Charlevoix county herald., 1914-08-22

MaShkaugan. Il am the only one
who is doomed to misery. How ter
rible must have been thy journey in
the woodsl There are few men who
could have made it. ! see now that
/ followed thy track, made yester'
day, that was as the path of drum
ken man. | would that / knew | may
some time reach a place of safety, as
thou hast, and the child | sought for
yesterday when | saw thee and fled,
thinking it was thy ghost"
upon earth a mans soul is within
his own keeping, Mashkaugan. The
only way to find happiness for 1T is
to keep it clean and undefiled."
At this moment the hunchback felt
that he was no longer master of his
own words. He could no longer pick
and choose them to tell whatever he
was minded to. Compulsion stronger
than his will swayed him now and
the food of his words came unre-
strained.
81 am accursedw he cried. Il
sought thy death! For DAYS and more
DAYS. for a week and still other
weeks | watched and watched, look
ing for some way to send thee to thy
doom so that no other man might
ever know that | had done it!
Travelling up the river, studied
the White Rapids, that had already
been the death of one nan, and when
we returned | followed thee, ready
to push thee into that awful place!
mot another man could have gone
through it and lived, but thou vert
saved to bring me to punishment. |
will not go to that prison again.
But of that thou knowest nothing
There is Atuks gun-in that corner
and thou canst shoot me if it is
thv ill, for | will not hold up
finger to hinder thee. Or al AK may
serve, or this sheath-knife that is
sharp and keen in the point.
eff swift death seems to good for
me thou canst drive it slowly, and
thou shalt see that ! will not move.
Kill me, Yellow Hair@kill me! |
have deserved death at thy hands,
and the Manitous bade thee pull me
from the water in order to place ven
geance in thy hands!'
His hands shook as he spoke. His
voice was harsh with emotion.
But at this moment they heard
steps outside. 1t was Atuk's wife
returning.
Thou hast taken up the little
one" she said. "He is surely hungry
again. Fortunate am | that | have
enough for thy son and mine. Give
him to me. The little Yellow Hair is
surely a sturdy one who will guide
thy footsteps when thou are become
old"
Lorimer gave her the child. For
some time there was silence in the
It. Finally the woman laid the
w down again.
'He will sleep now. / go out once
ire. The net has suffered little and
as full of whitefish. The storm has
gone down. 1t brought us luck rath-
er than harm"
When she went away again Lori
mer had lain down, feeling much OPP
pressed. There was a shrewd pain
in his side and a cough was begin
ming to rack his chest.
"Come nearer to me, Mashkau-
gan" ne said quietly. Thy tale
bears the sound of truth. | cannot
tell why such a hate was in thy
heart. We had hard words together
in days gone by, Tut if thou hadst
been in my place what wouldst thou
have done to one who did the things
| blamed thee for ?"
He coughed and went on:
81 think | care little to hear thy
reason. They must have been poor
ones or thy regret would not be so
great. Now thou shalt take my hand
in friendship and let bygones be by
cones.
81 bear no enmlty. Life would be
impossible for us two at the post as
enemies. Try and be a friend in
stead, as l shall.
al do not feel well, and think the
cold has done me some harm. | will
rest a while and try to sleep. Since
Ameou no longer lives | have often
been sorry ] did not remain in the
rapids"
al saw Ameuo a few hours agop
cried Mashkaugan. "She lives and
is longing for thee"
Lorimer sank senseless on his
couch. The toll of his journeying,
his efforts in the waters of the lake,
and now this sudden news proved too
much for him.
When the Indian woman returned
W Ine CtHl she lOunu Lndl LOTlIneT
was unconscious and that Mashkau-
gan sat by him, holding one of his
hands and weeping bitterly while he
watched every breath.
Then she also knelt by the sick
man, asking questions of the hunch-
back, after which she took from her
pack a bundle tied in birch bark,
from which she obtained dried
herbs and roots and bark gathered
in the spring-time when the sap is
pushing upward, and set them in
cooking-pot to simmer on the stove.
In a few moments their dreadful
odor filled the tent.
Lorimer soon revived, only to
chatter in a tongue unknown to the
woman, but which Mashkaugan un-
derstood, for it was English. The
wife fed her brood, after giving the
hunchback and her husband some
thing to eat. The night had come
and the wind had died down, while
myriad stars were shining very
bright and close at hand, as they do
in the far north.
Then she poured the liquor of her
brewing into a tin vessel, allowing It
IN cool and comnelled the patient TO