Evening star., 1916-09-17

him when it is dark. | will make up
pack, and within an hour we must CO. If
Hauck comes to your room before then,
or Brokaw, kill him with the knife, Sake
wawin! If you don't, they will kill you'll
Her voice broke in gasp that was like
sob. He struggled to rise, stood sway
ing before her, his legs unsteady as stills
under him.
"My gun, Marge-my pistol" he said,
trying to reach out his arms. "If | had
them now"
"They must have taken them,' she in
terrupted. "But l have Nisikoos' rifle,
Sakewawin! OH must hurry! They
won't come to my room, and Marcee is
perhaps dead. AS soon as it is dark will
unlock your door. And if one of them
comes before then you must kill him!
You must You must!'
She had backed to the door, and now
she opened it and was gone A key
clicked in the lock again, he heard her
swift footsteps in the hall, and a second
door opened and closed.
For a few moments he stood without
moving. She had not been in his room
more than minute or two. She had been
terribly frightened, terribly afraid of dis
covery before her work was done. On the
floor at his feet lay the knife. That was
why she had come; that was what she had
brought him! His blood began to tingle;
he could feel it little in his numbed
legs and arms. He leaned over slowly
and picked up the weapon.
The chanting of Wapi and his people
was only distant murmur. Through the
high window came the sound of returning
voices-the voices Of white men!
There swept through him the wild thrill
of the thought that once more the fight
was up to him. Marge O'Doone had done
her part. She had struck down the Indian
woman whom Hauck had placed over her
as guard-had escaped from her room,
freed him, and put knife into his hands.
The rest was his fight. How long before
Brokaw or Hauck would come? Would
they give him time to get the blood run
ming through his body again? Time to gain
strength to use his freedom-and the knife?
HE began to walk slowly across the
room, pumping his arms up and down.
His strength returned quickly. He went
to the pail of water and drank deeply
with consuming thirst. The water re-
freshed him, and he paced back and forth
more and more swiftly, until he was
breathing steadily and he could harden
his muscles and knot his fists.
He looked at the knife. 1t was hor-
rible necessty-the burying of that steel
into mans back or his heart! Was there
no other way, he wondered? He began
searching the room. Why hadn't Marge
brought him a club instead of knife, or
at least club along with the knife? To
club man down, even when he was in
tent on murder, wasn't like letting out his
life in a gush of blood. And there was
nothing in the room, nothing
His eyes rested on the table. In mo-
ment he had turned it over and was
wrenchng at one of the wooden legs. 1t
broke off with sharp snap, and he held
in his hand a weapon possessing many
advantages over the knife. The latter he
thrust in his belt with the handle just
back of his hip. Then he waited.
1t was not for long. The western noun
tains had shut out the last reflections of
the sun. Gloom was beginning to fill his
room, and he numbered the minutes as
he stood with his ear close to the door,
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