The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-06-30
CHAPTER XVIU-Continued.

The door opened taen a very little,
Ind the frightened face Of an Indian
woman appeared in the crack. The
woman evidently had expected-and
:eared-some arrival, and was reas'
Bured when she saw only a girl. She
threw the door wider open, and bent
10 help ~unfasten ConStance's snow
shoes; having done that, she led her
In and closed the door.
"Where is your man?' Constance
tad caught the wOman's arm.
"They sent him TO the beach. a
2hlp has sunk"
"Are there houses near here? You
must run to kne of them ut once.
Bring whoever you can get; or If you
won't do that, tell me where to GO
The woman stared at her s.olidly
ana moved away. None near she
said. Besides, you could mo- get
somebody before some one will come"
"Who Is that?"
Gle is on the beach-Henry Spear
man. He comes here to warm him
self. 1t is nearly time he comes
again"
Constance gazed at her; the woman
was plainly glad of her coming. Her
rel,ef-relief from that fear she had
been feeling when she opened the door
was very evident. I. was Henry,
then, who had frightened her.
The Indian woman set a chair for
her beside the stove, and put water In
a pan to heat; she shook tea leaves
from d box into a bowl and brought a
cup.
slow many on that ship?"
altogether there were thirty
nine," Constance replied.
"Seven are living then"
"Seven? What have you heard!
What makes you think so?"
THAT is what the Drum says"
The Drum! There was a Drum
then At least there vas some sound
which people heard and which they
called the Drum. For he had
heard il.
Constance grew suddenly cold. For
twenty lives, the said, the
Drum had beat; that meant to her
and to Constance too now, that seven
were left. Indefinite, desperate denial
that all from the ferry must be dead
that denial which had been strength,
ened by the news that at least one
boat had been adrift near Beaver
altered in Constance to conviction OF
n boat with seven men from the ferry
seven dying, perhaps, but no. yet
dead. Seven out of twenty-seven
The score were gone; the Drum had
beat for them in little groups rs they
died. When the Drum beat again
would it beat beyond the score?
Having finished the tea, Constance
returned to the door and reopened it
the sounds outside were the same. A
solitary figure appeared moving along
the edge Of the ice-the figure Of 6
tall man, walking on snowshOes
moonlight distorted the figure, and il
was muffled, too, in a great coat which
made it unrecogniZable. He halted
and stood looking out at the iaAo and
then, with a sudden movement, strobe
on; he halted again, and now Con
stance got the knowledge that he was
not looking; he was listening as she
was.
us the Drum sounding now?" she
asked the woman.
"No."
Constance gazed again at the man
and found his motion quite unmistak'
able he was c~ounting-if not counting
something that he heard, or thought he
heard, he was recounting and review
ing within himself something that he
had heard before-sOme irregular
rhythm which ha6 become so much 9
part Of him that 1t sounded con
tinually within his own brain; so that
instinctively, he moved in cadence tC
It. He stepped forward again now
and turned toward the house.
Her breath caught as she spoke &c
the wOman "Mr. Spearman is coming
>here now!
Her impulse was to remain where
she was, lest he should think she was
afraid Of him but realization came tC
her that there might be advantage In
seeing him before he knew that she
was there, SO she reclosed the door and
drew back into the cabin.