Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-05

| We're being broken, Shacks aDanooneu'
| sledge dogs put to harness On the day
| that Jean de Gravois left for Hudson bay
the company's supplies came in from
Fort Churchll-seven toboggans drawn by
| Eskimo dogs. laden with -four and cloth:
| fifty pounds of beads. ammunition and q
hundred other things to be exchanged for
the furs that would soon be In London
and Paris.
Fearflllly Jan Thoreau ran out to meet
the sledges. There were seven Indians
and one white man. Jan thrust himself
close to look at the white man. He wore
! two revolver holsters and carried an au-
I tomato. Unquestionably he was not q
missionary. but an agent of the company.
we'll prepared to care for the company 6
treasure
Jan hurried back to the cabin. his heart
bubbling with a strange joy.
There ees no missioner. Melisse" he
cried triumphantly, dropping beside her.
his face glowing with the gladness Of his
tidings. You shall be good and beauti-
full, lax. her, but you shall not be baptize
by missioner! He has not comet
A few minutes later Cummins came in.
One of his hands was torn and bleeding.
"Those Eskimo dogs are demons! he
growled. IF they knew how to stand on
their legs, they'd eat our huskies alive!
VIII you help me with this?''
Jan was at work In an instant. bandag-
ing the wounded hand.
1T ees not deep. he said; and then.
without looking up. he added: The mis-
SlOner dlO NOT come.
No" said Cummins shortly. Neither
has the mail. He is with that"
He did not notice the sudden trenlble
of JAMS fingers. nor did he see the star
tied look that shot into the boys down.
turned eyes. Jan finished his bandaging
without betraying his emotion and went
back with Cummins to the company's
store.
The next morning two Chippewayans
trailed in with a team Of mongrei ours
ho MN tho
found but little time to devote to Melissa.
The snow was softening rapidly, and the
daily increasing warmth Of the sun has
tened the movement Of the trappers.
lands arrived first. bringing with them
great loads Of musk-ox and caribou skins, |
and an army of big-footed, long-legged
Mackenzie hounds. that pulled like horses |
the huskies and Eskimo dogs set upon
them.
From east and west and south all trails |
now led to the post. By the end OF the
third day after the arrival Of the COM
pany's supplies. a babel Of fighting, yell |
Ing. ceaselessly moving discOrd had driven |
forth the peace and quiet in which Cum |
Minis wife had died. The fighting and
discord were among the dogs. and the
yelling was necessary human accom-
paniment. Half a hundred packs, almost
as wild and as savage as the wolves
from whom half of them possessed a
strong inheritance of blood. were thrown
suddenly into warning confusion.
All the dogs were fighters except the
big. soft-throated Mackenzie hounds. with
the slow strength of oxen in their move |
ments. and the Quarter-strained and half |
strained mongrels from the south: and
upon these unfortunates the others preyed |
Packs of fierce Labrador dogs. never van
quished except by death. came from close !
to Hudson bay. Team after team OF the
little yellow and gray Eskimo dogs. as
h ho{ hot
and swift-running masters with their
hands and feet, met the much larger and
darker-colored malemutes from the Atha- |
basca. Enemies of all these. fighting, |
swapping and snarling, with the lust Of
killing deep born in them from their wolf
progenitors, packs of fierce huskies trailed |
In from all sides.
There was no cessation in the battle Of
arrivals. It continued from dawn through |
the day and around the camp fires at
night. There was never an end to the !
strife between the dogs, and between the |
men ard the dogs. The snow was stained
and trailed with blood. and the scent of
it added greater fierceness to the wolf
breeds. Half a dozen battles were fought |
to the death each day and night. Those |
that died were chiefly the south-bred ours
mixtures Of mastiff. Great Dane and
sheep dogs-and the fatally slow Macken-
zie hounds.
From its towering height the sentinel
spruce frowned down upon the savage
life that had come to outrage the grave
II guarded. Yet beyond all this discord |
and bloody strife there was a great.
throbbing human happiness-a beating Of
honest hearts filled to overlooking with
the joys Of the moment. welding of
new friendships. a renewal Of old ones. a
closer union Of the brotherhood that holds
together all things under the cold gray
of the northern skies.
There were no chickering's among the
l. 80 afvnrA &s,I
the fierce voices that emphasized the
slashing cuts OF the caribou whips. II the
fangs Of Hudson bay husky let out the
life blood from the soft throat Of Mac
kenzie hound, 1t was matter OF the dogs
and not Of their owners. They did not
quarrel.
One day a fierce Eskimo pack cornered
a giant husky under the big spruce and
slew him. When Cummins came from
the company's store in the afternoon, he |
saw a number of men. with barred heads, !
working about the grave. He drew near |
enough to see that they were building |
around it barricade Of saplings: and his
breath choked him as he turned to the
cabin and Melissa. He noticed. too, that |
no fires were built near the spot conse- |
Grated to the memory OF the dead woman:
and to his cabin the paths In the snow |
became deeper and wider where trod the !
wild forest men who came to look upon |
the little Melissa.
These were days Of unprecedented pros
perity and triumph for the baby. as they
were for the company. The cabin was
half filed with strange things. for all who |
came gave something to Melissa There |
were polar bears teeth. brought down by |
the little black men who In turn had got |
them from the coast people: strange gods /
carved from wood: bits of fur. bushy fox
tails lynx paws, dried fruits. candy |
bought at fabulous prices in the store. and +!
musk-always and necessarily musk-from
Mukee's people Of the west barrens. !
To Jan this homage to Melissa was
more than gratifying. formed a bond
between him and Cummirs' people. HIS
heart went out to them. and he went
more freely among them and made
friends. 80.
CTo be continued tomorrow)