, 1911-10-05
1910. by Bobbs- Merrill
Company.

brown fingers united the cord thai Sc.
cured 1t.
First you must understand what
this meant to us in the north. m'seur."
said Jean. his hands covering the par
eel after he had finished with the cord
I'VE are different who live up here
different from those who live in Mont
real and beyond. With us a lifetime
Is not too long to spend In avengiug n
cruel wrong. 1t is our honor of the
north. was fifteen then and had
been fostered by the factor and his
wife since the day my mother died of
the smallpox and ! dragged myself
into the post. almost dead of starva
ton. So 1t happened that I was like
a brother to Meleese and the other
three. The years passed. and the de
sire for vengeance grew in US as we
became Older until 1t was the one
thing hat we most desired I'm life.
even filling the gentle heart of Me.
leese. whom we sent to school In
MoniVal when she was eleven.
m'seur. 1t was three years later.
while she was still in Montreal. that
] N~lt on n Of my wandering
searches to a post at the head of the
Great Slave. and there. m'seur-
there
Croisset had risen. His long arms
we're stretched high. his head thrown
back, his upturned face afame with a
passion that was almost that of
prayer.
"M'seur. I thank the great God Of
heaven that 1t was given to Jean Crois.
set to meet one of those whom we had
pledged u lives to find. and ! slew
him. 1t was the father. INT | killed
him. m'seur-killed him slowly. tell
Ing him of what he had done as l chok-
ed the life from him-and then. a little
at a time, l let the life back into him.
forcing him to tell me where | would
find his son. the slayer OF Meleese's ia.
ther. AND after that l closed on his
throat until he was dead. and my dogs
dragged his body through 300 miles of
snow hat the others might look On
him and know that he was dead. That
was six years ago. m'seur."
Rowland was scarcely breathing.
And the other. the son." he whis.
pered tensely-. you found him. Crois
set? You killed himT'
What would you have done. m'seur?"
Howland's hands gripped those that
guarded the little parcel.
Il would have killed him. jean"
He spoke slowly. deliberately.
"I wouId hovo kfllod him " ho rapaat- /
ed.
IL am glad of that. m'seur."
Jean was unwrapping the buckskin.
fold after fold Of 1t. until at last there
was revealed a roll of paper, soiled and
yellow along the edges.
These pages are taken from the
daybook at the post where the woman
lived" he explained softly. smoothing
them under his hands. Each day the
factor of a post keeps a reckoning of
Incidents as they pass, as ! have heard
that sea captains do on s%hipboard. 1t
has been a company law for hundreds
Of years. We have kept these pages to
ourselves. m'seur. They tell of what
happened at our post sixteen years G
this winter"
AS he spoke hi half breed came to
side. smoothing the first
page on the table in front Of him. his
slim forefinger pointing to the first
few lines.
They came on this day" he said.
bis breath close to the engineers ear
These are their names, m'seur-the
names of the two who destroyed the
paradise that our Blessed Lady gave
to US many years ago"
In an instant Rowland had read the
His blood seemed to dry in his
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