" exclaimed Necia, "befriend other girls?"

"Or things just like it. He's always doing favors that get him intotrouble. "

"This couldn't cause him trouble, could it, outside of Stark's andRunnion's grudge?"

"No, I reckon not, " assented the Corporal, groping blindly for some wayof expressing what he wished to say. "Except, of course, it might causea lot of talk at headquarters when it's known what he's done for youand how he done it. I heard something about it down the street thismorning, so I'm afraid it will get to St. Michael's, and then to hisfolks. " He realized that he was not getting on well, for the task washarder than he had imagined. 

"I don't understand, " said Necia. "He hasn't done anything that any manwouldn't do under the same circumstances. "

"No man's got a right to make folks talk about a nice girl, " said theCorporal; "and the feller that told me about it said he reckoned youtwo was in love. " He hurried along now without offering her a chance tospeak. "Of course, that had to be caught up quick; you're too fine agirl for that. "

"Too fine?" Necia laughed. 

"I mean you're too fine and good to let him put you in wrong, just ashe's too fine a fellow and got too much ahead of him to make what hispeople would call a messy alliance. "

"Would his people object to--to such a thing?" questioned the girl. They were alone in the store, and so they could talk freely. "I'm justsupposing, you know. "

"Oh, Lord! Would they object?" Corporal Thomas laughed in a highlyartificial manner that made Necia bridle and draw herself upindignantly. 

"Why should they, I'd like to know? I'm just as pretty as other girls, and I'm just as good. I know just as much as they do, too, except--about certain things. "

"You sure are all of that and more, too, " the Corporal declared, heartily, "but if you knowed more about things outside you'd understandwhy it ain't possible. I can't tell you without hurtin' your feelin's, and I like you too much for that, Miss Necia. Seems as if I'm almost adaddy to you, and I've only knowed you for a few weeks--"

"Go ahead and tell me; I won't be offended, " insisted the girl. "Youmust. I don't know much about such things, for I've lived all my lifewith men like father and Poleon, and the priests at the Mission, whotreat me just like one of themselves. But somebody will want to marryme some day, I suppose, so I ought to know what is wrong with me. " Sheflushed up darkly under her brown cheeks. 

The feeling came over Corporal Thomas that he had hurt a helplessanimal of some gentle kind; that he was bungling his work, and that hewas not of the calibre to go into the social amenities. He began toperspire uncomfortably, but went on, doggedly:

"I'm goin' to tell you a story, not because it applies to LieutenantBurrell, or because he's in love with you, which of course he ain't anymore than you be with him--"

"Of course, " said the girl. 

"--but just to show you what I mean. It was a good long spell ago, whenI was at Fort Supply, which was the frontier in them days like this isnow. We freighted in from Dodge City with bull teams, and it was surethe fringe of the frontier; no women--no society--nothin' much except afort, a lot of Injuns, and a few officials with their wives andfamilies. Now them kind of places is all right for married men, butthey're tough sleddin' for single ones, and after a while a feller getsawful careless about himself; he seems to go backward and run downmighty quick when he gets away from civilization and his people andrestaurants and such things; he gets plumb reckless and forgetful ofwhat's what. Well, there was a captain with us, a young feller thatlooked like the Lieutenant here, and a good deal the samesort--high-tempered and chivalrious and all that sort of thing; a WestPointer, too, good family and all that, and, what's more, a captain attwenty-five. Now, our head freighter was married to a squaw, orleastways he had been, but in them days nobody thought much of it anymore than they do up here now, and particularly because he'd had agovernment contract for a long while, ran a big gang of men andcritters, and had made a lot of money. Likewise he had a girl, wholived at the fort, and was mighty nice to look at, and restful to theeye after a year or so of cactus-trees and mesquite and buffalo-grass. She was twice as nice and twice as pretty as the women at the post, andas for money--well, her dad could have bought and sold all the officersin a lump; but they and their wives looked down on her, and she didn'tmix with them none whatever. To make it short, the captain married her. Seemed like he got disregardful of everything, and the hunger to have awoman just overpowered him. She'd been courted by every single man forfour hundred miles around. She was pretty and full of fire, and theywas both of an age to love hard, so Jefferson swore he'd make the otherwomen take her; but soldierin' is a heap different from any otherprofession, and the army has got its own traditions. The plan wouldn'twork. By-and-by the captain got tired of trying, and gave up theattempt--just devoted himself to her--and then we was transferred, allbut him. We shifted to a better post, but Captain Jefferson was changedto another company and had to stay at Supply. Gee! it was a rottenhole! Influence had been used, and there he stuck, while the newofficers cut him out completely, just like the others had done, so Iwas told, and it drifted on that way for a long time, him forevermakin' an uphill fight to get his wife reco'nized and always quittin'loser. His folks back East was scandalized and froze him cold, callin'him a squaw-man; and the story went all through the army, till hisbrother officers had to treat him cold in order to keep enough warmthat home to live by, one thing leading to another till he finallyresented it openly. After that he didn't last long. They made it sounpleasant that he quit the service--crowded him out, that's all. Hewas a born soldier, too, and didn't know nothing else nor care fornothing else; as fine a man as I ever served under, but it soured himso that a rattlesnake couldn't have lived with him. He tried to go intosome kind of business after he quit the army, but he wasn't cut out forit, and never made good as long as I knew of him. The last time I seenhim was down on the border, and he had sure grown cultus. He had quitthe squaw, who was livin' with a greaser in Tucson--"

"And do you think I'm like that woman?" said Necia, in a queer, strained voice. She had listened intently to the Corporal's story, buthe had purposely avoided her eyes and could not tell how she was takingit. 

"No! You're different, but the army is just the same. I told you thisto show you how it is out in the States. It don't apply to you, ofcourse--"

"Of course!" agreed Necia again. "But what would happen to LieutenantBurrell if--if--well, if he should do something like that? There aremany half-breed girls, I dare say, like this other girl, or--like me. "

She did not flush now as before; instead, her cheeks were pale. 

"It would go a heap worse with him than it did with Captain Jefferson, "said the Corporal, "for he's got more ahead of him and he comes frombetter stock. Why, his family is way up! They're all soldiers, andthey're strong at headquarters; they're mighty proud, too, and theywouldn't stand for his doing such a thing, even if he wanted to. But hewouldn't try; he's got too much sense, and loves the army too well forthat. No, sir! He'll go a long ways, that boy will, if he's let alone. "

"I never thought of myself as an Indian, " said Necia, dully. "In thiscountry it's a person's heart that counts. "

"That's how it ought to be, " said the Corporal, heartily; "and I'mmighty sorry if I've hurt you, little girl. I'm a rough old rooster, and I never thought but what you understood all this. Up here folkslook at it right, but outside it's mighty different; even yet you don'thalf understand. "

"I'm glad I'm what I am!" cried the girl. "There's nothing in my bloodto be ashamed of, and I'm white in here!" She struck her bosomfiercely. "If a man loves me he'll take me no matter what it means tohim. "

"Right for you, " assented the other; "and if I was younger myself, I'dsure have a lot of nice things to say to you. If I'd 'a' had somebodylike you I'd 'a' let liquor alone, maybe, and amounted to something, but all I'm good for now is to give advice and draw my pay. " He sliddown from the counter where he had been sitting. "I'm goin' to hunt upthe Lieutenant and get him to let me off. Mebbe I can stake a claim andsell it. "

The moment he was gone the girl's composure vanished and she gave ventto her feelings. 

"It's a lie! It's a lie!" she cried, aloud, and with her fists she beatthe boards in front of her. "He loves me! I know he does!" Then shebegan, to tremble, and sobbed: "I'm just like other girls. "

She was still wrestling with herself when Gale returned, and he startedat the look in her face as she approached him. 

"Why did you marry my mother?" she asked. "Why? Why did you do it?"

He saw that she was in a rage, and answered, bluntly, "I didn't. "

She shrank at this. "Then why didn't you? Shame! Shame! That makes meworse than I thought I was. Oh, why did you ever turn squaw-man? Whydid you make me a breed?"

"Look here! What ails you?" said the trader. 

"What ails me?" she mocked. "Why, I'm neither white nor red; I'm noteven a decent Indian. I'm a--a--" She shuddered. "You made me what Iam. You didn't do me the justice even to marry my mother. "

"Somebody's been saying things about you, " said Gale, quietly, takingher by the shoulders. "Who is it? Tell me who it is. "

"No, no! It's not that! Nobody has said anything to my face; they'reafraid of you, I suppose, but God knows what they think and say to myback. "

"I'll--" began the trader, but she interrupted him. 

"I've just begun to realize what I am. I'm not respectable. I'm notlike other women, and never can be. I'm a squaw--a squaw!"

"You're not!" he cried. 

"It's a nice word, isn't it?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"No honest man can marry me. I'm a vagabond! The best I can get is mybed and board, like my mother. "

"By God! Who offered you that?" Gale's face was whiter than hers now, but she disregarded him and abandoned herself to the tempest of emotionthat swept her along. 

"He can play with me, but nothing more, and when he is gone another onecan have me, and then another and another and another--as long as I cancook and wash and work. In time my man will beat me, just like anyother squaw, I suppose, but I can't marry; I can't be a wife to adecent man. "

She was in the clutch of an hysteria that made her writhe beneathGale's hand, choking and sobbing, until he loosed her; then she leanedexhausted against a post and wiped her eyes, for the tears were comingnow. 

"That's all damned rot, " he said. "There's fifty good men in this campwould marry you to-morrow. "

"Bah! I mean real men, not miners. I want to be a lady. I don't want topull a hand-sled and wear moccasins all my life, and raise children formen with whiskers. I want to be loved--I want to be loved! I want tomarry a gentleman. "

"Burrell!" said Gale. 

"No!" she flared up. "Not him nor anybody in particular, but somebodylike him, some man with clean finger-nails. "

He found nothing humorous or grotesque in her measure of a gentleman, for he realized that she was strung to a pitch of unreason andunnatural excitement, and that she was in terrible earnest. 

"Daughter, " he said, "I'm mighty sorry this knowledge has come to you, and I see it's my fault, but things are different now to what they werewhen I met Alluna. It wasn't the style to marry squaws where we camefrom, and neither of us ever thought about it much. We were happy witheach other, and we've been man and wife to each other just as truly asif a priest had mumbled over us. "

"But why didn't you marry her when I came? Surely you must have knownwhat it would mean to me. It was bad enough without that. "

The old man hesitated. "I'll own I was wrong, " he said, finally, staring out into the sunshine with an odd expression. "It wasthoughtless and wrong, dead wrong; but I've loved you better than anydaughter was ever loved in this wide world, and I've worked and starvedand froze and saved, and so has Alluna, so that you might havesomething to live on when I'm gone, and be different to us. It won't belong now, I guess. I've given you the best schooling of any girl on theriver, and I'd have sent you out to a convent in the States, but Icouldn't let you go so far away--God! I loved you too much for that--Icouldn't do it, girl. I've tried, but you're all I've got, and I'm aselfish man, I reckon. "

"No, no! You're not, " his daughter cried, impulsively. "You'reeverything that's good and dear, but you've lived a different life fromother men and you see things differently. It was mean of me to talk asI did. " She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. "But I'm veryunhappy, dad. "

"Don't you aim to tell what started this?" he said, gently, caressingher with his great, hard hand as softly as a mother. But she shook herhead, and he continued, "I'll take the first boat down to the Missionand marry your ma, if you want me to. "

"That wouldn't do any good, " said she. "We'd better leave things asthey are. " Then she drew away and smiled at him bravely from the door. "I'm a very bad to act this way. S'cuses?"

He nodded and she went out, but he gazed after her for a long minute, then sighed. 

"Poor little girl!"

Necia was in a restless mood, and, remembering that Alluna and thechildren had gone berrying on the slopes behind the Indian village, sheturned her way thither. All at once a fear of seeing Meade Burrell cameupon her. She wanted to think this out, to find where she stood, beforehe had word with her. She had been led to observe herself from astrange angle, and must verify her vision, as it were. As yet she couldnot fully understand. What if he had changed, now that he was alone, and had had time to think? It would kill her if she saw any differencein him, and she knew she would be able to read it in his eyes. 

As she went through the main street of the camp she saw Stark occupiednear the water-front, where he had bought a building lot. He spoke toher as she was about to pass. 

"Good-morning, Miss. Are you rested from your trip?"

She answered that she was, and would have continued on her way, but hestopped her. 

"I don't want you to think that mining matter was my doing, " he said. "I've got nothing against you. Your old man hasn't wasted any affectionon me, and I can get along without him, all right, but I don't maketrouble for girls if I can help it. "

The girl believed that he meant what he said; his words rang true, andhe spoke seriously. Moreover, Stark was known already in the camp as aman who did not go out of his way to make friends or to render anaccounting of his deeds, so it was natural that when he made her a showof kindness Necia should treat him with less coldness than might havebeen expected. The man had exercised an occult influence upon her fromthe time she first saw him at Lee's cabin, but it was too vague fordefinite feeling, and she had been too strongly swayed by Poleon andher father in their attitude towards him to be conscious of it. Findinghim now, however, in a gentle humor, she was drawn to him unwittingly, and felt an overweening desire to talk with him, even at the hazard ofoffending her own people. The encounter fitted in with her rebelliousmood, for there were things she wished to know, things she must findout from some one who knew the world and would not be afraid to answerher questions candidly. 

"I'm going to build a big dance-hall and saloon here, " said Stark, showing her the stakes that he had driven. "As soon as the rush to thecreek is over I'll hire a gang of men to get out a lot of house logs. I'll finish it in a week and be open for the stampede. "

"Do you think this will be a big town?" she asked. 

"Nobody can tell, but I'll take a chance. If it proves to be a falsealarm I'll move on--I've done it before. "

"You've been in a great many camps, I suppose. "

He said that he had, that for twenty years he had been on the frontier, and knew it from West Texas to the Circle. 

"And are they all alike?"

"Very much. The land lies different but the people are the same. "

"I've never known anything except this. " She swept the points of thecompass with her arm. "And there is so much beyond that I want to knowabout--oh, I feel so ignorant! There is something now that perhaps youcould tell me, you have travelled so much. "

"Let's have it, " said he, smiling at her seriousness. 

She hesitated, at a loss for words, finally blurting out what was inher mind. 

"My father is a squaw-man, Mr. Stark, and I've been raised to thinkthat such things are customary. "

"They are, in all new countries, " he assured her. 

"But how are they regarded when civilization comes along?"

"Well, they aren't regarded, as a rule. Squaw-men are pretty shiftless, and people don't pay much attention to them. I guess if they weren'tthey wouldn't be squaw-men. "

"My father isn't shiftless, " she challenged, at which he remainedsilent, refusing to go on record. "Isn't a half-breed just as good as awhite?"

"Look here, " said he. "What are you driving at?"

"I'm a 'blood, '" she declared, recklessly, "and I want to know whatpeople think of me. The men around here have never made me feelconscious of it, but--"

"You're afraid of these new people who are coming, eh? Well, don'tworry about that, Miss. It wouldn't make any difference to me or to anyof your friends whether you were red, white, black, or yellow. "

"But it would make a difference with some people?" insisted the girl. 

"Oh, I reckon it would with Eastern people. They look at things kind offunny, but we're not in the East. "

"That's what I wanted to know. Nice people back there wouldn't toleratea girl like me for a moment, would they? They wouldn't consider me goodenough to associate with them?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you'd have a hard time breaking inamong the 'bon-tonners. ' But what's the use of thinking about it. Thisis your country and these are your people. "

A morbid desire was upon her to track down this intangible racialdistinction, but she saw Runnion, whom she could not bear, comingtowards them, so thanked Stark hurriedly and went on her way. 

"Been making friends with that squaw, eh?" remarked Runnion, casually. 

"Yes, " replied Stark. "She's a nice little girl, and I like her. I toldher I didn't have any part in that miners' meeting affair. "

"Huh! What's the matter with you? It was all your doing. "

"I know it was, but I didn't aim it at her. I wanted that ground nextto Lee's, and I wanted to throw a jolt into Old Man Gale. I couldn'tlet the girl stand in my way; but now that it's over, I'm willing to befriends with her. "

"Me, too, " said Runnion, looking after Necia as her figure diminishedup the street. "By Heaven! She's as graceful as a fawn; she's white, too. Nobody would ever know she was a breed. "

"She's a good girl, " said Stark, musingly, in a gentle tone thatRunnion had never heard before. 

"Getting kind of mushy, ain't you? I thought you had passed that stage, old man. "

"No, I don't like her in that way. "

"Well, I do, and I'm dead sore on that soldier. "

"She's not your kind, " said Stark. "A bad man can't hold a good woman;he can win one easy enough, but he can't keep her. I know!"

"Nobody but a fool would want to keep one, " Runnion replied, "speciallya squaw. "

"She's just woke up to the fact that she is a squaw and isn't as goodas white. She's worried. "

"I'll lay you a little eight to five that Burrell has thrown her down, "chuckled Runnion. 

"I never thought of that. You may be right. "

"If it's true I'll shuffle up a hand for that soldier. "

"If I were you I wouldn't deal it to him, " said the gambler, dryly. "Hemay not cut to your break. "

Meanwhile, Necia had passed on out of the town and through the Indianvillage at the mouth of the creek, until high up on the slopes she sawAlluna and the little ones. She climbed up to them and seated herselfwhere she could look far out over the westward valley, with the greatstream flowing half a mile beneath her. She stayed there all themorning, and although the day was bright and the bushes bending withtheir burden of blue, she picked no berries, but fought resolutelythrough a dozen varying moods that mirrored themselves in her delicateface. It was her first soul struggle, but in time the buoyancy of youthand the almighty optimism of early love prevailed; she comfortedherself with the fond illusion that this man was different from allothers, that his regard was equal to her own, and that his love wouldrise above such accidental things as blood or breed or birth. And soshe was in a happier frame of mind when the little company made theirdescent at mid-day. 

As they approached the town they heard the familiar cry of"Steam-bo-o-o-at, " and by the time they had reached home the littlecamp was noisy with the plaint of wolf-dogs. There were few men to joinin the welcome to-day, every able-bodied inhabitant having disappearedinto the hills, but the animals came trooping lazily to the bank, andsat down on their haunches watching the approaching steamer, in theirsoft eyes the sadness of a canine race of slaves. Behind them limped asick man or two, a soldier from the barracks, and in the rear a fellowwho had drifted in the week before with scurvy. It was a pitiful reviewthat lined up to greet the tide of tenderfeet crowding towards their ElDorado, and unusual also, for as yet the sight of new faces was strangein the North. 

The deserted aspect of the town puzzled the captain of the steamer, andupon landing he made his way at once to John Gale's store, where helearned from the trader of the strike and of the stampede that hadresulted. Before the recital was finished a man approached and spokeexcitedly. 

"Captain, my ticket reads to Dawson, but I'm getting off here. Won'tyou have my outfit put ashore?" He was followed by a group offellow-passengers who made a similar request. 

"This place is good enough for me, " one of them said. 

"Me, too, " another volunteered. "This strike is new, and we've hit herjust in time. "

Outside a dozen men had crowded "No Creek" Lee against the wall of thestore and were clamoring to hear about his find. Before the tardy oneshad cleared the gang-plank the news had flashed from shore to ship, anda swarm came up the bank and into the post, firing questions andanswers at each other eagerly, elbowing and fighting for a place withinear-shot of the trader or the ragged man outside. 

The frenzy of a gold stampede is like the rush from a burning building, and equally easy to arouse. No statement is too wild to lack believers, no rumor too exaggerated to find takers. Within an hour the crew of thesteamer was busy unloading countless tons of merchandise and baggagebilled to Dawson, and tents began to show their snowy whiteness hereand there. As a man saw his outfit appear he would pounce upon it, abundle at a time, and pile it by itself, which resulted in endlessdisputes and much confusion; but a spirit of youth and expectancypermeated all and prevented more than angry words. Every hour the heapsof baggage grew larger and the tents more numerous. 

Stark wasted no time. With money in his hands he secured a dozen menwho were willing to work for hire, for there are always those whoprefer the surety of ten coined dollars to the hope of a hundred. Heswooped down with these helpers on his pile of merchandise that hadlain beneath tarpaulins on the river-bank since the day he and Runnionlanded, and by mid-afternoon a great tent had been stretched over aframework of peeled poles built on the lot where he and Necia had stoodearlier in the day. Before dark his saloon was running. To be sure, there was no floor, and his polished fixtures looked strangely new andincongruous, but the town at large had assumed a similar air ofincompleteness and crude immaturity, and little wonder, for it hadgrown threefold in half a day. Stark swiftly unpacked his gamblingimplements, keen to scent every advantage, and out of the handful ofpale-faced jackals who follow at the heels of a healthy herd, he hiredmen to run them and to deal. By night Flambeau was a mining-camp. 

Late in the evening the boat swung out into the river, and disclosed astrange scene of transformation to the puzzled captain of a few hoursago. The riverbank was lined with canvas shelters, illumined dully bythe tent-lights within till they looked like a nest of glowworms indeep grass. A long, hoarse blast of good wishes rose from the steamer, then she sighed her way around the point above bearing forth themessage that a new camp had been born. 

CHAPTER X

MEADE BURRELL FINDS A PATH IN THE MOONLIGHT

"No Creek" Lee had come into his own at last, and was a hero, for thestory of his long ill-luck was common gossip now, and men praised himfor his courage. He had never been praised for anything before and wasuncertain just how to take it. 

"Say, are these people kiddin' me?" he inquired, confidentially, ofPoleon. 

"W'y? Wat you mean?"

"Well, there's a feller makin' a speech about me down by the landing. "

"Wat he say?"

"It ain't nothin' to fight over. He says I'm another Dan'l Boom, leadin' the march of empire westward. "

"Dat's nice, for sure. "

"Certainly sounds good, but is it on the level?"

"Wal, I guess so, " admitted Poleon. 

The prospector swelled with indignation. "Then, why in hell didn't youfellers tell me long ago?"

The scanty ounce or two of gold from his claim lay in the scales at thepost, where every new-comer might examine it, and, realizing that hewas a never-ending source of information, they fawned on him for histips, bribing him with newspapers, worth a dollar each, or with cigars, which he wrapped up carefully and placed in his mackinaw till everypocket of the rusty garment bulged so that he could not sit withoutlosing them. They dwelt upon his lightest word, and stood him up besidethe bar where they filled him with proofs of friendliness until he shedtears from his one good eye. 

He had formed a habit of parsimony born of his years of poverty, andwas so widely known as a tight man by the hundreds who had lent to himthat his creditors never at any time hoped for a reckoning. And henever offered one; on the contrary, he had invariably flown into a ragewhen dunned, and exhibited such resentment as to discourage thepractice. Now, however, the surly humor of the man began to mellow, andin gradual stages he unloosened, the process being attended by adisproportionate growth of the trader's cash receipts. Cautiously, atfirst he let out his wit, which was logy from long disuse, and as heavyon its feet as the Jumping Frog of Calaveras, but when they laughed atits labored leaps and sallies his confidence grew. With the regularityof a clock he planted cigars and ordered "a little more hard stuff, "while his roving eye rejoiced in lachrymose profusion, its over-burdenlosing itself in the tangle of his careless beard. By-and-by hewandered through the town, trailed by a troop of tenderfeet, till thewomen marked him, whereupon he fled back to the post and hugged thebar, for he was a bashful man. When Stark's new place opened it offeredhim another retreat of which he availed himself for some time. But latein the evening he reappeared at Old Man Gale's store, walking a bitunsteadily, and as he mounted the flight of logs to the door he steppedonce too often. 

"What's become of that fourth step?" he demanded, sharply, of Poleon. 

"Dere she is, " said the Frenchman. 

"I'm damned if it is. You moved it since I was here. "

"I'll have 'im put back, " laughed the other. 

"Say! It's a grand thing to be rich, ain't it?"

"I don' know, I ain' never try it. "

"Well, it is; and now that I've arrived, I'm goin' to change my wayscomplete. No more extravagance in mine--I'll never lend another cent. "

"Wat's dat?" ejaculated Doret, in amazement. 

"No more hard-luck stories and 'hurry-ups' for mine. I'm thestony-hearted jailer, I am, from now, henceforth, world 'thout end, amen! No busted miners need apply. I've been a good thing, but to-nightI turn on the time-lock. "

"Ba gosh! You're fonny feller, " laughed Poleon, who had lent theone-eyed man much money in the past and, like others, regarded him notmerely as a bad risk but as a total loss. "Mebbe you t'ink you've beena spen't'rif all dese year. "

"I've certainly blowed a lot of money on my friends, " Lee acknowledged, "and they're welcome to what they've got so far, but I'm goin' to chopall them prodigal habits and put on the tin vest. I'll run thesolderin'-iron up my seams so they can't get to me without acan-opener. I'm air-tight for life, I am. " He fumbled in his pocketsand unwrapped a gift cigar, then felt for a match. Poleon tossed one onthe bar, and he reached for it twice, missing it each time. 

"I guess dose new frien' of yours is mak' you purty full, M'sieu' TinVest. "

"Nothin' of the sort. I've got a bad dose of indigestion. "

"Dat's 'orrible disease! Dere's plaintee riche man die on datseecknesse. You better lie down. "

Doret took the hero of the day by the arm and led him to the rear ofthe store, where he bedded him on a pile of flour sacks, but he hadhardly returned to the bar when Lee came veering out of the dimness, making for the light like a ship tacking towards a beacon. 

"What kind of flour is that?" he spluttered. 

"Dat's just plain w'eat flour. "

"Not on your life, " said the miner, with the firmness of a greatconviction. "It's full of yeast powders. Why, it's r'arin' and risin'like a buckin' hoss. I'm plumb sea-sick. " He laid a zigzag course forthe door. 

"W'ere you goin'?" asked Poleon. 

"I'm goin' to get somethin' for this stomach trouble. It's fierce. " Hedescended into the darkness boldly, and stepped off withconfidence--this time too soon. Poleon heard him floundering about, hisindignant voice raised irascibly, albeit with a note of triumph. 

"Wha'd I tell you? You put it back while I was ashleep. " Then whistlingblithely, if somewhat out of tune, he steered for the new saloon to getsomething for his "stomach trouble. "

At Stark's he found a large crowd of the new men who welcomed himheartily, plying him with countless questions, and harking to hismaudlin tales of this new country which to him was old. He had followedthe muddy river from Crater Lake to the Delta, searching the bars andcreek-beds in a tireless quest, till he knew each stream and tributary, for he had been one of the hardy band that used to venture forth fromJuneau on the spring snows, disappearing into the uncharted valley ofthe Yukon, to return when the river clogged and grew sluggish, and, like Gale, he had lived these many years ahead of the law where eachman was his own court of appeals and where crime was unknown. He hadhelped to build camps like Forty Mile and Circle; he knew by heart theby-laws and rules that governed every town and mining district in thecountry; he knew every man and child by name, but, while many of hisfriends had prospered, unceasing ill-luck had dogged him. Yet he hadheld to honesty and hard work, measuring a man by his ability to swingan axe or a shovel, and, despite his impecuniosity, regarding theft asthe one crime deserving capital punishment. 

"Oh, there's lots of countries worse'n this, " he declared. "We may notbe very han'some to the naked eye, and we may not wear our handk'chiefsin our shirt cuffs, but there ain't no widders and orphans doin' ourwashin', and a man can walk away from his house, stay a month, and findit there when he comes back. "

"Those days are past, " said Stark, who had joined in the discussion. "There's too many new people coming in for all of them to be honest. "

"They'd better be, " said Lee, aggressively. "We ain't got no room forstealers. Why, I had a hand in makin' the by-laws of this camp myself, 'long with John Gale, and they stip'lates that any person caughtrobbin' a cache is to be publicly whipped in front of the tradin'-post, then, if it's winter time, he's to be turned loose on the icebarefooted, or, if it's summer, he's to be set adrift on a log with hisshirt off. "

"Either one would mean certain death, " said a stranger. "Frost inwinter, mosquitoes in summer!"

"That's all right, " another bystander declared. "A man's life dependson his grub up here, and I'd be in favor of enforcing that punishmentto the letter if we caught any one thieving. "

"All the same, I take no chances, " said Stark. "There's too manystrangers here. Just to show you how I stand, I've put Runnion on guardover my pile of stuff, and I'll be glad when it's under cover. It isn'tthe severity of punishment that keeps a man from going wrong, it's thecertainty of it. "

"Well, he'd sure get it, and get it proper in this camp, " declared Lee;and at that moment, as if his words had been a challenge, the flaps ofthe great tent were thrust aside, and Runnion half led, half threw aman into the open space before the bar. 

"Let's have a look at you, " he panted. "Well, if it ain't a nigger!"

"What's up?" cried the men, crowding about the prisoner, who crouched, terror-stricken, in the trampled mud and moss, while those playingroulette and "bank" left the tables, followed by the dealers. 

"He's a thief, " said Runnion, mopping the sweat from his brow. "Icaught him after your grub pile, Stark. "

"In my cache?"

"Yes. He dropped a crate of hams when I came up on him, and tried torun, but I dropped him. " He held his Colt in his right hand, and atrickle of blood from the negro's head showed how he had been felled. 

"Why didn't you shoot?" growled Stark, angrily, at which the negro halfarose and broke into excited denials of his guilt. Runnion kicked himsavagely, and cursed him, while the crowd murmured approval. 

"Le' me see him, " said Lee, elbowing his way through the others. Fixinghis one eye upon the wretch, he spoke impressively. 

"You're the first downright thief I ever seen. Was you hungry?"

"No, he's got plenty, " answered one of the tenderfeet, who hadevidently arrived on the boat with the darky. "He's got a bigger outfitthan I have. "

The prisoner drew himself up against the bar, facing his enemiessullenly. 

"Then I reckon it's a divine manifestation, " said "No Creek" Lee, tearfully. "This black party is goin' to furnish an example as willelevate the moral tone of our community for a year. "

"Let me take him outside, " cried Stark, reaching under the bar for aweapon. His eyes were cruel, and he had the angry pallor of a dangerousman. "I'll save you a lot of trouble. "

"Why not do it legal?" expostulated Lee. "It's just as certain. "

"Yes! Lee is right, " echoed the crowd, bent on a Roman holiday. 

"What y'all aim to do?" whined the thief. 

"We're goin' to try you, " announced the one-eyed miner, "and if you'refound guilty, as you certainly are goin' to be, you'll be flogged. After which perdicament you'll have a nice ride down-stream on asaw-log without your laundry. "

"But the mosquitoes--"

"Too bad you didn't think of them before. Let's get at this, boys, andhave it over with. "

In far countries, where men's lives depend upon the safety of theirfood supply, a side of bacon may mean more than a bag of gold;therefore, protection is a strenuous necessity. And though any one ofthose present would have gladly fed the negro had he been needy, eachof them likewise knew that unless an example were made of him no tentor cabin would be safe. The North being a gameless, forbidding country, has ever been cruel to thieves, and now it was heedless of the blackman's growing terror as it set about to try him. A miners' meeting wascalled on the spot, and a messenger sent hurrying to the post for thebook in which was recorded the laws of the men who had made the camp. The crowd was determined that this should be done legally and asprescribed by ancient custom up and down the river. So, to make itselfdoubly sure, it gave Runnion's evidence a hearing; then, takinglanterns, went down to the big tarpaulin-covered pile beside the river, where it found the crate of hams and the negro's tracks. There was nodefence for the culprit and he offered none, being too scared by now todo more than plead. The proceedings were simple and quiet and grim, andwere wellnigh over when Lieutenant Burrell walked into the tent saloon. He had been in his quarters all day, fighting a fight with himself, andin the late evening, rebelling against his cramped conditions and thewar with his conscience, he had sallied out, and, drawn by the crowd inStark's place, had entered. 

A man replied to his whispered question, giving him the story, for themeeting was under Lee's domination, and the miners maintained anorderly and business-like procedure. The chairman's indigestion hadvanished with his sudden assumption of responsibility, and he showed notrace of drink in his bearing. Beneath a lamp one was binding four-footlengths of cotton tent-rope to a broomstick for a knout, while others, whom Lee had appointed, were drawing lots to see upon whom woulddevolve the unpleasant duty of flogging the captive. Thematter-of-fact, relentless expedition of the affair shocked Burrellinexpressibly, and seeing Poleon and Gale near by, he edged towardsthem, thinking that they surely could not be in sympathy with thisbarbarous procedure. 

"You don't understand, Lieutenant, " said Gale, in a low voice. "Thisnigger is a THIEF!"

"You can't kill a man for stealing a few hams. "

"It ain't so much WHAT he stole; it's the idea, and it's the custom ofthe country. "

"Whipping is enough, without the other. "

"Dis stealin' she's bad biznesse, " declared Poleon. "Mebbe dose ham issave some poor feller's life. "

"It's mob law, " said the Lieutenant, indignantly, "and I won't standfor it. "

Gale turned a look of curiosity upon the officer. "How are you going tohelp yourself?" said he; but the young man did not wait to reply. Quickly he elbowed his way towards the centre of the scene with thatair of authority and determination before which a crowd melts and menstand aside. Gale whispered to his companion:

"Keep your eye open, lad. There's going to be trouble. " They stood ontiptoe, and watched eagerly. 

"Gentlemen, " announced Burrell, standing near the ashen-gray wretch, and facing the tentful of men, "this man is a thief, but you can't killhim!"

Stark leaned across the bar, his eyes blazing, and touched theLieutenant on the shoulder. 

"Do you mean to take a hand in all of my affairs?"

"This isn't your affair; it's mine, " said the officer. "This is what Iwas sent here for, and it's my particular business. You seem to haveoverlooked that important fact. "

"He stole my stuff, and he'll take his medicine. "

"I say he won't!"

For the second time in their brief acquaintance these two men lookedfair into each other's eyes. Few men had dared to look at Stark thusand live; for when a man has once shed the blood of his fellow, a maniaobsesses him, a disease obtains that is incurable. There is anexcitation of every sense when a hunter stands up before big game; itcauses a thrill and flutter of undiscovered nerves, which nothing elsecan conjure up, and which once lived leaves an incessant hunger. Butthe biggest game of all is man, and the fiercest sensation is hate. Stark had been a killer, and his brain had been seared with the flametill the scar was ineradicable. He had lived those lurid seconds when aman gambles his life against his enemy's, and, having felt the greatsensation, it could never die; yet with it all he was a cautious man, given more to brooding on his injuries and building up a quarrel thanto reckless paroxysms of passion, and experience had taught him thevalue of a well-handled temper as well as the wisdom of knowing when touse it and put it in action. He knew intuitively that his hour withBurrell had not yet come. 

The two men battled with their eyes for an opening. Lee and the othersmastered their surprise at the interruption, and then began to babbleuntil Burrell turned from the gambler and threw up his arm for silence. 

"There's no use arguing, " he told the mob. "You can't do it. I'll holdhim till the next boat comes, then I'll send him down-river to St. Michael's. "

He laid his hand upon the negro and made for the door, with face setand eyes watchful and alert, knowing that a hair's weight might shiftthe balance and cause these men to rive him like wolves. 

Lee's indignation at this miscarriage of justice had him so by thethroat as to strangle expostulation for a moment, till he saw thesoldier actually bearing off his quarry. Then he broke into a flood ofinvective. 

"Stop that!" he bellowed. "To hell with YOUR law--we're goin' accordin'to our own. " An ominous echo arose, and in the midst of it the miner, in his blind fury forgetting his exalted position, took a step too nearthe edge of the bar, and fell off into the body of the meeting. Withhim fell the dignity of the assemblage. Some one laughed; another tookit up; the nervous tension broke, and a man cried:

"The soldier is right. You can't blame a dinge for stealing, " andanother: "Sure! Hogs and chickens are legitimate prey. "

Lee was helped back to his stand, and called for order; but the crowdpoked fun at him, and began moving about restlessly till some oneshouted a motion to adjourn, and there arose a chorus of seconders. Afew dissenting voices opposed them, but in the meantime Burrell wasgone, and with him the cause of the tumult; so the meeting broke up ofits own weight a moment later. 

As Poleon and Gale walked home, the Frenchman said, "Dat was nervyt'ing to do. "

The trader made no answer, and the other continued, "Stark is goin' forkill 'im, sure. "

"It's a cinch, " agreed Gale, "unless somebody gets Stark first. "

When they were come to his door the trader paused, and, looking backover the glowing tents and up at the star-sprinkled heavens, remarked, as if concluding some train of thought, "If that boy has got the nerveto take a nigger thief out of a miners' meeting and hold him againstthis whole town, he wouldn't hesitate much at taking a white man, wouldhe?"

"Wal, " hesitated the other, "mebbe dat would depen' on de crime. "

"Suppose it was--murder?"

"Ha! We ain' got no men lak' dat in Flambeau. "

They said good-night, and the old man entered his house to find Allunawaiting for him, a look of worry on her stolid face. 

"What's wrong?" he inquired. 

"All night Necia has been weeping. "

"Is she sick?" He started for the girl's door, but Alluna stopped him. 

"No! It is not that kind of weeping; this comes from the heart. It isthere she is sick. I went to her, but she grew angry, and said I had ablack skin and could not understand; then she went out-doors and hasnot returned. "

Gale sat down dejectedly. "Yes, she's sick in her heart, all right, andso am I, Alluna. When did she go out?"

"An hour ago. "

"Where is she?"

"Out by the river-bank--I followed her in the shadows. It is best forher to stay there till she is calm. "

"I know what ails her, " said the father. "She's found that she's notlike other girls. She's found that a white soul doesn't count withwhite people; they never go below the skin. " Then he told her of thescene that morning in the store, adding that he believed she lovedLieutenant Burrell. 

"Did she say so?"

"No, she denied it, now that she knows she hasn't got his kind of bloodin her. "

"Blood makes no difference, " said the woman, stubbornly. "If he lovesher, he will take her; if he does not--that is all. "

Gale looked up at her, and was about to explain, when the utterimpossibility of her comprehending him made him desist, and he fellmoody again. At last he said, "I've got to tell her, Alluna. "

"No, no!" cried the woman, aghast. "Don't tell her the truth! Nothingcould be worse than that!"

But he continued, deliberately: "Love is the biggest thing in theworld; it's the only thing worth while, and she has got to have a fairshow at it. This has been on my mind for weeks, and I've put it away, hoping I wouldn't have to do it; but to-day I came face to face with itagain, and it's up to me. She'll have to know some time, so the soonerthe better. "

"She would not believe you, " said the woman, at which he started. 

"I never thought of that. I wonder if she would doubt! I couldn't standthat. "

"There is no proof, and it would mean your life. A good man's life is agreat price to pay for the happiness of one girl--"

"I gave it once before, " said Gale, a trifle bitterly, "and now thatthe game is started I've got to play the string out; but--I wonder ifshe would doubt--" He paused for a long moment. "Well, I'll have torisk it. However, I've got a lot of things to do first--you and theyoungsters must be taken care of. "

"And Stark?" said Alluna. 

"Yes, and Stark. "

Burrell took his prisoner to the barracks, where he placed him underguard, giving instructions to hold him at any cost, not knowing whatwild and reckless humor the new citizens of Flambeau might developduring the night, for it is men who have always lived with the halterof the law tight upon their necks who run wildest when it is removed. Men grown old on the frontier adhere more closely to a rigid code thando tenderfeet who feel for the first time the liberty and license ofutter unrestraint, and it was these strangers whom the soldier fearedrather than men like Gale and "No Creek" Lee, who would recognize themercy of his intervention and let the matter drop. 

After he had taken every precaution he went out into the night again, and fought with himself as he had fought all that day and all the nightbefore; in fact, ever since old Thomas had come to him after leavingNecia, and had so cunningly shaped his talk that Burrell neversuspected his object until he perceived his position in such a clearlight that the young man looked back upon his work with startled eyes. The Corporal had spoken garrulously of his officer's family; of theirpride, and of their love for his profession; had dwelt enthusiasticallyupon the Lieutenant's future and the length he was sure to go, andfinally drifted into the same story he had told Necia. Burrell at lastsensed the meaning of the crafty old soldier's strategy and dismissedhim, but not before his work had been accomplished. If a coarse-fibred, calloused old campaigner like Corporal Thomas could recognize theimpossibility of a union between Necia and himself, then the young manmust have been blind indeed not to have seen it for himself. TheKentuckian was a man of strong and virile passions, but he was alsowell balanced, and had ever followed his head rather than his heart, holding, as he did, a deep-seated contempt for weak men who laid theircourses otherwise. The generations of discipline back of him spoke tohis conscience. He had allowed himself to become attached to this girluntil--yes, he knew now he loved her. If only he had not awakened herand himself with that first hot kiss; if only--But there was no goingback now, no use for regrets, only the greater necessity of mapping outa course that would cause her least unhappiness. If he could have runaway he would have done so gladly, but he was bound here to this camp, with no possibility of avoiding her. 

When he drove his reason with firm hands he saw but one course tofollow; but, when his mind went slack for a moment, the old desire tohave her returned more strongly than ever, and he heard voices arguing, pleading, persuading--she was the equal of any woman in the world, theysaid, in mind, in purity, and in innocence. He hated himself forhesitating; he railed at his own indecision; and then, when he hadjustified his love and persuaded himself that he was right in seekingthis union, there would rise again the picture of his people, theirchagrin, and what would result from such a marriage. He knew how theywould take it; he knew what his friends would say, and how he would betreated as the husband of a half-breed Indian; for in his country onedrop of colored blood made a negro, and his people saw but littledifference between the red and the black. It would mean his socialostracism; he would be shunned by his brother officers, and his careerwould be at an end. He swore aloud in the darkness that this was toogreat a price to pay for love, that he owed it to himself and to hisdear ones at home to give up this dark-eyed maid who had bewitched him. 

He had wandered far during this debate, clear past the town, and outthrough the Indian village; but now that he believed he had come to anunderstanding with himself, he turned back towards his quarters. Heknew it would be hard to give her up; but he had irrevocably decided, and his path began to unfold itself so clear and straight that hemarvelled how he could have failed to see it. He was glad he hadconquered, although the pain was still sharp. He felt a better man forit, and, wrapped in this complacent optimism, he passed close by thefront of the trader's store, where Necia had crept to be alone with hermisery. 

The high moon cast a deep, wide shadow upon the store steps where thegirl sat huddled, staring out into the unreal world, waiting for thenight wind to blow away the fears and forebodings that would not lether sleep. It was late, and the hush of a summer midnight lay upon thedistant hills. Burrell had almost passed her when he was startled bythe sound of his name breathed softly; then, to his amazement, he sawher come forth like a spirit into the silver sheen. 

"Necia!" he cried, "what are you doing here at this hour?" She lookedup at him sadly; he saw that her cheeks were wet, and something insidehim snapped and broke. Without a word he took her in his arms, meetingher lips in a long kiss, while she, trembling with the joy of hisstrong embrace, drew closer and closer and rested her body wearilyagainst his. 

"Little girl! little girl!" he whispered, over and over, his toneconveying every shade of sympathy, love, and understanding she hadcraved. He knew what had made her sad, and she knew that he knew. Therewas no need for words; the anguish of this long day had whetted theedge of their desire, and they were too deeply, too utterly lost in theecstasy of meeting to care for speech. 

As she lay cradled in his arms, which alternately held her with thesoft tenderness of a mother and crushed her with the fierce ardor of alover, she lost herself in the bliss of a woman's surrender, and forgotall her terrifying doubts and fears. What were questions of breed orbirth or color now, when she knew he loved her? Mere vapors thatvanished with the first flutter of warm wings. 

Nor did Meade Burrell recall his recent self-conquest or pause toreason why he should not love this little wisp of the wilderness. Thebarriers he had built went down in the sight and touch of his love anddisappeared; his hesitation and infirmity seemed childish now--yes, more than that, cowardly. He realized all in a moment that he had beensupremely selfish, that his love was a covenant, a compact, which hehad entered into with her and had no right to dissolve without herconsent, and, strangely enough, now that he acknowledged the bond tohimself, it became very sweet and satisfying. 

"Your lips cling so that I can't get free, " sighed the girl, at last. 

"You never shall, " he whispered. But when she smiled up at himpiteously, her eyes swimming, and said, "I must, " he wrenched himselfaway and let her go. 

As he went lightly towards the barracks through the far-stretchingshadows, for the moon was yellow now, Meade Burrell sighed gladly tohimself. Again his course ran clear and straight before him thoughwholly at variance with the one he had decided upon so recently. But heknew not that his vision was obscured and that the moon-madness wasupon him. 

CHAPTER XI

WHERE THE PATH LED

By daylight next morning every man and most of the women among the newarrivals had disappeared into the hills--the women in spite of theby-laws of Lee's Creek, which discriminated against their sex. When astampede starts it does not end with the location of one stream-bed, nor of two; every foot of valley ground for miles on every hand ispre-empted, in the hope that more gold will be found; each creek formsa new district, and its discoverers adopt laws to suit their whims. Thewomen, therefore, hastened to participate in the discovery of newterritory and in the shaping of its government, leaving but few ofeither sex to guard the tents and piles of provisions standing by theriver-bank. In two days they began to return, and straggled in atintervals for a week thereafter, for many had gone far. 

And now began a new era for Flambeau--an era of industry such as thefrontier town had never known. The woods behind rang with theresounding discords of axes and saws and crashing timber, and newcabins appeared on every hand, rising in a day. The sluggish air wasnoisy with voices, and the edge of the forest receded gradually beforethe busy pioneers, replacing the tall timbers with little, high-bankedhomes of spruce and white-papered birch. From dawn till dark arose therhythmic rasp of men whip-sawing floor lumber to the tune of twohundred dollars per thousand; and with the second steamer came a littlesteam sawmill, which raised its shrill complaint within a week, punctuating the busy day with its piping whistle. 

The trail along the Flambeau, was dotted continuously with toilinghuman beasts of burden, that floundered laboriously beneath great packsof provisions and tools and other baggage, winding like an endlessstream of ants through the hills to "No Creek" Lee Creek, where theyre-enacted the scenes that were occurring in the town. Tents and cabinswere scattered throughout the length of the valley, lumber was sawedfor sluice-boxes, and the virginal breezes that had sucked through thisseam in the mountains since days primeval came to smell of spruce firesand echo with the sounds of life. 

A dozen tents were pitched on Lee's discovery claim, for the owner hadbeen besieged by men who clamored to lease a part of his ground, and, yielding finally, he had allotted to each of them a hundred feet. Forth-with they set about opening their portions, for the ground wasshallow, and the gold so near the surface that winter would interferewith its extraction; wherefore, they made haste. The owner oversaw themall, complacent in the certainty of a steady royalty accruing from theworking of his allotments. 

Every day there came into Flambeau exaggerated reports of new strikesin other spots, of strong indications and of rich prospects elsewhere. Stories grew out of nothing, until the camp took an hysterical pleasurein exciting itself and deceiving every stranger who came from north orsouth, for the wine of discovery was in them all, and it pleased themto distort and enlarge upon every rumor that came their way, such beingthe temper of new gold-fields. They knew they were lying, and that allother men were lying also, and yet they hearkened to each tale andalmost deceived themselves. 

Burrell sought Necia at an early day and, in presence of her father, told her that he had been approached by men who wished to lease theclaims he held for her. It would prove an inexpensive way to developher holdings, he said, and she would run no risk; moreover, it would berapid, and insure a quick return, for a lease so near to proventerritory was in great demand. After some discussion this was arranged, and Meade, as trustee, allotted her ground in tracts, as Lee had done. Poleon followed suit; but the trader chose to prospect his own claims, and to that end called in a train of stiff-backed Indian packers, moveda substantial outfit to the creek, and thereafter spent much of histime in the hills, leaving the store to Doret. He seemed anxious to getaway from the camp and hide himself in the woods. Stark was almostconstantly occupied at his saloon, for it was a mint, and ran day andnight. Runnion was busy with the erection of a substantial structure ofsquared logs, larger than the trading-post, destined as a dance-hall, theatre, and gambling-house. Flambeau, the slumbrous, had indeedaroused itself, stretched its limbs, and sprung into vigorous, virile, feverish being, and the wise prophets were predicting another Dawsonfor it, notwithstanding that many blank spots had been found as thecreek of Lee's finding bared its bedrock to the miners. These butenhanced the value of the rich finds, however, for a single stroke ofgood-fortune will more than offset a dozen disappointments. The truthis, the stream was very spotted, and Leo had by chance hit upon one ofthe bars where the metal had lodged, while others above and belowuncovered a bed-rock as barren as a clean-swept floor. In places theycross-cut from rim to rim, drove tunnels and drains and drifts, sunkshafts and opened trenches without finding a color that would ring whendropped in the pan; but that was an old, old story, and they were usedto it. 

During these stirring weeks of unsleeping activity Burrell saw littleof Necia, for he had many things to occupy him, and she was detainedmuch in the store, now that her father was away. When they met for amoment they were sure to be interrupted, while in and around the houseAlluna seemed to be always near her. Even so, she was very happy; forshe was sustained by the constant hectic excitement that was in the airand by her brief moments with Meade, which served to gladden her andmake of the days one long, delicious, hopeful procession of undisturbeddreams and fancies. He was the same fond lover as on that adventurousjourney up Black Bear Creek, and wooed her with a reckless fire thatset her aglow. And so she hummed and laughed and dreamed the days away, her happiness matching the peace and gladness of the season. 

With Burrell, on the contrary, it was a season of penance andflagellations of spirit, lightened only by the moments when he was withher, and when she made him forget all else. This damnable indecisiongoaded him to self-contempt; he despised himself for his weakness; hissocial instincts and training, his sense of duty, and the amenities oflife that proud men hold dear tugged steadily, untiringly at hisreason, while the little imp of impulse sat grinning wickedly, ready topop out and upset all his high resolutions. It raised such a tumult inhis ears that he could not hear the other voices; it stirred his bloodtill it leaped and pounded, and then ran off with him to find this tinybrown and beaming witch who was at the bottom of it all. 

No months in any clime can compare with an Arctic summer when Nature iskind, for she crowds into this short epoch all the warmth andbrightness and splendor that is spread over longer periods in otherlands, and every growing thing rejoices riotously in scent and colorand profusion. It was on one of these heavenly days, spiced with thefaintest hint of autumn, that Necia received the news of hergood-fortune. One of her leasers came into the post to show her andPoleon a bag of dust. He and his partner had found the pay-streakfinally, and he had come to notify her that it gave promise of beingvery rich, and now that its location was demonstrated, no doubt theother "laymen" would have it within a fortnight. As all of them wereready to begin sluicing as soon as the ground could be stripped, undoubtedly they would be able to take out a substantial stake beforewinter settled and the first frost closed them down. 

She took the news quietly but with shining eyes, though her pleasurewas no greater or more genuine than Poleon's, who grasped both herhands in his and shouted, gleefully:

"Bien! I'm glad! You'll be riche gal for sure now, an' wear plainteefine dress lak' I fetch you. Jus' t'ink, you fin' gol' on your placemore queecker dan your fader, an' he's good miner, too. Ha! Dat'sbully!"

"Oh, Poleon! I'll be a fine lady, after all, " she cried--"just as I'vedreamed about! Wasn't it beautiful, that pile of yellow grains andnuggets? Dear, dear! And part of it is mine! You know I've never hadmoney. I wonder what it is like to be rich!"

"How I'm goin' tell you dat?"

"Oh, well, they will find it on your claims very soon. "

He shook his head. "You better knock wood w'en you say dat. Mebbe Idraw de blank again; nobody can't tell. I've do de sam' t'ing before, an' dose men w'at been workin' my groun' dey're gettin' purty blue. "

"It's impossible. You're sure to strike it, or if you don't, you canhave half of what I make--I'll be too wealthy, anyhow, so you might aswell. "

He laughed again, at which she suddenly remembered that he had notlaughed very much of late, or else she had been too deeply absorbed inher own happiness to mark the lack of his songs and merriment. 

"When you do become a Flambeau king, " she continued, "what will you dowith yourself? Surely you won't continue that search for your farcountry. It could never be so beautiful as this. " She pointed to theriver that never changed, and yet was never the same, and to theforests, slightly tinged with the signs of the coming season. "Justlook at the mountains, " she mused, in a hushed voice; "see the hazethat hangs over them--the veil that God uses to cover up histreasures. " She drew a deep breath. "The breeze fairly tastes withclean things, doesn't it? Do you know, I've often wanted to be ananimal, to have my senses sharpened--one of those wild things with afunny, sharp, cold nose. I'd like to live in the trees and run alongthe branches like a squirrel, and drink in the perfume that comes onthe wind, and eat the tender, growing things. The sun is bright enoughand the world is good enough, but I can't feel enough. I'm incomplete. "

"It's very fine, " agreed the Canadian. "I don' see w'y anybody wouldcare for livin' on dem cities w'en dere's so much nice place outside. "

"Oh, but the cities must be fine also, " said she, "though, of course, they can't be as lovely as this. Won't I be glad to see them!"

"Are you goin' away?" he inquired, quickly. 

"Of course. " Then glimpsing his downcast face, she hastened to add, "That is, when my claims turn out rich enough to afford it. "

"Oh, " he said, with relief. "Dat's different. I s'pose it mus' be purtydull on dem beeg town; now'ere to go, not'in' to see 'cept lot ofhouses. "

"Yes, " said Necia, "I've no doubt one would get tired of it soon, andlong for something to do and something really worth while, but I shouldlike to try it once, and I shall as soon as I'm rich enough. Won't youcome along?"

"I don' know, " he said, thoughtfully; "mebbe so I stay here, mebbe so Itak' my canoe an' go away. For long tam' I t'ink dis Flambeau she's depromis' lan' I hear callin' to me, but I don' know yet for w'ile. "

"What kind of place is that land of yours, Poleon?"

"Ha! I never see 'im, but she's been cryin' to me ever since I'm littleboy. It's a place w'ere I don' get too hot on de summer an' too col' onde winter; it's place w'ere birds sing an' flowers blossom an' de sunshine, an' w'ere I can sleep widout dreamin' 'bout it all de tam'. "

"Why, it's the land of content--you'll never discover it by travel. I'll tell you a secret, Poleon. I've found it--yes, I have. It lieshere. " She laid her hand on her breast. "Father Barnum told me thestory of your people, and how it lives in your blood--that hunger tofind the far places; it's what drove the voyageurs and coureur du boisfrom Quebec to Vancouver, and from the Mississippi to Hudson's Bay. Thewanderlust was their heritage, and they pushed on and on without rest, like the salmon in the spring, but they were different in this: thatthey never came back to die. "

"Dat's me! I never see no place yet w'at I care for die on, an' I neversee no place yet w'at I care for see again 'cept dis Flambeau. I lak'it, dis one, purty good so far, but I ain' know w'en I'm goin' gettire'. Dat depen's. " There was a look of great tenderness in his eyesas he bent towards her and searched her face, but she was not thinkingof him, and at length he continued:

"Fader Barnum, he's goin' be here nex' Sonday for cheer up dem Injun. Constantine she's got de letter. "

"Why, that's the day after to-morrow!" cried Necia. "Oh, won't I beglad to see him!"

"You don' get dem kin' of mans on de beeg cities, " said Poleon. "I ain'never care for preachin' much, an' dese feller w'at all de tam' prayan' sing t'rough de nose, dey mak' me seeck. But Fader Barnum--Ba Gar!She's the swell man. "

"Do you know, " said Necia, wistfully, "I've always wanted him to marryme. "

"You t'inkin' 'bout marry on some feller, eh?" said the other, with anodd grin. "Wal! w'y not? He'll be here all day an' night. S'pose you doit. Mos' anybody w'at ain' got some wife already will be glad for marryon you--an' mebbe some feller w'at has got wife, too! If you don' lak'dem, an' if you're goin' marry on SOMEBODY, you can be wife to me. "

Necia laughed lightly. "I believe you WOULD marry me if I wanted youto; you've done everything else I've ever asked. But you needn't beafraid; I won't take you up. " In all her life this man had never spokenof love to her, and she had no hint of the dream he cherished. He hadsung his songs to her and told her stories till his frank and boyishmind was like an open page to her; she knew the romance that was thevery fibre of him, and loved his exaggerated chivalry, for it mindedher of old tales she had read; but that he could care for her save as afriend, as a brother--such a thought had never dawned upon her. 

While they were talking a boat had drawn inshore and made fast to thebank in front of them. An Indian landed and, approaching, entered intotalk with the Frenchman. 

By-and-by Poleon turned to the girl, and said:

"Dere's'hondred marten-skin come in; you min' de store w'ile I mak'trade wit' dis man. "

Together the two went down to the boat, leaving Necia behind, and notlong after Runnion sauntered up to the store and addressed herfamiliarly. 

"Hello, Necia! I just heard about the strike on your claim. That's fineand dandy. "

She acknowledged his congratulations curtly, for although it wascustomary for most of the old-timers to call her by her Christian name, she resented it from this man. She chose to let it pass, however. 

"I had some good news last night myself, " he continued. "One of my menhas hit some good dirt, and we'll know what it means in a day or so. I'll gamble we're into the money big, though, for I always was a luckycuss. Say, where's your father?"

"He's out at the mine. "

"We've used up all of our bar sugar at the saloon, and I want to buywhat you've got. "

"Very well, I'll get it for you. "

He followed her inside, watching her graceful movements, andattempting, with his free-and-easy insolence, to make friendlyadvances, but, seeing that she refused to notice him, he became piqued, and grew bolder. 

"Look here, Necia, you're a mighty pretty girl. I've had my eye on youever since I landed, and the more I see of you the better I like you. "

"It isn't necessary to tell me that, " she replied. "The price of thesugar will be just the same. "

"Yes, and you're bright, too, " he declared. "That's what I like in awoman--good looks and brains. I believe in strong methods and straighttalk, too; none of this serenading and moonlight mush for me. When Isee a girl I like, I go and get her. That's me. I make love like a manought to--"

"Are you making love to me?" she inquired, curiously. 

"It's a little bit sudden, I know, but a man has to begin some time. Ithink you'd just about suit me. We'll both have money before long, andI'll be good to you. "

The girl laughed derisively in his face. 

"Now don't get sore. I mean business. I don't wear a blue coat and usea lot of fancy words, and then throw you down when I've had my fun, andI don't hang around and spoil your chances with other men either. "

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm no soft-talking Southerner with gold buttons andhighfalutin' ways. I don't care if you are a squaw, I'll take you--"

"Don't talk to me!" she cried, in disgust, her voice hot with anger andresentment. 

But he continued, unheeding: "Now, cut out these airs and get down tocases. I mean what I say. I know you've been casting sheep's eyes atBurrell, but, Lord! he wouldn't have you, no matter how rich you get. Of course, you acted careless in going off alone with him, but I don'tmind what they're saying around camp, for I've made little slips likethat myself, and we'd get along--"

"I'll have you killed!" she hissed, through her clinched teeth, whileher whole body vibrated with passion. "I'll call Poleon and have himshoot you!" She pointed to the river-bank a hundred yards away, wherethe Canadian was busy assorting skins. 

But he only laughed at her show of temper, and shrugged his shouldersas he answered her, roughly:

"Understand me, I'm on the square. So think it over, and don't go up inthe air like a sky-rocket. "

She cried out at him to "Go--go--go!" and finally he took up hisbundle, saying, as he stepped out slowly:

"All right! But I'm coming back, and you'll have to listen to me. Idon't mind being called a squaw-man. You're pretty near white, andyou're good enough for me. I'll treat you right--why, I'll even marryyou if you're dead set on it. Sure!"

She could scarcely breathe, but checked her first inclination to callPoleon, knowing that it needed only a word from her to set thatnut-brown savage at Runnion's throat. Other thoughts began to crowd herbrain and to stifle her. The fellow's words had stabbed herconsciousness, and done something for her that gentler means would nothave accomplished; they had opened her eyes to a thing that she hadforgotten--a hideous thing that had reared its fangs once before tostrike, but which her dreams of happiness had driven out of her Eden. All at once she saw the wrong that had been done her, and realized fromthis brute's insult that those early fears had been well grounded. Itsuddenly occurred to her that in all the hours she had spent with herlover, in all those unspeakably sweet and intimate hours, there hadnever been one word of marriage. He had looked into her eyes and vowedhe could not live without her, and yet he had never said the words heshould have said, the words that would bind her to him. His arms andhis lips had comforted her and stilled her fears, but after all he hadmerely made love. A cold fear crept over the girl. She recalled the oldCorporal's words of a few weeks ago, and her conversation with Starkcame back to her. What if it were true--that which Runnion implied?What if he did not intend to ask her, after all? What if he had onlybeen amusing himself? She cried out sharply at this, and when Doretstaggered in beneath a great load of skins he found her in a strangeexcitement. When he had finished his accounting with the Indian anddismissed him, she turned an agitated face to the Frenchman. 

"Poleon, " she said, "I'm in trouble. Oh, I'm in such awful trouble!"

"It's dat Runnion! I seen 'im pass on de store w'ile I'm down below. "His brows knit in a black scowl, and his voice slid off a pitch intone. "Wat he say, eh?"

"No, no, it's not that. He paid me a great compliment. " She laughedharshly. "Why, he asked me to marry him. " The man beside her cursed atthis, but she continued: "Don't blame him for liking me--I'm the onlywoman for five hundred miles around--or I was until this crowd came--sohow could he help himself? No, he merely showed me what a fool I'vebeen. "

"I guess you better tell me all 'bout dis t'ing, " said Poleon, gravely. "You know I'm all tam' ready for help you, Necia. Wen you was littlefeller an' got bust your finger you run to me queeck, an' I feex it. "

"Yes, I know, dear Poleon, " she assented, gratefully. "You've been abrother to me, and I need you now more than I ever needed you before. Ican't go to father; he wouldn't understand, or else he would understandtoo much, and spoil it all, his temper is so quick. "

"I'm not w'at you call easy-goin' mese'f, " the Canadian said, darkly, and it was plain that he was deeply agitated, which added to the girl'sdistress; but she began to speak rapidly, incoherently, herimpulsiveness giving significance to her words, so that the man had nodifficulty in following her drift. With quick insight he caught hermeaning, and punctuated her broken sentences with a series of gravenods, assuring her that he knew and understood. He had always known, hehad always understood, it seemed. 

"Don't think I'm unwomanly, Poleon, for I'm not. I may be foolish andfaithful and too trusting, but I'm not--unmaidenly. You see, I've neverbeen like other girls--and he was so fine, so different, he made melove him--it's part of a soldier's training, I suppose. It was so sweetto be near him, and to hear him tell of himself and all the world heknows--I just let myself drift. I'm afraid--I'm afraid I listened toowell, and my ears heard more than he said--my head is so full of books, you know. "

"He should have know' dat, too, " said Poleon. 

"Yes, " she flared up. "He knew I was only an Indian girl. "

The only color in Doret's face lay now in his cheeks, where the sun hadput it; but he smiled at her--his warm, engaging smile--and laid hisgreat brown hand upon her shoulder softly. 

"I've look' in hees eye an' I'm always t'ink he's good man. I don'never t'ink he'll mak' fun of poor little gal. "

"But he has, Poleon; that's just what he has done. " She came near tobreaking down, and finished, pathetically, "They're telling the storyon the street, so Runnion says. "

"Dat's easy t'ing for feex, " he said. "Runnion, she don' spread no morestory lak' dat. "

"I don't care what they say. I want the truth. I want to know what hemeans, what his intentions are. He swears he loves me, and yet he hasnever asked me to marry him. He has gone too far; he has made a fool ofme to amuse himself, and--and I couldn't see it until to-day. He'slaughing at me, Poleon, he's laughing at me now! Oh, I can't bear it!"

The Frenchman took up his wide hat from the counter and placed itcarefully upon his head, but she stopped him as he moved towards thedoor, for she read the meaning of the glare in his eyes. 

"Wait till you understand--wait, I say! He hasn't done anything yet. "

"Dat's de trouble. I'm goin' mak' 'im do somet'ing. "

"No, no! It isn't that; it's these doubts that are killing me--I'm notsure--"

"I hear plaintee, " he said. "Dere's no tam' for monkey roun'. "

"I tell you he may be honest, " she declared. "He may mean to marry me, but I've got to know. That's why I came to you; that's what you mustfind out for me. "

"I'm good trader, Necia, " said the Canadian, after a moment. "I'll mak'bargain wit' you now. If he say yes, he'll marry you, I don' ask nomore; but if he say no, you geeve 'im to me. Is it go?"

She hesitated, while he continued, musingly, "I don' see how no man onall dis worl' could lef' you go. " Then to her, "Wal, is it bargain?"

"Yes, " she said, the Indian blood speaking now; "but you must learn thetruth, there must be no mistake--that would be terrible. "

"Dere ain' goin' be no mistak'. "

"If he should refuse, I--I'll marry SOME one, quick. I won't be laughedat by this camp; I won't be a joke. Oh, Poleon! I've given myself tohim just as truly as if--well, he--he has taken my first kiss. "

Doret smote his hands together at this and began to roll his headbackward from side to side, as if in some great pain, but his lips weredry and silent. After a moment the spell left him, the fire died down, leaving only a dumb agony in its place. She came closer and continued:

"I'll never let them point at me and say, 'There goes the squawthat--he threw away. '"

"You mak' dis very hard t'ing for me, " he said, wearily. 

"Listen, " she went on, lashing herself with pity and scorn. "You sayFather Barnum will be here on Sunday. Well--I'll marry some one, Idon't care who!" Then, with a sudden inspiration, she cried, "I'llmarry you--you said I could be a wife to you. "

He uttered a sharp cry. "You mean dat, Necia?"

"Yes, " she declared. "Why not? You'll do it for my sake, won't you?"

"Would you stan' up wit' me 'longside of de pries', lovin' dat oderfeller all de tam'?" he asked, queerly. 

"Yes, YES! I'd rather it was you than anybody, but married I'll be onSunday. I'll never let them laugh at me. "

Doret held his silence for a moment, then he looked up and said, inlevel tones:

"It's easy t'ing for go an' ask 'im, but you mus' hear hees answer wit'your own ears--den you can't t'ink I'm lyin'. I'll fetch 'im 'ere ondis place if you feex it for hide you'se'f behin' dose post. " Heindicated a bundle of furs that were suspended against a pillar, andwhich offered ample room for concealment. "Dere's goin' be no liesto-day. "

He pulled himself together and went out, with the tired gait of an oldman, his great shock head bowed low. A few moments later he returned. 

"I've sent li'l' Jean for 'im. You get in dere out of sight--an' wait. "

CHAPTER XII

A TANGLED SKEIN

When Burrell entered he wasted no time in greetings. 

"I know why you sent for me, Poleon. I've heard the news, and I wouldhave been up anyhow to congratulate her very soon. I call it prettyfine. "

"Yes, dere's been beeg strike all right, an' Necia is goin' be richegal. "

"I'm as pleased as if the claim were mine, and you feel the same way, of course. "

The Frenchman nodded. "I love Necia very much, lak'--well, lak' I'mbroder to her. " The knowledge that she was listening made him veryuncomfortable--in fact, this whole affair savored more ofdouble-dealing and treachery than anything he had ever attempted, andit went sorely against his grain, but it had presented itself as theonly way to help her, and he proceeded, groping haltingly for fitexpression, "Dere's t'ing I want for talk 'bout wit' you, but I'mscare' you'll t'ink I'm butt in. "

"Nonsense, " said Burrell. "I know you too well for that. "

"You know me for good man, eh? An' you know I ain' try for bre'k upoder fellers' biznesse, never! Wal, I'm come to you now lak' wan goodman to 'noder biccause I'm got bad trouble on de min', an' you mus'n'tget sore. "

"There's no danger, Poleon. Let's have it. If there is anything I cando, you may count on me. "

"Wal, " he began, nervously, clearing his throat, "it's lak' dis. Dere'sfeller been talk some 'bout Necia, an' it ain' nice talk neider. "

"Who is he?" exclaimed the soldier, in a tone that made the girl'sheart leap. 

"Wait! Lemme tol' you w'at he say, den we'll talk 'bout feex 'implaintee. He say dere's joke down on Stark's saloon dat Necia Gale ismak' fool of herse'f on you, an' dat you ain' care for marry her. "

"Runnion!" cried Burrell, and started for the door. "I'll settle withhim now for fair!" But Poleon blocked his way, and, observing himgravely, continued, in a tone that the other could not disregard normistake:

"No, M'sieu', before you pass on dat place you'll tol' me if it's true. "

"True!" the Lieutenant retorted, angrily. "What business is it ofyours? This concerns me. "

"An' me, too! I'm w'at you call gardeen for Necia till John Gale comeback, an' I'm broder of her, too. You promis' jus' now you don' getmad, an' I don' say she's Runnion neider w'at spik dose t'ing; dere'smore dan 'im been talkin'. Is it true?"

His sternness offended Burrell, for the soldier was not the kind todiscuss his affairs in this way, therefore he drew back scowling. 

"Poleon Doret, " he said, "it's not one's enemies who do him injury, it's his damned fool friends. I have learned to regard you highlybecause you are a brave man and an honest one, but it seems that youare a sentimental idiot. "

"Dem is tough word, " Doret replied. "But dere's reason w'y I can't tak'on no madnesse. You say I'm hones'. Wal, I'm hones' now, an' I come toyou wit' fair words an' I show my han' to you--I don' hoi' out nocards, M'sieu'--but I don' t'ink it is you who have play square, altogeder. I'm Necia's frien', an' I'll fight for her jus' so queeckerlak' you, but I mus' know dis t'ing for sure, so if you have de goodheart an' de courage of good man you'll tell me de truth. Do you havethe feelin' for marry on her?"

The pause that followed was awkward for both of them, while the girl, who stood concealed near by, held her breath and buried her nails inher palms. Why did he hesitate? Would he never speak? It seemed not, for he swung between diverse emotions--anger that this outsider shouldquestion him on so intimate a matter, chagrin at the knowledge ofhaving injured Necia, and rage, blind rage, at the thought of itsbecoming a bar-room topic. Gradually the conviction grew that it wasnot a question of idle curiosity with Doret, and the man's historyrecurred to him. No wonder he was interested in the girl, no wonder hewished to guard her; he had been a brother indeed, even as he said, andhe could have no motive save an honorable one. It never occurred to thesoldier that this Frenchman could harbor feelings akin to his own. Theman was rough and foreign; his thoughts had been couched in harsherlanguage, perhaps, than he intended; moreover, the fellow's high senseof honor was a byword--and of a sudden the desire to set himself rightin this man's eyes dictated his answer. 

"I am amazed at myself for listening to you, " he said, at last, "andquite shocked, in fact, at my answering your questions, but perhaps I'dbetter, after all. First, however, let me say that the little girl isjust as pure now as she was before she knew me--"

Poleon threw up his hand. "M'sieu', dat's more closer to de insult danw'at you call me jus' now. You don' need for spoke it. "

"You're right! There's no need to tell you that. As for showing hercertain attentions--well, I admit that I have, as you know, but, thankGod, I can say I've been a gentleman and addressed her as I would thefairest lady I've known. "

"An' you mean for marry, eh?" probed the other. 

Now, no man could have answered such a direct question easily, and inthis case it was especially hard for the Kentuckian, who was tornbetween his ungovernable desire and that decision which cold reason hadthrust upon him. He wanted to say, "Yes, I'll marry her to-morrow, " butsomething bade him pause before he sacrificed upon this altar of ayouthful love his life, his hopes, his ambitions. Had he not wrestledwith himself for months in thinking it all out, until his mind wasweary and listless with the effort? For the great test that tries aman's soul and compels him to know himself had not yet come to MeadeBurrell; wherefore, he hesitated long. 

"I did not say so, " he declared, at last. "It's a thing I can't welldiscuss, because I doubt if you could understand what I would say. Thislife of yours is different from mine, and it would be useless for me toexplain the reason why I cannot marry her. Leaving out all question ofmy sentiment, there are insurmountable obstacles to such a union; butas to this talk, I think that can be stopped without annoyance to her, and as for the rest, we must trust to time to bring about a properadjustment--"

A low, discordant sound of laughter arrested his words, and, turning, he beheld Necia standing revealed in the dimness. 

"What an amusing person you are!" she said. "I've had hard work holdingin all this time while you were torturing your mind and twisting thehonest English language out of shape and meaning. I knew I should haveto laugh sooner or later. "

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded. "Is it a joke?"

"Indeed it is, " she declared, laughing afresh, "and the best I've everenjoyed. Wasn't it funny, Poleon"--she turned gayly to the Frenchman, but he stood like one petrified--"to see him debating coolly whether hecared for me enough to face the world with me, and trying to explain toyou that he was too good to marry a squaw? Oh, you were verygentlemanly about it, sir, and you wouldn't have hurt my feelings forthe world!"

"Necia!"

"That's your Dixie chivalry, I suppose. Well, I've played with you longenough, Lieutenant Burrell, I'm tired of the game, and you interest meno longer. "

"You--you--say you've been playing with me!" stammered the man. Thebottom of things seemed suddenly to slide from under him; he was likeone sinking in some hideous quagmire. He felt as if he were choking. 

"Why, of course, " she cried, scornfully, "just as you took me up foramusement. You were such a fine, well-dressed, immaculate mound ofconceit that I couldn't resist the temptation, and you hid yourcondescension so poorly that I thought you ought to be taken down apeg. I knew I was a squaw, but I wanted to see if I were not like otherwomen, after all, and if you were not like other men. " She was talkingrapidly now, almost shrilly, for she had never attempted to act before, while he stood dazed and speechless, fumbling at his throat while sherailed at him. "You needn't waste time debating whether I'm good enoughfor you, because I'm not--decidedly, I'm not your kind, and you are ajoke to me. "

He uttered an inarticulate cry, but she ran on unheeding, her eyes wideand glowing like coals, her lips chalk-white. "You see, it's time Istopped such foolishness, anyhow, for I'm to be married on Sunday. "

"You are going to be married?" he muttered, laboriously. 

"Yes, to Poleon. Why, that's been understood for years. "

He whirled upon the Canadian in a fury, and his words came hot andtumbling. 

"So you're in this, Doret. You're a part of this little farce. Youtrapped me here to make a fool of me, did you? Well, I can settle withyou--"

"D-don't blame him!" cried the girl, hysterically. "It is all my doing. He had no part in it. "

Burrell wheeled back to the Frenchman again. "Is this true?"

"Yes, " said Doret, in a restrained voice. "Dis ain' no work of mine. "

"You're a liar!" breathed the Kentuckian, now fairly wild with anger;but the other looked him squarely between the eyes and made no move. 

"M'sieu', " he cried, "I'm livin' t'orty year, an' never took no nam'lak' dat before, but dere's reason here w'y I can't mak' no answer. " Heinclined his head towards the girl, and before Burrell could break outagain he checked him. 

"It's no good mak' fight wit' lesser dan two people. You've tol' me datyou are gentleman. Wal, I ain' nobody but trapper an' trader, but Idon' spoil de name of no good girl, an' I don' quarrel in presence oflady, so mebbe, affer all, dere's mistak' somew'ere, an' I'm gentlemanmese'f 'stead of you. "

"Why, you aren't really angry, Lieutenant?" mocked Necia. "It's onlythe joke of an ignorant half-breed girl whose sense of humor is all outof gear. You mustn't quarrel over a SQUAW!"

She taunted him like a baited badger, for this thing was getting beyondher control and the savage instincts of the wilderness were uppermost. 

"You are quite right, " he replied. "I am very foolish, and the laugh iswith you. " His lips tried to frame a smile, but failed, and he added:"Your wit is not my kind, that is all. I beg you both to accept mycongratulations on your nuptials. Undoubtedly, you will be happytogether; two people with such similar ideas of humor must have much toenjoy in common. " He bowed low and, turning, walked out. 

The moment he was gone she cried, breathlessly:

"You must marry me, Poleon. You've got to do it now. "

"Do you mean dat for sure?" he said. 

"Can't you see there's nothing else for it, after this? I'll show himthat he can't make me a toy to suit his convenience. I've told him Iwould marry you on Sunday, and I'll do it or die. Of course you don'tlove me, for you don't know what love is, I suppose; how--could you?"She broke down and began to catch her breath amid coughing sobs thatshook her slender body, though they left her eyes dry and feverish. 

"I--I'm very unhappy, b-but I'll be a good--wife to you. Oh, Poleon, ifyou only knew--"

He drew a long breath. When he spoke his voice had the timbre of somesoftly played instrument, and a tremor ran through his words. 

"No! I don' know w'at kin' of love is dis, for sure. De kin' of love Iknow is de kin' I sing 'bout in my songs; I s'pose it's different breedto yours, an' I'm begin to see it don' live nowhere but on dem songs ofmine. Dere's long tarn' I waste here now--five year--but to-morrow I goagain lookin' for my own countree. "

"Poleon!" she cried, looking up with startled eyes. "Not to-morrow, butSunday--we will go together. "

He shook his head. "To-morrow, Necia! An' I go alone. "

"Then you won't--marry me?" she asked, in a hushed and frightened voice. 

"No! Dere's wan t'ing I can't do even for you, Necia, dere's wan t'ingI can't geeve, dat's all--jus' wan on all de worl'. I can't kill deli'l' god wit' de bow an' arrer. He's all dat mak' de sun shine, debirds sing, an' de leaves w'isper to me; he's de wan li'l' feller w'atmak' my life wort' livin' an' keep music in my soul. If I keel 'im dereain' no more lef lak' it, an' I'm never goin' fin' my lan' of content, nor sing nor laugh no more. I'm t'inkin' I would rader sing songs to'im all alone onderneat' de stars beside my campfire, an' talk wit' 'imin my bark canoe, dan go livin' wit' you in fine house an' let 'im getcol' an' die. "

"But I told him I'd marry you--that I had always intended to. He'llbelieve I was lying, " she moaned, in distress. 

"Dat's too bad--but dis t'ing ain' no doin's wit' me. Dere's wan t'ingin dis worl' mus' live forever, an' dat's love--if we kill 'im den it'spurty poor place for stoppin' in. I'm cut off my han' for help you, Necia, but I can't be husban' to no woman in fun. "

"Your foolish head is full of romance, " she burst out. "You thinkyou're doing me a favor, but you're not. Why, there's Runnion--he wantsme so much that he'd 'even marry me'!" Her wild laughter stabbed theman. "Was ever a girl in such a fix! I've been made love to ever sinceI was half a woman, but at thought of a priest men seem to turn paleand run like whipped dogs. I'm only good enough for a bad man and agambler, I suppose. " She sank to a seat, flung out her arms hopelessly, and, bowing her head, began to weep uncontrollably. "If--if--I only hada woman to talk to--but they are all men--all men. "

Poleon waited patiently until her paroxysm of sobbing had passed, thengently raised her and led her out through the back door into the summerday, which an hour ago had been so bright and promising and was now sogray and dismal. He followed her with his eyes until she disappearedinside the log-house. 

"An' dat's de end of it all, " he mused. "Five year I've wait--an' jus'for dis. "

Meade Burrell never knew how he gained his quarters, but when he haddone so he locked his door behind him, then loosed his hold on thingsmaterial. He raged about the room like a wild animal, and vented hisspite on every inanimate thing that lay within reach. His voice wasstrange in his own ears, as was the destructive frenzy that possessedhim. In time he grew quieter, as the physical energy of this brutalimpulse spent itself; but there came no surcease of his mentaldisquiet. As yet his mind grasped but dully the fact that she was tomarry another, but gradually this thought in turn took possession ofhim. She would be a wife in two days. That great, roistering, brown manwould fold her to himself--she would yield to him every inch of herpalpitant, passionate body. The thought drove the lover frantic, and hefelt that madness lay that way if he dwelt on such fancies for long. Ofa sudden he realized all that she meant to him, and cursed himselfanew. While he had the power to possess her he had dallied andhesitated, but now that he had no voice in it, now that she wasirretrievably beyond his reach, he vowed to snatch her and hold heragainst the world. 

As he grew calmer his reason began to dissect the scene that had takenplace in the store, and he wondered whether she had been lying to him, after all. No doubt she had been engaged to the Frenchman, and hadalways planned to wed Poleon, for that was not out of reason; she mighteven have set out mischievously to amuse herself with him, but at therecollection of those rapturous hours they had spent together, hedeclared aloud that she had loved him, and him only. Every instinct inhim shouted that she loved him, in spite of her cruel protestations. 

All that afternoon he stayed locked in his room, and during thosesolitary hours he came to know his own soul. He saw what life meant:what part love plays in it, how dwarfed and withered all things arewhen pitted against it. 

A man came with his supper, but he called to him to be gone. The nightsettled slowly, and with the darkness came such a feeling of despairand lonesomeness that Burrell lighted every lamp and candle in theplace to dispel, in some measure, the gloom that had fallen upon him. There are those who believe that in passing from daylight to darkness asubtle transition occurs akin to the change from positive to negativein an electrical current, and that this intangible, untraceableatmospheric influence exerts a definite, psychical effect upon men andtheir modes of thought. Be this as it may, it is certain that as thenight grew darker the Lieutenant's mood changed. He lost his fierceanger at the girl, and reasoned that he owed it to her to set himselfright in her eyes; that in all justice to her he ought to prove his ownsincerity, and assure her that whatever her own state of mind had been, she wronged him when she said he had made sport of her for his ownpleasure. She might then dismiss him and proceed with her marriage, butfirst she must know this much of the truth at least. So he argued, insensible to the sophistry of his reasoning, which was in realityimpelled by the hunger to see her and hear her voice again. He snatchedhis hat and bolted out, almost running in his eagerness. 

An up-river steamboat was just landing as he neared the trading-post--afreighter, as he noted by her lights. In the glare at the river-bank hesaw Poleon and the trader, who had evidently returned from Lee's Creek, and without accosting them he hurried on to the store. Peering in fromthe darkness, he saw Alluna; no doubt Necia was alone in the housebehind. So he stumbled around to the back to find the window of herroom aglow behind its curtain, and, receiving no answer to his knock, he entered, for it was customary at Gale's to waive ceremony. Insidethe big room he paused, then stepped swiftly across and rapped at herdoor, falling back a pace as she came out. 

Instead of speaking at once, as he had planned, to prevent herescaping, he was struck speechless, for the vision that met his eyeswas that which he had seen one blithe spring morning three monthsbefore; but to-night there was no shawl to conceal her sweetly roundedneck and shoulders, whose whiteness was startling against the black ofthe ball-room gown. The slim gold chain hung around her neck and herhair was piled high, as before. He noted every smallest detail as shestood there waiting for him to speak, forgetful of everything else. 

She had put on the gown again to see if, perchance, there might be somemark of her blood or breed that had escaped her previous scrutiny, and, as there was no one to observe her, she had attired herself slowly, absorbed in her whimsy. Her wistful beauty dazed the young man androbbed him of the words he had rehearsed; but as she made to flee fromhim, with a pitiful gesture, towards her room, the fear of losing heraroused him and spurred his wit. 

"Don't go away! I have something I must tell you. I've thought it over, and you've got to listen, Necia. "

"I am listening, " she answered, very quietly. 

"Understand me, I'm not whining, and I'm willing to take my medicine. Icouldn't talk or think very straight this afternoon, but you werewrong. "

"Yes, I know now, I was wrong. It was most unlady-like, wasn't it? Butyou see, I am only a little savage. "

"I don't mean that; I mean you were wrong when you said I had playedwith you. In the sight of God, I swear you were mistaken. You have mademe love you, Necia. Can't you see?"

She made no sign. 

"If you can't, I owe it to you and to myself to set you right. I am notashamed to acknowledge my love, and even when you are married to PoleonI want you to know that I shall love you always. "

Even yet she made no sign. Was he not merely repeating the same emptywords with which he had so often beguiled her? There was no word ofmarriage: he still considered her unworthy, beneath him. The pain of itcaused the girl to wince suddenly, and her sensitive face flinched, seeing which he broke out:

"You do love me, Necia--you do; I see it in your eyes!" And he startedtowards her with open arms, but she shrank away from him. 

"No, no! Don't touch me!" she almost screamed. 

"My dear one, " he breathed, "you must listen to me. You have nothing tofear, for I love you--love you--love you! You were made for me! You'llbe my wife. Yes; you'll be married on Sunday, but to me, not to Poleonor any other man!"

Did she hear aright? Was he, her soldier lover, asking her, the Indiangirl--?

"You do love me, don't you?" he pleaded. But still she could not speak, and he tried to read the answer in her swimming eyes. 

"You mean--you want to--marry me?" she murmured, at last, hesitatingshyly at the word that had come to play so momentous a part in herlittle world. 

"Indeed I do!" he declared, with emphasis. "In spite of everything, anything. Nothing else matters. "

"Nothing?"

"Nothing! I'll quit the army. I'll give up the Service, and my people, too. I'll put everything back of me, and we'll start out anew--just youand I. "

"Wait a moment, " she said, retreating a little from his eager, out-stretched arms. "Why do you need to do all that?"

"Never mind why; it's as good as done. You wouldn't understand--"

"But I think I do understand now. Do I really mean all that to you?"

"Yes, and more!"

"Listen to me, " said the girl, quietly. "I want you to talk slowly so Imay not misunderstand. If you--marry me, must you forego all thosegreat things you speak of--your profession, your family, your future?"

"Don't let's talk about it, Necia; I've got you, and--"

"Please answer me, " she urged. "I thought I understood, but I'm afraidI don't. I thought it was my being a breed that stood in the way--"

"There's nothing in the way--"

"--that I wasn't good enough. I knew I could overcome that; I knew Icould make myself grow to your level, but I didn't think my blood wouldfetter you and make this difference. I suppose I am putting itawkwardly, because I'm not sure that I quite understand it myself yet. Things seem different now, somehow, than they did before. "

"Nonsense!" exclaimed the soldier. "If they don't bother me, Necia, whyshould you worry?"

"Would you really have to give up your family--your sister? Would thosepeople you are so proud of and who are so proud of you--would they cutyou off?"

"There is no question of cutting off. I have no inheritance coming; Idon't want any. I don't want anything except you, dear. "

"Won't you tell me?" she persisted. "You see, I am dull at thesethings. "

"Well, what if they do?" he conceded. "You more than make it up tome--you outweigh a thousand families. "

"And would your marriage to a--a--to me destroy your army career?"

"Well, it will really be much easier for both of us if I resign fromthe Service, " he finally admitted. "In fact, I've decided to do so atonce. "

"No, no! You mustn't do that. To-night you think I am worth the price, but a day will come--"

He leaned forward and caught her hands in his. 

"--Meade, I can't let you do it. "

"I'd like to see you help yourself, " he said, banteringly. 

"I can and I will. You must not marry me, Meade--it's not right--itcan't be. " She suddenly realized what this renunciation would mean, andbegan to shiver. To think of losing him now, after he had come to herfreely--it would be very hard! But to her, too, there had come therevelation that love means sacrifice, and she knew now that she lovedher soldier too well to let her shadow darken his bright future, toowell to ruin him. 

"It will be over before you know it, " she heard him saying, in a lameattempt at levity. "Father Barnum is an expert, and the operation won'toccupy him ten minutes. "

"Meade, you must listen to me now, " she said, so earnestly that itsobered him. "Do you think a girl could be happy if she knew a good manhad spoiled his life for her? I would rather die now than let you dosuch a thing. I couldn't bear to see myself a drag on you. Oh, I knowit would be wonderful, this happiness of ours, for a time, and then--"She was finding it more and more difficult to continue. "A prisonergrows to hate the chains that bind him; when that day came for you, Ishould hate myself. No, no! Believe me, it can't be. You're not of mypeople, and I'm not of yours. "

At that moment they heard the voices of the trader and his squawoutside, approaching the house. The girl's breath caught in her throat, she flung herself recklessly upon her lover's breast and threw her armsaround his neck in an agony of farewell. 

"Meade! Meade! my soldier!" she sobbed, "kiss me good-bye for the lasttime!"

"No, " he said roughly. 

But she dragged his face down to her burning lips. 

"Now you must go, " she said, tearing herself away, "and, for my sake, don't see me again. "

"I will! I will! I'll ask your father for you to-night. "

"No, no! Don't; please don't! Wait till--till to-morrow--till I say theword! Promise me! On your love, promise!"

Her eyes held such a painful entreaty that he nodded acquiescence asthe door opened and her father and Alluna entered. 

CHAPTER XIII

STARK TAKES A HAND IN THE GAME

The old man greeted the Lieutenant affably, but as his glance fell onhis daughter he stopped stock-still on the threshold. 

"I told you never to wear that dress again, " he said, in a dry, harshvoice. 

The girl made no answer, for her heart was breaking, but turned andwent into her room. Burrell had an irresistible desire to tell Galethat he wanted his daughter for his wife; it would be an unwontedpleasure to startle this iron-gray old man and the shawled andshambling mummy of red, with the unwinking eyes that always remindedhim of two ox-heart cherries; but he had given Necia his promise. So hedescended to the exchange of ordinary topics, and inquired for news ofthe creek. 

"Necia's ground is getting better every hour, " the trader said. "Yesterday they found a sixty-dollar pan. "

"Have you struck pay on yours?"

"No; Poleon and I seem to hold bad hands. Some of his laymen arequitting work. They've cross-cut in half a dozen places and can't finda color. "

"But surely they haven't fully prospected his claims yet; there must beplenty of room for a pay-streak somewhere, mustn't there?"

"It looks like he had drawn three blanks, " said Gale, "although wecan't tell for sure. They're breaking most as bad for me, too; but I'vegot a new hunch, and I'm running up a dreen to catch bed-rock along theleft rim. I've got twenty men at work, and I'll know before long. Youheard about Runnion, of course?"

"Yes; the usual story--the bad men get the good mines, and the goodones get the hungry spots. Well, I might have been one of theunfortunates if I had staked for myself; but I hardly think so, I'mpretty lucky. " He laughingly bade them good-night, content with himselfand at peace with the world. 

Gale went to Necia's door and called her, but when she appeared he wasunprepared for the tragic face with which she greeted him. 

"Daughter, " he said, "don't feel bad over what I said; I didn't mean tobe cross with you, but--I don't like that dress. "

"Were you cross with me, daddy?" she said, dully. "I didn't hear. Whatdid you say?"

He looked at her in amazement. "Necia, little girl, what is thetrouble?"

She was staring past him, and her fingers were fumbling helplessly withthe lace of her gown, but she began to show signs of collapse. 

"I sent him away--I--gave him up, when he wanted me--wanted me--Oh, daddy! he wants to marry me--and I sent him away. "

Alluna uttered a short, satisfied exclamation, and, looking at Galemeaningly, said:

"It is good. It is good. He is a stranger. "

But the man disregarded her interruption. 

"He asked you to marry him in--in--in spite of who you are and what Iam?"

"Yes; he is ready to give up his ambition, his army, his future, hisfamily, everything, for me--to sacrifice it all; and so, of course, Icouldn't let him. " She spoke simply, as if her father would surelyunderstand and approve her action, while in her voice was a note ofinevitable resignation. "You see, I never understood what my bloodwould mean to him until to-night. I've been selfish and thoughtless, Iguess. I just wanted him, and wanted him to take me; but now that he ismine, I love him more than I thought. He is so dear to me that I can'tdrag him down--I can't--I can't!" She went to the open door and stoodleaning against the casing, facing the cool outer darkness, her facehidden from them, her form sagging wearily, as if the struggle hadsapped her whole strength. 

Alluna crept to the trader and looked up at him eagerly, whispering:

"This will end in a little while, John. She is young. She can go backto the Mission to-morrow. She will soon forget. "

"Forget! Do you think she can forget?"

"Any woman can forget. Only men remember. "

"It is the red blood in you--lying. You know you lie. "

"It is to save your life, " she said. 

"I know; but it's no use. " To Necia he said; "You needn't worry, littledaughter. " But her ears were deaf. "You needn't give him up, Isay--this will end all right. "

Seeing that she gave no sign of heeding, he stepped closer, and swungher about till she faced him. 

"Can't you trust me this one time? You always have before, Necia. I sayhe'll marry you, and it will all come out right. "

She raised her hopeless eyes and strove gamely to meet his, then, failing, broke away, and turned back to the door. "I knew you couldn'tunderstand. I--I--oh, God, I love him so!" With a cry like that of awounded animal she fled out into the night, where she could give ventto her anguish unseen; for she had never wept before her father, butalways crept away and hid herself until her grief was spent. Gale wouldhave started after her, but Alluna dragged him back fiercely. 

"No, no! It means your life, John. Let the secret die, and she willforget. She is so young. Time will cure her--time cures everything. Don't tell her--don't tell any one--and, above all, don't tell thatsoldier! He would not believe, nor would she. Even I have doubted!"

"You?"

"Yes, John. And if I don't believe, what is a stranger to say? No manknowing you would believe the tale--without proof. Suppose shedoubted--have you ever thought of that? Would you not rather have herdie still loving you than live and disbelieve?"

"Yes, yes! Of course, I--I've thought of that, but--Woman, you're worsethan a rattlesnake!"

"Even if he knew, he might not marry her. You at least are clean, andthat other man was a devil. A brave man's life is too great a price topay for a grief that will die in a year. " Alluna was speaking swiftlyin her own language, her body tense, her face ablaze, and no man seeingher could ever again have called her people stolid. 

"You think time will cure a love like that?" he said. 

"Yes, yes!"

"That's all you know about it. Time may act that way perhaps in citiesand such places, but out in the hills it is different. When you've gotthe breath of the forest in you, I say it is different. Time--why, I'velived fifteen years in the open with a living memory. Every night I'vedreamed it over, every day I've lived it through; in every camp-fire Isee a face, and every wind from the south brings a voice to me. Everystormy night a girl with eyes like Necia's calls to me, and I have tofollow. Every patch of moonlight shows her smiling at me, just beyond, just in the shadow's edge. Love! Time! Why, Alluna, love is the onlything in the world that never dies, and time only makes it the moreenduring. "

He took up the white slouch hat he had thrown down when he came in, andstepped to the door. 

"Where are you going?" inquired the squaw, fearfully. 

"To the barracks to give myself up!"

She flung herself at him with a great cry, and seized him about thewaist. 

"You never loved me, John, but I have been a good woman to you, although I knew you were always thinking of her--and had no thought ofme. I have loved this girl because you loved her. I have hated yourenemies because you hated them, and now I remember while you forget. "

"Forget! What do you mean?"

"Stark!"

The man paused. "I did almost forget him--and after fifteen years!"

"Let us kill him to-night; then we will go to the soldier together, side by side--I am your woman. Necia will look after the little ones. "

Gale stared at her, and as he gazed the red pigment underneath herskin, the straight-hanging, mane-like hair, the gaudy shawl she neverwent without, the shapeless, skin-shod feet, the slovenly, ill-fittinggarb of a mis-cast woman vanished, and he saw her as she was on a daylong past, a slim, shy, silent creature, with great, watchful, trustingeyes and a soul unspoiled. No woman had ever been so loyal, souncomplaining. He had robbed her of her people and her gods. He hadshifted hither and yon at the call of his uncertain fortune, or at asign of that lurking fear that always dogged him, and she had neverleft his side, never questioned, never doubted, but always served himlike a slave, without asking for a part in that other love, withoutsharing in the caresses he had consecrated to a woman she had neverseen. 

"By Heaven! You're game, Alluna, but there's a limit even to what I cantake from you, " he said, at last. "I don't ever seem to have noticed itbefore, but there is. No! I've got to do this thing alone to-night, allof it, for you have no place in it, and I can't let the little girl goon like this. The sooner that soldier knows the better. " He leaned downand touched her brown mouth with his grizzled lips. "Thank you, Alluna, for making a man of me when I'd nearly forgotten. Now you stay here. "He knew he could count on her obedience, and so he left her. When hehad gone she drew the shawl up over her face and crouched in thedoorway, straining her eyes after him through the dark. In time shebegan to rock and sway, and then to chant, until the night moaned withthe death-song of her people. 

Necia had no idea whither she went; her only thought was to flee fromher kin, who could not understand, to hide under cover in some solitaryplace, to let the darkness swallow her up, so that she might give wayto her grief and be just a poor, weak woman. So, with a dull and achingheart, she wandered, bareheaded, bare-necked, half-demented, and whollyoblivious to her surroundings, without sense of her incongruous attireor of the water that squeezed up through the soggy moss at her treadand soaked her frail slippers. On she stumbled blindly through the murklike some fair creature of light cast out and banished. 

The night was cloudy and a wind came sighing from the north, tossingthe girl's hair and tugging at the careless folds of her dress, but sheheard nothing save the devil's tattoo that rang in her head, and feltnothing beyond the pain at throat and breast, which in time became sobitter that the tears were wrung from her dry eyes, and she began toweep in a pitiful woman fashion, as if her heart would burst. The firstdrops cleared a way for others, and soon she was sobbing freely, aloneand without solace, lost in the night. 

She had not succeeded in thoroughly isolating herself, however, for aman who was steering his course by the sense of feel and the wind'sdirection heard her and paused. His steps were muffled in the softfooting, so that she had no warning of his presence until he was nearenough to distinguish her dimly where she leaned against the log wallof a half-completed cabin. 

To his question, "What's the trouble here?" she made no answer, butmoved away, whereupon he detained her. "There's something wrong. Whoare you, anyhow?"

"It's only Necia, Mr. Stark, " said the girl, at which he advanced andtook her by the arm. 

"What ails you, child? What in the world are you doing here? Come! It'sonly a step to my cabin; you must come in and rest awhile, and you'llsoon be all right. Why, you'll break your neck in this darkness. "

She hung back, but he compelled her to go with him in spite of herunwillingness. 

"Now, now, " he admonished, with unusual kindliness for him; "you knowyou're my little friend, and I can't let you go on this way; it'sscandalous. I won't stand for it. I like you too much. "

In truth he had done things during these last few weeks to make herthink so, having never missed an opportunity to stop and pass a wordwith her, at the same time showing her a queer courtesy andconsideration quite foreign to his saturnine habits. She had nevermentioned the fact to her father or the others, for she had developed asort of sympathy for the man, and felt that she understood him betterthan they did. 

He led her inside his cabin, and closed the door in the face of thenight wind before he struck a light. 

"I can't stand to see you cry, " he repeated, as he adjusted the wick. "Now, as soon as--" He stopped in astonishment, for he had turned tobehold, instead of the little half-breed girl, this slender, sorrowfulstranger in her amazingly wonderful raiment. 

"By--" He checked himself insensibly, and stood motionless for a longtime, while she wiped her eyes and, woman-like, straightened out hergown and smoothed her hair with little feminine touches. 

"I--I--hope you'll excuse me for acting this way, " she smiled at him, piteously; then, observing his strange features, "Why, what is thematter, Mr. Stark; are you angry?"

His hawklike face was strained and colorless, his black eyes fierce andeager, his body bent as if to pounce upon a victim. In truth he was nowthe predatory animal. 

"No, " he replied, as if her question carried no meaning; then, comingto himself, "No--no! of course not, but--you gave me a start. Youreminded me of some one. How do you come to be dressed like that? Inever knew you had such clothes?"

"Poleon brought them from Dawson; they are the first I ever had. "

He shook his head in a slow, puzzled fashion. 

"You look just like a white girl--I mean--I don't know what I mean. "This time he roused himself fully, the effort being more like a shudder. 

"So I have always thought, " she said, and her eyes filled again. 

"Your skin is like milk beneath your tan, and--I don't mean anydisrespect, but--Well, I'm just so damned surprised! Come over here andsit down while I mix you something to put the heart back into you. "

He shoved forward a big chair with a wolf-skin flung over it, intowhich she sank dejectedly, while he stepped to the shelves beside theYukon stove and took down a bottle and some glasses. She glanced aboutwith faint curiosity, but the interior of the cabin showed nothing outof the ordinary, consisting as it did of one room with a cot in thecorner, upon which were tumbled blankets, and above which was a row ofpegs. Opposite was a sheet-iron box-stove supported knee-high on atin-capped framework of wood, and in the centre a table with oil-clothcover. Around the walls were some cooking utensils, a few cases ofcanned goods, and clothes hanging in a row. 

"I'm not fixed up very well yet, " he apologized; "I've been too busy atthe saloon to waste time on living quarters. But it's comfortableenough for an old roadster like me, for I've bruised around thefrontier so long that I've learned there's only three things necessaryto a man's comfort--warm clothes, a full stomach, and a dry place tosleep. All the rest that goes to make a man content he has inside him, and I'm not the kind to be satisfied, no matter where I am or what Ihave. I never was that kind, so I just don't make the attempt. "

He was talking to give her leeway, and when he had concocted a weaktoddy, insisted that she must drink it, which she did listlessly, whilehe rambled on. 

"I've noticed a few things in my life, Miss Necia, and one of them isthat it often does a heap of good to let out and talk things over; notthat a fellow gains any real advantage from disseminating his troubles, but it serves to sort of ease his mind. Folks don't often come to mefor advice or sympathy. I don't have it to give, but maybe it will helpyou to tell me what caused this night-marauding expedition of yours. "Seeing that she hesitated, he went on: "I suppose there's a lot ofreasons why you shouldn't confide in me--I don't like that old man ofyours, nor any of your friends; but maybe that's why I'm interested. Ifany of them has upset you, I'll take particular pleasure in helping youget even. "

"I don't want to get even, and there is nothing to tell, " said Necia, "except a girl's troubles, and I can't talk about them. " She smiled apainful, crooked smile at him. 

"Your old man has been rough to you?"

"No, no! Nothing of that sort. "

"Then it's that soldier?" he quizzed, shrewdly. "I knew you cared aheap for him. Don't he love you?"

"Yes! That's the trouble; and he wants to many me; he swears he will inspite of everything. "

"See here! I don't quite follow. I thought you liked him--he's the kindmost women go daffy over. "

"Like him!" The girl trembled with emotion. "Like him! Why--why, Iwould do anything to make him happy. "

"I guess I must be kind of dull, " Stark said, perplexedly. 

"Don't you see? I've got to give him up--I'm a squaw. "

"Squaw hell! With those shoulders?"

Stark checked himself, for he found he was rejoicing in his enemy'sdefeat, and was in danger of betraying himself to the girl. In everyencounter the young man had bested him, and these petty defeats hadcrystallized his antipathy to Burrell into a hatred so strong that hehad begun to lie awake nights planning a systematic quarrel. For he wasthe kind of man who throve upon contentions: so warped in soul thatwhen no man offered him offence he brooded over fancied wrongs andconjured up a cause for enmity, goading himself into that sour, sullenhabit of mind that made him a dread and a menace to all who lacked hisfavor. His path was strewn from the border North with the husks offierce brawls, and he bore the ineradicable mark of the killer, carrying always in his brain those scars that hate had seared. In hiseyes forever slumbered a flame waiting to be blown to life, and whenembroiled in feuds or bickerings a custom had grown upon him to fightthese fights in secret many times, until of nights he would lie insolitary darkness writhing in spirit as he hounded his man todesperation, or forced him into a corner where he might slake histhirsty vengeance. After such black, sleepless hours he dragged himselffrom his battle-grounds of fancy, worn and weary, and the daylightdiscovered him more saturnine and moody, more menacing than ever. 

He had brooded over his quarrel with Gale and the Lieutenant ever sincetheir first clash, for in this place they furnished the only objectsupon which his mania could work--and it was a mania, the derangement ofa diseased, distorted mind. His regard for Necia was a careless whim, arather aimless, satisfying hobby, not at all serious, entirelyextraneous to his every-day life, and interesting only from itsaimlessness, being as near to an unselfish and decent motive as the manhad ever come. But it was not of sufficient consequence to stand outagainst or swerve the course of a quarrel; wherefore, he was gladdenedby the news of Burrell's discomfiture. 

"So you like him too much to stand in his way, " he said, meditatively. "How does your father look at it?"

"He wants the Lieutenant to marry me. He says he will fix it up allright; but he doesn't understand. How could he?"

"You are doing just right, " concurred the man, hypocritically, "andyou'll live to be glad you stood out. " Now that both his enemiesdesired this thing, he was set on preventing it, regardless of thegirl. "How did the Lieutenant take it when you refused him?"

"He wouldn't take it at all. He only laughed and declared he wouldmarry me, anyhow. " The very thought thrilled her. 

"Does he knew you love him?"

The tender, sobbing laugh she gave was ample answer. 

"Well, what's your plan?"

"I--I--I don't know. I am so torn and twisted with it all that I can'tplan, but I have thought I--ought--to go--away. "

"Good!" he said, quickly, but his acquiescence, instead of soothingher, had the contrary effect, and she burst out impulsively:

"Oh--I can't--I can't! I can't go away and never see him! I can't doit! I want to stay where he is!" She had been holding herself instubbornly, but at last gave way with reckless abandon. "Why wasn't Iborn white like other girls? I've never felt like an Indian. I'vealways dreamed and fancied I was different, and I am, in my soul--Iknow I am! The white is so strong in me that it has killed the red, andI'm one of father's people. I'm not like the other two; they are brownand silent, and as cold as little toads; but I'm white and full oflife, all over. They never see the men and women that I see in mydreams. They never have my visions of the beautiful snow-white mother, with the tender mouth and the sad eyes that always smile at me. "

"You have visions of such things, eh?"

"Yes, but I came a generation late, that's all, and I've got that otherwoman's soul. I'm not a half-breed--I'm not me at all. I'mMerridy--Merridy! That's who I am. "

Her face was turned away from him, so that she did not notice thefrightful effect her words had upon Stark. 

"Where did you get--that name?" His voice was pitched in a differentkey now. Then, after a moment, he added, "From the story I told you atthe mine that night, I suppose?"

"Oh no, " she answered. "I've always had it, though they call me Necia. Merridy was my father's mother. I guess I'm like her in many ways, forI often imagine she is a part of me, that her spirit is mine. It's theonly way I can account for the sights I see. "

"Your father's mother?" he said, mechanically. "That's queer. " Heseemed to be trying to shake himself free from something. "It'sheredity, I suppose. You have visions of a white woman, a woman namedMerridy, eh?" Suddenly his manner changed, and he spoke so roughly thatshe looked at him in vague alarm. 

"How do you know? How do you know she was his mother?"

"He told me so--"

Stark snarled. "He lied!"

"I can show you her wedding-ring--I've always worn it. " She fumbled forthe chain about her neck, but it eluded her trembling fingers. "It hasher name in it--'From Dan to Merridy. '"

Stark's hand darted forward and tore the thing from her shoulders, thenhe thrust it under the lamp and glared at the inscription, while hisfingers shook so that he could barely distinguish the words. His eyeswere blazing and his face livid. 

Necia cried out, but he dropped the ornament and seized her fiercely, lifting her from the chair to her feet; then, with one swift, downwardclutch, he laid hold of her dress at the left shoulder and ripped ithalf to her waist. A hoarse sound came from his throat, a cry half ofamazement, half of triumph. 

"Let me go! Let me go!" She struggled to free herself, but he held herin a viselike grip, while he peered closely at a blemish well down uponher back. Then he let her slip from his grasp, and, seized with terror, she staggered away from him. He was leaning heavily with both handsupon the table, his face working, his head drawn down between hisshoulders, his thin lips grinning, his whole manner so terrifying thatshe shrank back till she brought up against the bark walls. She turnedand made for the door, whereupon he straightened up and said, in aqueer, commanding voice:

"Wait--don't go! I--I--you--" He licked his lips as if they were dustdry, passed an uncertain hand across his beaded brow, and, raising thewater-pail beside the door to his mouth, drank heavily in great, noisygulps. 

"Let me out of here!" the girl demanded, imperiously. 

"Don't be scared, " he said, more quietly now. "You must excuse me. You--you gave me an awful fright. Yes--that was it. Don't worry. Ididn't mean any harm. "

"You hurt my shoulder, " she said, almost ready to cry. "And you tore mydress, " she added, angrily--"my fine dress. Are you crazy?"

"You see, it's like this, that name of Merridy and that ring--well, thewhole thing was so startling, I--I went off my head. It came sudden, and I thought--I thought--it don't matter what I thought, but I'msorry. I'll apologize--and I'll get you a new dress, a whole lot ofdresses, if you like. " This seemed to amuse him, and he began to laughsilently. 

His first impulse had been to tell her everything, but his amazementhad rendered him speechless, and now he was thankful for it. Followinghis discovery of her identity, he had been stricken dumb, staring ather like one demented; then, as he was about to explain, his mindsuddenly grasped the significance of this revelation and the advantageit gave him over his enemies; a plan began to unfold, vague at first, its details not worked out, but a plan whereby he could by keepingsilent use this knowledge to serve his vengeful ends. In an instant hisvision cleared and his brain became active and alert, like that of aman brought suddenly under the stimulus of strong liquor. Care must beexercised--she must not learn too much--for if she suspected the truthshe would go to her soldier lover at once, and no power on earth couldhold her back. That would block the vengeance that he saw shaping inthe dank recesses of his distorted brain. 

First, and above all, he must get the girl away from Flambeau. 

"I went clear off my head, " he heard himself saying, "at that name ofMerridy, that ring, and all. Why--why, I thought you might be themissing girl I told you of--you remember, that day up on Lee'sCreek--so I had to see; but, dear me, I should have been moreconsiderate--I should have explained. The trouble is I'm a nervous man, and I get impulsive streaks on me sometimes that I can't control. I'msorry I spoiled your dress, but I'll get you another--you bet I will. "

This explanation of his strange behavior seemed plausible enough tobanish all personal fears from Necia's mind. Indeed, Stark had nowbecome so gentle and apologetic in his demeanor that her woman'scuriosity overcame her instinct to flee, and she ventured the question:

"So you really thought I was that other girl?"

"I did for a minute. The mother was a--a--friend of mine, and so--Ilost my head. But I'm all right now, and if you'll overlook myroughness we'll go back to your troubles. "

These last few moments had driven her own worries from her mind, but hewas bent on recalling them, and so continued, cautiously:

"You were saying that you thought you'd go away. I think that's a goodplan, and you'd be wise to do it for more reasons than one. It willgive you time to think it all over and know your own mind--"

"I know my mind now, and yet--I don't want to go away. "

"--and it will give Burrell a chance to prove himself. He'll eithershow that he has got to have you at any cost, or that you are right inyour decision. If the first should happen, you can come back to him; ifthe last--why, it will be better for you, anyhow. As long as you stayhere neither one of you can see clearly. "

She was touched by his interest, and realized the force of hisargument, which, strange to say, seemed to second her own thoughts; yetshe hesitated. 

"I want to help you--I'm going to help you--because I've got aninterest in you like you were mine. " Again he betrayed that strange, mirthless amusement. 

"There is no place for me to go, " said Necia, blankly, "except theMission, and I have no way of getting there. "

"Don't you worry. I'll furnish the means, and you'd better goto-night"--she flinched--"yes, to-night; there's no use prolonging youragony. I'll get a boat ready and send a trusty man with you. Thecurrent is swift, and if he rows well you can make it by to-morrowevening. That's only one night out, and I'll put some blankets aboardso you can wrap up and have a sleep. "

"I feel as if I'd never sleep again, " she sighed. 

"Now, now, this will come out all right yet. I'd take you down theremyself, but I've got to stay here. I've got work to do. Yes, I've suregot work of importance ahead of me. "

"I must go back and get some clothes, " she said, At which he would havedemurred had he not seen that she could not travel in her presentcondition. 

"Very well. But don't let anybody see you. "

"Of course not. "

"It's getting late, and your folks will be abed. " He looked at hiswatch. "Midnight! Be here in an hour, and I'll have the skiff ready. "

The light of sacrifice was in Necia's eyes, and her cheeks wereblanched with the pallor of a great resolution. She did not stop toreason why or how she had been led to this disposal of her future, butclutched desperately at Stark's plan of rescue from her agonizingpredicament. 

"I'll be here in an hour, " she said, simply. 

He let her out, closed the door after her, and locked it; then, drawinga deep breath, he raised his clenched hands above his head, and gave agreat sigh of exultation. Next he took out his six-shooter and examinedit carefully. The shells did not suit him, so he filled the gun withnew ones, loosened the three lower buttons of his vest, and slid theweapon inside his trousers band; then, facing the direction of Gale'strading-post, he spoke aloud. 

"I was a long time coming, Gaylord, but I'm here, and I've got youwhere I've wanted you these fifteen years--yes, and I've got you, too, Burrell! By God, this is my night!"

His lithe body became panther-like in poise, his bearing that of themeat-eating animal, and his face set in a fierce, exultant cruelty ashe blew out his light and left the cabin. 

CHAPTER XIV

A MYSTERY IS UNRAVELLED

Lieutenant Burrell was considerably taken aback when, a quarter of anhour after the young lover's ecstatic return to his quarters, Galeknocked at his door, for the trader's visit, coupled with the late hourand his sombre countenance, forecast new complications. 

"He's here to object, but it won't go, " thought the Lieutenant, as hemade his visitor welcome. 

It was the trader's first glimpse of the officer's quarters, and hecast a roving eye over the room, as if measuring the owner's characterby his surroundings. 

"I've got to have a long talk with you, Burrell, " he began, with aneffort. "It's liable to take me an hour or two. "

"Then take this chair and be comfortable. "

Meade swung his big reading-chair out beneath the hanging-lamp, and, going to the sideboard, brought back a bottle, some glasses, and apouch of tobacco. Noting the old man's sigh of fatigue as he sathimself down heavily, he remarked, sympathetically:

"Mr. Gale, you've made a long trip to-day, and you must be tired. Ifthis talk is to be as lengthy as you say, why not have a drink with menow, and postpone it until to-morrow?"

"I've been tired for eighteen years, " the other replied; "to-night Ihope to get rested. " He lapsed into silence, watching his host pour outtwo glasses of liquor, fill his pipe, and then stretch himself outcontentedly, his feet resting on another chair--a picture of youthfulstrength, vitality, and determination. Beneath the Lieutenant's flannelshirt the long, slim muscles showed free and full, and the firm set ofjaw and lip denoted a mind at rest and confident of itself. Gale foundhimself for a moment jealously regarding the youth and his enviablestate of contentment and decision. 

"Well, let's get at it, " the younger man finally said. 

"I suppose you'll want to interrupt and question me a heap, but I'llask you to let me tell this story the way it comes to me, till I get itout, then we can go back and take up the queer stuff. It runs backeighteen or twenty years, and, being as it's part of a hidden life, itisn't easy to tell. You'll be the first one to hear it, and I reckonyou're enough like other men to disbelieve--you're not old enough, andyou haven't knocked around enough to learn that nothing is impossible, that nothing is strange enough to be unreasonable. Likewise, you'llwant to know what, all this has to do with you and Necia--yes, she toldme about you and her, and that's why I'm here. " He paused. "You reallythink you love her, do you?"

Burrell removed his pipe and gazed at its coal impersonally. 

"I love her so well, Mr. Gale, that nothing you can say will affect me. I--I hesitated at first about asking her to be my wife, because--you'llappreciate the unusual--well, her unusual history. You see, I come froma country where mixed blood is about the only thing that can't be liveddown or overlooked, and I've been raised with notions of family honorand pride of race and birth, and so forth, that might seem preposterousand absurd to you. But a heap of conceits like that have been bred intome from generations back; they run in the blood of every old family inmy country, and so, I'm ashamed to say, I hesitated and tried to reasonmyself into giving her up, but I've had my eyes opened, and I see howlittle those things amount to, after all. I'm going to marry Necia, Mr. Gale. I'd like to do it the day after to-morrow, Sunday, but she isn'tof age yet, and if you object, we'll have to wait until November, whenshe turns eighteen. We'd both like your consent, of course; I'd besorry to marry her without it; but if you refuse, we'll be forced todisplease you. " He looked up and met the father's gaze steadily. "Now, I'll be glad to listen as long as you care to talk, but I don't thinkit will do any good. "

The other man's lips framed a faint smile. 

"We'll see. I wish to God I'd had your decision when I was your age, this story would be different, and easier to tell. " He waited a moment, then settled to his self-appointed task. "I was mining at the time upin the Mother Lode country of California, which was the frontier then, pretty much as this is now, only we had better things to eat. I camefrom the East, or my people did, but I was ranch-raised, and loved thehills and woods and places where you don't talk much, so I went toprospecting because it took me out where the sun was bright and I couldsee the wild things at play. I was one of the first men into a campnamed Chandon--helped to build it, in fact, and got hold of some groundthat looked real good. It was hard mining, however, and, being poor, Iwas still gripping my drill and hammer after the town had grown up. 

"A woman came out from the East--Vermont, it was--and school-teachingwas her line of business, only she hadn't been raised to it, and thiswas her first clatter at the game; but things had broke bad for herpeople, and ended in her pulling stakes and coming West all alone. Herfolks died and left her up against it, I gathered from what little shetold me--sort of an old story, I guess, and usual too, only for her. She was plumb unusual. "

He seemed to ponder this a moment, and then resumed:

"It don't make any difference to you how I first saw her, and how Ibegan to forget that anything else in the world was worth having buther. I'd lived in the woods all my life, as I said, and knew more aboutbirds and bugs and bees than I did about women; I hadn't been brokeproper, and didn't know how to act with them; but I laid out to getthis girl, and I did fairly well. There's something wild in every womanthat needs to be tamed, and it isn't like the wildness that runs inwood critters; you can win that over by gentleness, but you have totake it away from a woman. Every live thing that couldn't talk was myfriend; but I made the mistake of courting my own kind the same way, not knowing that when two of any species mate the male must rule. I wastoo gentle. Even so, I reckon I'd have won out only for another man. Dan Bennett was his name--the kind that dumb animals hate, and--well, that takes his measure. His range adjoined mine, and, though I'd neverseen him, I heard stories now and then--the sort of tales you can'ttell to a good woman; so it worried me when I heard of his attentionsto this girl. Still, I thought she'd surely find him out and recognizethe kind of fellow he was; but, Lord! a woman, can't tell a man from adog, and there wasn't any one to warn her. There were plenty of womenwho knew him, but they were the ones who flew by night, while she livedin the sunshine; and women of that kind don't make complaint, anyhow. 

"This Bennett came from the town below, where he ran a saloon and abrace game or two; but being as he rode into our camp and out again inthe night, and as I didn't drink nor listen to the music of the littlerolling ball, why, we never met, even after he began coming to Chandon. Understand, I wasn't too good for those amusements; I just didn'thappen to hanker after them, for I was living with the image of thelittle school-ma'am in my mind, and that destroyed what bad habits I'dformed. 

"It was along in the early spring that she began to see I had notionsabout her, but my damned backwardness wouldn't let me speak, and, inaddition, I was getting closer to ore every shot at the mine, and washolding off until I could lay both myself and my goldmine at her feet, and ask her to take the two of us, so if one didn't pan out the othermight. But it seemed like I'd never get into pay. The closer I got theharder I worked, and, of course, the less I saw of her, likewise theoftener Bennett came. I reckon no man ever worked like I did--twoshifts a day, eighteen hours, with six to sleep. The skin came off ofmy hands, and I staggered when I came out into the daylight, for therock was hard, and I had no money to hire a helper; but I was young andstrong, and the hope of her was like drink and food and sleep to me. Atlast I struck it, and still I waited awhile longer till I could besure. Then I went down to my little shack and put on my other clothes. I remember I'd gone so thin that they hung loose, and my palms were soraw I had hard work handling the buttons, and got my shirt all bloody, for I'd been in the drift forty hours, without sleep and breathingpowder smoke, till my knees buckled and wobbled under me. To this daythe smell of stale powder smoke makes a woman of me; but that morning Isang, for I was going for my bride, and the world was brighter than ithas ever been for eighteen years. The little school-house was closed, at which I remembered that the term was over. I'd been livingunderground for weeks and lost track of the days, so that I had tocount them up on my fingers. It took me a long time, for I was prettytired in my head; but when I'd figured it out I went on to where shewas boarding. 

"The woman of the place came to the door, a Scotch-woman. She had amole on her chin, I remember, a brownish-black mole with three hairs init. She wore an apron, too, that was kind of checkered, and threebuttons were open at the neck of her dress. I recall a lot more oflittle things about her, though the rest of what happened is ratherdreamy. 

"I asked for Merridy, and she told me she'd gone away--gone withBennett, the night before, while I was coughing blood from the powdersmoke; that they were married in the front room, and that the bridelooked beautiful. She had cried a bit on leaving Chandon, and--and--that was about all. I counted the buttons on theScotchwoman's waist eight or ten times, and by-and-by she asked if Iwas sick. But I wasn't. She was a kind-hearted woman, and I'd been toher house a good deal, so she asked me to come in and rest. I wasn'ttired, so I went away, and climbed back up to the little shack and themine that I hated now. "

The trader paused, and, reaching for the bottle, poured himself out aglass of brandy, which he spilled into his throat raw, then continued:

"I turned into a kind of hermit after that, and I wasn't good toassociate with. Men got so they shunned me, and I knew they toldstrange stories, because I heard them whisper when I went to the storesfor grub once a month. I changed all over, till even my squirrels andpartridges and other friends quit me; once in awhile I got out a ton ortwo of rock and sold it, but I never worked the mine or opened it up--Icouldn't bear to go inside the drift. I tried it time and again, butthe smell of its darkness drove me out; every foot of its ragged wallshad left its mark on me, and my heart was torn and gouged and shiveredworse than its seams and ledges. I could have sold it, but there was noplace for me to go, and what did I want with money? I was shy of theworld, like a crippled child that dreads the daylight, and I shrankfrom going out where people might see my scars; so I stayed there bymyself nursing the hurt that never got any better. You see, I'd beenraised among the hills and rocks, and I was like them in a way; Icouldn't grow and alter and heal up. 

"From time to time I heard of her, but the news, instead of gladdeningme, as it would have gladdened some men, wrung out what bits ofsuffering were left in me, and I fairly ached for her. Nobody comes tosee clearer than a woman deceived, so it didn't take her long to findout the kind of man Bennett was. He wasn't like her at all, and thereason he had courted her so hotly was just that he had had everythingthat rightly belongs to a man like him, and had sickened of it, so hewanted her because she was clean and pure and different; and realizingthat he couldn't get her any other way, he had married her. But she wasa treasure no bad man could appreciate, and so he tired quickly, evenbefore the little one came. 

"When I heard that she had borne him a daughter I wrote her a letter, which took me a month to compose, and which I tore up. One day a storycame to me that made me saddle my horse to ride down and kill him--and, mind you, I was a man who made pets of little wild, trusting things. But I knew she would surely send for me when her pain became too great, so I uncinched my gear and hung it up, and waited and waited andwaited. Three long, endless years I waited, almost within sound of hervoice, without a word from her, without a glimpse of her, and everyhour of that time went by as slowly as if I had held my breath. Thenshe called to me, and I went. 

"I tell you, I was thankful that day for the fortune that had made metake good care of my horse, for I rode like Death on a wind-storm. Itgrew moonlight as I raced down the valley, and the foam from theanimal's muzzle lodged on my clothes, and made me laugh and swear thatthe morning sun would show Dan Bennett's blood in its place. I rodethrough the streets of Mesa, where they lived, and past the lights ofhis big saloon, where I heard the sound of devil's revelry and ashrill-voiced woman singing--a woman the like of which he had tried tomake my Merridy. I never skulked or sneaked in those days, and no manever made me take back roads, so I came up to his house from the frontand tied my horse to his gate-post. She heard me on the steps andopened the door. 

"'You sent for me, ' said I. 'Where is he?' But he had gone away to aneighboring camp, and wouldn't be back until morning, at which I feltthe way a thief must feel, for I'd hoped to meet him in his own house, and I wasn't the kind to go calling when the husband was out. Icouldn't think very clearly, however, because of the change in her. Shewas so thin and worn and sad, sadder than any woman I'd ever seen, andshe wasn't the girl I'd known three years before. I guess I'd changed aheap myself; anyhow, that was the first thing she spoke about, and thetears came into her eyes as she breathed:

"'Poor boy! poor boy! You took it very hard, didn't you?'"

"'You sent for me, ' said I. 'Which road did he take?'"

"'There's nothing you can do to him, ' she answered back. 'I sent foryou to make sure that you still love me. "

"'Did you ever doubt it?' said I, at which she began to cry, sobbinglike a woman who has worn out all emotion. 

"'Can you feel the same after what I've made you suffer?' she said, andI reckon she must have read the answer in my eyes; for I never was muchgood at talking, and the sight of her, so changed, had taken the speechout of me, leaving nothing but aches and pains and ashes in its place. When she saw what she wished to know, she told me the story, the wholemiserable story, that I'd heard enough of to suspect. Why she'd marriedthe other man she couldn't explain herself, except that it was awoman's whim--I had stayed away and he had come the oftener--part piqueand part the man's dare-devil fascination, I reckon; but a month hadshown her how she really stood, and had shown him, too. Likewise, shesaw the sort of man he was and the kind of life he lived. At last hegot rough and cruel to her, trying every way to break her spirit; andeven the baby didn't stop him--it made him worse, if anything--till heswore he'd make them both the kind he was, for her goodness seemed torile and goad him; and, having lived with the kind of woman you have tobeat, he tried it on her. Then she knew her fight was hopeless, and shesent for me. "

"'He's a fiend, ' she told me. 'I've stood all I can. He'll make a badwoman of me as sure as he will of the little one, if I stay on here, soI have decided to go and take her with me. '"

"'Where?' said I. "

"'Wherever you say, ' she answered; and yet I did not understand, nottill I saw the look in her eyes. Then, as it dawned on me, she brokedown, for it was a terrible thing for a good woman to offer. "

'"It's all for the little girl!' she cried. 'More than her life dependsupon it. We must get her away from him. '"

"She saw it was her only course, and went where her heart was calling. "

The Lieutenant met the look of appeal in the trader's eyes, and noddedto imply his complete understanding and approval. 

"We love some women for their goodness, others we love for theirfrailness, but there never was one who combined the two like her, and, now that I knew she loved me, I began to believe again there was a Godsomewhere. I'd never seen the youngster, so she led me in where it wassleeping, and I remember my boots made such a devil of a thumping onthe floor that she laid her slim white finger on her lips and smiled atme. All the fingers in the world began to choke at my throat, and allthe blood in me commenced to pound at my heart, when I looked on thatlittle sleeping kiddie. The tears began to roll out of my eyes, and, because they had been dry for four years, they scalded like meltedmetal. That was the only time I ever wept--the sight of her baby did it. 

"'I love her already, ' I whispered, 'and I'll spend my life making herhappy and making a lady of her, ' which clinched what wavering doubt themother had, and she began to plan quickly, the fear coming on her of asudden that our scheme might fail. I was for riding away with both ofthem that night, back through the streets of Mesa and up into thehills, where I'd have held them single-handed against man or God ordevil, but she wouldn't hear of it. 

"'We must go away, ' she said, 'a long way from here, where the worldwon't find us and the little one can grow to womanhood without knowing. She must never learn who her father was or what her mother did. We willstart all over, you and I and the baby, and forget. Do you love me wellenough to do it?'

"I uttered a cry and took her in my arms, the arms that had ached forher all those years. Then I kissed her for the first time. "

The old man tried to light his pipe, which had gone out, but hisfingers shook so that he dropped the match; whereupon, withoutspeaking, Burrell struck another and held it for him. The trader drew anoisy puff or two in silence and shot his host a grateful glance. 

"Her plan was for me to take the youngster away that night, and for herto join us later, because pursuit was certain, and three could betraced where one might disappear; she would follow when the opportunityoffered. I saw that he had instilled a terror into her, and that shefeared him like death; but, as I thought it over, her scheme seemedfeasible, so I agreed. I was to ride west that hour with the sleepingbabe, and conceal myself at a place we selected, while she would saythat the little one had wandered away and been lost in the canon, oranything else to throw Bennett off. After a time she would join us. Well--the little girl never waked when I took her in my arms, nor whenthe mother broke down again and talked to me like a crazy woman. Hercollapse showed the terrible strain she had been living under, and theragged edge where her reason stood. She had been brave enough to plancoolly till the hour for giving up her baby, but when that came she wasseized with a thousand dreads, and made me swear by my love for her, which was and is the holiest thing in all my life, that if anythinghappened I would live for the other Merridy. I begged her again to comewith me, but her fears held her back. She vowed, however, that Bennettshould never touch her again, and I made her swear by her love for thebabe that she would die before he ever laid hands on her. It woke asavage joy in me to think I had bested him, after all. 

"I never thought of what I was giving up, of the clean name I wassoiling, of the mine back there that meant a fortune anytime I cared totake it, for things like that don't count when a man's blood is hot, soI rode away in the yellow moonlight with a sleeping baby on my breast, where no child or woman had ever lain except for that minute before Ileft. She stood out from beneath the porch shadow and smiled hergood-bye--the last I ever saw of her. .. . 

"I travelled hard that night and swapped horses at daylight; then, leaving the wild country behind, I came into a region I didn't know, and found a Mexican woman who tended the child for me, for I was closeby the place where Merridy was to come. Every night I went into thevillage in hopes that some word had arrived, and I waited patiently fora week. Then I got the blow. I heard it from the loafers around thelittle post-office first, but it dazed me so I wouldn't believe it tillI borrowed the paper and read the whole story, with the type dancingand leaping before me. It took some hours for it to seep in, even afterthat, and for years I recalled every word of the damned lie as if ithad been branded on me with hot irons. They called it a shocking crime, the most brutal murder California had ever known, and in the head-lineswas my name in letters that struck me between the eyes like a hammer. Mrs. Dan Bennett had been foully murdered by me, in a fit of suddenjealousy, and I had disappeared with the baby! The husband had returnedunexpectedly to find her dying, so he said, but too far gone to callfor help, and with barely sufficient strength to tell him who did itand how! Then the paper went on with the tale of my courting her, andher turning me down for Bennett. It told how I had gone off alone upinto the hills, turning into a bear that nobody, man or child, couldapproach. It said I had brooded there all this time till the mania gotuppermost, and so came down to wreak my vengeance. They never even didme the credit of calling me crazy; I was a fiend incarnate, a beastwithout soul, and a lot of things like that; and, remember, I had neverharmed a living thing in all my life. However, that wasn't what hurt. What turned me into a dull, dead, suffering thing was the knowledgethat she was gone. For hours I couldn't get beyond that fact. Then camethe realization that Bennett had done it, for I reasoned that he haddragged a hint of the truth from her by very force of the fear he heldher in--and slain her. God!--the awful rage that came over me! Butthere was nothing to do; I had sworn to guard the little one, so Icouldn't take vengeance on him. I couldn't go back and prove myinnocence, for that would give the child to him. What a night I spent!The next day I saw I had been indicted by the grand jury and was awanted man. From a distance I watched myself become an outlaw; watchedthe county put a price upon my head, which Bennett doubled; watchedpublic opinion rise to such a heat that posses began to scour themountains. What I noted in particular was a statement in the paper that'The sorrowing husband takes his bereavement with the quiet couragewhich marks a brave man'! That roused me more than the knowledge thathe had made me a wolf and set my friends on my track, which I hadn'tcovered very well, having ridden boldly. It happened that the Mexicanwoman couldn't read and talked little; still, I knew they'd find mesoon--it couldn't be otherwise--so I made another run for it, swearingan oath, however, before I left that I'd come back and have thatgambler's heart. 

"It was lucky I went, for they uncovered my sign the next day, and thecountry where I'd hidden blazed like a field of dry grass. They wereclose on my heels, and they closed in from every quarter, but, pshaw! Iknew the woods like an Indian, and the wild things were my friendsagain, which would have made it play if I'd been alone, but a girlchild of three was harder to manage. So I cowered and skulked day afterday like a thief or the murderer they thought me, working alwaysfarther into the hidden places, travelling by night with the little oneasleep on my bosom, by day playing with her in some leafy glen, with mypursuers so close behind that for weeks I never slept; and my love forthe child increased daily till it became almost an insanity. 

"She was the only woman thing I had ever possessed, and it seemed likemy love for the mother came back and settled on her. And she loved me, too, and trusted me. Every little smile, every clasp of her tiny, dimpled fingers showed it, and tied her to me with another knot tillthe fear of losing her became greater than I could bear, till it keptthe chill of death in my bones and filled my veins with glacier water. I became an animal, a cowardly, quailing coyote, all through the loveof a child. 

"We had close squeezes many times, but I finally won, in spite of thefact that they tracked us clear to the edge of the desert, for I hadhit for the state line, knowing that Nevada was a wilderness, andfeeling that I'd surely lose them there. And I did. But in doing it Inearly lost Merridy. You see, the constant travel and hardship was toomuch for a prattling baby, and she fell sick from the heat and the dustand the thirst. I'd been going and going till I was a riding skeleton, till my arms were crooked and dead from holding her, but this new thingfrightened me like those men and dogs had never done. Here was a thingI couldn't hide from nor outride, so I doubled back and came boldlyinto the watered country again, expecting they would take me, ofcourse, for a runaway man with a babe in his arms isn't hard toidentify, but I didn't care. I was bound for the nearest ranch ormining-camp where a woman could be found; but, as luck would have it, Iwent through without trying. I had gone farther from men and things, however, than I thought, and this return pursuit was a million timesworse than the other, for I couldn't go fast enough to shake Death, whoran with his hand on my cantle or rode on my horse's rump. It was thenI found Alluna. She was with a hunting-party of Pah-Utes, who knewnothing of me nor of the white man's affairs, and cared less; and whenI saw the little squaw I rode my horse up beside her, laid the sickchild in her arms, then tumbled out of the saddle. They had a harderjob to pull me through than they did to save Merridy, for I'd given thebaby all the water and hadn't slept or rested for many years, so itseemed. 

"The little one was playing around several days before I got back myreason. Meanwhile the party had moved North, taking us with them, and, as it happened, just missing a posse who were returning from the desert. 

"When I was able to get about I told Alluna that I must be going, butas I told her I watched her face, and saw the sign I wanted--the whitegirl had clutched at her like she had at me, and she couldn't give herup, so I made a dicker with her old man. It took all the money I had tobuy that squaw, but I knew the kiddie must have a woman's care; and thethree of us started out soon after, alone, and broke, and aimless--andwe've been going ever since. 

"That's the heart of the story, Lieutenant, and that's how I started todrift. Since then we three have never rested. I left them once in Idahoand went back to Mesa, riding all the way, mostly by night, but Bennettwas gone. He'd run down mighty fast after Merridy died, so I heard, growing sullen and uglier day by day--and I reckon I was the only onewho knew why--till he had a killing in his place. It was unprovoked, and instead of stopping to face it out the yellow in him rose to thesurface and he left before sunup, as I had left, making a cleangetaway, too, for there was no such hullabaloo raised about killing aman as there was about--the other. So my trip was all for nothing. 

"I was used to disappointment by now, so I took it quiet and went backto Alluna and the little one, knowing that some day we two men wouldmeet. You see, I figured that God had framed a cold hand for me, but Hewould surely give me a pair before the game closed. Of course, neverhaving seen Bennett, I was handicapped, and, added to that, he changedhis name, so the search was mighty slow and blind, but I knew the daywould come. And it would have come only for--this. 

"There isn't much more to tell. I did what most men would have done, Ireckon, because I was just average in every way. I took Alluna, andtogether we drifted North, along the frontier, until we landed here. Every year the little girl got more beautiful and more like her mother, and every year we two loved her more. We changed her name, of course, for I've always had the dread of the law back of me, and then the othertwo kiddies came along; but we were living pretty easy, the womancontented and me waiting for Bennett, till you stepped in and Neciafell in love. That's another thing I never counted on. It seems likeI've always overlooked the plainest kind of facts. I've held offtelling you the last few weeks, hoping you two wouldn't make itnecessary, for I reckon I'm sort of a coward; but she informed meto-night that she couldn't marry you, being what she thinks she is, andknowing the blood she has in her I knew she wouldn't. I figured itwouldn't be right to either of you to let you go it blind, and so Icame in to tell you this whole thing and to give myself up. "

Gale stopped, then poured himself another drink. 

"To give yourself up?" echoed Burrell, vaguely. "How do you mean?" Hehad sat like one in a trance during the long recital, only his eyesalive. 

"I'm under indictment for murder, " said the trader. "I have been forfifteen years, and there's no chance in the world for me to prove myinnocence. "

"Have you told Necia?" the young man inquired. 

"No, you'll have to do that--I never could--she might--disbelieve. What's more, you mustn't tell her yet. Wait till I give the word. Itwon't be long, perhaps a day. I want to go free a little while yet, forI've got some work to do. "

Burrell rose to his feet and stamped the cramps from his muscles. Hewas deeply agitated, and his mind was groping darkly for light to layhold of this new thing that confronted him. 

"Why, yes, yes--of course--don't come until you're ready, " he muttered, mechanically, as if unaware of the meaning of his words. "To be sure, I'm a policeman, am I not? I had forgotten I was a jailer, and--and allthat. " He said it sneeringly, and with a measure of contempt for hisoffice; then he turned suddenly to the trader, and his voice was richand deep-pitched with feeling. 

"John Gale, " he said, "you're the bravest man I ever knew, and thebest. " He choked a bit. "You sacrificed all that life meant when thisgirl was a baby, and now when she has come into womanhood you give upyour blood for her. By God! You are a man! I want your hand!"

In spite of himself he could not restrain the moisture that dimmed hiseyes as he gripped the toil-worn palm of this great, gray hulk of aman, so aged and bent beneath the burden of his life-long, fadelesslove, who, in turn, was powerfully affected by the young man'simpulsive outburst of feeling and his unexpected words of praise. Theold man looked up a trifle shyly. 

"Then you don't doubt no part of it?"

"Certainly not. "

"Somehow, I always figured nobody would believe me if ever I told thewhole thing. "

The soldier gazed unseeingly into the flame of his lamp, and said:

"I wonder if my love for the daughter is as great and as holy as yourlove for the mother. I wonder if I could give what you have given, if Ihad nothing but a memory to live with me. " Then he inquired, irrelevantly; "But what about Bennett, Mr. Gale? You say you neverfound him?"

The trader answered, after a moment's hesitation, "He's still atlarge. " At which his companion exclaimed, "I'd love to meet him in yourstead!"

Gale seemed seized with a desire to speak, but, even while hehesitated, out of the silent night there came the sound of quickfootsteps approaching briskly, as if the owner were in haste and knewwhither he was bound. Up the steps they came lightly; then the room andthe whole silence round about rang and echoed with a peremptory signal. Evidently this man rapped on the board door to awaken and alarm, forinstead of his knuckles he used some hard and heavy thing like agun-butt. 

"Lieutenant Burrell! Lieutenant Burrell!" a gruff voice cried. 

"Who's there?" called the young man. 

"Let me in! Quick! I've got work for you to do! Open up, I say! This isBen Stark!"

CHAPTER XV

AND A KNOT TIGHTENED

A day of shattered hopes is a desolate thing, but the night of such aday is desolate indeed. In all his life Poleon Doret had never sunk tosuch depths of despondency, for his optimistic philosophy and hisbuoyant faith in the goodness of life forbade it. Therefore, whendarkness came it blotted out what little brightness and light and hopewere left to him after Necia's stormy interview with the Lieutenant. The arrival of the freight steamer afforded him some distraction, butthere was only a small consignment for the store, and that was quicklydisposed of; so, leaving the other citizens of Flambeau to wrangle overtheir private merchandise, he went back to his solitary vigil, whichfinally became so unbearable that he sought to escape his thoughts, orat least to drown them for a while, amid the lights and life andlaughter of Stark's saloon. Being but a child by nature, his means ofdistraction were primal and elementary, and he began to gamble, asusual with hard luck, for the cards had ever been unkind to him. He didnot think of winnings or losings, however--he merely craved theoccupation; and it was this that induced him to sit at a game in whichRunnion played, although ordinarily he would not have tolerated eventacitly such a truce to his dislikes. As it was, he crouched in acorner, his hat pulled down over his brow, his swarthy face a darkerhue beneath the shadow, losing steadily, only now and then showing aflash of white teeth as he saw his money go. What mattered loss to him?He had no more need of money now than Necia had of his love. He wouldspend the dollars he had eked and scraped and saved for her as she hadspent the treasures of his heart, and now that the one had brought himno return he wished to be rid of the other, for he was shortly to goagain in search of his "New Country, " where no man needs gold half somuch as a clean heart. It would be a long journey, far to the West andNorth--a journey that none of his kind had ever fared back from, and hewished to go light, as all good adventurers go. 

Runnion annoyed him with his volubility, for the news of hisgood-fortune had fired the man with a reckless disregard for money, andhe turned to gaming as the one natural recourse of his ilk. As theirony of fate would have it, he won what the Canadian lost, togetherwith the stakes of various others who played for a time with him andthen gave up, wagging their heads or swearing softly at the cards. 

It was shortly after midnight that Stark came into the place. Poleonwas not too absorbed in his own fortunes to fail to notice theextraordinary ferocity and exhilaration of the saloon-keeper, nor thathis face was keener, his nostrils thinner, his walk more nervous, andhis voice more cutting than usual when he spoke to Runnion. 

"Come here. "

"I'll be with you when I finish this hand, " said the player, over hisshoulder. 

"Come here!" Stark snapped his command, and Runnion threw down hiscards. 

"I'm right in the middle of a winning streak. You'll break my luck, Ben. "

But the other only frowned impatiently, and, drawing the reluctantgambler aside, began to talk rapidly to him, almost within ear-shot ofPoleon, who watched them, idly wondering what Stark had to say thatcould make Runnion start and act so queerly. Well, it was their affair. They made a bad pair to draw to. He knew that Runnion was thesaloon-keeper's lieutenant and obeyed implicitly his senior's commands. He could distinguish nothing they said, nor was he at all curious untila knot of noisy men crowded up to the bar, and, forcing the two backnearer to the table where he sat, his sharp ears caught these wordsfrom Runnion's lips:

"Not with me! She'd never go with me!" and Stark's reply:

"She'll go where I send her, and with anybody I tell her to. "

The Frenchman lost what followed, for a newly dealt hand requiredstudy. He scanned his cards, and tossed them face up before the dealer;then he overheard Runnion say:

"It's the only one in camp. He might sell it if you offered himenough. " At this Stark called one of the men at the bar aside, and thethree began to dicker. 

"Not a cent less, " the third man announced, loudly. "There ain'tanother Peterborough in town. "

It was Poleon's deal now, and when he had finished both Stark andRunnion had disappeared, also the man they had accosted, which pleasedthe Canadian, for now that Runnion was eliminated from the game hemight win a little. A steady, unvarying run of bad hands isuninteresting, and does not occupy one's mind as well as an occasionalchange of luck. 

Outside Runnion was saying again to Stark:

"She won't go with me, Ben; she don't like me. You see, I made love toher, and she got mad and wanted me killed. "

"She'll never know who you are until it's too late to turn back, " saidthe other, "and you are the only man I can trust to take her through. Ican trust you--you owe me too much to be crooked. "

"Oh, I'll act square with you! But look here, what's all this about, anyhow? Why do you want that girl? You said you didn't care for herthat way; you told me so yourself. Been having a change of heart, or isit your second childhood?" He laughed disagreeably. 

"It's none of your business, " said the gambler. "I want her, and that'senough. All you have to do is to take her to St. Michael's and keep herthere till you hear from me. She thinks she is going to the Mission, and you needn't tell her otherwise until you get her aboard a steamer;then take her, no matter what kind of a fight she puts up. You've got alight-rowing skiff, and you'd better keep going till you're overtakenby a down-river boat. I want her as far away from here as possible. There's going to be some hell in this camp. Now, hike, and get yourselfready. "

"All right! But I ain't the safest kind of a chaperon for agood-looking girl. "

Stark laid a cold hand on Runnion's shoulder, close up to his neck. 

"Get that out of your mind. She belongs to me. "

"You said just now--"

"Never mind what I said. She's mine, and you've got to promise to bestraight with her. I've trusted you before, and if you're not on thelevel now, say so. It will save you a lot of trouble. "

"Oh! All right!" exclaimed Runnion, testily. "Only it looks mightyqueer. "

He melted into the darkness and Stark returned to his cabin, where hepaced back and forth impatiently, smiling evilly now and then, consulting his watch at frequent intervals. A black look had begun tosettle on his face, but it vanished when Necia came, and he met herwith a smile. 

"I was afraid you had weakened, " he said. "Everything is ready andwaiting. I've got the only canoe in the place, a Peterborough, andhired a good oarsman to put you through, instructing him to make asfast time as he can, and to board the first steamer that overtakes you. Too bad this freighter that just got in isn't going the other way. However, there's liable to be another any hour, and if one doesn't comealong you'll find enough blankets and food in the skiff, so you needn'tgo ashore. You'll be there before you know it. "

"You are very kind, " said the girl. "I can't thank you enough. " She wasclothed in her simple everyday dress, and looked again the sun-coloredhalf-breed girl with the wide, dark eyes and the twin braids ofcrow-black hair. 

"You didn't run into anybody, eh?"

She shook her head. Then he led her out into the darkness, and theystumbled down to the river's-bank, descending to the gravelly water'sedge, where rows of clumsy hand-sawed boats and poling-skiffs werechafing at their painters. The up-river steamer was just clearing. 

Stark's low whistle was answered a hundred yards below, and theysearched out a darker blot that proved to be a man's figure. 

"Is everything ready?" he inquired, at which the shadow gruntedunintelligibly. So, holding Necia by the arm, Stark helped her back toa seat in the stern. 

"This man will take you through, " he said. "You can trust him, allright. "

The oarsman clambered in and adjusted his sweeps, then Stark laid ahand on the prow and shoved the light boat out into the current, calling softly:

"Good-bye, and good-luck. "

"Good-bye, Mr. Stark. Thank you ever so much, " the girl replied, toonumb and worn out to say much, or to notice or care whither she wasbound or who was her boatman. She had been swept along too swiftly toreason or fear for herself any more. 

Half an hour later the scattered lights of the little camp winked andtwinkled for the last time. Turning, she set her face forward, and, adjusting the cushions to her comfort, strained her tired eyes towardsthe rising and falling shadow of her boatman. She seemed borne along ona mystic river of gloom that hissed and gurgled about her, invisiblebut all-pervading, irresistible, monstrous, only the ceaseless, monotonous creak of the rowlocks breaking the silence. 

Stark did not return to his cabin, but went back instead to his saloon, where he saw Poleon Doret still sprawling with elbows on the table, hishat pulled low above his sullen face. The owner of the place passedbehind the bar and poured himself a full glass of whiskey, which hetossed off, then, without a look to right or left, went out and downtowards the barracks. A light behind the drawn curtains of theofficer's house told that his man was not abed, but he waited a longmoment after his summons before the door was opened, during which heheard the occupant moving about and another door close in the rear. When he was allowed entrance at last he found the young man alone in asmoke-filled room with a bottle and two empty glasses on the table. 

For at the sound of his voice Gale had whispered to Burrell, "Keep himout!" and the Lieutenant had decided to refuse his late visitoradmittance when he lighted on the expedient of concealing the trader inthe bedroom at the rear. It was only natural, he reasoned, that Galeshould dislike to face a man like Stark before he had regained hiscomposure. 

"Go in there and wait till I see what he wants, " he had said, and, shutting the old man in, he had gone forth to admit Stark, resentinghis ill-timed intrusion and inquiring brusquely the cause of it. 

Before answering, Stark entered and closed the door behind him. 

"I've got some work for you, Lieutenant. "

"I guess it can wait till morning, " said Meade. 

"No, it can't; it's got to be done to-night, right now! You representthe law, or at least you've taken every occasion to so declareyourself, and to mix in with little things that don't cut much figure;so now I've come to you with something big. It's a serious affair, andbeing as I'm a peaceful man I want to go by the law. " His eyes mockedthe words he uttered. "You're mighty prompt and determined when itcomes to regulating such affairs. You seem to carry the weight of thiswhole community on your shoulders, so I'm here to give you someinformation. "

Burrell ignored the taunt, and said, quietly: "It's a little late forpolite conversation. Come to the point. "

"I've got a criminal for you. "

"What kind?"

"Murderer. "

"You've had a killing in your place, eh?"

"No, I've just made a discovery. I found it all out by accident, too--pure accident. By Heaven! You can't tell me there isn't abeneficent Providence overlooking our affairs. Why, this felon haslived here among us all this time, and only for the merest chance Inever would have recognized him. "

"Well, well! Go on!" snapped Burrell, impatiently. 

"He's a friend of yours, and a highly respected party. He's a gloriousexample to this whole river. "

The officer started. Could it be? he wondered. Could knowledge of thisaffair have reached this man? He was uncomfortably aware of thatpresence in the back room, but he had to know the truth. 

"Who is the man?"

"He's your friend. He's--" Stark paused, gloating over his enemy'ssuspense. 

"Go on. " "He's everybody's friend. He's the shining mark of this wholecountry. He's the benevolent renegade, Squaw-man Gale. "

"John Gale?"

"Gaylord is his name, and I was a fool not to know it sooner. "

"How did you discover this?" inquired Burrell, lamely. "What proof haveyou?"

The disclosure had not affected the soldier as Stark expected, and hisanger began to lift itself. 

"That's neither here nor there; the man's a murderer; he's wanted inCalifornia, where I came from; he's been indicted, and there's a priceon his head. He's hidden for fifteen years, but he'll hang as sure as Istand here. "

Disclosures of a complex nature had so crowded on Burrell in the lastfew hours that he saw himself the centre of a most unfortunate andamazing tangle. Things were difficult enough as it was, but to havethis man appear and cry for justice--this man above all others!--it wasa complication quite unlocked for--a hideous mockery. He must gain timefor thought. One false step might ruin all. He could not face this onthe spur of the moment, so, shrugging his shoulders with an air ofpolite scepticism, he assumed a tone of good-natured raillery. 

"Fifteen years? Murder? John Gale a murderer? Why, that'salmost--pardon me if I smile--I'm getting sleepy. What proof have you?"

"Proof!" blazed the gambler. "Proof! Ask Gaylord! Proof! Why, the womanhe murdered was my wife!"

It was Burrell's turn now to fall incoherent, and not only did hisspeech forsake him, but his thoughts went madly veering off into awilderness where there was no trail, no light, no hope. What kind of acoil was this? What frightful bones were these he bared? This man wasBennett! This was Necia's father! This man he hated, this man who wasbad, whose name was a curse throughout the length and breadth of theWest, was the father of the girl he loved! His head began to whirl, then the story of the trader came back to him, and he remembered whoand what the bearer of these later tidings was. He raised a pair ofeyes that had become furious and bloodshot, and suddenly realized thatthe man before him, who persisted in saddling upon Gale this heinouscrime, was the slayer of Necia's mother; for he did not doubt Gale'sstory for an instant. He found his fingers writhing to feel thecreature's throat. 

"Proof!" Stark was growling. "How much proof do you need? I've followedhim for fifteen years. I've tracked him with men and dogs through woodsand deserts and mining-camps. I've slept on his trail for five thousandmiles, and now do you think I'm mistaken? He killed my wife, I say, androbbed me of my little girl! That's her in his house. That's her hecalls Necia. She's my girl--MY GIRL, do you understand?--and I'll havehis life. "

It was hate that animated him, and nothing more. He had no joy in thefinding of his offspring, no uplifted thought of justice. The thirstfor revenge, personal, violent, utter, was all that prompted this man;but Burrell had no inkling yet of the father's well-shaped plans, norhow far-reaching they were, and could barely stammer:

"So! You--you know?"

"Yes! She wears the evidence around her neck, and if that isn't enoughI can furnish more--evidence enough to smother you. My name isn't Starkat all; I changed it years ago for certain reasons. I've changed itmore than once, but that's my privilege and my own affair. Her name isMerridy Bennett. "

"I don't suppose you know I'm going to marry her, " said the Kentuckian, irrelevantly. 

"No, " replied the other, "I wasn't aware of the fact. "

"Well, I am. I'll be your son-in-law. " He said this as if it were thestatement of an astonishing truth, whereat Stark grinned, a mirthless, disquieting sort of grimace, and said:

"There's a lot of things for you and me to settle up first. For onething, I want those mines of hers. "

"Why?"

"Well, I'm her father, and she's not of age. "

"I'll think it over. "

"I'll take them, anyway, as her next of kin. "

Burrell did not follow up this statement, for its truth wasincontrovertible, and showed that the father's ill-will was tootangible a thing to be concealed; so he continued:

"We'll adjust that after Gale is attended to; but, meanwhile, what doyou want me to do?"

"I want you to arrest the man who killed my wife. If you don't take himthe miners will. I've got a following in this camp, and I'll raise acrowd in fifteen minutes--enough to hang this squaw-man, or batter downyour barracks to get him. But I don't want to do that; I want to go bythe law you've talked so much about; I want you to do the trick. "

At last Burrell saw the gambler's deviltry. He knew Stark's reputationtoo well to think that he feared a meeting with Gale, for the man hadlived in hope of that these fifteen years, and had shaped his lifearound such a meeting; but this indirect method--the Kentuckian felt aflash of reluctant admiration for a man who could mould a vengeancewith such cruel hands, and, even though he came from a land of feuds, where hate is a precious thing, the cunning strength of this man'senmity dwarfed any he had ever known. Stark had planned his settlementcoldly and with deliberate malice; moreover he was strong enough tostand aside and let another take his place, and thus deny to Gale thefinal recourse of a hunted beast, the desperate satisfaction that thetrader craved. He tied his enemy's hands and delivered him up with histhirst unsatisfied--to whom? He thrust a weapon into the hand of hisother enemy, and bade this other enemy use it; worse than that, forcedhim to strike the man he honored--the man he loved. Burrell neverdoubted that Stark had carefully weighed the effect of this upon Necia, and had reasoned that a girl like her could not understand a soldier'sduty if it meant the blood of a parent. If he refused to act, thegambler could break him, while every effort he made to protect Galewould but increase the other's satisfaction. There was no chance of thetrader's escape. Stark held him in his hand. His followers would do hisbidding. It was a desperate affair. Was it impossible, the Lieutenantwondered, to move this man from his purpose?

"Have you thought of Necia? She loves Gale. What effect will this haveon her?"

"Damn her! She's more his brat than mine. I want John Gaylord!"

At this a vicious frenzy overtook Burrell, and he thought of the manbehind yonder door, whom he had forgotten until these words wokesomething savage in him. Well! Why not? These two men had stalked eachother clear into the farthest places, driven by forces that were olderthan the hills. Who was he to stand between such passions? This wasordained, it was the course of nature, the clash of elements, and thiswas a fair battle-ground, so why should he undertake to stop a thingdecreed?

The gambler's words rang in his ears--"I want John Gaylord"--and beforehe knew what he was doing he had answered: "Very well. I'll give him toyou, " and crossed quickly to the door of his bedroom and flung it open. On the threshold he paused stock-still. The place was empty; a draughtsucked through the open window, flirting with the curtain and tellingthe story of the trader's exit. 

"If you're looking for your coat, it's here, " he heard Stark say. "Getinto it, and we'll go for him. "

The Lieutenant's mind was working fast enough now, in all conscience, and he saw with clear and fateful eyes whither he was being led, atwhich a sudden reckless disregard for consequences seized him. He felta blind fury at being pulled and hauled and driven by this creature, and also an unreasoning anger at Gale's defection. But it was thethought of Necia and the horrible net of evil in which this man hadensnared them both that galled him most. It was all a terrible tangle, in which the truth was hopelessly hidden, and nothing but harm couldcome from attempting to unravel it. There was but one solution, andthat, though fundamental and effective, was not to be expected from anofficer of the law. Nevertheless, he chose it, for Ben Stark was toopotent a force for evil to be at large, and needed extermination astruly as if he were some dangerous beast. He determined to finish thisthing here and now. 

Meade went to his bureau, took his revolver from the belt where he hadhung it, and came out into the other room. Stark, seeing the weapon, exclaimed:

"You don't need that; he won't resist you. "

"I've decided not to take him, " said Burrell. 

"Decided not to take him?" shouted the other. "Have you weakened? Don'tyou intend to arrest that man?"

"No!" cried the soldier. "I've listened to your lies long enough; nowI'm going to stop them, once for all. You're too dangerous to havearound. "

They faced each other silently a moment; then Stark spoke in a veryquiet voice, though his eyes were glittering:

"What's the meaning of this? Are you crazy?"

"Gale was here just before you came, and told me who killed your wife. I know. "

"You do?"

"I do. "

"Well?"

"It's pretty late. This place is lonely. This is the simplest way. "

The gambler fell to studying his antagonist, and when he did not speakBurrell continued:

"Come, brace up! I'm giving you a chance. "

But Stark shook his head. 

"Don't be afraid, " insisted the Lieutenant. "There are no witnesses. Ifyou get me, nobody will know, and your word is good. If not--it's muchsimpler than the other. " Then, when the gambler still made no move, heinsisted, "You wouldn't have me kill you like a rattlesnake?"

"You couldn't, " said the older man. "You're not that kind--and I'm notthe kind to be cheated, either. Listen! I've lived over forty years, and I never took less than was coming to me. I won't begin to-night. "

"You'll get your share--"

"Bah! You don't know what I mean. I don't want you; it's him I'm after, and when I'm done with him I'll take care of you; but I won't run anyrisk right now. I won't take a chance on losing what I've risked somuch to gain, what I've lived these fifteen years to get. You might putme away--there's the possibility--and I won't let you or any otherman--or woman either, not even my girl--cheat me out of Gale. Put upyour gun. "

The soldier hesitated, then did as he was bidden, for this man knew himbetter than he knew himself. 

"I ought to treat you like a mad dog, but I can't do it while yourhands are up. I'm going to fight for John Gale, however, and you can'ttake him. "

"I'll have his carcass hung to my ridge-pole before daylight. "

"No. "

"I say yes!" Stark turned to go, but paused at the door. "And you thinkyou'll marry Necia, do you?"

"I know it. "

"Like hell you will! Suppose you find her first. "

"What do you mean? Wait--"

But his visitor was gone, leaving behind him a lover already sorelyvexed, and now harassed by a new and sudden apprehension. What venomthe man distilled! Could it be that he had sent Necia away? Burrellscouted the idea. She wasn't the kind to go at Stark's mere behest; andas for his forcing her, why, this was not an age of abductions! Hemight aim to take her, but it would require some time to establish hisrights, and even then there were Gale and himself to be reckoned with. Still, this was no time for idling, and he might as well make certain, so the young man put on his coat hurriedly, knowing there was work todo There was no telling what this night would bring forth, but first hemust warn his friend, after which they would fight this thing together, not as soldier and civilian, but as man and man, not for the law, butagainst it. He smiled as he realized the situation. Well, he wasthrough with the army, anyhow; his path was strange and new from thistime henceforth, and led him away from all he had known, taking himamong other peoples; but he did not flinch, for it led to her. Behindhim was that former life; to-night he began anew. 

Stark traced his way back to his cabin in a ten times fiercer mood thanhe had come, reviling, cursing, hating; back past the dark trading-posthe went, pausing to shake his clenched fist and grind out an oathbetween his teeth; past the door of his own saloon, which was a-light, and whence came the sound of revelry, through the scattered houses, where he went more by feel than by sight, up to the door of his ownshack. He fitted his key in the lock, but the door swung open withouthis aid, at which he remembered that he had only pulled it after himwhen he came away with Necia. He closed it behind him now, and lockedit, for he had some thinking to do; then felt through his pockets for amatch, and, striking it, bent over his lamp to adjust the wick. Itflared up steady and strong at last, flooding the narrow place with itsillumination; then he straightened up and turned towards the bed tothrow off his coat, when suddenly every muscle of his body leaped withan uncontrollable spasm, as if he had uncovered a deadly serpent coiledand ready to spring. In spite of himself his lungs contracted as ifwith the grip of giant hands, and his breath came forth in a startledcry. 

John Gale was sitting at his table, barely an arm's-length away, hisgray-blue eyes fixed upon him, and the deep seams of his heavy face setas if graven in stone. His huge, knotted hands were upon the table, andbetween them lay a naked knife. 

CHAPTER XVI

JOHN GALE'S HOUR

It was a heathenish time of night to arouse the girl, thought Burrell, as he left the barracks, but he must allay these fears that werebesetting him, he must see Necia at once. The low, drifting cloudsobscured what star-glow there was in the heavens, and he stepped backto light a lantern. By its light he looked at his watch and exclaimed, then held it to his ear. Five hours had passed since he left Gale'shouse. Well, the call was urgent, and Necia would understand hisanxiety. 

A few moments later he stood above the squaw, who crouched on thetrader's doorstep, wailing her death song into the night. He could notcheck her; she paid no heed to him, but only rocked and moaned andchanted that strange, weird song which somehow gave strength to hisfears. 

"What's wrong; where is Necia? Where is she?" he demanded, and at lastseized her roughly, facing her to the light, but Alluna only blinkedowlishly at his lantern and shook her head. 

"Gone away, " she finally informed him, and began to weave again in herdespair, but he held her fiercely. 

"Where has she gone? When did she go?" He shook her to quicken herreply. 

"I don' know. I don' know. Long time she's gone now. " She trailed offinto Indian words he could not comprehend, so he pushed past her intothe house to see for himself, and without knocking flung Necia's dooropen and stepped into her chamber. Before he had swept the unfamiliarroom with his eyes he knew that she had indeed gone, and gonehurriedly, for the signs of disorder betrayed a reckless haste. Hangingacross the back of a chair was what had once been the wondrous dress, Poleon's gift, now a damp and draggled ruin, and on the floor were twosodden satin slippers and a pair of wet silk stockings. He picked upthe lace gown and saw that it was torn from shoulder to waist. Whatinsanity had possessed the girl to rip her garment thus?

"She take her 'nother dress; the one I make las' summer, " said Alluna, who had followed him in and stood staring as he stared. 

"When did she go, Alluna? For God's sake, what does this mean?"

"I don' know! She come and she go, and I don' see her; mebbe three, four hour ago. "

"Where's Gale? He'll know. He's gone after her, eh?"

The upward glow of the lantern heightened the young man's pallor, andagain the squaw broke into her sad lament. 

"John Gale--he's gone away with the knife of my father. I am afraid--Iam afraid. "

Burrell forced himself to speak calmly; this was no time to let hiswits stampede. 

"How long ago?"

"Long time. "

"Did he come back here just now?"

"No; he went to the jail-house, and he would not let me follow. He don'come back no more. "

This was confusing, and Meade cried, angrily:

"Why didn't you give the alarm? Why didn't you come to me instead ofyelling your lungs out around the house?"

"He told me to wait, " she said, simply. 

"Go find Poleon, quick. "

"He told me to wait, " she repeated, stoically, and Burrell knew he waspowerless to move her. He saw the image of a great terror in thewoman's face. The night suddenly became heavy with the hint ofunspeakable things, and he grew fearful, suspecting now that Gale hadtold him but a part of his story, that all the time he knew Stark'sidentity, and that his quarry was at hand, ready for the kill; or, ifnot, he had learned enough while standing behind that partition. Wherewas he now? Where was Necia? What part did she play in this? Stark'sparting words struck Burrell again like a blow. This life-long feud wasdrawing swiftly to some tragic culmination, and somewhere out in thedarkness those two strong, hate-filled men were settling their scores. All at once a fear for the trader's life came upon the young man, andhe realized that a great bond held them together. He could not thinkclearly, because of the dread thing that gripped him at thought ofNecia. Was he to lose her, after all? He gave up trying to think, andfled for Stark's saloon, reasoning that where one was the other must benear, and there would surely be some word of Necia. He burst throughthe door; a quick glance over the place showed it empty of those hesought, but, spying Poleon Doret, he dragged him outside, inquiringbreathlessly:

"Have you seen Gale?"

"Have you seen Stark? Has he been about?"

"Yes, wan hour, mebbe two hour ago. W'y? Wat for you ask?"

"There's the devil to pay. Those two have come together, and Necia isgone. "

"Necia gone?" the Canadian jerked out. "Wat you mean by dat? Were she'sgone to?"

"I don't know--nobody knows. God! I'm shaking like a leaf. "

"Bah! She's feel purty bad! She's go out by herse'f. Dat's all right. "

"I tell you something has happened to her; there's hell to pay. I foundher clothes at the house torn to ribbons and all muddy and wet. "

Poleon cried out at this. 

"We've got to find her and Gale, and we haven't a minute to lose. I'mafraid we're too late as it is. I wish it was daylight. Damn thedarkness, anyhow! It makes it ten times harder. "

His incoherence alarmed his listener more than his words. 

"Were have you look?"

"I've been to the house, but Alluna is crazy, and says Gale has gone tokill Stark, as near as I can make out. Both of them were at my quartersto-night, and I'm afraid the squaw is right. "

"But w'ere is Necia?"

"We don't know; maybe Stark has got her. "

The Frenchman cursed horribly. "Have you try hees cabane?"

"No. "

Without answer the Frenchman darted away, and the Lieutenant sped afterhim through the deserted rows of log-houses. 

"Ha! Dere's light, " snarled Doret, over his shoulder, as they nearedtheir goal. 

"Be careful, " panted Burrell. "Wait! Don't knock. " He forced Poleon topause. "Let's find out who's inside. Remember, we're working blind. "

He gripped his companion's arm with fingers of steel, and together theycrept up to the door, but even before they had gained it they heard avoice within. It was Stark's. The walls of the house were ofmoss-chinked logs that deadened every sound, but the door itself was ofthin, whip-sawed pine boards with ample cracks at top and bottom, and, the room being of small dimensions, they heard plainly. The Lieutenantleaned forward, then with difficulty smothered an exclamation, for heheard another voice now--the voice of John Gale. The words came to himmuffled but distinct, and he raised his hand to knock, when, suddenlyarrested, he seized Poleon and forced him to his knees, hissing intohis ear:

"Listen! Listen! For God's sake, listen!"

For the first time in his tempestuous life Ben Stark lost the ironcomposure that had made his name a by-word in the West, and at sight ofhis bitterest enemy seated in the dark of his own house waiting for himhe became an ordinary, nervous, frightened man faced by a great peril. It was the utter unexpectedness of the thing that shook him, and beforehe could regain his balance Gale spoke:

"I've come to settle, Bennett. "

"What are you doing here?" the gambler stammered. 

"I was up at the soldier's place just now and heard you. I didn't wantany interruptions, so I came here where we can be alone. " He paused, and, when Stark made no answer, continued, "Well, let's get at it. " Butstill the other made no move. "You've had all the best of it for twentyyears, " Gale went on, in his level voice, "but to-night I get even. ByGod! I've lived for this. "

"That shot in Lee's cabin?" recalled Stark, with the light of a newunderstanding. "You knew me then?"

"Yes. "

Stark took a deep breath. "What a damned fool I've been!"

"Your devil's magic saved you that time, but it won't stop this. " Thetrader rose slowly with the knife in his hand. 

"You'll hang for this!" said the gambler, unsteadily, at which Gale'sface blazed. 

"Ha!" exclaimed the trader, exultingly; "you can feel it in your gutsalready, eh?"

With an effort Stark began to assemble his wits as the trader continued:

"You saddled your dirty work on me, Ben Stark, and I've carried it forfifteen years; but to-night I put you out the way you put her out. Aneye for an eye!"

"I didn't kill her, " said the man. 

"Don't lie. This isn't a grand jury. We're all alone. "

"I didn't kill her. "

"So? The yellow is showing up at last. I knew you were a coward, but Ididn't think you'd be afraid to own it to yourself. That thing musthave lived with you. "

"Look here, " said Stark, curiously, "do you really think I killedMerridy?"

"I know it. A man who would strike a woman would kill her--if he hadthe nerve. "

Stark had now mastered himself, and smiled. 

"My hate worked better than I thought. Well, well, that made it hardfor you, didn't it?" he chuckled. "I supposed, of course, you knew--"

"Knew?" Gale's face showed emotion for the first time. "Knew what--?"His hands were quivering slightly. 

"She killed herself. "

"So help you God?"

"So help me God!"

There was a long pause. 

"Why?"

"Say, it's kind of funny our standing here talking about that thing, isn't it? Well, if you want to know, I came home early that night--Iguess you hadn't been gone two hours--and the surprise did it, morethan anything else, I suppose--she hadn't prepared a story. I gotsuspicious, named you at random, and hit the nail on the head. Shebroke down, thought I knew more than I did, and--and then there washell to pay. "

"Go on. "

"I suppose I talked bad and made threats--I was crazy over you--tillshe must have thought I meant to kill her, but I didn't. No. I neverwas quite that bad. Anyhow, she did it herself. "

Gale's face was like chalk, and his voice sounded thin and dry as hesaid:

"You beat her, that's why she did it. "

Stark made no answer. 

"The papers said the room showed a struggle. "

When the other still kept silent, Gale insisted:

"Didn't you?"

At this Stark flamed up defiantly. 

"Well, I guess I had cause enough. No woman except her was ever untrueto me--wife or sweetheart. "

"You didn't really think--?"

"Think hell! I thought so then, and I think so now. She denied it, but--"

"And you knew her so well, too. I guess you've had some bad nightsyourself, Bennett, with that always on your mind--"

"I swore I'd have you--"

"--and so you put her blood on my head, and made me an outlaw. " Afteran instant: "Why did you tell me this, anyhow?"

"It's our last talk, and I wanted you to know how well my hate worked. "

"Well, I guess that's all, " said Gale. So far they had watched eachother with unwavering, unblinking eyes, straining at the leash and tautin every nerve. Now, however, the trader's fingers tightened on theknife-handle, and his knuckles whitened with the grip, at which Stark'sright hand swept to his waist, and simultaneously Gale lunged acrossthe table. His blade nickered in the light, and a gun spoke, once--twice--again and again. A cry arose outside the cabin, then someheavy thing crashed in through the door, bringing light with it, forwith his first leap Gale had carried the lamp and the table with him, and the two had clenched in the dark. 

Burrell had waited an instant too long, for the men's voices had heldso steady, their words had been so vital, that the finish found himunprepared, but, thrusting the lantern into Poleon's hand, he hadbacked off a pace and hurled himself at the door. He had learned theknack of bunching his weight in football days, and the barrier burstand splintered before him. He fell to his knees inside, and an instantlater found himself wrestling for his life between two raging beasts. The Lieutenant knew Doret must have entered too, though he could notsee him, for the lantern shed a sickly gloom over the chaos. He waslocked desperately with John Gale, who flung him about and handled himlike a child, fighting like an old gray wolf, hoary with years andterrible in his rage. Burrell had never been so battered and harriedand torn; only for the lantern's light Gale would doubtless havesheathed his weapon in his new assailant, but the more fiercely thetrader struggled, the more tenaciously the soldier clung. As it was, Gale carried the Lieutenant with him and struck over his head at Stark. 

Poleon had leaped into the room at Burrell's heels, to receive theimpact of a heavy body hurled backward into his arms as if by someirresistible force. He seized it and tore it away from the thing thatpressed after and bore down upon it with the ferocity of a wild beast. He saw Gale reach over the Lieutenant's head and swing his arm, saw theknife-blade bury itself in what he held, then saw it rip away, and felta hot stream spurt into his face. So closely was the Canadian entangledwith Stark that he fancied for an instant the weapon had wounded bothof them for the trader had aimed at his enemy's neck where it joinedthe shoulder, but, hampered by the soldier, his blow went astray aboutfour inches. Doret glimpsed Burrell rising from his knees, his armsabout the trader's waist, and the next instant the combatants weredragged apart. 

The Lieutenant wrenched the dripping blade from Gale's hand; it nolonger gleamed, but was warm and slippery in his fingers. Poleon heldStark's gun, which was empty and smoking. 

The fight had not lasted a minute, and yet what terrible havoc had beenwrought! The gambler was drenched with his own blood, which gushed fromhim, black in the yellow flicker, and so plentifully that the Frenchmanwas befouled with it, while Gale, too, was horribly stained, butwhether from his own or his enemy's veins it was hard to tell. Thetrader paid no heed to himself nor to the intruders, allowing Burrellto push him back against the wall, the breath wheezing in and out ofhis lungs, his eyes fastened on Stark. 

"I got you, Bennett!" he cried, hoarsely. "Your magic is no good. " Histeeth showed through his grizzled muzzle like the fangs of some wildanimal. 

Bennett, or Stark, as the others knew him, lunged about with hiscaptor, trying to get at his enemy, and crying curses on them all, buthe was like a child in Poleon's arms. Gradually he weakened, andsuddenly resistance died out of him. 

"Come away from here, " the Lieutenant ordered Gale. 

But the old man did not hear, and gathered himself as if to resume thebattle with his bare hands, whereupon the soldier, finding himselfshaking like a frightened child, and growing physically weak at what hesaw, doubted his ability to prevent the encounter, and repeated hiscommand. 

"Come away!" he shouted, but the words sounded foolishly flat and inane. 

Then Stark spoke intelligibly for the first time. 

"Arrest him! You've got to believe what I told you now, Burrell. " Hepoured forth a stream of unspeakable profanity, smitten by the bitterknowledge of his first and only defeat. "You'll hang, Gaylord! I'll seeyour neck stretched, damn your heart!" To Poleon he panted, excitedly:"I followed him for fifteen years, Doret. He killed my wife. "

"Dat's damn lie!" said the Frenchman. 

"No, it isn't. He's under indictment for it back in California. He shother down in cold blood, then ran off with my kid. That's her he callsNecia. She's mine. Ain't I right, Lieutenant?"

At this final desperate effort to fix the crime upon his rival, Burrellturned on him with loathing. 

"It's no use, Stark. We heard you say she killed herself. We werestanding outside the door, both of us, and got it from your own lips. "

Until this moment the man had stood on his own feet, but now he beganto sag, seeing which, Poleon supported him to the bed, where he sankweakly, collapsing in every joint and muscle. 

"It's a job, " he snarled. "You put this up, you three, and came here togang me. " An unnatural shudder convulsed him as his wounds bit at him, and then he flared up viciously. "But I'll beat you all. I've got thegirl! I've got her!"

"Necia!" cried Burrell, suddenly remembering, for this affray haddriven all else from his mind. 

Stark crouched on the edge of his bunk--a ghastly, gray, grinningthing! One weapon still remained to him, and he used it. 

"Yes, I've got my daughter!"

"Where is she?" demanded the trader, hoarsely. "Where's my girl?"

The gambler chuckled; an agony seized him till he hiccoughed andstrangled; then, as the spell passed, he laughed again. 

"She's got you in her head, like the mother had, but I'll drive it out;I'll treat her like I did her--"

Gale uttered a terrible cry and moved upon him, but Burrell shoulderedthe trader aside, himself possessed by a cold fury that intensified hisstrength tenfold. 

"Stop it, Gale! Let me attend to this. I'll make him tell!"

"Oh, will you?" mocked the girl's father. 

"Where is she?"

"None of your damned business. " Again he was seized with a paroxysmthat left him shivering and his lips colorless. The blankets weresoaked and soggy with blood, and his feet rested in a red pool. 

"Ben Stark, " said the tortured lover, "you're a sick man, and you'll begone in half an hour at this rate. Won't you do one decent thing beforeyou die?"

"Bah! I'm all right. "

"I'll get you a doctor if you'll tell us where she is. If youdon't--I'll--let you die. For God's sake, man, speak up!"

The wounded man strove to rise, but could not, then considered for amoment before he said:

"I sent her away. "

"Where?"

"Up-river, on that freighter that left last night. She'll go out bySkagway, and I'll join her later, where I can have her to myself. She'sforty miles up-river now, and getting farther every minute--oh, youcan't catch her!"

The three men stared at one another blankly. 

"Why did she go?" said Gale, dully. 

"Because I told her who she was, and who you are; because she thinksyou killed her mother; because she was glad to get away. " Now that hewas grown too weak to inflict violent pain, the man lied malevolently, gloating over what he saw in the trader's face. 

"Never mind, old man, I'll bring her back, " said Burrell, and laid acomforting hand on Gale's shoulder, for the fact that she was safe, thefact of knowing something relieved him immensely; but Stark's nextwords plunged him into even blacker horror than the trader felt. 

"You won't want her if you catch her. Runnion will see to that. "

"Runnion!"

"Yes, I sent him with her. "

The lover cried out in anguish, and hid his face in his hands. 

"He's wanted her for a long time, so I told him to go ahead--"

None of them noticed Poleon Doret, who, upon this unnatural confession, alone seemed to retain sufficient control to doubt and to reason. Hewas thinking hard, straightening out certain facts, and trying tosquare this horrible statement with things he had seen and heardto-night. All of a sudden he uttered a great cry, and bolted out intothe darkness unheeded by Gale and Burrell, who stood dazed anddistraught with a fear greater than that which was growing in Stark atsight of his wounds. 

The gambler looked down at his injuries, opened and closed the fingersof his hand as if to see whether he still maintained control of them, then cried out at the two helpless men:

"Well, are you going to let me bleed to death?"

It brought the soldier out of his trance. 

"Why--no, no! We'll get a doctor. "

But Gale touched him on the shoulder and said:

"He's too weak to get out. Lock him in, and let him die in the dark. "

Stark cursed affrightedly, for it is a terrible thing to bleed to deathin the dark, and in spite of himself the Lieutenant wavered. 

"I can't do that. I promised. "

"He told that lie to my girl. He gave her to that hound, " said thetrader, but Burrell shoved him through the door. 

"No! I can't do that. " And then to the wounded man he said, "I'll get adoctor, but God have mercy on your soul. " He could not trust himself totalk further with this creature, nor be near him any longer, for thoughhe had a slight knowledge of surgery, he would sooner have touched aloathsome serpent than the flesh of this monstrous man. 

He pushed Gale ahead of him, and the old man went like a driven beast, for his violence had wasted itself, and he was like a person under thespell of a strong drug. At the doctor's door Burrell stopped. 

"I never thought to ask you, " he said, wearily; "but you must be hurt?He must have wounded you?"

"I reckon he did--I don't know. " Then the man's listless voice throbbedout achingly, as he cried in despair: "She believed him, boy! Shebelieved his lies! That's what hurts. " Something like a sob caught inhis throat, and he staggered away under the weight of his greatbereavement. 

CHAPTER XVII

THE LOVE OF POLEON DORET

To the girl crouching at the stern of Runnion's boat it seemed as ifthis day and night would never end. It seemed as if the procession ofnatural events must have ceased, that there was no longer any time, forshe had been suffering steadily for hours and hours without end, andbegan to wonder dreamily whether she had not skipped a day in herreckoning between the time when she first heard of the strike on herclaim and this present moment. It occurred to her that she was a richgirl now in her own right, and she smiled her crooked smile, as shereflected that the thing she had longed for without hope of attainmenthad come with confusing swiftness, and had left her unhappier thanever. .. . 

Would the day never come? She pulled the rugs up closer about her asthe morning chill made her shiver. She found herself keeping mechanicalcount with the sound of the sweeps--they must be making good speed, shethought, and the camp must be miles behind now. Had it been earlier inthe season, when the river ran full of drift, they never could havegone thus in the dark, but the water was low and the chances ofcollision so remote as to render blind travel safe. Even yet she couldnot distinguish her oarsman, except as a black bulk, for it had been alowering night and the approaching dawn failed to break through theblanket of cloud that hung above the great valley. He was a goodboatman, however, as she gathered from the tireless regularity of hisstrokes. He was a silent man, too, and she was grateful for that. Shesnuggled down into her blanket and tried to sleep, but she only dozedfor a minute, it seemed, to find her eyes fly wide open again. So, restless and tired of her lonely vigil, she gave a premonitory cough, and said to her companion:

"You must be tired rowing so steadily?"

"Oh, I don't mind it, " he replied. 

At the sound of his voice she sat bolt upright. It couldn't be--if thiswere Runnion he would have spoken before! She ventured again, tremulously:

"Have you any idea what time it is?"

"About three o'clock. I fancy. "

"Who are you?" The question came like a shot. 

"Don't you know?"

"What are YOU doing here, Mr. Runnion?"

"I'm rowing, " he answered, carelessly. 

"Why didn't you speak?" A vague feeling of uneasiness came over her, asuspicion that all was not right, so she waited for him to explain, andwhen he did not, she repeated her question. "What made you keep stillso long? You knew who _I_ was?"

"Well, it's the first time I ever took you on a midnight row, and Iwanted to enjoy it. "

The mockery in his voice quickened her apprehension. Of a sudden thefear of being misjudged impelled her to end this flight that had becomeso distasteful in a moment, preferring to face the people at the postrather than continue her journey with this man. 

"I've changed my mind, Mr. Runnion, " she said. "I don't want to go downto the Mission. I want you to take me back. "

"Can't do it, " he said; "the current is too swift. "

"Then set me ashore and I'll walk back. It can't be far to town. "

"Twenty-five miles. We've been out about three hours. " He kept onrowing steadily, and although the distance they had gone frightenedher, she summoned her courage to say:

"We can make that easily enough. Come, run in to the bank. "

He ceased rowing and let the boat drift with dragging sweeps, filledhis pipe and lighted it, then took up his oars again and resumed hislabors. 

"Please do as I ask you, Mr. Runnion. I've decided I don't want to goany farther. " He laughed, and the sound aroused her. "Put me ashorethis minute!" she cried, indignantly. "What do you mean?"

"You've got a fierce temper, haven't you?"

"Will you do it or not?"

When he made no answer, except to continue the maddening monotony ofhis movements, she was seized with a rash resolve to wrench the oarsout of his hands, and made a quick motion towards him, at which heshouted:

"Sit down! Do you want to upset us?"

The unstable craft lurched and dipped dangerously, and, realizing thefutility of her mad impulse, she sank back on her knees. 

"Put me ashore!"

"No, " he said, "not till I'm ready. Now, keep your seat or we'll bothdrown; this ain't a ferry-boat. " After a few strokes, he added, "We'llnever get along together unless you tame that temper. "

"We're not going to get along together, Mr. Runnion--only as far as theMission. I dare say you can tolerate me until then, can you not?" Shesaid this bitingly. 

"Stark told me to board the first boat for St. Michael's, " he said, disregarding her sarcasm, "but I've made a few plans of my own the lasthour or so. "

"St. Michael's! Mr. Stark told you--why, that's impossible! Youmisunderstood him. He told you to row me to the Mission. I'm going toFather Barnum's house. "

"No, you're not, and I didn't misunderstand him. He wants to get yououtside, all right, but I reckon you'd rather go as Mrs. Runnion thanas the sweetheart of Ben Stark. "

"Are you crazy?" the girl cried. "Mr. Stark kindly offered to help mereach the Father at his Mission. I'm nothing to him, and I'm certainlynot going to be anything to you. If I'd known you were going to row theboat, I should have stayed at home, because I detest you. "

"You'll get over that. "

"I'm not in the humor for jokes. "

He rested again on his oars, and said, with deliberation:

"Stark 'kindly offered' did he? Well, whenever Ben Stark 'kindly'offers anything, I'm in on the play. He's had his eye on you for thelast three months, and he wants you, but he slipped a cog when he gaveme the oars. You needn't be afraid, though, I'm going to do the squarething by you. We'll stop in at the Mission and be married, and thenwe'll see whether we want to go to St. Michael's or not, thoughpersonally I'm for going back to Flambeau. "

During the hours while he had waited for Necia to discover hisidentity, the man's mind had not been idle; he had determined to takewhat fortune tossed into his lap. Had she been the unknown, unnoticedhalf-breed of a month or two before, he would not have wasted thoughtupon priests or vows, but now that a strange fate had worked a changein her before the world, he accepted it. 

The girl's beauty, her indifference, the mistaken attitude of Starkurged him, and, strongest of all, he was drawn by his cupidity, for shewould be very rich, so the knowing ones said. Doubtless that was whyStark wanted her, and, being a man who acknowledged no fidelity to hiskind or his Creator, Runnion determined to outwit his principal, Doret, Burrell, and all the rest. It was a chance to win much at the risk ofnothing, and he was too good a gambler to let it pass. 

With his brusque declaration Necia realized her position--that she wasa weak, lonely girl, just come into womanhood, so cursed by good looksthat men wanted her, so stained by birth that they would not take herhonestly; realized that she was alone with a dissolute creature andbeyond help, and for the first time in her life she felt the meaning offear. 

She saw what a frail and helpless thing she was; nothing about her wasgreat save her soul, and that was immeasurably vexed and worried. Shehad just lived through a grief that had made her generous, and now shegained her first knowledge of the man-animal's gross selfishness. 

"You are absolutely daft, " she said. "You can't force me to marry you. "

"I ain't going to force you; you'll do it willingly. "

"I'll die first. I'll call the first man we see--I'll tell FatherBarnum, and he'll have you run out of the country--it would only take aword from me. "

"If you haven't changed your mind when we get to his place, I'll runthrough without stopping; but there isn't another priest between thereand St. Mike's, and by the time we get to the mouth of the river, Iguess you'll say yes to most anything. However, I'd rather marry you atHoly Cross if you'll consent, and I'm pretty sure you will--when youthink it over. "

"We won't discuss it. "

"You don't understand yet, " he continued, slowly. "What will people saywhen they know you ran away with me. "

"I'll tell them the truth. "

"Huh! I'm too well known. No man on the river would ever have you afterthat. "

"You--you--" Her voice was a-quiver with indignation and loathing, buther lips could not frame an epithet fit for him. He continued rowingfor some time, then said:

"Will you marry me?"

"No! If this thing is ever known, Poleon will kill you--or father. "

For a third time he rested on his oars. 

"Now that we've come to threats, let me talk. I offered to marry youand do the square thing, but if you don't want to, I'll pass up theformality and take you for my squaw, the same as your father tookAlluna. I guess you're no better than your mother, so your old mancan't say much under the circumstances, and if he don't object, Poleoncan't. Just remember, you're alone with me in the heart of awilderness, and you've got to make a choice quick, because I'm goingashore and make some breakfast as soon as it's light enough to choose alanding-place. If you agree to come quietly and go through with thisthing like a sensible girl, I'll do what's right, but if youdon't--then I'll do what's wrong, and maybe you won't be so damnedanxious to tell your friends about this trip, or spread your story upand down the river. Make up your mind before I land. "

The water gurgled at the bow again, and the row-locks squeaked. Anotherhour and then another passed in silence before the girl noted that sheno longer seemed to float through abysmal darkness, but that the rivershowed in muddy grayness just over the gunwale. She saw Runnion moreclearly, too, and made out his hateful outlines, though for all elseshe beheld they might have been miles out upon a placid sea, and soimperceptible was the laggard day's approach that she could not measurethe growing light. It was a desolate dawn, and showed no gloriousgleams of color. There was no rose-pink glow, no merging of a thousandtints, no final burst of gleaming gold; the night merely faded away, changing to a sickly pallor that grew to ashen gray, and then dissolvedthe low-hung, distorted shadows a quarter of a mile inland on eitherhand into a forbidding row of unbroken forest backed by plain, morass, and distant hills untipped by slanting rays. Overhead a bleak ruin ofclouds drifted; underneath the river ran, a bilious yellow. The wholecountry so far as the eye could range was unmarred by the hand of man, untracked save by the feet of the crafty forest people. 

She saw Runnion gazing over his shoulder in search of a shelving beachor bar, his profile showing more debased and mean than she had evernoticed it before. They rounded a bend where the left bank crumbledbefore the untiring teeth of the river, forming a bristlingchevaux-de-frise of leaning, fallen firs awash in the current. Theshort side of the curve, the one nearest them, protected a gravel barthat made down-stream to a dagger-like point, and towards this Runnionpropelled the skiff. The girl's heart sank and she felt her limbs growcold. 

The mind of Poleon Doret worked in straight lines. Moreover, his memorywas good. Stark's statement, which so upset Gale and the Lieutenant, had a somewhat different effect upon the Frenchman, for certain factshad been impressed upon his subconsciousness which did not entirelygibe with the gambler's remarks, and yet they were too dimly engravedto afford foundation for a definite theory. What he did know was this, that he doubted. Why? Because certain scraps of a disjointedconversation recurred to him, a few words which he had overheard inStark's saloon, something about a Peterborough canoe and a woman. Heknew every skiff that lay along the waterfront, and of a sudden hedecided to see if this one was where it had been at dusk; for therewere but two modes of egress from Flambeau, and there was but one canoeof this type. If Necia had gone up-river on the freighter, pursuit washopeless, for no boatman could make headway against the current; butif, on the other hand, that cedar craft was gone--He ran out of Stark'shouse and down to the river-bank, then leaped to the shingle beneath. It was just one chance, and if he was wrong, no matter; the otherswould leave on the next up-river steamer; whereas, if his suspicionproved a certainty, if Stark had lied to throw them off the track, andRunnion had taken her down-stream--well, Poleon wished no one to hinderhim, for he would travel light. 

The boat WAS gone! He searched the line backward, but it was not there, and his excitement grew now, likewise his haste. Still on the run, hestumbled up to the trading-post and around to the rear, where, bottomup, lay his own craft, the one he guarded jealously, a birch canoe, frail and treacherous for any but a man schooled in the ways of swiftwater and Indian tricks. He was very glad now that he had not told theothers of his suspicions; they might have claimed the right to go, andof that he would not be cheated. He swung the shell over his shoulders, then hurried to the bank and down the steep trail like some great, misshapen turtle. He laid it carefully in the whispering current, thenstripped himself with feverish haste, for the driving call of a hotpursuit was on him, and although it was the cold, raw hours of latenight, he whipped off his garments until he was bare to the middle. Heseized his paddle, stepped in, then knelt amidships and pushed away. The birch-bark answered him like a living thing, leaping and dancingbeneath the strokes which sprung the spruce blade and boiled the waterto a foam, while rippling, rising ridges stood out upon his back andarms as they rose and fell, stretched and bent and straightened. 

A half-luminous, opaque glow was over the waters, but the banks quicklydropped away, until there was nothing to guide him but the suck of thecurrent and the sight of the dim-set stars. His haste now becamesomething crying that lashed him fiercely, for he seemed to be standingstill, and so began to mutter at the crawling stream and to complain ofhis thews, which did not drive him fast enough, only the sound he madewas more like the whine of a hound in leash or a wolf that runs withhot nostrils close to the earth. 

Runnion drove his Peterborough towards the shore with powerful strokes, and ran its nose up on the gravel, rose, stretched himself, and draggedit farther out, then looked down at Necia. 

"Well, what is it, yes or no? Do you want me for a husband or for amaster?" She cowered in the stern, a pale, fearful creature, finallymurmuring:

"You--you must give me time. "

"Not another hour. Here's where you declare yourself; and remember, Idon't care which you choose, only you'd better be sensible. "

She cast her despairing eyes up and down the river, then at thewilderness on either shore; but it was as silent and unpeopled as if ithad been created that morning. She must have time; she would temporize, pretending to yield, and then betray him to the first comer; a promiseexacted under duress would not be binding. 

"I'll go quietly, " she said, in a faint voice. 

"I knew you'd see that I'm acting square. Come! Get the cramp out ofyourself while I make a pot of coffee. " He held out his hand to assisther, and she accepted it, but stumbled as she rose, for she had beencrouched in one position for several hours, and her limbs were stiff. He caught her and swung her ashore; then, instead of putting her feetto the ground, he pressed her to himself roughly and kissed her. Shegave a stifled cry and fought him off, but he laughed and held her thecloser. 

"Ain't I good for one kiss? Say, this is the deuce of an engagement. Come, now--"

"No, no, no!" she gasped, writhing like a wild thing; but he crushedhis lips to hers again and then let her go, whereupon she drew awayfrom him panting, dishevelled, her eyes wide and filled with horror. She scrubbed her lips with the back of her hand, as if to erase hismark, while he reached into the canoe and brought forth an axe, abundle of food, and a coffee-pot; then, still chuckling, he gathered afew sticks of driftwood and built a fire. She had a blind instinct toflee, and sought for a means of escape, but they were well out upon thebar that stretched a distance of three hundred feet to the wooded bank;on one side of the narrow spit was the scarcely moving, half-stagnantwater of a tiny bay or eddy, on the other, the swift, gliding currenttugging at the beached canoe, while the outer end of the gravelledridge dwindled down to nothing and disappeared into the river. At sightof the canoe a thought struck her, but her face must have shown somesign of it, for the man chanced to look at the moment, and, seeing herexpression, straightened himself, then gazed about searchingly. Withouta word he stepped to the boat, and, seizing it, dragged it entirely outupon the bar, where her strength would not be equal to shoving it offquickly, and, not content with this, he made the painter fast, thenwent back to his fire. The eagerness died out of her face, but aninstant later, when he turned to the clearer water of the eddy to fillthe coffee-pot, she seized her chance and sped up the bar towards thebank. The shingle under foot and her noisy skirts betrayed her, andwith an oath he followed. It was an unequal race, and he handled herwith rough, strong hands when he overtook her. 

"So! You lied to me! Well, I'm through with this foolishness. If you'llgo back on your word like this you'll 'bawl me out' before the priest, so I'll forget my promise, too, and you'll be glad of the chance tomarry me. "

"Let me go!" she panted. "I'll marry you. Yes, yes, I'll do it, onlydon't touch me now!"

He led her back to the fire, which had begun to crackle. She was soweak now that she sank upon the stones shivering. 

"That's right! Sit down and behave while I make you something hot todrink. You're all in. " After a time he continued, as he busied himselfabout his task: "Say, you ought to be glad to get me; I've got a lot ofmoney, or I will have, and once you're Mrs. Runnion, nobody'll everknow about this or think of you as a squaw. " He talked to her while hewaited for the water to boil, his assurance robbing her of hope, forshe saw he was stubborn and reckless, determined to override her willas well as to conquer her body, while under his creed, the creed of hiskind, a woman was made from the rib of man and for his service. Heconveyed it to her plainly. He ruled horses with a hard hand, he drovehis dog teams with a biting lash, and he mastered women with a similarlack of feeling or consideration. 

He was still talking when the girl sprang to her feet and sent a shrillcry out over the river, but instantly he was up and upon her, his handover her mouth, while she tore at it, screaming the name of PoleonDoret. He silenced her to a smothered, sobbing mumble, and turned tosee, far out on the bosom of the great soiled river, a man in a barkcanoe. The craft had just swung past the bend above, and was still along way off--so far away, in fact, that Necia's signal had not reachedit, for its occupant held unwaveringly to the swiftest channel, hisbody rising and falling in the smooth, unending rhythm of amaster-boatman tinder great haste, his arms up-flung now and then, asthe paddle glinted and flashed across to the opposite side. 

Runnion glanced about hurriedly, then cursed as he saw no place ofconcealment. The Peterborough stood out upon the bar conspicuously, asdid he and the girl; but the chance remained that this man, whoever hewas, would pass by, for his speed was great, the river a mile in width, and the bend sharp. Necia had cried Poleon's name, but her companionsaw no resemblance to the Frenchman in this strange-looking voyager; infact, he could not quite make out what was peculiar about theman--perhaps his eyes were not as sharp as hers--and then he saw thatthe boatman was naked to the waist. By now he was drawing opposite themwith the speed of a hound. The girl, gagged and held by her captor'shands, struggled and moaned despairingly, and, crouching back of theboat, they might have escaped discovery in the gray morning light hadit not been for the telltale fire--a tiny, crackling blaze no largerthan a man's hat. It betrayed them. The dancing craft upon which theireyes were fixed whipped about, almost leaping from the water at onestroke, then came towards them, now nothing but a narrow thing, halfagain the width of a man's body. The current carried it down abreast ofthem, then past, and Runnion rose, releasing the girl, who cried outwith all her might to the boatman. He made no sound in reply, but drovehis canoe shoreward with quicker strokes. It was evident he wouldeffect his landing near the lower end of the spit, for now he waswithin hearing distance, and driving closer every instant. 

Necia heard the gambler call:

"Sheer off, Doret! You can't land here!"

She saw a gun in Runnion's hand, and a terrible, sickening fear sweptover her, for he was slowly walking down the spit, keeping abreast ofthe canoe as it drifted. She could see exactly what would happen: noman could disembark against the will of an armed marksman, and ifPoleon slackened his stroke, or stopped it to exchange his paddle for aweapon, the current would carry him past; in addition, he would have tofire from a rocking paper shell harried by a boiling current, whereasthe other man stood flat upon his feet. 

"Keep away or I'll fire!" threatened Runnion again; and she screamed, "Don't try it, Poleon, he'll kill you!"

At her words Runnion raised his weapon and fired. She heard the woodsbehind reverberate with the echoes like a sounding-board, saw the whitespurt of smoke and the skitter of the bullet as it went wide. It was along shot, and had been fired as a final warning; but Doret made nooutcry, nor did he cease coming; instead, his paddle clove the waterwith the same steady strokes that took every ounce of effort in hisbody. Runnion threw open his gun and replaced the spent shell. On camethe careening, crazy craft in a sidewise drift, and with it the girlsaw coming a terrible tragedy. She started to run down the gravelledridge behind her enemy, not realizing the value or moment of heraction, nor knowing clearly what she would do; but as she drew near shesaw Runnion raise his gun again, and, without thought of her ownsafety, threw herself upon him Again his shot went wide as he strove tohurl her off, but his former taste of her strength was nothing to this, now that she fought for Poleon's life. Runnion snarled angrily andthrust her away, for he had waited till the canoe was close. 

"Let me go, you devil!" he cried, and aimed again; but again she ran athim. This time, however, she did not pit her strength against his, butpaused, and as he undertook to fire she thrust at his elbow, thendodged out of his way. Her blow was crafty and well-timed, and his shotwent wild. Again he took aim, and again she destroyed it with a touchand danced out of his reach. She was nimble and light, and quickenednow by a cold calculation of all that depended upon her. 

Three times in all she thwarted Runnion, while the canoe drove closerevery instant. On the fourth, as she dashed at him, he struck to be ridof her, cursing wickedly--struck as he would have struck at a man. Silently she crumpled up and fell, a pitiful, draggled, awkward littlefigure sprawled upon the rocks; but the delay proved fatal to him, for, though the canoe was close against the bank, and the huge man in itseemed to offer a mark too plain to be missed, he was too close topermit careful aim. Runnion heard him giving utterance to a strange, feral, whining sound, as if he were crying like a fighting boy; then, as the gambler raised his arm, the Canadian lifted himself up on thebottom of the canoe until he stood stretched to his full height, andleaped. As Runnion fired he sprang out and was into the water to hisknees, his backward kick whirling the craft from underneath him outinto the current, where the river seized it. He had risen and jumpedall in one moment, launching himself at the shore like a panther. Thegun roared again, but Poleon came up and on with the rush of the great, brown grizzly that no missile can stop. Runnion's weapon blazed in hisface, but he neither felt nor heeded it, for his bare hands were uponhis quarry, the impact of his body hurling the other from his feet, andneither of them knew whether any or all of the last bullets had takeneffect. Poleon had come like an arrow, straight for his mark theinstant he glimpsed it, an insensate, unreasoning, raging thing that noweight of lead nor length of blade could stop. In his haste he had leftFlambeau without weapon of any kind, for in his mind such things weresuperfluous, and he had never fought with any but those God gave him, nor found any living thing that his hands could not master. Therefore, he had rushed headlong against this armed and waiting man, reaching forhim ever closer and closer till the burning powder stung his eyes. Theygrappled and fought, alone and unseen, and yet it was no fight, forRunnion, though a vigorous, heavy-muscled man, was beaten down, smothered, and crushed beneath the onslaught of this great nakedfellow, who all the time sobbed and whined and mewed in a panting fury. 

They swung half across the spit to the farther side, where they fell ina fantastic convulsion, slipping and sliding and rolling among therocks that smote and gouged and bruised them. The gambler fought forhis life against the naked flesh of the other, against the distortedface that snapped and bit like the muzzle of a wolf, while all the timehe heard that fearful, inarticulate note of blood-hunger at his ear. The Canadian's clenched hands crushed whatever they fell upon as ifmailed with metal; the fingers were like tearing tongs that could notbe loosed. It was a frightful combat, hideous from its inequality, likethe battle of a man against a maddened beast whose teeth tore and whoseclaws ripped, whose every move was irresistible. And so it was overshortly. 

Poleon rose and ran to the fallen girl, leaving behind him a huddledand twisted likeness of a man. He picked her up tenderly, moaning andcrooning; but as her limp head lolled back, throwing her pale, blindfeatures up to the heavens, he began to cry, this time like a woman. Tears fell from his eyes, burning tears, the agony of which seared hissoul. He laid her carefully beside the water's edge, and, holding herhead and shoulders in the crook of his left arm, he wet his right handand bathed her face, crouching over her, half nude, dripping with thesweat of his great labors, a tender, palpitating figure of bronzedmuscle and sinew, with all his fury and hate replaced by apprehensionand pity. The short moments that he worked with her were ages to him, but she revived beneath his ministrations, and her first frightenedlook of consciousness was changed to a melting smile. 

"W-what happened, Poleon?" she said. "I was afraid!"

He stood up to his full height, shaking, and weak as the water thatdripped from him, the very bones in him dissolved. For the first timehe uttered words. 

"T'ank God, ba gosh!" and ran his hand up over his wet face. 

"Where is he?" She started to her knees affrightedly; then, seeing thetwisted, sprawling figure beyond, began to shudder. "He--he's dead?"

"I don' know, " said Poleon, carelessly. "You feel it purty good now, eh, w'at?"

"Yes--I--he struck me!" The remembrance of what had occurred surgedover her, and she buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Poleon! Poleon! Hewas a dreadful man. "

"He don' trouble you no more. "

"He tried--he--Ugh! I--I'm glad you did it!" She broke down, tremblingat her escape, until her selfishness smote her, and she was up andbeside him on the instant. "Are you hurt? Oh, I never thought of that. You must be wounded!"

The Frenchman felt himself over, and looked down at his limbs for thefirst time, "No! I guess not, " he said, at which Necia noticed hismeagre attire, and simultaneously he became conscious of it. He fellaway a pace, casting his eyes over the river for his canoe, which wasnow a speck in the distance. 

"Ba gosh! I'm hell of a t'ing for lookin' at, " he said. "I'm paddlehard--dat's w'y. Sacré! how I sweat!" He hitched nervously at the bandof his overalls, while Necia answered:

"That's all right, Poleon. " Then, without warning, her face froze withmingled repulsion and wonder. "Look! Look!" she whispered, pointingpast him. 

Runnion was moving slowly, crawling painfully into a sitting posture, uplifting a terribly mutilated face, dazed and half conscious, gropingfor possession of his wits. He saw them, and grimaced frightfully, cowering and cringing. 

Poleon felt the girl's hand upon his arm, and heard her crying in ahard, sharp voice:

"He needs killing! Put him away!"

He stared down at his gentle Necia, and saw the loathing in her faceand the look of strange ferocity as she met his eyes boldly. 

"You don't know what he--what he did, " she said, through her shutteeth. "He--" But the man waited to hear no more. 

Runnion saw him coming, and scrambled frantically to all-fours, thengot on his feet and staggered down the bar. As Poleon overtook him, hecried out piteously, a shrill scream of terror, and, falling to hisknees, grovelled and debased himself like a foul cripple at fear of thelash. His agony dispelled the savage taint of Alluna's aboriginaltraining in Necia, and the pure white blood of her ancestors cried out:

"Poleon, Poleon! Not that!" She hurried after him to where he pausedabove the wretch waiting for her. "You mustn't!" she said. "That wouldbe murder, and--and--it's all over now. "

The Frenchman looked at her wonderingly, not comprehending this suddenleniency. 

"Let him alone; you've nearly killed him; that's enough. " WhereatRunnion, broken in body and spirit, began to beg for his life. 

"Wat's dat you say jus' now?" Doret asked the girl. "Was dat de truthfor sure w'at you speak?"

"Yes, but you've done your work. Don't touch him again. "

He hesitated, and Runnion, quick to observe it, added his entreaty tohers. 

"I'm beaten, Doret. You broke me to pieces. I need help--I--I'm hurt. "

"W'at you 'spec' I do wit' 'im?" the Canadian asked, and she answered:

"I suppose we'll have to take him where he can get assistance. "

"Dat skiff ain' carry all free of us. "

"I'll stay here, " groaned the frightened man. "I'll wait for a steamerto pick me up, but for God's sake don't touch me again!"

Poleon looked him over carefully, and made up his mind that the man wasmore injured in spirit than in body, for, outside of his batteredmuscles, he showed no fatal symptoms. Although the voyageur was slowerto anger than a child, a grudge never died in him, and his simple, self-taught creed knew no forgiveness for such men as Runnion, cherished no mercy for preying men or beasts. He glanced towards thewooded shores a stone's-throw above, then back at the coward he hadbeaten and whose life was forfeit under the code. There was a queerlight in his eyes. 

"Leave him here, Poleon. We'll go away, you and I, in the canoe, andthe first boat will pick him up. Come. " Necia tugged at his wrist forfear she might not prevail; but he was bent on brushing away a handfulof hungry mosquitoes which, warmed by the growing day, had ventured outon the river. His face became wrinkled and set. 

"Bien!" he grunted. "We lef 'im here, biccause dere ain't 'nough roomin de batteau, eh? All right! Dat's good t'ing; but he's seeck man, somebbe I feex it him nice place for stop till dem boats come. "

"Yes, yes! Leave me here. I'll make it through all right, " beggedRunnion. 

"Better you camp yonder on de point, w'ere you can see dose steamboatw'en she comes 'roun' de ben'. Dis is bad place. " He indicated thethicket, a quarter of a mile above which ran out almost to the cutbank. "Come! I help you get feex. "

Runnion shrank from his proffered assistance half fearfully, but, reassured, allowed the Frenchman to help him towards the shore. 

"We tell it de first boat 'bout you, an' dey pick you up. You waithere, Necia. "

The girl watched her rescuer guide Runnion up to the level of thewoods, then disappear with him in the firs, and was relieved to see thetwo emerge upon the river-bank again farther on, for she had feared foran instant that Poleon might forget. There seemed to be no danger, however, for he was crashing through the brush in advance of the other, who followed laboriously. Once Runnion gained the high point, he wouldbe able to command a view of both reaches of the river, and could makesignals to attract the first steamboat that chanced to come along. Without doubt a craft of some sort would pass from one direction or theother by to-morrow at latest, or, if not, she and Poleon could sendback succor to him from the first habitation they encountered. The twomen disappeared again, and her fears had begun to prey on her a secondtime when she beheld the big Canadian returning. He was hurrying a bit, apparently to be rid of the mosquitoes that swarmed about him; and shemarked that, in addition to whipping himself with a handful ofblueberry bushes, he wore Runnion's coat to protect his shoulders. 

"Woof! Dose skeeter bug is hongry, " he cried. "Let's we pass on deriver queeck. "

"You didn't touch him again?"

"No, no. I'm t'rough wit' 'im. "

She was only too eager to be away from the spot, and an instant laterthey were afloat in the Peterborough. 

"Dis nice batteau, " Poleon remarked, critically. "I mak' it go fas', "and began to row swiftly, seeking the breeze of the open river in whichto shake off the horde of stinging pests that had risen with the sun. "I come 'way queeck wit'out t'inkin' 'bout gun or skeeter net ornot'in'. Runnion she's len' me dis coat, so mebbe I don' look so worselak' I do jus' now, eh?"

"How did you leave him? Is he badly injured?"

"No, I bus' it up on de face an' de rib, but she's feelin' good now. Yes. I'm leave 'im nice place for stop an' wait on desteamboat--plaintee spruce bough for set on. "

She began to shudder again, and, sensitive to her every motion, heasked, solicitously, if she were sick, but she shook her head. 

"I--I--was thinking what--supposing you hadn't come? Oh, Poleon! youdon't know what you saved me from. " She leaned forward and laid a tiny, grateful hand on the huge brown paw that rested on his oar. "I wonderif I can ever forget?"

She noted that they were running with the current, and inquired:

"Where are we going?"

"Wal, I can't pull dis boat 'gainst dat current, so I guess we pass ontill I fin' my shirt, den bimebye we pick it up some steamboat an' gohome. "

Five miles below his quick eye detected his half-submerged "bark"lodged beneath some overhanging firs which, from the water's action, had fallen forward into the stream, and by rare good-fortune it wasstill upright, although awash. He towed it to the next sand-bar, wherehe wrung out and donned his shirt, then tipped the water from thesmaller craft, and, making it fast astern of the Peterborough, set outagain. Towards noon they came in sight of a little stern-wheeled craftthat puffed and pattered manfully against the sweeping current, hidingbehind the points and bars and following the slackest water. 

"It's the Mission, boat!" cried Necia. "It's the Mission boat! FatherBarnum will be aboard. "

She waved her arms madly and mingled her voice with Poleon's until ablack-robed figure appeared beside the pilot-house. 

"Father Barnum!" she screamed, and, recognizing her, he signalled back. 

Soon they were alongside, and a pair of Siwash deckhands lifted Neciaaboard, Doret following after, the painter of the Peterborough in histeeth. He dragged both canoes out of the boiling tide, and laid thembottom up on the forward deck, then climbed the narrow little stairs tofind Necia in the arms of a benignant, white-haired priest, thebest-beloved man on the Yukon, who broke away from the girl to greetthe Frenchman, his kind face alight with astonishment. 

"What is all this I hear? Slowly, Doret, slowly! My little girl istalking too furiously for these poor old wits to follow. I can'tunderstand; I am amazed. What is this tale?"

Together they told him, while his blue eyes now opened wide withwonder, now grew soft with pity, then blazed with indignation. Whenthey had finished he laid his hand upon Doret's shoulder. 

"My son, I thank God for your good body and your clean heart. You savedour Necia, and you will be rewarded. As to this--this--man Runnion, wemust find him, and he must be sent out of the country; this new, cleanland of ours is no place for such as he. You will be our pilot, Poleon, and guide us to the spot. "

It required some pressure to persuade the Frenchman, but at last heconsented; and as the afternoon drew to a close the little steamboatcame squattering and wheezing up to the bar where Runnion had built hisfire that morning, and a long, shrill blast summoned him from the pointabove. When he did not appear the priest took Poleon and hisround-faced, silent crew of two and went up the bank, but they found nosign of the crippled man, only a few rags, a trampled patch of brush atthe forest's edge, and--that was all. The springy moss showed no trail;the thicket gave no answer to their cries, although they spent an hourin a scattered search and sounded the steamboat's whistle again andagain. 

"He's try for walk it back to camp, " said Doret. "Mebbe he ain' hurt somuch, after all. "

"You must be right, " said Father Barnum. "We will keep the steamerclose to this shore, so that he can hail us when we overtake him. "

And so they resumed their toilsome trip; but mile after mile fellbehind them, and still no voice came from the woods, no figure hailedthem. Doret, inscrutable and silent, lounged against the pilot-housesmoking innumerable cigarettes, which he rolled from squares ofnewspaper, his keen eyes apparently scanning every foot of their slowway; but when night fell, at last, and the bank faded from sight, hetossed the last butt overboard, smiled grimly into the darkness, andwent below. 

CHAPTER XVIII

RUNNION FINDS THE SINGING PEOPLE

"No Creek" Lee came into the trading-post on the following morning, andfound Gale attending store as if nothing unusual had occurred. 

"Say! What's this about you and Stark? I hear you had a horriblerun-in, and that you split him up the back like a quail. "

"We had a row, " admitted the trader. "It's been a long time workingout, and last night it came to a head. "

"Lord-ee! And to think of Ben Stark's bein' licked! Why, the wholecamp's talkin' about it! They say he emptied two six-shooters at you, but you kept a-comin', and when you did get to him you just carved yourinitials on him like he was a bass-wood tree. Say, John, he's a goner, sure. "

"Do you mean he's--passing out?"

"Oh no! I reckon he'll get well, from what I hear, though he won't letnobody come near him except old Doc; but he's lost a battle, and thatends him. Don't you savvy? Whenever a killer quits second best, itbreaks his hoodoo. Why, there's been men laying for him these twentyyears, from here to the Rio Grande, and every feller he ever bestedwill hear of this and begin to grease his holster; then the firstshave-tail desperado that meets him will spit in his eye, just to makea name for himself. No, sir! He's a spent shell. He's got to fight allhis battles over again, and this time the other feller will open theball. Oh, I've seen it happen before. You killed him last night, justas sure as if you'd hung up his hide to dry, and he knows it. "

"I'm a peaceable man, " said Gale, on the defensive. "I had to do it. "

"I know! I know! There was witnesses--this dress-maker at the fort seenit, so I hear. "

The other acquiesced silently. 

"Well! Well! Ben Stark licked! I can't get over that. It must 'a' beensomethin' powerful strong to make you do it, John. " It was as close toa question as the miner dared come, although he was avid withcuriosity, and, like the entire town, was in a fret to know what layback of this midnight encounter, concerning which the most exaggeratedrumors were rife. These stories grew the more grotesque and ridiculousthe longer the truth remained hidden, for Stark could not be seen, andneither Gale nor Burrell would speak. All that the people knew was thatone lay wounded to death behind the dumb walls of his cabin, and thatthe other had brought him down. When the old man vouchsafed no morethan a nod to his question, the prospector inquired:

"Where's Poleon? I've got news for him from the creek. "

"I don't know; he's gone. "

"Back soon?"

"I don't know. Why?"

"His laymen have give up. They've cross-cut his ground and the payain't there, so they've quit work for good. "

"He drew a blank, eh?"

"Worse'n that--three of them. The creek is spotteder than a leopard. Runnion's men, for instance, are into it bigger than a house, whilePoleon's people can't raise a color. I call it tough luck--yes, worse'ntough: it's hard-biled and pickled. To them as has shall it be given, and to them as hasn't shall be took even what they 'ain't got, as thepoet says. Look at Necia! She'll be richer than a cream puff. GuessI'll step around and see her. "

"She's gone, " said the trader, wearily, turning his haggard face fromthe prospector. 

"Gone! Where?"

"Up-river with Runnion. They got her away from me last night. "

"Sufferin' snakes!" ejaculated Lee. "So that's why!" Then he added, simply, "Let's go and git her, John. "

The trader looked at him queerly. 

"Maybe I won't--on the first boat! I'm eating my heart out hour by hourwaiting--waiting--waiting for some kind of a craft to come, and so isBurrell. "

"What's he got to do with it?" said the one-eyed miner, jealously. "Can't you and me bring her back?"

"He'll marry her! God, won't there never be a boat!"

For the hundredth time that morning he went to the door of the post andstrained his eyes down-stream. 

"Well, well! Them two goin' to be married, " said Lee. "Stark licked, and Necia goin' to be married--all at once. I hate to see it, John; heain't good enough; she could 'a' done a heap better. There's a lot ofreg'lar men around here, and she could 'a' had her pick. Of course, always bein' broke like a dog myself, I 'ain't kept up my personalappearance like I'd ought, but I've got some new clothes now, and youwouldn't know me. I bought 'em off a tenderfoot with cold feet, butthey're the goods, and you'd see a big improvement in me. "

"He's a good man, " said Gale. "Better than you or me, and he's all tornup over this. I never saw a man act so. When he learned about it Ithought he'd go mad--he's haunted the river-bank ever since, ragingabout for some means of following her, and if I hadn't fairly held himhe'd have set out single-handed. "

"I'm still strong in the belief that Necia could have bettered her handby stayin' out awhile longer, " declared Lee, stubbornly; "but if shewants a soldier, why, we'll get one for her, only I'd rather have gother somethin' real good and pronounced in the military line--like anagitant-gen'ral or a walkin' delegate. "

While they were talking Burrell came in, and "No Creek" saw that thenight had affected the youth even more than it had Gale, or at least heshowed the marks more plainly, for his face was drawn, his eyes weresunken as if from hunger, and his whole body seemed to have fallen awaytill his uniform hung upon him loose, unkempt, and careless. It was asif hope had been a thing of avoirdupois, and when taken away had causeda shrinkage. He had interrogated Stark again after getting the doctor, but the man had only cursed at him, declaring that his daughter was outof reach, where he would take care to keep her, and torturing the loveranew by linking Runnion's name with the girl's till the young man fledfrom the sound of the monster's voice back to his own quarters. Hestrove to keep the image of Runnion out of his mind, for his reasoncould not endure it. At such times he cried aloud, cursing in a waythat was utterly strange to a God-fearing man, only to break off andrush to the other extreme, praying blindly, beseechingly, for thegirl's safe-keeping. At intervals an unholy impulse almost drove him toStark's cabin to finish the work Gale had begun, to do it coldly as amatter of justice, for was he not the one who had put Necia into thehands of that ruffian? Greeting Lee mechanically, he said to Gale:

"I can't wait much longer, " and sank wearily into a seat. Almost thenext instant he was on his feet again, saying to the trader, as he hadsaid it a score of times already: "Runnion comes to me, Gale! Youunderstand he's mine, don't you?"

The old man nodded. "Yes! You can take him. "

"Well, who do _I_ git?" asked Lee. 

"You can't come along, " the trader said. "We may have to follow thehound clean to the States. Think of your mine--"

"To hell with the mine!" exploded the shaggy prospector. "I reckon I'mkind of a daddy to your gal, and I'm goin' to be in at the finish. "

Back and forth paced the Lieutenant restlessly, pausing every now andthen to peer down the river. Suddenly he uttered a cry, and with abound Gale was beside him, Lee at his shoulder. 

"Look! Over the point! Down yonder! I saw smoke!"

The three stared at the distant forest fringe that masked the bend ofthe river until their eyes ached, and the dark-green grew black andwavered indistinctly. 

"You're tired, my boy, " said Gale. 

"Wait!"

 They obeyed, and finally over the tree-tops saw a faint streamer ofblack. 

"It is! It is!" cried the soldier. "I'm going for my war bag. " Andbefore the steamboat had hove into sight he was back with his scantybundle of baggage, behaving like one daft, talking and laughing andrunning here and there. Lee watched him closely, then went behind thebar and poured out a stiff glass of whiskey, which he made Burrelldrink. To Gale he whispered, a moment later:

"Keep your eye on him, John--he'll go mad at this rate. "

They waited, it seemed interminably, until at last a white hull slowlyrounded the point, then shaped a course across the current towards theother bank, where the water was less swift. As it came fully intosight, Gale swore aloud in despair:

"It's the Mission boat!"

"Well, what of that?" said Burrell. "We'll hire it--buy it--take it!"

"It's no use; she ain't got but three dog-power to her engines, " Leeexplained. "She's a down-river boat--has to run with the current tomove. "

"We can't use her, " Gale gave in, reluctantly. "She'd only lose timefor us. We've got to wait for one of the A. C. Boats. "

"Wait!" cried Burrell. "Good God! we've done nothing but wait, WAIT, _WAIT_! Let's do something!"

"You go back yonder and set down, " commanded Lee. "We'll have a boatbefore long. "

The arrival of the tiny Mission steamer was never of sufficientimportance to draw a crowd to the riverbank, so the impatient men atthe post relaxed interest in her as she came creeping up abreast of thetown. It was little Johnny Gale who first saw Necia and Poleon onboard, for he had recognized Father Barnum's craft at a distance, andstationed himself at the bank hand-in-hand with Molly to bid the good, kind old man welcome. 

The men inside the house did not hear the boy crying Necia's name, forhis voice was small, and they had gone to the rear of the store. 

"Understand! You leave Runnion to me, " Burrell was saying. "No manshall lay hands on him except me--" His voice trailed away; he roseslowly to his feet, a strange light on his face. The others turned tosee what sight had drawn his eyes. In the opening, all splendid withthe golden sunlight, stood Necia and Poleon Doret, who had her by thehand--and she was smiling!

Gale uttered a great cry and went to meet them, but the soldier couldmove nothing save his lips, and stood dazed and disbelieving. He sawthem dimly coming towards him, and heard Poleon's voice as if at agreat distance, saw that the Frenchman's eyes were upon him, and thathis words were directed to him. 

"I bring her back to you, M'sieu'!"

Doret laid Necia's hand in that of her lover, and Burrell saw hersmiling shyly up at him. Something gripped him chokingly, and he couldutter no sound. There was nothing to say-she was here, safe, smiling, that was all. And the girl, beholding the glory in his eyes, understood. 

Gale caught her away from him then, and buried her in his arms. 

A woman came running into the store, and, seeing the group, paused atthe door--a shapeless, silent, shawled figure in silhouette against theday. The trader brought the girl to her foster-mother, who began totalk in her own tongue with a rapidity none of them had ever heardbefore, her voice as tender as some wild bird's song; then the twowomen went away together around the store into the house. Poleon hadtold Necia all the amazing story that had come to him that direfulnight, all that he had overheard, all that he knew, and much that heguessed. 

The priest came into the store shortly, and the men fell upon him forinformation, for nothing was to be gained from Poleon, who seemedstrangely fagged and weary, and who had said but little. 

"Yes, yes, yes!" laughed Father Barnum. "I'll tell you all I know, ofcourse, but first I must meet Lieutenant Burrell and take him by thehand. "

The story did not lose in his telling, particularly when he came todescribe the fight on the gravel bar which no man had seen, and ofwhich Poleon had told him little; but the good priest was of a militantturn, and his blue eyes glittered and flashed like an old crusader's. 

"It was a wondrous combat, " he declared, with all the spirit of aspectator, "for Poleon advanced bare-handed and beat him down even asthe man fired into his face. It is due to the goodness and mercy of Godthat he was spared a single wound from this desperado--a miraclevouchsafed because of his clean heart and his righteous cause. "

"But where is Runnion?" broke in Burrell. 

"Nursing his injuries at some wood-cutter's camp, no doubt; but God bepraised for that double spirit of generosity and forgiveness whichprompted our Poleon to spare the wretch. No finer thing have I known inall my life, Doret, even though you have ever been an ungodly fellow. "

The Frenchman moved uneasily. 

"Wal, I don' know; he ain' fight so dam' hard. "

"You couldn't find no trace of him?" said Lee. 

"No trace whatever, " Father Barnum replied; "but he will surely reachsome place of refuge where we can pick him up, for the days are stillmild and the woods full of berries, and, as you know, the streamsoverflow with salmon, which he can kill with a stick. Why, a man mightlive a fortnight without inconvenience!"

"I'll be on the lookout for him, " said the Lieutenant, grimly. "To-night I'll send Thomas and a couple of men down the river. "

When the voluble old priest had at last exhausted his narrative herequested of Burrell the privilege of a few words, and drew him apartfrom the others. His face was shrewdly wrinkled and warm withunderstanding. 

"I had a long conversation with my little girl, for she is like adaughter to me, and I discovered the depth of her love for you. Do youthink you are worthy of her?"

"No. "

"Do you love her as much as you should?"

"As much as I can. They don't make words or numbers big enough to tellyou how dear she is to me. "

"Then why delay? To-morrow I leave again, and one never knows what aday may bring forth. "

"But Stark?" the young man cried. "He's her father, you know; he's likea madman, and she's still under age. "

"I know very little of law outside of the Church, " the Father observed, "but, as I understand it, if she marries before he forbids her, the lawwill hold him powerless. Now, he has never made himself known to her, he has never forbidden her anything; and although my conclusion may notbe correct, I believe it is, and you have a chance if you make haste. At your age, my boy, I never needed a spur. "

"A spur? Good Lord! I'm from Kentucky. "

"Once she is yours before God, your hold will be stronger in the eyesof men. If I am wrong, and he takes her from you--well, may some otherpriest re-wed you two--I sha'n't!"

"Don't worry, " laughed Burrell, ablaze at the thought. "You're the onlypreacher who'll kiss my bride, for I'm a jealous man, and all theStarks and all the fathers in the world won't get her away from me. Doyou think she'll do it?"

"A woman in love will do anything. "

Burrell seized the little man by the hand. "If I had known more law youneedn't have given me this hint. "

"I must go now to this Stark, " said the Father; "he may need me. Butfirst I shall talk with Necia. Poor child, she is in a difficultposition, standing between the love of John Gale and the loyalty sheowes her father. I--I fear I cannot counsel her as well as I ought, forI am very weak and human. You had better come with me; perhaps the pleaof a lover may have more weight than the voice of reason. " As theystarted towards the house, he continued, energetically: "Young man, I'mbeginning to live once more. Do you know, sometimes I think I was notdesigned for this vocation, and, just between you and me, there was aday when--" He paused and coughed a trifle, then said, sharply, "Well, what are you waiting for?"

Together they went into the trader's house. 

Back in the store there was silence after the priest and the soldierwent out, which Gale broke at last:

"This forgiveness talk is all right, I suppose--but _I_ WANT RUNNION!"

"We'll git him, too, " growled Lee, at which Poleon uttered a curtexclamation:

"No!"

"Why not?" said the miner. 

"Wal, " the Canadian drawled, slowly, then paused to light the cigarettehe had rolled in a bit of wrapping-paper, inhaled the smoke deeply tothe bottom of his lungs, held it there a moment, and blew it outthrough mouth and nostrils before adding, "you'll jus' be wastin' tam'!"

Gale looked up from beneath his thatch of brow, and asked, quietly:

"Why?"

"You 'member--story I tol' you wan day, two, t'ree mont' ago, " Poleonremarked, with apparent evasion, "'bout Johnny Platt w'at I ketch on dePorcupine all et up by skeeter-bugs?"

"I do, " answered Gale. 

"Wal, "--he met their eyes squarely, then drew another long breath fromhis cigarette--"I'm jus' hopin' nobody don' pick it up dis Runnionfeller de same way. Mebbe dey fin' hees han's tie' behin' 'im wit'piece of hees shirt-"

"Good God!" cried the trader, starting to his feet. "You--you--"

"--of course, I'm jus' s'posin'. He was feel purty good w'en I lef'. Hewas feel so good I tak' hees coat for keepin' off dem bugs from me, biccause I lef it my own shirt on de canoe. He's nice feller dat way;he give up easy. Ba gosh! I never see worse place for skeeters!"

Gale fell silent, and "No Creek" Lee began to swear in little, useless, ineffective oaths, which were but two ways of showing similar emotions. Then the former stepped up and laid a big hand upon Poleon's shoulder. 

"That saves us quite a trip, " he said, but "No Creek" Lee continued toswear softly. 

It seemed that Poleon's wish was to be gratified, for no news of themissing man came through in the days that followed. Only at a fishingvillage far down the river, where a few native families had stakedtheir nets and weirs for salmon, a hunter told a strange tale to hisbrothers--a tale of the white man's idiosyncrasies. In sooth, they werea strange people, he observed, surpassing wise in many things, yetignorant and childish in all others, else why should a half-naked mango wandering idly through the thickets holding a knotted rag behind hisback, and that when the glades were dense and the moss-chinks filledwith the singing people who lived for blood? The elders of the villagenodded their heads sagely, and commended the hunter for holding alooffrom the inert body, for the foolishness of this man was past belief, and--well, his people were swift and cruel in their vengeance, andsometimes doubted an Indian's word, wherefore it were best to pay noheed to their ways and say nothing. But they continued to wonder why. 

Father Barnum found the three still talking in the store when he hadfinished an hour's counsel with Necia, so came straight to the point. It was work that delighted his soul, for he loved the girl, and hadformed a strong admiration for Burrell. Two of them took hisannouncement quietly, the other cried out strenuous objections. It wasthe one-eyed miner. 

"Right away! Not on your life! It's too onexpected. You've got to hold'em apart for an hour, anyhow, till I get dressed. " He slid down fromhis seat upon the counter. "What do you reckon I got all them clothesfor?"

"Come as you are, " urged the Father, but Lee fought his pointdesperately. 

"I'll bust it up if you don't gimme time. What's an hour or two whenthey've got a life sentence comin' to 'em. Dammit, you jest ought tosee them clothes!" And by very force of his vociferations he succeededin exacting the promise of a brief stay in the proceedings before hebolted out, the rags of his yellow mackinaw flapping excitedly. 

The priest returned to Necia, leaving the trader and Poleon alone. 

"I s'pose it's best, " said the former. 

"Yes!"

"Beats the deuce, though, how things work out, don't it?"

"I'm glad for see dis day, " said the Frenchman. "He's good man, an' heain' never goin' to hurt her none. " He paused. "Dere's jus' wan t'ing Iwant for ask it of you, John--you 'member dat day we stop on de birchgrove, an' you spik 'bout her an' tol' me dose story 'bout her moder?Wal, I was dreamin' dat tam', so I'm goin' ask it you now don' nevertell her w'at I said. "

"Doesn't she know, my boy?"

"No; I ain' never spoke 'bout love. She t'inks I'm broder wit' her, an'--dat's w'at I am, ba Gar!" He could not hold his voice even--itbroke with him; but he avoided the old man's gaze. Gale took him by theshoulders. 

"There ain't nothing so cruel in the world as a gentle woman, " said he;"but she wouldn't hurt you for all the world, Poleon; only the blaze ofthis other thing has blinded her. She can't see nothing for the lightof this new love of hers. "

"I know! Dat's w'y--nobody onderstan's but you an' me--"

Gale looked out through the open door, past the sun-lit river whichcame from a land of mystery and vanished into a valley offorgetfulness, past the forest and the hills, in his deep-set eyes thelight of a wondrous love that had lived with him these many wearyyears, and said:

"Nobody else CAN understand but me--I know how it is. I had even aharder thing to bear, for you'll know she's happy at least, while I--"His voice trembled, but, after a pause, he continued: "They neither ofthem understand what you've done for them, for it was you that broughther back; but some time they'll learn how great their debt is and thankyou. It'll take them years and years, however, and when they do they'lltell their babes of you, Poleon, so that your name will never die. Iloved her mother, but I don't think I could have done what you did. "

"She's purty hard t'ing, for sure, but I ain' t'ink 'bout Poleon Doretnone w'en I'm doin' it. No, I'm t'ink 'bout her all de tarn'. She'sli'l' gal, an' I'm beeg, strong feller w'at don' matter much an' w'atain' know much--'cept singin', an' lovin' her. I'm see for sure now datI ain' fit for her--I'm beeg, rough, fightin' feller w'at can't read, an' she's de beam of sunlight w'at blin' my eyes. "

"If I was a fool I'd say you'd forget in time, but I've lived my lifein the open, and I know you won't. I didn't. "

"I don' want to forget, " the brown man cried, hurriedly. "Le bon Dieuwould not let me forget--it's all I've got to keep wit' me w'en I'mlookin' for my 'New Countree. '"

"You're not goin' to look for that 'New Country' any more, " Galereplied. 

"To-day, " said the other, quietly. 

"No. "

"To-day! Dis affernoon! De blood in me is callin' for travel, John. I'mlivin' here on dis place five year dis fall, an' dat's long tarn' forvoyageur. I'm hongry for hear de axe in de woods an' de moose blow atsundown. I want for see the camp-fire t'rough de brush w'en I come fromtrap de fox an' dem little wild fellers. I want to smell smoke in dedusk. My work she's finish here, so I'm paddle away to-day, an' I'llfin' dat place dis tam', for sure--she's over dere. " He raised his longarm and pointed to the dim mountains that hid the valley of theKoyukuk, the valley that called good men and strong, year after year, and took them to itself, while in his face the trader saw the hunger ofhis race, the unslaked longing for the wilderness, the driving desirethat led them ever North and West, and, seeing it, he knew the manwould go. 

"Have you heard the news from the creeks?"

"No. "

"Your claims are blanks; your men have quit. "

The Frenchman shook his head sadly, then smiled--a wistful little smile. 

"Wal, it's better I lose dan you--or Necia; I ain' de lucky kin', dat'sall; an', affer all, w'at good to me is riche gol'-mine? I ain' got nouse for money--any more. "

They stood in the doorway together, two rugged, stalwart figures, different in blood and birth and every other thing, yet brotherswithal, whom the ebb and flow of the far places had thrown together andnow drew apart again. And they were sad, these two, for their love wasdeeper than comes to other people, and they knew this was farewell; sothey remained thus side by side, two dumb, sorrowful men, until theywere addressed by a person who hurried from the town. 

He came as an apparition bearing the voice of "No Creek" Lee, themining king, but in no other way showing sign or symbol of their oldfriend. Its style of face and curious outfit were utterly foreign tothe miner, for he had been bearded with the robust, unkempt growth ofmany years, tanned to a leathery hue, and garbed perennially in thehabit of a scarecrow, while this creature was shaved and clipped andcurried, and the clothes it stood up in were of many startling hues. Its face was scraped so clean of whiskers as to be a pallid white, butlack of adornment ended at this point and the rest was overladenwondrously, while from the centre of the half-brown, half-white facethe long, red nose of Lee ran out. Beside it rolled his lonesome eye, alive with excitement. 

He came up with a strut, illumining the landscape, and inquired:

"Well, how do I look?"

"I'm darned if I know, " said Gale. "But it's plumb unusual. "

"These here shoes leak, " said the spectacle, pulling up his baggytrousers to display his tan footgear, "because they was made for drygoin'--that's why they left the tops off; but they've got a nice, healthy color, ain't they? As a whole, it seems to me I'm sort ofnifty. " He revolved slowly before their admiring gaze, and while to oneversed in the manners of the Far East it would have been evident thatthe original owner of these clothes had come from somewhere beyond theSusquehanna, and had either been a football player or had travelledwith a glee club, to these three Northmen it seemed merely that herewas the modish echo of a distant civilization. 

"Wat's de matter on your face?" said Poleon. "You been fightin'?"

"I ain't shaved in a long time, and this here excitement has kind ofshattered my nerves. I didn't have no lookin'-glass, neither, in myshack, so I had to use a lard-can cover. Does it look bad?"

"Not to my way of thinkin', " said Gale, allaying "No Creek's" anxiety. "It's more desp'rate than bad, but it sort of adds expression. " Atwhich the miner's pride burst bounds. 

"I'll kindly ask you to note the shirt--ten dollars a copy, that's all!I got it from the little Jew down yonder. See them red spear-heads onthe boosum? 'Flower dee Lizzies, ' which means 'calla lilies' in French. Every one of 'em cost me four bits. On the level--how am I?"

"I never see no harness jus' lak it mese'f!" exclaimed Doret. "You lookgood 'nough for tin-horn gambler. Say, don' you wear no necktie wit'dem kin' of clothes?"

"No, sir! Not me. I'm a rude, rough miner, and I dress the part. Low-cut, blushin' shoes and straw hats I can stand for, likewisecollars--they go hand-in-hand with pay-streaks; but a necktie ain'tneither wore for warmth nor protection; it's a pomp and a vanity, andI'm a plain man without conceit. Now, let's proceed with the obsequies. "

It was a very simple, unpretentious ceremony that took place inside thelong, low house of logs, and yet it was a wonderful thing to the dark, shy maid who hearkened so breathlessly beside the man she had singledout--the clean-cut man in uniform, who stood so straight and tall, making response in a voice that had neither fear nor weakness in it. When they had done he turned and took her reverently in his arms andkissed her before them all; then she went and stood beside Gale and thered wife who was no wife, and said, simply:

"I am very happy. "

The old man stooped, and for the first time in her memory pressed hislips to hers, then went out into the sunlight, where he might be alonewith himself and the memory of that other Merridy, the woman who, tohim, was more than all the women of the world; the woman who, each dayand night, came to him, and with whom he had kept faith. The burden shehad laid upon him had been heavy, but he had borne it long anduncomplainingly; and now he was very glad, for he had kept his covenant. 

The first word of the wedding was borne by Father Barnum, who wentalone to the cabin where the girl's father lay, entering withtrepidation; for, in spite of the pleas of justice and humanity, thisstony-hearted, amply hated man had certain rights which he might chooseto enforce; hence, the good priest feared for the peace of his littlecharge, and approached the stricken man with apprehension. He was therea long time alone with Stark, and when he returned to Gale's house hewould answer no questions. 

"He is a strange man--a wonderfully strange man: unrepentant andwicked; but I can't tell you what he said. Have a little patience andyou will soon know. "

The mail boat, which had arrived an hour after the Mission boat, wasready to continue its run when, just as it blew a warning blast, downthe street of the camp came a procession so strange for this land thatmen stopped, eyed it curiously, and whispered among themselves. It wasa blanketed man upon a stretcher, carried by a doctor and a priest. Theface was muffled so that the idlers could not make it out; and whenthey inquired, they received no answer from the carriers, who pursuedtheir course impassively down the runway to the water's edge and up thegang-plank to the deck. When the boat had gone, and the last faintcough of its towering stacks had died away, Father Barnum turned to hisfriends:

"He has gone away, not for a day, but for all time. He is a strangeman, and some things he said I could not understand. At first I fearedgreatly, for when I told him what had occurred--of Necia's return andof her marriage--he became so enraged I thought he would burst open hiswounds and die from his very fury; but I talked a long, long time withhim, and gradually I came to know somewhat of his queer, disorderedsoul. He could not bring himself to face defeat in the eyes of men, orto see the knowledge of it in their bearing; therefore, he fled. Hetold me that he would be a hunted animal all his life; that the news ofhis whipping would travel ahead of him; and that his enemies wouldsearch him out to take advantage of him. This I could not grasp, but itseemed a big thing in his eyes--so big that he wept. He said the onlydecent thing he could or would do was to leave the daughter he hadnever known to that happiness he had never experienced, and wished meto tell her that she was very much like her mother, who was the bestwoman in the world. "

CHAPTER XIX

THE CALL OF THE OREADS

There was mingled rejoicing and lamentation in the household of JohnGale this afternoon. Molly and Johnny were in the throes of anoverwhelming sorrow, the noise of which might be heard from thebarracks to the Indian village. They were sparing of tears as a rule, but when they did give way to woe they published it abroad, yellingwith utter abandon, their black eyes puckered up, their mouthsdistended into squares, from which came such a measure of sound as torack the ears and burden the air heavily with sadness. Poleon was goingaway! Their own particular Poleon! Something was badly askew in thegeneral scheme of affairs to permit of such a thing, and theymanifested their grief so loudly that Burrell, who knew nothing ofDoret's intention, sought them out and tried to ascertain the cause ofit. They had found the French-Canadian at the river with their father, loading his canoe, and they had asked him whither he fared. When themeaning of his words struck home they looked at each other in dismay, then, bred as they were to mask emotion, they joined hands and trudgedsilently back up the bank with filling eyes and chins a-quiver untilthey gained the rear of the house. Here they sat down all forlorn, andbegan to weep bitterly and in an ascending crescendo. 

"What's the matter with you tikes, anyhow?" inquired the Lieutenant. Hehad always filled them with a speechless awe, and at his unexpectedappearance they began the slow and painful process of swallowing theirgrief. He was a nice man, they had both agreed long ago, and verysplendid to the eye, but he was nothing like Poleon, who was one ofthem, only somewhat bigger. 

"Come, now! Tell me all about it, " the soldier insisted. "Has somethinghappened to the three-legged puppy?"

Molly denied the occurrence of any such catastrophe. 

"Then you've lost the little shiny rifle that shoots with air?" ButJohnny dispelled this horrible suspicion by drawing the formidableweapon out of the grass behind him. 

"Well, there isn't anything else bad enough to cause all this outlay ofanguish. Can't I help you out?"

"Poleon!" they wailed, in unison. 

"Exactly! What about him?"

"He's goin' away!" said Johnny. 

"He's goin' away!" echoed Molly. 

"Now, that's too bad, of course, " the young man assented; "but thinkwhat nice things he'll bring you when he comes back. "

"He ain't comin' back!" announced the heir, with the tone that conveysa sorrow unspeakable. 

"He ain't comin' back!" wailed the little girl, and, being a woman, yielded again to her weakness, unashamed. 

Burrell tried to extract a more detailed explanation, but this was asfar as their knowledge ran. So he sought out the Canadian, and foundhim with Gale in the store, a scanty pile of food and ammunition on thecounter between them. 

"Poleon, " said he, "you're not going away?"

"Yes, " said Doret. "I'm takin' li'l' trip. "

"But when are you coming back?"

The man shrugged his shoulders. 

"Dat's hard t'ing for tellin'. I'm res'less in my heart, so I'm goin'travel some. I ain' never pass on de back trail yet, so I 'spect I keepgoin'. "

"Oh, but you can't!" cried Burrell. "I--I--" He paused awkwardly, whiledown the breeze came the lament of the two little Gales. "Well, I feeljust as they do. " He motioned in the direction of the sound. "I wantedyou for a friend, Doret; I hate to lose you. "

"I ain' never got my satisfy yet, so I'm pass on--all de tam' pass on. Mebbe dis trip I fin' de place. "

"I'm sorry--because--well, I'm a selfish sort of cuss--and--" Burrellpulled up blushingly, with a strong man's display of shame at his ownemotion. "I owe all my happiness to you, old man. I can't thankyou--neither of us can--we shall never live long enough for that, butyou mustn't go without knowing that I feel more than I'll ever havewords to say. "

He was making it very hard for the Frenchman, whose heart was achingalready with a dull, unending pain. Poleon had hoped to get awayquietly; his heart was too heavy to let him face Necia or this man, andrun the risk of their reading his secret, so a plaintive wrinklegathered between his eyes that grew into a smile. And then, as if hewere not tried sufficiently, the girl herself came flying in. 

"What's this I hear?" she cried. "Alluna tells me--" She saw thetelltale pile on the counter, and her face grew white. "Then it's true!Oh, Poleon!"

He smiled, and spoke cheerily. "Yes, I been t'inkin' 'bout dis triplong tam'. "

"When are you coming back?"

"Wal, if I fin' dat new place w'at I'm lookin' for I don' never comeback. You people was good frien' to me, but I'm kin' of shif'lessfeller, you know. Mebbe I forget all 'bout Flambeau, an' stop on my'New Countree'--you never can tol' w'at dose Franchemans goin' do. "

"It's the wander-lust, " murmured Burrell to himself; "he'll never rest. "

"What a child you are!" cried Necia, half angrily. "Can't you conquerthat roving spirit and settle down like a man?" She laid her hand onhis arm appealingly. "Haven't I told you there isn't any 'far country'?Haven't I told you that this path leads only to hardship and sufferingand danger? The land you are looking for is there"--she touched hisbreast--"so why don't you stay in Flambeau and let us help you to findit?"

He was deeply grateful for her blindness, and yet it hurt him so thathis great heart was nigh to bursting. Why couldn't she see the endless, hopeless yearning that consumed him, and know that if he stayed insight and touch of her it would be like a living death? Perhaps, then, she would have given over urging him to do what he longed to do, andlet him go on that search he knew was hopeless, and in which he had nojoy. But she did not see; she would never see. He laughed aloud, forall the world as if the sun were bright and the fret for adventure werestill keen in him, then, picking up his bundle, said:

"Dere's no use argue wit' Canayen man. Mebbe some day I come paddleback roun' de ben' down yonder, an' you hear me singin' dose chanson;but now de day she's too fine, de river she's laugh too loud, an' debirds she's sing too purty for Francheman to stop on shore. Ba gosh, I'm glad!" He began to hum, and they heard him singing all the way downto the river-bank, as if the spirit of Youth and Hope and Gladness werenot dead within him. 

 "Chanté, rossignol, chanté! Toi qui à le coeur gai; Tu as le coeur à rire Mai j' l' ai-tà pleurer, Il y a longtemps que j' t'aime Jamais je ne t'oublierai. "

[Footnote: "Sing, little bird, oh, sing away! You with the voice so light and gay! Yours is a heart that laughter cheers, Mine is a heart that's full of tears. Long have I loved, I love her yet; Leave her I can, but not forget. "]

A moment later they heard him expostulating with some one at thewater's edge, and then a child's treble rose on high. 

"No, no! I'm goin', too! I'm goin', too-o-o-o--"

"Hey! John Gale!" called Poleon. "Come 'ere! Ba gosh! You better horry, too! I can't hol' dis feller long. "

When they appeared on the bank above him, he continued, "Look 'ere w'atI fin' on my batteau, " and held up the wriggling form of Johnny Gale. "He's stow hisse'f away onder dem blanket. Sacré! He's bad feller, disman--don' pay for hees ticket at all; he's reg'lar toff mug. "

"I want to go 'long!" yelled the incorrigible stow-away. He had broughthis gun with him, and this weapon, peeping forth from under Poleon'sblanket, had betrayed him. "I want to go 'long!" shrieked the littleman "I like you best of all!" At which Doret took him in his arms andhugged him fiercely. 

"Wal, I guess you don' t'ink 'bout dem beeg black bear at night, eh?"But this only awoke a keener distress in the junior Gale. 

"Oh, maybe de bear will get you, Poleon! Let me go long, and I'll keepdem off. Two men is better dan one--please, Poleon!"

It took the efforts of Necia and the trader combined to tear the ladfrom the Frenchman, and even then the foul deed was accomplished onlyat the cost of such wild acclaim and evidence of undying sorrow thatlittle Molly came hurrying from the house, her round face stained andtearful, her mouth an inverted crescent. She had gone to the lame puppyfor comfort, and now strangled him absent-mindedly in her arms, clutching him to her breast so tightly that his tongue lolled out andhis three legs protruded stiffly, pawing an aimless pantomime. WhenJohnny found that no hope remained, he quelled his demonstrations ofemotion and, as befitted a stout-hearted gentleman of the woods, bore afinal present to his friend. He took the little air-gun and gave itinto Poleon's hands against that black night when the bears would come, and no man ever made a greater sacrifice. Doret picked him up by theelbows and kissed him again and again, then set him down gently, atwhich Molly scrambled forward, and without word or presentation speechgave him her heart's first treasure. She held out the three-leggedpuppy, for a gun and a dog should ever go together; then, being of thewomankind aforesaid, she began to cry as she kissed her pet good-bye onits cold, wet nose. 

"Wat's dis?" said Poleon, and his voice quavered, for these childishfingers tore at his heart-strings terribly. 

"He's a very brave doggie, " said the little girl. "He will scare debears away!" And then she became dissolved in tears at the anguish heroffering cost her. 

Doret caressed her as he had her brother, then placed the puppycarefully upon the blankets in the canoe, where it wagged a gratefuland amiable stump at him and regained its breath. It was the highestproof of Molly's affection for her Poleon that she kept her tear-dimmedeyes fixed upon the dog as long as it was visible. 

The time had come for the last good-bye--that awkward moment when humanhearts are full and spoken words are empty. Burrell gripped theFrenchman's hand. He was grateful, but he did not know. 

"Good-luck and better hunting!" he said. "A heavy purse and a lightheart for you always, Poleon. I have learned to love you. "

"I want you to be good husban', M'sieu'. Dat's de bes' t'ing I can wishfor you. "

Gale spoke to him in patois, and all he said was:

"May you not forget, my son. "

They did not look into each other's eyes; there was no need. The oldman stooped, and, taking both his children by the hand, walked slowlytowards the house. 

"Dis tam' I'll fin' it for sure, " smiled Poleon to Necia. 

Her eyes were shining through the tears, and she whispered, fervently:

"I hope so, brother. God love you--always. "

It was grief at losing a playmate, a dear and well-beloved companion. He knew it well, and he was glad now that he had never said a word oflove to her. It added to his pain, but it lightened hers, and that hadever been his wish. He gazed on her for a long moment, taking in thatblessed image which would ever live with him--in his eyes was the lightof a love as pure and clean as ever any maid had seen, and in his hearta sorrow that would never cease. 

"Good-bye, li'l' gal, " he said, then dropped her hand and entered hiscanoe. With one great stroke he drove it out and into the flood, thenheaded away towards the mists and colors of the distant hills, wherethe Oreads were calling to him. He turned for one last look, and flunghis paddle high; then, fearing lest they might see the tears that cameat last unhindered, he began to sing:

 "Chante, rossignol, chante! Toi qui a le coeur gai; Tu as le coeur a rire Mai j' l' ai-t-a pleurer. "

He sang long and lustily, keeping time to the dip of his flashingpaddle and defying his bursting heart. After all, was he not avoyageur, and life but a song and a tear, and then a dream or two?

"I wish I might have known him better, " sighed Meade Burrell, as hewatched the receding form of the boatman. 

"You would have loved him as we do, " said Necia, "and you would havemissed him as we will. "

"I hope some time he will be happy. "

"As happy as you, my soldier?"

"Yes; but that he can never be, " said her husband; "for no man couldlove as I love you. "

 "Yours is a heart that laughter cheers, Mine is a heart that's full of tears. Long have I loved, I love her yet; Leave her I can, but not forget--"

came the voice of the singer far down the stream. And thus Poleon ofthe Great Heart went away. 

THE END