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diff --git a/42226-8.txt b/42226-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1640d10..0000000 --- a/42226-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7428 +0,0 @@ - MOOSWA & OTHERS OF THE BOUNDARIES - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Mooswa & Others of the Boundaries -Author: W. A. Fraser -Release Date: February 27, 2013 [EBook #42226] -Language: English -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOOSWA & OTHERS OF THE -BOUNDARIES *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover] - - - - -[Illustration: "WELL, LET ME SEE," CONTINUED BLACK FOX, "HERE YE HAVE -ALL ASSEMBLED; FOR FORM'S SAKE I WILL CALL YOUR NAMES."] - - - - - MOOSWA & OTHERS - OF THE BOUNDARIES - - - _By_ W. A. FRASER - - - _Illustrated by_ ARTHUR HEMING - - - - CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS - _NEW YORK_ - MDCCCC - - - - - _Copyright, 1900, by_ - CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - - - - UNIVERSITY PRESS -- JOHN WILSON - AND SON -- CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. - - - - - Contents - - -Introduction -The Dwellers of the Boundaries -Choosing the King -The Value of their Fur -The Law of the Boundaries -The Building of the Shack -The Exploration of Carcajou -The Setting Out of the Traps -The Otter Slide -The Trapping of Wolverine -The Coming of the Train Dogs -The Trapping of Black Fox -The Run of the Wolves -Carcajou's Revenge -Pisew Steals The Boy's Food -The Punishing of Pisew -The Caring for The Boy -François at The Landing -Mooswa brings Help to The Boy - - - - - Illustrations - - - _From drawings by Arthur Heming_ - - -"Well, let me see," continued Black Fox, "here Ye have all assembled; -for form's sake I will call your names" . . . Frontispiece - -"So I lay still, pretending to be asleep" - -"The ball struck me in the shoulder, and made me furious with rage" - -"Wuf!" sniffed Muskwa, gently. "Our Man burns the stink-weed in his -mouth" - -"Cat," answered François; "dat's Mister Lynk" - -Rof was going with so much speed, ... that he couldn't gather for a -spring - -They were a funny-looking party - -"Holy Mudder, dis time sabe François" - -"I go for pull out now, Boy" - -"It's terrible!" Mooswa blurted out - -"Poor old Chap!" - -In three days they arrived at The Landing - - - - - Introduction - - -This simple romance of a simple people, the furred dwellers of the -Northern forests, came to me from time to time during the six seasons I -spent on the Athabasca and Saskatchewan Rivers in the far North-West of -Canada. - -Long evenings have passed pleasantly, swiftly, as sitting over a -smouldering camp-fire I have listened to famous Trappers as they spoke -with enthusiastic vividness of the most fascinating life in the -world,--the fur-winner's calling. - -If the incidents and tales in this book fail of interest the fault is -mine, for, coming from their lips, they pleased as did the song of the -Minstrel in the heroic past. - -Several of the little tales are absolutely true. Black Fox was trapped -as here described, by a Half-breed, Johnnie Groat, who was with me for a -season. - -Carcajou has raided, not one, but many shacks through the chimney, as -fifty Trappers in the North-West could be brought to testify. The -trapping of this clever little animal by means of a hollow stump, all -other schemes having failed, was an actual occurrence. It is a well -known fact that many a Trapper has had to abandon his "marten road" and -move to another locality when Carcajou has set up to drive him out. - -Mooswa is still plentiful in the forests of the Athabasca, and is the -embodiment of dignity among animals. - -There is no living thing more characteristic of the Northern land than -Whisky-Jack, the Jay. Wherever a traveller stops, on plain or in forest, -and uncovers food, there will be one or two of these saucy, thieving -birds. Where they nest, or how, is much of a mystery. I never met but -one man who claimed to have found Jack's nest, and this man, a Trapper, -was of rather an imaginative turn of mind. - -The Rabbit of that land is really a hare, never burrowing, but living -quite in the open. As told in the story they go on multiplying at a -tremendous rate for six years; the seventh, a plague carries a great -number of them off, and very few are seen for the next couple of years. -The supply of fur depends almost entirely upon the rabbit--he is the -food reserve for the other forest dwellers. - -Blue Wolf is also an actuality. Once in a while one of the gray wolves -grows larger than his fellows, and wears a rich blue-gray coat. I have -one of these pelts in my house now--they are very rare, and are known to -the Traders and Trappers as Blue Wolf. - -Perhaps this story is too simple, too light, too prolific of natural -history, too something or other--I don't know; I have but tried to tell -the things that appeared very fascinating to me under the giant spruce -and the white-barked poplars, with the dark-faced Indians and -open-handed white Trappers sitting about a spirit-soothing camp-fire. - - - - - THE DWELLERS OF THE BOUNDARIES AND - THEIR NAMES IN THE CREE - INDIAN LANGUAGE - - -MOOSWA, _the Moose_. Protector of The Boy. - -MUSKWA, _the Bear_. - -BLACK FOX, _King of the Boundaries_. - -THE RED WIDOW, _Black Fox's Mother_. - -CROSS-STRIPES, _Black Fox's Baby Brother_. - -ROF, _the Blue Wolf_. Leader of the Gray Wolf Pack. - -CARCAJOU, _the Wolverine_. Lieutenant to Black King, and known as the -"Devil of the Woods." - -PISEW, _the Lynx_. Possessed of a cat-like treachery. - -UMISK, _the Beaver_. Known for his honest industry. - -WAPOOS, _the Rabbit_ (really a Hare). The meat food for Man and Beast -in the Boundaries. - -WAPISTAN, _the Marten_. With fur like the Sable. - -NEKIK, _the Otter_. An eater of Fish. - -SAKWASEW, _the Mink_. Would sell his Mother for a Fish. - -WUCHUSK, _the Muskrat_. A houseless vagabond who admired Umisk, the -Beaver. - -SIKAK, _the Skunk_. A chap to be avoided, and who broke up the party at -Nekik's slide. - -WENUSK, _the Badger_. - -WUCHAK, _the Fisher_. - -WHISKY-JACK, _the Canada Jay_. A sharp-tongued Gossip. - -COUGAR, EAGLE, BUFFALO, ANT, and CARIBOU. - -WIE-SAH-KE-CHACK. Legendary God of the Indians, who could change -himself into an animal at will. - -FRANÇOIS, _French Half-breed Trapper_. - -NICHEMOUS, _Half-breed hunter who tried to kill Muskwa_. - -TRAPPERS, HALF-BREEDS, and TRAIN DOGS. - -ROD, _The Boy_. Son of Donald MacGregor, formerly Factor to Hudson's -Bay Company at Fort Resolution. - -When Rod was a little chap, Mooswa had been brought into Fort Resolution -as a calf, his mother having been killed, and they became playmates. -Then MacGregor was moved to Edmonton, and Rod was brought up in -civilization until he was fourteen, when he got permission to go back to -the Athabasca for a Winter's trapping with François, who was an old -servant of the Factor's. This story is of that Winter. Mooswa had been -turned loose in the forest by Factor MacGregor when leaving the Fort. - -THE BOUNDARIES. The great Spruce forests and Muskeg lands lying between -the Saskatchewan River, the Arctic Ocean, and the Rocky Mountains--being -the home of the fur-bearing animals. - - - - - Mooswa - - And Others of the Boundaries - - - - CHOOSING THE KING - - -The short, hot Summer, with its long-drawn-out days full of coaxing -sunshine, had ripened Nature's harvest of purple-belled pea-vine, and -yellow-blossomed gaillardia, and tall straight-growing moose weed; had -turned the heart-shaped leaves of the poplars into new sovereigns that -fell with softened clink from the branches to earth, waiting for its -brilliant mantle--a fairy mantle all splashed blood-red by crimson maple -woven in a woof of tawny bunch-grass and lace-fronded fern. - -Oh, but it was beautiful! that land of the Boundaries, where Black Fox -was King; and which stretched from the Saskatchewan to where the Peace -first bounded in splashing leaps from the boulder-lined foothills of the -Rockies; all beautiful, spruce-forested, and muskeg-dotted--the soft -muskegs knee deep under a moss carpet of silver and green. - -The Saskatoons, big brother to the Huckleberry, were drying on the bush -where they had ripened; the Raspberries had grown red in their time and -gladdened the heart of Muskwa, the Bear; the Currants clustered like -strings of black pearls in the cool beds of lazy streams, where -pin-tailed Grouse, and Pheasant in big, red cravat, strutted and crouked -in this glorious feeding-ground so like a miniature vineyard; the -Cranberries nestled shyly in the moss; and the Wolf and Willow-berries -gleamed like tiny white stars along the banks of the swift-running, -emerald-green Saskatchewan and Athabasca. All this was in the heritage -land of Black Fox, and Muskwa, and Mooswa. - -It was at this time, in the full Autumn, that Whisky-Jack flew North and -South, and East and West, and called to a meeting the Dwellers that were -in the Boundaries. This was for the choosing of their King, a yearly -observance, and for the settling of other matters. - -When they had gathered, Black Fox greeted the Animals:-- - -"Good Year to you, Subjects, and much eating, each unto his own way of -life!" - -Whisky-Jack preened his mischievous head, ruffled his blue-gray -feathers, broke into the harsh, cackling laugh of the Jay, and sneered, -"Eating! always of eating; and never a more beautiful song to you, or--" - -"Less thieving to you, eh, Mister Jay," growled Muskwa. "You who come -by your eating easily have it not so heavily on your mind as we -Toilers." - -"Well, let me see," continued Black Fox, with reflective dignity, "here -Ye have all assembled; for form's sake I will call your names." - -From Mooswa to Wapoos each one of the Dwellers as his name was spoken -stepped forward in the circle and saluted the King. - -"Jack has been a faithful messenger," said Black King; "but where are -Cougar, and Buffalo, and Eagle?" - -"They had notice, thank you, Majesty, for your praise. Cougar says the -mountain is his King, and that he wouldn't trust himself among a lot of -Plain Dwellers." - -"He's a Highway Robber and an Outlaw, anyway, so it doesn't matter," -asserted Carcajou. - -"You wouldn't talk that way if he were at your throat, my fat little -Friend," lisped Whisky-Jack. "Buffalo is afraid of Man, and won't come; -nearly all his brothers have been killed off, and he is hiding in the -Spruce woods near Athabasca Lake." - -"I saw a herd of them last Summer," declared Mooswa; "fine big fellows -they have grown to be, too. Their hair is longer, and blacker, and -curlier than it was when they were on the Plains. There's no more than -fifty of them left alive in all the North woods; it's awful to think of -how they were slaughtered. That's why I stick to the Timber -Boundaries." - -"Eagle won't come, Your Majesty, because Jay's chatter makes his head -ache," declared Carcajou. - -"Blame me," cried Whisky-Jack, "if anybody doesn't turn up at the -meeting--say it's my fault; I don't mind." - -"You know why we meet as usual?" queried Black Fox, placing his big -white-tipped brush affectedly about his feet. - -"That they do," piped Whisky-Jack; "it's because they're afraid of -losing their hides. I'm not--nobody tries to rob me." - -"Worthless Gabbler!" growled Muskwa. - -"Jack is right," declared Black Fox; "if we do not help each other with -the things we have learned, our warm coats will soon be on the shoulders -of the White Men's Wives." - -"Is that why the Men are always chasing us?" asked Beaver, turning his -sharp-pointed head with the little bead eyes toward the King. - -"Not in your case," snapped Whisky-Jack, "for they eat you, old Fat -Tail. I heard the two White Men who camped on our river last Winter say -that your Brother, whom they caught when they raided your little round -lodge, tasted like beefsteak, whatever that is.--He, he! And François -the Guide ate his tail and said it was equal to fat bacon." - -"Unthinking Wretch!" cried Umisk angrily, bringing his broad tail down -on a stone like the crack of a pistol. - -"I picked his bones," taunted the Jay; "he was dead, and cooked too, so -it didn't matter." - -"Cannibal!" grunted Bear. - -"They eat you also, Muskwa; only when they're very hungry though,--they -say your flesh is like bad pork, strong and tough." - -Black Fox interrupted the discord. "Comrades," he pleaded, "don't mind -Jack; he's only a Jay, and you know what chatterers they are. He means -well--does he not tell us when the Trappers are coming, and where the -Traps are?" - -"Yes, and steal the Bait so you won't get caught," added Jay. "Oh, I am -good--I help you. You're a lot of crawling fools--all but the King. -You can run, and fight, but you don't know things. That's because you -don't associate with Man, and sit in his camp as I do." - -"I've been in his camp," asserted Carcajou, picking up a small stone -slyly to shy at Jack. - -"Not when he was home," retorted the Jay; "you sneaked in to steal when -he was away." - -"Stop!" commanded the King, angrily. "Your chatter spoils everything, -do stop!" - -Whisky-Jack spread his feathers till he looked like a woollen ball, and -subsided. - -"This is the end of the year," continued Black Fox, "and the great -question is, are you satisfied with the rule--is it good?" - -Wolverine spoke: "I have been Lieutenant to the Black King for four -years--I am satisfied. When our enemies, the Trappers, have tried to -catch us by new wiles His Majesty has told us how to escape." - -"Did he, always?" demanded the Bird. "Who knew of the little White -Powder that François put in the Meat--the White Medicine Powder he had -in a bottle? Neither you, Carcajou, nor Black King, nor any one tasted -that--did you? Even now you do not know the name of it; but I can tell -you--it's strychnine. Ha, ha! but that was funny. They put it out, and -I, Whisky-Jack, whom you call a Tramp, told you. I, Jack the Gabbler, -flew till my wings were tired warning you to beware." - -"You might have saved yourself the trouble," retorted Wolverine; "Black -King would have found it with his nose. Can he not tell even if any Man -has touched the Meat that is always a Bait?" - -"Stupid!" exclaimed Jack; "do you think the Men are such fools? They -handle not the Bait which is put in the Traps--they know that all the -brains you chaps have are in your noses. Catch François, the Half-breed, -doing that; he's too clever. He cuts it with a long knife, and handles -it with a stick. The little White Powder that is the essence of death -is put in a hole in the Meat. I know; I've seen them at it. Haven't -their Train-Dogs noses also--and didn't two of them that time eat the -Bait, and die before they had travelled the length of a Rabbit-run. I -saw them--they grew stiff and quiet, like the White Man who fell in the -snow last Winter when he was lost. But I'm satisfied with Black Fox; -and you can be his Lieutenant--I don't care." - -"Yes," continued Carcajou, "who among us is more fitted to be King? -Muskwa is strong, and big, and brave; but soon he will go into his -house, and sleep until Spring. What would become of us with no King for -months?" - -"Yes, I'm sleepy," answered Bear--"and tired. I've tramped up and down -the banks of the river eating white Buffalo-berries and red Cranberries -until I'm weary. They are so small, and I am so big; it keeps me busy -all day." - -"You've got stout on it," chuckled Jack. "I wish I could get fat." - -"You talk too much, and fret yourself to death over other people's -business," growled Bear. "You're a meddling Tramp." - -"Muskwa," said Mink, "there are bushels and bushels of big, juicy, Black -Currants up in the Muskeg, near the creek I fish in--I wish I could eat -them. Swimming, swimming all day after little frightened Fish, that are -getting so cunning. Why, they hide under sticks, and get up in shallow -water among the stones, so that I can hardly see them. It must be -pleasant to sit up on your quarters, nice and dry, pull down the bushes -and eat great, juicy Berries. I wish I lived on fruit." - -"No you don't," snarled Jay; "you'd sell your Mother for a fish." - -"If you're quite through wrangling," interrupted Wolverine, "I'll go on -talking about the King. Who is better suited than Black Fox? Is it -Mooswa? He would make a very magnificent-looking King. See his great -horns. He would protect us--just now; but do you not know that in the -Spring they will drop off, and our Comrade will be like a Man without -hands all Summer. Why, even his own Wife won't look at him while he is -in that condition. Then the young horns come out soft and pulpy, all -covered with velvet, and until they get hard again are tender, and he's -afraid to strike anything with them. You see, we must have somebody -that is King all the year round. Why, Mooswa couldn't tell us about the -Bait; he can't put his nose to the ground; he can't even eat grass, -because of his short neck." - -"I wish I could," sighed the Moose. "I get tired of the purple-headed -Moose-weed, and the leaves and twigs. The young grass looks so sweet -and fresh. But Carcajou is right; I was made this way--I don't know -why, though." - -"No, you weren't!" objected Whisky-Jack; "you're such a lordly chap when -you get your horns in good order, and have gone around so much with that -big nose stuck up in the air, that you've just got into that shape--He, -he! I've seen Men like you. The Hudson's Bay Factor, at Slave Lake, is -just your sort. Bah! I don't want you for a King." - -The Bull Moose waved his tasselled beard back and forth angrily, and -stamped a sharp, powerful fore-foot on the ground like a trip-hammer. - -Black Fox interfered again. "Why do you make everybody angry, you silly -Bird?" he said to the Jay. "Do you learn this bitter talk from -listening to your Men friends while you are waiting for their scraps?" - -"Perhaps so; I learn many things from them, and you learn from me. But -go on, Bully Carcajou. Tell us all why we're not fit to be Kings. -Perhaps Rof, there, would like to hear of his failings." - -"I don't want to be King," growled Rof, the big Blue Wolf, surlily. - -"No, your manners are against you," sneered Jack; "you'd do better as -executioner." - -"Well," commenced Carcajou, taking up the challenge, "to tell you the -truth, we're all just a little afraid of Rof. We don't want a despotic -Ruler if we can help it. I don't wish to hurt his feelings, but when -Blue Wolf got hungry his subjects might suffer." - -"I don't want him for King," piped Mink; "his jaws are too strong and -his legs too long." - -"Oh, I couldn't stay here," declared Blue Wolf, "and manage things for -you fellows. Next month I'm going away down below Grand Rapids. My -Brother has been hunting there with a Pack of twenty good fellows, and -says the Rabbits are so thick that he's actually getting fat;" and Wolf -licked his steel jaws with a hungry movement that made them all shudder. -His big lolling tongue looked like a firebrand. - -"You needn't fret," squeaked Jay; "we don't want you. We don't want a -rowdy Ruler. I saw you fighting with the Train Dogs over at Wapiscaw -last Winter. You're as disgraceful as any domestic cur." - -"Now, Pisew--" began Carcajou. - -As he mentioned the Lynx's name, a smile went round the meeting. -Whisky-Jack took a fit of chuckling laughter, until he fell off his -perch. This made him cranky in an instant. "Of all the silly Sneaks!" -he exclaimed scornfully, as he fluttered up on a small Jack-pine, and -stuck out his ruffled breast. "That Spear-eared Creature for King! Oh, -my! Oh, my! that's too rich! He'd have you all catching Rabbits for -him to eat. Kings are great gourmands, I know, but they don't eat Field -Mice, and Frogs, and Snails, and trash of that sort--not raw, anyway." - -Carcajou proceeded more gravely with his objection. "As I said before, -this is purely a matter of business with us; and anything I say must not -be taken as a personal affront." - -"Of course not, of course not," interrupted Jack. "Go on with your -candid observations, Hump-back." - -"We all know our Friend's weakness for perfume," continued Wolverine. - -"Do you call Castoreum a perfume?" questioned Whisky-Jack. "It's a -vile, diabolical stink--that's what it is. Why, the Trappers won't keep -it in their Shacks--it smells so bad; they bury it outside. Nobody but -a gaunt, brainless creature, like the Cat there, would risk his neck for -a whiff of that horrible-smelling stuff." - -"Order!" commanded Black King; "you get so personal, Jack. You know -that our Comrade, Beaver, furnishes the Castoreum, don't you?" - -"Yes, I know; and he ought to be ashamed of it." - -"It's not my fault," declared Umisk; "your friends, the cruel Trappers, -don't get it from us till we're dead." - -"Well, never mind about that," objected Carcajou. "We know, and the -Trappers know, that Lynx is the easiest caught of all our fellows; if he -were our King they'd snare him in a week--then we'd be without a Ruler. -We must have some one that not only can take care of us, but of himself -too." - -"Pisew can't do that--he can't take care of his own family," twittered -Jay. "His big furry feet make a trail in the snow like Panther's, and -then when you come up to him, he's just a great starved Cat, with less -brains than a Tadpole." - -Carcajou suddenly reared on his hind quarters and let fly the stone with -his short, strong, right arm at the Bird. "Evil Chatterer!" he -exclaimed angrily, "you are always making mischief." - -Jack hopped nimbly to one side, cocked his saucy silvered head downward, -and piped: "Proceed with the meeting; the Prince of all Mischief-makers, -Carcajou, the Devil of the Woods, lectures us on morality." - -"Yes, let us proceed with the discussion," commanded Black Fox. - -"Brothers," said the Moose, in a voice that was strangely plaintive, -coming from such a big, deep throat, "I am satisfied with Black Fox for -King; but if anything were to happen requiring us to choose another, one -of almost equal wisdom, I should like to nominate Beaver. We know that -when the world was destroyed by the great flood, and there was nothing -but water, that Umisk took a little mud, made it into a ball with his -handy tail, and the ball grew, and they built it up until it became dry -land again. Wiesahkechack has told us all about that. I have travelled -from the Athabasca across Peace River, and up to the foothills of the -big mountains, to the head-waters of the Smoky, and have seen much of -Brother Umisk's clever work, and careful, cautious way of life. I never -heard any one say a word against his honesty." - -"That's something," interrupted Jay; "that's more than can be said for -many of us." - -The big melancholy eyes of the Moose simply blinked solemnly, and he -proceeded: "Brother Umisk has constructed dams across streams, and -turned miles of forest into rich, moist Muskeg, where the loveliest long -grasses grow--most delicious eating. These dams are like the great hard -roads you have seen the White Men cut through our country to pull their -stupid carts over; I can cross the softest Muskeg on one and my sharp -hoofs hardly bury to the fetlock. Is that not work worthy of an Animal -King? And he has more forethought, more care for the Winter, than any -of us. Some of you have seen his stock of food." - -"I have," eagerly interrupted Nekik, the Otter. - -"And I," said Fisher. - -"I too, Mooswa," cried Mink. - -"I have seen it," quoth Muskrat; "it's just beautiful!" - -"You tell them about Umisk's food supply, Brother Muskrat," commanded -the Moose. "I can't dive under the water like you and see it ready -stored, but I have observed the trees cut down by his chisel-teeth." - -"You make me blush," remonstrated Beaver, modestly. - -"Beautiful White Poplar trees," went on Mooswa; "and always cut so they -fall just on the edge of the stream. Is that not clever for one of us? -Man can't do it every time." - -"Trowel Tail only cuts the leaning trees--that's why!" explained -Whisky-Jack. - -Mooswa was too haughty to notice the interruption, but continued his -laudation of Beaver's cunning work. - -"Then our Brother Umisk cuts the Poplar into pieces the length of my -leg; and, while I think of it, I'd like to ask him why he leaves on the -end of each stick a piece like the handle of a rolling-pin." - -"What's a rolling-pin?" gasped Jay. - -"Something the Cook throws at your head when you're trying to steal his -dinner," interjected Carcajou. - -Lynx laughed maliciously at this thrust. "Isn't Wolverine a witty -chap?" he said, fawningly, to Blue Wolf. - -"I know what that cunning little end is for," declared Muskrat; "I'll -tell you what Beaver does with the sticks under water, and then you'll -understand." - -Black King yawned as though all this bored him. "He doesn't like to -hear his rival praised," sneered Whisky-Jack; "it makes him sleepy." - -"Well," continued Wuchusk, "Beaver floats the Poplar down to his pond, -to a little place just up stream from his lodge, with a nice, soft -bottom. There he dives swiftly with each piece, and the small round end -you speak of, Mooswa, sticks in the mud, see? Oh, it is clever; I wish -I could do it,--but I can't. I have to rummage around all Winter for my -dinner. All the sticks stand there close together on end; the ice forms -on top of the water, and nobody can see them. When Umisk wants his -dinner, he swims up the pond, selects a nice, fat, juicy Poplar, pulls -it out of the mud, floats it in the front door of his pretty, -round-roofed lodge, strips off the rough covering, and eats the white, -mealy inner-bark. It's delicious! No wonder Beaver is fat." - -"I should think it would be indigestible," said Lynx. "But isn't Umisk -kind to his family--dear little Chap!" - -"Must be hard on the teeth," remarked Mink. "I find fishbones tough -enough." - -"Oh, it's just lovely!" sighed Beaver. "I like it." - -"What do you do with the logs after you've eaten the crust?" asked Black -King, pretending to be interested. - -"Float them down against the dam," answered Beaver. "They come in handy -for repairing breaks." - -"What breaks the dam?" mumbled Blue Wolf, gruffly. - -"I know," screamed Jay; "the Trappers. I saw François knock a hole in -one last Winter. That's how he caught your cousins, Umisk, when they -rushed to fix the break." - -"How do you know when it's damaged, Beaver?" queried Mooswa. "Supposing -it was done when you were asleep--you don't make your bed in the water, -I suppose." - -"No, we have a nice, dry shelf all around on the inside of the lodge, -just above--we call it the second-story; but we keep our tails in the -water always, so as soon as it commences to lower we feel it, you know." - -"That is wise," gravely assented Mooswa. "Have I not said that Umisk is -almost as clever as our King?" - -"He may be," chirruped Jay; "but François never caught the Black King, -and he catches many Beaver. Last winter he took out a Pack of their -thick, brown coats, and I heard him say there were fifty pelts in it." - -"That's just it," concurred Carcajou. "I admire Umisk as much as -anybody. He's an honest, hard-working little chap, and looks after his -family and relations better than any of us; but if there was any trouble -on we couldn't consult him, for at the first crack of a Firestick, or -bark of a Train Dog, he's down under the water, and either hidden away -in his lodge, or in one of the many hiding-holes he has dug in the banks -for just such emergencies. We must have some one who can get about and -warn us all." - -"I object to him because he's got Fleas," declared Jay, solemnly. - -"Fleas!" a chorus of voices exclaimed in indignant protest. - -The Coyote, who had been digging viciously at the back of his ear with a -sharp-clawed foot, dropped his leg, got up, and stretched himself, with -a yawn, hoping that nobody had observed his petulant scratching. - -"That's silly!" declared Mooswa. "A chap that lives under the water -have Fleas?" - -"Is it?" piped Whisky-Jack. "What's his thick fur coat, with the -strong, black guard-hairs for? Do you suppose that doesn't keep his -hide dry? If one of you land-dwellers were out in a stiff shower you'd -be wet to the skin; but he won't, though he stay under water a month. -If he hasn't got Fleas, what is that double nail on his left hind-foot -for?" - -"Perhaps he hasn't got a split-nail," ventured Fisher--"I haven't." - -"Nor I!" declared Mink. - -"My nails are all single!" asserted Muskrat. - -"Look for yourselves if you don't believe me," commanded Jack. "If he -hasn't got it, I'll take back what I said, and you can make him King if -you wish." - -This made Black Fox nervous. "Will you show our Comrades your toes, -please?" he commanded Beaver, with great politeness. - -Umisk held up his foot deprecatingly. There sure enough, on the second -toe, was a long, black, double claw, like a tiny pincers. "What did I -tell you?" shrieked Jack. "He can pin a Flea with that as easily as -Mink seizes a wriggling Trout. He's got half-a-dozen different kinds of -Fleas, has Umisk. I won't have a King who is little better than a -bug-nursery. A King must be above that sort of thing." - -"This is all nonsense," exclaimed Carcajou angrily, for he had fleas -himself; "it's got nothing to do with the matter. Umisk has to live -under the ice nearly all Winter, and would be of no more service to us -than Muskwa--that's the real objection." - -"My!" cried Beaver, patting the ground irritably with his trowel-tail, -"one really never knows just how vile he is till he gets running for -office. Besides, I don't want to be King--I'm too busy. Perhaps -sometime when I was here governing the Council, François, or another -enemy, would break my dam and murder the whole family; besides, it's too -dusty out here--I like the nice, clean water. My feet get sore walking -on the land." - -"Oh, he doesn't want to be King!" declared Jay, ironically. "Next! -next! Who else is there, Frog-legged Carcajou?" - -"Well, there's Muskrat," suggested Lynx; "I like him." - -"Yes, to eat!" interrupted Whisky-Jack. "If Wuchusk were King, we'd come -home some day and find that he'd been eaten by one of his own -subjects--by the sneaking Lynx--'Slink' it should be." - -"You shouldn't say that," declared Black Fox; "because you're our Mail -Carrier you shouldn't take so many liberties." - -"I'm only telling the truth. It has always been the custom at these -meetings for each one to speak just what he thought, and no hard -feelings afterward." - -Carcajou pulled his long, curved claws through his whiskers -reflectively. "What's the use of wrangling like this--we're as silly as -a lot of Men. Last Winter when I was down at Grand Rapids I sat up on -the roof of a Shack listening to those two-legged creatures squabbling. -They were all arguing fiercely about the different ways of getting to -Heaven. According to each one he was on the right road, and the rest -were all wrong. Fresh Meat! but it was stupid; for I gathered from what -they said that the one way to get there was to be good; only each had a -different way." - -"What place did you say?" queried the Jay. - -"Grand Rapids." - -"No, no! the place they all wanted to go to." - -"Heaven." - -"Where's that?" - -"I don't know, and you needn't bother; for the Men said it was a place -for the good, only." - -Beaver's fat sides fairly shook as he chuckled delightedly over the snub -Carcajou had given Jack. - -"Ha, ha!" roared Bear; "Sweet Berries! but Humpback is too many for you, -Birdie," and the woods echoed with his laughter. - -"Rats!" screamed the Jay; "that's the subject under discussion. Our -friend wanders from his theme trying to be personal." - -"Oh, nobody's personal here," sighed Lynx. "I'm a 'Slink,' but that -doesn't count." - -"Yes, talking of Rats," recommenced Carcajou, "like Lynx, I admire our -busy little Brother, Beaver, though I never ate one in my life--" - -"Pisew did!" chirruped the bird-voice from over their heads. - -"Though I never ate one," solemnly repeated Wolverine; "but if Umisk -won't do for King, there is no use discussing Wuchusk's chances. He has -all Trowel Tail's failings, without his great wisdom, and even can't -build a decent house, though he lives in one. Half the time he hasn't -anything to eat for his family; you'll see him skirmishing about Winter -or Summer, eating Roots, or, like our friends Mink and Otter, chasing -Fish. Anyway, I get tired of that horrible odour of musk always. His -house smells as bad as a Trapper's Shack with piles of fur in it--I hate -people who use musk, it shows bad taste; and to carry a little bag of it -around with one all the time--it's detestable!" - -"You should take a trip to the Barren Lands, my fastidious friend, as I -did once," interposed Mooswa, "and get a whiff of the Musk Ox. Much -Fodder! it turned my stomach." - -"You took too much of it, old Blubbernose," yelled Jay, fiendishly; -"Wolverine hasn't got a nose like the head of a Sturgeon Fish. Anyway, -you're out of it, Mister Rat; if the Lieutenant says you're not fit for -King, why you're not--I must say I'm glad of it." - -"There are still the two cousins, Otter, and Mink," said Carcajou. - -"Fish Thieves--both of them," declared Whisky-Jack. "So is Fisher, only -he hasn't nerve to go in the water after Fish; he waits till Man catches -and dries them, then robs the cache. That's why they call him -Fisher--they should name him Fish-stealer." - -"Look here, Jack," retorted Wolverine, "last Winter I heard François say -that you stole even his soap." - -"I thought it was butter," chuckled Jay--"it made me horribly sick. But -their butter was so bad, I thought the soap was an extra good pat of -it." - -"I may say," continued Carcajou, "that these two cousins, Otter and -Mink, like Muskrat, have too limited a knowledge for either to be Chief -of the Boundaries. While they know all about streams and water powers, -they'd be lost on land. Why, in deep snow, Nekik with his short, little -legs makes a track as though somebody had pulled a log along--that -wouldn't do." - -"I don't want to be King!" declared Otter. - -"Nor I!" added Mink. - -"And we don't want you--so that settles it; all agreed!" cried -Whisky-Jack, gleefully. "Nothing like having peace and harmony in the -meeting. It always comes to the same thing: people's names are put up, -they're blackguarded and abused, and in the end nobody's fit for the -billet but Black Fox; and Carcajou, of course, is his Lieutenant." - -"We have now considered everybody's claims," began Carcajou-- - -"You've modestly forgotten yourself," interrupted Whisky-Jack. "You'd -make a fine, fat, portly Ruler." - -"No, I withdraw in favour of Black Fox, and we won't even mention your -name. Black Fox has been a good King; he has saved many of us from a -Trap; besides, he wears the Royal Robe. Look at him! his Mother and all -his Brothers and Sisters are red, except Stripes, the Baby, who is a -Cross; does that not show that he has been selected for royal honours? -Among ourselves each one is like his Brother--there is little -difference. The Minks are alike, the Otter are alike, the Wolves are -alike--all are alike; except, of course, that one may be a little larger -or a little darker than the other. Look at the King's magnificent -Robe--blacker than Fisher's coat; and the silver tip of the white -guard-hairs make it more beautiful than any of our jackets." - -"It's just lovely!" purred Pisew, with a fine sycophantic touch. - -"I'm glad I haven't a coat like that," sang out Jay; "His Majesty will -be assassinated some day for it. Do you fellows know what he's worth to -the Trappers--do any of you know your market value? I thought not--let -me tell you." - -"For the sake of a mild Winter, don't--not just now," pleaded Carcajou. -"Let us settle this business of the King first, then you can all spin -yarns." - -"Yes, we're wasting time," declared Umisk. "I've got work to do on my -house, so let us select a Chief, by all means. There's Coyote, and -Wapoos, and Sikak the Skunk, who have not yet been mentioned." But each -of these, dreading Jack's sharp tongue, hastily asserted they were not -in the campaign as candidates. - -"Well, then," asked Carcajou, "are you all agreed to have Black Fox as -Leader until the fulness of another year?" - -"I'm satisfied!" said Bear, gruffly. - -"It's an honour to have him," ventured Pisew the Lynx. - -"He's a good enough King," declared Nekik the Otter. - -"I'm agreed!" exclaimed Beaver; "I want to get home to my work." - -"Long live the King!" barked Blue Wolf. - -"Long live the King!" repeated Mink, and Fisher, and the rest of them in -chorus. - -"Now that's settled," announced Wolverine. - -"Thank you, Comrades," said Black Fox; "you honour me. I will try to be -just, and look after you carefully. May I have Wolverine as Lieutenant -again?" - -They all agreed to this. - - - - - THE VALUE OF THEIR FUR - - -"Now that's serious business enough for one day," declared the King; -"Jack, you may tell us about the fur, and perhaps some of the others -also have interesting tales to relate." - -Whisky-Jack hopped down from his perch, and strutted proudly about in -the circle. - -"Mink," he began, snapping his beak to clear his throat, "you can chase -a silly, addle-headed Fish into the mud and eat him, but you don't know -the price of your own coat. Listen! The Black King's jacket is worth -more than your fur and all the others put together. I heard the Factor -at Wapiscaw tell his clerk about it last Winter when I dined with him." - -"You mean when you dined with the Train Dogs," sneered Pisew. - -"You'll dine with them some day, and their stomachs will be fuller than -yours," retorted the Bird. "Mink, your pelt is worth a dollar and a -half--'three skins,' as the Company Men say when they are trading with -the Indians, for a skin means fifty cents. You wood-dwellers didn't -know that, I suppose." - -"What do they sell my coat for?" queried Beaver. - -"Six dollars--twelve skins, for a prime, dark one. Kit-Beaver, that's -one of your Babies, old Trowel Tail, sells for fifty cents--or is given -away. You, Fisher, and you, Otter, are nip and tuck--eight or ten -dollars, according to whether your fur is black or of a dirty coffee -colour. But there's Pisew; he's got a hide as big as a blanket, and it -sells for only two dollars. Do you know what they do with your skin, -Slink? They line long cloaks for the White Wives with it; because it's -soft and warm,--also cheap and nasty. He, he! old Feather-bed Fur. - -"Now, Wapistan, the Marten, they call a little gentleman. It's -wonderful how he has grown in their affections, though. Why, I -remember, five years ago the Company was paying only three skins for -prime Marten; and what do you suppose your hide sells for now, wee -Brother?" - -"Please don't," pleaded Marten, "it's a painful subject; I wish they -couldn't sell it at all. I'm almost afraid to touch anything to -eat--there's sure to be a Trap underneath. The other day I saw a nice, -fat White Fish head, and thought Mink had left a bite for me; but when I -reached for it, bang! went a pair of steel jaws, scraping my very nose. -Fat Fish! it was a close shave--I'm trembling yet; the jagged teeth -looked so viciously cruel. If my leg had got in them I know what I -should have had to do." - -"So do I," asserted Jack. - -"What would he have done, Babbler--you who know all things?" asked Lynx. - -"Died!" solemnly croaked Jay. - -"I should have had to cut off my leg, as a cousin of mine did," declared -Wapistan. "He's still alive, but we all help him get a living now. I -wish my skin was as cheap as Muskrat's." - -"Oh, bless us! he's only worth fifteen cents," remonstrated Jack. "His -wool is but used for lining--put on the inside of Men's big coats where -it won't show. But your fur, dear Pussy Marten, is worth eight dollars; -think of that! Of course that's for a prime pelt. That Brother of -yours, sitting over there with the faded yellow jacket, wouldn't fetch -more than three or four at the outside; but I'll give you seven for -yours now, and chance it--shouldn't wonder if you'd fetch twelve when -they skin you, for your coat is nice and black." - -"I suppose there's no price on your hide," whined Lynx; "it's nice to be -of no value in the world--isn't it?" - -"There's always a price on brains; but that doesn't interest you, Silly, -does it? You're not in the market. Your understanding runs to a fine -discrimination in perfumes--prominent odours, like Castoreum, or dead -Fish. If you were a Man you'd have been a hair-dresser. - -"Muskwa, your pelt's a useful one; still it doesn't sell for a very -great figure. Last year at Wapiscaw I saw pictures on the Factor's -walls of men they call Soldiers, and they had the queerest, great, tall -head-covers, made from the skins of cousins of yours. And the Factor -also had a Bear pelt on the floor, which he said was a good one, worth -twenty dollars--that's your value dead, twenty dollars. - -"Mooswa's shaggy shirt is good; but they scrape the hair off and make -moccasins of the leather. Think of that, Weed-eater; perhaps next year -the Trappers will be walking around in your hide, killing your Brother, -or your Daddy, or some other big-nosed, spindle-legged member of your -family. The homeliest man in the whole Chippewa tribe they have named -'The Moose,' and he's the ugliest creature I ever saw; you'd be ashamed -of him--he's even ashamed of himself." - -"What's the hide worth?" asked Carcajou. - -"Seven dollars the Factor pays in trade, which is another name for -robbery; but I think it's dear at that price, with no hair on, for it is -tanned, of course--the Squaws make the skin into leather. You wouldn't -believe, though, that they'd ever be able to skin Bushy-tail, would -you?" - -"What! the Skunk?" cried Lynx. "Haven't the Men any noses?" - -"Not like yours, Slink; but they take his pelt right enough; and the -white stripes down his back that he's so proud of are dyed, and these -Men, who are full of lies, sell it as some kind of Sable. And Marten, -too, they sell him as Sable--Canadian Sable." - -"I'm sure we are all enjoying this," suggested Black King, -sarcastically. - -"Yes, Brothers," assented Whisky-Jack, "Black Fox's silver hide is worth -more than all the rest put together. Sometimes it fetches _Five Hundred -Dollars_!" - -"Oh!" exclaimed Otter, enviously; "is that true, Jack?" - -"It is, Bandy-legs--I always speak the truth; but it is only a fad. A -tribe of Men called Russians buy Silver Fox; it is said they have a lot -of money, but, like Pisew, little brains. For my part, I'd rather have -feathers; they don't rub off, and are nicer in every way. Do you know -who likes your coat, Carcajou?" - -"The Russians!" piped Mink, like a little school-boy. - -"Stupid Fish-eater! Bigger fools than the Russians buy Wolverine--the -Eskimo, who live away down at the mouth of the big river that runs to -the icebergs." - -"What are icebergs, Brother?" asked Mink. - -"Pieces of ice," answered Jack. "Now you know everything, go and catch -a Goldeye for your supper." - -"Goldeye don't come up the creeks, you ignorant Bird," retorted -Sakwasew. "I wish they did, though; one can see their big, yellow eyes -so far in the water--they're easily caught." - -"Suckers are more useful," chimed in Fisher; "when they crowd the river -banks in Autumn, eating those black water-bugs, I get fat, and hardly -wet a foot; I hate the water, but I do like a plump, juicy Sucker." - -"Not to be compared to a Goldeye or Doré," objected Mink; "they're too -soft and flabby." - -"Fish, Fish, Fish! always about Fish, or something to eat, with you -Water-Rats," interrupted Carcajou, disgustedly. "Do let us get back to -the subject. Do you know what the Men say of our Black King, Comrades?" - -"They call him The Devil!" declared Jay. - -"No they don't," objected Carcajou; "they aver he's Wiesahkechack, the -great Indian God, who could change himself into Animals--that's what -they think. You all know François, the French Half-breed, who trapped -at Hay River last Winter." - -"He killed my First Cousin," sighed Marten. - -"I lost a Son by him--poisoned," moaned Black King's Mother, the Red -Widow, who had been sitting quietly during the meeting watching with -maternal pride the form of her son. - -"Yes, he tried to catch me," boasted Carcajou, "but I outwitted him, and -threw a Number Four Steel Trap in the river. He had a fight with a -Chippewa Indian over it--blamed him for the theft. Oh, I enjoyed that. -I was hidden under a Spruce log, and watched François pummel the Indian -until he ran away. I don't understand much French, but the Half-breed -used awful language. I wish they'd always fight amongst themselves." - -"Why didn't the Chippewa squeeze François till he was dead?--that's what -I should have done," growled Muskwa. "Do you remember Nichemous, the -Cree Half-breed, who always keeps his hat tied on with a handkerchief?" - -"I saw him once," declared Black Fox. - -"Well, he tried to shoot me--crept up close to a log I was lying behind, -and poked his Ironstick over it, thinking I was asleep. That was in the -Winter--I think it was the Second of February: but do you know, -sometimes I get my dates mixed. One year I forgot in my sleep, and came -out on the First to see what the weather was like. Ha, ha! fancy that; -coming out on the First and thought it was the Second." - -"What has that got to do with Nichemous, old Garrulity?" squeaked -Whisky-Jack. - -Muskwa licked his gray nose apologetically for having wandered from the -subject. "Well, as I have said, it was the Second of February; I had -been lying up all Winter in a tremendously snug nest in a little coulee -that runs off Pembina River. Hunger! but I was weak when I came out -that day." - -"I should think you would have been," sympathized the Bird, mockingly. - -"I had pains, too; the hard Red-willow Berries that I always eat before -I lay up were griping me horribly--they always do that--they're my -medicine, you know." - -"Muskwa is getting old," interrupted Jay. "He's garrulous--it's his -pains and aches now." - -Bear took no notice of the Bird. "I was tired and cross; the sun was -nice and warm, and I lay down behind a log to rest a little. Suddenly -there was a sound of the crisp hide of the snow cracking, and at first I -thought it was something to eat coming,--something for my hunger. I -looked cautiously over the tree, and there was Nichemous trailing me; -his snow-shoe had cut through the crust; but it was too late to run, for -that Ironstick of his would have reached; so I lay still, pretending to -be asleep. Nichemous crept up, oh, so cunningly. He didn't want to -wake poor old Muskwa, you see--not until he woke me with the bark of his -Ironstick. Talk about smells, Mister Lynx. Wifh! the breath of that -when it coughs is worse than the smell of Coyote--it's fairly blue in -the air, it's so bad." - -[Illustration: "SO I LAY STILL, PRETENDING TO BE ASLEEP."] - -"Where was Nichemous all this time?" cried Jack, mockingly. - -"Have patience, little shaganappi (cheap) Bird. Nichemous saw my trail -leading up to the log, but could not see it going away on the other -side. I had just one eye cocked up where I could watch his face. -Wheeze! it was a study. He'd raise one foot, shove it forward gently, -put that big gut-woven shoe down slowly on the snow, and carry his body -forward; then the other foot the same way, so as not to disturb me. -Good, kind Nichemous! What a queer scent he gave to the air. Have any -of you ever stepped on hot coals, and burned your foot?" - -"I have!" cried Blue Wolf; "I had a fight with three Train Dogs once, at -Wapiscaw, when their Masters were asleep. It was all over a miserable -frozen White Fish that even the Dogs wouldn't eat. They were husky -fighters. Wur-r-r! we rolled over and over, and finally I fetched up in -the camp-fire." - -"Then you know what your paw smelled like when the coals scorched it; -and that is just the nasty scent that came down the air from -Nichemous--like burnt skin. I could have nosed him a mile away had he -been up wind, but he wasn't at first. When Nichemous got to the big -log, he reached his yellow face over, with the Ironstick in line with -his nose, and I saw murder in his eyes, so I just took one swipe at the -top of his head with my right paw and scalped him clean. -Whu-u-o-o-f-f-! but he yelled. The Ironstick barked as he went head -first into the snow, and its hot breath scorched my arm--underneath -where there's little hair; but the round iron thing it spits out didn't -touch me. I gave Nichemous a squeeze, threw him down, and went away. I -was mad enough to have slain him, but I'm glad I didn't. It's not good -to kill a Man. You see I was cross," he added, apologetically, "and my -head ached from living in that stuffy hole all Winter." - -"Didn't it hurt your paw?" queried Jack. "I should have thought your -fingers would have been tender from sucking them so much while you were -sleeping in the nest." - -"That's what saved Nichemous's life," answered Muskwa. "My fist was -swollen up like a moss-bag, else the blow would have crushed his skull. -But I knocked the fur all off the top; and his wife, who is a great -medicine woman, couldn't make it grow again; though she patched the skin -up some way or other. That is why you'll see Nichemous's hat tied on -with a red handkerchief always." - -"I also know of this Man," wheezed Otter. "Nichemous stepped on my slide -once when he was poaching my preserve--I had it all nice and smooth, and -slippery, and the silly creature, without a claw to his foot, tried to -walk on it." - -"What happened, Long-Back?" asked Jack, eagerly. - -"Well, he went down the slide faster than ever I did, head first; but, -would you believe it, on his back." - -"Into the water?" queried Muskrat. "That wouldn't hurt him." - -"He was nearly drowned," laughed Nekik. "The current carried him under -some logs, but he got out, I'm sorry to say. That's the worst of it, we -never manage to kill these Men." - -"I killed one once," proclaimed Mooswa--"stamped him with my front feet, -and his friends never found him; but I wouldn't do it again, the look in -his eyes was awful--no, I'll never do it again." - -"They'll kill you some day, Marrow-Bones," declared Jay, blithely. - -"That's what this Man tried to do." - -"Tell us about it, Comrade," cried Carcajou, "for I like to hear of the -tables being turned once in a while. Why, Mistress Carcajou frightens -the babies to sleep by telling them that François, or Nichemous, or some -other Trapper will catch them if they don't close their eyes and stop -crying--it's just awful to live in continual dread of Man." - -"He was an Indian named Grasshead," began Mooswa, lying down to tell the -little tale comfortably. "I had just crossed the Athabasca on the ice; -he'd been watching, no doubt, and as I went up the bank his Firestick -coughed, and the ball struck me in the neck. Of course I cleared off -into the woods at a great rate." - -"Didn't stop to thank the Man, eh, old Pretty Legs?" questioned Jack, -ironically. - -"There was a treacherous crust on the snow; sometimes it would bear me -up, and sometimes I would go through up to my chest, for it was deep. -Grasshead wore those big shoes that Muskwa speaks of, and glided along -the top; but my feet are small and hard, you know, and cut the crust." - -"See!" piped Jay, "there's where pride comes in. All of you horned -creatures are so proud of your little feet, and unless the ground is -hard you soon get done up." - -"Well," continued Mooswa, "sometimes I'd draw away many miles from the -Indian. Once I circled wide, went back close to my trail, laid down in -a thicket, and watched for him. He passed quite close, trailing along -easily on top of the snow, chewing a piece of dried moose-meat--think of -that, Brothers! stuck in his loose shirt was dried-meat, cut from the -bodies of some of my relatives; even the shirt itself was made from one -of their hides. His little eyes were vicious and cruel; and several -times I heard him give the call of our wives, which is, -'Wh-e-a-u-h-h-h!' That was that I might come back, thinking it was one -of my tribe calling. All day he trailed me that way, and twice I rested -as I speak of. Then Grasshead got cunning. He travelled wide of my -trail, off to one side, meaning to come upon me lying down or circling. -The second day of his pursuit I was very tired, and the Indian was -always coming closer and closer. - -"Getting desperate, I laid a trap for him. It was the Firestick I -feared really; for without that he was no match for me. With our -natural strength, he with his arms and teeth, and I with my hoofs and -horns, I could kill him easily. Why, once I slew three Wolves, nearly as -large as Rof; they were murderous chaps who tackled me in the night. It -wouldn't do to fight Grasshead where the crust was bad on the deep snow, -so I made for a Jack-pine bluff." - -"I know," interrupted Black Fox, nodding his head; "nice open ground -with no underbrush to bother--just the place for a rush when you've -marked down your Bird. Many a Partridge I've pinned in one of those -bluffs." - -"Yes," went on Mooswa, "the pine needles kill out everything but the -silver-green moss. The snow wasn't very deep there; it was an ideal -place for a charge--nothing to catch one's horns, or trip a fellow. As -Grasshead came up he saw me leaning wearily against a tree, and thought -I was ready to drop. I was tired, but not quite that badly used up. -You all know, Comrades, how careful an Indian is not to waste the breath -of his Ironstick; he will creep, and creep, and sneak, just like--" - -"Lynx," suggested Whisky-Jack. - -"Well, Grasshead, seeing that I couldn't get away, as he thought, came -cautiously to within about five lengths, meaning to make sure of my -death, you know, Brothers; and just as he raised his Ironstick I -charged. He didn't expect that--it frightened him. The ball struck me -in the shoulder, and made me furious with rage. The Indian turned to -run; but I cut him down, and trampled him to death--I ground him into -the frozen earth with my antlers. He gave the queer Man-cry that is of -fear and pain--it's awful! I wish he hadn't followed me--I wish I hadn't -killed him." - -[Illustration: "THE BALL STRUCK ME IN THE SHOULDER, AND MADE ME FURIOUS -WITH RAGE."] - -"You were justified, Mooswa," said Black King; "there is no blame--that -is the Law of the Forest:-- - - "'First we run for our lives, - Then we fight for our lives: - And we turn at bay when the killer drives." - - -"Bravo, bravo!" applauded Whisky-Jack. "Don't fret about the Indian, old -Jelly-Nose. I'm glad you killed him. I've heard the White Trappers say -that the only good Indians are the dead ones." - -"My own opinion is that Indians are a fat-meat sight better than the -Whites," declared Carcajou; "they don't tell as many lies, and they -won't steal. They never lock a door here, but they do in the Whiteman's -land. An Indian just puts his food down any place, or up on a cache, -and nobody touches it; only, of course, the White Men who were here in -the Boundaries last year looking for the yellow-sand--they stole from -the caches." - -"Nobody?" screamed Jay. "Nobody? What do you call yourself, Carcajou? -How many bags of flour have you ripped open that didn't belong to you? -How many pounds of bacon have melted away because of your hot mouth? I -know. I've heard Ambrose, and François, and every other Trapper from -the Landing to Fort Simpson swear you're the biggest thief since the -time of Wiesahkechack. Why, you're as bad as a White Man by your own -showing." - -"Gently, Brother, gently. Didst ever hear your Men Friends tell the -story of the pot and the kettle? Besides, is it unfair that I, or any -of us, take a little from those who come here to steal the coats off our -backs, and the lives from our hearts?" - -"Indeed thou art the pot, Carcajou," retorted Jack; "but what do I -steal? True, I took the piece of soap thinking it was butter; but that -was a trifle, not the size of a Trap Bait; and if I take the Meat out of -their Traps I do so that my Comrades may not be caught?" - -"It is written in the Law of the Forest that is not stealing," said -Black King, solemnly. "The Bait that is put in the Trap is for those of -the Forest, so come it they be not caught; and even though the Trappers -say otherwise, there is no wrong in taking it." - -"I also take the Bait-meat," cried Wolverine, "for the good of my -Brothers; but I spring the Trap too, lest by accident they put their -foot in it." - -"I also know Nichemous," broke in Umisk, the Beaver. "He cut a hole in -the roof of my house one day, first blocking up the front door thinking -we were inside, and meaning to catch us; he had his trouble for nothing, -for I got the whole family out just in the nick of time; but I'd like to -make him pay for repairs to the roof. I don't know any animal so bad as -a Man, unless it's a Hermit Beaver." - -"What's a Hermit Beaver, you of the little fore-feet?" asked Jay. - -Umisk sighed wearily. "For a Bird that has travelled as much as you -have, Jack, you are wondrous devoid of knowledge. Have you never seen -Red Jack, the Hermit?" - -"I have," declared Pisew, "he has a piece out of the side of his tail." - -"Perhaps you have, perhaps you have; but all hermits are marked that -way--that's the sign. You see, once in a while a Beaver is born -lazy--won't work--will do nothing but steal other people's Poplar and -eat it. First we reason with him, and try to encourage him to work; if -that fails we bite a piece out of his tail as a brand, and turn him out -of the community. I marked Red Jack that way myself; I boarded him for a -whole Winter, though, first." - -"Served him right," concurred Whisky-Jack. - -"Yes, Nichemous is a bad lot," said Carcajou, reflectively; "but he's no -worse than François." - -Black Fox rose, stretched himself, yawned, and said: "The Meeting is -over for to-day; three spaces of darkness from this we meet here again; -there is some business of the Hunting Boundaries to do, and Wapoos has a -complaint to make." - -"I'm off," whistled Whisky-Jack. "Good-bye, Your Majesty. You fellows -have got to hunt your dinner, I'm going to dine with some Men--I like my -food cooked." - -Each of the Animals slipped away, leaving Black Fox and his Mother, the -Red Widow. - -"I'm proud of you, my Son," said the Fox Mother. "Come home with me, -I've got something rare for dinner." - -"What is it, Dame?" - -"A nice, fat Wavey" (kind of goose). - -"What! Wawao, who nests in the Athabasca Lake? You make my mouth -water, Mother. These Mossberry-fed Partridge are so dry they give me -indigestion; besides, I never saw them so scarce as they are this year." - -"It was the great fire the river Boatmen started in the Summer which -burnt up all their eggs that makes them so scarce, Son. Do you not -remember how we had to fly to the river, and lie for days with our noses -just above water to escape the heat?" - -"It's an ill wind, Mother, that blows nobody good, for it nearly cured -me of fleas. My fur is not like Beaver's. But the Wavies fly high, and -do not nest hereabout--how came you by the Fat Bird?" - -"A Hunter hurt it with his Firestick, and it fell in the water with a -broken wing. I was watching. I think he is still looking down the -river for his Wavey." - - - - - THE LAW OF THE BOUNDARIES - - -Three days later, as had been spoken in the Council, Black King, -accompanied by three Fox Brothers, and his Mother the Red Widow, crept -cautiously into the open space that was fringed by a tangle of Red and -Gray Willows, inside of which grew a second frieze of Raspberry Bushes, -sat on his haunches and peered discontentedly, furtively about. There -was nobody, nothing in sight--nothing but the dilapidated old Hudson's -Bay Company's Log Shack that had been a Trading Post, and against which -Time had leaned so heavily that the rotted logs were sent sprawling in a -disconsolate heap. - -"This does not look overmuch like our Council Court, does it, Dame?" he -asked of the Red Widow. "I, the King, am first to arrive--ah, here is -Rof!" as Blue Wolf slouched into the open, his froth-lined jaws swinging -low in suspicious watchfulness. - -"I'm late," he growled, sniffing at each bush and stump as he made the -circuit of the Court. "What! only Your Majesty and the Red Widow here as -yet. It's bad form for our Comrades to keep the King waiting." - -While Blue Wolf was still speaking the Willows were thrust open as -though a tree had crashed through them, and Mooswa's massive head -protruded, just for all the world as if hanging from a wall in the hall -of some great house. His Chinese-shaped eyes blinked at the light. -"May I be knock-kneed," he wheezed plaintively, "if it didn't take me -longer to do those thirty miles this morning than I thought it -would--the going was so soft. I should have been here on time, though, -if I hadn't struck just the loveliest patch of my favourite weed at -Little Rapids--where the fire swept last year, you know." - -"That's what the Men call Fire-weed," cried Carcajou, pushing his strong -body through the fringe of berry bushes. - -"That's because they don't know," retorted Mooswa; "and because it -always grows in good soil after the Fire has passed, I suppose." - -"Where does the seed come from, Mooswa?" asked Lynx, who had come up -while they were talking. "Does the Fire bring it?" - -"I don't know," answered the Bull Moose. - -"It is not written in Man's books, either," affirmed Carcajou. - -"Can the King, who is so wise, tell us?" pleaded Fisher, who had -arrived. - -"Manitou sends it!" Black Fox asserted decisively. - -"The King answers worthily," declared Wolverine. "If Mooswa can stand in -the Fire-flower until it tops his back, and eat of the juice-filled -stalk without straining his short neck until his belly is like the gorge -of a Sturgeon, what matters how it has come. Let the Men, who are silly -creatures, bother over that. Manitou has sent it, and it is good; that -is enough for Mooswa." - -"You are late, Nekik," said the King, severely; "and you, too, Sakwasu." - -"I am lame!" pleaded Otter. - -"My ear is bleeding!" said Mink. - -"Who got the Fish?" queried Carcajou. They both tried to look very -innocent. - -"What Fish?" asked Black Fox. - -"My Fish," replied Mink. - -"Mine!" claimed Otter, in the same breath. - -Wolverine winked solemnly at the Red Widow. - -"Yap! that won't do--been fighting!" came from the King. - -"It was a Doré, Your Majesty," pleaded Sakwasu, "and I caught him -first." - -"Just as I dove for him," declared Otter, "Sakwasu followed after and -tried to take him from me--a great big Fish it was. I've been fishing -for four years, but this was the biggest Doré I ever saw--why, he was -the length of Pisew." - -"A Fisherman's lie," quoth the Red Widow. - -"Who got the Doré? That's the main question," demanded Carcajou. - -"He escaped," replied Nekik, sorrowfully; "and we have come to the -Meeting without any breakfast." - -"Bah! Bah! Bah!" laughed Blue Wolf; "that's rich! Hey, Muskwa, you -heard the end of the story--isn't it good?" - -"I, too, have had no breakfast," declared Muskwa, "so I don't see the -point--it's not a bit funny. Seven hard-baked Ant Hills have I torn up -in the grass-flat down by the river, and not a single dweller in one of -them. My arms ache, for the clay was hard; and the dust has choked up -my lungs. Wuf-f-f! I could hardly get my breath coming up the hill, -and I have more mortar in my lungs than Ants in my stomach." - -"Are there no Berries to be had, then, Muskwa?" asked Wapistan. - -"Oh, yes; there are Berries hereabouts, but they're all hard and bitter. -The white Dogberries, and the pink Buffalo-berries, and the Wolf-willow -berries--what are they? Perhaps not to be despised in this Year of -Famine, for they pucker up one's stomach until a Cub's ration fills it; -but the Saskatoons are now dry on the Bush, and I miss them sorely. -Gluck! they're the berries--full of oil, not vinegar; a feed of them is -like eating a little Sucking Pig." - -"What's a Sucking Pig?" queried Lynx; "I never saw one growing." - -"I know," declared Carcajou. "The Priest over at Wapiscaw had six -little white fellows in a small corral. They had voices like Pallas, -the Black Eagle. I could always tell when they were being fed, their -wondrous song reached a good three miles." - -"That's where I got mine," remarked Muskwa, looking cautiously about to -see that there were no eavesdroppers; "I had three, and the Priest keeps -three. But talking of food, one Summer I crossed the great up-hills -that Men call Rockies, and along the rivers of that land grows just the -loveliest Berry any poor Bear ever ate." - -"Saskatoons?" queried Carcajou. - -"No, the Salmon Berry--great, yellow, juicy chaps, the size of Mooswa's -nose." - -"Fat Birds! what a sized Berry!" ejaculated the Widow, dubiously. - -"Well, almost as big," modified Muskwa; "and sweet and nippy. Ugh! ugh! -It was like eating a handful of the fattest black Ants you ever tasted." - -"I don't eat Ants," declared the Red Widow. - -"Neither did I this morning, I'm sorry to say," added Bear, hungrily. - -"Weren't they hairy little Beggars, Muskwa?" asked Blue Wolf, harking -back longingly to the meat food. - -"What, the Salmon Berries?" - -"No; the Padre's little Pigs at Wapiscaw." - -"Yes, somewhat; I had bristles in my teeth for a week--awfully coarse -fur they wore. But they were noisy little rats--the screeching gave me -an earache. Huf, huf, huh! You should have seen the Factor, who is a -fat, pot-bellied little Chap, built like Carcajou, come running with his -short Otter-shaped legs when he heard me among the Pigs." - -"What did you do, Muskwa--weren't you afraid?" asked the Red Widow. - -"I threw a little Pig out of the corral and he took to the Forest. The -Factor in his excitement ran after him, and I laughed so much to see -this that I really couldn't eat a fourth Pig." - -"But you did well," cried Black King; "there's nothing like a good laugh -at meal-time to aid digestion." - -"I thought they would eat like that, Muskwa," continued Blue Wolf. "You -remember the thick, white-furred animals they once brought to the -Mission at Lac La Biche?" - -"Sheep," interposed Mooswa, "I remember them; stupid creatures they -were--always frightened by something; and always bunching up together -like the Plain Buffalo, so that a Killer had more slaying than running -to do amongst them." - -"That was the worst of it," declared Blue Wolf. "My Pack acted as -foolishly as Man did with the Buffalo--killed them all off in a single -season, for that very reason." - -"And for that trick Man put the blood-bounty on your scalp," cried -Carcajou. - -"Oh, the bounty doesn't matter so long as I keep the scalp on my own -head. But, as I was going to say, the queer fur they had got into my -teeth, and made me fair furious. Where one Sheep would have sufficed -for my supper, I killed three--though I'm generally of an even temper. -The Priest did much good in this country--" - -"Bringing in the Sheep, eh?" interrupted Carcajou. - -"Perhaps, perhaps; each one according as his interests are affected." - -"The Priests are a benefit," asserted Marten. "The Father at Little -Slave Lake had a corral full of the loveliest tame Grouse--Chickens, -they called them. They were like the Sheep, silly enough to please the -laziest Hunter." - -"Did you join the Mission, Brother?" asked Carcajou, licking his chops -hungrily. - -"For three nights," answered Wapistan, "then I left it, carrying a scar -on my hip from the snap of a white bob-tailed Dog they call a -Fox-terrier. A busy, meddlesome, yelping little cur, lacking the -composure of a Dweller in the Boundaries. I became disgusted at his -clatter and cleared out." - -"A Fox _what_?" asked the Red Widow. "He was not of our tribe to -interfere with a Comrade's Kill." - -"It must have been great hunting," remarked Black King, his mouth -watering at the idea of a corral full of Chickens. - -"It was!" asserted Wapistan. "All in a row they sat, shoulder to -shoulder--it was night, you know. They simply blinked at me with their -glassy eyes, and exclaimed, 'Peek! Peek!' until I cut their throats. -Yes, the Mission is a good thing." - -"It is," concurred Black King--"they should establish more of them. But -where in the world is Chatterbox, the Jay?" - -"Gabbler the Fool must have trailed in with a party of Men going down -the river," suggested Carcajou. "Nothing but eating would keep him away -from a party of talkers." - -"Well, Comrades," said Black King, "shall the Boundaries be the same as -last year? Are there any changes to be made?" - -"I roam everywhere; is that not so, King?" asked Muskwa. - -"Yes; but not eat everywhere. There is truce for the young Beaver, -because workmen are not free to the Kill." - -"I have not eaten of Trowel Tail's Children," declared Muskwa, proudly. -"I have kept the Law of the Boundaries." - -"And yet he has lost two sons," said Black Fox, looking sternly about. - -A tear trickled down the sandy beard of Beaver and glistened on his -black nose. - -"Two sturdy Sons, Your Majesty, a year old. Next year, or the year -after, they would have gone out and built lodges of their own. Such -plasterers I never saw in my life. Why, their work was as smooth as the -inner bark of the Poplar; and no two Beavers on the whole length of -Pelican River could cut down a tree with them." - -"Oh, never mind their virtues, Trowel Tail," interrupted Carcajou, -heartlessly; "they are dead--that is the main thing; and who killed -them, the question. Who broke the Boundary Law is what we want to -know." - -"Whisky-Jack should be here during the inquiry," grumbled the King. -"He's our detective--Jack sees everything, tells everything, and finds -out everything. Shouldn't wonder but he knows--strange that he's not -with us." - -"Must have struck some Men friends, Your Majesty," said the Bull Moose. -"As I drank at the river, twenty miles up, one of those floating houses -the Traders use passed with two Men in it. There was the smell of hot -Meat came to me, and if Jack was within a Bird's scent of the river, -which is a long distance, he also would know of the food." - -"Very likely, Mooswa," rejoined Black King. "A cooked pork rind would -coax Jay from his duty any time. We must go on with the enquiry without -him. Who broke the Law of the Boundaries and killed Umisk's two Sons?" -he demanded sternly. - -"I didn't," wheezed Mooswa, rubbing his big, soft nose caressingly down -Beaver's back, as the latter sat on one of the old stumps. "I have kept -the law. Like Muskwa I roam from lake to lake, and from river to river; -but I kill no one--that is, with one exception." - -"That was within the law," asserted the King, "for we kill in our own -defence." - -"I think it was Pisew," whispered the Red Widow. "See the Sneak's eye. -Call him up, O Son, and command him to look straight into your Royal -Face and say if he has kept the law." - -"Pisew," commanded Black Fox, "come closer!" - -Lynx started guiltily at the call of his name. There was something soft -and unpleasant in the slipping sound of his big muffled feet as he -walked toward the King. - -"Has Pisew kept the Law of the Boundaries?" asked Black King, sternly, -looking full in the mustached face of the slim-bodied cat. - -Lynx turned his head sideways, and his eyes sought to avoid those of the -questioner. - -"Your Majesty, I roam from the Pelican on one side, to Fish Creek on the -other; and the law is that therein I, who eat flesh, may kill Wapoos the -Rabbit. This year it has been hard living, Your Majesty--hard living. -Because of the fire, Wapoos fled beyond the waters of the creeks, and I -have eaten of the things that could not fly the Boundaries--Mice, and -Frogs, and Slugs: a diet that is horrible to think of. Look, Your -Majesty, at my gaunt sides--am I not like one that is already skinned by -the Trappers?" - -"He is making much talk," whispered the Red Widow, "to the end that you -forget the murder of Trowel Tail's Sons." - -"Didst like Beaver Meat?" queried Black King, abruptly. - -"I am not the slayer of Umisk's children," denied Lynx. "It was Wapoos, -or Whisky-Jack; they are mischief makers, and ready for any evil." - -"Oh, you silly liar!" cried Carcajou, in derision. "Wapoos the Rabbit -kill a Beaver? Why not say the Moon came down and ate them up. Thou -hast a sharp nose and a full appetite, but little brain." - -"He is a poor liar!" remarked the Red Widow. - -"I have kept the law," whined Lynx. "I have eaten so little that I am -starved." - -"What shall we do, Brothers, about the murdered Sons of Umisk? Beaver -is the worker of our lands. But for him, and the dams he builds, the -Muskegs would soon dry up, the fires would burn the Forests, and we -should have no place to live. If we kill the Sons, presently there will -be no workers--nobody but ourselves who are Killers." Black Fox thus -put the case wisely to the others. - -"Gr-a-a-h-wuh! let me speak," cried Blue Wolf. "Pisew has done this -thing. If any in my Pack make a kill and I come to speak of it, do I -not know from their eyes that grow tired, which it is?" - -Said the Lieutenant, Carcajou: "I think you are right, Rof; but you -can't hang a Comrade because he has weak eyes. No one has seen Pisew -make the kill. We must have a new law, Your Majesty. That if again -Kit-Beaver, or Cub-Fox, or Babe-Wapoos, or Young-Anyone is slain for -eating, we shall all, sitting in Council, decide who is to pay the -penalty. I think that will stop this murderous poaching." - -"It will," whispered the Red Widow. "Lynx will never touch one of them -again. He knows what Carcajou means." - -"That is a new law, then," cried the King. "If any of Umisk's children -are killed by one of us, sitting in Council we shall decide who is to be -executed for the crime." - -"Please, Your Majesty," squeaked Rabbit, "I keep the Boundary Law, but -others do not. From Beaver's dam to the Pelican, straighter than a Man's -trail, are my three Run-ways. My Cousin's family has three more; and in -the Muskeg our streets run clear to view. Beyond our Run-ways we do not -go. Nor do we build houses in violation of the law--only roads are we -allowed, and these we have made. In the Muskeg parks, the nice open -places Beaver has formed by damming back the waters, we labor. - -"When the young Spruce are growing, and would choke up the park, we -strip the bark off and they die, and the open is still with us. Neither -do we kill any Animal, nor make trouble for them--keeping well within -the law. Are we not ourselves food for all the Animal Kingdom? Lynx -lives off us, and Marten lives off us, and Fox lives off us, and Wolf -and Bear sometimes. Neither I nor my Tribe complains, because that law -is older than the laws we make ourselves. - -"But have we not certain rights which are known to the Council? For one -hour in the morning, and one hour in the evening, just when the Sun and -the Stars change their season of toil, are we not to be free from the -Hunting?" - -"Yes, it is written," replied Black King, "that no one shall kill Wapoos -at the hour of dusk and the hour of dawn. Has anyone done so?" - -"If they have, it's a shame!" cried Carcajou. "I do not eat Wapoos; but -if everything else fails--if the Fish fail, if there are no Berries, if -the Nuts and the Seeds are dried in the heart before they ripen, we -still have Wapoos to carry us over. The Indians know this--it is of -their history; and many a time has Wapoos, the Rabbit, our Little -Brother, saved them from starvation." - -"Who has slain Wapoos at the forbidden hour?" thundered Black King. - -Again there was denial all around the circle; and again everybody felt -convinced that Lynx was the breaker of the law. Said Black Fox: "It is -well because of the new ruling we have passed, I think. If again Wapoos -is killed or hunted at the forbidden hours, we shall decide in Council -who must die." - -"Also, O King," still pleaded Rabbit, "for all time have we claimed -another protection. You know our way of life. For seven years we go on -peopling the streets of our Muskeg Cities, growing more plentiful all -the time, until there is a great population. Then comes the sickness on -The Seventh Year, and we die off like Flies." - -"It has been so for sixty years," assented Mooswa. "My father, who is -sixty, has always known of this thing." - -"For a hundred times sixty, Brother," quoth Carcajou; "it is so written -in the legends of the Indians." - -"It is a queer sickness," continued Wapoos. "The lumps come in our -throats, and under our arms, and it kills. Your Majesty knows the Law -of the Seventh Season." - -"Yes, it is that no one shall eat Wapoos that year, or next." - -"Most wise ruling!" concurred Carcajou. "The Rabbits with the lumps in -their necks are poisonous. Besides, when there are so few of them, if -they were eaten, the food supply of the Boundaries would be forever -gone. A most wise rule." - -"Has any one violated this protection-right?" asked the King. - -"Yes, Your Majesty. This is the Seventh Year, is it not?" said Rabbit. - -"Bless me! so it is," exclaimed Mooswa, thoughtfully. "I, who do not -eat Rabbits, have paid no attention to the calendar. I wondered what -made the woods so silent and dreary; that's just it. No pudgy little -Wapooses darting across one's path. Why, now I remember, last year, The -Year of the Plenty, when I laid down for a rest they'd be all about me. -Actually sat up on my side many a time." - -"Yes, it's the Seventh Year," whined Lynx; "look how thin I am. Perhaps -miles and miles of river bank, and not even a Frog to be had." - -"Alas! it's the Plague-year," declared Wapoos; "and my whole family were -stricken with the sickness. They died off one--by--one--" Here he -stopped, and covered his big, sympathetic eyes with soft, fur-ruffed -hands. His tender heart choked. - -Mooswa sniffed through his big nose, and browsed absent-mindedly off the -Gray-willows. My! but they were bitter--he never ate them at any time; -but one must do something when a Father is talking about his dead -Children. - -"Did they all die, Wapoos?" asked Otter; and in his black snake-like -eyes there actually glistened a tear of sympathy. - -"Yes; and our whole city was almost depopulated." - -"Dreadful!" cried Carcajou. - -"The nearest neighbor left me was a Widow on the third main Run-way--two -cross-paths from my lane. All her family died off, even the Husband. -We were a great help to each other in the way of consolation, and became -fast friends. Yesterday morning, when I called to talk over our -affliction, there was nothing left of her but a beautiful, white, fluffy -tail." - -"Horrible! oh, the Wretch!" screamed Black Fox's Mother; "to treat a -Widow that way--eat her!" - -"If I knew who did it," growled Muskwa, savagely, "I would break his -neck with one stroke of my fist. Poor little Wapoos! come over here. -Eat these Black Currants that I've just picked--I don't want them." - -"That is a most criminal breach of the law," said the King, with -emphasis. "If Wapoos can prove who did it, we'll give the culprit quick -justice." - -"Flif--fluf, flif--fluf," came the sound of wings at this juncture, and -with an erratic swoop Whisky-Jack shot into the circle. - -He was trembling with excitement--something of tremendous importance had -occurred; every blue-gray feather of his coat vibrated with it. He -strutted about to catch his breath, and his walk was the walk of one who -feels his superiority. - -"Good-morning, Glib-tongue!" greeted Carcajou. - -"Welcome, Clerk!" said the King, graciously. - -"Hop up on my antler," murmured Mooswa, condescendingly; "you'll get -your throat full of dust down there." - -Whisky-Jack swished up on the big platter-like leaf that was the first -spread of Mooswa's lordly crown. He picked a remnant of meat food from -his beak with his big toe, coughed three times impressively, and -commenced:-- - -"Comrades, who do you suppose has come within our Boundaries?" - -"Is it Cougar, the Slayer?" asked Black King, apprehensively. - -"Is it Death Song, the Rattler, he who glides?" cried Marten, his little -legs trembling with fear. - -"Has my cousin, Ookistutoowan the Grizzly, come down from his home in -the up-hills to dispute with me the way of the road?" queried Black -Bear, Muskwa. "I am ready for him!" he declared, shaking his back like -a huge St. Bernard. - -"Didst see Train Dogs, bearer of ill news?" demanded Wolf. "Ur-r-r! I -fear not!" and he bared his great yellow fangs viciously. - -"Worse, worse still!" piped Whisky-Jack, spreading his wings out, and -sloping his small round head down toward them. "Worse than any you have -mentioned--some one to make you all tremble." - -"Tell us, tell us!" cried Carcajou. "One would think Wiesahkechack had -come back from his Spirit Home where the Northern Lights grow." - -"_François has come!_" declared the Jay, in an even, dramatic voice. - -The silence of consternation settled over the group. - -"François and _The Boy!_" added Jack. - -"What's a Boy?" asked Lynx. - -"I know," asserted Mooswa. "When I was a calf in the Company's corral -at Fort Resolution, I played with a Boy, the Factor's Man-Cub. Great -Horns! he was nice. Many a time he gave me to eat the queer grass -things that grew in the Factor's garden." - -"Where is François?" queried the King. - -"At Red Stone Brook--he and The Boy. I had breakfast with them." - -"Renegade!" sneered Carcajou. - -"And François says they will stay here all Winter and kill fur. There -are three big Bear Traps in the outfit--I saw them, Muskwa; what think -you? Great steel jaws to them, with hungry teeth. They would crack the -leg of a Moose, even a Buffalo; and there are Number Four Traps for -Umisk and Nekik; and smaller ones for you, Mister Marten--many of them. -Oh, my! but it's nice to have an eight-dollar coat. All the -Thief-trappers in the land covet it. - -"And François has an Ironstick, and The Boy has an Ironstick, and there -will be great sport here all Winter. That's what François said, and I -think it is true--not that a Half-breed sticks to the truth over-close." - -The Hunt-fear settled over the gathering. No one had heart even to check -the spiteful gibes of their feathered Clerk. The Law of the Boundaries, -and the suspicious evidence of its violation that pointed to Lynx, were -forgotten--which was, perhaps, a good thing for that unprincipled -poacher. - -Black King was first to break the fear-silence. - -"Subjects, draw close, for already it has come to us that we have need -of all our wisdom, and all our loyalty one to another, and the full -strength of our laws." - -Silently they bunched up; then he proceeded:-- - -"François is a great Hunter. He has the cunning of Wolverine, the -strength of Muskwa, the speed of mine own people, and the endurance of -Mooswa. Besides, there are the Traps, and the Ironstick; and Snares -made from Deer-sinew and Cod-line. The soft strong cord which Man -weaves. Also will this Evil Slayer, who is but a vile Half-breed, have -the White Powder of Death in a tiny bottle--such a small bottle, and yet -holding enough Devil-medicine to slay every Dweller in the Boundaries." - -"That it will, Your Majesty," confirmed Jack; "and it kills while you -breathe thrice--so, If-f-h, if-f-h, if-f-h! and you fall--your legs kick -out stiff, and you are dead. I've seen it do its terrible work." - -"Just so," assented Black King. "The use of that is against Man's law, -even; but François cares not, so be it the Red-coats know not of its -use. Now must we take an oath to help one the other, if we prefer not -to have our coats nailed on the Hunt-Man's Shack walls, or stretched on -the wedge-boards he uses for the hides of Otter, and Mink, and Fisher, -and myself. Even Muskrat and Pisew go on a wedge-board when they are -skinned. You, Beaver, and Muskwa, and Mooswa have your skins stretched -by iron thorns on the side of a Shack. - -"Now take we the oath?" he asked, looking from one to the other. - -A murmur of eager assent started with the deep bass of Blue Wolf and -died away in the plaintive treble of Wapoos. - -"Then, listen and repeat with me," he commanded. - - - THE OATH OF THE BOUNDARIES. - - -"'We, Dwellers within the Boundaries, swear by the Spirit of -Wiesahkechack, who is God of the Indians and all Animals, that, come -Trap, come Ironstick, come White-powdered Bait, come Snare, come Arrow, -come what soe'er may, we will help each other, and warn each other, and -keep ward for each other; in the Star-time and the Sun-time, in the -Flower-time and the Snow-time; that the call of one for help shall be -the call of all; and the fight of one shall be the fight of all; and the -enemy of one shall be the enemy of all. - -"'By the Mark that is on the tail of each of us, we swear this. By the -White Tip that is on the tail of Fox; by the Black Gloss that is on the -tail of Marten; by the Perfume that is on the tail of Sikak; by the -great, bushy tail of Blue Wolf, and the short tail of Bear; the broad, -hairless tail of Beaver, and the strong tapered tail of Otter; by the -Kink that is in the tail of Mink; by the much-haired tail of Fisher; the -white Cotton-tail of Rabbit, the fawn-coloured tail of Mooswa, and the -Bob-tail of Lynx; by the feathered tail of Whisky-Jack: and all others -according to their Tail-mark, we swear it.'" - - -"Now," said Black King, "François will have his work cut out, for we are -many against one." - -"You forget The Boy, Your Majesty," interrupted Carcajou. - -"Oh, he doesn't count," cried Jack, disdainfully. "He's a Moneas--which -means a greenhorn. He's new to the Forest--has lived where the paths of -Man are more plentiful than the Run-ways in Wapoos's Muskeg. - -"Of course, personally, I don't mind their coming--like it; it means -free food without far flying. Oh, but The Boy is a wasteful greenhorn. -When he fried the white fat-meat, which is from the animal that dwells -with Man, the Hog, he poured the juice out on the leaves, and the cold -turned it into food like butter--white butter. Such rich living will -make my voice soft. The Man-cub has a voice like mine--full of rich, -sweet notes. Did any of you ever hear a Man or Man-cub sing 'Down upon -the Suwanee River'? That's what The Boy sang this morning. But I don't -know that river--it's not about here; and in my time I have flown far -and wide over more broad streams than I have toes to my feet." - -"Be still, empty-head!" cried the King, angrily. "You chatter as though -the saving of our lives were good fun. Brother Carcajou, François needs -no help. For five years he has followed me for my Black Coat--for five -Winters I have eluded his Traps, and his Baits, and the cough of his -Ironstick. But one never knows when the evil day is to come. Last -Winter François trapped on Hay River. I was there; as you know, it is a -great place for Black Currants." - -"Do you eat the bitter, sour Berries, Your Majesty?" queried Marten. - -"No, Silly; except for the flavour of them that is in the flesh of Gay -Cock, the Pheasant. But it is in every child's book of the Fox tribe, -that where Berries are thick, the Birds are many." - -"How comes François here to the Pelican this year, then?" growled Blue -Wolf. - -"Because of the thing Men call Fate," answered Black King, learnedly; -"though they do not understand the shape of it. We call it the Whisper -of Wiesahkechack. Wiesahke whispered to me that because of the fire -there were no Berries at Hay River, that the Birds had all come to the -Pelican; and I have no doubt that He, who is the King of evil Mischief -Makers, has also talked in thought-words to François, that here is much -fur to be had for the killing." - -"I should like to see François," exclaimed Nekik, the Otter. - -"And The Boy!" suggested Mooswa. "It's years since I saw a Man-cub." - -"W-h-e-u-f-f-!" ejaculated Muskwa. "I saw a Man once--Nichemous. Did I -tell you about--" - -"Save me from Owls!" interrupted Whisky-Jack; "that's your stock-story, -old Squeaky Nose. I've heard it fifty times in the last two years." - -The Bear stood rocking his big body back and forth while the saucy bird -chattered. - -"But I should like to see more of Man," he continued, when Jay had -finished. "Tell me, Jack, do they always walk on their hind-legs--or -only when they are going to kill or fight--as I do? I think we must be -cousins," he went on, meditatively. - -"You ought to be ashamed of it, then!" snapped the Bird. - -"They leave a trail just like mine," proceeded Muskwa, paying no -attention to the Jay. "I once saw a Man's track on the mud bank of the -river; I could have sworn it was one of my family had passed--a long -foot-print with a heel." - -"Perhaps it was your own track--you are so terribly stupid at times," -suggested Jack. - -"You might have made that mistake," retorted Muskwa, "for you can't -scent; but when I investigated with my nose, I knew that it was Man. -There was the same horrible smell that came to me once as two of these -creatures passed down the river in a canoe, whilst I was eating Berries -by the water's edge. But you spend most of your time begging a living -from these Men, Jack--tell me if they generally walk as I do, on all -fours?" - -"Long ago they did, Muskwa; when their brains were small, like yours. -Then they developed, and got more sense, and learned to balance -themselves on their hind-legs." - -"What's the use of having four legs and only using two?" grunted Bear, -with a dissatisfied air. - -"You'll find out, my Fat Friend, if you come within range of the -Ironstick--what did Nichemous try to do? After that you won't ask silly -questions, for François will take your skin, dry it in the sun, and put -your brainless head on a tree as a Medicine Offering to the Hunt Spirit; -and he'll take your big carcass home, and The Boy will help him eat it. -Don't bother me about Man--if you want to know his ways, come and see -for yourself." - -"I'd like to, Clerk," answered Bear, humbly. - -"They're going to build a house," asserted Whisky-Jack. - -"A lodge!" exclaimed Beaver. "Oh, I must see that." - -"What say you, Black King?" queried Carcajou. "May we all go to-morrow, -and see this Trapper and The Boy--think you it's safe?" - -"Better now than when the Traps are set and Firestick loaded." - -So they arranged amongst themselves to go at dawn the next day, and -watch from the bush François and Roderick. - -Then the meeting broke up. - - - - - THE BUILDING OF THE SHACK - - -Next morning, just as the gray oncoming Day was rolling back into the -Forest depths the Night curtain, Muskwa, who was swinging along -leisurely, with a walk like a Blue-Jacket, towards the Trapper's Camp, -discovered Wapoos sitting in his path. - -"A snareless runway to you, Little Brother! Are you heading for the -Shack?" - -"Yes," bleated Wapoos; "I'm still weak from the Seventh Year sickness, -and hop badly, I fear." - -"Jump up, Afflicted One, your furry stomach will feel warm on my -back,--Huh! huh! this beastly fog that comes up from the waters of the -Athabasca to battle with the sunlight gets into my lungs. I shall soon -have to creep into a warm nest for my long sleep." - -"Hast seen any of our Comrades?" queried Wapoos, as he lay in the velvet -cushion of black fur that was a good four inches deep on Bear's back. - -"I heard Rof's hoarse bay as he called across the Pelican to some one. -Here is Nekik's trail, where his belly has scraped all the mud spots." - -"Aren't we a funny lot?" giggled Wapoos. "Mooswa's legs are like the -posts of Man's cache--so long; and Otter's are like the knots on a -tree--too short. See! there goes Black King and his red-headed Mother." - -"That is the queerest outfit in the Boundaries," chuckled Muskwa. "The -Widow is red, and three of the Sons; the Babe, Stripes, is brown, with a -dark cross on his back; while the King is as black as my Daddy was. -Sweet Honey! but his coat was beautiful--like the inside of a hole on a -pitch-dark night. There is a family of Half-breeds up at The Landing -just like the Widow's lot. Some are red-haired, some are brown, and -some are black. I saw them once Fishing at Duck Lake." - -"Did they see you, Muskwa?" - -"Am I not here, Little Brother--therefore their eyes were busy with the -Fish. Wu-u-f-f! I catch the scent of Man. Jump down, Wapoos; push -through the Willows and tell me what thou seest." - -Bear sat on his haunches and waited. - -"There's a white lodge," reported Rabbit, as he hopped back, "and inside -is a throat-call that is not of our Comrades." - -"That's Man's tepee; most like it was The Boy's song your big ears -heard." - -They went forward gingerly, Wapoos acting as pilot. In a little open -space where Red Stone Brook emptied into the Athabasca was a small "A" -tent. The two comrades lay down in the willows to watch. Soon they -were joined by Black King; Otter was already there. Then came Blue Wolf -and Mooswa. As Carcajou joined them, Whisky-Jack fluttered into the -centre of the party. - -"That's a Tent," he said, with the air of a courier explaining sights to -a party of tourists. "The Boy is putting on his fur. Do you hear his -song-cry?" - -"He hath a full stomach," growled Rof, "for his voice is rich in -content. What is the cry, Bird of Knowledge?" - -"It's a song of my Crow Cousins. I'll repeat a line for your fur-filled -ears:-- - - "'There were three crows sat on a tree, - And they were black as crows could be; - Said one of them unto his mate, - Let's catch old Carcajou to ate!'" - - -"All of a kind flock together," retorted Wolverine; "Birds, and Boys, -and Fools!" - -Jack chuckled. To have roused Carcajou's anger was something to start -the day with. - -"Plenty of Water to you all, Comrades," greeted Beaver pleasantly, -patting a smooth seat for himself with his tail, as he joined the -others. - -"Where is the Man?" queried Black King. - -"Sleeping!" answered Jack. "He makes a noise with his nose like fat -Muskwa does when he runs from Grizzly." - -"That's a pretty lodge," remarked Beaver, critically. "When will they -flood it?" - -"Stupid! they don't live in water," reproved Jay. "If it is wet they -make a little hollow path and run the water off." - -"Is that a Dead-fall, Jack?" asked Muskwa, pointing his gray nozzle at a -small square building that was three logs high. - -"It's their Shack; they started it yesterday." - -"A poor Lodge!" declared Umisk. "The first flood will undermine the -corners, and down it will come. Have they no trowel-tails to round it -up with good blue-clay?" - -"Umisk, you should travel. Your ideas are limited. Have they not built -their Shack on high ground where there will be no flood?" - -"But they'll freeze in the Winter," persisted Beaver. "The water would -keep them warm if they flooded it." - -"They've got a stove," the Courier answered. - -"What's a stove?" asked Lynx. - -"You'll find out, Mister Cat, when they make bouillon of your ribs. -It's that iron-thing with one long ear." - -"Is that their breakfast--that pile of wood-meat?" queried Beaver. - -"Yes, meat for the stove," piped Jack. "Do you think they have teeth -like a wood-axe and eat bark because you do?" - -"They have queer teeth, sure enough," retorted Trowel Tail. "See this -tree stump, cut flat from two sides, all full of notches, as though a -Kit-Beaver who didn't know his business had nibbled it down. How in the -name of Good Dams they can fell trees into a stream that way I can't -make out. This tree fell on land and they had to carry the logs. -They're silly creatures and have much to learn." - -"There's The Boy!" whispered Jack, nudging Muskwa in the ribs with his -wing. - -They all peered eagerly at the door of the tent, for a white-skinned -hand was unlacing it. Then a fair face, with rosy cheeks, topped by a -mass of yellow hair, was thrust through the opening, and presently a lad -of fourteen stepped out, stretched his arms upward, and commenced -whistling like a bird. - -"That's the Boy-call," said Black King, in a soft voice. "Listen, -Comrades, so that we may know it. François gives voice to the Man-call: -'Hi, yi! hi, yi! E-e-e-g-o-o-o-!' which means, in their talk, 'Hear! -hear! it is I--I--A Man!' That is because they claim to be Lords of all -the Animal Kingdom, even as I am Ruler in our own Boundaries." - -"What a lovely Pup!" cried the Red Widow, enthusiastically; "he's got -yellow hair just like my Babe--look, Stripes! Plump Birds! but I wish I -had him in my litter." - -"'Pup,' indeed!" exclaimed Whisky-Jack, indignantly. "A Man-Boy called -'Pup,' by a frowsy old Fox Widow." - -"Clerk!" interrupted Black King, angrily. - -"François! François!" called The Boy, putting his face inside the tent; -"the sun is up, the fog is gone, and I'm as hungry as a Wolf." - -Rof started. "Gur-r-r-! how does the Cub know my stomach is lean -because of the Seventh Year famine?" - -A pair of sharp, black eyes gleamed from the tent flap. They belonged -to the Half-breed Trapper, François. - -"Move back, Brothers, a little into the Willows," whispered Black King; -"he has Devil-eyes, like Wolverine." - -"His Majesty flatters you, Carcajou," sneered Whisky-Jack. - -François came out, took his axe, and made some shavings from a Jack-pine -stick. - -"Will they eat that?" asked Beaver. - -The Breed stepped over to a Birch tree, peeled from its side a handful -of silver, ribbon-like bark, and lighted it with a match; it blazed and -crackled like oil-soaked shavings. Then he shoved it into the stove, -put chips and three sticks of wood in, shut the door, and thick black -smoke curled up from the stove pipe. The animals stared with -extraordinary interest. - -Whisky-Jack craned his head, and watched the effect of this magic on his -Comrades. - -"That's the Devil-thing that destroyed all the Birds and their Eggs," -said the Red Widow. "It's the Man-fire." - -Blue Wolf was trembling. "E-u-h! E-u-h!" he whined; "Man's -Fire-medicine. It grows like the wind, and destroys like the Rabbit -plague. Once seven Brothers of mine stalked a Man and he started this -Fire-medicine." - -"What happened, Rof?" asked Carcajou. - -"The Man escaped." - -"And your Seven Brothers?" - -"This red-poison ate them as Otter devours a Fish--bones and all." - -"I think the stove is a good thing," decided Black King. "The Man-fire -is in a Trap." - -"Yes, the Fire-trap is a good thing," concurred his Mother, "if we wish -to save the Birds." - -"And the Rabbits!" added Lynx. - -"And the Berries!" grunted Muskwa. - -"The purple Moose-weed grows after fire has eaten the Forest," mused -Mooswa; "and if it glows hot and red on one river bank I swim to the -other." - -"It's all right for you, Long-legs, Pudding-nose, Bob-tail," gibed -Whisky-Jack; "but the Law of the Boundaries is for the good of all, and -this Fire-trap is a fine thing. I hate to have hot coals falling on my -feathers, when the Forest is on fire." - -The smoke curled lazily riverward, away from the animals. Suddenly it -veered about and the pungent perfume of burning Birch-bark came toward -them. - -Mooswa straightened his massive head, spread the nostrils of his great -cushion-shaped nose, cocked his thick ears forward intently, and -discriminated between the different scents that came floating on the -sleepy morning air. - -"The fire breath--Wh-e-e!" It tickled a cough in his throat. "The -odour of the Half-breed," ugh! he knew that--it was the Man-smell. "But -stop! What?" A something out of the long ago crept into his sensitive -nostrils and touched his memory. Surely once it had been familiar. - -The Boy crossed directly in the wind's path, and Mooswa got it stronger. -Then he knew. His big eyes glistened softly, eagerly; it was the scent -of the Lad he had played with in his youth. - -"Comrades," he gurgled, for something was in his throat, "have I not -told you of the Boy who was the Factor's Young?" - -"Whenever you got a chance!" snapped Whisky-Jack. - -Mooswa sighed wearily. Jack's frivolity was tiring to his sedate mind. - -"Well, that's my Boy there. I'd like to rub my nose against his -rose-flowered cheek." - -"While François tickled your lean ribs with the Firestick!" jeered the -Bird. - -"Bring a pot of water," said François to his comrade, "while I cut up -the fish." - -"Great Suckers!" exclaimed Nekik; "Fish! and a beauty, too. It's a -Tulabie. I know them; they're first cousin to White-fish. These men -have fine taste--a fish diet makes one clever." - -"It does!" declared Mink. - -"It's better than roots!" concurred Muskrat. - -"Slow Birds! it makes me hungry," sighed the Red Widow. - -"So it does me, Good Dame," piped Whisky-Jack. "You chaps had better -slip away home now; I'm going to breakfast with the Men. It isn't safe -to remain, for I can't stop to look after you." - -"Go and clear the plates, Feather-front," cried Carcajou, malignantly. - -Jack sawed the air energetically with his wings and lighted on the wire -guy with which François had steadied the stove pipe. - -"Shall we move, Comrades?" asked Black King. - -"Wait and see how Jack gets on with The Boy," pleaded Mooswa. - -"I could sit here and smell that Fish all day," declared Nekik. - -"So could I," added Mink. "It's just lovely. I've never tasted Fish -dried in the fire-pot. Once I stole one from a Trapper which he had -dried in the sun--there was no juice in it." - -"Pe-e-p! Peep!" squeaked Whisky-Jack. The Boy looked up at him. - -"What a frowsy-headed old bird!" he exclaimed, shying a stick at Jay. - -Muskwa dug Mooswa in the ribs with his big paw. "We'll see fun yet if -we wait," he chuckled thickly. - -"Don't bodder 'bout dat fell'," remonstrated François; "dat's only -Whisky-Jack." - -"Only what?" asked the lad. - -"What dey call Canadienne Jay--Whisky-Jack." - -"Shall I shoot him?" - -"No; dat fell' no good, but he's not wort' de powder an' s'ot." - -Jack heard a faint giggle come up from the gray willows, for Wolverine -had his big-clawed fist half-way down his throat to choke the sound of -laughter. - -"Our Clerk's Men Friends are complimentary," remarked Black King. - -The Boy cut a small piece of fat pork, stuck it on a sharp stick, and -busied himself somewhat at the stove front; but the watchers could not -quite see what he was doing. - -"I think I'll give Jay some breakfast," he said suddenly; "the bird -seems hungry:" and straightening his back, threw towards him the lump of -pork. - -With a pleased chuckle Jack swooped down and drove his beak into the -white mass like a lance. Then he went through a rare set of gymnastic -contortions, for the wicked Boy had heated the pork scalding hot. Jack -clawed at it with his feet and burnt his toes--his tongue was blistered. - -"What's that noise?" exclaimed Rod, for a distinct muffled laugh had -escaped from the band of animals. - -"It's de float-ice groundin' on de ribber-banks, I tink me," answered -François, cocking his head sideways to listen. - -As the animals slipped away in alarm, Jack came fluffing after them, and -perched himself indignantly on Mooswa's great antlers. - -"O my Giant Brother!" he cried furiously, "come and kill that debased -Man-Cub, I beg you." - -The Moose's shaggy sides were heaving with suppressed laughter. "What -has he done, Sweet Bird?" he moaned. - -"Taken the skin off my toes, and blistered my tongue with his accursed -fat pork." - -"Why don't you wear boots as I do, and not knock around barefooted? I -should be always jamming my toes if I hadn't these thick boots. Why, -last year when the big fire was on, I went through miles of burning -country, and except a little hardening up of the soles, there was no -harm done." - -"But you don't wear them on your tongue, do you?" asked the Bird, -crossly. - -"No, Silent One, I don't--neither do you; but if you'll just wrap it up -for a few days and give it a rest, I'm sure it will be all right." - -"Do," cried Carcajou; "we sha'n't mind. I suppose that's what The Boy -calls his Tongue Trap--he knew whom to set it for, too." - -"Come and trample him with your sharp hoofs, dear Mooswa," pleaded -Whisky-Jack, the lack of sympathy and the chaff making him furious. - -"Oh, sit still, if you're going to ride on my horns," exclaimed the -Bull. "You're jigging about--" - -"As though he had corns," interrupted Carcajou. - -"It was so nice of you, Whisky-Jack," said Lynx, in an oily tone, "to -take care of us all while we were there--wasn't it? Some of us might -have burned our tongues but for you destroying the hot Bait." - -When the animals got back to their meeting-place, which was known as the -Boundary Centre, they stopped for a time to compare notes. - -"Comrades," said Mooswa, "little have I claimed from you. I kill not -anything; neither the Fox Cubs, nor the Sons of Umisk, nor the -red-tailed Birds that beat their wings like drums, nor anything. But -this new law I ask of you all in the face of the King; for the Boy that -was my Man-brother, the safeguard of the Boundaries." - -"You have not had the hot-meat thrust in your throat, friend of the -rascally Cub," objected Jack, angrily. - -"Hush, Chatterer!" growled Bear; "let Mooswa speak." - -"The horn-crowned Lord of the Forest gives expression to a noble -sentiment," declared Pisew. "By all means let the Kit-Man grow free of -the Boundary Fear, until his claws are long and his bone-cracking teeth -are strong." - -"He must have a Mother also," said the Red-Widow softly. "You have all -forsworn malice to my Babe, Stripes, until he is of full strength--let -the Man-Cub have the same guard." - -"What about François?" objected Whisky-Jack. "By my Stone-crop I'll -wager he taught that Chick the trick of the hot pork." - -"For him," continued Mooswa, gravely, "in defence of our rights and our -lives the full law of the Forest; by night, the lone road and the cry of -Blue Wolf and his Brothers; by day, the strong clasp of Muskwa; at close -quarters, the stamp of my hoofs; and for his Traps and their Bait, the -cunning of Carcajou and Black King." - -"This is fair--it is a good Law," said Black Fox. - -"It is!" they all cried in chorus. - -"I am satisfied!" added the Moose. - -"I think it would be well, Subjects," said Black King, thoughtfully, "to -watch this Man and Man-Cub until the setting out of the Traps; after -that we can regulate our lives in accordance. How long will it take them -to build their Shack, Clerk?" - -"Four days, François told The Boy last evening, as he smoked the -scent-flower." - -"Then on the fourth day, three or four of us who are quick travellers -had better go and watch the evil ways of this Slayer. What say you -all?" - -"Most wise King," exclaimed Pisew, "select thou the Strong Runners." - -"Very well: Mooswa, Muskwa, Rof, and myself--also Carcajou, for he has -great knowledge of Man the Killer's ways." - -"I should like to see the lodge when it is finished," whined Beaver, -"but my short little fore-legs travel not overfast on land." - -"So you shall, Comrade," growled Muskwa; "You may ride on my back." - -"Or on my antlers," suggested Mooswa; "their bowl will be like a cradle -for you." - -"That's settled, then," declared Black Fox. "On the fourth round of the -Sun we meet at François's Shack, in the safety time of the Forest, dawn -hour; either that or dusk hour. What say you Brothers--which shall it -be?" - -"It would suit me better on account of my work," ventured Umisk, "to go -at dusk hour. I have lost much time lately, and I'm building new lodges -for my three-year-old Sons who are starting out for themselves this -Fall." - -"Don't be late, then--I go to bed at dusk," lisped Whisky-Jack, -mincingly, for his tongue was wondrous sore. "I will take note of what -the Men do in the meantime." - -"And take care of us, O Wise Bird," sneered Pisew. - -"Big-feet! Spear-ear! Herring-waist!" fairly screamed Jay, forgetting -the sore tongue in his rage. "Before Winter is over, you'll be glad of -Jack's advice, or I don't know François." - -"The white of a Partridge egg is good for a burn," retorted Lynx. "Find -one and cool your fevered tongue." - -"Are not these wranglers just like Men, Carcajou?" remarked Mooswa. "If -you all spent more time in lawful hunt for food you would be fatter. It -will profit me more to browse in the Forest than listen to your -frost-singed wit, so I leave you, Comrades." - -"And I prefer even fat Frogs to hot fat Pork," said Pisew, maliciously, -slinking like a shadow into the woods. - -"'Fat Frogs,'" sneered Carcajou; "good enough for that smooth-faced -Sneak--I hardly know what I'm going to have for dinner, though." - -"Fat Birds are the thing to tickle my appetite," declared Black King. -"It is coming the time of day for them to shove their heads under wing, -too. I'm off--remember we meet on the Fourth day." - - - - - THE EXPLORATION OF CARCAJOU - - -At sunset on the Fourth day Black King and his party once more crouched -in the willows at Red Stone Brook. François and his young friend were -just putting some finishing touches to the Shack roof--placing the last -earth sods on top of the poles, for it was a mud covering. - -"It's nearly finished," whispered Jay. - -"Strong Teeth! but that is funny," laughed Beaver. - -"What is funny, Eater of Wood?" queried Jack. - -"Why, the Man carries his trowel-tail in his front paws. I wish I could -do that. I have to turn around to look when I'm doing a nice bit of -plastering." - -It was the Half-breed's spade that had drawn forth this remark. - -"Yes," declared Whisky-Jack wisely, "one time the Men were like -you--walked on four legs and used a trowel-tail for their building; now -they stand upright, and have shed the trowel which they use in their -hands." - -"Wonderful!" soliloquized Umisk; "still they can't do as good work. Fat -Poplar! but it's a poor Lodge. The only sensible thing about it is the -mud roof." - -François struck the clod sharply with his spade, settling it into place. -"How clumsily the Man works," cried Beaver; "I'm glad my tail is where -it is. What's that mud thing sticking up out of the corner, Jay? Is it -a little lodge for the Kit-Man?" - -"That's a chimney--part of the fire-trap," answered Jack. - -"I know what that's like," asserted Carcajou. "I went down one once. -The Trapper locked his door, thinking to keep me out while he rounded up -his Traps. It's a splendid trail for getting in and out of a Shack. -Why, I can carry a side of bacon up that hole--did it." - -"Isn't The Boy lovely?" muttered Mooswa. "Isn't his call sweet? What -does François name him, Jack--Man-Cub or Kit-Man?" - -Just then the Half-breed sang out: "Rod, I t'ink me it's grub -time--knock off. De ole s'ack s'e's finis'." - -"Rod?" mused the Moose. "Yes, that is what the Factor used to call him. -'Rod! Rod!' he would shout, and The Boy would run with his little fat -legs." - -Rod and the Half-breed went inside, closed the door and lighted a -candle, for it was growing dark, put a fire in the stove and cooked -their supper. - -The watchers, eager to see everything, edged cautiously up to the log -walls. Space for a small window had been left by the builders, but the -sash was not yet in place. - -"I should like to see that mud-work the Man did with his hand-trowel," -whispered Umisk. - -"Climb on my horns, Little Brother," said Mooswa, softly, "and I will -lift you up." - -Beaver slipped around gently on the roof inspecting François's -handicraft, while the others listened at the window. - -"By Goss! Rod," said the Breed, "I put me leetle fire in de fire-place -for dry dat c'imney, s'e's sof. De fros' spoil him when s'e's no dry." - -"I believe they have made the chimney too small," muttered Carcajou. -"I'm going up to have a look." - -"To-mor' we put out dat Traps," remarked the Half-breed. "What you -t'ink, Boy--I see me dat Black Fox yesterday." - -"The Black Fox!" exclaimed his young companion, eagerly. "The beauty -you spoke of as being in this part of the country?" - -The King trembled. Already this terrible Trapper was on his trail. - -"Yes; I know me where he have hes hole. I put dat number t'ree Otter -Trap close by, cover him wit' leaves, an' put de fis'-head bait on top. -Den we see. We keel plenty fur here dis Winter. Dere's big moose track -too--mus' be bull." - -Black King scratched Mooswa's fore-leg with a paw to draw his attention, -but the latter had heard. - -"I make some snare to-night, an' put him out wit' Castoreum. Dere's -plenty Cat here." - -Lynx shuddered. - -"We must help each other," he whined, in a frightened voice. - -Mooswa felt a little pat on his lofty horn, and looked up. "Lift me -down, Brother," whispered Beaver. - -"Where's Carcajou?" queried the King. - -"Poking around the chimney--he made me nervous. - -"Wuf!" sniffed Muskwa, gently. "Our Man burns the stink-weed in his -mouth--it's horrible!" François was smoking. - -[Illustration: "WUF!" SNIFFED MUSKWA, GENTLY. "OUR MAN BURNS THE -STINK-WEED IN HIS MOUTH."] - -Carcajou was busy examining the mud-and-stick wall of the chimney, which -stuck up three feet above the roof. "I'm sure they've made it too -small," he muttered; "I'll never be able to get down. That will be too -bad. By my Cunning! but I'd like to know for sure--I will!" For -nothing on earth will satisfy a Wolverine's curiosity but complete -investigation. - -He gave a spring, grabbed the top of the chimney with his strong -fore-legs, and pulled himself up. As he did so the soft mud collapsed -and sank with a tremendous crash through the hole in the roof, carrying -the reckless animal with it. - -"Run for it!" commanded Black King, sharply; "that mischievous Devil has -made a mess of the business." - -"Whif! Wuf! Whiff!" grunted Bear, plunging through the thicket. - -Black Fox melted silently into the Forest darkness as swiftly as a -cloud-shadow crosses a sunlit plain. - -Lynx gathered his sinewy legs and fairly spurned the earth in -far-reaching bounds. - -Beaver had been sitting curled up in the bowl of Mooswa's antlers, -peeping in the window at the time of Carcajou's mishap. His quick brain -took in the situation. Grasping the two strong front points, he -squeaked, "Fly, Mooswa!" - -"Sit tight, Little Brother!" admonished the Moose, putting his nose -straight out and laying the horn-crown back over his withers, as he -rushed with a peculiar side-wheel action, like a pacing-horse, from the -clearing. - -When the crash came François jumped to his feet in amazement. Before he -could investigate the mass of mud upheaved, a small dark-brown body -scuttled across the floor, clattered up the wall, and vanished through -the open window. - -The Breed jumped for the door, grabbing a gun as he went. Throwing it -open he rushed out, but of course there was nothing in sight. Wolverine -was busily engaged in working his short legs to their full capacity in -an earnest endeavour to place considerable territory between himself and -the treacherous Shack. - -François came back grunting his dissatisfaction. - -Rod stood in speechless amazement while his companion examined the pile -of soft mud débris critically by the aid of a candle. - -"I t'ought me dat!" he remarked, with satisfied conviction, -straightening his back and setting the candle down on the rude plank -table. "It's dat Debil of de Woods, Carcajou. Wait you, Mister -Wolverine; François s'ow you some treek." - -"What was he after?" queried The Boy. - -"After for raise Ole Nick," declared the Half-breed, dejectedly. "You -know what we mus' do? We mus' ketc' dat debil firs', or we keel no fur -here. He steal de bait, an' cac'e de Trap; s'pose we go out from de -S'ack, dat Carcajou come down de c'imney, tear up de clo'es, spill de -farina--de flour, t'row de pot in de ribber, an' do ever' fool t'ing -what you can t'ink. Never mind, I ketc' him, an' I keel him;" and -François fairly danced a Red River jig in his rage. - -Whisky-Jack had perched on the end of a roof-plate log when the trouble -materialized, so he heard this tirade against Wolverine. The Bird could -hardly go to sleep for chuckling. What a sweet revenge he would have -next day; how he would revile Wolverine. Surely the unfortunate -Carcajou had scorched his feet, and mayhap his back, when he fell in the -fire-place. "I wonder whose toes are sore to-night," the Jay thought. -"I hope he got a good singeing--meddling beast! Nice Lieutenant to -upset everything just when we were having such a lovely time. Oh, but -I'll rub it into him to-morrow." - - - - - THE SETTING OUT OF THE TRAPS - - -"Royal Son," said the Red Widow next morning, "what is the Burrow of the -Men-Kind like?" - -"Ask Carcajou when he comes, Mother," replied Black Fox; and he related -the incident of the night before. - -"Art sure, Son, that the Kit-Man's Mother is not with him?" - -"No, Dame, she is not." - -"Then he will get into trouble--that is certain. I have looked after -you all--a big family, too, nine of you--and know what it means. Pisew, -with his cannibal taste for Fox-cubs--and mark this, Son, even Carcajou -has a weakness the same way, my Mother taught me to understand. And -Rof, who seems such a big, gruff, kind-hearted fellow, would crack one -of your backs with his great jaws quick enough in the Hunger-year, were -no one looking. Mooswa is honest, but the others bear him no love, -surely. And François is to set out the Traps to-day, and he has -discovered our home here in this cut-bank, you say. Well, Son, thou art -the King, because of thy Wisdom; but together we must advise against -this Slayer, who has the cunning of Carcajou and the Man-knowledge of -Wiesahkechack." - -"What shall we do, Dame?" - -"Now, thy red Brother, Speed, must take the message to the strong -runners of our Comrades, Mooswa and the others, as has been arranged, to -meet; and when François has passed with the Traps, go you five after -this Man, and gain knowledge of where they are placed, and do all things -necessary for safety in the Boundaries. The Watcher over Animals has -sent soft snow last night, the first of this Cold-time, so your task -will be easy. Just the length of a brisk run, higher up the Pelican, is -a cut-bank with a hole as good as this. Before you were born, with your -beautiful silver coat, I lived there. - -"Now, François, even as he told the Man-Cub, will trap here, and who -knows but he may put his Fire-medicine with its poison breath in the -door of our Burrow, and seek to drive us out to be killed." - -"That is true, Most Wise Mother; the sight of the twisting red-poison is -more dreadful than anything; for it smothers and eats up, and is swift -as the wind, and spreads like the flood in the river, and fears neither -Man nor Beast, and obeys not even the Spirit God of the Animals when it -is angered." - -"Well, Son, while you follow the trail of this evil Trapper, I, with all -your Brothers, will go to the other Burrow." - -"Be sure the Cubs step all in one track, Mother--your track, so this -Breed Man, with his sharp eyes, shall not suspect." - -"Do you hear, Cubs?" asked the Widow. "Remember what your Brother has -said. Also each day one of us will make a fresh trail here, so that the -Man may think we still live in this house." - -So while Speed glided swiftly through the Boundaries uttering his -whimper call to Mooswa, Muskwa, Rof, and Carcajou, François and Rod -shouldered each a bag of Traps and started to lay out the Marten Road, -as was called a big circle of Traps extending perhaps thirty miles, for -the Winter's hunt. - -The Boy was filled with eager, joyous anticipation. During his school -days in town he had thought and dreamed of the adventurous free life of -a Fur Trapper in the great Spruce Forests of the North. That was -chiefly because it was bred in the bone with him. He threw back to the -forty years of his father's Factor-life as truly as an Indian retains -the wild instinct of his forefathers, though he delve for half a -lifetime in the civilization of the White Man. - -"Here is de Marten tracks," cried François, stopping suddenly; and with -precise celerity he built a little converging stockade by placing in the -ground sharp-pointed sticks. In this he set a small steel Trap, covered -it with leaves, and beyond placed the head of a fish. - -"What's that track?" asked The Boy, as his companion stopped and looked -at the trail of some big-footed creature. - -"Cat," answered François; "dat's Mister Lynk. He like for smell some -t'ing, so I give him Castoreum me for rub on hes nose--perhaps some -necktie too." - -[Illustration: "CAT," ANSWERED FRANÇOIS; "DAT'S MISTER LYNK."] - -He cut a stick four feet long and four inches thick, and to the middle -of it fastened a running noose made from cod-line. Then building a -stockade similar to the last, and placing a fish-head smeared with -Castoreum inside, he bent down a small Poplar and from it suspended the -noose covering the entrance to the stockade. - -"Now, Mister Lynk he go for smell dat," explained François. "He put hes -fat head t'rough dat noose; perhaps he don't get him out no more. By -Goss! he silly; when dat string get tight he fight wid de stick, an' -jump, and play de fool. De stick don't say not'ing, but jump too, of -course, cause it loose, you see. If de stick be fas' den de Lynk break -de string; but dis way dey fight, an' by an' by dat Lynk he dead for -soor, I t'ink me." - -"He has queer taste," said The Boy, "to risk his neck for that -stuff--it's worse than a Skunk." - -They moved on, and behind, quite out of sight, but examining each -contrivance of the Trapper, came Black Fox, Muskwa, Blue Wolf, Mooswa, -and Carcajou. Whisky-Jack was with them; now flying ahead to discover -where the enemy were, now fluttering back with a dismal "Pee weep! Pee -weep!" to report and rail at things generally. - -Carcajou at times travelled on three legs. "Got a thorn in your foot?" -queried the Jay? solicitously. - -"Toes are cold," answered Wolverine, shortly. - -"He-a-weep!" laughed Whisky-Jack, sneeringly; "they were hot enough last -night, when you called on François through the chimney. Whose toes are -sore to-day, Mister Carcajou? And the fur is burnt off your back--excuse -me while I laugh;" and the Bird gave vent to a harsh, cackling chuckle. - -"Hello!" Carcajou exclaimed, suddenly. "I smell Castoreum; or is it -Sikak the Skunk?" - -When they came to the Lynx Snare, almost immediately, he circled around -gingerly in the snow, examining every bush, and stick, and semblance of -track; then he peered into the little stockade. "It's all right!" he -declared; "that François is a double-dealing Breed. I have known him -set a Snare like this for Pisew, and a little to one side put a Number -Four Steel Trap, nicely covered up, to catch an unsuspicious, -simple-minded Wolverine." - -"Why don't you also say _honest, modest_, Wolverine?" derided -Whisky-Jack. - -"But that's a Snare for Pisew, right enough," continued Carcajou. - -"It is!" added Black Fox. - -"Watch me spring it!" commanded Carcajou, tearing with his strong jaws -and stronger feet at the fastening which held down the bent poplar. -Swish! And the freed sapling shot into the air, dangling the cord like -a hangman's noose invitingly before their eyes. "Now if any one wants -the Fish-head, he may have it," he added. - -"Not with Castoreum Sauce," said Black Fox. Even Blue Wolf turned his -nose up at it. - -"Well, I'll eat it myself," bravely remarked Wolverine, "for I'm -hungry." - -"You always are, 'Gulo the Glutton,' as Men call you," twittered Jay. - -"I don't care for hot pork, though," retorted the other, making a -grimace at the Bird. - -"I believe they are heading for your house, Black Fox," remarked Rof, as -they trudged on again. - -"François is setting a Trap in the King's Palace--in the Court Yard," -cried Whisky-Jack, fluttering back to meet them. Sure enough, as the -friends crouched in a little coulee they could see the Half-breed -covering up a "No. 3" directly in front of Fox's hole. Near the Trap -François deposited two pieces of meat. - -"If the Old Lady comes out she'll get her toes pinched," remarked -Carcajou. - -Black Fox laughed. "When François catches Mother, we all shall be very -dead." - -When the Trapper had gone, the Comrades drew close, and gingerly -reconnoitred. "Only one Trap!" cried Carcajou; "this is too easy." -Cautiously fishing about in the snow he found a chain; pulling the Trap -out, he gave it a yank--something touched the centre-plate, and it went -off with a vicious snap that made their hearts jump. - -"Is the Bait all right, Whisky-Jack," asked Black King. "Was there any -talk of White Powder?" - -"There's nothing in it," replied the Bird; "I saw them cut the Meat." - -"Well, Jack and I will eat one piece; there's a piece for you, Rof. In -this year of scarce food even the Death Bait is acceptable--though it's -but a tooth-full. Are you hungry, Muskwa?" - -"No; I am sleepy. I think I'll go to bed to-morrow for all Winter. You -fellows have kept me up too late now." - -"Give me a paw to break the ice in the stream, Muskwa--I'm going to -cache this Trap," said Carcajou. - -"All right," yawned Bear; "I can hardly keep my eyes open. I'm afraid -my liver is out of order." - -"Shouldn't eat so much," piped Whisky-Jack. - -Muskwa slouched down to the river; Wolverine grabbed up the Trap in his -strong jaws and followed. Bruin scraped the snow to one side deftly, -uncovering a patch of the young ice, and two or three powerful blows -from his mighty paw soon shivered a hole in it. Carcajou dropped the -Trap through, saying, "It will close over to-night, and to-morrow -perhaps the wind will cover it with snow." - -The King looked on admiringly. - -"Bra-vo! br-a-a-vo!" growled Blue Wolf. "I might have put my foot in -that when I came to visit the Widow." - -And so all day the conspirators followed François and The Boy, undoing -their work. - -To Muskwa's horror, near the nest he had prepared for his long Winter's -rest they found a huge Bear Trap. At sight of its yawning jaws drops of -perspiration dripped from Bruin's tongue. "Sweet Sleep! what should I do -if I were to put a leg in that awful thing--it would crack the bone, I -believe. Who in the name of Forest Fools told François where my house -was?" - -"Whisky-Jack, likely," snapped Carcajou, malignantly. - -"Not I," declared Jay--"I swear it! I keep the Law. What evil I've got -to say of any one, I say to his face; I'm no traitor. You're a thief, -Carcajou--your ears were cut off for stealing! Your head's as smooth as -a Bird's egg, and you're a quarrelsome Blackguard--but did I ever accuse -you of betraying our Comrades?" - -"Never mind, Sweet Singer," answered Wolverine, apologetically, "I -didn't mean it. Nobody told François; it was your own big feet, Muskwa. -If you weren't half asleep you'd know that you left a trail like the -passing of Train Dogs." - -"How shall we spring the Trap?" asked Bear. - -"Don't touch it," commanded Carcajou. "Just leave it, and François will -spend many days waiting for your thick fur." - -"But if I 'hole-up' here the Man will break into my house and kill me -while I sleep." - -"How can he find you?" asked Jack, incredulously. "It's going to snow -again, you'll be all covered up deep and he'll never know where you -are." - -"Won't he, Little Brother? Man is not so stupid. How do you suppose I -breathe? There'll be a little hole right up through the snow, all yellow -about the edges, and François will find that; also, if there's frost in -the air, see my breath. No; I've got to make another nest now. I -should have turned in before the snow fell, then I'd have been all -right." - -"We'll help you fix a new house," said Black King; "but you had better -wait--perhaps this snow will go away; then there will be no tracks to -lead Trappers to your nest. It is really too bad to keep you up when -you are so sleepy, but it's the only way." - -"And to think how I worked over it," lamented Muskwa. "For a week I -carried sticks until my arms ached; and scraped up leaves, and spruce -boughs, and soft moss, until my hands were sore. It would have been the -finest 'hole-up' of any Bear within the Boundaries. Umisk boasts about -his old Mud Lodge, with the lower floor all flooded with water--it's -enough to give one rheumatism. New Ant Hills! I shouldn't like to live -in a cold, cheerless place like that. If I had just pulled all that -nice warm covering over me before the snow fell, I should have been as -comfortable as little Gopher in his hole. It's too bad!" - -"I'll tell you what we will do, Muskwa," said Black King; "we'll ask the -Old Lady about this thing. You wouldn't mind a nice dry hole in a -cut-bank somewhere, would you--if the snow lasts and you can't make -another nest? She knows all the empty houses from Athabasca to Peel -River. I am in the same fix myself, for the family are moving -to-day--though we have lived in our present quarters for a matter of -four years." - -"That's a King for you!" cried Whisky-Jack. "He's like a Father to us," -concurred Blue Wolf. - -"Now we'll go back," ordered Black Fox; "the Man has set all his Traps. -See! here's the mark of an empty bag on the snow. If you discover -anything new, come to the big dead Cottonwood--the one that was struck -by storm-fire--at Two Rapids, and give the Boundary Call. I don't want -you making a trail up to our new house for François to follow." - - - - - THE OTTER SLIDE - - -For the next few days François was busy completing his Marten Road, -quite unconscious of the undoing that followed him. Fifteen miles out he -constructed a small rest-house that would do for a night's camping; thus -he could go the round of his Traps nicely in two days. The People of -the Boundaries watched him, and where they found a Trap, sprang it and -stole the Bait. He fixed up the chimney that had suffered from -Carcajou's diabolical curiosity. Winter had properly set in; streams -were frozen up, the ground covered with snow, and the days were of -scarce more length than a long drawn out forenoon. Affairs were in this -state when one morning the Red Widow heard Beaver's plaintive whistle -from the Cottonwood. - -"Son," she cried to Black Fox, "Umisk calls; something has gone wrong in -the Forest." The King turned over, stretched his sinewy legs, and -yawned; the sharp-pointed, blood-red tongue curled against the roof of -his mouth, and the strong teeth gleamed white against the background of -his lacquer coat. It was a full-drawn, lazy protest against being -roused from slumber, for a brace of Pin-tail Grouse lying in the corner -of his cave gave evidence of much energy during the previous night. - -"Bother this being King!" he yapped crabbedly. "To take care of one's -own relatives is trouble enough. By the Howl of a Hungry Wolf! I saved -Stripes from a Trap yesterday--just in the nick of time to keep him from -grabbing the Bait. Now Trowel Tail is after me. This place was bad -enough when there were only Animals here--I mean Animals of our own -knowing, Mother; now that this other kind of Animal, Man, has come, it's -simply awful. They must be a bad lot, these Men. We fear Wolf when he -is hungry, and Muskwa when there are no Berries, but Man is always -crying, 'E-go, Kil-l--Kil-l!'" - -Again Umisk's shrill little treble cut the keen frosty air. "Hurry, -Lad!" cried the Widow; "likely his family is in trouble." - -Black Fox stuck his head cautiously from the entrance to their Burrow, -and peered through the massive drapery of Birch-tree roots which -completely veiled that part of the cut-bank. "Mother," he said, "make -the Boys use the log-path when they're coming home, or François will -hole us up one of these fine days." - -"I have told them, Son; your two Brothers were cross-hatching the trail -all yesterday afternoon. There are three blind holes within five miles -up the stream, and to each one they have made a nice little false trail -to amuse this Stealer of Skins." - -"That's all right, Mother; we can't be too careful." - -He stretched each hind-leg far out, throwing his head high to loosen the -neck-muscles and expand his chest, shook the folds of his heavy, black -cloak and yawned again. Then stooping low in the cave-mouth, with a -powerful spring he alighted upon a log which crossed from one cut-bank -to another of the stream. Umisk was whistling a quarter of a mile away -down the left bank, but Black Fox started off up the right. As he -trotted along he sang:-- - - "The trail that leads from nowhere to nowhere, - Is the track of the King of the Tribe of Beware." - - -Suddenly he stopped, crept under a big log, and then emerged, tail -first, backing up cautiously and putting his feet down carefully in the -tracks he had made. "They'll find me asleep in there," he chuckled; and -hummed, softly:-- - - "Under the log the King is asleep; - Creep gently, Brother, creep; - Under the log is the old Fox nest; - Creep, Brother--mind his rest." - - -Suddenly jumping sideways over a great Spruce lying prone on the ground, -he started off again, singing merrily:-- - - "The track that breaks - Is a new track made; - For eyes are sharp - Where the nose is dead." - - -Down the stream, below where Umisk was waiting, Black King crossed, -saying to himself: "Now, François, when I go home the trail will be -complete, with no little break at my front door--dear François, sweet -François." - -With Umisk was Carcajou waiting for the King. - -"What's up?" asked Black Fox. - -"The Man has found us out," squeaked Umisk, despairingly. - -"Too bad, too bad!" cried the King, with deep sympathy in his voice. -"Anything happened--any one caught?" - -"Nothing serious at present. One of the Babes lost a toe--mighty close -shave." - -"How did the Breed work it? The old game of breaking in your house--the -Burglar?" - -"No; that's too stupid for François. Muskegs! but he is clever. The -thing must have been done last night. He cut a hole in the ice of my -pond near the dam, then shoved a nice, beautiful piece of Poplar, with a -steel Trap attached, down into the water--one end in the mud, you know, -and the other up in the ice. Of course it froze solid there. First-Kit, -that's my eldest Son, saw it in the morning, and, thinking one of our -bread-sticks had got away, went down to bring it back. Mind you, I -didn't know anything about this; he is an ambitious little Chap and -wanted to do it all himself. Of course the Poplar was fast--he couldn't -budge it; so climbed up to cut it off at the ice, with the result that -he sprang the Trap and incidentally lost a toe." - -"It's great schooling for the Children, though, isn't it?" remarked -Black King, trying to put a good face on affairs. - -"It's mighty hard on their toes," whined Beaver. "Hope it wasn't his -nippers--forgot to look into that." - -"Nothing like bringing them up to take care of themselves," declared -Carcajou. "All the same, my Wood-chopper Friend, you just cut off that -stick and float it, with the Trap, to one of your air-holes; I'll cache -it for François." - -"I was thinking of keeping it," added Umisk, "to teach the Youngsters -what a Trap is like." - -"Well, just as you wish; only I'll go and make a little trail from the -spot off into the woods, so our busy Friend will think I've taken it. -Hello, Nekik!" he continued, as Otter came sliding through the snow on -his belly; "has François been visiting you too?" - -"I don't know; there is something the matter with my Slide. It isn't as -I left it yesterday." - -"Birds of a Feather! Birds of a Feather!" screamed Whisky-Jack, -fluttering to a limb over their heads. "What's the caucus about this -morning--discussing chances of a breakfast this year of starvation and -scarcity of Wapoos? Mild Winter! but I had a big feed. The Boy no more -knows the value of food than he knows the depravity of Carcajou's mind." - -"Great hand for throwing away hot pork, isn't he, Jack?" asked -Wolverine, innocently. - -The Jay blinked his round bead-eyes, snapped his beak, and retorted: -"They put in their evenings laughing over the roasting you got when you -dropped into the fire." - -"Where's François, Babbler?" asked the King. - -"Gone out to bring in Deer Meat." - -"Did he make a Kill?" - -"U-h-huh! my crop is full." - -"You horrid Beast!" cried Carcajou, disgustedly. "Where is it cached?" - -"Not Mooswa?" broke in Black King, with a frightened voice. - -"No--Caribou. Such a big shovel to his horn too--must have been of the -Knowledge Age. Ugh! should have known better than to let a Man get near -him. Of course François stuck the head on a tree to make peace with -Manitou, and I'm fixed for a month." - -"Cannibal!" again exclaimed Carcajou. "Where did you say your friend, -Murderer, had cached the quarters?" - -"'Cannibal,' eh? Go and find out, Glutton. Be careful, though--I saw -some one handling the White Medicine last night." - -"The White Medicine!" ejaculated Black Fox, turning with dismay to the -speaker. - -"Uh, huh! but I never steal the Bait, like Carcajou, so I don't care. I -eat what the Men eat." - -"What they leave, you mean, Scavenger--what they throw to the Dogs!" -retorted the Lieutenant. - -"You'll get enough of Dogs, First-Cousin-to-Ground Hog--François says he -is going to have a train of them. They will squeeze your fat back if -you come prowling about the Shack to steal food." - -"Dogs," growled Blue Wolf, coming into the circle,--"who's got Dogs?" - -"You'll have them--on your back, presently," snapped the Jay. "Saw you -sniffing around there last night. If your jaws were as long as your -scent you would have had that leg off the roof, eh, Rof? Burnt -Feathers! but I smell something," he continued; "has any one found a -Castoreum Bait, and got it in his pocket? I don't mean you, Beaver, you -don't smell very bad. Oh! here you are, Sikak; it's you--I might have -known what sweet Forest Flower had cut loose from its stalk. Have you -been rolling in the dead Rose leaves this morning, my lover of Perfume?" - -The white-striped Skunk pattered with quick, mincing little steps into -the group, his back humped up and his terrible tail carried high, ready -to resent any insult. - -"Smothered anybody this morning, Sikak?" asked the Bird. - -A laugh went round the circle at this sally of Jack's; for Skunk's -method of fighting did not meet with universal approval. Blue Wolf -thought Sikak was a good piece of meat clean thrown away. When hungry he -could manage Badger, or even Porcupine; but Skunk! "Ur-r-r, agh!" it -turned his stomach to think of the dose he had received once when he -tried it. - -"Good-morning, Your Majesty!" said Lynx, as he arrived shortly after -Skunk. - -"How is everybody up your way?" queried Jack. "How are all the young -Wapooses?" - -Lynx grinned deprecatingly. - -"Pisew is not likely to forget the Law of the Seventh Year," remarked -Carcajou, with a sinister expression, "so he is not so deeply interested -in young Wapoos as he used to be." - -"What is the meeting for?" asked Lynx. - -"François has been visiting the pond of our little Comrade, Umisk," -replied Black King. - -"And has been at my Slide, too," declared Otter. - -"Well, Comrades, we had better go with Nekik and examine into this -thing," commanded the King. - -"Oh, of course!" cried Jack; "every community must have Fishery Laws, -and have its Fisheries protected." - -The Otter slide was exactly like a boy's coasting chute on a hill. A -smooth, iced trough ran down the snow-covered bank, a matter of fifteen -feet, to the stream's edge, ending in an ice hole that Otter managed to -keep open all Winter. Generally speaking, it was Nekik's entrance to his -river-home, and in the event of danger demanding a quick disappearance, -he could shoot down it into the water like a bullet. It was also a -play-ground for Otter's family; their favourite pastime being to glide -helter-skelter down the chute and splash into the stream. - -"What's wrong with it?" asked Black Fox. "There's a nasty odour of Man -about, I admit, but your Slide seems all clear and smooth." - -"Something's been changed. I had a little drop put in the centre for -the Youngsters, and they liked it--thought it was like falling off a -bank, you know; now that part is filled up nearly level, you see. I -don't know what is in it--was afraid to look; but expect François has -set a Trap there." - -"I'll find out," said Carcajou. "These Traps all work from the -top--I've discovered that much. If you keep walking about, you're -pretty sure to get into one of them; but if you sit down and think, and -scrape sideways a bit, you'll get hold of something that won't go off." -Talking thus, he dug with his strong claws at the edge of the Slide. "I -thought so!" he exclaimed suddenly. "Here's a ring around a stake--I -know what that means!" - -Feeling cautiously for the chain, he presently pulled out a No. 3 steel -Trap. With notched jaws wide open, and tip-plate holding its flat -surface up inviting the loosening pressure, it was a vicious-looking -affair. - -"Let me spring it," said Wolf; "I'm used to them." Grabbing the chain -end in his teeth, he threw the Trap over his head as a dog does a bone -in play, and when it came down the sides clanged together with hurried -fondness. - -"Hurrah! hurrah!" whistled Otter. "Something told me not to go down -that Slide. I felt it in my bones." - -"You'd have felt it on your bones," piped Jay, ironically, "if you had -slid your fat belly over that Trap." - -"Oh, I'm just dying for a slide and a bath," continued Nekik--"here -goes!" - -"Wait a bit!" commanded Carcajou, grabbing him by the shoulder, "don't -be too eager. That isn't François's Lucky Trap. If he has discovered -your front stream, you can just depend upon it his Lucky Trap is laid -away somewhere for you--it's got two red bands painted on the springs." - -As these words of wisdom fell from Carcajou's lips his Comrades gathered -their feet more closely under them, and searched the surrounding -territory apprehensively with their eyes. - -"Where will it be?" cried Nekik, distressedly. - -"In the water!" answered Carcajou, with brief decision. - -"Dreadful!" whimpered Otter. - -"François is a heartless wretch!" declared Beaver. "He tried to play -that trick on me once." - -"Where was that, Paddle-tail?" queried Jack, who was always eager for a -bit of gossip. - -"It was when I lived up on Pembina River. You know the way with us -Beavers--we always take a month or two of holiday every Summer, and -visit our Friends. It was in June--I remember; I opened the Lodge to -let it air, and started down stream with my whole family. Of course we -passed many Beaver-roads running to the river, and when we thought they -belonged to friends we'd pull out and go up on the bank. Carcajou, you -know the little round bowl of mud we Beaver leave on our river-roads for -visitors' cards?" - -"Yes," replied Wolverine; "they're a rather good idea. You always know -just who has passed, don't you?" - -"Yes, we can tell, generally. Well, as I was saying, we went up the -bank in one of these Roads, and by the odour of the little clay mound I -knew that Red Jowl, a cousin of mine, was just inside the Wood--or had -been. So the family went among the Poplars to have a bite of bread; and -just as we were felling a tree whom should I see but François drifting -down the river in his canoe; we kept pretty close, you had better -believe." - -"Didn't call out to him, Umisk, eh?" asked Jay--"didn't clap each other -on the back with your tails and say, 'Here comes a Chum.'" - -Umisk proceeded, paying no attention to the flippant Bird. "When the -Breed came opposite our Road he stopped his canoe, let it drift gently -up to the bank, pulled out a Trap and set it in muddy water just at the -foot of the path. He was clever enough not to touch the land even with -his paddle, so there was no scent--nothing to warn a poor Beaver of the -danger. Then he floated on down. If I had not seen the whole thing this -depraved taker of our lives would have caught me sure; for you know how -we go into the water, Nekik, just as you do--head and hands first." - -"That's an old trick of François's," exclaimed Carcajou; "and you'll -find that is just what he has done here. If Mister Nekik will feel -cautiously at the foot of his Slide he will find something hard and -smooth, not at all like a stick or a stone." - -"Fat Fish! but I'm afraid of my fingers," whistled Otter. - -"Sure, if you work from the top," retorted Carcajou. "Sideways is the -game with the Trap always--or upward." - -"You forgot that, Mister Carcajou, when you tackled the Chimney," -twittered Jay. - -"I didn't burn my tongue, anyway." - -"Is Nekik afraid to safeguard his own Slide," sneered Whisky-Jack. - -"Shut up, Quarrel Maker!" interposed the King, "you know Otter is one of -the pluckiest fighters inside the Boundaries. It's only brainless -Animals who tackle things they know nothing about." - -"Dive their beaks into hot Pork, your Most Wise Majesty," echoed Lynx, -with a fawning smile. - -"Here's Sakwasew, he'll find the Trap, he's a water dweller," exclaimed -Carcajou, as Mink, attracted by their chatter, came wandering down the -stream. "Here, little Black-tail," he continued, "just dip down the -hole there and look for evidence of François's deviltry." - -"It's against the Law of the Boundaries," pleaded Mink, "for me to use -Otter's ice hole. By the Kink in my Tail, I'm not like some of my -Comrades, always breaking the laws." - -"Aren't you, Mink? Who cut the throats of Gray Hen, the Grouse's, -Children, last July, when they were still in their pin-feathers? But I -suppose that isn't breaking the Law of the Boundaries," cried Lynx, -taking Mink's observation to himself. - -"Oh, no," chipped in Whisky-Jack; "certain of you Animals think keeping -the Law is not getting caught. My own opinion is, you're as bad as Men. -When François puts out the White Death-powder, he thinks he is keeping -Man's law if the Red Coats do not catch him; and Sakwasew cuts the -throat of Chick-Grouse, and you, Pisew, eat Kit Beaver, and it's all -within the Law if there be no witnesses. I don't know what we are -coming to." - -"Stop wrangling, you Subjects!" commanded Black King; and the silvered -fur on his back stood straight up in anger. "I'll order Rof to thrash -you soundly, if you don't stop this." - -Pisew slunk tremblingly behind a tree, and Carcajou, humping his back, -exclaimed: "Brother Nekik, I'll fish out that Trap for you; I'm sure -it's there--my good nose lines the track of a Man straight to the hole." -In less than two minutes he triumphantly swung a steel-jawed thing up on -the bank. "There, what did I tell you!" he boasted proudly. "But the -ring is on a stout root or stick--cut it off, Umisk, with your strong -chisel-teeth, and Fisher will carry it up that big hollow Poplar and -cache it in a hole." - -"I will, if you spring the jaws first," agreed Fisher. - -Otter was overjoyed. "This is fine!" he cried; "I'll be back in a -minute!" and he darted down the Slide as an Indian throws the -snake-stick over the snow. - -"What fine sport!" remarked Carcajou, when Nekik came up again, shaking -the water from his strong, bristled mustache. - -"Shall we have some games?" suggested the King. "I'll give a fat -Pheasant to the one who slides down Nekik's chute best--that is, of -course, barring Nekik himself." - -"But the water, Your Majesty!" interposed Pisew. - -"I don't want to wet my feet," pleaded Wapistan, the Marten; "if you'll -make the race up a tree I will willingly join." - -"So will I!" concurred Fisher. - -"Or three miles straight over the hill," suggested Blue Wolf. - -"Make it a wrestling match!" said Carcajou. - -"No, no," declared Black King. "No one need go in the hole, of course. -When you come to the bottom, spring over to the ice--that will be part -of the game." - -After much wrangling and discussion they all agreed to try it. Mink -went first, being more familiar with slides, for he had a little one of -his own. He did it rather nicely, but forgetting to jump at the bottom, -dove into the water. - -"That rules you out!" decided the King. "You left the course, you see. -Go on, Rof!" - -Blue Wolf fixed himself gingerly at the upper end of the Slide, and, at -the last minute, decided to take it sitting, riding down on his great -haunches. This worked first-rate, until the ice was reached. Rof was -going with so much speed by this time, that he couldn't gather for a -spring; his hind quarters slipped through the hole, which, being just -about his size, caused him to wedge tight. He gave a roar of surprise -that made the woods ring, for the stream was icy cold. "Keep your nose -above water or you'll drown, old Bow-wow," piped Jay. - -[Illustration: ROF WAS GOING WITH SO MUCH SPEED, ... THAT HE COULDN'T -GATHER FOR A SPRING.] - -It took the combined strength of Beaver and Carcajou to pull the -grumbling animal out. "By the White Spot on my Tail," laughed Black -King, "but I thought for a time you were going to win. Your turn, -Pisew." Lynx made a grimace of dislike, for his cat nature revolted at -the thought of water, but he crept on to the slide with nervous steps. - -"You won't get in the hole," jeered Jack; "your feet are too big." - -Pisew tried it standing up, with arched back, just for all the world -like a cat on a garden fence. As he neared the bottom at lightning -speed, confusion seized him; he tried to spring, but only succeeded in -throwing a half somersault, and plunged head first into the water. The -Jay fairly screamed with delight, and hopped about on his perch overhead -in a perfect ecstasy of fiendish enjoyment. "Didn't scorch his tongue a -bit!" he cried. "Give him the tail feathers of the Pheasant to dry his -face with, oh, Your Majesty! Ha, ha, ha! Pe-he-e-e!" Pisew scrambled -out filled with morose anger. - -"That's another failure," adjudged the King. "Who is next?" - -"Carcajou's turn!" instigated Whisky-Jack. "He knows all about sliding -up and down chimneys--he'll win, sure!" - -"I will try it," grunted the fat, little Chap; "but if you make fun of -me, Jack, I'll wring your neck first chance I get." - -Wolverine shuffled clumsily to the starting post, studied the Slide -critically for a minute with his little snake-like eyes, then -deliberately turned over on his back, and prepared for the descent. - -"Tuck in your ears!" shouted Whisky Jack. Now this was an insult. -Carcajou's ears were so very short that they were generally supposed to -have been cut off for stealing. However, Wolverine started, tail first, -holding his head up between his fore-paws to judge distances. When he -struck the bottom, his powerful hind-feet jammed into the snow, and the -speed of his going threw him safely over on the ice, landing him right -side up on all-fours. - -"Capital! Capital!" yapped Black King, patting his furred hands -together in approval. "That will be pretty hard to beat. Skunk, you're -a clever little Fellow, see if you can make a tie of it with Carcajou." -Sikak moved up to the Slide with a peculiar rocking-horse-like gallop. -Taking his cue from Carcajou he decided to go down the same way. Now, -in the excitement of the thing the animals had gathered close to the -Slide, lining it on both sides. - -"Cranky little White-streak!" exclaimed Whisky-Jack; "why don't you make -a speech before you start." - -Skunk had never travelled in this shape before, and was nervous. During -his delay over getting a straight start, Carcajou and Mink, half-way -down, got into an altercation about a good seat that each claimed. - -"Keep it, then, Glutton!" whined Sakwasew, starting across the chute. -As he did so, Skunk got away rather prematurely, coming down with the -speed of a snow-slide off a roof. He struck Mink full amidship, and -thinking it was a diabolical trick on the part of the others, developed -an angry odour that would have put a Lyddite shell to shame. - -A wild scramble took place. - -"Fat Hens!" shrieked Black King, as he fled through the Forest, his long -brush trailing in the snow. - -"I'm choking!" screamed Carcajou. "By the power of all Forest Smells, -was there ever such a disgraceful Chap on the face of the Earth;" and he -scurried away with his short legs, just for all the world like a Bear -Cub. - -Fisher climbed a tree in hot haste, as did Marten. Mink dove in the -Otter's hole and disappeared; but with him he carried the evil thing, -for he was full of the blue halo that vibrated from his skunk-smirched -coat. "I shall never be able to go home any more," he moaned; "my -relatives will kill me." - -Even Jay clasped one claw over his nose and flew wildly through the -forest, almost knocking out his brains against branches. In ten seconds -there was nobody left on the ground but Otter and poor little -white-striped Skunk. The collision had sent him rolling over and over -down to the ice bottom of the stream. He got up, shook himself, used -some very bad animal language, and slunk away to his family, to tell -them of the trick Carcajou and Mink had played him. - -"That Glutton was afraid I'd win the Pheasant," he confided to Mrs. -Sikak; "but I broke up the party, anyway." - -Otter was wandering about disconsolately through the woods, declaiming -to the trees that his Slide was ruined for all time to come, and he -really wished the Trap had ended his days. - - - - - THE TRAPPING OF WOLVERINE - - -When François missed the Beaver trap that had been placed in the dam, -and that Umisk had taken for his sons to study, also the two set on -Otter's slide, it made him furious. He knew Wolverine must have cached -them. Once before he had been forced to give up a good Marten Road -because of the relentless ingenuity of this almost human-brained animal; -but it would be different this time, the Half-breed declared--he would -make a fight of it. - -"I keel me dat Carcajou!" he exclaimed emphatically over and over again -to The Boy. "Dat Debil ob de Wood he eat my bait, an' cac'e de Trap, an' -come an' sit dere by de door an' listen what we talk. I see de track -dis mornin'." - -The very night François made this boast, Wolverine came and entirely -appropriated the remaining hind-quarter of his Caribou from the roof. -When the Half-breed discovered this fresh mark of his enemy's energetic -attention he became inarticulate with ire. - -"Why don't you try the strychnine on him?" asked Roderick. - -"Dat no use," declared the enraged Trapper; "when I put poison in de -bait, Carcajou come, smell him, den he do some dirty trick on it for -make me swear. But I catc' him soor--I put de gun wid pull-string." - -He spent the greater part of the next day arranging a muzzle-loading -shot gun, with a trade ball in it, for the destruction of the animal who -had stolen his venison. François had seen Wolverine's own private -little path for coming up the bank of the Pelican, and on this he staked -down the gun and put some pine logs on either side, so that Carcajou -must take the bait from in front. The gun was left cocked, with a string -attached to the trigger; on the string, just at the muzzle, was tied a -piece of Caribou meat. - -Wolverine chuckled when he saw the arrangement. "Poor old François!" he -muttered ironically: "this is really too bad; it's actual robbery to -take that Bait--it's so easy." - -Now this little wood-dweller had a most decided streak of vanity in his -make-up. Like many really smart men, he liked to show off his -cunning--that was his weakness. "This is a good chance to give some of -the others an object lesson," he said to himself, sitting down to wait -for an audience. Presently Blue Wolf and Lynx came in sight, jogging -along together. "Eur-r-r-r!" said Wolf, hoarsely; "had any Eating this -day, Gulo?" - -"No appetite," declared Carcajou, getting up so the half-starved Lynx -might see his well-rounded stomach. - -"Most wise Lieutenant," smirked Pisew, "what wisdom hast thou originated -this day?" - -"That's a queer thing, isn't it?" remarked Carcajou, nodding his broad -forehead towards the baited gun. - -Blue Wolf looked, took a wide detour, and approached it from the side. -The others followed in his footsteps. - -"Years have given you sagacity, Mister Rof," commended Wolverine. "From -the side always, eh? Danger sits on top, and Death waits in front." - -"My nose finds a Bait!" answered Wolf. - -"It's Meat!" added Pisew, working his mustached upper lip like a cat. - -"I smell powder!" declared Carcajou, quietly. - -"The evil breath of the Ironstick?" queried Blue Wolf. "Perhaps the -White Death-powder makes that peculiar odour," he hazarded. - -"No," asserted Carcajou; "François knows better than that: to smell that -Bait costs nothing; to bite it makes a heavier price than either of us -cares to pay. François knows that we smell first, and bite last; and if -our noses detected aught amiss would we pull the string with our teeth?" - -"Wise Lieutenant!" murmured Lynx. - -"Cunning old Thief!" mused Wolf to himself. - -"Do either of you food-hunters want it?" asked Carcajou. - -"I'm not very hungry this morning," answered Blue Wolf. - -"I discovered seven Deer Mice under a log not two hours ago," lied -Pisew; "sweet, long-eared little Chaps they were, and quite fat from -eating the seeds of the yellow-lipped Sunflower--most delicious flavour -it gives to their flesh. My stomach is at peace for the first time in -many days." - -"Keep your eye open for the Breed-Man, then," commanded Wolverine; "I -think I'd relish that Caribou steak--your Deer-Mice have given me an -appetite." He tore the pine logs away from one side of the gun, -examined the string critically, cut it with his sharp teeth just behind -the bait, and devoured the fresh meat with great gusto, smacking his -lips with a tantalizing suggestiveness of good fare. - -"In case of accidents I think I'd better break up this Ironstick," he -said. Seizing the hammer in his strong jaws, and placing his paws on -the barrel and stock, he tore it off and completely demolished the old -muzzle-loader. - -"Well," yawned Wolf, stretching himself, "you're a match for the Man, I -believe. I'm off, for I've got a long run ahead of me--the Pack gathers -to-night at Deep Creek." - -"What's the run--Stag?" asked Pisew, insinuatingly. - -"Whatever it may be it will be all eaten," answered Rof; "so you needn't -trail. Good-bye, Lieutenant," he barked, loping with powerful strides -through the woods out of sight. - -"I'll go with you, most wise Lieutenant," declared Pisew. - -"Well, trot along in front," grunted Carcajou; "I want to fix the trail -a bit." After they had walked for half an hour Wolverine stopped, and, -cocking his eye up a slim pole which seemed to grow from the centre of a -high Spruce stump, exclaimed, "Great-Eating! what in the name of -Wiesahkechack is that?" - -"Meat!" answered Pisew, looking at something which dangled from the top -of the pole. - -"It's François again," said Carcajou, sniffing at the stump. - -"What a splendid cache," cried Lynx, admiringly; "nobody but Squirrel -could climb that pole." - -"But they might knock it down," declared Carcajou. "I have a notion to -try." - -"Better leave it alone," advised Pisew. "If it's François, there's -something wrong." - -"Carcajou doesn't take advice from a cotton-headed Cat," sneered the -other. "Easy Killing! but I'm going up to see what it's like. I know -that stump--it's hollow; there is no chance for a Trap there." It was -about three feet high. Wolverine made a running jump, grabbing the top -edge to pull himself up; as he did so something snapped. A howl of -enraged surprise came from the little animal as he dangled with hind -toes just touching the ground, and his fore-paws in a steel Trap which -he had pulled over the side. The cunning Breed had blocked up his Trap -on the inside of the hollow shell, where it was invisible from the -ground. - -"For the Sake of Security! don't make such a noise," pleaded Pisew. - -"Fool-talker!" retorted Carcajou; "come and help me out of this fix." - -"I can't open the Trap," objected Lynx; "why, it would take the strength -of Muskwa to flatten its springs." - -"Run to the King and ask for help, as is the law of the Boundaries," -ordered Wolverine. - -"Gently, Mister Lieutenant, gently; don't get so excited--keep cool." - -"Wait till I get out of this," screamed Carcajou; "I'll warm your -jacket." - -"There, there," returned Lynx, "don't threaten me--don't abuse me, and -I'll help you--" - -"That's a good Pisew--hurry, please--François may come--" - -"On one condition," added Lynx, sitting down on his haunches with -deliberate self-possession. - -"Hang the conditions!" blustered Carcajou--"talk of conditions with a -Fellow's fingers in a steel Trap!" - -"All the same, I'll only do it on one condition--when they talked the -other day of making me King--" - -"'_They_ talked,'" interrupted Carcajou; "nobody talked of making you -King." - -"_You_ didn't, I know, Lieutenant; but that's just what I want you to -promise now, before I help you." - -"I'll see you Snared first!" grunted Wolverine, snapping at the Trap -chain which was fastened to the pole, until he screamed with pain. - -"All right--I'm off! François will soon find you," declared Pisew. - -"Come back!" cried the entrapped Animal. "What do you wish?" - -"Well, if anything happens Black King, we'll need another ruler--anyway, -next year there'll be an election, and I want you to stick up for me as -you did for Black Fox. You're so wise and eloquent, dear Carcajou, that -the others will do just as you advise. I could make it worth while, -too, if there were any charges against you; suppose some one accused you -unjustly of having eaten a Cub or a Kit under the Killing Age, why, I -could see that nothing happened, you know." - -"Sneak! Thief! Murderer!" ejaculated Carcajou disdainfully. "If I -could but get out of this fix, I'd eat you." - -"What's the row, you Fellows?" piped a bird-voice, as Whisky-Jack -swooped down to a small Poplar, and craned his neck in amazement at the -sight he beheld. "By my Lonely Life!" he chuckled, "if here isn't the -King of all Knaves sitting with his hands in the stocks. Great Rations! -but you're a wise one; whose toes hurt now, Mister Mocker? Why doesn't -that cat-faced Lynx help you out?" - -"I offered to," declared Pisew, "but his temper is so vile I dare not -touch him. He threatened to kill me--I'm afraid to go near him." - -"Why don't you run to Black King for help, you stupid--you can't open -that Trap." - -"Wise Bird," almost sobbed Carcajou, in his gratitude, "this scheming -rascal took advantage of my misfortune, and tried to make me promise to -do something for him, or he would let François catch me." - -"Pisew is not to be trusted--he is too much like a Man," asserted Jack. -Turning to the Lynx, he exclaimed, angrily: "You go on the back-trail -there, and if François comes, lead him off slowly; just keep in his -sight--he'll follow you. I will get the Lieutenant out of this. Mind, -if you play any tricks, or break the Oath of the Boundaries, the King -will command Blue Wolf to break your back--he'll do it too. I'm off for -help," he said to the prisoner; "just keep your courage up, old Carey;" -and working his fan-like wings with exceeding diligence, he dove through -the woods at a great rate toward the King's Burrow. - -"I was only joking, dear friend Carcajou," said Lynx, fawningly, for he -dreaded the anger of the other animals. "Don't say a word about it to -the King; he might think I was in earnest." - -"Traitor!" snarled Wolverine; "go back and watch for François." - -"Don't say any more about it," pleaded Pisew, "and I'll watch, oh, so -carefully, most loyal, true Lieutenant." - -Whisky-Jack's shrill call from a tree startled the family of the Red -Widow. - -"Quick, Royal Son," she cried, "there's a danger signal. Listen: -'Hee-e-e-p, hee-e-ep, he-e-e-ep!' That means some one caught. Where are -my Sons? All here but Stripes, Goodness!" She wrung her paws -miserably, and in her eagerness rushed to the door. "What is it, -Bringer of Evil News? Who's caught--not my Baby Cub?" she asked of -Whisky-Jack. - -"No, Good Dame. Would you believe it, the cleverest one in all the -Boundaries, excepting your Son, is now keeping the jaws of a Trap apart -with his own soft paws--it's Carcajou." - -"What's to do?" cried Black Fox, joining his Mother. - -"Carcajou is caught!" she answered, heaving a sigh of relief that it -wasn't Cross-stripes. - -Jay Bird explained the situation. - -"Nobody but Muskwa can spring a Number Four Trap," asserted the King; -"and he is holed up these two days--isn't he, Mother?" - -"Yes," she assented. "And asleep by now. You will find him at the big -Burrow that is in the fourth cut-bank from here up stream." - -"The old Chap must get up, then," cried Black Fox, with emphasis, "for -he is not in the deep frost-sleep yet. Here, Jack, run and bring Beaver -to cut off the pole Carcajou's Trap is ringed to, and I'll go for -Muskwa; if you see Rof, tell him to meet me at Bear's Burrow." - -The King had a tremendous time with Muskwa. Bruin was sleepy and cranky. -"Quick! wake up, Brother!" Black Fox shouted in his ear. The Bear never -moved--simply snored. - -The energetic visitor turned tail on, and proceeded to rake Bruin's ribs -with his strong hind feet as a dog makes the gravel fly. Muskwa grunted -and simply flicked his short, woolly ears. The King jumped on him, set -up the long howl of the Kill in his very face, put his sharp teeth -through one of the nerveless ears, and generally held a small riot over -the sleeper. He never would have managed to wake Bear had not Blue Wolf -arrived to help him. - -Muskwa was for all the world like a maudlin, drunken old sailor. "All -right, you Fellows," he said groggily, his eyes still closed, "I don't -want any more Berries--eat 'em yourself." - -"Not Berries!" howled Wolf; "Carcajou is in a Trap." - -"Go 'way--don't believe it. Carcajou's an old Sweep!" - -Blue Wolf's powerful voice rang the Chase Note in Muskwa's ear. It woke -the big fellow sufficiently to enable him to take a side-hook sweep at -the offender with his disengaged paw. The blow was a sleepy one, else it -had cracked his tormentor's skull. - -"He's coming all right," remarked the King, critically. - -"By the Flavour of Meat, he is!" ejaculated Rof. - -In the end they got Muskwa on his feet, with a little understanding in -his stupor-clogged brain, and half-pushing, half-leading, conducted him -to where Carcajou was sitting in the stocks. In his flight Whisky-Jack -had met Mooswa, and he was there also. Beaver was chiselling away at -the pole; for once loosened, even if they could not spring the Trap -sufficiently to get Carcajou's paws out, between them they might manage -to get him away and cached somewhere; anything was better than letting -him fall into the Trapper's hands. - -"Of all the wood I ever cut this is the worst," panted Umisk, resting -for a minute. "It cramps my neck cutting down so close sideways. It is -dry Tamarack, the slivers are all sticking in my tongue." - -As Black Fox and Rof withdrew their paws from under Muskwa's arms, he -keeled over lazily and went sound asleep in two seconds. "Give him a -good lift with your hind-foot, Mooswa," commanded the King, sharply. -"Of all the heavy-brained Animals I ever saw!" - -"If we but had some of Man's fire," opined Jack, "we could wake him up -quick enough by singeing a couple of my feathers under his nose." - -Mooswa planted both hind-feet, bang! in Bear's ribs; Rof gave a deep bay -in his face; Black King once more put his saw-like teeth through an ear; -and by these gentle, persuasive methods Muskwa was wakened sufficiently -to get on his feet. He swayed drunkenly. "Stop fighting, Cubs!" he -growled, under the impression that he was being bothered by some of his -own children. - -"Get up and squeeze the springs of the Trap--Carcajou is caught! Here -they are--put a paw on each--there! squeeze!" yelled Black Fox. - -Just then Beaver finished cutting the pole, and it fell with a -crash--the noise helped waken Muskwa. - -"Slip the ring off the stub, Umisk, that's a good Chap," cried -Wolverine. This done, he and the Trap clattered to the ground. - -"Come on!" screamed Black Fox to Muskwa, as he and Rof shouldered him to -the Trap. "Squeeze now!" the Fox shouted again, placing Bear's powerful -paws on the springs. - -"I'll squeeze," answered Bruin, petulantly; "but why don't you speak -louder--say what you mean. You Fellows have all got colds--I can't hear -you." - -"Dead Eagles! but François will," remarked Jay. - -"There, now, a little harder--use your strength, Muskwa!" - -The Bear pressed his great weight on the springs; they slipped down, and -the jaws slowly opened like the sides of a travelling-bag. With a cry -of delight Carcajou pulled his bruised fingers out, and in gratitude -rubbed his short little Coon-like head against Bruin's great cheek. -"Good old Muskwa!" he cried joyfully; "I'll never forget this." - -"Your fingers will be a long time sore, then," sneered Jay. - -"Never--mind--little friend. It's all right; let me go--to sleep now, -don't--don't bother;" and he flopped over like a bag of potatoes, sighed -wearily once or twice, and started off with a monotonous, bubbling -snore. "He's hopeless," moaned the King. "We'll never get him home." - -"I saw François just like that once," chirped Whisky-Jack; "he had some -medicine in a bottle, and the more of it he took the sleepier he got." - -"How in the name of Many Birds shall we ever get him back to his hole?" -asked Black Fox, perplexedly. - -"I'll carry him," declared the Moose. "Here, you Fellows, roll him up on -my horns;" and dropping to his knees Mooswa put the great, chair-like -spread of his antlers down to the snow. - -"Come, Pisew, give us a hand," commanded the King. Beaver, and Lynx, -and Rof, and Black Fox shouldered and pushed at the huge black ball, and -Mooswa kept edging his horn-cradle in under the mass, until finally -Muskwa lay snugly in the hollow. - -"Now all give a mighty push, and help me up!" snuffed the Moose. "All -right," he added, staggering to his feet, and pointing his nose skyward, -allowing the burdened antlers to lie along his withers. - -"Ride with Muskwa, Jack," commanded the King, "and show Mooswa the old -Sleeper's house. Branch out, the rest of you, and make the Many-trail; -for many trails make few catches." Carcajou was sitting on his -haunches, licking his aching paws. "How are you going to get home, -Little Comrade?" he asked. - -"I'll give him a lift," interposed Blue Wolf. "Clamber up, old -Curiosity." They were a funny-looking party--quite like an ambulance -train; Muskwa asleep on Mooswa's horns, and Carcajou astraddle of Wolf's -strong back. - -[Illustration: THEY WERE A FUNNY-LOOKING PARTY.] - -"Walk in Rof's tracks, Pisew, till you strike a muskeg," ordered the -King; "François won't fancy the fun of following a traveller like you -through a big swamp." - -"I should like to hide that Trap," lamented Carcajou. - -"Oh, never mind," interrupted Black Fox. "Get away home, everybody." - -"I'll hear some choice French to-night," declared Jack. "When François -discovers that somebody has robbed his Trap, he'll jabber himself -asleep." - -All the way to his home Carcajou swore vengeance on the Man who had made -his paws so sore. "You'll do it, Brother," said Rof, "and I don't blame -you. Of course we must remember our oath about The Boy." - - - - - THE COMING OF THE TRAIN DOGS - - -For three days nothing unusual happened. Hunger commenced to nip at -every one, for, as we know, it was the Seventh Year of the Rabbit cycle, -and they were scarce. All the others envied old Muskwa, slumbering -peacefully, nourished by the fat of his Summer's pillage. - -The narrow body of Lynx was getting narrower, the gaunt sides of Blue -Wolf gaunter. Fisher and Marten were living on Deer Mice, Squirrels, and -small game; and the Red Widow's family were depending almost entirely -upon Spruce Partridge--the flesh of these birds had become particularly -astringent, too. The gray-mottled, pin-tail Grouse had entirely -disappeared--better eating they were, the Widow contended; but in the -Seventh Year it was not a matter of selection at all, and each Animal -was poaching on the other's preserve--all because of the scarcity of -Wapoos. But in spite of the general starvation, every one left a small -dole of his food for Carcajou, whose paws were too sore to prowl about. -He felt the restricted diet more than any of them, being a perfect -gourmand,--"Gulo the Glutton," that was his name; and he liked good -living. - -On the fourth day Whisky-Jack startled his comrades with the -announcement that François had acquired a train of four dogs from -Nichemous, who was passing down the ice-road of the river with a -Free-Trader. Blue Wolf snuffed discontentedly at the news; they were -his enemies, and many a scar he carried as souvenir of combats with -these domesticated cousins. Family instinct, however, led him to skulk -close to François's Shack one evening hoping to see the dogs. He went -often after the first visit, though advised by Carcajou that it would -end in his getting a destroying blast from the Firestick. - -"They haven't got one," Rof assured him. "You destroyed the only -Ironstick they had." - -"That was an old Trade Musket," retorted Wolverine. "François is too -clever to put his good Ironstick out in the wet. You'll find that he -has another, if you don't keep away. What's the attraction, anyway?" he -asked. "There can't be anything to eat there, with those yelping -Huskies about." - -It was Whisky-Jack who gave the secret away. "Blue Wolf's in love," he -said, solemnly; "three of the Train are of the sister kind, and Rof's -got his eye on one. François calls her 'Marsh Maid,' but the -Train-leader is a big Huskie Dog, and he'll chew Growler the Wolf into -little bits--I sha'n't mind, Rof's too surly for me." - -Blue Wolf became a great dandy; brushed his coat--scraped the snow away -from a moss patch in the Jack-Pines, and rubbed his shaggy fur till it -became quite presentable. - -The big fight that Jack anticipated so eagerly materialized, but, -contrary to Jay's forecast, Rof trounced the Huskie soundly. After that -he came and went pretty much as he desired--growled his admiration of -Marsh Maid, and took forcible possession of Huskie's White Fish. - -All this nearly brought sorrow to the Red Widow's family, for Stripes, -the Kit-Fox, having his curiosity roused by Jack's recital of Blue -Wolf's doings, incautiously ventured close to the Shack one day to have -a look at the Train. With an angry howl Huskie swooped down upon him, -and but for Rod, who, hearing Stripes's plaintive squeal, rushed out and -drove the Dog off, he would have been most effectually eaten up. The -young Fox fled for his life, and his tale of this adventure filled the -Red Widow's heart with gratitude toward The Boy. - -Within the Boundaries the food fever was strong on the Animals, and -François's baits became an almost irresistible temptation. Trap after -Trap Black King and his family robbed, leaving the Meat with the White -Powder in, and taking it when it was clear of this, until François was -in despair. - -"By Goss!" he confided to The Boy, "I t'ink me we goin' keel no fur -here. Dat Carcajou he de Debil, but mos' all de odder Animal is Debil -too. S'pose I put out de Trap, dey take de bait, cac'e de Trap, and -s'pose me dey laugh by deyselves. I see dat Black Fox two, t'ree time, -an' I know me his track now; ev'ry day I see dat tracks. But we must -catc' him. What fur we keel now? Not enough to pay fer de grub stake." - - - - - THE TRAPPING OF BLACK FOX - - -So far all the plans of the Half-breed for capturing Black Fox had -failed; but one day conditions were favourable for his master-stroke--a -rare trick known only to himself. He smiled grimly when in the early -morning he discovered that the snow bore a tender young crust just -sufficient to bear a fair-sized animal. His preparations were elaborate. - -"To-day we catc' dat black fell'," he said, gleefully, to Rod. "You -wait here till I s'oot Mister Mus'rat firs' for bait, den I s'ow you -some treek." - -Soon François returned with a freshly killed Muskrat, which he promptly -skinned, taking great care not to touch the meat with his hands. Putting -the hindquarters in a pouch formed from the blood-stained skin, he next -made a long-handled scraper. "Now I fix dis tea-dance where de fox -alway go for sit in one place ever' day--I know me dat place," he -chuckled as, gathering up the outfit, he started for the Forest. - -Arrived there François pulled the snow from under the gentle crust with -his scraper for a space of six or eight feet, leaving a miniature cave -under the frozen shell. Into this he shoved two strong steel Traps, and -using a long stick emptied the Muskrat pouch of its meat just above. - -"Now, Mister S'arp-nose," muttered the Breed, "I t'ink me you no smell -not'ing but Meat. You don't like smell François, eh? For dat I give me -de Mus'rat smell for you' nose." - -Backing away from his work the Half-breed carefully smoothed down the -snow into his tracks for a long distance, then filling his pipe, lighted -it, and trudged back to the Shack to await the success of this ruse. -When Black King came up the wind, winding up the meat-scent like a ball -of yarn, he struck a new combination. There were no evidences of Man's -handicraft; no Trap insight--no baited gun; no Marten stockade; no bent -sapling with a hungry noose dangling to it; but there were undoubtedly -two nice, juicy, appetizing pieces of meat lying on top of the -undisturbed snow-crust. - -Black Fox sat down and surveyed the surrounding territory critically; -cocked his sharp eyes and sharper nose toward all points of the compass. -The Forest was like a graveyard--as silent; no hidden enemy lurked near -with ready Firestick--his nose assured him on that point. - -Then he walked gingerly in a big circle all about the glamourous -centre-piece of sweet-smelling meat, his nose prospecting every inch of -the ground. Something had evidently disturbed the snow where François -had smoothed it down. Three circles he completed like this; each one -smaller and closer to the Bait. Three lengths of himself from the -covered-danger he sat down again, and tried to think it out. - -"It can't be a Trap," he mused; "nothing has walked where the eating is, -that much is certain. François can smooth the white ground-cover down, -but can't put a crust on it. Starvation Year! but that Meat smells -good--I haven't eaten for two days. I wish it were a Trap--then I -should know what I was about. It looks mighty suspicious--must be the -White Powder; think I had better leave it alone. If there were only a -Trap in sight I would tackle it quick enough; it's easy to spring one of -those things and get the Bait." - -He trotted away twenty yards, meaning to go home and not risk it. -Suddenly he stopped, sat down once more and thought it all over again, -his determination weakened by appetite. His lean stomach clamoured for -the Meat--it was full of nothing but the great pain of hunger. - -"Forest Devils!" muttered the hesitating Fox; "I believe I'm losing my -nerve--am afraid because there isn't anything in sight but the Meat. I'd -never hear the last of it if Carcajou, or Pisew, or any of them came -along, saw my trail, and then, having more pluck than I've got, went and -ate that free eating. I wonder what it is? Smells like a cut of -Muskrat, or a piece of Caribou; it's not Fish." - -He walked back cautiously, irresolutely, and took a look from the -opposite side. "I have a notion to try it; I can tell if there's White -Medicine about when I get it at the end of my nose," he said, peering -all about carefully; there was nobody in sight--nothing! "Women Foxes!" -but he was nervous. His big "brush" was simply trembling with the fear -of some unknown danger. He laughed hysterically at the idea. It was -the unusualness of Meat lying on the snow and no evidence of why it -should be there: there was no appearance of a Kill near the spot. How -in the world had it come there? There was no track leading up to nor -away from it; perhaps Hawk, or Whisky-Jack, or some other bird had -dropped it. It was the most wonderful problem he had ever run up -against. - -But thinking it over brought no solution; also his stomach clamoured -louder and louder for the appetizing morsel. Rising up, Black King -crept cautiously towards the fascinating object. His foot went through -the snow crust. "This wouldn't bear up a Baby Lynx," he thought. -"Neither François nor any other Man can have been near that Meat." - -He took another step--and another, eyes and nose inspecting every inch -of the snow. He could almost reach it; another step, and as his paw sank -through the crust it touched something smooth and slippery. There was a -clang of iron, and the bone of his left fore-leg was clamped tight in -the cruel jaws of a Fox Trap. - -Poor old Black King! Despair and pain stretched him, sobbing queer -little whimpering cries of anguish in the snow. Only for an instant; -then he realized that unless help came from his Comrades his peerless -coat would soon be stretched skin-side out on a wedge-shaped board in -François's shack. Shrill and plaintive his trembling whistle, -"Wh-e-e-he-e-e-, Wh-e-e-he-e-e!" went vibrating through the still Forest -in a supplicating call to his companions for succour. - -Then an hour of despairing anguish, without one single glint of hope. -Every crack of tree-bark, as the frost stretched it, was the snapping of -a twig under François's feet; every rustle of bare branches overhead was -the shuffling rasp of his snow-shoes on the yielding crust. - -Excruciating pains shot up the Fox's leg and suggested grim tortures in -store when François had taken him from the Trap--perhaps he would skin -him alive; the Indians and Half-breeds were so frightfully cruel to -Animals. If only Carcajou, or Whisky-Jack, or dear old Mooswa could -hear his whistle--surely they would help him out. Suddenly he heard the -rustle of Jack's wings, and turned eagerly. A big, brown, belated leaf -fluttered idly from a Cottonwood and fell in the snow. There was no -Whisky-Jack in sight--nothing but the helpless, shrivelled leaf -scurrying away before the wind. - -At intervals he barked a call, then listened. How deadly silent the -Forest was; his heart thumping against his ribs sounded like the beat of -Partridge's wing-drums at the time of mating. - -Strange fancies for an animal flitted through his mind--something like a -man's thoughts when he drifts close to death. Why had Wiesahkechack, -who was God of Man and Animals, arranged it this way. During all his -life Black King had killed only when hunger forced him to it; but here -was François, a Man, killing, killing always---killing everything. And -for what? Not to eat; for the Breed had flour in plenty, and meat that -was already killed. It was not because of hunger; but simply to steal -their coats, that he or some other Man or Woman might look fine in -fur-clothes stolen from the Boundary Dwellers--at the sacrifice of their -lives. - -Again Black Fox heard a leaf sawing its whispering way down through the -willow wands: he even did not turn his head. But it was wings this -time; and a cheery, astonished voice sang out: "Hello, Your Majesty, -what are you doing there with your hands in the snow--feeling for a -Mole's nest?" - -"Praise to Wiesahkechack!" cried the King; "is that you, Jay? I'm -trapped at last," he continued, "and you must fly like the wind and get -some of our Comrades to help me out." - -"There's a poor chance," said the Bird, despondently; "as you know, none -of us can spring that big Trap but Muskwa, and we'll never get him out -now--he is dead to the world." - -"What am I to do?" moaned the King--"we must try something." - -"Oh, we shall get you out of here. I'll call Beaver to cut the stake -that holds the chain, and you'll just have to carry the Trap home with -you. Carcajou might be strong enough to press down the spring, but his -hands are so puffed up from the squeeze they got, he can't do a thing -with them. Don't fret; I will soon get them all here, and we'll see -what can be done." - -In a wonderfully short time Jack had summoned Beaver, Mooswa, Blue Wolf, -and Lynx. Mooswa's great heart was touched at the sight of their -Sovereign's misery. "My services are of little use here," he said. "I -will go back on the trail, close to the Shack, and watch for François." - -"Sparrow Hawks!" exclaimed Jay; "I quite forgot about that. Our Friend -was getting ready to come out on his Marten Road when I left. Somebody -will feel the foul breath of his Ironstick if we don't keep a sharp -lookout." - -"All the better if he brings it," answered Mooswa; "for then he'll -follow me, and I'll lead him away so far that you'll have plenty of time -to get our King home." - -"Noble Comrade!" smirked Lynx; "such self-sacrifice! But don't you know -that the Hunter will never give up your trail until you are dead? The -snow is deep, the crust won't hold against your beautiful, sharp hoofs, -and the Killer will run you down before the Sun sets twice." - -"Most considerate _Traitor_!" snapped Whisky-Jack. "You would rather -Black King fell into François's hands--wouldn't you?" For the Jay knew -what Pisew had said to Carcajou when the latter was in the Trap. - -"All right, Mooswa," growled Rof, admiringly; "you are a noble fellow. -Go and lead François away--don't get within burning distance of his -Firestick, though; I and my Pack will take care that the Man-enemy -doesn't follow your trail after the closing of the light of day." - -"I killed a Man once," answered Bull Moose; "but I'll never do it again, -nor must you, Comrade. That is a thing to be settled amongst -themselves--the Man-kill is not for us." - -"I talk not of killing!" snarled Blue Wolf, surlily; "when our cry goes -up, François will take the back-trail, and keep it till he is safe -within the walls of his own Shack--that's what I mean." - -"It is well!" affirmed the King, approvingly; "act thus, Comrades. We -are not like Man, who slays for the sake of slaying, and calls it -sport." - -"Most generous Black King!" exclaimed Pisew, with an evil smirk. - -Mooswa and Blue Wolf started off together. Umisk was driving his ivory -chisels through the hard, dry Birch-stake that held the Trap. It was a -slow job--almost like cutting metal. - -Suddenly a thought struck Black Fox. "How am I to get home with this -clumsy iron on my leg?" he asked. "Mooswa has gone, and there is no one -to carry me." - -"I could help you with the Trap," answered Umisk. - -"And leave a trail to the house like a Rabbit-run? The Breed would find -it, and murder the whole family; I'm not going to risk my Mother's skin -in that manner." - -"Thoughtful King!" lisped Pisew. - -"True, true," confirmed Beaver. "François would surely find the trail. -There is no other way, unless--unless--" - -"Unless what, faithful Little Friend?" - -"Unless you take the way of our People." - -"And that way--Friend?" - -"Cut off the leg!" - -"Horrible!" ejaculated Lynx. - -"Horrible for you, Frog-heart," interposed Jack. "The King is -different--he's got pluck." - -"Your Majesty will never get the Trap off," continued Beaver, "until -Muskwa the Strong comes out in the Spring. Even if you did carry it -home, your leg would go bad before that time." - -Black Fox pondered for a minute, weighing carefully the terrible -alternative. On one hand was the risk of leading the Trapper to his -carefully concealed home, and months of tortured idleness with the Trap -on his leg; on the other the permanent crippling of himself by -amputation. - -"Can you cut the leg off, wise Umisk?" he asked. - -"I did it once for my own Brother, who was caught," Beaver answered, -simply. - -"Take off mine, then!" commanded the King, decisively; "it is the only -way." - -"You'll bleed to death," said Lynx, solicitously. - -"Oh, that would be lovely!" sneered Jack; "for then we'd all choose -Pisew as his successor--'Le Roi est mort, vive le Roi!' Excuse me, -Comrades, that's an expression François uses sometimes when he drinks -Fire-water; it means, a live Slink is better than a dead Hero." - -When Black Fox gave the command to amputate his limb, Beaver ceased -cutting the stake, scuttled over to a White Poplar, girdled the tree -close to the ground, then, standing on his strong hind-legs, cut the -bark again higher up. Next he peeled a strip, brought it over beside -the Fox, and chiselled some of the white inner bark, chewing it to a -pulp. "Hold this in your mouth, Pisew, and keep it warm," Beaver -commanded, passing it to Lynx. "We shall manage to stop the blood, I -think." - -"You will poison our King," said Jack, "if you put that stuff on the -wound after Slink has held it in his mouth." - -Beaver paid no attention, but stripped three little threads from the -cloth-like tree-lining, and drew the fibre through his teeth to soften -it. Then he spoke to the Bird: "Come down here, Jack, and hold these -threads--your beak should be as good as a needle at this job. Now for -it, Your Majesty!" Umisk continued, and one might have fancied he was a -celebrated surgeon rolling up his sleeves before going at a difficult -amputation. - -"This is horribly bitter stuff," muttered Pisew--"it tastes like the -Wolf-willow berry." - -"Good for the wound--will dry up the bleeding!" affirmed the little -Doctor curtly. - -"Is there anything the matter with this Bait, King--any White -Death-powder?" he asked. "If not, stick it in your mouth--it will brace -you up, and take your mind off the leg." - -"There is no White Powder in it--I can guarantee that," snickered Jay. -"I flew in the door yesterday when François and The Boy were out, stole -the bottle off its roost, and dropped it through their water-hole in the -river ice; just to save your life, Pisew, you know--you're such a silly -Glutton you would eat anything." - -"Jack," said the King, looking up gratefully, "your tongue is the worst -part of you--your heart is all right." - -"Even his tongue is all right now since he got over the fat Pork," -sneered Pisew. - -"Bird of Torture!" ejaculated Black King, "but that hurts, Umisk;" for -Beaver had girdled the skin of the leg even as he had the bark of the -tree. - -"Think of the Meat in your mouth, King," advised Umisk. "Hold up this -skin with your claw, Jack," he commanded. "There! pull it a little -higher. I'll cut the bone here, you see; then we'll cover it with the -skin-flap." - -"Full-crop! but you have a great head, Umisk," cried Jack, admiringly. - -"Wh-e-e! Wh-e-e-e-e!" squealed the Fox, crunching his sharp, white -teeth to hold back the cries of pain. - -"Quick, Pisew, hand out the Poplar-bread--it's off!" commanded Beaver. -"Now, Jack, the thread. Hold one end in your beak, while I wrap it. -There--let go! put a hole through the skin here!" Black King's tongue -was lolling out with the pain, but with Jack's strong, sharp beak, -Beaver's teeth-scalpel and deft fingers, the whole operation was -completed in half an hour. - -"What's that?" queried Black Fox suddenly, cocking his ears; "I heard -the cough of François's Firestick--listen!" - -"I heard it too," asserted Jack; "the Breed is after poor old Mooswa. -If he kills our Comrade, Blue Wolf and his Pack will make short work of -him." - -"Now we are ready to take Your Majesty home. I think I've made a -fairish job of it," said Umisk, holding up the shortened limb with great -professional pride. "Bring the foot, Jack,--it must be buried. Pisew, -you can carry the King, now that he is not loaded down with iron. There -will be only your big-footed track to see; for I'll circle wide, double -a few times, cross Long Lake under the ice, and our enemy will never -know where I've gone." - -"Leave the foot here," advised Jay; "the Breed will find it, see blood -on the snow, discover Pisew's track leading away, and think Lynx has -eaten Black Fox out of the Trap; knowing our friend's cannibal -instincts, he'll believe this. That will give our Chief a chance to get -well; for François, thinking he's dead, will not try again to catch -him." - -"I don't want my reputation ruined this way," whined Pisew. - -"Ruin your reputation!" sneered the Bird. "That is rich! It's like -Skunk complaining of a bad odour when you're about." - -"You go with Pisew and Black King, Jack," ordered Umisk, who had taken -full management of the arrangements; "better be off now before the -cold-sting gets into the wound." He helped Black Fox on Lynx's back, -and started them off; then struck out in a different direction himself. - -The Red Widow's first intimation of this great calamity was Jack's thin -voice calling for help to get Black Fox up into the Burrow. How the old -lady wept. "First it was little Cross-stripes, my Babe," she moaned, -caressing the King with her soft cheek; "now it's you, my beautiful Son. -Poor Lad! you'll never be able to run again." - -"Oh, yes I shall, Mother," replied Black Fox. "The leg will soon heal -up, and I'll manage all right. I'm only too thankful to be out of that -horrible Trap." - -"Bless Umisk's clever little heart!" cried the Widow in her gratitude, -as she stroked the black head with her paw. - -"Not forgetting a word for his sharp teeth, eh, good Dame?" remarked -Jack. - -"I'll get food for the family," added Black King's younger Brother, -proudly assuming the responsibility. - -The Red Widow thanked Lynx and Whisky-Jack for bringing her wounded son -home, and begged Pisew to walk back in his tracks a distance, and use -every endeavour to cover up the trail leading to their burrow. - - - - - THE RUN OF THE WOLVES - - -After Mooswa left the others he walked to within two hundred yards of -the Shack. - -"Brother Rof," he said to his Comrade, "wait for me to-night at Pelican -Portage--you and your Pack. If the Man follows me that far, I shall be -tired by then, and need your help." - -"You'll get it, old Friend--we'll sing the Song of the Kill for this -slayer of the Boundary People. There will be great sport to-night--rare -sport. Ur-r-r-a-ah! but the Pups will learn somewhat of the Chase--by -my love of a Long Run, they shall! Drink not, Mooswa, while you trail, -for a water-logged stomach makes a dry throat!" - -Just as Blue Wolf disappeared on his Pack-gathering errand, the -Half-breed came out of his Shack. On his feet were snow-shoes; over his -shoulder a bag, and in his hand a .45-75 Winchester rifle--he was ready -for the Marten Road. Mooswa started off through the Forest at a racking -pace. - -"By Goss!" exclaimed the Trapper, catching sight of the Bull Moose, "I -miss me dat good c'ance for s'oot." - -Throwing down his bag he started in pursuit, picking up Mooswa's big -trail. The hoof-prints were like those of a five-year-old steer. - -Out of sight the Moose stopped, turned sideways, and cocking his big -heavy ears forward, listened intently. Yes, François was following; the -shuffle of his snow-shoes over the snow was soft and low, like -whispering wind through the harp branches of a dead Tamarack; but Mooswa -could hear it--all his life he had been listening for just such music. - -Wily as the Breed was, sometimes a twig would crack, sometimes the -snow-crust crunch as he stepped over the white mound of a buried log. He -had never seen a Moose act as this one did. Usually they raced at full -speed for miles at first, tiring themselves out in the deep snow; while -behind, never halting, never hesitating, followed the grim Hunter, -skimming easily over the surface with his light-travelling -snow-shoes--and the certainty that in the end he would overtake his -victim. But this chase was on altogether new lines; something the -Half-breed had never experienced. Mooswa kept just beyond range of his -gun. A dozen times inside of the first hour François caught sight of -the magnificent antlers. Once, exasperated by the tantalizing view of -the giant Bull, he took a long-range chance-shot. That was the report -Black King had heard. - -When François came to the spot in which Mooswa had been standing, he -examined the snow--there was no blood. "By Goss!" he muttered, "I t'ink -some one put bad Medicine on me. P'raps dat Moose, he Debil Moose." - -Hour after hour the hunter followed the Bull's trail; hour after hour -Mooswa trotted, and walked, and rested, and doubled, and circled, just -as it suited the game he was playing. François, like all Indians or -Breeds, had no love for a long shot--ammunition was too precious to be -wasted. He could wear the Moose down in two days, surely; then at twenty -or thirty yards his gun would do the rest. - -In the afternoon he tightened the loin-belt one hole--his stomach was -getting empty; but that did not matter--he could travel better. If the -fast lasted for three days it was of no moment; for when the Moose was -slain and brought to the Shack by dog-train, the pot would boil night -and day, and he would feast as long as he had fasted. The thought of the -fat, butter-like nose of this misshapen Animal brought moisture to the -parched lips of the long-striding Half-breed--that delicacy would soon -be his. He travelled faster at the thought of it; also he must push his -quarry to tire him, so the Moose would lie down and rest all night. - -The dusk was beginning to settle down as Mooswa struck straight for -Pelican Portage, though it was only four o'clock in the afternoon. Would -Blue Wolf be there to turn back the pursuer? If by any chance his -comrade missed, what a weary struggle he would have next day with the -blood-thirsty Breed ever on his trail. As Mooswa neared the Portage, a -low, whimpering note caught his ear. Then another answered close by; -and another, and another joined in, until the woods rang with a fierce -chorus--it was the Wolf-pack's Call of the Killing:-- - -"Wh-i-m-m-p! Wh-i-i-m-m-p! buh-h! bu-h-h! buh-h-h! O-o-o-o-h-h! -O-o-o-o-h-h! Bl-o-o-d! Bl-o-o-d!! Bl-o-o-o-o-d!!!" That was the -Wolf-cry, sounding like silvery music in the ears of the tired Moose. - -"Hungry, every one of them!" he muttered. "If François stumbles, or -sleeps, or forgets the Man-look for a minute, Rof's Pack will slay him." -Then he coughed asthmatically, and Blue Wolf bounded into the open, -shaking his shaggy coat. - -"Safe passage, Brothers, for Mooswa," he growled, with authority; "also -no killing for the Hunt-man, for the hunt is of our doing." - -François heard the Wolf-call too, and a chill struck his heart. Night -was coming on, he was alone in the woods, and in front of him a Pack of -hungry Wolves. Turning, he glided swiftly over the back-trail. - -"The Kill-Call, Brothers," cried Rof, his sharp eyes seeing this -movement of the fleeing Breed. Once again the death-bells of the -forest, the Blood Song of Blue Wolf, rang out: "W-a-h-h-h! W-a-h-h-h! -Gur-h-h-h! Yap! yap!! yap!!!" which is the snarl-fastening of teeth in -flesh, the gurring choke of blood in the throat, and the satisfied note -of victory. - -The Hunter became the hunted, and into his throat crept the wild, -unreasoning terror that Mooswa and every other living animal had known -because of his desire for their lives. What would avail a rifle in the -night against Blue Wolf's hungry Brethren? True, he could climb a -tree--but only to freeze; the starlit sky would send down a -steel-pointed frost that would soon bring on a death-sleep, and tumble -him to the yellow fangs of the gray watchers. - -Mile on mile the Half-breed fled, nursing his strength with a woodman's -instinct. How useless, too, seemed the flight; those swift-rushing, -merciless Wolves would overtake him as soon as the shadows had deepened -into night. He had his Buffalo knife, and when they pressed too close, -could build a fire; that might save him--it was a bare possibility. - -With the thirst for Mooswa's blood upon him, his eager straining after -the fleeing animal had been exhilaration; desire had nourished his -stomach, and anticipated victory kept his throat moist: now the -Death-fear turned the night-wind to a hot fire-blast; his lungs pumped -and hammered for a cooling lotion; his heart pounded at the bone-ribs -with a warning note for rest. The thews that had snapped with strong -elasticity in the morning, now tugged and pulled with the ache of -depression; going, he had chosen his path over the white carpet, coolly -measuring the lie of each twig, and brush, and stump; now he travelled -as one in a thicket. Small skeleton Spruce-shoots, stripped of their -bark by hungry Wapoos, and dried till every twig was like a lance, -reached out and caught at his snow-shoes; drooping Spruce-boughs, low -swinging with their weight of snow, caused him to double under or circle -in his race against Blue Wolf's Pack. - -All nature, animate and inanimate, was fighting for his life--eager for -his blood. Even a sharp half-dead limb, sticking out from a Tamarack, -cut him in the face, and sucked a few drops of the hot fluid. Startled -into ejaculation, François panted huskily: "Holy Mudder, sabe me dis -time. I give to de good Père Lacombe de big offerin' for de Mission." -And all the time swinging along with far-reaching strides. - -Memory-pictures of animals that had stood helplessly at bay before his -merciless gun flashed through his mind. Once a Moose-mother had fronted -him to defend her two calves--the big almond eyes of the heroic beast -had pleaded for their lives. He had not understood it then; now, some -way or another, it came back to him--they glared from the forest like -avenging spirit eyes, as he toiled to leave that Wolf-call behind. - -The Shack was still many miles away, for he had travelled far in the -fulness of his seasoned strength in the Hunt-race of the daytime. - -"I got me one c'ance," he muttered hoarsely. "S'pose I get too weak make -fire, I dead, soor." A big Birch, in its heavy frieze-coat of white -cloth, seemed to whisper, "_Just one chance!_" - -Eagerly François tore its resin-oiled blanket from the tree, took a -match from his firebag, snapped the sulphur end with his thumb-nail, for -his clothes were saturated with fear-damp perspiration, and lighted the -quick-blazing Birch. A clump of dead Red Willows furnished eager -timber. How his sinewy arms wrenched them from their rotted roots. -High he piled the defence beacon; the blaze shot up, and red-tinted the -ghost forms of the silent trees. - -Gray shadows circled the outer rim of blazing light--the Wolves were -forming a living stockade about him. Blue Wolf placed the sentinels -strategically. "Not too close, silly pups," he called warningly to two -yearling grandsons; "the Firestick will scorch your sprouting mustaches -if you poke your noses within reach. Remember, Comrades," he said to the -older Wolves, "there is no Kill--only the Blood-fear for this Man." - -The sparks fluttered waveringly skyward, like fire-flies at play; the -Willows snapped and crackled like ice on a river when the water is -falling. When the light blazed high the Wolves slunk back; when there -was only a huge red glow of embers, they closed in again. - -All night François toiled, never letting the rifle from his grasp. With -one hand and his strong moccasined feet he crushed the dry, brittle Red -Willows, and threw them on his life-guarding fire. No sleeping; a -short-paced beat round and round the safety-light, and almost -incessantly on his trembling lips a crude, pleading prayer: "Holy -Mudder, dis time sabe François. I give de offerin' plenty--also what de -good Pries' say, I hear me." - -[Illustration: "HOLY MUDDER, DIS TIME SABE FRANÇOIS."] - -"Look at his face, Brothers," growled Blue Wolf. "Now thou hast seen -the Man-fear. Is it not more terrible than the Death-look in the eyes -of Buck? It is not well to kill Man, is it, Comrades?" - -"No!" they admitted surlily--for they were hungry. - -"Come," said Rof, when the bitter cold dawn hour--colder than any of the -others--warned them that the light was on its way, "trot we back on -Mooswa's trail, and if the Man continues to his Burrow, then go we our -path." - -When the light had grown stronger François peered about carefully. - -"Blessed Virgin! Mos' Holy ob Mudders! I t'ink me dat prayer you hear; -dat wolves is gone soor. To de good Père Lacombe I give me big presen' -for de Mission. I keep me dat promise soor," crossing himself -fervently, in confirmation. - -Blue Wolf was saying to the Pack as he trotted along at their head: -"Only for the promise to Mooswa the Hunt-man would have made a good meal -for us, Brothers." - -"What are promises in the Hunger Year--the Seventh Year of the Wapoos?" -cried a gaunt companion, stopping. "Let us go back, and--" - -Blue Wolf turned in a passion. "First we fight!" he yelped, baring his -huge fangs. "I, who am leader here, and also am in the Council of the -Boundaries, say the Man goes unharmed." - -The other dropped his bushy tail, moved sideways a few paces, and sat -down meekly; swaying his head furtively from side to side, avoiding the -battle-look in Blue Wolf's eyes. Rof turned disdainfully, and trotted -off on their back track; the Pack followed. - -"I've saved this Man for Mooswa's sake," thought Blue Wolf. - -"De prayer turn' back dat wolves soor," muttered the Breed, as hurrying -on he reiterated his generous offering to the Mission. It was noon when -he swung into the little log Shack, with something in his face which was -not there before--something new that had come in one night. He did not -want to talk about it; even to cease thinking of it were better; -besides, what was the use of frightening The Boy. - -"I no get dat Moose," he said curtly, as he pulled his wet moccasins -off, cut some tobacco, mixed it with the Red Willow kinnikinick, filled -his wooden pipe, and lying down in front of the fire-place smoked -moodily. - -The Boy busied himself getting a meal ready for his companion. - -"By Goss! he big Moose," continued the Half-breed, after a time, when he -had emptied the bowl of his pipe; "but I lose de trail las' night. -S'pose he goin' too far t'ro de muskeg, I can' find him." - -"Never mind, François," cried The Boy, "you'll get another chance at him -before Winter's over. Come and eat, you must be hungry--the hot tea -will make you forget." - -"I s'pose somebody put bad medicine for me," grumbled the Breed, in a -depressed monotone; "mus' be de ole Nokum at Lac La Bic'e. She's mad for -me, but I don' do not'ing bad for her." But still nothing of his -terrible experience with the Wolves. Why speak of it? Perhaps next day -they would be fifty miles away. - -After François had rested he said: "I mus' go see dat Trap for de Silver -Fox; I t'ink me I catc' him dis time." - -"Don't go out again to-day--you're too tired," pleaded Rod. - -"Mus' go," replied the other. "S'pose dat Fox in de Trap, dat Debil -Carcajou, or de Lynk, or some odder Animal, eat him; dere's no Rabbit -now, an' dey's all starve." - -"I'll go with you, then," exclaimed The Boy. - -When they came to the Trap, François stared in amazement. It had been -sprung. - -The Breed examined the snow carefully. - -"Jus' what I t'ink me. He's been catc', an' dat Lynk eat him all up. -Only one foot lef'; see!" and he held up the amputated black paw. -"Here's de big trail of de Lynk, too." - -Dejectedly they went back to the Shack. - -"Now I know it's de bad medicine," asserted François. "De Debil come in -dat Moose for lead me away, an' I lose de Silver Fox what wort' two, -t'ree hun'red dollar." - -"The Lynx has had rather an extravagant blowout," remarked The Boy. -"One could go to England, dine there in great shape, and back again for -the price of his dinner." François did not answer. He was certainly -running in bad luck. - -"I t'ink me we pull out from dis S'ack," he said; "give up de Marten -Road, an' move down to my ol' place at Hay Riber. Before, I keel plenty -fur dere; here I get me not'ing, only plenty bad medicine." - -"All right, François, I'm willing--anything you say," answered Rod. - -"I got my ol' S'ack down dere," continued the Trapper, "an' we go for -dat place. To-morrow we pick up de Trap. De Black Fox he's die, so I -s'pose me we don't want stop here. I got give little Père Lacombe some -presen' for de Mission, an' mus' keel de fur for dat, soor." - - - - - CARCAJOU'S REVENGE - - -In the morning François and Roderick started with their dog-train to -pick up Traps from the Marten Road. - -"S'pose it's better w'at I go to de Lan'ing firs'," François remarked -reflectively, as they plodded along behind the dogs and carry-all; "we -don' got plenty Trap now, an' I can' find dat poison bottle. Yesterday -I look, but he's gone soor; I put him on de s'elf, but he's not dere -now. P'r'aps dat Whisky-Jack steal him, for he take de spoon some time; -but anyway can' trap proper wit'out de poison." - -After they had left the Shack Whisky-Jack cleaned up the scraps that had -been thrown out from breakfast, and having his crop full, started -through the woods looking for a chance of gossip. He observed Carcajou -scuttling awkwardly along through the deep snow; this was the first time -Jack had seen him since he had been liberated from the Trap. - -"Hello!" cried the Jay; "able to be about again?" - -"Who's at the Man-shack?" queried the other in answer, entirely ignoring -Jack's personal gibe. - -"Nobody," piped the Bird; "left me in charge and went out on their -Marten Road." - -"And the Dogs, O One-in-charge?" asked Carcajou. - -"Gone too; are you out for a scrap with the Huskies, my bad-tempered -Friend?" - -"Were you sweet-tempered, gentle Bird, when you burnt your toes, and -scorched your gizzard with the Man-Cub's fat pork?" - -"Well, sore toes are enough to ruffle one, aren't they, -Hunchback,--Crop-eared Stealer of Things?" - -"And your Men Friends took the leg off our King," continued Wolverine, -ignoring the other's taunt. "The Red Widow is close to an attack of -rabies with all this worry." - -"You're full of stale news," retorted Jay. - -"If they are all away," declared Carcajou, "I'm going to have another -peep at that chimney. Also there are three debts to be paid." - -The Bird chuckled. "Generous Little Lieutenant! leave my account out. -But if you must go to the Shack, I'll keep watch and give you a call if -I see them coming back." - -"Fat-eating! but I hate climbing," grunted Wolverine, as he struggled up -the over-reaching log-ends at one corner of the Shack. "If they had -only left the door open--I never close the door of my Burrow." - -He went down the chimney as though it were a ladder, his back braced -against one side, and his strong curved claws holding in the dry mud of -the other. Inside of the Shack he worked with exceeding diligence, -deporting himself much after the manner of soldiers looting a King's -palace. - -Three bags of flour stood in a corner. "That's queer stuff," muttered -Carcajou, ripping open the canvas. "Dry Eating!" and he scattered it -with malignant fury. He pattered up and down in it, rolled in it, and -generally had a pleasing, dusty time. The white stuff got in his throat -and made him cough; the tickling developed a proper inebriate's thirst. -Two zinc pails, full of water, sat on a wooden bench; the choking Animal -perched on the edge of one, and tried to drink; but as he stooped over -the spreading top his centre of gravity was disarranged somewhat, and -his venture ended disastrously. The floor was clay, smooth-ironed by -Francis's feet, so it held the fluid like a pot, and, incidentally, much -batter of Wolverine's mixing was originated. He was still thirsty, and -tried the other pail. That even did not last so long, for, as he was -pulling himself up, somewhat out of temper, it tumbled heedlessly from -the bench, and converted the Shack-floor into a white, alkaline-looking -lake. - -Then he puddled around in batter which clung to his short legs, and -stuck to his toe-hairs, trying to get a drink from little pools, but -only succeeding in getting something like liquid pancakes. - -The stuff worked into his coat, and completely put to flight any -feelings of restraint he might have had. A cyclone and an earthquake -working arm in arm could not have more effectually disarranged the -internal economy of François's residence. - -Like most Half-breeds François played a concertina; and like most of his -fellow tribesmen he hung up his things on the bed or floor. It was -under the bed that Carcajou discovered the instrument, and when he had -finished with it, it might have been put in paper boxes and sold as -matches. Two feather pillows provided him with enthusiastic occupation -for a time; mixed with batter the feathers entirely lost their -elasticity, and refused to float about in the air. This puzzled the -marauder--he couldn't understand it; for you see he knew nothing of -specific gravity. - -A jug of molasses was more rational--but it added to his thirst, also -turned the white coat he had evolved from the flour-mixture into a -dismal coffee colour. - -Great Animals! but he was having a time. Whisky-Jack, from his post -outside, kept encouraging him from time to time, as the din of things -moving rapidly in the interior came to his delighted ears. "Bravo! -What's broken?" he screamed, when the pail met with its downfall. The -blankets dried the floor a bit after industrious little Wolverine had -hauled them up and down a few times. This evidently gave him -satisfaction, for he worked most energetically. - -Two sides of fat bacon reclined sleepily under the bed--a mouthful -filled Carcajou with joy. Great Eating! but if he had that much food in -his Burrow he needn't do a stroke of work all Winter. He tried to carry -a side up the chimney; and got started with it all right, for an iron -bar had been built across the mud fire-place to hang pots on, which gave -him a foothold; a little higher up he slipped, and clattered down, bacon -and all, burning his feet in coals that lingered from the morning's -fire. The sight of disturbed cinders floating from the chimney-top -intimated to Jack what had happened, and he whistled with joy. - -This was an excuse for another round of demolition. "If I could only -open the Shack," thought Wolverine. Though a dweller in caves, yet he -knew which was the door, for over its ill-fitting threshold came a -strong glint of light; also up and down its length ran two cracks -through which came more light. Most certainly it was the door, he -decided, sniffing at the fresh air that whistled through the openings. - -Close by stood a box on end, holding a wash-bowl. Carcajou climbed up -on this, and examined a little iron thing that seemed to bear on the -subject. It was somewhat like a Trap; if he could spring this thing, -perhaps it had something to do with opening the door. As he fumbled at -it, suddenly the wind blew a big square hole in the Shack's side; he had -lifted the latch, only he didn't know it was a latch, of course--it was -like a Trap, something to be sprung, that was all. - -"By all the Loons!" screamed Jay; "now you're all right--what's inside? -You have had your revenge, Carey, old Boy," he added, as he caught sight -of his coffee-coloured friend. - -Carcajou paid no attention to his volatile Comrade, for he was busily -engaged in gutting the place. "My fingers are still sore from the Man's -Trap," he muttered, "but I think I can cache this Fat-eating." - -"François will trail you," declared the Bird. - -"He may do that," admitted Wolverine, "but he'll not find the Eating. -Has he a scent-nose of the Woods to see it through many covers of snow?" - -"This is just lovely!" piped Jack, hopping about in the dough; "it's -like the mud at White Clay River. Butter!" he screamed in delight, -perching on the edge of a wooden firkin, off which his friend had -knocked the top. "I just love this stuff--it puts a gloss on one's -feathers. We are having our revenge, aren't we, old Plaster-coat?" - -"I am--Whe-e-e-cugh!" cried the fat little desperado, coughing much -flour from his clogged lungs. - -"I say, Hunchback, wouldn't you like to be a Man, and have all these -things to eat, without the eternal worry of stealing them? I -should--I'd be eating butter all the time;" and Jack drove his beak with -great rapidity into the firkin's yellow contents. - -"I'll return in a minute after I've cached this," said Wolverine, as he -backed out of the Shack dragging a big piece of bacon. - -"Oh, my strong Friend of much Brain, please cache this wooden-thing of -Yellow-eating for me," pleaded Jay, when Carcajou reappeared. "By the -Year of Famine! but it's delicious--it must be great for a Singer's -throat. Did I ever tell you how I was sold once at Wapiscaw over a bit -of butter?" - -"No, my guzzling Friend--nor would you now, if you didn't want me to do -a favour," grunted the industrious toiler, rolling Whisky-Jack's tub of -butter off into the Forest. - -"Well, it was this way--I saw a cake of this Yellow-eating in the -Factor's Shack; you know the square holes they leave for light--it was -in one of those. I swooped down and tried to drive my beak into it--" - -"Like the hot pork," interrupted the tub-roller. - -"Never mind, Carey, old Boy,--let by-gones be by-gones--I dove my beak -fair at the Yellow Thing, and, would you believe it, nearly broke my -neck against something hard which was between me and the Eating--I -couldn't see it, though." - -"Ha, ha, he-e-e-e-!" laughed Carcajou. "You bone-headed Bird--that was -glass--Man's glass--they put it in those holes to keep the frost, -Whisky-Jacks, and other evil things out--I know what it is. There! now -your Yellow-eating is safe--François won't find it," he added, pushing -snow against the log under which lay the hidden firkin. "I wish you -would fly and bring Rof and some of the other Fellows--tell them I'm -giving a Feast-dance; make them hurry up, for the Men will be back -before long." - -"Oh, Carey, they'll guzzle my butter," replied the Bird. - -"They won't find it. Tell the Red Widow to come and get a piece of this -Fat-eating for the King. Fly like the wind. I'll have everything out -of the Shack, and you must tell Blue Wolf and the others to come and -help me carry it to the Meeting Place." - -"Look here, Giver-of-the-Feast," said Jack, struck by a new thought, -"what about The Boy? If you take all the food, he'll starve before they -get to the Landing for more. We must remember our promise to Mooswa." - -"That's so," replied Carcajou; "I'll leave enough Fish and Dry-eating to -carry them out of the Boundaries; strange, though, that _you_ should -have thought of The Boy--hast forgotten the hot pork?" - -"Neither have I forgotten my word to Mooswa," said the Bird, as he flew -swiftly to summon the others to the feast. - -Wolverine rounded up his day's work by caching the granite-ware dishes -and rolling an iron pot down the bank, and into the water hole. At -Carcajou's pot-latch there was rare hilarity. - -"I'm proud of you, old Cunning," Blue Wolf said, patronizingly, as he -sat with distended stomach licking the fat from his wire-haired -mustache. "If anything should happen Black King, which Wiesahkechack -forbid! we could not do better than make you our next Ruler. I have -made a few good steals in my time, but never anything like this. To be -able to give a Tea Dance of this sort! Ghur-r-r!" he gurgled in -satisfaction, and rubbed his head and neck along Wolverine's plump side -affectionately, as a dog caresses a man's leg. - -"Not only wise, but so generous!" Lynx said, oilily, for he too had -eaten of the salted fat. "To remember one's Friends in the Day of Plenty -is truly noble; I shall never forget this kind invitation." - -"Cheek!" muttered Jack, for he had not invited Pisew at all--had -purposely left him out of the general call; but Lynx, always craftily -suspicious, seeing a movement on among some of the Animals, had followed -up and discovered the barbecue. - -"I haven't eaten a meal like this since the year before the Big Fire," -murmured the Red Widow, reminiscently. "Easy Catching! but the Birds -were thick that year--and fat and lazy. 'Crouk, Crouk!' they'd say, when -one walked politely with gentle tread amongst them, stretch their heads -up, and patter a little out of the way with their short, feathered -legs--actually not attempt to fly. But I never expect to see a year -like that again," she sighed, regretfully. "Excuse me for mentioning -it; but this fulness in my stomach has suggested the general condition -of that time. The King will be delighted to have this nice, fat -back-piece that I'm taking home to him. He did well to make you -Lieutenant, Carcajou--you are a brainy Boundary Dweller. By my family -crest, the White Spot at the end of my Tail, I'll never forget this -kindness." - -"Hear, hear!" cried Whisky-Jack; "you make the snub-nosed Robber blush. -I had no idea how popular you were, Crop-ear. I've a notion to bring -out the--Goodness!" he muttered to himself; "I nearly gave it away. -Friendship is friendship, but butter is butter, and harder to get." - -"Bring out what?" asked Pisew. - -"The Castoreum, Prying-Cat," glibly answered Jay, cocking his head down -and sticking out his tongue at Lynx. - -"I remember the year you speak of, Good Widow; I also was fat that -Fall," said Marten. - -"So was I," declared Wuchak, the Fisher--"never had to climb a tree to -get my dinner for months." - -"It was the Fifth Year of the Wapoos," enjoined Pisew, "and we Animal -Eaters were all fat. Why, my paw was the size of Panther's--I took -great pride in the trail I left." - -"Extraordinary taste!" remarked Jack, "to feel proud of your big feet. -Now, if in the Year of Plenty you had run a little to brain--" - -"Never mind, Jack," interrupted Blue Wolf, good-humouredly, for the -feast-fulness made him well disposed toward all creatures, "we can't all -be as smart as you are, you know. Tired jaws! I believe I don't care -for any dessert," he continued, sniffing superciliously at a rib-bone -Wolverine pushed toward him. But he picked it up, broke it in two with -one clamp of his vise-like teeth, and swallowed the knuckle end. "Even -if one is full," he remarked, giving a little gulp as it hitched in his -throat, "a morsel of bone or something at the finish of the meal seems -to top it off, and aids digestion." - -"I take mine just as it comes, bone and meat together," declared Otter. - -"So do I," affirmed Mink, for they had been given a great ration of Fish -as their share of the banquet. Carcajou had purloined it from the Shack -with his other loot. - -"I must say that I like fresh Fish better than dried," declared Nekik to -his companion, Mink; "but with the streams almost frozen to the bottom, -and the stupid Tail-swimmers buried in the mud, one cannot be too -thankful for anything in the way of Eating. The wealthiest one in all -the Boundaries is old Umisk, the Beaver; he's got miles on miles of food -that can't run away from him." - -"Oh, I never could stand a vegetarian diet," grunted Carcajou. "I do -eat Berries and Roots when Meat is scarce, but, taking it all round, -you'll find that the brainiest, cleverest, most active Fellows in the -Boundaries are the Flesh-eaters. Look at old Mooswa--good enough Chap; -big and strong, too, in a way, but Safe-trails! what can he do? Nothing -but trot, trot, trot, and try to rustle that big head-gear of his -through the bush. Did you ever see a Flesh-eater have to run around -with a small horn-forest on his head in the way of protection? Never! -they don't run to horns--they run to brains." - -"And teeth," added Blue Wolf, curling his upper lip and baring ivory -fangs the length of a man's finger to the admiring gaze of his friends. - -"I eat Meat," chirped Whisky-Jack, "and I don't run to horns or teeth -either, so it must all go to brains, I suppose. Lucky for you fellows, -too." - -"No, Wise Bird," began Lynx, "you don't need horns or teeth to defend -yourself; your tongue, like Sikak's tail, keeps everybody away." - -"Let's go home," grunted Wolverine; "I'm so full I can hardly walk." - -"I'll give you a ride on my back, generous Benefactor," smirked Pisew. - -"He thinks you have cached some of the bacon," sneered Jack; "he'll be -full of gratitude while the pork lasts." - -Soon the Boundaries were silent, for full-stomached animals sleep well. - -While there was feasting in the Boundaries there was much desolation in -the Shack. François and The Boy had returned late to their wrecked -home, and the Trapper's speech when he saw the débris, was something of -wondrous entanglement, for an excited French Half-breed has a vocabulary -all his own, and our friend was excited in the superlative degree. He -knew it was Carcajou who had robbed him, for there were plaster casts of -his brazen foot all over the mortar-like floor. - -"We can't go to de new trap-place dis way," the Half-breed said; "we -don' got no grub, de dis' he's gone, an' de poison, an' it jes' look -like de Debil he's put bad Medicine on us himself. You stay here one -week alone if I go me de Lan'ing?" he asked Rod. "I mus' get de flour, -more bacon, some trap, an' de strykeen. I take me de dog-train for bring -de grub stake. You jes' stop on de S'ack, an' when I come back we go -down to Hay Riber." - -It was late enough when François fell into a fitful troubled slumber, -for the occasion demanded much recrimination against animals in general, -and Carcajou in particular. - -Whatever chance François might have had of discovering Carcajou's cache -next morning, was that night utterly destroyed by a fall of snow. - - - - - PISEW STEALS THE BOY'S FOOD - - -In the morning, François, taking his loaded snake-whip, hammered the -Huskie dogs into a submission sufficient to permit of their being -harnessed; put a meagre ration for four days in the carryall, tied on -his snow-shoes, and said to Roderick: "I go for pull out now, Boy; I -s'pose t'ree day I make me de Lan'ing. I stop dere one day, hit de -back-trail den, an' come de S'ack here wid de grub stake in fo'r more. -You got grub lef for dat long, soor. Bes' not go far from de S'ack; de -Blue Wolf he migh' come roun' dis side wit' hes Pack--bes' stick close -de S'ack." - -[Illustration: "I GO FOR PULL OUT NOW, BOY."] - -Then he slipped down the long-terraced river-bank with his train, and -started up the avenue of its broad bosom toward The Landing. - -With rather a dreary feeling of lonesomeness Rod watched him disappear -around the first long, Spruce-covered point, then went back into the -Shack and whistled to keep the mercury of his spirits from congealing. - -Other eyes had seen François wind around the first turn that shut him -out from Rod's vision: Blue Wolf's eyes; the little bead eyes of -Carcajou; the shifting, treacherous, cat-like orbs of Pisew, the Lynx. -Mooswa's big almond eyes blinked solemnly from a thicket of willow that -lined the river bank. - -"I wonder if he'll bring the same Huskies back in his train?" said Blue -Wolf, as they returned through the Boundaries together. - -"I should think he would," ventured Mooswa. - -"Don't know about that," continued Rof, "these Breeds have no affection -for their Dogs, nor anything else but their own Man-Cubs. They do like -them, I must say. Why, I've heard one of them, a big, rough Man he was -too, cry every night for Moons because of the death of his Cub. He was -as savage as any Wolf, though, for he killed another Man in a fight just -at that time, and thought no more of it than I did over killing a Sheep -at Lac La Biche. But every night he howled, and moaned, and whimpered -for his lost Cub, just as a Mother Wolf might when her young are -trapped, or stricken with the breath of the Firestick, or killed in a -Pack-riot. Yes, they're queer, the Men," he mused in a low growl. -"When François goes to The Landing, if one of the other Breeds stumps -him for a trade, he'll swap off the whole Train." - -"I'm sure he'll stick to Marsh Maid," declared Pisew; "she'll be back -again all right, Brother Rof." Blue Wolf looked sheepishly at Mooswa. -What a devil this Lynx was to read his thoughts like that. - -"I hope nothing will happen François, for the sake of The Boy," wheezed -Mooswa. "These Breed Men also forget everything when the fire-water, -that makes them like mad Bulls, is in camp; it is always at The Landing -too," he muttered, despondently. "When I was a Calf at the Fort, I -heard the old Factor say--I think I've told you about that time--" - -"Yes, yes," interrupted Carcajou impatiently, for he was a -quick-thinking little Animal, "what did the Factor say about these Breed -Men?" - -"I'm coming to that," asserted Mooswa, ponderously. "It was at the time -I was a Calf in the Fort Corral, and the Factor, who was my Boy's -father, said that a Breed would sell his Soul for a gallon of this -Devil-water that puts madness in their blood." - -"What's a Soul?" asked Carcajou. "I wonder if I smashed François's in -the Shack." - -"I don't know," answered Mooswa; "it's something Man has, but which we -haven't--it's the thing that looks out of their eyes and makes us all -turn our heads away. Even Rof there, who stands up against Cougar -without flinching, drops his head when Man looks at him--is that not so, -brave Comrade?" - -"It is," answered Blue Wolf, dragging his tail a little. - -"And a Breed will trade this thing for fire-water?" queried Carcajou. - -"So the Factor said," answered the Moose. - -"I wouldn't if I had it," declared Wolverine--"not even for the -Fat-eating, and that is good for one. Was it that which made -Wiesahkechack King of Men and Animals, and everything, when he was -here--this Soul thing?" he asked pantingly, for the easy stride of his -long-legged comrades made his lungs pump fast. - -"I suppose so," replied Mooswa; "but if François gets fire-water at The -Landing, I'm afraid it will be ill with The Boy. But, Comrades, you all -remember your oath to me and the King, that for the Man-Cub shall be our -help, and our care, and not the blood-feud that is against Man, because -of his killing." - -"I remember," cried Blue Wolf. - -"And I," answered Pisew. - -"I never forget anything," declared Carcajou. "When my paws ached -because of François, I laid up hate against him; and when Black King's -leg was lost because of this evil Man's Trap the hate grew stronger; but -by the Bars on my Flanks do I bear not hate against The Boy, and bear -the promise given to you, Mooswa." - -"I'll carry you for a short trail, Lieutenant," said Blue Wolf, stopping -beside Wolverine; "the Fat-eating has put new strength in my bones--jump -up on my back. Your brains are nimbler than ours, but your short legs -can't get over the deep snow so fast." - -"Been to see him off, eh?" piped Whisky-Jack cheerily, fluttering up. -"I heard him tell The Boy they'd go down to Hay River when he comes back -from The Landing; but how did you Fellows know he was leaving this -morning?" - -"Rof got it from his Huskie sweetheart," said Lynx. "The Dogs were tied -up last night, and the carryall outfit was lying ready at the door--that -meant hitting the trail early this morning." - -"Has the Man-Cub got Eating enough to last against François's return, -Jack?" asked Bull Moose, solicitously. - -"A dozen White Fish, a little flour, and some tea." - -"That will keep the stomach-ache away, if the Breed comes back quickly," -affirmed Mooswa. - -Pisew cocked his Hair-plumed ears hungrily at the mention of Fish; and -the thief-thought that was always in his heart kept whispering, "Fish! -Fish! Fish that is in the Shack--The Boy's Fish!" The woods were so -bare, too. It was the Seventh Year, the Famine Year, and a chance of -eating came only at long intervals. Carcajou had robbed the Shack, and -it had been accounted clever--all the Flesh Eaters had feasted merrily -off the loot. Why should he not also steal the twelve Fish? But he was -not like Carcajou, a feast-giver, an Animal to make himself popular by -great gifts; if he stole the Fish he would cache them, and the eating -would round up his lean stomach. - -"Carrier of Messages," began Mooswa, addressing Whisky-Jack, "thy part -of the Oath Promise is watching over The Boy. If aught goes wrong, -bring thou the news." - -"Very well, old Sober-sides," answered Jay, saucily. "I'll come and sit -on your horns that have so many beautiful roosts for me, and whisper -each day into your ear, that is big enough to hold my nest, all that -happens at the Shack!" - -"He'll keep you busy, Mooswa," smirked Pisew. - -"Mooswa has time to spare for his Friends," answered Jack, "because he -eats an honest dinner. You, Bob-tail, are so busy with your thieving and -lying-in-wait for somebody's children to eat, that you have no time for -honest talk." - -"Here's your path, Carcajou," cried Blue Wolf, stopping while Wolverine -jumped down. "I'm going on to see how Black King is." - -"Last night a strong wind laid many acres of Birch Trees on their backs, -two hours' swift trot from here--I'm going there for my dinner," -declared the Moose; "it will be fine feeding. It is a pity you Chaps -aren't vegetarians; the Blood Fever must be awful--killing, killing, -killing,--it's dreadful!" he wheezed, turning to the left and striding -away through the forest. - -"I'll go and see Black King too," exclaimed Whisky-Jack. - -"I'm off to the muskeg to hunt Mice," announced Pisew; "the Famine Year -brings one pretty low." - -"Your Father must have been born in a Famine Year," suggested Jack, "and -you inherited the depravity from him." - -Lynx snarled disagreeably, and as he slunk cat-like through the woods, -spat in contemptuous anger. "Jack has gone to the King's Burrow," he -muttered; "I'll have a look at The Boy's Shack. I wonder where he keeps -that Fish, and if he leaves the door open at all. Perhaps when he goes -down to the river for water--ah, yes, Cubs and Kittens are all -careless--even the Man-Cub will not be wise, I think. Now, so soon, the -pittance of food I had from that thief, Carcajou, has melted in my -stomach, and the walls are collapsing again. I wonder where the -hump-backed Lieutenant cached the rest of his stolen Fat-eating." - -Thus treacherously planning, Lynx stealthily circled to the Shack, lay -down behind a Cottonwood log fifty feet away, and watched with a -ravenous look in his big round eyes. Presently he saw Rod open the -door, look across the waste of snow, stretch his arms over his head -wearily, turn back into the Shack, reappear with two metal pails in one -hand and an axe in the other, and pass from view over the steep river -bank. - -With a swift, noiseless rush the yellow-gray thief darted into the -building. His keen nose pointed out the dried White Fish lying on a box -in the corner. Stretching his jaws to their utmost width, he seized -four or five and bounded into the thick bush with them. Two hundred -paces from the clearing Pisew dropped his booty behind a fallen tree. -"I'll have time for the others," he snarled, pulling a white covering -over the fish with his huge paw. - -As he stole back again, a sound of ice-chopping came to his ears. -"Plenty of time," he muttered, and once more his jaws were laden with -The Boy's provision. In his eagerness to take them all, two fish -slipped to the floor; Pisew became frightened, and bolted with those he -had in his mouth. "I can't go back any more," he thought, as he rushed -away; "but I've done well, I've done very well." - -The Boy returned with the water, took his axe and cut some wood. He did -not miss the fish. Pisew carried his stolen goods away and cached them. - -That night Whisky-Jack, sitting on his perch under the extended end of -the roof, heard something that gave him a start. Rod had discovered the -loss of his Fish. - -"My God! this is serious," the Bird heard him say. "Two fish and a -handful of flour for ten days' food--perhaps longer. This is terrible. -It's that Devil of the Woods, Carcajou, who has robbed me, I suppose--he -stole the bacon before. If I only could get a chance at him with a -rifle, I'd settle his thieving life." - -The misery in The Boy's voice touched Whisky-Jack. - -"Pisew has done this evil thing," he chirped to himself. "If he has, he -has broken his oath of the Boy-care." - - - - - THE PUNISHING OF PISEW - - -In the morning Whisky-Jack flew early to the home of Black King, and -told him of the fish-stealing. - -"Yes," affirmed the Red Widow, "it was Pisew. His father before him was -a Traitor and a Thief; they were always a mean, low lot. And wasn't -this Man-Cub good and kind to my Babe, Stripes, when that brute of a -Huskie Dog attacked him?" - -"Yes, Good Dame," affirmed the Bird; "but for this Man-Cub your Pup -would have lined the stomach of a Train Dog--now he may live to line the -cloak of some Man-woman--that is, if François catches him. But what -shall be done to this breaker of Boundary Laws and Sneak-thief, Pisew, -Your Majesty?" - -"Summon Carcajou, Mooswa, Blue Wolf, and others of the Council, my good -Messenger," commanded the King. "There is no fear of the trail now, for -François is gone, and The Boy hunts not." - -When they had gathered, Whisky-Jack again told of what had been done. - -"It is Pisew, of a certainty," cried Carcajou. - -"Yes, it is that Traitor," concurred Rof, with a growl. - -"I could hardly believe any Animal capable of such meanness," sighed -Bull Moose; "we must investigate. If it be true--" - -"Yes, if it prove true!" snapped Carcajou. - -"Uhr-r-r, if this thing be true--!" growled Blue Wolf, and there was a -perceptible gleam of white as his lip curled with terrible emphasis. - -"Go and look!" commanded Black King; "the snow tells no false tales; the -Thief will have written with his feet that which his tongue will lie to -conceal." - -The vigilants proceeded to the scene of Pisew's greedy outrage. "I -thought so," said Carcajou, examining the ground minutely. - -"Here he hid the stuff," cried Rof, from behind a fallen tree. "That -odour is Dried Fish; and this--bah! it's worse--it's the foul smell of -our Castoreum-loving Friend, Pisew;" and he curled his nose disdainfully -in the half-muffled tracks of the detested Cat. - -"I can see his big foot-prints plainly," added Mooswa. "There is no -question as to who is the thief. Let us go back and summon the Council -of the Boundaries, and decide what is to be done with this Breaker of -Oaths." - -When they had returned to the King's burrow, he commanded that Umisk, -Nekik, Wapistan, Mink, Skunk, Wapoos, and all others, should be -gathered, so that judgment might be passed upon the traitor. "Also -summon Pisew," he said to Jay. - -When the Council members had arrived, Whisky-Jack came back with a -report that Lynx could not be found. - -"Guilt and a full stomach have caused him to travel far; it is easier to -keep out of the way than to answer eyes that are asking questions," -declared Blue Wolf, in a thick voice. - -"Then we shall decide without him," cried Black King, angrily. - -The evidence was put clearly before the Council by Rof, Carcajou, and -Mooswa; besides, each of the animals swore solemnly by their different -tail-marks, which is an oath not to be broken, that they had not done -this thing. - -"Well," said Black Fox, "we arranged before that, in case of a serious -breach of the Law, the Council should decide by numbers whether any one -must die because of the Law breaking. Is that not so?" - -"It is," they all answered. - -"Then what of Pisew, who has undoubtedly broken the Oath-promise that -was made unto Mooswa?" - -"He must die!" snarled Blue Wolf. - -"He must cease to be!" echoed Carcajou. - -"Yes, it is not right that he live!" declared Mooswa. And from Bull -Moose down to Wapistan, all agreed that Pisew deserved death for his -traitorous conduct. - -"But how?" asked the King. - -Nobody answered for a time. Killing, except because of hunger, was a -new thing to them; no one wanted to have the slaying of Lynx upon his -conscience--the role of executioner was undesirable. - -"He shall die after the manner of his Father,--by the Snare, and by the -means of Man, which is just," announced Carcajou, presently. - -"But François has gone, and the Man-Cub traps not," objected the Red -Widow. - -"He did not trouble to take up the Snares, though, Good Dame," affirmed -Wolverine; "I know of three." - -"You know of three, and didn't spring them?" queried Jack, -incredulously. - -"There was no Bait--only the vile smelling Castoreum," answered -Carcajou, disdainfully. "And there was also a chance that Pisew might -poke his traitorous head through one--I guard not for that Sneak." - -"But how will you induce Pisew to thrust his worthless neck into the -Snare?" asked Black King. - -"There is some of the Fat-eating still left, Your Majesty," returned -Carcajou, "and I'll forfeit a piece as Bait." - -"That should tempt him," asserted the King. - -"But he may be a long time discovering it," ventured Umisk, pointing out -a seeming difficulty. - -"Leave that to me," pleaded Whisky-Jack; "you provide the Bait, and I'll -provide the Thief who'll try to steal it." - -It being settled that way, the Council adjourned, Carcajou and -Whisky-Jack being selected as a Committee of Execution. Wolverine -showed Jay where the snare was placed, and while he cleverly arranged -the bacon beyond its quick-slipping noose, the latter scoured the -Forests and muskegs for Pisew until he found him. - -"Hello, Feather-Feet!" he hailed the Lynx with. - -"Good-day, Gossip!" retorted Pisew. - -"You're looking well fed for this Year of Famine, my carnivorous -Friend," said Whisky-Jack, pleasantly. - -"Yes, I'm fat because of much fasting," answered Lynx. "The memory of -Carcajou's Fat-eating alone keeps me alive; I'm starved--I'm as thin as -a snow-shoe. It's days since my form would even cast a shadow--can you -not see right through me, Eagle-eyed Bird?" - -"I think I can," declared the Jay, meaning Lynx's methods, more than his -thick-woolled body. - -"I'm starving!" reasserted the Cat. "If Carcajou were half so generous -as he pretends, he should give me another piece of that Fat-eating; it -would save my life--really it would." He was pleading poverty with an -exaggerated flourish, lest he be suspected of the ill-gotten wealth of -Fish. - -"Yes, Carcajou is a miser," affirmed Whisky-Jack. "He still has some of -the Man's bacon cached." - -"I wish I knew where," panted Lynx. "There is no wrong in stealing from -a thief--is there, wise Bird?" - -"I know where some of it is hidden," declared Jay, with an air of great -satisfaction. - -"Tell me," pleaded the other. - -At first Jack refused utterly; then by diplomatic weakenings he -succumbed to Pisew's eager solicitation, and veered around, consenting -to point out some of Wolverine's stolen treasure. - -"You are a true friend, Jack," asserted Pisew, encouragingly. - -"To whom?" asked the Bird, pointedly. - -"Oh, to me, of course; for Carcajou is a friend to nobody. But, Jack," -he said suddenly, "you are fond of Yellow-eating, aren't you?" - -"Yes, I like butter." - -"Well, I'll tell you where you can get rare good picking--it's a good -joke on Carcajou, too, though it was so badly covered up that I thought -it more like a Man's cache." - -The Jay started. Had this wily thief stolen his butter also--the butter -that Carcajou had hidden for him at the Shack looting? - -"You see," continued Lynx, "I stumbled upon it quite by accident as I -was digging for Grubs, Beetles, and poor food of that sort--hardly -enough to fill one's teeth. Oh, this Seventh Year is terrible! I was -starving, Friend--really I was; the gaunt gnawing which never comes to -you, and of which you know nothing, for you are always with the Men who -have plenty, was in my stomach. I was thinking of the hunger-hardship, -and of the great store of Fat-eating Carcajou must have cached, when I -came upon this wooden-holder of stuff that is like yellow marrow." - -"Butter," interrupted the Bird. - -"I suppose so," whined Lynx. - -"And you ate it?" queried Jack sharply, experiencing a sick feeling of -desolation. - -"There was only a little of it, only a little," iterated Pisew, -deprecatingly; "hardly worth one's trouble in tearing the cover from the -wooden-thing." - -"The tub," advised Jack. - -"Probably; I'm not familiar with the names of Man's things. But I just -tasted it--that was all; just a little to oil my throat, and soothe the -pain that was in my stomach. It is still there, really--under a big -rotten log, where the water falls for the length of Panther's spring -over high rocks in Summer." - -"What's there,--the tub?" queried Jack, incredulously. - -"Also the yellow marrow--the butter," affirmed Pisew. - -"Oh!" exclaimed Whisky-Jack, drily. He knew the other was lying; if -Pisew had found the tub he would have licked it clean as a washed -platter. But the revenge he had in hand for this Prince of all Thieves -was so complete that it was not worth while reviling him. - -"Still I think you had better not touch Carcajou's Fat-eating," he -advised. - -Lynx laughed at this. Why shouldn't he--he was so very hungry? - -"Well," said the Bird, "mind I don't wish to lead you to it--don't ask -you to go--in fact, I think you had better keep away; but Dumpty's -Fat-eating is hidden under the roots of that big up-turned Spruce, just -where Mooswa's trail crosses the Pelican on its way to his Moose-yard." - -"Do you really think it was hidden there by Carcajou?" asked Lynx. "Is -it not François's cache--or some last year's cache of another Man? They -are always wandering about through the Boundaries, looking for the -yellow dust that is washed down by running waters, or for the white -metal that sleeps in rocks." - -"No, the white Meat belongs to our hump-backed Comrade--at least he -rustled it from the Breed's Shack," answered Jay. - -"Perhaps after all it would not be fair to take it, then," whined Lynx. -"I am hungry--oh, so hungry, but to steal from one of our Comrades, even -to save one's life--I would rather die, I believe." - -"Prince of deceitful wretches!" muttered Jay to himself. "Oh, the cant -of it! now he means to steal it sure, but is afraid that I may inform -against him." - -"I'll not touch the Fat-eating," continued Pisew. "True, the Little -Lieutenant stole it from François; but that is different, is it not, -wise Brother--you who are learned in the Law of the Boundaries? To take -from them who would rob us of our clothes is not wrong, is it?" - -"No; that is understood by all of us," answered Jack, aloud; to himself -he said, "the prating hypocrite!" - -"So Carcajou is entitled by our law to half of the spoil, and I suppose -that is the Fat-eating he has cached; the other half went in the love -feast." - -"Yes." - -"Then I'll not touch it--I will starve to death first," and Pisew sat -meekly on his haunches and rolled his eyes sanctimoniously. - -"I had no idea there was so much honourable observance of the law in -your nature," sneered Jack. "In the Plenty Year we are all honest; but -in this, the Season of Starvation, to be honourable and regardful of -each other's Eating is indeed noble. Will he swallow that?" queried the -Jay to himself. - -"Thank you, sayer-of-wise-words," murmured Pisew. "I always have been -misunderstood--accused of the vilest things--even to the eating of -Lodge-Builder's Children." - -"Disgusting!" exclaimed Jack, smartly. "They must be horrible eating, -those young wearers of Castoreum." - -"No--they're delicious!" interrupted Pisew, unwarily,--"I mean--I -mean--they're delightful little creatures," he added, lamely. - -"Well, I must be off, you-who-keep-the-fast," declared Jack. "I'm glad -you have resisted the temptation, for I must admit that I was only -trying you." - -"I thought so--I thought so!" snickered Lynx; "and at first I joked to -draw you on--pretended that I would do this disgraceful thing--take our -most worthy Lieutenant's store of Eating." - -"Now I must warn the Council," thought Jack, as he flew swiftly through -the forest, "for Pisew will make straight for Carcajou's bacon. -Deceitful wretch! he deserves to be hanged. His death will save many a -Fox-Cub, many a Kit-Beaver, and many a Bird's egg." - -"Wise Bird, indeed!" sneered Lynx. "I've deceived him. I'll soon have -Gulo the Glutton's Fat-eating; and Whisky-Jack will bear witness to my -honesty. They are all so wise; but Pisew, the despised, fares better -than any one. No; nobody will know if I take it--not even the Devil-eyes -of Carcajou will discover whose trail it is, for I will drag the -Fat-eating, walking backwards, so it will look more like the -trough-trail of Nekik, who slides on his belly through the deep snow. -And Blue Wolf's nose will discover only the scent of smoke-tainted meat, -for it will come last over my tracks. Ha, ha!" he laughed disagreeably; -"we'll see who lives through the Year of Distress by the aid of his -brains." - -And while Pisew chuckled and made straight for the big Spruce where was -hidden the bacon, Jack flew to the Council. To them the Bird said, -"Keep you all well hid in the bush close to the Bait; I will hide in the -big tree which has a hollow, and when Pisew's neck is in the noose will -signal." - - * * * * * - -With long springing lopes Lynx bounded close to where Mooswa's road -crossed the ice-bridge of the Pelican. Nearing it he walked steadily, -making as little trail as possible. - -"Yes, it is cached in there," he muttered, spreading his broad nostrils, -and filling them with the tantalizing perfume of bacon. "Carcajou has -also been to look at it this morning, for here are his tracks." - -He wasted little time investigating--there was no fear of a Trap, for it -was not Man's work; also he must not leave tell-tale tracks about; -besides, it would not do to remain long in the vicinity for fear of -being seen. Swiftly, stealthily, he slunk to the very spot, and pushed -his round head through a little bush-opening that seemed designed by -Carcajou to conceal his stolen Meat. Yes, it was there. Pisew seized -the bacon hungrily and started to back out with his booty. As he did so -there was the swishing rush of a straightening-up Birch-sapling, and -something gripped him by the throat, carrying him off his feet. The -startled Cat screamed, and wrenched violently at the snare as he scooted -skyward. His contortions caused the strong cod-line which was about his -neck to carry away from the swaying Birch, and he dropped back to earth, -only to find himself fighting with a heavy stick which dangled at the -other end of the line. - -What a fiendish thing the snare-stick seemed to Pisew. It fought -back--it jumped, and reeled, and struck him in the ribs, and tugged at -the snare which was strangling him, and ran away from him, pulling the -hot-cord tight about his throat with the strength of Muskwa; it was a -Devil-stick surely--also would it kill him if no help came. The bacon -fell from his mouth, and he tried to call for assistance, but only a -queer, guzzling, half-choked gasp came from his clogged throat. - -As if in answer to his muffled call he heard, faintly, a Bird-voice--it -was Jack's--would he help him? Lynx felt that he would not. - -"He-e-e-p, he-e-e-p! qu-e-e-k, que-e-e-e-k! come one, come all," cried -Whisky-Jack. - -Violently Lynx struggled. Tighter and tighter gathered the cord-noose, -his own efforts drawing the death-circle closer. His fast-glazing eyes -could just make out, in a shadowy way, the forms of gathering Comrades. -He had been trapped--they were in at the death to witness the execution -by his own hand. It did not last long. That merciless noose, ever -tightening, ever closing in on the air pipes, was doing its work--drying -up the lungs. - -"It's terrible!" Mooswa blurted out. "He's dead now--I'm glad of it." - -[Illustration: "IT'S TERRIBLE!" MOOSWA BLURTED OUT.] - -"Yes, he's dead," declared Carcajou, putting his short-eared head down -to Pisew's side, for well he knew the old Forest trick of shamming death -to escape its reality. - -"What of the carcass?" asked Mooswa; "shall I carry it far in the bowl -of my horns? One of our Comrades, though he die the just death as -declared by Law should not fall into the hands of the Hunt-men." - -"Leave him," muttered Blue Wolf; "the Pack pass this trail to-night." - -"How fares The Boy, Swift-flyer?" Mooswa asked of the Jay. - -"Badly, great Bull, badly. One time he takes the two Fish this dead -thief left,--unwillingly enough no doubt,--in his hand, and looks at -them pitiably; takes the white Dry-eating--Flour, Men call it,--and -decides of its weight: then with the little stick which makes a black -mark he lines cross-trails on a board, and mutters about so many pounds -of Eating for so many days, and always ends by saying: 'It can't be -done--I shall starve.' Then he comes to the door and looks over the -river trail which way went François, as though he too would pull out for -The Landing." - -"That he must not attempt," cried Mooswa, decidedly. "Turn your noses, -Brothers, to the wind which comes from the big West-hills--moisten them -first, so!" and a bluish-gray tongue damped the cushion bulk of his -nostrils. All the Council pointed their heads up wind, and it smote raw -in their questioning faces. - -"Gh-u-r-r!" growled Blue Wolf, "I know; when comes this wind-wrath of -the Mountains, Mooswa?" - -"To-night, or to-morrow," answered the Bull. - -"Then lie we close from the time the light fails this day until it is -all over; each to his Burrow, each to his hollow tree, each to his thick -bush," continued Rof. "François will not have reached The Landing yet, -either. Dogs are not like Wolves--perhaps the blizzard will smother -them." - -"The Breed-man has the cunning of all Animals together," asserted -Carcajou. "He will choose a good shelter under a cut-bank, even perhaps -put the fire-medicine to the dry-wood, then all together, as Brothers, -he and the Dogs will lie huddled like a Fox Pack, and though the wrath -howl for three days none of their lives will go out." The deep-thinking -little Wolverine knew that Rof was fretting, not for François, but -because of Marsh Maid. - -"But the Man-Cub is not like that," declared Bull Moose, "and if he -starts, good Jay, do thou fly quickly and bring us tidings. Rof, thou -and thy Pack must turn him in the trail." - -"We will," assented Blue Wolf. "All this trouble because of that -carrion!" and he threw snow over the dead body of Lynx disdainfully with -his powerful hind-feet. - - - - - THE CARING FOR THE BOY - - -Whatever Rod's intentions might have been about following on after -François, their carrying out was utterly destroyed by the terrific -blizzard which started that night. All the next day, and the night -after, no living thing stirred from its nest or burrow. - -Whisky-Jack cowered in the lee-side shelter of the roof; and inside, -Roderick listened to the howling and sobbing of the storm-demons that -rocked the rude Shack like a cradle. Even through the moss-chinked, -mud-plastered log-cracks the fine steel-dust of the ice-hard snow drove. -It was like emery in its minute fierceness. - -Spirit voices called to Rod from the moaning Forest; his imagination -pictured the weird storm-sounds as the voice of his friend pleading for -help. Many times he threw the big wooden door-bar from its place, and -peered out into the dark as the angry wind pushed against him with -fretful swing. Each time he was sure he heard his Comrade's voice, or -the howl of train-dogs; but there was nothing; only the blinding, -driving, frozen hail--fine and sharp-cutting as the grit of a sandstone. -Once he thought the call of a rifle struck on his ear--it was the crash -of an uprooted tree, almost deadened by the torturing wind-noises. - -The cold crept into his marrow. All night he kept the fire going, and -by dawn his supply of wood had dwindled to nothing; he must have more, -or perish. Just outside in the yard François had left a pile of dry -Poplar. Almost choked by the snow-powdered air, Rod laboured with his -axe to cut enough for the day. At intervals he worked, from time to -time thawing out his numbed muscles by the fire-place. "One trip more," -he muttered, throwing down an armful in the Shack, "and I'll have enough -to last until to-morrow--by that time the storm will have ceased, I -hope." - -But on that last short journey a terrible thing happened. Blinded by -the white-veil of blizzard Rod swayed as he brought the axe down, and -the sharp steel buried in his moccasined foot. "O God!" The Boy cried, -in despairing agony. He hobbled into the Shack, threw the wooden bar -into place, tore up a cotton shirt, and from the crude medicine -knowledge he had acquired from François, soaked a plug of tobacco, -separated the leaves, and putting them next the cut, bound the torn -cloth tightly about his foot. - -That night the storm still raged, and his wound brought a delirium pain -which made his fancies even more realistic. Whisky-Jack heard him -moaning and talking to strange people. - -Next morning a cold sun came up on a still, tired atmosphere. The -fierce blizzard had sucked all life out of the air: the Spruces' long -arms, worn out with swaying and battling, hung asleep in the dead calm: -a whisper might have been heard a mile away. - -At the first glint of light Jack spread his wings, and, travelling fast -to the home of Black Fox, told of Rod's helpless condition. "Before it -was the hunger-death that threatened; now the frost-sleep will come -surely, for he cannot walk, only crawl on his hands and knees like a -Bear-Cub," said Jay Bird, with a world of pity in his voice. - -"Call Mooswa and Carcajou," cried the Red Widow, "The Boy is in their -keeping." - -When Wolverine had come he said: "There is still a piece of Fat-eating -cached, if I can find it under this mountain of white-fur that covers -the breast of The Boundaries." - -"That is well, good Comrade," declared Black King; "but how shall we get -it to the hands of our Man-Cub?" - -"Place it in the bowl of my horns," said Mooswa, "and I will lay it at -his door." - -"Yet the Fat-eating may be on one side of the wooden gate, and The Boy -starve on the other," remarked Whisky-Jack, thoughtfully. - -"I will knock with my horns, and The Boy will open the gate thinking it -is François." - -"Even with a full stomach he may perish from the frost-death," continued -Jack; "for now he cannot cut wood for his chimney--though the fire still -lives, for I saw its blue breath above the roof as I came away." - -"Call Umisk," ordered Black King; "he is a wood-cutter." - -"Excellent, excellent!" sneezed Carcajou, in a wheezy voice, for the -blizzard had set a cold on his lungs. "If Chisel-tooth will cut -fire-wood I'll drop it down the chimney, and The Boy may yet be kept -alive until François returns. Come with me, Daddy Long-legs," he -continued, addressing Mooswa, "and we'll have a look for that cached -Fat-eating in this wilderness of white-frosted water." - -After a tiresome search they found the bacon that had been hidden by the -little hunchback. Mooswa carried it to the Shack, dropping it at the -door, against which there was a great drifted snow-bank; then he rubbed -his horns gently up and down the boards. - -"Is that you, François?" cried a voice that trembled with gladness, from -inside the Shack. There was a fumbling at the door, and the next instant -it was pulled open. - -Mooswa almost cried at sight of the pain-pinched, ghost-like face that -confronted him, and The Boy recoiled with a look of dismay--the huge -head frightened him. Then catching sight of the bacon, he looked from -it to the Bull-Moose questioningly; all at once an idea came to him. - -"You are hungry too, Mr. Moose, are you?" for he remembered stories of -severe storms having driven deer and other wild animals to the haunts of -Man for food. Evidently the smell of bacon had attracted the Moose; but -where in the world had it come from? Had it been left by some chance on -the roof, and knocked off by the strong blizzard wind? That seemed a -likely solution. The Moose was so unafraid, too--it was curious! He -reached out and pulled in the bacon--it was like the manna shower. - -"Poor old Chap!" he said, stretching out a hand and patting the big fat -nose timidly; "you've come to a bad place for food. There's nothing -here you can eat." - -[Illustration: "POOR OLD CHAP!"] - -Mooswa stuck out his rough tongue, and caressed the wrist. Rod -scratched the Bull's forehead in return, and they were friends. - -The big eyes of Mooswa wandered about the bare pathetic interior. It -was a poor enough place for a crippled Boy--but what could be done. "I -wish I could speak to him," he thought, rubbing his massive face against -the flannel shirt reassuringly. Then he turned and walked solemnly -through the little clearing, and disappeared in the thick wood. - -The bacon put new heart in Roderick. - -A rational explanation of this advent of the pork appeared to be that it -had fallen from the roof; but all through that night of distress The Boy -had muttered broken little prayers, just as he had done for years at his -mother's knee, and whether it had actually fallen from the roof or from -the skies was not the real issue, for he was convinced that it had come -in answer to his prayers. - -The pain crept up his leg, up his back, and, as the hours dragged on, -the dreary, lonesome hours, it mounted to his brain, and the queer -fancies of approaching delirium carried him to a fairy land peopled by -unreal things. He had just sanity enough to keep the chimney fire -going, but his little pile of wood dwindled until the last stick was -placed on the coals. When in the afternoon Carcajou dropped three -billets that Umisk had cut down the chimney, Roderick laughed. He was a -King in delirium-land, and when he wanted anything all he had to do was -pray, and the angels would send it. - -Sometimes the sticks of wood rolled out on the floor as they clattered -down--these The Boy put to one side. - -"I suppose the angels won't come in the night," he whispered; then -laughed. It was a grotesque idea, but the fire was kept blazing. - -He had no rational thought of eating; when he felt hunger-pains he fried -a little of the bacon and ate it. Sometimes he made a batter of flour -and water, cooking the mixture in a frying-pan over the fire--turning -out an almost impossible kind of pancake. - -"He acts like Wapoos in the early Spring," Whisky-Jack told Mooswa: -"laughs, and whistles, and cries, and sobs; but he eats, which is a good -thing, and is also warm. I never thought that crop-eared Hunchback, -Carcajou, had goodness enough in him to do anything for anybody." - -"He's like yourself, Whisky-Jack, a bit of a th--sharp-tongued fellow, I -mean" (thief, he was going to say, but checked himself just in time), -"and full of queer tricks, but good-hearted enough when a Comrade is in -trouble. How long will the Fat-eating, which is the food of you -Meat-eaters, last The Boy?" Mooswa asked. - -"Perhaps three days." - -"Also, is it good food for the sick--is it not too strong? When I am -not well there are certain plants that agree with me, and others I -cannot touch." - -"Fish would be better," declared Jack, with the air of a consulting -physician. - -"I thought so," said Mooswa. "The smell of that bacon at the door -almost turned my stomach. If the Man-Cub could only eat sweet -Birch-tips, or dried Moose-flower--it's delicious when well preserved -under deep snow. Even unrotted moss would be better for him than that -evil-scented Meat." - -The Bird laughed, "He, he, he! fancy the Man-Cub chewing a great cud of -mushy grass. Now Fish, as I have said, would be just the thing; there's -nothing lies so sweet on one's stomach, unless it's Butter. Warm -Roostings! but I wish that cat-faced Pisew had been hanged before he -found my cache." - -"Jack," continued Moose, "you might ask Nekik or Sakwasew to catch a -Fish for The Boy; they are all bound by the promise to help take care of -him." - -"All right," said Jay. "Otter might do it, for he's a generous Chap, -but Sakwasew is a greedy little snip, I think. I never knew a Mink yet -that wasn't selfish." - -"I don't know how long we shall have to look after this Man-Cub," Mooswa -said, when he, and Rof, and Black King talked the matter over that -evening. "François is a good Trapper, we all know that to our sorrow, -and he likes The Boy, for he was years with his Father, the Factor, as -servant to the Company, but still he's a Breed, and if there's any -fire-water at The Landing it is hard to say when he may get back; -besides, the breath of the mountain that shrivelled us all for two days -may have got into his heart." - -"My Pack hunts for three days in the far Boundaries," muttered Blue -Wolf. - -"Why?" asked the King, sharply. - -"In three days I will tell Your Majesty," answered Rof, shutting his -jaws with a snap. - -"Well, well," exclaimed Black Fox, "in the Year of Starvation there is -no preserve. We hunt where we find, and eat where we catch; and only -the Kit-law and the Cub-law, and the Seventh Year Law of the Wapoos is -binding." - -Blue Wolf disappeared for three days; and for three days Umisk cut wood -for The Boy, and Carcajou dropped it down the chimney. Mooswa went -every day and rubbed his horns against the door. The coming of his -Moose friend was also a part of the angel care the wounded boy had -dreamed into his life. His eager joy at even this companionship was -pitiable; but it was something to look forward to--something to pull him -back out of the deeper levels of delirium-world. - -Nekik, the Otter, caught a fish, at Mooswa's request, and Carcajou -dropped it down the chimney. - -"It will burn," objected Umisk, who was cutting wood. - -"Then The Boy will find it with his nose," answered Carcajou. - -After that Roderick asked the angels to bring him fish--it was better -than bacon. They were queer angels, Nekik and Carcajou, but the sick -lad got a fish every day. - -On the third day Blue Wolf returned. "I found one of the Men-kind down -the river," he announced to Mooswa and Black Fox; "he is trapping alone, -I think." - -"Well," queried Black King, "what of that?" for he did not quite -understand. - -"If we could get him to The Boy I thought it might be well," answered -Blue Wolf. - -"Ah! I see," cried the King. "That's why the Pack hunted for three -days in the far Boundaries." - -Wolf growled a deprecating objection. - -"How far away is he?" asked Mooswa. - -"Six hours of the Chase-lope," answered Blue Wolf. - -"I could bring him, even as I led François away when you were not -desirous of his company, Your Majesty," said the Moose. - -"It's a dangerous game," muttered Black Fox. "I don't like it--one -can't judge the strike of their Firesticks; and you're such a big -mark--like the side of a Man's Shack." - -"I saw The Boy's leg to-day," continued Mooswa, "and it's bigger, with -this wound-poison, than my nose. Unless he gets help soon, he will -die." - -"François should be back in a day or two," declared the King. - -"François is a Breed," asserted Mooswa; "and days are like the little -sticks the Breed-men use when they play cards--something to gamble -with." - -"The Pack could be ready if the Man pressed too close as you led him to -our Man-Cub," suggested Rof. - -"I do not fear him the first day," continued Mooswa; "Man's speed is -always the same and I can judge of it; it is the second day, when I am -tired from the deep snow, that a little rest, too long drawn out, or a -misjudged circle with one of the followers travelling wide of my trail, -that may cause me to come within reach of their Firestick." - -"Well, you might not reach Red Stone Brook in one day," asserted Blue -Wolf; "so perchance you may need help the second. You'll find the Man -just below Big Rapids." - -"I'll start to-night," said Mooswa, "for The Boy must get help from his -own kind soon. He is sick of the wounded leg--also of a half-filled -stomach; but then there is another illness that neither I nor any of us -can understand. Perhaps it is of that thing the Factor said Men had and -would sell for the evil fire-water--the soul. One time the eyes of The -Boy are all right, even as yours, Rof, or mine, seeing the things that -are; and then a look comes in them that is like the darkening of a -purple Moose-flower when the sunlight is suddenly chased away by a -cloud. Then this Boy, that is a Man-Cub, talks to his Mother, and his -Sister, and calls to the things he names Angels, up on the roof; though -I know not what they may be, because it is only little humpbacked -Carcajou dropping wood down the chimney. Yes, that's what it must be," -Mooswa continued, reflectively, "the sickness of this Soul-thing the -Men-kind have, for The Boy laughs, and cries, and his eyes blaze, and -look soft like one's young, and flood with tears, and glare hot and dry. -Yes, he must have help from his own kind, for we know not of this thing. - -"With good fortune I may lead this Man to him by the coming of darkness -the first day; if not, then Blue Wolf will stand guard on my trail the -second." - -"Yes, even the first day, also, will I be near," asserted Rof. - - - - - FRANÇOIS AT THE LANDING - - -As Mooswa tramped down the wide roadbed of frozen river, François, up at -The Landing, was doing very much as the Bull Moose had feared. - -He had weathered the blizzard, lying huddled up with his dogs in the -shelter of a cut-bank, not daring to stir even for food till the fury of -the icy blast had passed. He had even come to The Landing with a full -resolve to go back immediately after he had secured his outfit; alas! -for the carrying out of it, he was but an easily influenced Half-breed. -At The Landing were several of his own kind down from Little Slave Lake -with the first kill of Winter fur. With these the possession of money -or goods always meant an opportunity for gambling. - -François had a "debt credit" at the Hudson's Bay Company's store equal -to the value of his needs; any Trapper who has kept his slate clean in -the Company's accounts can usually get credit for a small outfit. - -When the Half-breed had completed his purchase, the Factor tossed him a -large plug of smoking tobacco, which was the usual terminal act of a -deal in goods in any of the Company's posts. - -François filled his pipe, sat down by the hot box-stove with its roaring -fire of dry Poplar-wood, and smoked, and spat, and dilated upon the -severity of the blizzard, and regaled the other occupants of the Trading -Post with stories of Wolverine's depredations. Suddenly he ceased -speaking, held the pipe in his hand hesitatingly, and straightened his -head up in a listening attitude. The deep, sonorous, monotonous -"tum-tum, tum-tum, tum-tum" of a gambling outfit's drum-music came -sleepily to his acute listening ear. It was like a blast from the -huntsman's horn to a fox-hound; it tingled in his blood, and sent a -longing creeping through his veins. - -"There goes that Nichie outfit from Slave Lake again," cried the Factor, -angrily. "They've gambled for three nights; if the police were here I'd -have a stop put to it." - -François tried to close his ears to the coaxing, throbbing, skin-covered -tambourine the gambling party's music-maker was hammering that still, -frosty night; but his hearing only became acuter, for it centred more -and more on the thing he was trying to keep from his mind. Even the -"Huh, huh!--huh, huh!--huh, huh!--huh, huh!" of the half-dozen Indians -who sat about a blazing camp-fire, and rocked their bodies and swayed -their arms in rhythmic time, came to him with malevolent fascination. - -"I t'ink me I go sleep," François said, knocking the ashes from his -pipe, and putting it in his bead-worked deerskin fire-bag. - -"You'd better pull out sharp in the morning," commanded the Factor; -"young McGregor will be running short of grub before you get back." - -"I roun' up ever' t'ing to-night," returned François, "an' hit de trail -firs' t'ing in de mornin', soor. I make me de S'ack in t'ree day." - -Outside, the "Tum-tum" called to him; the "Huh, huh!" pleaded with him -like the voice of a siren. He would go and sit by their fire just for a -little, the Breed reasoned--not play! for more than once he had been -stripped to his very shirt when luck set against him. True, other times -he had accumulated furs, and dogs, and guns, even the caribou-skin -coats, and Cow-boy hats--fine valuable hats worth ten dollars a -piece,--when fortune smiled and he had guessed unerringly in which hand -his opponent-player had hidden the cartridge shell, or whatever other -token they used. - -"Huh-huh! François! Huh, Boy--Welcome!" went round the circle of -squatting figures when the Half-breed stood amongst them. The musician -stopped beating his instrument; solemnly each player and onlooker held -out a hand and gave François one sharp jerk of greeting. Two rows of men -sat facing each other, a big blanket over their knees; room was made for -the new arrival. - -"S'pose I not gamble to-night me," said François, hesitatingly. - -They laughed in astonishment--doubtingly. - -"S'pose you 'fraid you lose, Man-who-saves-his-money," cried a Saltaux -Indian, disdainfully. - -Now a Breed or an Indian must not be accused of being afraid of -anything; if he be, and submit to it, he is undone for all time. Half -their bravery is due to this same moral cowardice. François hesitated, -and the others, ignoring him, drew the blanket over their knees; the -player secreted the tokens, and drawing forth his hands crossed his -arms, always waving them in rhythmic time to the tum-tum. Then the -Man-who-guesses in the opposite party indicated with his fingers where -he thought the tokens were hidden. - -It wasn't in human blood to stand out against this thing--not -generations of gambler blood, and François cried, half fiercely: "Make -room, Brothers! We'll see who's afraid." - -That was the beginning. In the end, which came toward daylight, -François had neither grub-stake, nor rifle, nor train-dogs. Time after -time he took in exchange for some asset a little bundle of Red-willow -counter sticks; time after time the little sticks, some long and some -short, dwindled until they were all gone. The evil fate that had been -his down at the trapping stuck to him in gambling. - -Broken, and half numbed by loss of sleep and a sense of impending -disaster, brought on by his despoiled condition, François crawled off to -a friend's tepee, laid down like a train-dog, and fell asleep. - - - - - MOOSWA BRINGS HELP TO THE BOY - - -Mile after mile Mooswa cut from the head-trail with his easy-swinging -rack, the strong crust of frozen snow giving his great limbs free play. - -The open bed of the river held just such a run as he liked: no tree -branches to catch his huge horns, no fallen tree giving cover to a -stalking Panther or strange Wolf Pack; and, as if to make his trip -perfect, he was running up a North Wind. He was like a telegraph -operator sitting at his clicking instrument with the wires telling him -everything. - -"A brother Moose crossed here, just a hundred yards ahead," the Wind -whispered one time. "Wh-f-f-f-! it was a Bull, too," the scent-wind told -his delicate nostrils. "Ugh-wh-e-e-e-f-f-! Sikak has crossed the trail -here, and killed the strongest scent left by any other--disgusting -little brute!" This message Mooswa took from the wind, and repeated to -himself. For a mile his nostrils were simply stricken dumb by the foul -odour; his nose told him nothing of other affairs. - -Then for a matter of ten miles there was but the sweet breath of Spruce -as the wind filtered through a long point covered with it. "Line clear," -the frosty air signalled, as Mooswa, taking a straight course for the -merging of dark green and river-white, raced eagerly. - -At the "Second Rapid," where the float-ice had grounded on rock-boulders -in the Autumn closing-time, the river bosom humped like a corduroy road. -"I must remember this spot on my coming back," Mooswa muttered, as he -picked his way more slowly over the troubled ice-road. "Here I can make -a big run if enemies are close," he added as a stretch of many miles -reached away, level as a mill pond. - -"Wolves! the Gray Hunters! the Murder Brothers who go in packs!" he -said, as his quick-feeling nose picked their presence from the North -Wind. "Not Rof's Pack," he continued, sampling the scent a little -finer--"Strangers!" and he watched warily, cocking his ears forward for -a warning whimper. - -"Huh! they're busy!" for as he flashed over their cross-trail there -arose the fainter odour of Caribou. "Safe journey, cousin," he -muttered, "and confusion to the Throat-cutters. It's the Meat-eating, -the Blood-drinking," he philosophized, "that breeds all the enmity in -the Boundaries. There are Grasses, and Leaves, and Flowers enough for -all, and no encroachment, if we'd only stick to it; but eating one's -Comrades is what makes the trouble." - -Just before daylight Mooswa stopped, climbed up a sloping bank warily, -and ate a light breakfast; then slipped back to the river-bed, huddled -up in the lee of a clay-cut, and after resting for two hours pushed on -again. Another ten miles and he stopped like a flash, holding his head -straight up wind, the coarse, strong-growing hairs over his withers -vibrating with intensity. "Sniff! sniff! Dogs! Man! Rof said nothing -of Dogs. This makes it more complicated. It is the scent of White Men, -and the Dog-smell is not that of Huskies. These Whites sometimes bring -the long-legged creatures that follow us like Wolves." - -He worked cautiously down the river till his eyes caught sight of a blue -smoke-feather floating lazily upward. - -Five or six short steps at a time, three or four yards he moved,--then -stopped and watched with eyes, ears, nose, and all his full sensibility. -He knew the Man-trick of a flank movement--he must get them out on the -river behind him; besides, there was now the stronger, more certain -odour of Dogs. - -He was perhaps a matter of half a mile from the little Shack above which -twisted the spiral curl of smoke, when a fierce, strong-throated "Yap! -yap! Whe-e-e, yap!" cut the frosty air. - -"I thought so," Mooswa muttered. "I know that breed--the fierce-fanged -ones the Scotch Factor had at Fort Resolution--from his own Boundaries -across the sea they came. They are like the Men themselves--on, on, -rush and hold. Deep-chested, small-gutted as Caribou; with long legs -that carry them over the snow like those of my own family; gray-haired -and strong-jawed, like Blue Wolf: but weak in the feet--small-footed, -with hair between their toes which balls up in the snow and makes them -go lame." Then Mooswa considered the task he had undertaken. - -"If the Man slips the Dogs, and the snow keeps hard and dry, there will -be more fighting than running," he said to himself, "for these brutes -will come faster than I care to go. But there is a strong crust, strong -enough to bear me, and if the sun warms the snow so that it will ball in -the haired toes, then I'll have a chance in the run. The Man moves," he -continued, whiffing at the air. "Two of them!" he muttered, as their -forms outlined against the morning sky; "Rof brought tidings of but one. -Now for it! I'm coming, Boy!" - -He turned and walked slowly back on his track, breaking into a shuffling -trot farther on. - -In a few minutes the two men, snow-shoe clad, rifle in hand, and -cartridge-belted, reappeared circling through the woods on the bank. -With one of them were four Scotch Stag-hounds in leash. Mooswa's eyes -took in the situation as he trotted, carrying his head a little to one -side. "The flank movement," he muttered, "and a stolen shot at the next -bend--they'll not slip the Dogs while they have hope of a shot." - -When the first river-bank point hid him from their sight he raced. -"They're running now," he thought, for he was down wind from them, and -the telegraph was working. - -When the two hunters reached the belly of the next bend they saw a big -Bull Moose quietly browsing at the point beyond. He was walking slowly, -snipping at the tree branches as he moved. - -"Keep the dogs back," one hunter said; "we are sure to get a quiet shot -at him, for he's on the feed." - -Point after point, bend succeeding bend, Mooswa played this game; mile -after mile they toiled, the tantalizing expectation of a stolen shot -leading them an amazing distance on the Moose trail. - -"It's the Stag-hounds that keep him moving," remarked the man who had -spoken before; "he's down wind, and gets them in his big, fat nose--if I -could rustle a shot into his carcass, I'd slip them quick enough; but if -we let them go now it will be a play of twenty or thirty miles before we -get another sight of him. I'm not struck on following a Bull Moose -under full trot with a pack of dogs behind him." - -"We'll get a shot on the quiet soon," remarked his comrade. "He is a -bit on edge just now, but will settle down after he has seen us a few -times." They had given up travelling in the bush, and were following -straight on the hoof-marks in the river-bed. - -"Hello!" sang out one, pointing to a depression in the snow, "he's been -lying down resting here--he's getting fagged. Somebody else must have -been running him before we struck his trail--he's nearly beat." - -As they crossed the Wolf trail Mooswa had found on his way down, the -Trapper in the lead said, significantly, "It's the Gray Hunters have -done the Bull up; they've been after him, and he's dead beat." - -The big Stag-hounds sniffed the Wolf trail, dropped their long, bony -tails in sullen fear, raised their heads, and bayed a howling note of -defiance. - -"Shut up, Bruce!" exclaimed one of the men, pulling at the raw-hide -leash, "you'll be better up against a Moose than tackling that gang." - -Now the mark in the snow had been made by Mooswa just to draw the -hunters on; he wasn't tired, for the hard crust held him up, and he -could have kept that gait for two days. - -They had travelled probably thirty miles when the leader said, "Better -slip the dogs, Mac, this Moose is putting up a game on us; he's as -cunning as an old fox, and we'll lose him to-night, I'm afraid." - -When the straps were unbuckled the Scotch hounds broke into a chorus of -delight: "Yi, yi, yi, yi! yap! yap! yi, yi! Bah-h-h! Bah-h-h!" -stretched their long limbs and raced on the Bull Moose's trail. That -showed a strain of Collie blood in their veins, for if they had been -pure bred they would have run silent, and by sight only. - -"Pleasant greeting that," muttered Mooswa, as his flanks lengthened out -in a terrific pacing gait. - -"We're coming--we're coming! yi, yi!" sang the Stag-hounds, their heads -low to the snow; their lean flanks stretching out until they seemed like -something shot from a catapult. But swift as they were, Mooswa was -swifter. They were running at high pressure, straining every nerve, -using every ounce of speed that was in their wire-haired bodies; the -Bull was running with a little in hand--something in reserve. "They will -upset everything," he thought. "Those blood thirsters will chase me on -past the Shack, and the Men may never see it." - -At the Second Rapid, with its tortuous ice-humps, the Bull lost a little -ground--he had to go slower. The dogs, quicker of foot, and able to -turn sharper, gained on him. Each time they caught sight of their prey -they gave a savage yelp of eager exultation, and ran with heads -high--ran by the eye. - -"Sing, gaunt Brothers!" said Mooswa; "on the level you'll have to run -with your bellies closer to the trail to keep your advantage." - -Well clear of the Rapid ice, the Bull again swung his awkward-looking -body forward with increased pace. Suddenly a hoof crashed through the -crust almost bringing him on his nose; before he had gone a hundred -yards this happened again. Fringed by giant Spruce, tall banks on -either side had stood as barrier between the fierce biting frost-wind -and snow crust; also the day's hot sun was beginning to rot its brittle -shell. Oftener and oftener it broke under the racing Moose; the lighter -dogs ran freely over its treacherous surface. The Bull looked over his -shoulder at his pursuers; they were gaining--he could see that. "Six -points more to the Shack," he muttered, as he rounded a low-reaching -headland that turned the river wide in its snake-like course. Animals -count river distances as do the Indians, so many land points from one -place to another; Mooswa's six points were a good ten miles. - -Each time he floundered in the deep Snow his swift-running enemies -gained at least a dozen yards. - -"I wish Blue Wolf were here," thought Mooswa; "I'll never make the -Shack. I'll try a Boundary Call." He stretched his throat, and called, -"Wha-a-a--i-i-n-g," which is not unlike the cry of a Rook. The hounds -answered with an ironical yell; but another sound struck the runner's -ear, very faint, and very far ahead; it was the Help-call of The -Boundaries--Blue Wolf's voice. - -"Good old Rof!" cried the Moose, as he shot forward with revived -strength. - -The hounds were now running by sight, head up all the time. Every few -minutes Mooswa repeated his signal--each time it was answered ahead, -stronger and closer; and behind him the eager yap! of the pursuers was -drawing nearer. "There'll be more fighting than running presently," he -thought; "it's just as well--if Rof has the Pack, it won't take long to -settle these hungry Hunters." - -Rounding the next bend a clear stretch of two miles lay straight away, -and at the farther end of it his trained eye discovered three moving -specks. Behind him, not thirty yards back, raced the dogs. - -"It will be a battle," he muttered; "four against four--four of the -Boundaries in the Starvation Year, against four Fish-fed Dwellers in -Man's camp." - -Another mile and the foremost dog was snapping at the Bull's hocks, just -falling short each jump; but Blue Wolf and his comrades were only a -stone's-throw off. - -As Mooswa and his pursuers neared the great, gaunt, blue-coated Wolf, -the latter crouched--chest, and neck, and jaw flat on the snow; behind, -well spread in rigid leverage, were the strong, gnarled legs. A length -off two younger wolves waited ready for battle, flat-lying as their -leader. Mooswa understood. As he slashed by Blue Wolf, almost touching -him, the close-following Stag-hound sprang for his quarters, all but -dragging him to earth; but the fangs failed to hold, tearing a gash down -Moose's thigh, and as the Dog fell sideways a pair of jaws, strong as a -bear-trap, closed on his lean throat. - -"Hold fast, Brother!" wheezed Mooswa, swinging around in his own length, -and making a vicious sword-cut at the hound's back with his iron hoof. -A second dog sprang at the Bull's throat, only to strike the big antlers -quickly lowered to guard it. - -Rof's two sons had closed with the other hounds, and a battle to the -death raged. There was not much noise, only a snarling sucking from -where Blue Wolf's fangs were fastened in the throat of the hound he had -pinned down. - -Once Mooswa got a clean slash at his fighting dog with a fore-foot that -laid the brute's shoulder open; once the dog fastened in Mooswa's throat -as the treacherous crust gave way and threw him off his guard. It -seemed anybody's battle. Blue Wolf knew better than to let go the first -hold he had taken. It was said in the Boundaries that long ago, two or -three generations back, a Bull-dog had mated with one of his ancestors, -and the strong strain had more than held its own--the way of the -Bull-dog, which is to catch and hold, against the way of the Wolf, which -is to cut and jump, cut and jump. Certain it is that Rof fought as no -other Wolf ever did--except his two Sons, holding and sucking, and -working his jaws saw-like, as an Otter-hound does, more and more into -the grip. But the Stag-hound had a well-fed strength which stood him in -good stead. Over and over the two rolled; the hound's jaws fastened on -one of Blue Wolf's fore-legs, close to the paw. The bone had been -broken long ago--chewed into splinters, and the pain was terrific; but -if Blue Wolf had the tenacity of the Bull-dog strain, he also had the -wild wisdom of the Wolf brain, and he knew that to let go meant death. - -Once something swept the hound sideways with terrific force from over -the top of Rof, almost breaking the dog's back; that was a little side -help from the shovel-horns of Bull Moose. Up to that time it had been -all hoarse growls from the strong-fighting animals, for the advantage -had lain not much on either side. Suddenly a "Wh-u-f-f! -ki-yi-yi-yi--wh-e-e-e, yi-i-i," dying into a piercing treble, went up. -Mooswa was grinding his dog into the snow-crust with his hundred-pound -antlers. A lucky pass with a fore-foot had brought the hound down, and -before he could recover, Mooswa had thrown the weight of his fighting -charge upon him, and was cutting his steel-gray body into fragments. - -There was still hot work to be done, for one of the young Wolves had -been overcome, stretched out with a broken neck, and the released dog -was helping his comrade pull down the other. They were both at him when -Mooswa charged. Once, twice, three times, as a trip-hammer hits hot -iron, the heart-shaped hoofs, knife-like on the edges, smote the dogs, -for they were taken unawares; then, as before, his horns made the work -complete. - -As Mooswa straightened himself a little staggeringly, for his throat was -badly torn, there were only two left fighting; all the rest were -dead--the two sons of Blue Wolf, and the three Stag-hounds. - -"Thanks, Brother," said Blue Wolf, rising on weak legs, as a deft, -dragging blow from Moose's right arm laid open the hound's stomach, and -finished the work Rof's fast-tiring strength was hardly equal to. "Very -neatly done--I could almost fancy it was a rip from Muskwa's paw. My -two Lads are done for," he whined piteously, looking at the gaunt, gray -bodies stretched out on the white snow, all splashed crimson with red -wine from their veins. "Wolf-blood and Dog-blood--it scents much -alike," he said, turning his head away, as he sat on his haunches -holding up a broken leg. Drip, drip-drip, drip, little red drops ate -their hot way into the snow from Bull-Moose's neck. - -"That is a nasty slash, Mooswa," sympathized Blue Wolf, looking at his -companion's wound. - -"We twig-feeders have strong gullets," answered the Bull, "else it had -been worse. There's nothing torn, for I still breathe through my nose; -but for many a day you'll hunt on three legs because of me, Comrade." - -"I suppose so," moaned Blue Wolf, regretfully, licking nervously at his -crushed paw. "I'll mate well with Black King. But it is all in the -life of the Pack, and not your fault; no one takes blame to himself who -calls when his life is at bay. Where go you, Brother--how far back are -the Hunters?" - -Mooswa straightened his head sharp into the wind--it still held steady -from the North. "Their scent comes from the second point, and we must -trail again; the Firestick is not like a Dog--it bites beyond reach. -Get in my horns, Rof, and I'll carry you." - -"No," said Blue Wolf, decidedly; "each takes his own hurt to his -Burrow--that is the way of the Pack; each to himself in the fight--one -down is all on top. Besides, Comrade, your long legs are knocking -together in weariness; the snow drinks much of your red blood." - -"Come," called Mooswa, "the Man-scent turns the first point." - -Blue Wolf, whining piteously, was rubbing his red-stained jowl up the -neck of one of his dead Sons. He turned, balanced himself unsteadily, -and tried to kick snow over their dead bodies. Bull-Moose, seeing this, -lowered his head, gave three or four mighty scrapes with his wide horns, -and piled great white mounds over Blue Wolf's dead children. - -"Come away now," he commanded again; "the Hunt-men sight us--they are -racing." - -"They'll have a fair trail to follow for a little," answered Wolf; "then -it will be dark, and we'll lose them. I go to the Pack for safety; had -I known of the Dogs and this other Man I should have brought more than -two Cub-wolves." - -"I go to the Shack," said Mooswa, shortening his steps to keep pace with -Wolf. - -"To be killed by the Hunt-men?" - -"I don't know; I go to The Boy." - -As they climbed the bank, "Bang! pin-g-g-g!" sang a leaden messenger, -fairly whistling through the crotches of Mooswa's horns. - -"The Firestick!" he grunted; "sight of his dead Train-dogs has angered -the Hunt-man. Slip off to your Pack now," he continued, as they trailed -through the little clearing surrounding the Shack. "Get Umisk to fix up -your foot as he did Black King's." - -"And you?" queried Blue Wolf. - -"I stop here!" the other answered, swaying as he stood in his tracks for -a second. - -"Come with me," pleaded Rof; "my Pack shall turn back the Hunters." - -"Here they come--off to the Woods!" Mooswa answered, going himself to -the Shack door and rattling his horns against the boards. The noise -wakened Whisky-Jack, who had curled up for his night's sleep under the -eave. - -"Thieves!--Hello, Mooswa!" he piped, craning his neck around the corner, -and seeing the big horned head. - -Inside a faint querulous voice asked impatiently, "Is that you, -François, or is it the angels with wood? If it is, throw it down the -chimney, please--I'm too sick to get up." - -Mooswa "whuffed," blowing the wind through his blood-coated nostrils -with a sound The Boy knew, and scraped his horn up and down the door -again. There was a muffled, slipping noise of some one crawling to the -door. The bar dropped, Mooswa pushed it gently open, staggered in, and -plumped down exhausted on the floor. - -Carcajou had heaped the fire-place well with wood for the night--dry -Tamarack to make it blaze, and green Poplar to make it last; the bright -light shone on Mooswa's blood-matted body and revealed to Roderick his -terrible condition. - -"Mooswa, Mooswa!" he cried, dragging himself close and putting his arm -around the big nose, "who has done this? You are wounded." Just then -two men, with the blood-thirst of the chase hot in their hearts, glided -to the door on snow-shoes. One had thrust forward a rifle, but his -companion knocked it up with his arm. "What would you shoot?" he asked. - -"I don't know," answered the other, his Winchester almost falling from -shaking fingers, as he caught sight of a small boy-figure huddled -against the animal's head. "Is it a banshee, Donald?" he continued, in -a frightened, husky whisper. - -"Is that you, François?" cried Rod, sitting up in his eagerness, as the -voices came to him from the outer dusk. - -"Great Powers!" exclaimed the man Donald, stepping through the door, -"that's Factor McGregor's kid, Rod. I heard he was down here somewhere -trapping with that Breed, François. What's the matter, Laddie?" the -thick Scotch voice burred. - -"Well, I'm hanged if I ever outspanned anything like this," said the -other man; "it's like that thing we used to read, 'Babes in the Woods.'" - -"Where's your mate--François?" asked Donald again. "And what's the -matter with you--scurvy?" - -"François," answered the Boy hesitatingly, for days of wound-fever had -clouded his young brain,--"François? oh, yes, I remember--he went to The -Landing long ago." - -"And left a kid like that here alone!" cried Donald's companion. - -"What's the matter with your leg--scurvy?" asked the leader again. - -"My leg? yes, it's sore--awfully sore. Sometimes I dream that it's -another person, and I talk to it." - -"What's the matter with it?" the man reiterated huskily, pulling the -roll of a fur cap down over his eyes to hide something, for the little, -pale, pinched face, backed by a mass of yellow knotted hair, made him -feel queer. - -"My leg? oh, yes--yes, there was so much snow, and I slipped, and the -axe cut it." - -"Better get in the blankets, Laddie;" and standing his rifle against the -wall Donald reached down with his strong arms to lift up Roderick. - -The little fellow shrank away, and clasped the Moose's head closer. -Mooswa's big ears were flipping back and forth nervously; he knew that -something was being settled, and lay still, waiting. - -"Come, Laddie," said the big man again, coaxingly, "don't be afraid; -don't you remember me?--I worked for your daddy, old Factor McGregor, at -Fort Resolution--Donald Bain is my name." - -The small pinched face looked up at him. "I'm not afraid, but you'll -hurt Mooswa; you've shot him now--see the blood. He's been taking care -of me." - -Donald Bain straightened himself up and looked at his comrade. His -companion understood, and nodded encouragingly. - -"No, Laddie, I'll give you the word of a Scotchman that we'll not harm -him. God's truth! in the old land if one's enemy came hard pressed to -the house for shelter it would be a blackguard that would injure him, or -give him away. Get in the blankets, now, Laddie, and we'll take care of -both you and the Moose." - -The presence of friends, and a cup of hot tea which they brewed him, -soothed The Boy, and he became quite rational. - -"This is the queerest thing I ever saw in my life," said Donald Bain. -"I've heard of a hunted fox, close run, taking refuge in a house, but -this Moose staggering into the Shack is very extraordinary. Who kept -the fire going and fed you, McGregor?" he asked. - -"Oh, I prayed every night, and in the day too, and the Angels came and -dropped wood down the chimney, and fish, and bacon." - -Donald's companion tapped his forehead significantly, and, turning his -face away, stalked over to the fire and poked it vigorously. - -"Mooswa came every day," added The Boy. "He's the Moose Father used to -have at the Fort--I didn't know him at first, and was afraid." - -"Oh, ho-o-o!" exclaimed the big man, ending with a distinct whistle. "I -remember him. He took to the bush when he was a two-year-old. That -accounts for his coming to the Shack--he couldn't quite shake off the -civilization he got. Here, Dave," he continued, addressing the other -man, "get a pail of water, and give the wounded beast a drink." - -"He's killed four of the best hounds ever came to the North-west," Dave -remonstrated, looking at Mooswa. - -"So would you, man, if you could, when they tried to pull you down. It -was a fair fight, and not of his seeking either." - -The Boy also pleaded for Mooswa. - -"Now, we've got to get young McGregor to The Landing just as quick as we -can," declared Donald Bain, as he examined The Boy's limb. "Look at the -size of it--it'll be a case of blood-poisoning, I'm afeerd." - -"How will you manage it?" queried Dave, sullenly. "This brute has -killed our dogs--will you carry him on your shoulders?" - -"That's so," mused Donald, taking off his cap, and scratching the thick -grizzled hair; "I suppose we'll have to rig up a carryall, and pull him -ourselves." - -"You want to go to The Landing?" asked Roderick. - -"We don't want to--" commenced Donald, but checked himself, and added, -"yes, me and Dave must go up for more dogs, and some baccy," fabricating -with chivalrous ingenuity, to reassure the sick boy. "We was thinking -you'd better go along too; there's no dog-train, but me and Dave could -track you up on a small jumper--does there happen to be one about?" - -"I think Mooswa would drag the sleigh--he used to at the Fort," -suggested Rod. - -"By the Great Wallace!" exclaimed Bain, slapping his thigh, "that he -will--if he's not grown too wild. Hitched to a sled, he could run clean -away from a dog-train, in the old days." - -"He's been harnessed right enough, some time or another," declared Dave. -"Here are two white-haired spots on his back--that means saddle-galls. -Gracious! he's as quiet as an old horse." - -They put in a busy evening, the two men, bathing The Boy's leg, and with -a sailor's needle they found in his outfit sealing up the torn wounds in -Mooswa's neck. He never moved, just looked on stolidly. He knew they -meant him no harm. Any animal can tell from the touch of a man's -finger, or the look in his eye, whether it's war or kindness. - -Whisky-Jack had been intensely interested in all this--the clatter and -noise kept even his bird eyes open. "Wonderful doings!" he exclaimed; -"the Boundaries are being turned into a regular Sun-dance--but I'm glad -I saw it all. The Boy will be all right now--_Good old Mooswa!_" He -flopped about drunkenly outside, for his eyes were not quite like Owl's, -and the different lights bothered him. - -Then he fired a word of encouragement at Mooswa. "Stick to The Boy, old -Dainty-head-gear; you're Big Buck of the Boundaries--I'll tell Black -King and all the fellows so. Stupid light this--fancy they'll get on -without me now," and scrambling up to the eave he stuck his head under -wing and went fast asleep. - -In the morning a carryall was made, a rude harness constructed from -shaganappi, Trap-chains, and straps, and before noon they were on their -way to The Landing; Mooswa submitting to be hitched up with patient -gentleness. - -Whisky-Jack grinned when he saw the Moose decked out in these trappings. -"Now you're a dandy, my fine fellow," he said, patronizingly. "We'll -never see you again. Remember me to François when you see him, and tell -him not to hurry back--Good-bye, good old Mooswa." - -"I guess our Shack and things will be all right till we get back," said -Donald. "At any rate, Factor McGregor's kid has first call, I reckon. -I'd like to put a bullet through that Breed, though." - -"What if the Moose bolts?" asked Dave. "Here's a tracking-line they used -on their canoe,--suppose we take a hitch on his horns or his nose with -it; we could stop him if he tried to get away." - -"Yes," answered Donald, "and if we can't, if the worst comes to the -worst, we can drop him with a bullet before any harm's done." - -But they need not have bothered their heads about the line, for Mooswa -knew just what was being done; he was taking his Boy to the land of good -care. Like an old cart-horse, he plodded along. The snow was -frost-hardened again, and the going was good. - -In three days they arrived at The Landing. François was just ready to -start with a new outfit the Factor had given him debt for. Then for -days he had to hide from Donald Bain, for there was sheer murder in the -big Scotchman's heart. - -[Illustration: IN THREE DAYS THEY ARRIVED AT THE LANDING] - -The day after their arrival Mooswa disappeared. When he got back to his -comrades he found that Whisky-Jack had told them everything, and next to -Black King he was the greatest hero in the Boundaries. - -The Factor sent Roderick in to Edmonton with his own team, and nursing -soon put him right. - -When he told about the angels feeding him, and keeping his fire going, -the people listened a little awe-stricken, for they saw that he believed -it firmly. Also the two Hunters asserted that the fire was burning -brightly when they came. Perhaps after all it was the angels. - - - - - * * * * * * * * - - - - - By John B. Grant - - - OUR COMMON BIRDS - AND HOW TO KNOW THEM - -BY JOHN B. GRANT. With 64 full-page plates. Oblong 12mo, $1.50 net. - -PARTIAL LIST OF PLATES: HOOT OWL, BELTED KINGFISHER, WHIP-POOR-WILL, -KINGBIRD, PHOEBE, BLUE JAY, BOBOLINK, MEADOWLARK, ORCHARD ORIOLE, PURPLE -FINCH, RED CROSSBILL, SNOWFLAKE, SNOWBIRD, SONG SPARROW, CARDINAL, -SUMMER REDBIRD, CEDARBIRD, MAGNOLIA WARBLER, BROWN THRUSH, WINTER WREN, -WOOD THRUSH, ROBIN, and 42 Others. - -The author of this attractive volume dwells upon some ninety specimens -of our common birds, and between the remarkably lifelike illustrations -and the straightforward, easily intelligible descriptions, no one need -be at a loss for the name or habits of any bird an outdoor ramble -reveals. A calendar of the times of arrival and departure of the -various species in the latitude of New York enables the student to know -what to look for at any given date, and the fine literary quality of the -book adds a charm to its use quite dispelling any unpleasant "textbook" -associations. - -"The book is learned, but not too much so for common use, and, if -carefully studied, it will introduce the student into that interesting -world of bird life where a few favored mortals, such as the author, -Bradford Torrey, Olive Thorne Miller and a small handful more, have won -their way and brought back so much of delight. The book has more than -sixty plates of the commoner American birds, with descriptions, and a -very enjoyable and instructive introductory essay."--_The -Congregationalist_. - -"It gives plain, practical illustration regarding birds and how best to -study them in their haunts and homes in the woods and fields. The -plates adorn the pages and give value to the concise, clearly written -text."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean_. - -"With the fine illustrations and the simple and comprehensive text, -there is no excuse for the lover of birds to remain in ignorance of all -the information he needs to enable him to recognize at sight, and to -name unerringly, any bird he is likely to see in his walks in wood and -field,"--_Boston Saturday Gazette_. - - - - By Ernest Seton-Thompson - - WILD ANIMALS I HAVE KNOWN - -Being the Personal Histories of Lobo the Wolf, Silverspot the Crow, -Raggylug the Rabbit, Bingo my Dog, The Springfield Fox, The Pacing -Mustang, Wully the Yaller Dog, and Redruff the Partridge. With 200 -illustrations from drawings by the author. Fifty-first Thousand. Square -12mo, $2.00. - - - CRITICAL NOTICES - -"It should be put with Kipling and Hans Christian Andersen as a -classic."--_The Athenaeum_. - -"Mr. Thompson is now drawing the best mammals of any American artist.. . -. This is artistic fidelity to nature in high degree.... Nothing of -equal simplicity could be more effective than these little marginal -oddities and whimsies. The book is thoroughly good, both in purpose and -execution."--_New York Evening Post_. - -"This book is unique in conception and illustration.... One of the most -valuable contributions to animal psychology and biography that has yet -appeared. Mr. Seton-Thompson is not only a naturalist and an animal -artist of very high attainments, but is master of a literary style that -is at once graphic and fascinating.... The author of 'Wild Animals I -Have Known' is a keen woodsman, as well as an accomplished artist and -writer, and has given us a book that opens a new field to our -vision."--_J. A. Allen in The American Naturalist_. - -"In its mechanical make-up the book is a great success. The -illustrations by the author are among the best of modern -book-making."--_Boston Universalist Leader_. - -"Nothing apart from 'The Jungle Book' has ever approached these tales in -interest, and the 200 illustrations add greatly to their charm."--_New -York World_. - -"The originality and freshness of these stories is irresistible.... In -everything he does, Mr. Thompson has a way peculiarly his own.... Even -if naked and unadorned, the facts he tells us would be very interesting; -but when we have the facts and the factors fairly dancing before us, -clothed in all the quaint quips and droll persiflage of an accomplished -humorist and born story-teller, they are--as I have -said--irresistible."--_Mr. William T. Hornaday, Director N. Y. -Zoölogical Park, in Recreation_. - - - - By Ernest Seton-Thompson - - THE TRAIL OF THE - SANDHILL STAG - -Written and illustrated with 60 drawings, by ERNEST SETON-THOMPSON. -Square 12mo, $1.50. - - CRITICAL NOTICES - -"One of the most thoroughly attractive of the autumn books.... The -story is almost too perfect a whole to lend itself readily to -quotation.... A story to be read and re-read, finding fresh beauty at -each reading, and a book well worth the owning.... It is impossible to -write too highly of the illustrations. Pictures which really illustrate -are all too rare, and the combination of author-artist is usually a -fascinating one."--_New York Times_. - -"It is difficult to determine which gives one the most pleasure in a -book by Mr. Ernest Seton-Thompson--the author-artist's narrative or the -artist-author's pictures. The two together certainly, as in the case of -'The Trail of the Sandhill Stag,' unite to produce a singularly -harmonious result. Mr. Seton-Thompson can read the heart of the hunted -animal as well as count the pulse-beats of the huntsman himself, and in -this tale is condensed the whole tragic story of the chase. This double -point of view is unique with this writer."--"Droch" in _Life_. - -"Bliss Carman, speaking of 'The Trail of the Sandhill Stag,' says: 'I -had fancied that no one could touch 'The Jungle Book' for a generation -at least, but Mr. Thompson has done it. We must give him place among the -young masters at once.' And we agree with Mr. Carman."--_The Bookman_. - -"Nothing more beautiful in a dainty way has been brought out in -Canada."--_Toronto World_. - -"It gives us again glimpses of the life of animals that are astonishing -for their delicacy of perception, and charming by the deftness of their -literary form."--_New York Mail and Express_. - -"A breezy little narrative of outdoor life.... The author has celebrated -the steadfast hunt and its interesting end with art and emotion"--_New -York Tribune_. - -"Is a truly poetic bit of impressionistic prose."--_Chicago Tribune_. - - - - By Frances Theodora Parsons (Mrs. Dana) - - HOW TO KNOW THE FERNS - -A Guide to the Names, Haunts, and Habits of our Native Ferns. By -FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS (Mrs. Dana). With 144 full-page illustrations, -and 6 full-page illustrations from photographs. Crown 8vo, $1.50 net. - -"Since the publication, six years ago, of 'How to Know the Wild -Flowers,' I have received such convincing testimony of the eagerness of -nature-lovers of all ages and conditions to familiarize themselves with -the inhabitants of our woods and fields, and so many assurances of the -joy which such a familiarity affords, that I have prepared this -companion volume on 'How to Know the Ferns.' It has been my experience -that the world of delight which opens before us when we are admitted -into some sort of intimacy with our companions other than human, is -enlarged with each new society into which we win our way."--_From the -Author's Preface_. - -"Of the ferns, as the flowers, she writes as one who not only knows but -loves them. The charm of her fern-book is as irresistible and pervading -as is the charm of nature itself. This gifted and enthusiastic -naturalist knows the ferns literally 'like a book,' and her book makes -the first lesson of the novice in the lore of fern-life an easy and a -delightful task."--_New York Mail and Express_. - -"This is a notably thorough little volume. The text is not voluminous, -and even with its many full-page illustrations the book is small; but -brevity, as we are glad to see so many writers on nature learning, is -the first of virtues in this field.... The author of 'How to Know the -Ferns' has mastered her subject, and she treats of it with -authority."--_New York Tribune_. - -"The inspiration that entered into and made 'How to Know the Wild -Flowers' so deservedly popular has not been lost in 'How to Know the -Ferns.'"--_New York Times_. - - - ACCORDING TO SEASON - -Talks about the Flowers in the Order of their Appearance in the Woods -and Fields. 16mo, 75 cents. - -"Whoever shall start out for a country walk with this little book will -add greatly to present enjoyments, and will be continually acquiring a -fund of useful and agreeable knowledge."--_Public Opinion_. - - - A SELECTION OF FIFTY PLATES - -From "How to Know the Wild Flowers." Printed on Special Paper suitable -for Coloring by Hand, The set, in a portfolio, $1.00 net. - - - - Books for Lovers of Nature - - On Flowers, Animals and Birds - - CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers - - HOW TO KNOW THE WILD FLOWERS - - By MRS. WILLIAM STARR DANA - -With 48 Colored Plates and New Black and White Drawings, Enlarged, -Rewritten and Entirely Reset - -A Guide to the Names, Haunts, and Habits of our Native Wild Flowers. -With 48 full-page colored plates by ELSIE LOUISE SHAW, and no full-page -illustrations by MARION SATTERLEE. 60th Thousand. Crown 8vo, $2.00 -net. - -This new edition has been enlarged, revised, and entirely reset, the -illustrations have been remade, and it has in addition 48 full-page -colored plates from drawings by Miss ELSIE LOUISE SHAW, made especially -for this edition. _The Nation_ says: "Every flower-lover who has spent -weary hours puzzling over a botanical key in the efforts to name unknown -plants, will welcome this satisfactory book, which stands ready to lead -him to the desired knowledge by a royal road. The book is well fitted -to the need of many who have no botanical knowledge and yet are -interested in wild flowers." - -"I am delighted with it.... It is so exactly the kind of work needed for -outdoor folks who live in the country but know little of systematic -botany, that it is a wonder no one has written it before."--_Hon. -Theodore Roosevelt_. - -"It is not often that a book so suggestive of pleasure, pure and simple, -comes our way. So far as we recall books on flowers, it is the first -that makes country walks an intelligent joy for those who know nothing -of botany but who have eyes to see and minds to question."--_The New -York Times_. - - - - By H. E. Parkhurst - - HOW TO NAME THE BIRDS - - Illustrated. 16mo, leather, $1.00 net. - -"Mr. Parkhurst has compiled a convenient pocket guide to the birds of -the New England States, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He has -greatly simplified the common system of bird classification for the -beginner by omitting such details as are invisible at field-range, and -by emphasizing such characteristics as color, size, and time of -appearance."--_Review of Reviews_. - -"He has given to his book every advantage essential to a plain, -straight-forward account of honest observation."--_N. Y. Tribune_. - -"The advantage of H. E. Parkhurst's 'How to Name the Birds' is not -merely in its concise and careful descriptive matter, but in its form. -It is the only book of the sort that one can put into the pocket of an -ordinary coat and carry into the woods and fields when he is away on his -country rambles."--_Brooklyn Eagle_. - - - SONG BIRDS AND WATER FOWL - - Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50 net. - -"This most entertainingly as well as carefully written volume has for -one of its best values the attention it gives to that most untrampled, -and yet peculiarly alluring domain of bird lore--the stream and the -lake, the sea-beach and the wave. With this book Mr. Parkhurst must -receive full confirmation as one of the most companionable and beguiling -writers on birds."--_G. W. Cable_. - -"It will be welcome to the many friends his former book made. The -illustrations are the finest that have ever been printed in this country -in black and white, with exception of another series by the same -artist."--_The Nation_. - - - THE BIRDS' CALENDAR - - Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50 net. - -"A charming book. It contains a year's individual experience of study -and observation, the birds for each month being enumerated and -described, with comments on their characteristics and habits, and with -very useful and beautifully printed illustrations."--_The Outlook_. - - - CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, Publishers - 153-157 Fifth Avenue, New York - - - - By Harriet L. Keeler - - OUR NATIVE TREES - - AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM - -With 178 full-page plates from photographs, and 162 text-drawings. -Crown 8vo, $2.00 net. - -CONTENTS: GENERA AND SPECIES; ILLUSTRATIONS; GUIDE TO THE TREES; -DESCRIPTIONS OF THE TREES; FORM AND STRUCTURE OF ROOTS, STEMS, LEAVES, -FLOWERS AND FRUITS; THE TREE-STEM OR TRUNK; SPECIES AND GENUS; GLOSSARY -OF BOTANICAL TERMS; INDEX OF LATIN NAMES; INDEX OF COMMON NAMES. - - - CRITICAL OPINIONS - -C. S. SARGENT, _Professor of Arboriculture in Harvard University_: "Of -such popular books the latest and by far the most interesting is by Miss -Harriet L. Keeler.... Miss Keeler's descriptions are clear, compact, -and well arranged, and the technical matter is supplemented by much -interesting and reliable information concerning the economical uses, the -history and the origin of the trees which she describes. Outline -drawings of the flowers and of the fruits of many of the species, and -beautifully reproduced full-page photographic plates of the leaves or of -branches of the principal trees, facilitate their determination." - -"The value of a book of this character is not only enhanced by its -numerous illustrations, but positively dependent upon them; those in the -present volume being of unusual interest; and the book ... is one which -should add new interest to the coming Summer for many to whom nature is -practically a sealed book, as well as heighten the pleasure of others to -whom she has long been dear."--_N. Y. Times Saturday Review_. - -"The plan of the book must be heartily commended. No admirer of trees -should be without it, and if you go away into the country for even a -short stay, and care to know--as you should care--anything about our -native trees you will find this volume an invaluable guide. One could -bring home from a walk a collection of leaves and then, with the aid of -the illustrations in this book, identify them all. Then you will know -those trees the next time you encounter them, and they will take on a -new interest and meaning to your eyes."--_Brooklyn Eagle_. - -"The book is altogether an admirable specimen of book-making, alike to -eye and touch. The illustrations, over 300 in number, include almost -every tree mentioned, and are rarely beautiful. Especially satisfactory -are the plates of the varying foliage and cones of the conifers."--_N. -Y. Commercial Advertiser_. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MOOSWA & OTHERS OF THE -BOUNDARIES *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42226 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a -registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, -unless you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything -for copies of this eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. 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