The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-04-08

men"
You have my promise" said Hilary.
that they shall not sell liquor ia st.
Bonlfnce. And by heaven I'll smash
nny man who tries TO corrupt my peo-
pier he added. with vehemence that
surprised himself.
Hilary slept poorly that night. T-ou-
BILE seemed TO be thickening about him.
Had he, indeed, the power TO handle
these Wild people whose very tongue
he could hardly understand7
Then, out of the darkness, there
rose. in vivid portrayal, the face of
Madeleine Rosny. He admitted now
how much she meant to him. enough
to make any venture worth the while.
lie thought Of their last meeting; and
In spite OF II he dared to dream Of a
happier one to come.
Before he fell asleep he had decided
10 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 an
accurate Idea of the extent of the
Rosny selgniory.
Characterlstically he put his plan
into practice two days later, when the
down boat arrived, instructing Lafe to
hold up the dynamiting till his return.
Lafe saw him off, 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,
having business with the customs office
with reference to a shipment of ma
chinery, 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-
date investment on territory with
such a 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.
II 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 striking?r
'No, Mr.. Askew. That's the bright
est point In the situation. MACPHERSON,
the foreman, tells me that it's called
off. Brousseau's dropped that maneu-
yer, for some reason of his own"
"Whats the trouble, thenf"
81 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
uprcar till Sunday morning. Not
stroke of work has been done here till
yesterday, which means a four-day
week, The men are only juf SOLDERING
up now.
However, that amt the worst. by a
long sight. It's sort of open secret
that they're going to open up st. Boni-
face wide. and Simeon's-"
you mean Simeon has dared TO
start one of his hells here while / was
away" 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 II 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 TO
pieces, and he's going to have dance
hall there and sell brandy"
Hilary raped out an oath. "Not II
l have anything to say" he answered.
"Nor me-" said Lafe. "The trouble
is, where do we start In? We can't
fight the whole town single-handed. I
was wondering whether we couldn't
wire the revenue people"
"Nol" said Hilary sharply. "Werl
fight our own battles, Lafe."
Lafe subsidized in hurt sort of way.
The evidences of decentralization were
obvious in st. Boniface. The men were
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
airy 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 emp and the unsmiling saces,
while no. hostile, watched him with