Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1926-03-18

with rine.
Get de stun on de sled. qHeek r
cried the excited Ojibway. Here ees
de word from Michel :" And he thrust
into Steele's hands roll OF birch bark
on which, In the syllable writing OF
the woods Indian. was burned the
message from Michel. In Ojibway, left
at the Jack pine BY Little Jacques
"Come to Portage LAX. fas'," read
David over Steele's shoulder 'Plen-
tee work for de dogl Michel"
In his delight. Steele slapped the
heavy caribouAslsin- eaPote OF his friend.
The WindIgo's loose over In the val
Ieyi" he cried. "When can we get
there. II the snow holds of -
"We camp at Portage LAX cen tree
sleep-mebbe two. De dogs ees tired
/ leeve Wailin' Rlviere onlee one sleep
back" replied the Ojlbway. making
the bags fast with the sled lashings
Through the day the team hurried
past the silent spruce-clad hills OF the
valley of the Little Medicine. Through
the day the men cast anxious looks at
the black cloud-banks lowering in the
north. for no snow had fallen In a
week and II was overdue. To his de-
light, Steele had already learned the.
the dog could easily hold to a fresh
rrail over the Ice or hard snow. packed
by the wind. But fall Of new snow
on q trail was another matter, and
the wlndlgo might not stay In the
country.
That night they camped on the
waillng. and Ia the morning pushed
on up the STOPPING river trail to Port
age lake, following the sled trucks OF
Little Jacques. still the snow held
on. but Portage lake and Michel were
fifty miles away.
In the early afternoon Of the sec
ond day from the waillng. when the
narrowing of the river and the break
IN the hills ahead Indicated their near
ness to their goal. the snow they
feared began to fall. Shortly Little
Jacques sled trail grew fainter and
falnter on the wind-packed snow. and |
vanished. And by the time the team
turned into Portage lake and sought
camping place In the thick scruh /
back from the shore. men and dogs
were sheeted in white.
'HYell, we've lost again =" said |
Steele, bitter with disappointment.
1--WE know bettalr wen we see
Michel" replied the philosophic In
dian.
Soon, as the early November nieht
shut down. like blanket. on the
white lake. the birch logs blazed high
a,efore the shed-tent and the tea pail
md the kettle OF moose stew were
sImmerIng over red Goals
IF the old boy Is hose now, he'll
appear and sing again somewhere.
There's some consolation In that"
dropped Steele. as he filled his pipe
ave strike hees trail yet, you new
aire-" David broke short of, to rise
and peer suddenly into the wall Of
murk hemming in the fire In the
scrub. then walked swiftly into the
blackness beyond the circle OF light
from the fire.
"What Is it, DavldT" called the man
NJ the FIRE. But there was no re-
Spouse from the other who had faded
into the night.
The excited dogs broke into q I
chorus OF howls TO the accompaniment
Of the bass OF the hound. There was
out there In the snow-cur {
-aIned gloom. Steele rose TO his feet /
Then a voice called; "Bo'-jol Da- I
seed =, And he knew that Michel had Z
found them. 4
"Hello. Mlcheli- he cried. shaking Z
he hand OF the Iroquois, who pre- /
,eded David to the campfire. ave b
lid our best to beat the snow here.
tut it was no use. Now tell US about o
Il" o
Seated with his friends by the Il
tanning birch logs. the headman told Z
IFS story. o
When he and Jacques reached the l
little Current, he had found all but q
ew OF the most tlmId hunters on o
heir trap-lInes. There had been ru- P
nors afoat In the valley OF the howl y
ne Of the beast at Big Feather. but
he Portage lake hunters had refused
o listen TO an Indian who claimed e
hat he had heard the Windigo. In n
on the ridge across from
vailIng River post
Dat Pierre. he try do good Job. A
ut was Pierre, was TT"
yes. he try hard to scare dem on =
e Little Curren. too" A
But to the surprise OF Michel. he
eturned to Portage lake to find a =
amp Of hunters he had left but two A
avs before. Wild with fear and pre-
airing to leave the country. For. In
Is absence. the Windigo had filled A
ne night with horror from a neigh
DrIng ridge. Michel had lost no time Al
finding the trail and following II
own to a creek where he lost II on
he ice. and although he followed the -,
ream for miles, failed again to pick :,
up. Then he sent Little Jacques -
ith the message which David found
. the rendezvous =.
swell, he's in this country and wen -