Produced by Donald LainsonTHE PATROL OF THE SUN DANCE TRAILBy Ralph ConnorCONTENTSCHAPTERI     THE TRAILRUNNERII    HIS COUNTRYS NEEDIII   AFISHING WE WILL GOIV    THE BIG CHIEFV     THE ANCIENT SACRIFICEVI    THE ILLUSIVE COPPERHEADVII   THE SARCEE CAMPVIII  THE GIRL ON NO 1IX    THE RIDE UP THE BOWX     RAVEN TO THE RESCUEXI    SMITHS WORKXII   IN THE SUN DANCE CANYONXIII  IN THE BIG WIGWAMXIV   GOOD MANGOOD SQUAWXV    THE OUTLAWXVI   WARXVII  TO ARMSXVIII AN OUTLAW BUT A MANXIX   THE GREAT CHIEFXX    THE LAST PATROLXXI   WHY THE DOCTOR STAYEDTHE PATROL OF THE SUN DANCE TRAILCHAPTER ITHE TRAILRUNNERHigh up on the hillside in the midst of a rugged group of jack pines theUnion Jack shook out its folds gallantly in the breeze that swept downthe Kicking Horse Pass That gallant flag marked the headquarters ofSuperintendent Strong of the North West Mounted Police whose specialduty it was to preserve law and order along the construction line of theCanadian Pacific Railway Company now pushed west some scores of milesAlong the toteroad which ran parallel to the steel a man dark ofskin slight but wiry came running his hard panting his streamingface his open mouth proclaiming his exhaustion At a little trail thatled to the left he paused noted its course toward the flaunting flagturned into it then struggled up the rocky hillside till he came to thewooden shack with a deep porch running round it and surrounded bya rustic fence which enclosed a garden whose neatness illustrated acharacteristic of the British soldier The runner passed in through thegate and up the little gravel walk and began to ascend the stepsHalt A quick sharp voice arrested him What do you want here Fromthe side of the shack an orderly appeared neat trim and dandified inappearance from his polished boots to his wide cowboy hatBeeg Chief panted the runner Meseebeeg ChiefqueeckThe orderly looked him over and hesitatedWhat do you want Big Chief forMewantsay someting said the little man fighting to recover hisbreath someting beegsure beeg He made a step toward the doorHalt there said the orderly sharply Keep out you halfbreedSeebeeg Chiefqueeck panted the halfbreed for so he was withfierce insistenceThe orderly hesitated A year ago he would have hustled him off theporch in short order But these days were anxious days Rumors wildand terrifying were running through the trails of the dark forestEverywhere were suspicion and unrest The Indian tribes throughout thewestern territories and in the eastern part of British Columbia undercover of an unwonted quiet were in a state of excitement and this noneknew better than the North West Mounted Police With stoical unconcernthe Police patroled their beats rode in upon the reserves carelesscheery but with eyes vigilant for signs and with ears alert forsounds of the coming storm Only the Mounted Police however and afew oldtimers who knew the Indians and their halfbreed kindred gavea single moments thought to the bare possibility of danger Thevast majority of the Canadian people knew nothing of the tempestuousgatherings of French halfbreed settlers in little hamlets upon thenorthern plains along the Saskatchewan The fiery resolutions reportednow and then in the newspapers reciting the wrongs and proclaiming therights of these remote ignorant insignificant halftamed pioneersof civilization roused but faint interest in the minds of the people ofCanada Formal resolutions and petitions of rights had been regularlysent during the past two years to Ottawa and there as regularlypigeonholed above the desks of deputy ministers The politicians hada somewhat dim notion that there was some sort of row on among thebreeds about Prince Albert and Battleford but this concerned themlittle The members of the Opposition found in the resolutions andpetitions of rights useful ammunition for attack upon the Government Inpurple periods the leader arraigned the supineness and the indifferenceof the Premier and his Government to the rights and wrongs of ourfellowcitizens who amid the hardships of a pioneer civilization werelaying broad and deep the foundations of Empire But after the smokeand noise of the explosion had passed both Opposition and Governmentspeedily forgot the halfbreed and his tempestuous gatherings in thestores and schoolhouses at church doors and in open camps along thebanks of the far away SaskatchewanThere were a few men however that could not forget An Indian agenthere and there with a sense of responsibility beyond the pickings of hispost a Hudson Bay factor whose long experience in handling the affairsof halfbreeds and Indians instructed him to read as from a printed pagewhat to others were meaningless and incoherent happenings and above allthe officers of the Mounted Police whose duty it was to preserve thepax Britannica over some three hundred thousand square miles of HerMajestys dominions in this far northwest reach of Empire these carriednight and day an uneasiness in their minds which found vent from timeto time in reports and telegraphic messages to members of Government andother officials at headquarters who slept on however undisturbed Butthe word was passed along the line of Police posts over the plains andfar out into British Columbia to watch for signs and to be on guard ThePolice paid little heed to the highsounding resolutions of a few angryexcitable halfbreeds who daring though they were and thoroughly ableto give a good account of themselves in any trouble that might arisewere quite insignificant in number but there was another peril soserious so terrible that the oldest officer on the force spoke of itwith face growing grave and with lowered voicethe peril of an IndianuprisingAll this and more made the trim orderly hesitate A runner with news wasnot to be kicked unceremoniously off the porch in these days but to beconsideredYou want to see the Superintendent ehOui for surequeeckrun ten mile replied the halfbreed with angryimpatienceAll right said the orderly whats your nameName Me PinaultPierre Pinault Ah sacrre Beeg Chief knowmePinault The little