The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1927-10-07

"Kequay called Savanna. "w'er,
you goy'
Leaving his painting dogs, VIII,
straightway lay down on the ice, tn,
stranger hurried to the sled from Elk
wan. AS he approached, IL was evi
dent TO the two men that the Cree wa
laboring under strong excitement. Hi
sled was heavily loaded and his har,
breathing indicated that he had rul
much CROSSING the strait. Staggerin,
up, he gasped: de boat-evair dere
All gone! McDonaP Ha! Hal dead
all dead''
What" cried Garth, ''the schooner's
crew-deadT
You come from dere-you see
demT demanded the astute Etienne
A slnewy hand shot out. and gripping
the Cree's shoulder, shook him vIO-
lently.
You see dem? How manyr re.
peated the half-breed- searching the
Indians face In an attempt to probe
the truth Of his statement
II see one dead man. No answer
when l YELL" insisted the other, and
seemingly al the memory Of the ship
Of the dead, his small eyes filed with
dread.
What happened7 Was this man
shot?" demanded Garth, exchanging
giances with Savanna.
He die of sickness look an
run. It was YER bad down dere cen
dat boat" said the Indian with q
shudder.
Were the dogs thereT
II see no dog"
Were you from?" snarled Sa-
vanne. thrusting face fierce with sus-
picion, into the Cree's.
From de Kapiskau. I go to de
boat TO trade some fox"
You get dat -four from de boat
steal it," hazarded Etienne, guessing
at the nature of the bulky load on the
Indians sled.
The Cree nodded. "Dey not use ii
now"
The swart face Of the head man at
Elkwan hardened into creased leather
as he turned to Garth, and whispered /:
Il don lax dis ting. He see one man.
Mebbe de oders ambush US. What
we do?"
Pm going over to find out. It's my
duty. Boucher will wait for days.
They may not all be dead. I'm going"
suppose eet ees a trick? Suppose
de ones not dead wait for der re-
vanche, wen We Gomez"
Wen stalk 'em and see."
Dropping his mittens and deliber-
ately reaching under his capote,
Etienne drew his skinning knife. Cool
ly running a thumb over the edge, he
thrust his face into that of the dis
turbed Indian while his slit-like eyes
snapped as he bit of the words: You
lie! McDonaI' Ha! Ha! SEN you to
kapiskua. You spik de trut', or T.
and seizing the Indian by his hood,
he made a quack pass at his throat.
Overawed by the ferceness of the
strangers, the understood Cree swayed
on his feet, repeating in his seeming
terror: Il spik de trut'. You go to
de boat-you seer
I'VE go to de boat-an' you go Wild
u.s." snarled Etienne.
At the words, the Indians face went
gray. DE SPIRIT am scare to 90
back" he protested: but the ine1or-
able Etienne ordered him to turn his
dogs and lead the way back.
1t was hard on the hunter, if his
story was straight, but boarding a
waiting Mcdonald in his lair was not
to be lightly hazarded-
Il think the man is honest, Etienne.
He naturally hated to go again TO the
ship. But what could have happened
-fu-smallpo1T
Savanna shook his head. Only re-
Gently the bay had been swept by In
fiuenza, brought In by a whaler, i'm
partially striking down Eskimos, In
dians, and dogs, but he was still sus-
picious of a cOunterstroke by the
schooner people, sore from their de-
feat, and confidently expected a con-
fession from the dog driver ahead be-
fore the dusk caught them. Guthrie,
on the contrary, believed that some
epidemic, or possibly scurvy, had
stricken the crew, and wondered if the
great Mcdonald, in the pride of his
strength, had found a grave in the
Akimiski ice.
The Indian had seen but one body
and fed, so he said; but the schooner
had been silent as tomb Queer that
all had died, so soon. As he left. he
had called repeatedly from the deck,
without answer, except once, family,
he had heard something-like the
voice of a spirit.
When the Cree had reluctantly
cached his load Of -four and they
started TO cross the twenty miles of
ice, he begged them not TO force him
into that grave Of white men. The
ship was haunted by demons, an In
dian from the north had said. They
had brought the sickness-were dis
pleased with Mcdonald Ha Ha and
would surely bewitch him If he again
went to that ship Of the dead. But
Etienne insisted that the seeming fear
Of the Cree was only a ruse to lead
them into the trap while he hung back
and thus avoided a shot In the back
for his treachery.
CTO BE CONTINUED