Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-12-07
CHAPTER VIII.
The Fight at Dawn,


carnival about the great fire. AS he
! looked the third caribou was pulled down
from it's spit and the multitude Of dogs
rushed in upon the abandoned carcasses
of the other two.
He caught his breath quickly as loud
shout and the wailing yelp of a hurt dog
rose for an instant above all other sounds.
Only one thing was wanting to complete
another picture in his brain-a scene
which had burned itself into his life for
ever. and which he strove to fight back
as he stood staring from the doorway.
He half expected 1t to come-the shrill
scream Of a boyish voice, an instant's
sullen quiet, then the low-throated
thunder of impending vengeance-and the
fight!
With marvellous quickness his excited
| mind reconstructed the scene before him
into the scene that had been. He heard
the scream again. which had been his
voice; saw, as If in a dream, the frenzied
rush of men and the fash of knives; and
theH, from where he lay, trampled and
! bleeding in the snow, the long. lean team
of swift huskies that had carried in mad
flight the one whose life those knives
sought.
Williams had been there: he had seen
the fight-hiS knife had flashed with the
Jan Thoreau-had not been recognized
by the factor out there beside the caribou
roast
He hurried toward the fire. Half way
across the open he stopped. From out OF
the forest opposite Cummins' cabin there
shadows of the spruce, hidden from the
jewellers, the team halted. Jan heard the
low voices Of men, and figure detached
itself from the gloom, walking slowly
IL, 80 70
haustion in the direction of the carnival.
1t was new team. 1t had come from
the trails to the east, and JAMS heart
gave sudden Jump as he thought of the
missionary, who was expected with the
overdue mail. At first he had mind to
intercept the figure laboring across the
open, but without apparent reason he
changed his course and approached the
sledge.
AS he came nearer he observed sec
ond figure which rose from behind the
dogs and advanced to meet him. A dozen
PAGES ahead of the team 1t stopped and
waited.
"Our dogs are SO near exhaustion that
we're afraid to take them any nearer"
said voice. They'd die like puppies
under those packs.''
The voice thrilled Jan. He advanced
with his back to the fire, so that he
could see the stranger.
"You come from Churchill?'' he asked.
His words were hardly question. They
were more Of an excuse for him to draw
nearer, and he turned little. so that Tor
an instant the glowing fire flashed In his
eyes.
Eyes, we started from the Etawney just
week ago today.
Jan had come very near. The stranger
interrupted himself to stare into the thin.
fierce face that had grown like a white
cameo almost within reach of him. with
startled cry he drew a step back and
Tap'S violin drOnDad to the
For no longer than a breath there was
silence. The man wormed himself back
into the shadows inch by inch. followed
by the white face of the boy Then
there came shrilly from JAMS lips the
mad shriekirg of name. and his knife
flashed as he leaped at the others breast
The stranger was quicker than he. With
a sudden movement he cleared himself OF
the blow and as JAMS arm went past
him. the point of the knife ripping his
coat sleeve he shot out a powerful fist
and sent the boy Keeling to the ground
Stunned and bleeding, Jan dragged HIM
self to his knees. He saw the dogs turn
ing, heard low voice urging them to the
trail and saw the sledge disappear into
the forest He staggered from his knees
to his feet and stood swaying in his weak
ness. Then he followed.
He forgot that he was leaving his knife
i'm the snow forgot that back there about
the, fire there were other dogs and other
men, He only knew that once before he
had seen sledge slip off into the Wilder
ness: that its going had left him life OF
hatred and bitterness and desire FOR vense-
ance, and that this was the same man
who was slipping away from MIN IN the
same way again.
He followed. sickened by the blow. but
gaining strength as he pursued Ahead
of him he could hear the sound of the
toboggan and the cautious lashing of a
whip over the backs of the tired huSkles.
The sounds filled him with fierce strength.
He wiped away the warm trlckle or blood
that ran over his cheek. and began to
run. slowly at first. swinging in the easy
wolf Iope of the forest runner. with his
elbows close to his sides.
At that pace he could have followed for
hours. losing when the pack took a squirt.
gaining when they Jagged, an 1nsistent
Nemesis Just behind when the weighted
dogs lay down in their traces. But there
was neither the GOODNESS of Mukee nor the
cleverness Of Jean de Gravois in the man
ner of JAMS running. When ne neard
the cracking of the whip growing fainter
he dropped his arms straight to his sides
and ran more swiftly, his brain reeilng
with the madness OF his desire to reach
the sledge-to drag from 1t the man VINO
had struck him, to choke life from the
face that haunted that men! 1aati picture
Of his, grinning at him and gioatlng al
ways from the shadow world. just be-
yond the pale, sweet loneliness OF the
woman who lived in it.
That picture came TO MIN now as he
ran. more and more wildly, and from out
of 1t the woman urged him on to the
vengeance which she demanded or him.
her great eyes glowing like fire, her
beautiful face torn with the agony Wnlcn
he had last seen in 1T in LIE.
To Jan Thoreau there seemed almost
10 come from that face a living voice.
crying to him it's prayer for retrlbutlon
pleading with him to fasten his 1.-the
brown hands about the throat or the
monster upon the sledge ahead and choke
from il all life 1t drove reason from
him. leaving him with the one thought
that the monster was almost WITHIN
reach. and he replied to the prayer with
the breath that came in moaning exhaus-
ton from between his lips.
He did not feel the soft, packed
snow under the beat of his feet. He re-
ceiyed the lash Of low-hanging bushes
without experiencing the sensation of
their sting Only he knew that he wanted
air-more and more air; and to get 1t ne
ran with open mouth. struggling and
sasping for it, and yet not knowing that
Jean de Gravois would have called him
fool for the manner in which he sought II.
He heard more and more family the run
of the sledge Then he heard 1t no longer.
and even the cracking of the whip died
away. His heart swelled In a final burst
ing effort and he plunged on until at last
his legs crumpled under him and he
nitched face downward in the snow, like
a thing stung by sudden death.
r. was then. with his scratched and
bleeding face lying in the snow, that rea-
son began to return to him. After lit
tie while he dragged himself weakly to
his knees. still painting from the mad eff
fort he had made to overtake the sledge.
From a great distance he heard family
the noise Of shouting. the whispering echo