The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-03-27
THE FREE TRADERS

brought to trial and convicted, 1t will
almost certainly be for manslaughter
His sentence will be a nominal one
Quite probably it will be impossible ia
produce the witnesses required to con.
vict at all. In such case he will go
free.
HE has acted ill-advisedly. He
should never have fled. His best
course will be to surrender. He will
find himself free man In a little
while, instead of hunted outlaw.
VIII you unite with me in persuading
him to surrender?"
She shook her head. "We always
told him that-my mother and l." she
answered. But the thing had crazed
him, he hated civilization after 1t hap
pened. He was insane upon that sub
ject. He will never surrender.
Let me try to picture to you what
happened, and the treachery and faith
lessness that have always pursued
him. When my father fled from the
law he came here and settled with my
time we were very happy. My father
trapped, and in those days this was
one of the richest fur districts in
Canada.
'But my father was an educated
man, and in his heart he was always
chatting against his exile. He always
cherished the hope some day to take
us south where 1 could be educated
properly. Then in an evil day he fam
cied he had discovered a gold NINE
1T became a mania with him. He
would tell no one where it was, except
Jacques Leboeuf, an old servant, whom
he trusted. They used to 60 off by
night and work 1t together My father
was always talking about the gold he
had collected. He wanted to develop
the mine, to sell 1t for a fortune, but
he was always afraid of being dis
covered and he put it off and put 1t
off; and neither my mother nor / ever
believed in the mine.
''Then in an evil day a man called
Railway came up. He was small
whisky peddler He had committed
some crime against the Indians. He
had been beaten, pursued, and was
half dead when my father saved HIM
from their vengeance. He took him
in and fed and protected him. Rath.
way learned of the mine, and was al
ways searching for it, but neither my
father nor LebOeuf would tell him
where It was. Once he tried to spy
on them, and LebOeuf had him by the
throat and would have killed him IL
my father had not interviewed in
time.
''My mother died. Railway grew
fat and consequential, lived here,
helped my father with his traps, and,
though for long time my father did
not know it, continued debauching the
Indians with his whisky. When was
a girl of seventeen he began to take
notice Of me. He said he loved me.
I didn't know much about love, but
/ knew hated him. Then one day my
father came in from the woods just in
time to protect me from him, and he
shot Railway through the arm.
HE was aiming again to shoot him
through the heart, for he was terrible
when his anger was reused, when
Railway, standing facing him, with
his arm dripping blood, coolly told him
he knew that my father had COM
mitted one murder already, and that
the facts were In his possession. writ
ten down and left for safety with a
friend in the south. The change in my
father was dreadful. He dropped his
rifle, he seemed almost demented. His
fears for my future, conflicting with
his fears for the present and his fears
of Railway. broke his WILL
after that, Railway stayed on and
on. and they were always talking to-
gether, and Railway threatened my
father, but still my father refused to
show him the mine, in spite of his
threats. My father wanted all of the
gold for met was his mania.
"Once Leboeuf came to my father
and offered to kill Railway, but my
father refused, and Lebouef, who was
devoted to him, never thought of dis
obeying his strict command.
THAT happened before the Free
Traders were organized in Montreal,
but already the hooch sellers were
getting together. They had estab-
lished a number of posts, one of them
at Lake MisQuash, miles away, a
weeks tourney north of here. Rath-
way went to Lake Misquash to confer
with them. AS soon as he was gone,
my father seized the opportunity to
send me away south to convent, to
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