Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1913-10-15

strong souled men of the far north,
and JAMS lips did not beg. He un-
wrapped the bear skin and whispered:
"FOr the museek of the violon- some
ting to eatv
He played even as the words fell
from him, but only for a 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
something of the wild beauty that
cleaned in JAMS. For an instant
those eyes had met in the savage rec
ognition of blood, 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 be 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; be
asked nothing. But he saw the spirit
of alteration in the sad, tense faces of
the men.
1t was not hard for Jan to under
stand, for he, too, worshiped the mem
DRY of white, sweet face like the one
that he had seen in the cabin. He
knew that this worship at Lac Balm
was pure worship, for the honor of
the big SHOWS was part Of his soul.
1t was his religion and the religion Of
these others who lived 400 miles or
more from a southern settlement.
1t meant what civilization could not
MISUNDERSTANDING and slow starva-
ton rather than theft and respect for
the Tenth Commandment above all
other things 1t meant that up 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 a love that was neither
possession nor sin.
wife into the north, man came to
the post from Fort Churchill, on Hud-
sons bay. He was an Englishman
belonging to the home office of the
Hudson's Bay company in London. He
brought with him something new, as
the woman had brought something
new, only in this instance it was an
element of life which Cummins' peo-
pie could not understand.
Cummins was away for a month on
trapline that went into the barren
lands. At these times the woman fell
as heritage to those who remained,
and they watched over her as a parent
might guard it's child. Yet the keen
est eyes would not have perceived that
this was so.
With Cummins gone the tragedy pro-
crossed swiftly toward finality. The
EngliShman came from among women.
For months he had been in a torment
of desolation. Cummins' wife was to
him like a flower suddenly come to re-
lieve the tantalizing barrenness of
desert. and with the wiles and ways
of civilization he sought to breathe its
fragrance.
AS yet there was no suspicion in her
soul. She accepted the Englishman's
friendship, for he was a stranger
among her people. She did not hear
the false note, she saw no step that
promised evil. Only the men at the
post heard and saw and understood.
But they were quiet. evaded the Eng
lishman as much as possible and
watched-always watched.
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 dia-
monds into her eyes when she saw the
stranger standing there. The mans
red face grew redder, and he shifted
his gaze. When Cummins' wife pass
ed him she drew her skirt close to
her.
That night Mukee, the half Cree,
skunk around in the edge Of the forest
to see that all was well in Cummins'