The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-08-12


get hold of for Guthrie at Il good price
il the Indians would wait. but the
lure of the schooner's trade-goods,
within easy reach, would be too much
for the mercurial Crees, unless the
strait froze and they could cross to
Elkwan for the New Years festivities.
The strait impossible, Garth and
Etienne knew that the bulk of the
valuable fur would go to Mcdonald.
That was the problem they faced as
they sat in the trade-house on their
return. and made their plans.
what makes you think that Saul
can get them to hold their fur and
keep away from the schooner Guthrie
asked. Since Etienne's two evenings
of smoke talk with old Saul, in his
shack at Elkwan. before the Treaty
Chief was landed on the island, the
head man had acquired an optimism
which somewhat puzzled his superior
The black eyes Of the half-breed
snapped. Il t'ink Saul weel max de
mediein' for dem. He ees beeg shaman
wild dose Elkwan an Kapiskau Cree"
Can he control all his own people?"
"Some ov dem-some not, mebbe."
"What has medicine making got to
do with getting our share of the trade,
anyway"
Again Etienne's leather-skinned face
broke into a network of fine lines
as his eyes lighted with amusement
"You see. M'sieu' Guthrie, wen he
start to work"
Garth was interested. He had
thought only of Saurs influence as
Treaty Chief. The use Of magic in
the defeat of McDonald's plans lent a
new angle to the matter.
"You mean that he's going to hold
a pow-wow of some kind and declare
that the schooner is bad medicine
haunted by evil spirits?''
well" mebbe he have dream dat
schoonair breeng bad luck, yes. Mebbe
he see devil on dat schoonair, 1 dom
know. He tell me he weel max de
medicine-lodge on de ISLAM"
"Well, I'll be d-dw 1t had never
entered Garth's mind that the reputa-
ton of old Saul as one having intimate
relations with spirits, good and evil,
could be put to use on the island. But
the willy old Cree haG evidently taken
it for granted that he was to set his
powers as conjurer against the odds
which confronted the factor of Elkwan.
"Etienne, it's a great idea! If he
can bewitch that schooner, we'll lick
'em yeti"
"Old Saul say he not know what he
do. Some hunter ovair dere are stran-
ger. He TAX de dog an go see dem,
den he max medfcine-lodge and
breeng all the Injun to hear de spirit
talk"
The idea was masterful. If the old
shaman could convince the hunters Of
Akimiski that the schooner was
''tabu,' forbidden ground TO the Crees
that it was the haunt of demons and
spirits who had taken this method to
lure the Crees to perdition, he could
hold much of the trade for Elkwan.
Neryously pacing the floor, Guthrie
voiced his enthusiasm for old Saul's
plan.
'Etienne, if he can bewitch the
schooner, we'll make them work to
get that fur. Why, we can use the
very name against them-The Ghost
Haunted with Gevils, The Devil Ship !!
That's the idea! Laughing Mcdonald
may not get the haul he figures on,
after ALL
Into the night, the two discussed the
plan of the old Indian to undermine
the operations of Mcdonald Ha! Ha !!
against the fox pelts of Akimiski. But
when he sought his bed, the thoughts
| of Garth Guthrie were of the short.
swift days when girl with dark,
| strengthening eyes and a mass of
unruly hair whose Grant tendrils de-
fed restraint, had noiselessly taken
charge of the house and the stricken
Ninda-who had, with such delicacy,
eased the sting of the tragedy which
! followed his homecoming.
To the girl who, in her blond lowell
ness, smiled from his dresser, In the
dim candle light, Garth vouchsafed the
! acknowledgment of a doustful shake
of the head. THE sister-in-law Of the
great Sir Charles Guthrie" he quoted
| from Clara's letter. mo, you haven't
changed, my dear. You're the same
old Ethel" And he blew out the
candle. But before he slept, he told
| himself that whatever Christmas might
| bring in the way of i'll luck to Elkwan,
| it would be compensated for by the
arrival of the mail team from Albany
with Joan Quarters promised letter.
Frozen in under the lee of the tim
berless hills circling the cove, the
schooner of Laughing Mcdonald lay
sheathed with ice and snow, snugly
wedged in her winter berth, her bare
poles and stack, from the galley, alone
marking her in the litter of broken ice.
In the cramped area of the little
cabin, piled with boxes, sat three
men: Skene, the middle-aged New
foundland mate, with the short leg
| Breault. the master, big, black-beardeG,
beefy, with small, hard eyes, which
shifted overmuch as he talked; and
| on a strongly made wooden box with a
| heavily stenciled end, was doubled the
third. Although hunched on the box
| of ammunition, his long arms clasping
! his knees, the lean bulk and length
of the man were manifest From the
sleeves of his arctic overshirt, wrists
and hands, eloquent Of the bone and
thews muffled in the thick clothes,