The Holly chieftain., 1909-03-19

over gIobeiikk frames OF thin steer
bands. which II ey slipped on over their
hats.
Lets see. 1t was you that found
him, wasn't it," said Gale.
sure ting. I'm comip' down for
grub In my canoe wen ! see dis feiler
on de bank walkin' lax he's In beeg
borry. 'Ba gar say. dere's man
goin' 80 fast he'll meet hese'f comm
homer lien be turn r0un' an 60 tear.
In back. wavin' hees arms lax he's
calm me, till he fall down. Wen
paddle close up dom know i'm no
more dan stranger. an me an Johnnie
Platt is trap togeder wan winter.
Wat you t'ink Of dat!"
Il saw fellow killed that way at
Holy Cross" iuterpolated the trader.
"'Hellor gay. watts de matterT
An den see something bout i'm dat
look familiar. Hees face she's all
swell up an bleedin' lax raw meat" :"
The Frenrhman curled his upper lip
back from his teeth and shook his
head at the remembrance.
"Iesu. dats 'orrlble sight! Dem ny
Ii drive 'im crazee. Hees nose an ears
is look lax holes in beeg red sponge.
an hees eye are close up tight"
He died before you got him In.
didn't he:'
Yes. He was good nian too"
81 guess you been purity glad for
haviu' Necia home again. eh?' ven
tured Poleou after awhile. unable to
avoid any longer the subject upper
most In his mind.
Yes. I'm glad she's through with
her schooling"
"she's gettm' purity beeg gal now"
That's right"
by an by she's eoin' marry on
some feller-w'aty'
II suppose so. She amt the kind to
stay single"
"lIa. bats right too. Mebhe you
dom care II she does get marry. eh:"
Not II she gets man that will
treat her right"
"Waal. waal! pere's no trouble
bout dat" exclaimed Duret fervently.
NO man WAITS iivin' could treat her
udN. SuC > tOO kOpi dh tNU i'Nhty AOh
have bad husban'."
"She Is. Is she:' Gale turned on
him with strange glare in his eyes
''Thems the kind that get the he dew
lis. There's something about II good
girl that attracts bad man. particu-
larly II she's pretty. and 1t goes dou-
BILE too. The good men get the heliiOns
A fellow can't get so tough hut what
he can catch good woman. and n de-
cent man usually draws critter that
looks like u sled and acts like \ timber
wolf"
"Necla wouldn't marry OH no bad
man." said Doret positively.
Neither man had ever spoken thus
openly to The other about Necia be-
fore. nnd. although their language was
indirect. each knew the others
thought. But there WAS 10 time for
further talk now. for the others were
close upon them AS they came into
view Gale exclaimed:
We'll. If Lee hasn't brought Run
Mon along"
"Humph" grunted Doret. Il don
fink much Of dat feller."
The three new arrivals dropped
down upon the moss to rest. for the
up trail was heavy. Lee was the first
to speak.
did you get away without helm
SEEM" he asked
Sure" answered Gale. ''Poleon has
been here two hours
That's good. don't want nobody
taggin' along"
Runnion volunteered nothing except
oaths at the mosquitoes and at his pack
straps. which were new and cut him
already. As no explanation Of his
presence was offered. neither the trad
er nor Doret made any comment then,
but 1t came out later. when the old
miner dropped far enough behind the
others to render conversation possil
You decided to take in another one,
shr' Gale asked Lee.
ut wasn't exactly my doin's," re-
piled the miner. STARK asked me to
let Runnion come long, bein' a. he
had grub staked him, and he seemed
70 set on II that / addressed. You
see. It's the drst chance ever had to
pay him back for 4 favor he done me
In the Cassiar country. There's plenty
Of land to 60 around"
1t was Lees affair, thought the trad.
er. and he might tell whom he liked,
80 he said no more. but fell to study
Ing the back Of the man next In front,
who happened to be Stark. observing
every move and trick Of him and dur