Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-11-15
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The Man From the River

AAAS AAAN1L
The nan in the canoe was lean
and hardy, and welded the paddle
ain the slow-moving current of
ne wide river with q dexterity that
proclaimed long practice. His
bronzed face was that of a quite
young man. but his brown hair was
interspersed with gray; and his blue
eyes had a gravity incompatible
with youth, as if already he had ex-
perience of the seriousness of life,
and had eaten of its bitter fruits.
This was a northern post. of the
Hudson Bay Company, built in the
form of a hollow square with a
wide frontage open to the river. The
trading store, the warehouse, and
the factors residence with its trim
garden. occupied the other three
sides of the square, and along the
river front was a small floating
wharf. A tall fiag-pole rose above
The buildings, and the flag itself hut-
tered gaily in the summer breeze,
taking the eye at once with its brave
coloring.
The young man in the canoe no.
ticed it whilst he was half a mile
away and for a moment. ceasing his
padding, he looked at it doubtfully,
his brow puckering over his grave
eyes.
He dipped his paddle again. The
canoe ceased to drift and began to
forge ahead towards the post. Be-
fore he drew level with it, he started
TO steer across the current, but in
stead of making for the wharf,
beached his on the rather
m rch a. NH ~ fh0 nnrfh nf fhn
buildings; then having lifted it out
of the water. he stood to his full
height and stretched himself, for he
had been travelling in the canoe
eleven days and was conscious of
body stiffness owing to the cramped
position he had so long maintained.
Then he became aware of sounds
for which he had not listened-the
voices of men somewhere in the
posts enclosure, and, nearer at hand,
that of some one singing in some
soft Indian dialect. He turned
swiftly. and coming along a half-de-
fined path between the willows,
caught sight of the singer-a native
girl of amazing beauty.
Almost unconsciously the man
took a step forward. But at that
the girl, turning suddenly, fed be-
tween the willows like the creature
of the wild she was, and the man
checked himself and stood watching
until she was lost to view.
At the end of half an hour, having
lit a pipe. he strolled towards the
trading-post. Entering the Square
of the enclosure he looked nom
chalantly about him. Two men, half
breeds, were sitting on a roughly
made bench outside the store, smok-
ing and talking. Inside the store
a tall Indian was bartering with a
white man, whom he easily guessed
to be the factor and as he looked
round from the open door of the
factors house, emerged a white wo-
man whom he OWNED was the fac
tors wife. She was followed by a
rather dapper young man of medium
height, and who, most anonymously
in that wild Northland, sported a
single ~eyeglass. The man fell into
step by the woman's side, and to-
gether they began to walk across
the Square in the direction of the
store.
The man from the river watched
them idly, waiting where he was,
puHlUB 6lOWly at Ills plpS' diitbA thSS
drew almost level with him. Then
he stiifened suddenly. and an alert
look came in his eyes.
At the same moment the other
man, apparently becoming aware OF
his presence for the first time, stared
ut him calmly. almost insolently.
Then he started. The monocle drop
ped from his eye, and his face went
suddenly white. He half-paused in