The Coolidge examiner., 1931-07-03

impulse which had sent him from
MatOZee's village began to choke
him with force that was sicken-
ing. 1t was his alOneness. The
vaStneSS Of the world. The sudden
going of the one who had re-
mained to make it habitable for
him. Without TOinette there was
no reason for its existence, no rea-
son why it should continue to give
him the warmth of life. TOinette
was dead. 1t was a fate predes-
tined from the beginning, some
thing he had always feared vague
l.. Nothing counted now: to kill
TiaOga and Shindas would not
cause a rift in the hopelessness
which lay ahead of him.
He advanced with a speed which
would have exhausted him at any
other time AS the hours passed,
an explanation for this haste
gathered in his consciousness. He
was going home. That in all of its
significance was the cabin in which
TOinette and he had lived. Their
home. A thing that had not gone
with her body and yet was a part
of her which he would find as he
had left ii when he came to the
end of the trail, unless Tiaoga
had destroyed that, too.
He reached Chenufsio. The place
! cleaned with pools of water. Sus-
piciOus dogs appeared to identify
him. but the people were asleep.
He found his cabin with the door
closed as it would have been if
Toinette were asleep inside. He
could feel her presence when he
entered. But she was not there,
He made a light cautiously and
screened Ii so that eyes outside
could not see. The floor, the walls,
the room were il!umined family.
He began to put his hands on
things, to gather them here and
there, making bundle of his
treasures on the table-her things.
When he had prepared the bundle
ne armed himself with q knife and
hatchet and his bow, then ex-
tinguished the light and went out,
closing the door behind him.
He sought Shindas, for his plan
was to kill him first.
Then he would kill Tiaoga. Shin
das was not in his tepee. The
! place was empty and his weapons
were gone, evidence that he was
away on journey. For few mo-
| mentS after this discovery, Jeems
stood in the shadow of an oak
looking at Tiaogas dwelling place.
The urge to destroy was not
strong in him. The gentle whis-
pering among the trees and the
drip of water from their foliage
combined in melody of peace
which struggled to turn him from
the thought of death. 1t might
have won if a tall figure had not
come out of the tepee he was
watching. Jeems knew II was Tia
Oga. The chieftain advanced to-
ward him as if an invisible fate
were leading him to his execution.
Then he paused. The moon was
bright 1t lit up his features thirty
yards away as he gazed into
mystery of distance which his eyes
could not penetrate. What had
brought him, what he was think
ing. what the night held for him,
| Jeems did not ask himself. He
strung his bow and fitted an ar
row. Then he called Tiaoga's
name in a low voice TO let him
| know that retribution had come.
! The bow twan2ed and a slender
shaft sped through the moonlight
with the winged sound of a hum
ming bird. He heard the arrow
strike. Tiaoga did not cry out
His hands clutched at his breast
as he sank to the earth and lay
there mOtiOnless blot.
Jeems went down the river. For
many days he hid along it's
shores seeking for Toinette's body
| He saw Senecas pass and repass.
but as he Travelled almost entire
ly in the water he was successful
in evading them.
When he reached Lake Ontario,
he turned eastward, still carrying
his bundle. AT night he slept with
it close TO his face, breathing the
| precious incense of Toinette's
things. Sometimes he held TO his
lips the piece of red cloth she had
worn around her hair.
No spring of action encouraged
him to return to Forbidden valley
or the Richelieu. and it was chance
and not a definite purpose which
brought him TO the place on Lake
Champlain called TicOnderoga by
the Indians. This was late in the
summer of 1856 The French had
occupied point of land and were
building Fort Vaudreuil and Fort
CarillOn. Jeems seized upon these
activities with the avidity of one
who at last had found something
to asSuage a killing hunger. He
joined MOntcalm's forces and was
given a musket and a spade in
place of his bow and arrows.
He entered now an apprentice
ship of digging and building in the
earth where the forts were going
up. The work and its environ
ment, the excitement of war, and
the ever-increaSing news of French
victories were relief to his