The Washington herald., 1912-07-21
By JAMES OLIVER CURWoOD
Author Of THE DANGER TRAIL"
THE HONOR OF THE BIG SHOWS" &c.

THE HONOR OF II
He bowed his wild, unshor1 head in
his mittened hands, and for time
there was silence between them
Philip broke II, almost IN whisper
why don't you kill me-here--now
while I'm sitting helpless beside you
and you've knife in your belt!'
DeBar lifted his head slowly and
looked with astonishment into his COM
panion's face.
"Pm not a murderer he said.
But you've killed other men," per-
sisted Philip.
Three. besides those we hung" re-
piled DeBar calmly. "One at Moose
Factory, when tried to help John, and
the other two up here. They were like
you-hunting me down. and killed
EN- in fair fight Was that murder
Should ! stand by and be shot like an
animal just because it's the law that's
doing it? Would your"
He rose without waiting for an an
swer and felt of the clothes beside the
fire.
DRY enough" he said. "Put EN- on
and well be hiking"
Philip dressed, and looked at his COM
1Still north'" he asked. "chippe-
wayan is south and west"
NORTH" said DeBar II know OF
breed who lives on Red Porcupine
Creek, which runs into the Slave. II
we can find him we'll get grub, and if
we don't
He laughed openly into the others
face.
"We won't fight" said Philip. under
standing him.
mo. We won't fight. but we'll wrap
Up in the same blankets, and die, with
Woonga, there, keeping our backs warm
until the last. Eh, Woonga, will you
do that?"
He turned cheerily to tle dog, and
Woonga rose slowly and with unmis-
taxable stiffness of limb, and was fast
ened in the sledge traces.
They went on through the desolate
gloom of afternoon. which in late win
ter is, above the sixtieth. all but night
Ahead of them there seemed to rise
biilow upon billow of snow-mountains,
which dwarfed themselves into drifted
dunes when they approached, and the
heaven above them, and the horizon
on all sides of them were shut out from
their vision by white mist which was
intangible and without substance and
vet which rose like a wall before their
eyes. II was one chaos of white ming
ling with another chaos of white, q
chaos of white earth smothered and
torn by the arctic wind under a chaos
of white sky; and through it all. sap
lings that one might have twisted and
broken over his knee were nagnihed
into giants at distance OF half hun
dred PAGES, and men and dog looked
like huge spectsrs moving with bowed
heads through a world that was no
longer a world of life, but of dead and
silent things And up out of this, after
a time, rose DeBar's voice. chanting in
tones filed with the savagery of the
North. wild song that was half breed
and half French. which the forest men
sing in their joy when coming very near
to home.
They went on. hour after hour, until
day gloom thickened into night, and
night drifted upward to give place TO
gray dawn. plodding steadily north,
resting now and then. fighting each mile
of the way. to the Red Porcupine
against the singing lashes Of the arctic
wind And through it all 1t was De-
Bars voice that rose in encouragement
to the dog limping behind him and to
the man limping behind the dog-now
in song. now in the wild shouting of the
his face thin and gaunt in
its starved whiteness, but his eyes alive
with a strange fire. And it was De-
Bar who lifted his mittened hands to
the leaden chaos OF sky when they came
10 the frozen streak that was the Red
Porcupine, and said. in a voice through
which there ran a strange thrill of
something deep and mighty. God in
heaven be praised, this is the endr'
He started into a trot now, and the
dog trotted behind him, and behind the
dog trotted Philip, wondering. as he
had wondered a dozen times before that
night. il DeBar were going mad. Five
hundred yards down the stream DeBar
stopped IN his tracks. stared for a mo-
ment into the breaking gloom of the
shore. and turned to Philip. He spoke
in a voice low and trembling. as if over
come for the moment by some strong
emotion.
"See--see there" he whispered. I've
hit it. Philip Steele, and what does it
mean? I've come over seventy miles
of barren. through night an storm, an
I've hit Pierre Thoreau's cabin as fair
as shotl Oh, man, man. | couldn't
do il once in ten thousand times" He
zripped Philips arm. and his voice rose
n excited triumph. Il tell ZEE. it means
that-that God-'r something-rnust be
With mel"
With u.s." said Philip. staring hard. |
With me-" replied DeBar so fiercely |
hat the other started involuntarily. |
It's miracle. an omen. and it means
hat I'm going to win" His fingers
yripped deeper, and he said more gent
y. "Phil. I've grown to like you. and II
;ou believe in God as we believe in |
Him up here-if you believe He tells
hing. in the stars, the winds, and
hings like this. If you're afraid Of
ieath-take some grub and 60 back!
mean it. Phil, for If you stay, an fight |
here is going to be but one end. l will
ill you"