Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1897-01-04

of the fiercest could have had their
will of HIM.
"Ohl the accursed good-for-no-
thing !" yelted old Baptiste Charette,
the oldest man in the camp. Figure
to yourself, we others, with our wo-
men and children, rendered destitute
by this pig of Louise, who, to feed
his vanity, makes to run the whole
herd that we have had so much pain
to arrive at! It's infamousl infam-
GUS -
"My poor boy" said Pere Lachaise,
chow did it come that thou couldst
make q stupidity like that?"
81 know not. my father; perhaps it
was the devil who tempted me-" Then,
after pause, marie Ducharme asked
me to get her some eagles feathers.
and what would you, twas the first
eagle that l met"
"Aha! 1t was that little Marie,
with her beads, and her quills, and
her feathers, and all her shopfull OF
nonsense; twas she who had turned
the boys head and made him q good
for-nothing, iddling rascal like her
| oeii. Aua, tue lulu Cav
The storm of feminine wrath was
diverted to poor Marie, who sobbed
| bitterly as it broke on her in shrek
ing fury, for it was her fortune to be
pretty, and her sisters held her in
esteem or hate according to the de-
gree in which her good looks equaled
81 surpassed their own; and the
majority of them were hopelessly
plain. Louis made q brave attempt to
defend his sweetheart, and his defiant
attitude and voice raised in anger told
heavily against him with the ex-
csperatei hunters, returning from
their protitless chase, for they mistook
| his demeanor for one of truculent self
vindication.
A court was hastily organized. The
culprit waived examination and Of
fered no defence.
The sentence twenty-five lashes
and banishment from the brigade
was carried out forthwith, amid the
tears and wailings of the women and
children, whose appeals for mercy
were in vain. Louis never finched
beneath the lash, but when the little
ones flocked about him with farewell
kisses, he broke down and wept like
one OF themselves.
"Adieu, my dear little friends,
adieul Pray to the good Col for me.
And you others, only ask thai you
forget my fault. Your blessing, my
father" He knelt q minute before
the priest, then vaulted into his sad
die and rode lapidly away.
The outcast shaped his course north
westward, us the crow flies, intending
to make the settlement at Edmonton,
on the North Saskatchewan. His road
lay all before him, for the great plains
were rs familiar to him as the streets
OF city are to its inhabitants. His
back throbbad and smarted from the
lashes he had received, but the greater
smart was within. Every fiber of his
moral being tingled with the disgrace
that hadlbeen put upon him, and he ro-
solved to bury himself forever in some
far-off corner of the north country,
where, perchance, the story of his
shame might not penetrate.
On the third day of his solitary ride
he sighted the Wascana creek, and no
ticed three Indian lodges standing on
its bank. A couple OF starved dogs
howlod dismally as he drew near, but no
smoke or other sign of life was appar-
ent. He hailed in Cree; silence, cave
for the mournful whining of the dogs,
that now skunk whimpering about his
horses feet. He advanced cautiously,
puzzled at the uncanny appearance of
things, and became conscious OF an
offensive odor that grew moro palpa-
BILE at every step. Alarmed, and in
tensely excited, he leaped to the
ground and strobe swiftly to tho door
of the nearest tepee. Horror! With
in lay five swollen corpses-a man, n
woman and three children-snl tppx d!
He turned to fly from the plague
stricken place, but feeble moan, so
faint as to be almost inau1ible, arrested
him. He listened intently.
"Water."
In an instant Louis had forgotten
his terrors, his danger, his disgust,
everything except that q fellow
creature was in dire distress. In less
time than it takes to record the good
deed, he was tenderly supporting the
poor, fever stricken form, while hold
ing a precious, life giving draught to
the swollen lips.
The survivor of the camp was a
young Cree woman. She had nursed
the others while her strength lasted,
and then, overcome by the pestilence,
had lain down to die. When Louis
found her the disease had run its
course, and thanks to the timely cup
of cold water and his after goo
offices, her life was saved. He made
shelter of willow branches near the
waters edge, to which he removed his
patient, making her a comforta bed
of grass and leaves, over which he
spread his own blankets. Then he SET
about disposiny of the dead. He
burned the tepees and their con-
tents. and managed, with infinite toll
an axe being the only tool available to
scoop out the trench in which he de-
! l,l - l.