The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-12-02
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Under
Frozen
Stars
X By X
George Marsh
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Copyright BY Penn Pub CO.
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CHAPTER II-Continued

va De Deeg ShGm6l, max medicine
no more"
Stuart leaned forward curiously,
You chased him out OF the counrry?"
The old man shook his head. Stuart
turned 10 Omar, who chuckIed: ~Esau
nevaire tell, but Makwa come 70 Wolf
riviere TO trade next tam widout bees
ear Ah-hah! He no good for sha-
man after he lose bees ear"
Yen mean they were cut OFF,
Omar nodded "'Widout dem he was
no good 10 max de medicine"
Stuart glanced doubtfuIly at the
sphinxlike Esau
DO you intend TO cut of Jingwak's
ears. Esau?" he laughed THAT will
be some jobl They're a wild lot up
there in the PipestOne country; they
might cut of yours-or worse"
The lean face Of the old Ojibwa
shaped cryptic smile as he rose with
grunt and went out 10 visit the gill
nets below the post
do you believe the old rascal
actually cut OF the medicine mans
ears?7 Stuart demanded OF the grin
ming Omar.
NO one know. Esau nevaire tell"
But the shaman. you say. lost his
magic with his ears?'
~Ah-hah! All de 'Jibwa laugh ar
heeem affair dat"
Wei, I'll say that's q great yarn,
anyway. But what do you suppose
Esau meant when he said he'd put the
sevil into Jingwak?"
The half-breed shrugged u don't
know. De fader Of Esau was a sha-
man, q sorcerer. Esau. mebbe. got
frien' among de devil"
His supplies and trade-goods proper
II checked and slowed away against
the coming Of the Ojibwas for the
Christmas trade, Stuart prepared 70
follow the freight canoes. with his fur
from the spring trade, down TO Lake
EZpanse. the headquarters Of the dis
uict- There he would listen in sullen
silence. while his chief. Andrew
Christie. talked deep into the night Of
the failure OF Sunset House TO obtain
fits share Of the trade. With endless
reiteration the stif-necked inspector
would dwell on the cost Of building the
post and its small yearly returns in
fur while Jim, raging inwardly. en-
dured in silence And. from the In
creasing stiffness In the manner Of his
chief, the discouraged Stuart knew
that the end Of Sunset House would
mean the end Of his advancement In
the COmpany's service. For a failure
is g failure The fact that he had
been chosen 10 lead q forlorn hope
that Sunset House was doomed from
the beginning. would be forgotten. He
would have had his chance II he
stayed with the Hudson's Bay. they
would send him somewhere as clerk,
assistant 10 q luckier man.
But the journey TO Lake Expanse
would consume a fortnight, and the
thought OF what might await him be-
hind a certain split rock on an island
ten miles across the unruffled surface
OF MitaEangagama led him to post
pone his start with Omar.
The spell OF the northern summer
was on cloudless sky; the dusky,
spruce green Of the ridges; the cool
depths Of the translucent lake. as Jim
padded alongshore toward the stur-
seon set-Hnes at the outlet to de-
ceive the sharp eyes which followed
his departure from the post Then
with a savage lunge his paddle tore
the water TO foam. Across the lake
they laughed ar the name, Sunset
House, did they? So they held the
whole Pipestone and Sturgeon river
trade by bribing sorcererl Well, as
Omar said. there were ways Of handling
a shaman. Esau was an old hand ar
that game. He and Omar should have
their wish They would go 10 the
summer camps Of the Pipestone Lake
Indians-carry the war into the enc
mics country. jim Stuart's future as
n fur-man was at stake. He'd played
fair. but now all rules were OF and
hencefOrth there'd be no quarter.
Then his anger cooled as he thought
OF the girl whose message he was
paddling ten miles TO look for ar the
split rock. reckless game, this he
admitted. Some day she'd be seen and
followed. They, even. might be caught
Then what? He laughed aloud ar the
thought. Well, she was worth it
this bewildering daughter Of LeBlond
II was mid-forenoon when the birch
bark Of Jim Stuart approached the
split rock on the stony beach Of the
island Stepping from the canoe.
inns eager eyes searched the bushes
behind rho rock for The teIItale white
of the note which she had promised
10 leave Then lying under stone,
he saw 10 his surprise a folded sheet
ruled, as II torn from a small note
book. II did not seem ike her-this
soiled scrap Of paper ar his feet.
Puzzled, he picked II up and read:
This is your first and last warning.
Louis LeBlond win see that there are
no more love notes here for you. The
next time you come for letter you'll
get lead"
The note was written in pencil In an
Immature hand and unsigned.
"Paradis 7"
He had followed her canoe at dis
lance and, finding her note. had left
this. And now LeBlond would not al
low her out of his sight-would watch
her as a lynx watches a rabbit Jim
Stuart had seen the last Of the girl
who had filed the living room at SUM-
set House with laughter-whose de-