The Ely miner., 1932-11-11

bravery-Or your surprise al her whip
cordsi She thanks you with all the
heart she has-leftl r. Aurore LeBlond
bowed grotesquely. until her hair
touched the long grass of the clearing
He watched her In silence, with q
quizzical smile. puzzled, wondering,
half-charmed. partly repelled. Let's
see what Sarah has got for u.s." he sug.
gested. "I'm hungry, aren't your"
"Starvedl She won't poison me-
will she? Marines eyes snapped fire
when she saw me in these" The girl
lifted shapely leg and curled her
toes In the smoke-tanned moccasin,
far too generous In size for her foot.
"You did startle them-in those" he
laughed. "You rather startled me;
haven't been In Winnipeg since the
war;"
"You poor mani"
"NO, I've lived In Winnipeg-and
prefer this. Hello. Smoker" Bursting
from the spruce at the edge of the
clearing where he had been hunting
rabbits, Smoke loped up to the man
and girl.
what a handsome dogi" she cried.
"Why, he's much larger than any of ia
ther'sl Where did you get him?"
Hes a Hudson's Straits Ungava,"
said Jim, proudly.
Hes a raving beauty. The dar-
ingl Will he let me touch him? Most
of fathers won't"
Smoke, this is a friend of mine, /"
said Jim. "Shake hands with heri"
With red grin which barred his
formidable tusks. the Ungava raised a
hairy paw, which the girl took.
Smoke" she said, with a laugh, as
the dogs slant eyes watched his mas
ter's face, you're not polite; you
don't look at the lady when you shake
hands,"
Like his master, he's embarrassed
by beautiful ladies'" said Jim, as they
left the dog and entered the house.
"Is that why you prefer this life to
Winnipeg-because of your shyness of
the ladies? But you'll be lonely when
this beautiful lady goes" she chal-
lenged.
Here indeed was no false modesty.
What makes you think so?' he teased.
"Oh, every one is. But you're hard
ly polite. How nice and comfortable
you are herei' she went on. her eyes
moving from the chairs built of spruce
and birch in the round. the caribou
and bear-skin rugs, to walls bare ex-
cept for moose-horn gun-rack and two
shelves of books.
He reddened under his tan. you're
laughing at my humble quarters.
They're not much like your fathers
place, are they?"
Ignoring his remark, she faced him
with: "Why do you men hate each
other? Can't you trade with the In
dians without fighting?"
Stuart laughed at her frankness.
1--WE haven't exactly got to fighting
yet: but admit he's making it pretty
rough for me-"
They sat down at the table and the
square-built Sarah appeared, her cop
per skin red from cooking, a large
pink bow bobbing bravely from her
dusky braids. With withering look
at Jim's guest from her small eyes,
she deposited dish of steaming carl
bou stew, to be followed by broiled
whitefish, hot biscuit, tea and wild
strawberries.
"Dear me, but I'm hungry" ex-
claimed the girl, as the outraged and
inquisitive Ojibwa woman, hands on
hips, boldly scrutinized her from
bobbed hair to whipcord knickers-to
gain a better view of which the cook
coolly stepped back and circled her
chair.
Then, aware of the exhaustive in
spectiOn from the rear by the fascin-
ated and shocked Sarah, the girl rose
and turned to the gasping cook /:
would you like to see my knickers?'
she asked. wheeling on her toes. "You
don't wear them, do you? You'd find
them very comfortable"
Choking with confusion. the over
whelmed Sarah fed to the kitchen,
while Stuart shook with laughter.
You're too much for Sarah. She
was certainly hypnotized by your
gibodiegwason."
MY what?"
"Your gibodiegwason-your pan
whipcords!"
"Mon Dieui Are they as awful as
that?" she cried, overcome by the
Ojibwa equivalent. "What did you
call them? Gibo-di-what? No wonder
Marthe and Sarah are shocked ! Think
of a woman wearing anything with
such a namel Gibo-di-" and she
broke into shouts of laughter.
"Gibodiegwason," he repeated.
"Gibo-di-eg-wason!" she faltered,
breathlessly. "gibos, for short Wait
till they hear that in Winnipeg
They'll never wear 'em again."
Stuart regarded his guest with un-
concealed curiosity. Buried in the him
terlands since the war, he had had no
contact with the new girl. But now,
it appeared, he was being offered a
rare opportunity for the study Of the
species.
There won't be much left Of me
when Sarah and Marthe get their heads
together, but you're not really shocked
Monsieur Stuart. With US, all women
wear them for sport"
mo, indeed. I'm not shocked" he
laughed, his eyes shifting from her
dusky head to the well-shaped hand
busy with her fork. I'VE saw lots
of them In France. But I'm wonder.
ing just how your being here will
strike your father. It's going to blow
all night, Miss LeBlond, and don't
see how we can get you home"