The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1933-03-03
YAXAYAXA
Under
Frozen
Stars
X By X
George Marsh
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CHAPTER XIII
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Copyright by Penn Pub. Co.
(WNU Servicei

"SShS, IOucS ShSo tShs'
left the lighted trade-house, and faded
into the murk. Before dawn the dog
drivers saw in the distance fire on
the shore of the white thOroughfare of
the NipigOn trail Shortly they Joined
LeBlond and his head man.
Hes headed for the Albany; we
followed the trail beyond here for
a MILE" announced LeBlond.
HE may follow the Albany as far
as Fort Hope" said Jim, "but from
there he'll strike north for the Stur-
geon country where he's got friends.
But we've got TO cover the three trails
Forth: you take the Albany. Well hit
the other two"
He's thirty or forty miles ahead of
u.s." groaned LeBlond, nervously pac-
ing to and fro. 'Tll wish you luck
and say good-by."
There. beside the fire, in the black
ness before the dawn, the two men
slipped off their mittens and gripped
each others hands.
"If he's on the Albany" said Jim,
= you'll hear of them from Fort Hope
Indians bound for the trade"
Two great tears coursed down the
hooded face of LeBlOnd. "We must
travel night and day, Stuart-give his
dogs no rest, wear him down, fast !!
She'll kill herself If we don't get him
soon. know her; she's like that!
She won't wait long!"
With a muffled sob, LeBlond turned
away and followed Renault and the
dogs eut to the fee.
Jim and Omar crossed the outlet to
the mouth Of the Deer Lodge river,
but as they searched in the dim light
of the dawn they found that the fall
ing snow had obliterated all traces
of a sled turning in to the river on
what few hours before had been
packed snow wind-brushed ice.
Hes circled and struck north this
way or by the Pipestone trail, Omar.
He's too shrewd to take the Albany
where he'd meet travelling hunters who
would bring the news. But / wanted
LeBlond to take the Albany. This is
our job. Here's where we say 'bo'jo','
old friend"
"Eef we dom see bees track or
hear noding cen seven sleep we meet
at de Medicine Stone, on de Sturgeon.
/ breeng ole Jinaw wild fish for de
dog"
"At the Medicine Stone, or a message
there, in seven days, unless there's a
big blow to hold us up" Then, losing
his self-control, Jim's nervous hands
gripped the heavy shoulders of his
friend as his voice broke with his
grief. 'If they're ahead of you, Omar,
bring her back-bring her back TO me -
sonar, he find dem !" And the white
sheathed figure of the half-breed
turned away. A rawhide dog-whip
snapped in the snow-smothered air.
There was cultural, "Marchew And
Omar and his team faded into the
curtain of snow from the bitter eyes Of
the man who watched.
Breaking trail on snowshoes, for his
dogs, Jim pushed north up the white
valley of the Deer Lodge. And each
hour as he Travelled in the falling
snow, his chances of finding traces of
the passing sled of Paradis lessened
When dusk fell he turned his exhaust
ed team into the spruce of the shore
and, scraping out fire hole, made
camp.
But the weary man. whose tortured
thoughts had whipped him over forty
miles of drifted trail since dawn, did
not sleep. The vision Of the girl van
fishing into the wide north on the sled
of the mad Paradis lived in the flames
of the birch logs. There, in the snow,
somewhere north Of him, she also lay
with her despair beside a fire. Al
ready, she might have killed herself,
as LeBlond said she would But she
knew that dog-teams were behind her
knew they'd take the trails into the
heart of Kiwedin on the heels of the
fleeing dogs Of Paradis. And the nerve
that brought her through the seas
which buried her that summer day as
she chung to her canoe, would not fall
ter now. Paradis was on the Pipestone
or Deer Lodge trails in an attempt to
lose himself in the wilderness of the
Sturgeon or the Winisk, or even the
Ekwan and the coast. But behind him
were two who would hunt him until
their dogs dropped in their traces
track him beyond the barrens of the
Winisk TO the frozen bay.
Jim Stuart was paying dearly for his
triumph at the Medicine Stone-pay-
ing in the anguish of despair.
The dawn of clear day broke blue
and bitter. For an hour Jim had trav-
eled in the half-trot, half-walk of the
snowshoe swing, when, as he passed
close TO the alders of the shore of the
fast narrowing river, he suddenly
stopped. A mitten brushed the rime
from his eyebrows as he stared at
clump of frozen bushes.
Running to the shore, he reached
above his head and tore from the brit
tie twigs a piece of white fabric,
stiffened by frost.
Handkerchief !" he shouted, tri-
umphantly, and in corner found the
embroidered letters, "a. L. B." Her
handkerchief! He was right They
were on the Deer Lodge trail-ahead
of him. She had dropped it as a sign
to those she knew would follow.
Courage, grill" cried Jim. delirious
with the joy of the discovery. as he
thrust the handkerchief int his ca
pote. Courage, stout hearth We're
coming-fast as dogs can travell"
Leaping on his sled. he cracked his
whip with hoarse. "Marche. Wolff