The Winslow mail., 1899-04-29


I GOT the outlines of the following
story from De Eertle, and send it as
a companion sketch to the 'Ruttling
Season" However. word about De
Hertle. There was quite a romance
abcut his Being among the Indians,
and at some future time I may be
tempted to write it up, for it shows
how . nan can sacrifice position and
family itself for sublime love.
When ! first went to Mirgan to as
g sui c,..rge of. that post, ! found De
Hel a iaiddle-aged mar. With an In
diaf IN for a wife, and L growing
up Of French half-breeds, most
beau al and intelligent Children. -
Io sa ct home and huen t ir>French,
Engiisi. and Latin, and, being an OBJ
p scrvont man, and having read every
: ihing lie could lay his hands On. was
"a most amusing and instructive com
panion.
r. Il. EallantyHe mentions him in His
book, "HudSon's Bay" but under an
other name. fA%
= 1 think it was the first or second day
aftelS1ay arrival that noticed a man OF
( about 29A who was lobbling aboutdn
the NEST odd gait ever saws.aild his
( naoccasius were OF abnormal shortness.
| said to De Hertle, who happened to
be ohatiing with me at the time:f ~
# 'sYylAat's the trouble with that fel
low? IooE how he walks"
''That poor man" he replied, follow
ing the Indian with his-eyes.- has had
all lis toes and fingers frozen off. lie
was, only a youth at the time, but
showed wonderful bravery and endur-
ance. However, if you would like to
hear the story, I will come over after
tea and tell you the facts as they hap
pened."
I assured him It would give me great
pleasure not only to see him but to
hear the story. With this, he took his
way ard turned my steps toward the
cooper shop, to sec how the work there
was progressing, thanking the fates as
POOR Eahantyne had done in the years
gone by for having such an agreeable
person about the post as De Eertle. for
this is the great drawback that pre-
the company's. service on outpost duty
the want of genial and suitable COM
panionship. H m
According to this promise, De Hertle
turned up in the early partof the even
ing, and after we had replenished the
fire in the ld-fashioned chimney and
filled our pipes, we drew up our chairs
kl~e4 T<> 10
gam f p. f. a8--aes aaT
THAT poor, unfortunate young man,
regarding whom you questioned me to-
day, is n nephew of my wife, and the
way he became crippled, as you noticed,
happened years ago, when he was quite
a boy.
''The winter when this took place his
father (1ny wife's brother) and myself
went from here to the Moisic, as it was
likely to be year of foxes on the coast,
and there is no better place to hunt
them than on the sands on each side of
that great river.
"We built ourselves a small log cabin
to house cur families in common. and
by the tine all was finished snug to
our satisfaction it was time to set our
traps. ~ff4--f
"FoX-trapping, when they are plenti-
full, is very paying business, as the
silver or black ones, as you know, are
very valuable. The intense cold of De-
cember began to make itself felt, and
as the Fl n had left the shore to deep
water, and partridge, rabbits and other
small game were becoming scarce, we
were glad to see that the cold wave
from Tic far north had brought down
to the coast innumerable flocks of
ptarmican. and thus we were assured
of plenty until the warm weather Of
early April drove them back from
whence they came.
"In very severe winters. such as
the one l mention, the cold drives
everything south-wolves fromythe bar
ren grounds among the other animals.
"Old Jerome Falois hadiour children
two sons and two daughters. The
bows were the youngest at the time l
am speaking Of, being respectively nine
and seven years of age. The one you
saw to-day, William, was the elder.
civilian had had a gun for over d
year, and was quite good shot and
successful hunter, young as he was.
Nearly every day he and his little
brother, Mark (the latter to carry the
bag and pick up the game) used to
sally forth, and at night return both
loaded with ptarIaigan.
"Along the sea coast, on the west side
ct the Moisic, there is only a narrow
fringe of green wood, and back of this
barren grounds, studded with clumps
of willows. stretched as far as the eye
could reach here and.there few stunt
ed poplar and pitchpfne trees relieving
the monotony of the dreary waste OF
country.
"The boys in hunting were led far
afield by the floclls- of ptaTnigans, and
often they only reached home an hcur
or two after dark, but no anxiety was
every felt for their prolonged. absence.
Zone night-it was the 9th of Jan
uary, and intensely cold = the boys
failed to come, even at the latest Lour
they had ever been absent before.
Their parents now became thoroughly
alarmed, and waited and watched the
long night through, firing guns at in
tervals, thinking to guide their toot-
steps homeward.
"An hour before dawn Jerome and
lad made our preparations to go in
search as soon as daylight would allow
of us picking up their tracks. 1t was
useless to leave before, as we might go
in a wrong direction, and, fortunately