Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1912-09-07

Jan hurried back to the cabin, bis
Eeart bubbling with strange JOY.
There ees no missioner. Melisser
be cried triumphantly. dropping be-
side her,. his face glowing with the
gladness of his tidIngs "You shall Be
good and beautiful. lax her. but ron
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!r
be growled. -lf they knew bow TO
stand on their legs they'd eat our hns-
kies alive, VIII you help me with
Ihis?"
Jan was at work In an instant ban
tagging the wounded hand.
1T ees not deep" he said. and then,
without looking up. be added. The
missioner did not come"
NO" said Cummins shortly. mel
Their has the mail. he Is with thai"
He did not notice the sudden trem-
BILE Of .lan's fingers. nor did be see
the startled look that shot into the
boys down turned eyes. Jan finished
his bandaging without betraying his
emotion and went back with Cummips
to the company's store.
The next morning two Chippewayans
trailed In with team Of mongrel ours
from the south Thereafter Cummins
found but little time to devote TO Me-
lisse. The snow was softening rapid
". and the daily Increasing warmth OF
the sun FASTENED the movement Of the
trappers. Mukee's people from the
western Barren lands arrived nrst.
bringing with them great loads Of
musk OK and caribou skins and an
army Of big footed. long legged Mac
kenzie hounds that pulled like horses
and waiIed.llke whipped puppies when
the huskies and Eskimo dogs sec 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 company's supplies q babel Of
lighting. yelling. ceaselessly moving
discord had driven forth the peace and
quiet In which Cummins' wife had
died. The lighting and discord were
among the dogs. and the yelling was
necessary human accompaniment. Hair
a hundred packs. almost as wild and
as savage as the wolves from whom
huff OF. them possessed strong Inhefi.
tance Of blood. were thrown suddenly
into warning confusion.
There was no cessation In the battle
OF the fahgs. Half dozen BATTLES
were fought to the death each dhy
and night Those than died were chief
~ the south bred eurs-mixfures OF
mastiff Grpaf Dane and sheep dogs
and the fatally slow Mackenzie hounds
Yet beyond all this discord and
bloody strife there was great. throb
bling human happiness-a beating Of
honest hearts filIel to oyerfiowIne
with me joys OF the moment. . weld i
ing Of new friendships. renewal Of
old ones. closer union OF the broth.
erhood that holds together Ill rulings
under the cold gray OF the northern
skies There were no Dickerings among
the hunters.
These we're days OF unprecedented
prosperity and triumph for tue baby
.,ls they were for The company The
cabin was half filed With strange
things. for all went 10 look upon the
little Melisse and gave something TO
her. There we're polar bears' teeth.
brought down by the little blnck men
who In turn had got them from the
coast people: strange gods carved from
wood. bits OF fur. bushy foxtails. lynx
paws. dried fruits. candy bought al
fabulous prices In the store aud musk
always and necessarily musk from
Mukee's people OF the West Barrens
Jan had not played upon bis violin
since the coming Of Jean de Gravois
but one evening he tuned bis strings
and said to Melissa:
They have been good to you. my
Melisse. / win give them ze museek
of ze violon."
1t was the big night at the post the
night that Is known from Athabasca to
Hudson bay as the night Of the Carl
bou roast. A week had passed. and
there were no more furs to be disposed
Of. In the company's ledger each man
had received his credit, and In the com
pany's store the furs were piled high
and safe. Three caribou had been kill.
ed by Perez and his hunters. and on
this night. when Jan took down bis
violin from its peg on the wall. huge
Gre blazed 10 the open. and on splits six
inches in diameter the caribou were
roasting.
The air was filed with the sound and
odor of the carnival. Above the fight.
ing and snarling Of dogs the forest
people lifted their voices In wild cele-
bration. forgetting in this one holiday
of the year the silence that they would
carry back into the solitudes with
them. Shrill voices rose In meaning
less cries above the roaring Of the Gre
- K