The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-02-17

SOOu ohC pQiC OluC eye NtooSo Ill
der bushy brow. "Since yeh fished
that good lookin' girl of LeBlond outa
the lake and sneaked over under her
fathers nose to spend the day with
her, l figured there was deevil
among the weemen up there. But evil
spirits !"
Jim's cold eyes met the others
smirk. So Aurore's Indian girl had
talked? This was what Mary had
heard.
"Paradis spread the tale through
medicine man that the place was
haunted" Stuart explained, ignoring
the insinuating grin of his chief. But
Esau convinced them that it was SIM
ply trick to get the trade"
This was Jim's sole report of the
Odyssey of the three friends to the
Sturgeon valley and many a new
moon was to swing above the white
desert of Lake Expanse before An.
the pelts of the Pipestone and the
Sturgeon country packed the fur-loft
of Sunset House, the lips of three men
were closed.
When the fee grew strong enough
for shedding on the great lake, and
the snow deepened in the forest, Jim
| and Omar would start back with the
dogs; until then, they were held pris-
oners at the post. One MINDLESS day,
| lead-hued sky blanketed the sun and
| the air slowly went white. The "long
| SHOWS" had come.
By the early dusk six inches had
| fallen. Outside the trade-hOuse two
toboggan sleds, their loads covered
with tarpaulin wrappers and dashed,
waited for the early start, before
dawn. under the stars.
At Christie's house Jim, the clerk,
McComb, and the inspector sat at
their supper. Following her custom,
| Mary had served the men and retired
| to the kitchen.
"Yeh have plenty of fish on yel
| cache, Stuart?" demanded Christie.
1.-TWO extra teams'n make hole in
yer supply and l don't want my dogs
| underfed"
1--WE made big haul of whitefish
| and lake trout this fall; there's plenty.
I'll have your dogs back here in good
shape before Christmas"
'What's all that noise about over
at the trade-house? broke in Nc
| Comb.
The three men stopped eating to
| listen. II hear dog BELLS" said Jim,
rising. Don't suppose they've sent Q
packet through from the railroad"
THAT'S just what it is" agreed
| Christie, rising with a mouth full Of
| food.
Leaving the house, the three men
walked through the falling snow
toward the yellow glow of the trade
house windows. In front of the
building the post dogs circled and
| snarled around a painting team, whose
driver held off Christie's huskies with
a heavy whip while he talked to two
company Indians.
mail packet !" Jim surmised. "Sheu
| get my letter, then, next week"
While the driver led his tired dogs
| off to be fed, the mail pouch was
brought into the trade-room and eager
ly opened.
Hoping against the inevitable, Jim
waited as the Inspector, squirting
leisurely at the addresses, went through
the pile of letters and papers dumped
on the trade-counter. Plying him,
possibly regretting the raw brutality
of the note she had sent to Sunset
House, Aurore might have written
might even have softened toward the
man she had so suddenly thrust from
her life. He waited, hands desperate
ly clenched, his heart sitting him with
its beating. Then he stiffened as
Christie picked up the last letter.
Hum! Miss Joan Mccoy, Jack
| fish"
| Jim turned away to hide his disap-
pointed face from the light of the
lamp. She had done with him. He
was a fool to think that Aurore Lee
Blond carried pity in that wild heart
of hers-pity for former plaything
of a fur trader buried far in the for
est. Opening the sheet-iron stove, he
| dropped the letter he had written into
| the flames.
| They returned to the inspectors
quarters where Christie and McComD
greedily read papers weeks old, while
Stuart smoked apart with his thoughts.
He had finished his pipe and was
about to turn in for the sleep he would
need before the early start, when he
suddenly looked up to surprise Mary
| Christie watching him from the door
way leading to the kitchen. The eyes
of the girl. which for days had worn
the cold Indifference of a stranger,
were now soft with pity-gentle with
the sympathy of friend.
She beckoned to him, and rising, i'll
at ease, he followed her to the kitchen,
where she closed the door. Then he
noticed that she held a Winnipeg
paper.
Without a word Mary handed the
sheet to the man who vainly strove to
fathom her swift change of mood.
I'm so sorry, JIM" she said, quietly,
that it has come to you as well as
to me-"
He glanced at the sheet he held in
his hands, and there, laughing up at
him, was the face of Aurore LeBlond.
Under it he read: Miss Aurore
LeBlond, daughter of Louis LeBlond,
of the Northwest Trading company,
who is to marry Bruce MacLauren,
well-known Winnipeg business man. =
Jim let the paper slide to the floor.
So it was MacLauren, all the timei
MacLauren, the smooth city man, her
fathers financial hacker While the
three from Sunset House went north