Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-06-22

my life IL / dared suggest such 3
thing"
Wilton frowned involuntarily at tht
reference TO the pretty young wifi,
whom Joe Bostock had married IN
Winnipeg the year before. Joe's frs,
marriage had been unhappy; II hac
been long ago, and Wilton knew there
had been a separation. though Joe
was always reticent about that.
Kitty was five and thirty years
younger than Joe. and she had Inter.
vened into a fast friendship Of more
than a decade between Joe and VIII
ton. II made a difference. as II always
does. though Joe had sworn IT should
not. and Kitty thought the world Of
Wilton.
Wilton could never understand his
secret feeling about Kitty. She was
devoted 4 Joe. Perhaps that was
what lay beneath his latent antago-
nism toward her. He was jealous of
her. He vas jealous Of a woman's
love for Joe.
II guess mott" said Joe Bostock
again, pressing his hand hard down
on Wilton's shoulder.
And, In hat instant, Wilton heard
blow on the upper part of the left arm.
which knocked him to the ground As
he fell. Joe Bostock pitched forward
upon him.
Twice Joe's lips quivered. as If he
was trying to speak. Then the lower
jaw dropped and the eyes rolled up.
ward. A grayish pallor crept over the
face.
Wilton saw that Joe's mackinaw had
a tiny tear In II, over the breast. A
trickle of blood seeped through the
Cloth He wrenehed the garment open
with his right hand. pulled up the
sweater. and tore the shirt apart. The
heart. fluttering like a wounded bird.
stopped under his hand. Joe sighed
once, but he never stirred again. The
Bostock's heart from the back. And.
as he tried to raise Joe's body, Wilton
realized that the same bullet had
broken his left arm. which hung limp
from the shoulder.
He sprang TO his feet, a mad
wrath giving Daes TO him his ebbing
strength. He glared about him. but
II was impossible to ascertain from
where the shot had m He could
not even locate the direction within
a hundred degrees, for Joe had been tn
the act Of turning. Nobody was in
sight, and the woods were silent.
His believing call Of fury that went
echoing through the trees ELECTED NJ
answer. He tore strips from his hand
kerchief. holding 1t between his teeth,
and. with his left hand on his knee.
knotted them about a stick and Inn
provised a tourn!quet. The blood was
squirting down his sleeve In jets, the
pain was intense. and L. was impos-
sIbIe to take off the mackinaw and
hope to replace his arms In It; but
he twisted with all his force until the
diminishing flow showed that he had
compressed the artery. Thrusting the
longer end of the stick beneath his
armpit, he passed the other through
the %buttonhole of the garment, and.
STOPPING, managed to get Joe's body
upon his shoulder and to hold 1t with
his right arm.
His impulse was to carry Joe's body
back TO the camp. but he knew that II
would be impossible to make the dis
We - 1naya IL mould ~,~..
the certainty of mutllatIon by bears
or timber-woIves unless he could
build a caIrn OF And OF hat
he WIS equally incapable. He set
Ioe's body down, and, In the first full
realization of his loss and his predica-
ment, he shouted curses to the sky.
That murder had been intended he
lid not believe; no doubt the shot had
been a bullet fred at some nearer
mark, perhaps a hare. and by one of
the half-breeds. He suspected that
the transit-bearer, following them up,
had fred the shot, and, seeing the IA
had fed.
But the thought that this might be
the explanation was only a fleeting
one. Joe was dead, and his body must
be cared for, just as IL he were alive
taken back to the camp and thence
of the woods. There was no pos
Of leaving Joe's body there.
Yet 1t scanned to him that he could
not hope to reach the camp. And
now another idea came to him.
II was seven miles back to the camp.
but only five to the portage over the
swamp. Upon the other side
Of the portage was a trail that came
nut of the prairie southwark and
wound fate the @unknown-aerth
Along this Indians brought their win
Ter catches 10 the ~tradtng-store of t
Mcdonald, the factor OF the Haason,s
Bay company.
Travelling was hard along the shore
,f the great Muskeg. but ii would
two miles less. and II was inst
TO make the store. McDon-
hid was a queer. tsciturn. sometimes
genomous old man, and had evinced q
strong dislike OF Wilton on the occn-
SION OF their last meeting. Yet Me-
Donald would shelter him and racaIw~ L