Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-02

strong-souled men OF the far north and
JAMS lips did not beg. He unwrapped
the bearskin and whispered:
For the museek of the violon-some-
ting to eat!''
He played even as the words fell from
him, but only for q moment-for the bow
slipped from his nerveleSs grip and his
head sank forward upon his breast.
In the half-Cree's eyes there was some
thing of the wild beauty that cleaned in
JAMS. For an instant those eyes had
and when JAMS head fell weakly and his
violin slipped to the floor. Mukee lifted
him in his strong arms and carried him
to the shack in the edge of the spruce
and balsam.
And there was no one who noticed Jan
the next day-except Mukee. He was fed.
His frozen blood grew warm. AS life
returned he felt more and more the pail
of gloom that had settled over this spark
Of life in the heart of the wilderness. He
had seen the woman in life and in death.
and he too, loved her and grieved that
she was no more. He said nothing; he
alteration in the sad, tense faces of the
men. He saw 1t in the te-se--stri.ken
eyes Of tie wild little Children WHY had
grown to worship Cum nins' wife He
read it in the sinking stiffness Of the
dogs, in the terrible. pulseless quiet that
had settled about him.
1t was not hard for Jan to understand,
for he, too. worshiped the memory of q
white. sweet face like the one that he had
seen in the cabin. He knew that this
worship at Lac Balm was a pure worship.
for the honor of the big SHOWS was a
part Of his soul. 1t was his religion. and
the religion Of these others who lived four
hundred miles or more from a southern
settlement.
1t meant what civilization could not I'M
derstand-freezing and slow starvation
rather than theft. and respect for the
tenth commandment above all other
things II meant that here under the
cold chill Of the northern skies. things
were as God meant them to be, and that
few OF His creatures could live in
love that was neither possession nor sin.
year after Cummins brought his wife
into the north a man came to the post
from Fort Churchill, on Hudson bay. He
was an Enelishman, belonging to the
home Office of the Hudson Bay Company
in London. He brought with him some
thing new, as the woman had brought
something new: only in this instance 1t
was an element Of life which Cummins'
people could not understand.
1t breathed of tragedy from the first
to the men Of the post. To the English
man, on the other hand, 1t promised to be
but an incident-a passing adventure IN
pleasure. Here again was that difference
of viewpoint-the eternity Of difference
between the middle and the end Of the
earth.
Cummins was away for a month on a
trap line that went into the barren lands.
AT I0eSS uINoS Tie WOHldH Ach dS q
heritage to those who remained, and
they watched over her as a parent might
guard it's child. Yet the keenest eyes
would not have perceived that this was
SO.
With Cummins gone the tragedy pro-
crossed swiftly toward finality. The Eng
lishman came from among women. For
months he had been In a torment of desc
latfon. Cummins' wife was to him like
a flower suddenly come to relieve the tan
fQliZ3nQ h9rrpnnoQS nf desert. and With
the wileS and ways of civilization he
sought to breathe its fragrance.
In the days and weeks that followed
he talked a great deal. when heated by
the warmth Of the box stove and by his
own thoughts: and this was because he
had not yet measured the hearts of Cum
Minis people. And because the woman
knew nothing Of what was said about
the box stove she continued in the even
course of her pure life. neither resisting
nor encouraging the newcomer yet ever
tempting him with that sweetness which
she gave to all alike.
AS yet there was no suspicion in her
SOUL She accepted the Englishman's
friendship, for he was stranger among
her people. She did not hear the false
note. she saw no Ste. that promised evil.
Only the men at the post heard. and saw
Like so many faithful beasts. they were
ready to spring, to rend flesh. to tear life
out Of him who threatened the desecra-
ton of all that was good and pure and
beautiful to them; and Yet. dumb in their
devotion and faith. they waited and
watched for sign from the woman. The
blue eyes Of Cummins' wife, the words
of her gentle lips, the touch of her hands
had made law at the post. If she smiled
upon the stranger, and talked with him
and was pleased with him. that was only
one other law that she had made for them
to respect. So they were quiet, evaded
the Englishman as much as possible and
Aal@1 bod
One day something happened. Cum
Minis wife came into the company's store.
and a quick flush shot into her cheeks
and the glitter of blue diamonds into her
eyes when she saw the stranger stand
ing there The mans red face grew red
der and he shifted his gaze. When Cum
Minis wife passed him she drew her skirt
close to her: and there was the poiSe OF
and womanhood, the living. breathing es-
sence of all that was beautiful in her
peoples honor of the big SHOWS.
That night Mukee. the half-Cree, skunk
around in the edge of the forest to see
that all was well in Cummins little home.
Once Mukee had suffered lynkx bite
that went clear to the bone and the wom-
an had saved his hand. After that the
savage in him was enslaVed to her like
an invisible spirit.
He crouched for a few minutes in the
snow, looking at the pale filter of tight
that came through hole in the curtain
OF the wOman'S window. and as he looked
something came between him and the
light. Against the ca bin he saw the
shadow of a sneaking human form; and
as silently as the steely fash of the au-
rora over his head. as swiftly as lean
deer. he sped through the gloom OF the
forests edge and came up behind the
woran's home.
With the caution of a lynx, his head
close to the snow. he peered around the
logs. 1t was the Englishman who stood
looking through the tear in that cur
tanned window.
Mukee's moccasined feet made no
sound. His hand fell as gently as a
child's upon the strangers arm.
'"Thees is not the honor of the beeg
SHOWS" he whispered. "Come"
a sickly pallor filled the other mans
face: but Mulsee's voice was soft and dis
pa ssionate, his touch was velvety in it's
hint, and he went with the guiding hand
away from the curtained window, smil-
ing in a companionable way. Mukee's
teeth cleaned back. The Englishman
chuckled.
Then Mukee's hands changed. They
flew to the thick. reddening throat of the
man from civilization, and without q
sound the two sank together upon the
snow.
The next day a messenger behind six
dogs set out for Fort Churchill. with word
for the company's h 1me Office that the
Englishman had died in the big snow
which was true.
Mukee told this to Jan. for there was
the bond of blood between them. 1t was
painting Of life, and love and purity.
Deep down in the loneliness Of his heart
Jan Thoreau, in his own simple way, |