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Las diagrammas suivants illustrant la mathoda. 2 3 5 6 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) 1.0 1^1 2.8 2.5 1 «* III ^•° I.I 1 1.8 1.25 ^ APPLIED IIVMGE Ir ^^ 1 65 J tost Mam Street r.a Roctiester, New York 14609 USA ^= (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone ^S (716) 288 - 5989 - Fa» lfiflMtt1«J!)KH«C!»iHgJi iiiiSf'^^'^TI^ m^t ■■• *"'=^ '~.ffi~ ■ iii .■«i||mi«!8«ju(Hf;K«R!ft.^,«;.^^ The MARCH of the WHITE GUARD By GILBERT PARKER R. F. FENNO & COMPANY 9 AND II East i6th Street, New York I 9 o I L ^ Ps<^vs/./-'s/^^ The Makch of the White Guahu ^cX-7, J THE March of the White Guard " Ask Mr. Hume to come here for a moment, Gosse," said Field, the Chief Factor, as he turned from the frosty window of his office at Fort Providence, one of the Hudson Bay Company's posts. The servant, or more properly, Orderly-Sergeant Gosse, late of the Scots Guards, de- parted on his errand, glancing curi- ously at his master's face as -"t* did so. The Chief Factor, as he turned round, unclasped his hands from be- 7 Cbe flSarcb of tbe TBlbtte a »»rs hind him, took a few steps forward then standing still in the centre of the room, read carefully through a letter which he had held in the fingers of his right hand for the last ten minutes as he scanned the wastes of snow that stretched away beyond Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Circle and the Barren Grounds. He medi- tated a moment, went back to the wmdow, looked out again, shook his head negatively, and with a sigh walked over to the huge fireplace. He stood thoughtfully considering the floor until the door opened and Sub.factor Jaspar Hume entered. The Factor looked up and said: Hume, I ve something here that's been worrying me a bit. This letter came m the monthly batch this 8 Cbe Aarcb of tbe Mbite Ouatb morning. It is from a woman. The Company sends another com- mending the cause of the woman and urging us to do all that is possible to meet her wishes. It seems that her husband is a civil engineer of con- siderable fame. He had a commis- sion to explore the Copper Mine re- gion and a portion of the Barren Grounds. He was to be gone six months. He has been gone a year. He left Fort Good Hope, skirted Great Bear Lake, and reached the Copper Mine River. Then he sent back all of the Indians who accom- panied him but two, they bearing the message that he would make the Great Fish River and come down by Great Slave Lake to Fort Providence. That was nine months ago. He has 9 not come here, nor to any other of the forts, nor has any word been re- ceived from him. His wife, backed by the H. B. C, urges that a relief party be sent to look for him. They and she forget that this is the Arctic region, and that the task is a weU nigh hopeless one. He ought co have been here six months ago Now, how can we do anything > Our fort is small, and there is always danger of trouble with the Indians. We can't force men to join a relief party like this, and who will volun- teer? Who would lead such a party and who will make up the party to be led? " The brown face of Jaspar Hume was not mobile. It changed in ex- pression but seldom; it preserved a lO ill tSbe Aarcb of tbe TObfte Ouarb steady and satisfying character of intelligence and force. The eyes, however, were of an inquiring, de- bating kind, that moved from one thing to another as if to get a sense of balance before opinion or judg- ment was expressed. The face had remained impassive, but the eyes had kindled a little as the Factor talked. To the Factor's despairing question there was not an immediate reply. The eyes were debating. But they suddenly steadied and Jas- par Hume said sententiously, "A relief party should go." "Yes, yes; but who is to lead them?" Again the eyes debated. " Read her letter," said the Factor, handing him it. It t gbe Aarcb of tbe m bite Ouard Jaspar Hume took it and mechan- ically scanned it. The Factor had moved toward the table for hi-, pipe or he would have seen the other start, and his nostrils slightly quiver as his eyes grew con- scious of what they were looking at. Turning quickly, Jaspar Hume walked toward the window as if for more light, and with his back to his superior be read the letter. Then he turned and said, "I think this thing should be done." The Factor shrugged his shoulders slightly : " Well, as to that, I think so too, but thinking and doing are two different things, Hume." " Will you leave the matter in my hands until the morning? " " Yes, of course, and glad to do so. 12 H p) Q I S H % M M, I JOie Aarcb of tbe TKlbite Ouarb You are the only man who can ar- range tbe affair, if it is to be done at all. But I tell you, as you know, that everything will depend upon a leader, even if you secure the men. ... So you had better keep the let- ter for to-night. It may help you to get the men together. A woman's handwriting will do more than a man's word any time." Jaspar Hume's eyes had been look- ing at the Factor, but they were studying something else. His face seemed not quite so fresh as it was a few minutes before. " I will see you dt ten o'clock to- morrow morning, Mr. Field," he said quietly. " Will you let Gosse come to me in an hour? " " Certainly . Good night. " >5 r M •• {, : ! h 1 ,3. i i w (Tbe Aarcb of tbe xmbiu 0uar» Jaspar Hume let himself out. He walked across a small square to a log-house and opened the door, which creaked and shrieked with the frost. A dog sprang upon him as he did so, and rubbed its head against his breast. He touched the head as if it had been that of a child, and said, " Lie down, Jacques." It did so, but it watched him as he doffed his dog-skin cap and buf- falo coat. He looked round the room slowly once as if he wished to fix it clearly and deeply in his mind. Then he sat down and held near the firelight the letter the Factor had given him. His features grew set and stern as he read it. Once he paused in the reading and looked into the fire, drawing his breath i6 Cbe Aarcb of tbe Wbite euart sharply between his teeth. Then he read it to the end without a sign. A pause, and he said, "So this is how the lines meet again, Varre Lepage!" He read the last sen- tence of the letter aloud: " In the hope that you may soon give me good news of my husband, I am, with all respect, " Sincerely yours, "Rose Lepacjk." Again he repeated, " With all re- spect, sincerely yours, Rose Lepage." The dog Jacques looked up. Per- haps it detected something unusual in the voice. It rose, came over, and laid its head on its master's knee. Jaspar Hume's hand fell gently on the head, and he said to »7 t Sbe Aarcb of tbe TKlbUe Guard ii the fire, "Rose Lepage, you can write to Factor Field what you dare not write to your husband if you knew! You might say to him then, • With all love,' but not ' With all respect. ' " He folded the letter and put it in his pocket. Then he took the dog's head between his hands and said: " Listen, Jacques, and I will tell you a story." The dog blinked, and pushed its nose against its master's arm. "Ten years ago two young men who had studied and graduated to- gether at the same college were struggling together in their profes- sion as civil engineers. One was Varre Lepage and the other was Jaspar Hume. The one was bril- i8 tCbe Aarcb of tbe mbtte 0iMr5 liant and persuasive, the other was persistent and studious. Varre Le- page could have succeeded in any profession; Jaspar Hume had only heart and mind for one. Only for one, Jacques, you understand. He lived in it, he loved it, he saw great things to be achieved in it. He had got an idea. He worked at it night and day, he thought it out, he de- veloped it, he perfected it, he was ready to give it to the world. But he was seized with illness, became blind, and was ordered to a warm climate for a year. He left his idea, his invention, behind him — his com- plete idea. While he was gone his bosom friend stole his perfected idea —yes, stole his perfected idea, and sold it for twenty thousand dollars. 19 Cbe Aarcb of tbc VObite Ouard He was called a genius, a great in- ventor. And then he married /nr. You don't know her, Jacques. You never saw pretty Rose Varcoe, who, liking two men, chose the one who was handsome and brilliant, and whom the world called a genius. Why didn't Jaspar Hume expose him, Jacques? Proof is not always easy, and then he had to think of //rr. One has to think of a woman in such a case, Jacques. Even a dog can see that." He was silent for a moment, and then he said, " Come, Jacques. You will keep secret what I show you." He went to a large box in the corner, unlocked it, and took out a model made of brass and copper and smooth but unpolished v/ood. 20 ^^w^^^tS^sas (Tbe Aaccb of tbe VIbtte euarb "After ten years of banishment, Jacques, he has worked out another idea, you see. It should be worth ten times the other, and the world called the other the work of a genius, dog." Then he became silent, the animal watching him the while. It had seen him working at this model for many a day, but had never heard him talk so much at a time as he had done this last ten minutes. Jaspar Hume was generally a silent man; decisive even to severity, careless carriers and shirking under-officers thought. Yet none could complain that he was unjust. He was simply stiaightforward, and he had no sym- pathy with those who were not the same. He had carried a drunken 21 Cbe Aarcb of tbe Toabfte 0uard Indian on his back for miles, and from a certain death by frost. He had, for want of a more convenient punishment, promptly knocked down Jeff Hyde, the sometime bully of the Fort, for appropriating a bundle of furs belonging to a French half- breed, Gaspe Toujours. But he nursed JefT Hyde through an attack of pneumonia, insisting at the same time that Gaspe Toujours should help him. The result of it all was that Jeff Hyde and Gaspe Toujours became constant allies. They both formulated their oaths by Jaspar Hume. The Indian, Cloud-in-the- Sky, though by word never thanking his rescuer, could not be induced to leave the Fort, except on some mis- sion with which Jaspar Hume was 22 trbe Aatcb of tbe Wbite Ouatd connected. He preferred living an undignified, an un-Indian life, and earning his food and shelter by coarsely laboring with his hands. He came at least twice a week to Jaspar Hume's log-house, and, sit- ting down silent and cross-legged before the fire, watched the Sub- factor working at his drawings and calculations. Sitting so for perhaps an hour or more, and smoking all the time, he would rise, and with a grunt, which was answered by a kindly nod, would pass out as silently as he came. And now as Jaspar Hume stood looking at his "Idea," Cloud-in-the- Sky entered, let his blanket fall by the hearthstone and sat down upon it. If Jaspar Hume saw him or heard him, he at least gave no sign «3 Zbe Aarcb of tbe Tiabite Ouarb i I 3'' ' at first. He said in a low tone to the dog, " It is finished, Jacques ; it is ready for the world." Then he put it back, locked the box, and turned toward Cloud-in-the- Sky and the fireplace. The Indian grunted ; the other nodded with the debating look again dominant in his eyes. The Indian met the look with stoic calm. There was something in Jaspar Hume's habitual reticence and decisiveness in action which ap- pealed more to Cloud-in-the-Sky than any freedom of speech could possibly have done. Jaspar Hume sat down, handed the Indian a pipe and tobacco, and, with arms folded, watched the fire. For half an hour they sat so, white man, Indian, and dog. Then Jaspar 24 Hbe Aarcb of tbe Tmbite Ouarb Hume rose, went to a cupboard, took out some sealing-wax and matches, and in a moment melted wax was dropping upon the lock of the box containing his Idea. He had just finished this as Sergeant Gosse knocked at the door, and immedi- ately after entered the room. '• Gosse," said the Sub-factor, " find Jeff Hyde, Gaspe Toujours, and Late Carscallen, and bring them here." Sergeant Gosse immediately departed upon this errand. Jaspar Hume then turned to Cloud-in-the-Sky, and said, "Cloud-in-the-Sky, I want you to go a long journey hereaway to the Barren Grounds. Have twelve dogs ready by nine o'clock to-mor- row morning." Cloud-in-the-Sky shook his head as i ,-. _ .- .arriffiB-g "H i: * Vbe Aavcb of tbe Wbite Ouatd thoughtfully, and then after a pause said, " Strong-back go too? " (Strong- back was his name for Jaspar Hume.) But the other either did not or would not hear. The Indian, however, appeared satisfied, for he smoked harder afterward, and grunted to himself many times. A few moments passed, and then Sergeant Gosse en- tered, followed by Jeff Hyde, Gasp6 Toujours, and Late Carscallen. Late Carscallen had got his name " Late " from having been called " The Late Mr. Carscallen " by the Chief Factor because of his slowness. Slow as he was, however, the stout Scotsman had more than once proved himself sound and true according to Jaspar Hume's ideas. He was, of course, the last to enter. 36 itii Hbe Aarcb of tbe TUnbite Guard The men grouped themselves about the fire, Late Carscallen get- ting the coldest comer. Each man drew his tobacco from his pocket, and, cutting it, waited for Sub-factor Hume to speak. His eyes were de- bating as they rested on the four. Then he took out Rose Lepage's let- ter, and, with the group looking at him now, he read it aloud. When it was finished Cloud-in-the-Sky gave a guttural assent, and Gasp^ Toujours, looking at Jeff Hyde, said, "It is cold in the Barren Grounds. We shall need much tabac." These men could read without difficulty Jaspar Hume's reason for summon- ing them. To Gasp6 Toujours's re- mark Jeif Hyde nodded affirmatively and then all looked at Late Car- 27 ■ ■ I TTDc ittarcb o t tbc TlBlbtte CuatO scallen. He opened his heavy jaws once or twice with an animal-like sound, and then he said, in a gen- eral kind of way, "To the Barren Grounds. But who leads?" Jaspar Hume was writing on a sHp of paper, and he did not reply. The faces of three of them showed just a shade of anxiety. They had their opinions, but they were not sure. Cloud-in-the-Sky, however, grunted at them, and raised the bowl of his pipe toward the Sub-factor. The anxiety then seemed to be dis- pelled. For ten minutes more they sat so, all silent. Then Jaspar Hume rose, handed the slip of paper to Sergeant Gosse, and said, " Attend to that at 28 ilj tn)e Aarcb of tbe VAbtte euard once, Gosse. Examine the food and blankets closely." The five were left alone. • Then Jaspar Hume spoke: "Jeff Hyde, Gasp€ Toujours, Late Car- scallen, and Cloud-in-the-Sky, this man, alive or dead, is between here and the Barren Grounds. He must be found — for his wife's sake." He handed Jeff Hyde her letter. Jeff Hyde rubbed his fingers before he touched the delicate and perfumed missive. Its delicacy seemed to be- wilder him. He said in a rough but kindly way, " Hope to die if I don't," and passed it on to Gasp€ Toujours, who did not find it necessary to speak. His comrade had answered for him. Late Carscallen held it in- quisitively for a moment, and then 29 : f PI 9be Aarcb of tbe TPOlbite euarb his jaws opened and shut as if he were about to speak. But before he did so the Sub-factor said, "It is a long journey and a hard one. Those who go may never come back. But this man was working for his coun- try, and he has got a wife — a good wife ! '* He held up the letter. " Late Carscallen wants to know who will lead you. Can't you trust me? I will give you a leader that you will follow to the Barren Grounds. To- morrow you will know who he is. Men, are you satisfied? Will you do it? " The four rose, and Cloud-in-the- Sky nodded approvingly many times. The Sub-factor held out his hand. Each man shook it, Jeff Hyde first; and he said, " Close up ranks for the 30 ill Zbe Aatcb of tbe mbite OtiarD H. B. C. ! " (H. B. C. meaning of course Hudson Bay Company.) With a good man to lead them they would have stormed, alone, the Heights of Balaklava. Once more Jaspar Hume spoke: " Go to Gosse and get your outfits at nine to-morrow morning. Cloud-in- the-Sky, have your sleds at the store at eight o'clock, to be loaded. Then all meet me at lo : 1 5 at the office of the Chief Factor. Good night." As they passed out into the semi- arctic night. Late Carscallen with an unreal obstinacy said, " Slow march to the Barren Grounds — but who leads? " Left rlone the Sub-factor sat down to the pine table at one end of the room and after a short hesitation be- 31 Vbe Aarcb of tbe TRBbitc Ouarb gan to write. For hours he sat there, rising only to put wood on the fire. The result was three letters: the largest addressed to a famous society in London, one to a solicitor in Montreal, and one to Mr. Field, the Chief Factor. They were all sealed carefully. Then Jaspar Hume rose, took out his knife and went over to the box as if to break the red seal. He paused, however, sighed, and put the knife back again. As he did so he felt some- thing touch his leg. It was the dog. Jaspar Hume drew in a sharp breath and said, " It was all ready, Jacques ; and in another three months I should have been in London with it. But it will go whether I go or not whether I go or not, Jacques." The 3« (R>e Aarcb of tbc tnbttc Otuird. dog sprang up and put his head against his ^uiaster's breast. "Good dog! good dog! it's all right, Jacques; however it goes, it's all right!" Then the dog lay down and watched the man until he drew the blankets to his chin, and sleep drew oblivion over a fighting but masterly soul. 3 33 tii \i 11 II. At ten o'clock next morning Jas- par Hume presented himself at the Chief Factor's office. He bore with him the letters he had written the night before. The Factor said, "Well, Hume, I am glad to see you. That woman's letter was on my mind all night. Have you anything to propose? I suppose not," he added despairingly, as he looked closely into the face of the other. "Yes, Mr. Field, I propose this: that the expedition shall start at noon to-day." " Shall— start— at noon— to-day? " 35 ISbe Aarcb of tbe TKIbfte Ouarb "In two hours." " But, who are the party? " " Jeflf Hyde, Gasp6 Toujours, Late Carscallen and Cloud-in-the-Sky." "And who leads them, Hume? Who leads? " " With your permission, sir, I do." "You, Hume! You! But, man, consider the danger! And then there is— there is, your invention ! " " I have considered all. Here are three letters. If we do not come back in three months, you will please send this one, with the box in my room, to the address on the en- velope; this is for a solicitor in Montreal, which you will also for- ward as soon as possible; this last one is for yourself; but you will not open it until the three months have 36 If ■; i XSbe Aarcb of tbe TBSbtte 0ttar^ passed. Have I your permission to lead these men? They would not go without me." "I know thai., I know th;,t, Hume. I hate to hav- you go, nut I can't say no. Go, and good luck go with you." Here the manly old Factor turned away his head. He knew that Jaspar Hume had done right. He knew the possible sacrifice this man was making of all his hopes, of his very life ; and his sound Scotch heart appreciated the act to the full. But he did not know all. He did not know that Jaspar Hume was starting to look for the man who had robbed him of youth and hope and genius and home. " Here is a letter that the wife has 37 _ u (Tbe Aarcb of tbe mblte 0uarb written to her husband in the hope that he is alive. You will take it with you, Hume. And the other she wrote to me, shall I keep it?" He held out his hand. " No, sir, I will keep it, if you will allow me. It is my commission, you know." And the shadow of a smile hovered about Jaspar Hume's lips. The Factor smiled kindly as he replied, "Ah, yes, your commission — Captain Jaspar Hume of — of what, Hume?" Just then the door opened and there entered the four men whom we saw around the Sub-factor's fire the night before. They were dress- ed in white blanket costumes from head to foot, white woollen capotes covering the gray fur caps they 38 Cbe Aarcb of tbe mbite (3uacd wore. Jaspar Hume ran his eye over them and then answered the Factor's question: "Of the White Guard, sir." "Good," was the reply. "Men, you are going on a relief expedition — one in which there is danger. You need a good leader. You have one in Captain Jaspar Hume." Jeff Hyde shook his head at the others with a pleased I-told-you-so expression ; Cloud-in-the-Sky grunt- ed his deep approval; and Late Carscallen smacked his lips in a satisfied manner and rubbed his leg with a school-boy sense of enjoy- ment. The Factor continued: "In the name of the Hudson Bay Com- pany I will say that if you come back, having done your duty faith- 39 t9 XLbc Aarcb of tbe TSlblte <5nzvb fully, you shall be well rewarded. And I believe you will come back, if it is in human power to do so." Here Jeff Hyde said, "It isn't for reward we're doln' it, Mr. Field, but because Captain Hume wished it, because we believed he'd lead us; and for the lost fellow's wife. We wouldn't have said we'd do it, if it wasn't for him that's just called us the White Guard." Under the bronze of the Sub-fac- tor's face there spread a glow more red than brown, and he said simply, "Thank you, men" — for they had all nodded assent to Jeff Hyde's words — " Come with me to the store. We will start at noon." And at noon the White Guard stood in front of the store on which 40 A-i M. CTbe Aarcb of tbe Wbite Oiuicd the British flag was hoisted with an- other beneath it bearing the magic letters, H. B. C. : magic, because they have opened to the world regions that seemed destined never to know the touch of civilization. The few inhabitants of the Fort had gathered ; the dogs and loaded sleds were at the door. The White Guard were there too — all but their leader. It wanted but two minutes to twelve when Jaspar Hume came from his house, dressed also in the white blanket costume, and followed by his dog, Jacques. In a moment more he had placed Jacques at the head of the first team of dogs. They were to have their leader too; and they testified to the fact by a bark of approval. Punctually at noon, Jas- 41 a. . n ri Zbe Aarcb of tbe TSnbtte (Buard par Hume shook hands with the Factor, said a quick good-bye to the rest, called out a friendly "How!" to the Indians standing near, and to the sound of a hearty cheer, heartier perhaps because none had a confi- dent hope that the five would come back, the March of the White Guard began. *» III. It is eighteen days after. In the shadow of a liltle island of pines, that lies in a shivering waste of ice and snow, the White Guard camp. They are able to do this night what they have not done for days dig a great grave of snow, and building a fire of pine wood at each end of this strange house, get protection and something like comfort. They sit close to the fires. Jaspar Hume is writing with numbed fingers. The extract that follows is taken from his diary. It tells that day's life, and so gives an idea of harder, sterner days that they have spent 43 Zhe Aarcb of tbe mblte 0uar5 and will spend, on this weary jour- ney. ''December 25///.— This is Christ- mas Day and Camp twenty-seven. We have marched only five miles to- d£.y. We are eighty miles from Great Fish River, and the worst yet to do. We have discovered no signs. Jeff Hyde has had a bad two days with his frozen foot. Gasp6 Toujours helps him nobly. One of the dogs died this morning. Jacques is a great leader. This night's shelter is a godsend. Cloud-in- the-Sky has a plan whereby some of us will sleep well. We are in lati- tude 63° 47' and longitude 112° 32' 14". Have worked out lunar obser- JH vations. '^ '-"'' " * "^^ — ' Have marked a tee 27 44 Zbe A«ccb of tbe TPQblte OuarO and raised cairn No. 3. We are able to celebrate Christmas Day with a good basin of tea, and our stand- by of beans cooked in fat. I was right about them: they have great sustaining power. To-morrow we will start at ten o'clook." The writing done, Jaspar Hume puts his book away and turns toward the rest. Cloud-in-the-Sky and Late Carscallen are smoking. Little can be seen of their faces; they are muffled to the eyes. Gasp€ Toujours is drinking a basin of tea, and Jeff Hyde is fitfully dozing by the fire. The dogs are above in the tent, all but Jacques, who to-night is per- mitted to be near his master. The Sub-factor rises, akes from a knap- sack a small tin pail, and puts it near 45 I Zbe Aarcb of tbe TKnblte Ouard the fire. This operation is watched by the others. Then he takes five little cups that fit snugly into each other, separates them, and puts them also near the fire. None of the party speak. A change seems to pass over the faces of all except Cloud-in-the- Sky. He smokes on unmoved. At length the Sub-factor speaks cheer- ily: "Now, men, before we turn in we'll do something in honor of the day. Liquor we none of us have touched since we vStarted; but back the in the Fort, and maybe in other places too, they will be think- ing of us; so we'll drink a health to them though it's but a spoonful, and to the day when we see them again ! " The cups were passed round . The 46 tTbe Aatcb of tbe TKlbite Ouar^ Sub- factor measured out a very small portion to each. They were not men of uncommon sentiment; their lives were rigid and isolated and severe. Fireside comforts under fortunate conditions they saw but seldom, and they were not given to expressing their feelings demonstra- tively. But each man then, save Cloud-in-the-Sky, had some memory worth a resurrection, and hearts are hearts even under all uncouthness. Jasper Hume raised his cup; the rest followed his example. "To absent friends and the day when we see them again! " he said; and they all drank. Gasp^ Tou jours solemn- ly, and as if no one was near, made the sign of the cross ; for his mem- ory was with a dark-eyed, soft- 47 I Cbe Aarcb of tbc Mbitc OuarO cheeked peasant girl of the parish of Saint Gabrielle, whom he had left behind five years before, and had never seen since. Word had come from the parish priest that she was dying, and though he wrote back in his homely patois of his grief, and begged that the good father would write again, no word had ever come, and he though of her now as one for whom the candles hud been lighted and masses had been said. But JeflF Hyde's eyes were bright, and suffering as he was, the heart in him was brave and hopeful. He was thinking of a glorious Christmas Day upon the Madawaska River three years agone ; of Adam Henry, the blind fiddler; of bright, warm- hearted Pattie Chown, the belle of 48 Vbc Aarcb of tbe mbtte euarb the ball, and the long drive home in the frosty night. Late Carscallen was thinking of a brother whom he had heard preach his first sermon in Edinburgh ten years before. And Late Carscallen, slow of speech and thought, had been full of pride and love of that brilliant brother. But they, in the natural course of things, drifted apart; the slow and uncouth one to make his home at last not fai '"om the Arctic Circle, and to bt ; i s night on his way to the Barren Grounds. But as he stood with the cup to his lips he recalled the words of a newspaper paragraph of a few months before. It made reference to the fact that " the Reverend James Carscallen, D.D., preached before 4 49 tTbe iftarcb ot tbe TO btte Ouarb Her Majesty on Whitsunday, and had the honor of lunching with Her Majesty afterward. " And Late Car. scallen rubbed his left hand joyfully against his blanketed leg and drank. Cloud-tn-the-Sky's thoughts were with the ^ resent, and his " Ugh ! " of approval was one of the senses pure- ly. Instead of drinking to absent friends he looked at the Sub-factor and said, " How ! " He drank to the Sub-factor. And Jaspar Hume, the Sub-factor, what were his thoughts? His was a memory of childhood; of a house beside a swift-flowing river, where a gentle widowed mother braced her heart against misfortune and denied herself and slaved that her son might be edu- 50 QDe Aarcb of tbe Tmbite (Buarb cated. He had said to her that some day he would be a great man, and she would be paid back a hundred- fold . And he worked hard at school , very hard. But one cold day of spring a message came to the school, and he sped homeward to the house beside the dark river down which the ice was floating — he would re- member that floating ice to his dying day — and entered a quiet room where a white-faced woman was breathing away her life. And he fell at her side and kissed her hand and called to her ; and she waked for a moment only and smiled on him, and said, "Be good, my boy, and God will make you great.'* And then she said she was cold. And some one felt her feet — a kind old soul who li Cbe Aarcb of tbe mblte Ouard ! j- i I II shook her head sadly at the mother and looked pityingly at him; and a voice rising out of a strange smiling languor murmured, "I'll away, I'll away to the Promised Land— to the Promised Land ! It is cold— so cold —God keep my boy!" And the voice ceased, and the kind old soul who had looked at him pityingly folded her arms about him, and drew his brown head to her breast and kissed him with flowing eyes and whispered, "Come away, dear, come away." But he came back in the night and sat beside her, and would not go away, but remained there till the sun grew bright, and then through another day and night until they bore her out of the little house by 52 Sbe Aarcb of tbe TSnbfte Ouacb the river to the frozen hill-side. And the world was empty and the icy river seemed warmer than his heart. And sitting here in this winter desolation Jaspar Hume beholds these scenes of twenty years before and follows himself, a poor dispens- ing clerk in a doctor's office, work- ing for that dream of achievement in which his mother believed; for which she hoped. And following further the boy that was himself, he saw a friendless first-year man at college, soon, however, to make a friend of Varre Lepage, and to see always the best of that friend, being himself so true. And the day came when they both graduated together in science, a bright and happy day, 53 Cbe asMcb of tbe TBlbltc euard Hi succeeded by one still brighter, when they both entered a great firm as junior partners. Then came the meeting with Rose Varcoe; and he thought of how he praised his friend Varre Lepage to her, and brought that friend to be introduced to her. He recalled all those visions that came to him when, his professional triumphs achieved, he should have a happy home, and a happy face, and faces, by his fireside. And f/ie face was to be that of Rose Varcoe, and the others, faces of those who should be like her and like himself. He saw, or rather felt, that face clouded and anxious when he went away ill and blind for health's sake. He did not write. The doctors forbade him that. He did not ask her to write, 54 Vbe Aarcb of tbe mbite Guard for his was so strong and steadfast a nature that he did not need letters to keep him true ; and he thought if she cared for him she must be the same. He did not understand a woman's heart, how it needs remem- brances, and needs to give remem- brances. Looking at Jaspar Hume's face in the light of this fire it seems calm and cold, yet behind it is an agony of memory, the memory of the day when he discovered that Varre Le- page was married to Rose Varcoe, and that the trusted friend had grown famous and well-to-do on the offspring of /its brain. His first thought had been one of fierce anger and determination to expose this man who had falsified all trust. But 55 Vbe Aarcb of tbe TUBbfte 9uatb then came the thought of the girl, and, most of all there came t'le words of his dying mother, "Be good, my boy, and God will make you great," and for his mother's sake he had compassion on the girl, and sought no revenge upon her hus- band. Rare type of man, in a sor- did, unchivalric world! And now, ten years later, he did not regret that he had stayed his hand. The world had ceased to call Varre Le- page a genius. He had not fulfilled the hope that was held of him. This Jaspar Hume knew from occasional references in scientific journals. And he was making this journey to save, if he could, Varre Lepage's life. And he has no regret. Though just on the verge of a new 56 Vbe Aarcb of tbe VBbtte Ouatb era in his career— to give to the world the fruit of ten years* thought and labor, he had set all behind him that he might be true to the friend- ship of his youth, that he might be loyal to his manhood, that he might be clear of the strokes of conscience to the last hour of his life. Looking round him now, the de- bating look comes again into his eyes. He places his hand in his breast, and lets it rest there for a moment. The look becomes certain and steady, the hand is drawn out, and in it is a Book of Common Prayer. Upon the fly-leaf is writ- ten, "Jane Hume, to her dear son Jaspar, on his twelfth birthday." These men of the White Guard are not used to religious practices, 57 XLbe Aatcb ot tbe TObite ©uiitb whatever their past has been in that regard, and at any other time they might have been surprised at this action of Jaspar ^xume. Under some circumstances it might have lessened their opinion of him, but his influence over them now was complete. They knew they were getting nearer to him than they had ever done; even Cloud-in-the-Sky appreciated that. He spoke no word to them, but looked at them and stood up. They all did the same, Jeff Hyde leaning on the shoulders of Gasp6 Tou jours. He read first, four verses of the Thirty- first Psalm, then followed the prayer of St. Chrysostom, and the beautiful collect which appeals to the Almighty to mercifully look upon the infirmi- S8 ttbe Aarcb of tbe TSBblte OuarO ties of men, and to stretch forth His hand to keep and defend them in all dangers and necessities. Late Car- scallen, after a long pause, said "Amen," and Jeff Hyde said in a whisper to Gaspe Toujours, "That's to the point. Infirmities and dangers and necessities is what troubles us." Immediately after, at a sign from the Sub-factor, Cloud-in-the-Sky be- gan to transfer the burning wood from one fire to the other until only hot ashes were left where a great blaze had been. Over these ashes pine twigs and branches were spread, and over them again blankets. The word was then given to turn in, and Jeff Hyde, Gasp€ Toujours, and Late Carscallen lay down in this comfort- able bed. Each wished to give way 59 Vbe Aarcb of tbe White OuarO to their captain, out he would not consent, and he and Cloud-in-the- Sky wrapped themselves in their blankets like mummies, covering their heads completely, and under the arctic sky they slept alone in an austere and tenantless world. They never know how loftily sardonic Na- ture can be who have not seen that land where the mercury freezes in the tubes, and there is light but no warmth in the smile of the sun. Not Sturt in the heart of Australia with the mercury bursting the fever- ed tubes, with the finger-nails break- ing like brittle glass, with the ink drying instantly on the pen, with the hair falling off and fading, would, if he could, have exchanged his lot for that of the White Guard. 60 11 Cbe iftarcb ot tb< TTOblte g uard They are in a frozen endlessness that stretches away to a world where never voice of man or clip of wing or tread of animal is heard. It is the threshold to the undiscovered country, to that untouched north whose fields of white are only fur- rowed by the giant forces of the ele- ments; on whose frigid hearthstone no fire is ever lit : a place where the electric phantoms of a nightless land pass and repass, and are never still ; where the magic needle points not toward the north but darkly down- ward, downward! — where the sun never stretches warm hands to him who dares confront the terrors of eternal snow. The White Guard sleeps! 61 IV " No, C*ptain ; leave me here and pttsii on to the Mauitou Mounts n. You ought to make it m two days. I'm lust is sai.^ aere as oa tbe sleds 1 maf ' s no re*^ vhile m y fooi and less trouble a b* good I'l have a g» you're go^t, and thei eyes viil Ci*me rig is ^matiy weM no^. f^, j«B H This, the giai ; suffered most Bi Jaspi'- ime said, "I won't leave you ioac, my nan. The dogs can carry , as i ley've done for the ast teu <iays." 63 was snow-blind, i the party, had I gbe Aarcb or tbe Wbite 6uard But Jeff replied, " I'm as safe here as marching, and safer. When the dogs are not carrying me, nor any one leading me, you can get on faster; and that means everything to us; now don't it?" Jaspar Hume met the eyes of Gasp6 Toujours. He read them. Then he said to Jeff Hyde, "It shall be as you wish. Late Carscallen, Cloud-in-the-Sky, and myself will push on to Manitou Mountain. You and Gasp^ Toujours will remain here." Jeff Hyde's blind eyes turned to- ward Gasp^ Toujours, and Gasp€ Toujours said, "Yes. We have plenty of tabac." A tent was set up, provisions were put in it, a spirit-lamp and matches 64 trbe Aarcb ot tbe TOblte Cttar^ were added, and the simple minage was complete. Not quite. Jaspar Hume looked round. There was not a tree in sight. He stooped and cut away a pole *hat was used for strengfthening the runners of the sleds; fastened it firmly in the ground, and tied to it a red woollen scarf, which he had used for tight- ening his white blankets round him. Then he said: "Be sure and keep that flying, men." Jeff Hyde's face was turned to- ward the north. The blind man's instinct was coming to him. Far off white eddying drifts were rising over long hillocks of snow. When Jeff turned round again his face was slightly troubled. It grew more troubled, then it brightened up 5 •S gbe Aarcb of tbe Wbltc 6narO again, and he said to Jaspar Htime, "Captain, would you leave that book with me till you come back— that about infirmities, dangers, and neces- sities ? I knew a river-boss who used to carry an old spelling-book round with him for luck. It had belonged to a schoolmaster, who took him in and did for him when his father and mother went into Kingdom Come. It seems to me as if that book of yours. Captain, would bring luck to this part of the White Guard, that bein' ou: .it the heels like has to stay behind." Jaspar Hume had borne the suffer- ings of his life with courage; he had led this terrible tramp with no tremor at his heart for himself; he was seeking to perform a perilous 66 tn>e Aatcb of tbe TRDbtte enatb act without any inward shrinking; but Jeff's request was the greatest trial of this momentous period in his life. This book had not left his breast, save when he slept, for twenty years. To give it up was like throwing open the doors of his nature to such weaknesses that assail and conquer most men at some time or other in their lives. Jeff Hyde felt, if he could not see, the hesitation of his chief. His rough but kind instincts told him something was wrong in his request, and lie hastened to add, " Beg your pardon, sir, it ain't no matter; I oughtn't to have asked you for it. But it's just like me; I've been a chain on the leg of the White Guard this whole tramp." 67 ^ ^ gbc iftarcb of tbe mbite euard < The moment of hesitation had parsed before ]eS Hyde had said half-a-dozen words, and Jaspar Hume put the book in his hands with the words, "No, Jeff Hyde, take it. It tvt// bring luck to the White Guard. Put it where I have carried it, and keep it safe until I come back." Jeff Hyde placed the book in his bosom, but hearing a guttural " Ugh " behind him he turned round de- fiantly. The Indian touched his arm and said, "Good! Strong-back book-good ! " Jeff was satisfied. At this point they parted, Jeff Hyde and Gaspe Toujours remain- ing, and Jaspar Hume and his two followers going on toward Mani- tou Mountain. There seemed little 68 ii XSbe Aarcb of tbe TSSlbtte OuatD probability that Varre Lepage would be found. In their progress east- ward and northward they had cov- ered wide areas of country, dividing and meeting again after stated hours of travel, but not a sign had been seen ; neither cairn nor staff nor any mark of human presence. Jaspar Hume had noticed Jeflf Hyde's face when it was turned to the eddying drifts of the north, and he understood what was in the ex- perienced huntsman's mind. He knew that severe weather was before them, and that the greatest difficulty of the journey was to be encountered. Yet, somehow, the fear that possessed him when the book was taken from his breast had left him, and he reaped in his act of self-sacrifice a 69 (Tbe Aarcb of tbe tmbfte Ouarb t larger courage and rarer strength than that which had heretofore stayed him on this cheerless journey. That night they saw Manitou Mountain, cold, colossal, harshly calm; and jointly with that sight there arose a shrieking, biting, fear- ful north wind. It blew upon them in cruel menace of conquest, in piercing inclemency. It struck a freezing terror to their hearts, and grew in violent attack until, as if re- penting that it had foregone its power to save, the sun suddenly grew red and angry and spread out a shield of blood along the bastions of the west. The wind shrunk back and grew less murderous, and ere the last red arrows shot up behind the lonely western wall of white, the 70 XLbe Aarcb of tbe VBbfte Ouatd three knew that the worst of the storm had passed and that death had drawn back for a time. What Jas- par Hume thought we shall gather from his diary; for ere he crawled in among the dogs and stretched himself out beside Jacques, he wrote these words with aching fingers: — "January loth: Camp 39. — A bit- ter day. We are facing three fears now: the fate of those we left be- hind ; his fate ; and the going back. We are thirty miles from Manitou Mountain. If he is found, I should not fear at all the return journey; success gives hope. We trust in God." Another day passes and at night, after a hard march, they camp five miles from Manitou Mountain. And 7» Zbe Aarcb of tbe TSlblte (Buarb not a sign ! But Jaspar Hume knows that there is a faint chance of Varre Lepage being found at this moun- tain. His iron frame has borne the hardships of this journey well; his valiant heart better. But this night an unaccountable weakness possesses him. Mind and body are on the verge of helplessness and faintness. Jacques seems to understand that, and when he is unhitched from the team of dogs, now dwindled to seven, he goes to his master and leaps upon his breast. It was as if some instinct of sympathy, of presci- ence, was passing between the man and the dog. Jaspar Hume bent his head down to Jacques for an instant and rubbed his side kind- ly; then he said, with a tired ac- 7-2 Sbe Aarcb of tbe TBUbite Onatd cent, "It's all right, dog; it's all right!" Jaspar Hume did not sleep well at first that night, but at length obliv. ion came. He waked to feel Jacques tugging at his blankets. It was noon. Late Carscallen and Cloud- in-the-Sky were still sleeping — inani- mate bundles among the dogs. In an hour they were on their way again, and toward sunset they had reached the foot of Manitou Moun- tain. Abruptly from the plain rose this mighty mound, blue and white upon a black base. A few straggling pines grew near its foot, defying lat- itude, as the mountain itself defied the calculations of geographers and geologists. A halt was called. Late Carscallen and Cloud-in-the-Sky 73 ! ?i (Tbe Aarcb ot tbe mbite 9mtb looked at the chief. His eyes were scanning the mountain closely. Sud- denly he paused. Five hundred feet up there is a great round hole in the solid rock, and from this hole there comes a feeble cloud of smoke ! Jas- par Hume's hand points where his eyes are fixed. The other two see. Cloud-in-the-Sky gives a wild whoop, such a whoop as only an Indian can give, and from the mountain there comes, a moment after, a faint re- plica of the sound. It is not an echo, for there appears at the mouth of the cave an Indian, who sees them and makes feeble signs for them to come. In a few moments they are at the cave. As Jaspar Hume en- ters, Cloud-in-the-Sky and the stal- wart but emaciated Indian who had 74 9be Aarcb of tbe wmte Ouard beckoned to them speak to each other in the Chinook language, the jargon common to all Indians of the West. Jaspar Hume saw a form reclining on a great bundle of pine branches, and he knew what Rose Lepage had prayed for had come to pass. By the flickering light of a handful of fire he saw Varre Lepage — rather what was left of him — a shadow of energy, a heap of nerveless bones. His eyes were shut, but as Jaspar Hume, with a quiver of memory and sympathy at his heart, stood for an instant and looked at the man whom he had cherished as a friend and found an enemy, the pale lips of Varre Lepage moved and a weak voice said, " Who — is there? " 75 CDc iftarcb of tbe ITOMtc gmtP "A friend. '• "A friend! Come — near — me, — friend!" Jaspar Hume made a motion to Late Carscallen, who was heating some liquor at the fire, and he came near and stooped and lifted up the sick man's head, and took his hand. " You have come — to save me — to save me ! " said the weak voice again. "Yes; I have come to save you." This voice was strong and clear and true. " I seem — to have — heard — your voice before — somewhere before I seem to — have " But he had fainted. Jaspar Hume poured a little liquor down the sick man's throat, and Late Carscallen chafed the delicate 76 Sbc Aarcb or tbe Tnbttc OuarD hand— delicate in health, it was like that of a little child now. When breath came again Jaspar Hume whispered to his helper, "Take Cloud-in-the-Sky and get wood; bring fresh branches; clear one of the sleds, and we will start back with him in the early morning." Late Carscallen, looking at the skeleton-like figure, said, "He will never gt there." "Yes," said Jaspar Hume; "he will get there." "But he is dying." " He goes with me to Fort Provi- denct " "Ay, to Providence hi ^ o>e;%, > at not with you," said Late Ca-«;r.'tr8n, sadly but doggedly. Anger flashed in Jaspar Hume's 77 (Tbe Aarcb of tbe mbite Ouard 1 I; eye, but he said quietly, "I shall take him to his wife; get the wood, Carscallen." And Jaspar Hume was left alone with the starving Indian, who sat beside the fire eating voraciously, and the sufferer, who now mechani- cally was taking a little biscuit sopped in brandy. For a few moments ihi:r>, and his sr^iken eyes opened and he looked dazedly at the man bending above him . Suddenly there came into them a look of terror. " You— you— arc Jaspar Hume," the voice said in an c»w ;d whisper. " Yes " ; and the hands of the Sub- factor chafed those of the other. " But you i i you were a— friend, and come to save me. " " I am come to save you." Obe Aarcb of tbe Mbfte (3u«rb There was a shiver of the suffer- er's body. This discovery would either make him stronger or kill him altogether. Jaspar Hume knew this, and said: "Varre Lepage, the past is past and dead to me; let it be so to you." There was a pause. " How — did you know — about me ? " " I was at Fort Providence ; there came letters from the Hudson Bay Company, and from your wife, saying that you were making this journey, and were six months behind " " My wife, my wife ! Rose ! " " Yes, I have a letter for you from her. She is on her way to Canada. We are to take you to her." "To take me— to her!" He shook his head sadly, but he pressed 79 Sbe Aarcb of tbe mute Guard . I :} J the letter that Jaspar Hume had just given him to his lips. "To take you to her, Varre Le- page." "No, I shall never — see her — again." "I tell you, you shall. You can live if you will. You owe that to her — to me— to God ! " " To her— to you— to God. But I have been true— to none. To win her I wronged you doubly — and wronged her too; and wronging— both of you, I wronged That Other One. I have been punished. I shall die here." " You shall go to Fort Providence. Do that in payment of your debt to me. Varre Lepage. I demand that." In this sinning man there was a. 80 Vbe ItKcb of tbe Tnbtte 0tttr^ latent spark of honor, a sense of jus- tice that might have been developed to great causes, to noble ends, if some strong nature, seeing his weak- nesses, had not condoned them, but had appealed to the natural chivalry of an impressionable, vain, and weak character. He struggled to meet the eyes of Jaspar Hume, and doing so he gained confidence and said, " I wi// try to live. I will do you justice — yet. But, oh, my wife ! " "Your first duty is to eat and drink. We start for Fort Provi- dence to-morrow morning. " The sick man stretched out his hand: "Food! Food!" he said. In .-ttle bits food and drink were given to him, and his strength sen- sibly increased. The cave was soon 6 8i Cbe fl^accb ot tbc TOblte Ouarb aglow with the fire that was kindled by Late Carscallen and Cloud-in-the- Sky. There was little speaking, for the sick man soon fell asleep. Varre Lepage's Indian told Cloud-in-the- Sky the tale of their march— how the other Indian and the dogs died; how his master became ill as they were starting toward Fort Provi- dence from Manitou Mountain in the summer weather; how they turn- ed back and took refuge in this cave; how month by month they had lived on what would hardly keep a rabbit alive; and how at last his master urged him to press on with his papers; but he would not, and stayed until this day, when the last bit of food had been eaten, and they were found ! 83 V. The next morning Varre Lepage was placed upon a sled and they started back, Jacques barking joy- fully as he led off, with Cloud-in- the-Sky beside him. There was light in the faces of all, though the light could not be seen by reason of their being muffled so. All day they travelled, scarcely halting, Varre Le- page's Indian being strong again and marching well. Often the corpse- like bundle on the sled was disturbed and biscuits wet in brandy and bits of preserved venison were given. That night Jaspar Hume said to Late Carscallen : " I am going to start «3 _Cbe Aarcb of tbe TBObtte Oiuird at the first light of the morning to get to Gasp^ Toujours and Jeff Hyde as soon as possible. Follow as fast as you can. He will be safe if you give him food and drink often. I shall get to the place where we left them about noon ; you should reach there at night or early the next morning." "Hadn't you better take Jacques with you? •• said Late Carscallen. The Sub-factor thought a moment, and then said, "No, he is needed most where he is. " At noon the next day Jaspar Hume looks round upon a billowy plain of sun and ice, but he sees no staflF, no signal, no tent, no sign of human life: of Gasp€ Toujours or of JefiF Hyde. His strong heart quails. 84 Sbe Aarcb of tbe Wbitc Oniird Has he lost his way? He looks at the sun. He is not sure. He con- sults his compass, but it quivers hesitatingly, and then points down- ward ! For a while wild bewilder- ment which seizes upon the minds of the strongest, when lost, masters him, in spite of his struggles agfainst it. He moves in a maze of half- blindness, half -delirium. He is lost in it, is swayed by it. He begins tc wander about ; and there grow upon his senses strange delights and reel- ing agonies. He hears church bells, he catches at butterflies, he tumbles in new-mown hay, he wanders in a tropic garden. But in the hay a wasp stings him, and the butterfly changes to a curling black snake that strikes at him and glides to a dark- H ii i: • i U i K. J r ■ Cbe flSarcb of tbe TBlbltc gwitd flowing river full of floating ice, and up from the river a white hand is thrust, and it beckons him — beckons him ! He shuts his eyes and moves toward it, but a voice stops him, and it says, " Come away ! come away ! " and two arms fold him round, and as he ^oes back from the shore he stumbles and falls, and .... What is this ? A yielding mass at his feet ! A mass that stirs! He clutches at it, he tears away the snow, he calls aloud — and his voice has a far-away unnatural sound — "Gasp€ Toujours! Gaspe Toujours ! " Yes, it is Gasp6 Toujours! And beside him lies Jeff Hyde, and alive! ay, alive! Thank God! Jaspar Hume's mind is itself again. It had but suffered for a moment 86 . i *'U VOTZi XH A HUM OX KA£r*BU2{81liai, MSOS' Sbc Aarcd of tbc WMtt •sard what comes to most men when they recognize first that they are being shadowed by the awful ban of " Lost. " Gasp^ Toujours and Jeff Hyde had lain down in the tent the night of the great wind and had gone to sleep at once. The staff had been blown down, the tent had fallen over them, the drift had covered them, and for three days they had slept beneath the snow ; never waking. Jeff Hyde's sight was come again to him. " You've come back for the book," he said ; " you couldn't go on without it. You ought to have taken it yesterday " ; and he drew it from his bosom. " No, Jeff, I've not come back for that : and I did not leave you yester- day : it is three days and more since 89 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART (ANSI and ISO TEST CHART No. 2) A APPLIED IIVMGE Inc 1653 East Main Street Rochester, Ne* York 14609 (716) 482 - 0300 - Phone (716) 288 - 5989 - Fax USA I Zbc Aaccb of tbe mbite Ouard we parted. The book Aas brought us luck, and the best! We have found Aim; and they'll be hereto- night with him. I came on ahead to see how you fared." In that frost-bitten world Jeff Hyde uncovered his head for a mo- ment. "Gaspe Toujours is a Pa- pist, " he said ; " but he read me some of that book the day you left, and one thing we went to sleep on: it was that about 'Lightenin' the dark- ness, and defendin' us from all the perils and dangers of this night. ' " Here Gasp^ Toujours made the sign of the cross. Jeff Hyde continued half apologetically for his comrade, " It comes natural to Gasp6 Toujours —I guess it always does to Papists. But I never had any trainin' that 90 JLbe Aarcb of tbe TnUbfte Guard ht 0- id ff 3- l- le d it way, and I had to turn the thing over and over, and I fell asleep on it. And when I wake up three days after, here's my eyes as fresh as daisies, and you back, Captain, and the thing done that we come to do ! " He put the book into the hands of Jaspar Hume, and Gasp^ Toujours at that moment said, " See ! " And far off, against the eastern horizon, appeared a group of moving figures! That night the broken segments of the White Guard were reunited, and Varre Lepage slept by the side of Jaspar Hume. 9t I VI. To conquer is to gain courage and unusual powers of endurance. Na- poleon might have marched back from Moscow with undecimated le- gions safely enough, if the heart of those legions had not been crushed. The White Guard, with their faces turned homeward and the man they had sought for in their care, seemed to have acquired new strength. Through days of dreadful cold, through nights of appalling fierce- ness, through storm upon the plains that made for them paralyzing cover- lets, they marched. And if Varre Lepage did not grow stronger, life at 93 gbe Itntch of tbe TBUbfte Oiuird '2 11 ilf •r ! ! 5 ! II least was kept in him, and he had once more the desire to live. There was I nle speech among them, but once in a while Gasp€ Toujours sang snatches of the songs of the voyagers of the great rivers; and the hcirts of all were strong. Between Jacques and his master there was occasional demonstration. Jacques seemed to know that a load was beii:g lifted from the heart of Jaspar Hume, and Jaspar Hume, on the twentieth day homeward, said with his hand on the dog's head, " It had to be done, Jacques; even a dog could see that ! " And so it was "all right" for the White Guard. One day when the sun was warmer than usual over Fort Providence, and just sixty-five days 94 TTbe Aarcb of tbe TDSlbfte OuarO since that cheer had gone up from apprehensive hearts for brave men going out into the Barren Grounds, Sergeant Gosse, who every day and of late many times a day, had swept the northeast with a field-glass, rushed into the Chief Factor's office, and with a broken voice cried, " The White Guard ! The White Guard ! " and pointed toward the northeast. And then he leaned his arm and head against the wall and sobbed. And the old Factor rose from his chair tremblingly, and said " Thank God," and went hurriedly into the square. But he did not go steadily — the joyous news had shaken him, sturdy old pioneer as he was. As he passes out one can see that a fringe of white has grown about his 95 trbe Aarcb of tbe mbite OtuirD ?r temples in the last two months. The people of the Fort had said, they had never seen him so irascible, yet so gentle ; so uneasy, yet so re- served; so stern r ^vLt the mouth, yet so kind about . eyes as he had been since Jaspar Hume had gone with his brave companions on this desperate errand. Already the handful of people at the Fort had gathered. Indians left the store and joined the rest; the Factor and Sergeant Gosse set out to meet the little army of relief. God knows what was in the hearts of the Chief Factor and Jaspar Hume when they shook hands. To the Factor's "In the name of the Hudson Bay Company, Mr. Hume," there came "By the help of God, sir," and he i Zbe Aarcb of tbe Tnbtte 0uatd pointed to the sled whereon Varre Lepage lay. A feeble hand was clasped in the burly hand of the Factor, and then they fell into line again, Cloud - in - the - Sky running ahead of the dogs. Snow had fallen on them, and as they entered the stockade, men and dogs were white from head to foot. The White Guard had come back ! They were met with cries of praise, broken by an occasional choking sound from men like Sergeant Gosse. Jaspar Hume as simply ac- t. ^ledged his welcome as he had I' uQ the Godspeed two months and more ago. He with the Factor bore the sick man in, and laid him on his own bed. Then he came outside, and when they cheered him again, 7 97 gbc ABarcb of tbe xabite Ouard ='* f! he said, "We have come safely through and I am thankful. But remember that my comrades in this march deserve your cheers in this as much as I. Without them I could have done nothing in the perils that lay between here and the Barren Grounds." " In our infirmities and in all our dangers and necessities," added Jeff Hyde, "the luck of the world was in the book ! " In another half-hour the White Guard was at ease, and four of them were gathered about the great stove in the store, Cloud-in-the-Sky smok- ing placidly, and full of guttural emphasis; Late Carscallen moving his animal-like jaws with a sense of satisfaction; Gasp6 Toujours talking 98 in Chinook to the Indians, in patois to the French clerk: and in broken English to them all ; and Jeff Hyde exclaiming on the wonders of the march, the finding of Varre Lepage at Manitou Mountain, and of himself and Gasp€ Toujours buried in the snow. 99 i i VII. In Jaspa Hume's house at mid- night Varre Lepage lay asleep with his wife's letters — received through the Factor — clasped to his breast. The firelight played upon a face prematurely old — a dark disappoint- ed face — a doon:4ed face, as it seemed to the Factor. "You knew him, then," the Far- tor said, after a long silence. "Yes; I knew him well, years ago," replied Jaspar Hume. Just then the sick mar stirret' In bis sleep, and said disjoimi dly, " 1 11 make it all right to you, Jaspar." Then came a pause and a quicker lOI •■I — Zbe Aarcb of tbe TOOlbite (Buarb utterance, "Rose — I — love you — Forgive — forgive ! " The Factor rose and turned to go, and Jaspar Hume, with a despairing, sorrowful gesture, went over to the bed. Again the voice said, " Ten years — I have repented ten years — My wife — Don't, don't! — I dare not speak — Jaspar forgives me, oh. Rose ! " The Factor touched Jaspar Hume's arm. "This is delirium," he said " He has fever. You and I must nurse him, Hume. You can trust me — you understand." "Yes, I can trust you," was the reply. " But I can tell you nothing." " I do not want to know an3rthing. If you can watch till two o'clock I I02 JSbc Aarcb of tbe 'Ullbtte Ouacb will relieve you. I'll send the medi- cine chest over. You know hov/ to treat him." The Factor passed out and the other was left alone with the man who had wronged him. The feeling most active in his mind was pity, and as he prepared a draught from his own stock of medicines, he thought the past and the present all over. He knew that however much he had suffered, this man had suf- fered more. And in this silent night there was broken down any slight barrier that may have stood between Varre Lepage and his com- plete compassion. Having effaced himself from the calculation, justice became forgiveness. He moistened the sick man's lips 103 (Tbe Aaccb of tbe HQlbite Ouarb and bathed his forehead, and roused him once to take a quieting powder. Then he sat down and wrote to Rose Lepage. But he tore the letter up again and said to the dog: "No, Jacques, I cannot; the Factor must do it. She needn't know yet that it was I with the White Guard who saved him. It doesn't make any burden of gratitude for her, if my name is kept out of it. And the Factor mustn't mention me, Jacques — not yet. And when he is well we will go to London with It, Jacques, and we needn't meet her; and it will be all right, Jacques : all right ! " And the dog seemed to under- stand ; for he went over to the box that held It; and looked at his master. And Jaspar Hume rose 104 tlbe Aarcb of tbc XQlbtte Ouarb and broke the seal and unlocked the box and opened it ; but he heard the sick man moan and he closed it again and went over to the bed. The feeble voice said, " I must speak — I cannot die so — not so — Jaspar." And Jaspar Hume murmured, "God help him." And he moist- ened the lips once again, and put a cold cloth on the fevered head, and then sat down by the fire again. And Varre Lepage slept. As if some charm had been in that " God help him," the restless hands grew quiet, the breath became more regu- lar, and the tortured mind found a short peace. With the old debating look in his eyes, Jaspar Hume sat until the Factor relieved him. 105 I II ii I I 1 1 VIII. Februarv and March and April were past and May was come. Varre Lepage had had a hard struggle for life, but he had survived. For weeks everj' night there was a repe- tition of that first night after the re- turn : delirious self-condemnation, entreaty, and love of his wite, and Jaspar Hume's name mentioned now and again in shuddering remorse. With the help of the Indian who had shared the sick man's sufferings in the Barren Grounds, the Factor and Jaspar Hume nursed him back to life. Between the two watchers, no word had passed after the fiist night 107 tn>e Aarcb of tbe WLbitc Ouar^ regarding the substance of Varre Lepage's delirium. But one even- ing the Factor was -vatching alone, and the repentant man from his feverish sleep cried out, "Hush, hush; don't let them know — I stole them both from him — and the baby died because of that ; God took it — and Rose did not know! She did not know ! " The Factor rose and walked away. The dog was watching him. He said to Jacques : " You have a good master, Jacques — too good and great for the H. B. C." loS IX. It is the loth of May. In an annchair made of hickory and birch- bark by Cloud-in-the-Sky, sits Varre Lepage reading a letter from his wife. She is at Winnipeg, and is coming west as far as Regina to meet him on his way down. He looks a wreck; but a handsome wreck! His refined features, his soft black beard and blue eyes, nis graceful hand and gentle manners, one would scarcely think belonged to an evil-hearted man. He sits in the sunlight at the door, wrapped about in moose and beaver skins. This world of plain and wood is 109 III 1 1 VbemAtcb of tbe TiDlblte euard ; . * ■ 11:' glad. Not so Varre Lepage. He sat and thought of what was to come. He had hoped at times that he would die, but twice Jaspar Hume had said, " I demand your life : you owe it to your wife— to me—to God!" And he had pulled his heart up to this demand and had lived. But what lay before him? He saw a stony track, and he shuddered. The Bar of Justice and Restitution raised its cold barriers before him; and he was not strong ! As he sat there facing his future Jaspar Hume came to him and said, "If vou feel up to it, Lepage, we will start for Edmonton and Sho- vanne on Monday. I think it will be quite safe, and your wife is anx- lous. I shall accompany you as far no TTbe Aarcb of tbe 'QSlbtte Otuitb as Edmonton ; you can then proceed to Shovanne by easy stages, and so on east in the pleasant weather. Are you ready to go? " "VesI I am ready." XII !■ ! X. On a beautiful May evening Varre Lepage, Jaspar Hume, and the White Guard are welcomed at Fort Edmon- ton by the officer in command df the Mounted Police. They are to enjoy the hospitality of the Fort for a couple of days, before they pass on. Jaspar Hume is to go back with Cloud-in-the-Sky and Late Carscal- len, and a number of Indian carriers, for this is a journey of business too. Gasp6 Toujours and Jeff Hyde are to press on with Varre Lepage, who is now much stronger and better. One day passes, and on the follow- ing mortiing Jaspar Hume gives in- 8 Hi Obe iAarcb of tbc Vllbtte euarb ) ill structions to Gasp^ Toujours and Jeff Hyde, and makes preparations for his going back. He is standing in the Barracks Square, when a horse> man rides in and inquires of a ser- geant standing near, if Varre Lepage has arrived at the Fort. A few words bring out the fact that Rose Lepage is nearing the Fort from the south, being determined to come on from Shovanne to meet her husband. The trooper thinks she is now about eight or ten miles awiy ; but is not sure. He had been sent on ahead the day before, but his horse having met with a slight accident, he had been delayed. He had seen the party, however, a long distance back in the early morning. He must now ride away and meet Mrs. Le- 114 Sbc iftarcb of tbc Vlbttc Ouitb page, he said. He was furnished with a fresh horse and he left, bear- ing a message to the loyal wife from Varre Lepage. Jaspar Hume decided to leave Fort Edmonton at once, and to take all the White Guard back with him ; and gave orders to that effect. He entered the room where Varre Le- page sat alone, and said : " Varre Le- page, the time has come for us to say good-by. I am starting at once for Fort Providence." But the other replied : " You will wait until my wife comes. You must," There was pain in his voice. "I must not." Varre Lepage braced himself for a heavy task and said: "Jaspar Hume, if the time has come to say "5 : 'fi tTbe ASarcb of tbe Wbite (3uard good-by, it has also come when we should speak together for once openly : to settle, in so far as can be done, a long account. You have not let my wife know who saved me. That appears from her letters. She asks the name of my rescuer. I have not yet told her. But she will know that to-day, when I tell her all." " When you tell her all? " "When I tell her all." *' But you shall not do that." " I will. It will be the beginning of the confession which I shall after- ward make to the world." " By Heaven you shall not do It. Coward! Would you wreck her life?" Jaspar Hume's face was wrathful, and remained so till the other sank back in the chair with his ii6 ■ f ^1 Zbe Aarcb of tbc TRUbite (9uar& forehead in his hands: but it soft- ened as he saw this remorse and shame. He began to see that Varre Lepage had not clearly grasped the whole situation. He said in quieter, but still firm tones: "No, Lepage, that matter is between us two, and us alone. She must never know — the world therefore must never know. You did an unmanly thing : you are suffering a manly remorse. Now let it end here— but I swear it shall," he said in fierce tones as the other shook his head negatively ; " I would have let you die at Manitou Mountain, if I had thought you would dare to take away your wife's peace — your children's respect." " I have no children ; our baby died." 117 s Sbe Aarcb of tbe Mbtte Guard 'III Jaspar Hume again softened; "Can you not see, Lepage? The thing cannot be mended." Just the2 his hand touched the book that he still carried in his bosom, and as if his mother had whispered to him, he continued : " I bury it all, and so must you. You will begin the world again — old friend — and so shall I. Keep your wife's love and respect. Henceforth you will deserve it." Varre Lepage raised moist eyes to the other and said : " But you will take back the money I got for that ! " There was a pause, then Jaspar Hume replied: "Yes, upon such terms, times, and conditions as I shall hereafter fix. And you have no child, Lepage? " he gently added. ii8 Cbc ittarc b ct tbe TObtte guarP " We have no child ; it died with my fame." Jaspar Hume looked steadily into the eyes of the man who had wronged him : " Remember, Varre, you begin the world again. I am going now. By the memory of old days, good- by"; and he held out his hand. Varre Lepage took it and rose trem- blingly to his feet, and said, " You are a good man, Jaspar Hume. Good-by!" The Sub-factor turned at the door. " If it will please you, tell your wife that I saved you. Some one will tell her; perhaps I would rather— at least it would be more natural, if you did it." He passed out into the heat of sunshine that streamed into the room and fell across the figure 119 (Tbe Aarcb of tbe TTObtce Ouarb I M of Varre Lepage, who sat and said dreamily, "And begin the world again." Before Jaspar Hume mounted, al- most immediately after, to join the White Guard now ready for the journey back, Jacques sprang upon him and pushed his nose against his master's heart. And once again, and for the last time that we shall hear it, Jaspar Hume said, " It's all right, Jacques." And then they started for the north again. As they were doing so, a shadow fell across the sunlight that streamed upon Varre Lepage. He looked up. There was a startled cry of joy, an answering exclamation of love, and Rose Lepage was locked in her husband's arms. I20 trbe Aarcb of tbe tKnbite 0navb A few moments after and the sweet-faced woman said : " Who was that man who rode away to the north as I came up, Varre? He re- minded me of some one, but I can't think who it is." " That was the leader of the White Guard, the man who saved me, my wife." He paused a moment and then solemnly said, " That man was Jaspar Hume ! " The wife rose to her feet with a spring. " He saved you! He saved you ! Jaspar Hume ! — oh, Varre ! " " He saved me, Rose ! " Her eyes were wet: "And he would not stay and let me thank him! Poor fellow: poor Jaspar — Hume ! Has he then been up here these ten years? " 121 Vb€ Aarcb of tbe Mbite Ouarb Her face was flushed, and pain was struggling with the joy she felt in seeing her husband again. "Yes, he has been up here all that time." "He has not succeeded in life, Varre ! " and her thoughts went back to the days when, blind and ill, Jaspar Hume went away for health's sake, and she remembered how sorry then she felt for him, and how grieved she was that when he came back strong and well, he did not come near her or her husband, and offered no congratulations. She had not deliberately wronged him. She did not know he wished her to be his wife. She knew he cared for her; but so did Varre Lepage. A promise had been given to neither 133 «be Aatcb ot tbe TObite Ouat& when Jaspar Hume went away; and after that she grew to love the suc- cessful, kind-mannered genius who became her husband. Even in this happiness of hers, sitting once again at her husband's feet, she thought with a tender and glowing kindness of the man who had cared for her eleven years ago; and who had but now saved her husband. "He has not succeeded in life," she repeated softly. Looking down at her, his brow burning with a white heat, Varre Lepage said, "He is a great man, my wife." "I am sure he is a good man," she added. Perhaps Varre Lepage had bor- rowed some strength from Jaspar 123 ■' I TCbe Aarcb of tbe Mblte Oiurd fi Hume, for he said almost sternly, " He is a ^reat man." His wife looked up half-startled at the tone and said, "Yes, dear; he is a good man — and a great man. " The sunlight still came in through the open door. The Saskatchewan flowed swiftly between its verdant banks, an eagle went floating away to the west, robins made vocal a solitary tree a few yards away, troop- ers moved back and forward across the square, and a hen and her chick- ens came fluttering to the threshold. The wife looked at the yellow brood drawing close to their mother, and her eyes grew wistful. She thought of their one baby asleep in an Eng- lish grave. But thinking of the words of the captain of the White 124 «be Aaccb of tbc TObite guatP Guard, Varre Lepage said, " We will begin the world again, my wife." She smiled, and rose to kiss his forehead as the hen and chickens hastened away from the door, and a clear bugle call sounded in the square. "Yes, dear," she said, "we will begin the world again." "S ■■■I XL Eleven years have gone since that s-^ene was enacted at Edmonton, and the curtain rises for the last act of that drama of life which is con- nected with the brief history of the White Guard. A great gathering is dispersing from a hall in Piccadilly. It has been drawn together to do honor to a man who has achieved a triumph in engineering science. As he steps from the platform to go he is greeted by a fusilade of cheers. He bows calmly and kindly. He is a man of vigorous yet reserved aspect ; he has a rare individuality. He receives 127 \i gbc iftarcb of tbc VBbite Otuirb with a quiet cordiality the personal congratulations of his friends. He remains for some time in conversa- tion with a royal Duke, who takes his arm and with him passes into the street. The Duke is a member of this great man's club, and offers him a seat in his brougham. Amid the cheers of the people they drive away together. Inside the club there are fresh congratulations, and it is pro- posed to arrange an impromptu din- ner, at which the Duke will preside. But with modesty and honest thanks the great man declines. He pleads an engagement. He had pleaded this engagement the day before to a well-known society. After his health is proposed he makes his adieus, and leaving the club, walks away toward 128 m YWW' Vbe Aarcb of tbc VBbftc Ouatd a West-end square. In one of its streets he pauses and enters a build- ing called "Providence Chambers." His servant hands him a cablegram. He passes to his library, and stand- ing before the fire, opens it. It reads: "My wife and I send con- gratulations to the great man." Jaspar Hume stands for a moment looking at the fire, and then says simply, " I wish my poor old Jacques were here." He then sits down and writes this letter : — "Mv DEAR Friends: — Your cable- gram has made me glad. The day is over. My last idea was more suc- cessful than I even dared to hope; and the world has been kind. I went down to see your boy, Jaspar, at Clifton last week. It was the 9 "9 gbe Aarcb of tbe TBUblte Ouart S.t.! 13th, his birthday, you know, ten years old, and a clever, strong-mind- ed little fellow. He is quite con- tented. As he is my god-child I again claimed the right of putting a thousand dollars to his credit in the bank-I have to speak of dollars to you people living in Canada— which I have done on his every birthday. When he is twenty-one he will have twenty-one thousand dollars— quite enough for a start in life. We get along well together, and I think he will develop a fine faculty for science. In the summer, as I said, I will bring him over to you. There is nothing more to say to-night except that I am as always, "Your faithful friend, "Jaspar Hume." 130 tTbe Aarcb of tbe IQlbite (Suatb A moment aftc tbc ittter was finished the servmt entered and announced "Mr. itt Carscallen." With a smile and hearty greeting the great man and this member of the White Guard meet. It was to entertain his old Arctic com- rade that Jaspar Hume had declined to be entertained by society or club. A little while after, seated at the table, the ex-Sub-factor said, " You found your brother well, Cars- callen?" The jaws moved slowly as of old. "Ay, that, and a grand minister, Captain." " He wanted you to stay in Scot- land, I suppose." " Ay, that, but there's no place for me like Fort Providence." 131 ^beAatcb of tbe mbite 9Mtb " Try this pheasant. And you are Sub-factor now, Carscallen ! " "There's two of us Sub-factors— Jeff Hyde and myself. Mr. Field is old and can't do much work, and trade is heavy now." " Yes ; I hear from the Factor now and then. And Gaspe Toujours? " " He went away three years ago, but he said he'd come back. He never did though. Jeff Hyde be- lieves he will. He says to me a hundred times: 'Carscallen, he made the sign of the cross that he'd come back from Saint Gabrielle ; and that's next to the Book with a Papist. If he's alive he'll come.' " "Perhaps he will, Carscallen. And Cloud-in-the-Sky?" "He's still there, and comes in 13a XSbe Aarcb or tbe White Ouarb and smokes with Jeff Hyde and me, as he used to do with you, sir; but he doesn't obey our orders as he did those of the Captain of the White Guard. He said to me when I left, ' You see Strong-back, tell him Cloud-in-the-Sky good Indian — he never forget. How ! ' " Jaspar Hume raised his glass with smiling and thoughtful eyes: "To Cloud-in-the-Sky and all who never forget!" he said. I3J