Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1925-08-26

Curran pulled at his pipe, also SEEM
ing nightly unconcerned.
Hast thou thought of these wo-
men and children?" he asked after
a time.
Strong, able women are they"
said the old man, feeling the edge of
his axe with his thumb. '"Ihou
shouldst see my woman at the net
ting of whitefish and the stretching
OF pelts. Her paddle in a canoe is
that OF a strong man, young and
we'll fed.
my daughter is the child of my
younger days. Few are as able.
Neither of them after I die will have
trouble about getting a man to help
IN trapping. Thou knowest that the
hunting grounds among our people
always belong to the woman. She
inherits it from her own mother.
Anishku, my wife, and Ameou,
daughter of my first woman, have
trapping places that were owned by
their people since before the white
man came to this post.
There will be many to seek
Ameou now for the sake of her beau
ty and for the goodness of her hunt
ing land. Even in ten years from
now, should not die till then, there
might be suitors for Anishku. More
over, by that time her two boys
would be grown men,"
The ole man was scraping out his
pipe suggestively. Curran handed
ann plug.
81 have it in mind that | shall re-
lain here many years." said Curran
liter another silence. II need a
woman to look after the dwelling and
Jear sons for me. | do not wish to
peak to Ameou just now, because
ne is still grlevlng; but might con-
der the taking of her for a wife.
hus couldst thou live here quietly,
ways in the midst of plenty for
nee and thine"
The old man had long ago dis
erned the drift of all this talk. He
look ais head inditferently, as if
lie matter concerned him little; vet
e was by no means displeased.
Lorimer had certainly proved a
oeral son-in-law, and the lines of
le chiefs living since the marriage
ad certainly been cast in pleasant
aces. He had not the SLIGHTEST OBJ
lection to renewing such IA agree.
able state Of affairs.
"Ameou is fine woman" he said
at length. "Like her there is none
other for beauty of looks and dill
gence. A few weeks hence, when her
sorrow is less, / may speak to her Of
this matter. | can speak with thee
at some ether time as to what am
to get for the woman, as is our Gus
TOM"
Curran merely grunted in answer.
So far everything was all right. OF
course, he had no prejudice against
tie idea of paying for wife.
The custom, in its origin, was
fair one. The woman always inher-
tied the Lifting grounds from which
the husband was to get the benefit.
1t was, therefore, proper that he
should pay for the double privilege
marrying the woman and obtain
ing something that was Equivalent
to dowry. The agent, however,
was not man concerned by ques-
tons Of propriety and morality.
Scruples, large or small, had never
hindered any of his actions. TO ride
roughshod over obstacles had ever
been his method of overcoming them.
The two held some further con-
versation, which was interrupted by
the arrival of some Nascaupees IN
two canoes. They had been drying
fish for couple of weeks on the
river to the southwark. Now, be-
fore going northeast for their win
ter's hunt, they wanted some goods
from the post.
Tho +roJino fo0lI oo,7DIo p
hours. Then, with one exception,
the men left the store. He was IN
ill-favored fellow known as Ituaga-
nu, or Scarface, because. in former
years bear with a sweep of his paw
had partly torn one of the mans
cheeks away.
Scarface looked about him eau
tiously to see if the coast was clear.
Then he pulled from beneath his
coat the pelt of cross-fox. 1t was
a skin of very fine quality, so nearly
approximating true silver color
that it was worth a large price.
Curran looked at it, brushed back
the soft fur, estimated it's length,
and studied every inch of the pelt for
possible defects.
ut is early in the year." he said
briefly.
"The nights are already cold" said
Scarface. "The fox was only caught
ten days ago, for l had seen many
tracks near the place where we were
fishing. But the hair is thick and
long already. 1t could not be better
during the coolest day in winter. 1t
is good skin"
Till nightfall they discussed the
price and haggled bitterly.
Curran had made up his mind that
this was one of the pelts which the
company never need know anything
about. The upshot of it all was that
the Indian went on his way with ten
dollars worth of goods and a bottle
of strong drink for a skin surely
worth two or three hundred.
Curran, as was his habit in such
cases, had exacted secrecy and OBJ
tanned promise that there would be
no drinking until after the Indian
left the post. Theft from the COM
pany and the selling of liquor to In
dians, prison offense, seemed to
the agent an easy way of accumulat-
ing money.
Scarface, however, soon decided
that small taste of liquor was joy
that needed no postponement. The
first strangling swallow of diluted
alcohol brought tears to his eyes and
severe coughing, but it was rapture