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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance Times, 1928-10-11, Page 6Wellington Mutual Fire Insurance Co. Established x8410 Head Office, Guelph, Ont, Risks taken on all elasse of insur- raneeat reasonable rates, ABNER COSENS, Agent, Wingham J. W. DODD Office in Chisholm Block FIRE, LIFE, ACCIDENT AND TIEAI•TH INSURANCE - ANiI ,+RT,iAL ESTATE 1, O. Box 36o Phone zqo ,rPINGHAM, ._.ONTARIO J. W. BUSHFIELD Barrister, Solicitor, Notary, Etc. ' Money to Loan Office—Meyer Block, Wingham Successor to Dudley Holmes R. V'ANSTONE BARRISTER, SOLICITOR, ETC. Money to Loan at Lowest Rates Wingham, - Ontario J. A. MORTON BARRISTER, ETC. Wingham, Ontario DR. G. H. ROSS Graduate Royal College of Dental Surgeons Graduate University of Toronto Faculty of Dentistry Office neer H. E. Isard's Store. fir 3ORNE, M. D. nand Surgeon Medical ,. presentative D. S.C. R. Phone 54 Successor to Dr. W. R. Hambly DR. ROBT. G. REDMOND M.R.C.S. (ENG.) L.R.C.P. (Lond.) PHYSICIAN AND, SURGEON DR., R. L. STEWART Graduate of University 'of Toronto, Facultyof Medicine; Licentiate te of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons. Office in Chisholm Block Josephine Street. Phone 29. DR. G. W. HOWSON DENTIST Office over John Galbraith's Store. F. A. PARKER OSTEOPATH All Diseases Treated Office adjoining residence next to Anglican Church on Centre Street. Sundays by appointment. Osteopathy Electricity Phone 272, Hours -9 a.m. to 8 p.m. A. R. & F. E. DUVAL Licensed Drugless Practitioners, Chiropractic and Electro Therapy. Ilraduates of Canadian Chiropractic College, Toronto, and National Col- lege Chicago. Office opposite Hamilton's Jewelry Store, Main St. HOURS 2-5, 7-8.30 p.m., and by appointment. hit of *own scud gen tretllla re- , ended to. All iessaeaa ekeenifidential. Phones. Office 3oo; Residence 601-13. J. ALVIN FOX Registered Drugless Practitioner CHIROPRACTIC AND DRUGLESS PRACTICE ELETRO-THERAPY Hours: 2-5, 7-8., or by appointment. Phone 191. D. H. McINNES CHIROPRACTOR ELECTRICITY Adjustments given for diseases of all kinds; we specialize in dealing with children. Lady attendant. Night calls responded to. • Office on Scott St., Wingham, Ont. Phone iso GEORGE A. SIDDAL — BROKER — Money to lend on first and second. mortgages on farm' and other real es- tate properties at a reasonable rate of interest, also' on first Chattel meet gages on stock and on personal notes. Afew farms on hand for sale or to rent on easy terms. Phone 73. Luckuow, Ont. THOMAS FELLS AUCTIONEER REAL ESTATE SOLD. Athorougli knowledge of Farm Stock Phone 23x, -Wingham W. J. BOYCE PLUMEIlsr_ a'nt'i HEATING ?'hone 58 Night Phone 88 DRS. A. J. & A. W. IRWIN DENTISTS Nike Macdoi ff! Nook, Wi aglaatu Yln",tttti 111111111, KOH irltiii 1,eotinrownw.reo2441644.0044 A. J. WALKER Phones: Office 106, Resid. 224, FURNITURE DEALER and FUNERAL DIRECTOR Motor Equipment INGHAM ONTARIO eeet WINGHAMVM ADVANCE*TI'M'ES Thursday, Qetober, 11th, 1928 en aroone� Geo �e Mars COPYRIGHT by The PENN PUBLISHING Co. SYNOPSIS CHAPTER 1.—Garth Guthrie, Ca- adian war veteran, having to live in the open on account of weakened lungs, is factor of a Hudson's Bay post at Elkwan. He came back from the conflict with a permanently scar- red face, which he realizes cost him the love of his fiancee, Edith Fal- coner. Sir Charles Guthrie, his bio they, is a millionaire war profiteer. CHAPTER IL—With Etienne Sav- anne, hafbreed, his firm friend, Garth meets Doctor Quarrier, geologist, and his sister Joan. Their schooner has drifted ashore. Quarrier complains he has been robbed by a man known as "Laughing McDonald" or to the Ind- ians as "McDonald Ha! Ha!" because of a scar which giveshim a perpet- ual et- ual grin. McDonald is Garth's com- petitor for the fur trade. At Elkwan an Indian girl, Ninda, tuberculosis victim, whom Garth has befriended, is dying. Quarrier hints that Ninda is Garth's mistress, which is hotly re- sented. Joan, trained war nurse, cares for Ninda, but the girl dies. CHAPTER III. Garth tells Joan part of the reasons for his presence at Elkwan. takes He to es the Quarriers to Albany, from whence they can pro- ceed to Montreal. Charles Guthrie writes reproaching his brother for not coming home. Charles' wife assures him. Ethel still loves him, but Garth in his heart knows better. His scar- red face has separated them. CHAPTER IV—Three of McDon- ald's party visit Elkwan seeking to buy gun shells. From them Garth learns of evil talk among the Indians concerning him and Ninda, and real- izes Quarrier will spread his version of the affair. Chapter V.—With Etienne's help Garth wins the friendship of Saul Souci, "medicine -man" and treaty chief of the Crees, and gets his pro- mise to persuade the Crees to take their furs to Elkwan instead of to Mc- Donald. Garth is ambushed by Joe Mokoman, Ninda's reputed father, whom the factor had driven from Elkwan. "Shot" Garth's airedale com- panion on many battlefields in France, saves him, and the Indian is taken, a prisoner, to Elkwan. Chapter VI.—Garth sends Mokoman to McDonald with a message of de- fiance, and the war is on. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY "Do you, know the strait has clos- ed? You can cross to Elkwan for the New Year's feast," he hazarded. The women smiled. "We go to the trader at Seal cove with our fox pelts," said the old squaw. "There we get honest prices for fur—from the trader who always laughs," It was evident that here Joe Moko- man had done his work well. Then Etienne cautiously began his counter- mining. His dark face set in a look of surprise and horror. "Did you not hear?" he cried. "No!" "Why this trader brought that face from the land of demons across the Big Water? He angered them, Hd is a sorcerer and bewitches those who bring him their pelts," Etienne has- tily interpreted the conversation to Guthrie as he watched the effect of his bombshell on the startled faces of the squaws. "He makes bad medicine?" gasped the women. Savanne gravely nodded his hooded head, then added: "He has bewitched Joe Mokoman to betray the Cree bun- ters and bring them to his boat. Those who go will never love their wives. and families again," he remarked with finality. At last the faces of the squaws visibly grayed, They chattered to- gether excitedly Etienne's explana- tion of the cause of the mutilation of McDonald had struck deep into the marrow of their superstitions,' Ile hastily drove his advantage home, "Saul Souci will tell you that the trader McDonald Ha! • Hal is a friend of demons." "Saul Souci?" cried a squaw in pro- test. "He is a shaman and friend of the trader who laughs' t It was the turn of Savanne to have his mental balance jarred. Souci the friend of McDonald? What could they mean? But he was equal to the emer- SERVICE gency. "Souci, the friend of McDonald Ha! Ha! Mokoman tells that tale to the ;hunters because he fears Souci the shaman," Disturbed though she was, the Cree woman laughed in Etienne's face. "Mokoman was here this morning— there are his sled tracks. One sleep ago he says Souci was at the schooner of the trader and they shook hands. Souci is the friend of McDonald Ha! Ha!" • "Mokoman lies!" stormed the start- led half-breed, but the germ of a sus- picion of the old conjurer's loyalty quickened in his brain. "Are there camps at the head of the river in the barrens?" he asked, keen to catch the Ojibwa and old Saul, the traitor, at their work. "Yes, you will see them before the light dies, and there are more on the north fork." "Remember," cautioned the puzzled half-breed ,as he turned to his dogs, "the boat at Seal Cove is full of de- mons—bewitched. Those who go will never look again with joy on their wives and children." And with this. parting shot, the shrewd Savanne cal- led Bo'-jo!1 and joined his chief. As they again took the river trail, from here on ice -hard from constant use by the teams of the hunters, Et- ienne gave Guthrie the gist .of his talk. "Old Saul—at the schooner? It's only a lie of that Ojibwa," objected Garth, unable to reconcile the old man's simplicity and directness with this deceit. "A lie to weaken the effect of Saul's coming to the island to work for us." "Mebbe so, but I' t'ink somet'ing ver' strange here.' Dees camp ees near de shore—why has Saul not come here?" "They may have lied. He may have been here," suggested Garth. Etienne shook his head. "No, he nevaire cum here or dey talk more 'bout heem. He ees medicine man and de squaw would talk mooch eef he curia." "Well, let's see what the people; a- bove here say. Then we can compare the stories and judge better what to believe, and what our next move is. If Saul has turned yellow -we're sure- ly done." 'Facing the man riding behind him, Etienne nodded. "Eef Saul work for de schooner, he wee) tak' de Elkwan Cree wid heem." Then the lean fea- tures of the half-breed tightened. His small eyes closed to slits, as he vie- iuosly cracked his whip. "But dat ol' shaman weel mak' beeslas' medicine," he rasped. The hate in the face of the dog - driver was so intense that Garth ob- jected: "You can't shoot him up for that, you know. It would only react on Marie and the children, and on me." Etienne's mouth curled in an in- scrutable smile. "No one but Saul Souci weel know' who meet heem on de trail." "I guess you'd be capable of am- bushing him for this, but we're not dead yet. Let's see what' the hunters at the head of the river say." In the scrub rimming the shores of the first lake from which the tundra undulated to the skyline, the men in quest of Saul Souci found the tipis of the hunters. It was the camp of three families and smoke from the supper fires already lifted' above the spruce when the arrival of the dog -team rais- ed a general alarm from the huskies fastened in the scrub. "Kequayl kequay!' called Etienne,,, and a shock of black hair was thrust through a door flap as a curious Cree. emerged to meet the strangers. He'snot from Elkwan," dropped Guthrie disappointed, as the Indian approachedto shake hands. ""Allo, Achille!" And Etienne warm- ly gripped thehand of the Indian, Laguerre from Kapiskau, and me, ol' fried'," announced the patently pleased head man to his chief. We'll learn something now, thought the factor, as they drovethe dogs into the spruce, fed there their frozen whitefish ,and chained them separate- ly to trees. As the December sun was long down and their tent lashed tin- der the toboggan cover, Etiennee ac- cepted the hospitality of Laguerre's smoked -filled tips. There, with eyes weeping from the unaccustomed smoke Garth ate boiled rabbit and lake -trout from the copper kettle hung above the fire, from which the wife and numer- ous children of Achille gorged in common. But the appetite sharpened by the ride up the valley in the keen air was impervious to the informality of. Cree table manners and Garth's tin cup went back to the steaming stew pail the tea i tl with the regularity of his smoke -tanned host and hostess, until his belt warned of surfeit. He passed to, each of the Crees a twist of company nigger -head, and pipe smoke swiftly added to the opa- queness of the tipi air. Then Etienne, who had avoided the subject of Souci and the schooner in, his gossip with the curious and, perplexed Laguerre, opened with: "You know de strait ees froze?" Achille, who spoke English, grave- ly nodded. "You cum to de island. Ret mus' be so." "Oou, mon ami. We are here. Eet es enough. Why, Archille Laguerre," he went on, probing the small, half shut eyes of the half-breed, "do IVI'sieu' Guthrie and I, Etienne Sa- vanne, cross de ice to mak' talk wid you?" Etienne paused and blew a cloud of smoke along the stem of his pipe, which his teeth gripped. Achille grinned widely. "You cunt to mak' fight for de fox," he chuckled. "You are mos' smart man, ma fr'en' 4- 4.1d frt „i.t'ii, va`Y Etienne Accepted the Hospitality of Laguerre's Smoke -Filled Tipi. but you mala' beeg meestake. We cum to tak' de fox back to Elkwan wid de peopl' for beeg tam at la bonne annee, New Year." "Ah-hah l" "You go to Kapiskau, • Achille?" The Indian slowly shook his head. "I go to de beeg boat. He pay beeg price for pelt." Garth leaned eagerly forward to hear the counter stroke which Etienne was waiting to launch. "Ah -!fah!" For a space, the crack- ing of a spruce knot was the only sound in the tipi. Then Savanne be- gan. "You not ver' smart man, Ach- ille, you leesen to dat 'Jibwa Wabeno, Mokoman. Ah-hah, you not se smart man . . We tak' heem to dis is- land wid old Souci, You know why?" Etienne paused dramatically to relight his pipe. "So McDonal' put de devil into heem." Nervously twisting her hands, the squaw of Archillestared at the speak- er from awe -filled eyes. The stolid features of the half-breed reflected Curiosity, doubt—but no fear. "I put dat Mokoman undair de ice up de Elkwan—he mak' troubl' for us; but we weesh to have devil put een Neem by McDonal' Ha! Hal" "Mokomap was here," dryly coun- tered Achille, "Was Souci wid heem?" snapped. Etienne, as a dog a bone, and Garth's pulse quickened as he waited for the reply. "No, Souci ees ovair de hill, nord. "W'en you say. Saul was at de schooner?" Again Guthrie leaned to catch Ach- ille's return. The half-breed waited, spat into the fire, then said: "You hear dat?" Etienne nodded. Now he would learn the truth from a friend who, in the old days of their comradeship, had never lied; but, in his extremity, he himself launched brazenly into outrageous fabrication. "We sen' old Saul to de schooner to talk wid de devil of McDonal'. The self-possession of Achille fell from him like a leaf from a tree. "You sen' heem dere?" he demanded excit- edly. Etienne was ' relieved. He had pier ced the arrnon of his friend :was at last making progress. Amazed and delighted at the re- source of his head man and wonder- ing where his astounding imagination would further lead him, Garth watched the changing expression on the dark features of Achille. "'Ah-hahI" casually assented Etienne "We know dis McDonal' Ha! Hal mak' bad medicine an' de pore Nun who go to bees boat nevaire love dere familee any more, but travel far away and leave dem to starve-" "Ahuahl ahuah!" wailed the terri- fied squaw, and launched in Cree a delirious outburst of entreaty and ap- peal, Achille's attempts to sooth her hys- terics succeeded only in increasing the lamentations of the supertitious woman, At length she calmed to a low moaning, which was joined by the wailing of the awakened children. '''' Under cover of the dusk of the tipi, sinewy fingers gripped Guthrie's stock inged foot. With the skill of a sor cerer, Etienne had planted the •seeds of superstitious terror in the tipi of this friend. The work of Saul and Mokoman was rapidly being undone by the shrewd Savanne. Then voices outside announced the coming of the. hunters from the neighboring tipis,. Crowding through the doorfiap of the snow -banked tent, three Indians from the Kapiskau river entered and sat down. The fire was freshened and briefly Achille explained the situation •.' which. had aroused the fears . of his wife. With' the faces of stoics the men smoked, while the story of Etienne was repeated, but when they heard that Mokoman had been brought to the island with Saul because of the witchcraft of McDonald they, too, lost their gravity and their calm. For that this ,mutilated stranger should be the intimate and crony of the spir- its of darkness was not beyond, the credulity of the impressionable Cree. And did not Achille vouch for this Savanne, his old' comrade,,,from 'Elk - wan. Ittrue, was they argued, the big man with the unspeakable face of- fered high prices for fox pelts, but if he were in league with devils -as he might be with that leer, which never died—of what use would be the trade goods he bartered to those who left the ship mad with the medicine. And now that the women knew, there would be no peace. Still, Souci would know, and tell them. They would gp to Souci, the shaman, who, camped with his sons over the big barrens to•. the north. So it was left, and two gratified men from Elkwan rolled into their blankets in the tipi of Achille Laguerre. CHAPTER VIII The stars pierced the blue dusk fore- runner of the stinging dawn when a dog -team pulled out of the black spruce and dwarf tamarack rimming the headwater ponds of the Ptarmi- gan and followed a trap -line trail up into the) tundra which billowed away to the wind -whipped backbone of the island. On they hurried, the team and the wide-ranging Shot, for somewhere in the valleys of the Rabbit or the canoe, Mokoman 'and the renegade Souci were seducing the hunters from Elkwan. And Christmas was but six. days away — Christmas, with teams from the three winds drifting down the valley into Elkwan for the trade and the feast at New Year's. There was little time to be lost if they were to win the hunters of Aki- miski and lead them across the strait, So the five dogs took the uphill work ata trot, while the men trailed the sled. In the middle of the morning the men left the trap -line and breaking trail ahead of the dogs, slowly climb- ed the last rise' of the barrens. In places the lack of snow on the brittle heath made the work of the dogs heart -breaking. While the flat tobog- gan slid overthe frozen tundra, the huskies, seeking a footing, constantly broke through. Shortly, their bleed- ing feet forced a stop while moccas- ins were lashed to their legs, But at last, panting dogs and! men stood on the roof of the island. Through the glasses Garth made out the white delta of the Elkwan, and his thoughts drifted to two women who had once shared 'his quarters there—two women who did not shrink at scars. But it was bitter cold on the open ridge and the dog -team turned down, seeking the valley of the Rabbit, mas- ked by intervening hills. Over the tundra the snowshoes packed the trail for the sliding toboggan, while the dogs ran, where the hard snow on the heath gave them footing, and slaved, where they broke through the low bushes of the; brushed barren when they threw their weight into their cel- lars. As. the day advanced, the frost stren- ghtened. A veil of haze slowly curt- ained the low -swinging sun, and the dog -team hurried on, 'for the night would fall•in early afternoon, and to be caught on the high tundra by a wind meant swift freezing. Still before them the endless hill lifted to the horizon with no indica- tion of a break of a low valley where timber would give them shelter and a cooking fire. At noon it was evident that Etienne was worried. Never be- fore had Garth seen his head man use the whip on his dogs as he used it that day; never in their journeys had the fur -lined hood, circled with ice and rime, turned so often while the slit- like eyes of the half-breed consulted the horizon. "Beeg blow comin'. Mooch snow, she fall soon." "It can't be far now," said Garth. "We've surely made the twenty miles. The Rabbit must head over that hill." "Eef we don't get off dees high countree before de wind blow, we ne- vair get off," was the" quiet rejpin— der. "It's colder, already." And Garth:, took in the belt of his parka. "De dog wee) not travel mooch more. Dere feet are cut to pieces on. dis frozn bush." On up the next ascent' the limping•• dogs, with breath trailing behind like ribbons of smoke, followed the .trail breaktrs . Cgaining the backbone of the ridge ,the men stood with startled eyes looking north, Instead of the wide basin of the Rabbit headwaters with its scrub -fringed lakes, they- looked heylooked across a treeless barren. The grave eyes of Etienne met: Garth's puzzled look. "Those Indians lied." "No," objected the half-brted. "We - travel ver' slow. Eet ees ovair dere."'" And he pointed to the far ridge. "It will be dark when we hit it." "One hour more light and de win" rise," muttered Savanne as he patted_` Castor, who lay at his feet ,his steam- ing red tongue hanging from a mouth. hung with ice. "'You ver' tired, . Cas- tor? You mak' dat ridge?" The powerful leader got to his sore feet and whined as if he understood,,_ but the listless team lay sprawled on the trail. "It's come," announced Garth, as a, curtain of snow drifted in from. the, northeast. "We go! Up ,mes enfants.! Allonsr Marche, Castor!" An hour later, five dogs sheated' n whitt, plodding slowly behind two. ghostlike shapes, reached the rim • of' the basin of the Rabit headwaters: Dimly below them, through the pall of' snow and gathering' dusk, the men traced the scrub edging the lakes with' shadow. As they stood in the rising wind as the dogs rested, night shun down, wiping from their eyes the goal' they sought, as a sponge wipes clean a slate. "I've gotthe compass direction„ Garth. northwest," said Ga north,no w Etienne shook his snow -crusted" hood. "Keep de win' on right cheek. So long cheek froze, we head right for de timber." He turned to the dogs, white as the snow they lay on. "Marche, Castor, mon brave!" And' snapping his whip, he tugged at the harnesses until the reluctant brutes: got to their feet, (To be continued.) FRED DAVEY Village Clerk Issuer of Marriage Licenses The law now requires the license be taken out three days before the ceremony. Have You any of These things To Sell? Young Pigs Baby Chicks Live. Stock Poultry Cordwood Shrubs or Plants Honey Preserves Farm House and Lot Money, to Loan Hay Auto Parts Rabbits Pigeons Pets Home-made .Pickles Home-made Jam Singing Birds Knitted Mats. Used Piano Second-hand Article And a Hundred Other Articles Or Do You Want . Ani' of These? Lost Article Furnished Room House and Lot Farm Movable Building Situation Trucking Housemaid Farm Help Clerk Saks Lady Stenographer Second-hand Article Board Rented House Auto Parts Money on Mortgage Business Opportun. Why not try a Want Ad. in the Wingham Advance0Times Costs Only a Trifle, But It Brings Results