The Dolores star., 1920-06-11

protection, and they are dangerous
men"
"You have my promise" said Hilary,
"that they shall not sell liquor IN o.
| Boniface. And by heaven I'll smash
any man who tries TO corrupt my peo-
nile !" he added, with vehemence that
| surprised himself.
Hilary slept poorly that night. irou-
HE seemed to be thiCkeTing about him.
Had he. indeed. the power to handle
these wild people whose very tongue
he could hardly understand
Then. out OF the darkness, there
rose. in vivid portrayal, the face oil
Madeleine Rosny. He admitted now
how much she meant to him, enough
TO make any venture worth the while.
He thought of their last meeting; ana
in spite Of 1t he dared to dream of
happier one to come.
Before he fell asleep he had decided
to go to Quebec and try TO secure
some jobber to take over Leblancs
lease. At the same time he would
look up the land records and get nn
accurate idea of the extent of the
Rosny selgniory.
Enthusiastically. he put his plan
into practice two days later. when the
down boat arrived. instructtng Lafe TO
hold up the dynamiting till his return.
Lafe saw him OF, and he had hardly
arrived on board before discovering
that Morris had embarked at Ste.
Marie. Hilary suspected him of hav-
ing learned of his plan and spying on
him. The two men eyed each other.
but did not speak.
Hilary put up at the Frontenac and,
with reference to shipment Of ma
chnery, a small matter requiring re-
fund, he called there, and was disgust
ed to see Morris coming out of the rev.
enue department In conversation with
the assistant chief.
He failed'entirely in his attempts to
get jobber to suitcase Leblanc's
tract. There were plenty Of small men
willing to do so on the installment sys-
| TEN, but none willing TO risk an imme-
diate investment on territory with
such n reputation as st. Boniface had
unjustly acquired.
Hilary knew he had to thank Morris
for that. He returned to st. Boni-
face next day with only one thing ac.
complished. He had seen the land map
and ascertained that the upper reaches
Of Rocky river had been surveyed and
that the creek was wholly on his own
land. He found. too, with some sur
prise, that a large island out In the
Gulf was part of the Rosny domain.
1t had not appeared on Morris rough
map.
Lafe, who met him at the wharf,
looked worried
I'm glad you've come" he said. as
they drove to the mill together.
Things were pretty bad on Saturday
night"
They're strikingf"
mo, Mr.. Askew. That's the bright.
est point in the situation. MACPHERSON
the foreman, tells me that it's called
of. Brousseaus dropped that maneu,
yer. for some reason of his own"
| "nhlS tnG trouble, thenI
Il guess Brousseau's off on another
tack, Mr.. Askew. All the hands was
over to Ste. Marie on Saturday night
by special invitation from Simeon Du.
val, who owns the biggest dance hall
there. There was free drinks for every.
body, and the whole place was in an
uproar till Sunday morning. Not n
stroke Of work has been done here till
yesterday, which means four-day
week. The men are only just SOLDERING
up now.
However, that amt the worst, by n
long sight. It's sort Of open secret
that they're going to open up ST. Bonl-
face wide. and SImeOn's-"
You mean Simeon has dared to
start one of his hells here while | was
awayf cried Hilary angrily.
Not yet" said Lafe. There amt
no more liquor being sold here than
usual-yet. But they're going to open
up If they can. Simeon's brother Louis
has rented that house by the old sta
bles that Jean Baptiste used to occupy
last year before 1t began to go tC
pieces. and he's going to have dane,
hall there and sell brandy"
Hilary raped out an oath. mot 4
have anything to say" he answered
Nor me-" said Lafe "The troubl,
is where do we start in? We can
fight the whole town single-handed.
was wondering whether we couldn'
wire the revenue people"
mol said Hilary sharply. "WeI
fight our own battles, Lafe."
Lafe subsidized in hurt sort of way
The evidences of decentralization were
obvious in st. Boniface. The men wer,
slow and surly, the women sullen
slatternly and hopeless-looking. 1t was
clear that they had little hope Hilary
could counter this new project. Hill
ary was aware Of feeling In the air
as If he was being tested He saw
furtive glances as he went by, he rec.
ognized reluctance In the sullen touch
OF the cap and the unsmiling faces,
| While nor bng,tla