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IN the following pages an attempt has been made to dercribe certain phases of Western Life and Scenery in Canada, and to present some of the peculiarities which distinguish western from more civilized communities else- where. It must not however be supposed that men and women in the North- West are of necessity picturesque and bav- barous ; for indeed the towns and villages are all complete models of their kind, the women have harmoniums and social differences, choir practices, and an exhaustive knowledge of their neighbours' affairs ; the men look after the politics and the weather, go to church when not too lazy, and are sometimes depraved enough to carry um- brellas. The farmer's house has the proper garrison of flies, the furniture is as comfortless as he could wish, and at the harvest a western growl is much the same as a down east growl. The cooking and eating on the Plains, the flirting and the marrying, the births, the funerals, and the taxes, are imitated from the same amenities in the favoured East. If the enterprising Mrs. Brown imports at a great expense a servant girl, the latter promptly gets married, and the mistress writes to her friends at home that the country is therefore a delusion and a fraud, and it rained all last week, and Mr. Brown has an awful cold, and a strange cat has come to board and had a litter of kittens in the back kitchen. But for all that, and it's bad enough to be sure, the logical Mrs. Brown knows that even if she quarrels with the country, the weather, Mr. B , and the kittens, she yet enjoys all modern inconveniences in her western home, she would never be satisfied until she got back if she did go away,- and the monthly bills don't come in move frequently now than of old. VI. PREFAOK. But this book is not about the citizens and tlie farmers, nor even that all absorbing topic of emigration ; nor does it pretend to describe the country as seen by the distin- guished visitor, who is conducted to the Missions, Indian Agencies, swell farms, and other show places, dines with the chief officials, and writes a book of his adventures, cuisine, and opinions while on the war path. I have ventured to describe only the portions of the community that do not live in the routine of civilized life, to tell the truth about them, to do justice to them, to re- present as far as possible the action of law and other cir- cumstance upon such elements; to describe them before they are all gone, swept away by the advance of Mrs. Grundy. Great care has been taken to depict justly the phenomena of nature, the aspects of the seasons, and the typical scenery of the regions described. The style of conversation has been copied at the risk of appearing awkward and unnatural to those not accustomed to the peculiar manner of western men. The scenes, incidents, and characters of those sketches are nearly all taken directly from life, but combined for the purposes of fiction ; but should any offence be taken by friends and acquaint- ances at the relation in this disguised form of their adven- tures, it is to be hoped that my sincere apology will be accepted. Greatly indebted for candid criticism and other assist- ance to numerous friends, I must more especially thank Mr. Walpole Roland, the author of a recent valuable work on Western Algoma, for help that has gone far to ensure the success of these pictures of Western Life. Ottawa, February, 1888. VII. INDEX. Lake Superior. A Useless Man 3 Thk Ice Coktkok 10 The Whiskey RuNNEn« 14 The Leuend oi- Thunukk Sf) The Prairie. The Lean Man 46 A NioHT Halt 72 D'Anqdera 7S The Trails 02 Lost 9() P:ric 115 Death of Wakuzza 148 *Bdck Stanton 152 '< Lights Out !'' 157 Tlie Wilderness. The Laurentides 160 LAKE SUPEEIOK. I h th of w a bi VI w te an pr ov an he di] to: A USELESS MAN. From the Toronto "Week." I WAS sent to survey a three mile section of the Canadian Pacific Railway on the Bay of St. Ignace, Lake iSuperior. The lay of the land was that of a house roof, and the grade was at the base of an eight-hundred foot cliff. Most of the road- way was cut out of solid rock, wuth here and there a bridge over a ravine, or a tunnel under a spur to break monotony. The w^ork was half finished when I was visited by the District Engineer, who brought with him a boy whom he proposed to leave to my tende'r mercies. The apprentice was described as an interesting and amiable youth, and had im- proved the occasion by scaling the precipice overhead. He had also succeeded in getting lost ; and we were organizing a search party, when he favoured us with his presence and was intro- duced. He presented an interesting and rather torn up appearance, and was dressed in brown 4 A USELESS MAN. corduroy; he wes of slender build, with very marked, irregular features, a good skin, and soft expressive eyes. He began our acquaintance by expressing doubts as to whethei he formation was metamorphic or plutonic, exhibited some very poisonous berries which he described as having an agreeable flavour, and borrowed live dollars. Next day we went to work and measured out one of the big rock cuts. I tried Eustace with the chain, the measure, the rod, and in all these he showed and cheerfully admitted the grossest incom- petence. His talent for making blunders was marvellous, and the cause of it all was — thinking. Often when his negligence stopped the work of the party, I feared to rouse him from meditations that I felt might beneiit the human race. In climbing he was slow and heavy ; in locating he was blind and obtuse. I set him to mark the stakes, and blessed him when he forgot their sequence. Before evening I was convinced that he was entirely useless. "Whenever he got a chance he would go up among the cliffs and get lost. When he did turn up he was generally more or less damaged from falls, and always laden with amethysts, herbs, A USELESS MAN. 5 ores, sketches, and ideas. He would favor me V iih his ideas on anatomy, speculatiA^e astronomy, submarine navigation, statuary, boating, and kind- red topics. He would draw plans ol' houses, and of cities ; and sometimes on the sly write verses. He never inllicted these on me however, and 1 forgave him because he was a good listener. In the evenings I tried him at the " estimates" ; but he would make little digressions, estimating the velocity of the earth, or drawing heads on waste paper — and was incompetent. He was at home with logarithms, and stuck at a common fraction : I did the estimates alone. Notwithstanding the fact that he hindered my work, I grew to like the boy. He would ask questions that set my hair on end without show- ing any effort, or seeking efi'ect. Once he asked me if I thought him a coward, and I could not say ; but when a stone from one of the blasts knocked the paint pot out of his hand, he only observed that it was a wasteful method of blastinsr. A day came that I had been dreading for weeks : the Black Cape had to be measured. I postponed the job until the afternoon, walking up and down brooding over the difficulty. I told my 6 A USELESS MAN. party that one of ns must be lowered over the edge of the cliff* and swinging out from the face of the rock must make a conspicuous mark with a paint brush at a point that I should name. The narrow- ness of the ledge from which the work must be done, a spot only to be reached by ropes and lad- ders from the side, the weakness of our only ropes ; the difficulty of keeping a clear head while swinging a hundred feet in the air ; all these things made the operation very dangerous. I could not do the work myself for my presence was ne- cessary at the tripod : my men were too heavy for the rope, and Eustace — " Mr. B I'm going down that cliff". " Eustace was standing before me rather pale, and his eyes glittering. As he walked away I could distinctly see that his limbs were trembl- ing : I must say I had never thought the lad was so easily moved. After dinner I told my chainman : " Sinclair, you'll have to do that cliff business- " The three started the ascent by the ropes and lad- ders from the grade ; the rodman first, Eustace after him, and then the chainman. The rope was being attached to a small cedar at the ledge as I adjusted my instrument. The lens being focussed, still look- ing through it, I bade them lower away. Tn the inverted picture presented within the instrument,^ A USEl.ESS MAN. 7 I saw a human form hanging on a rope swing into view. " Lower, five feet — lower yet — stop, one foot up — three to the right, a little to the right — more, an inch higher — a little to the left — steady, now mark there." I finished signalling these direc- tions from the distance with my hands ; and leav- ing the instrument, looked towards the cliff. The men above were in great distress, and the voice came up from below : " Cease lowering — hold on I say ! " It was Eustace swinging in mid-air, and the cedar yielding ! A mo.rient of confusion — I shouted directions — the distance was too great, and T could hear the navvies below join in the shout- ing- The cedar was crashing down the cliff with on avalanche of stones. The men above were safe, but Eustace From out of the cloud of dust I heard his voice : " Have you got any more cedars, up there 1 " When the dust cleared the cedar was floating in the Lake below, but Eustace was hanging on the face of the cliff below the impending ledge. How he got free from the rope in time I do not know, or how even then he hung on the bare perpendicular face of the clift*. We recovered part of the rope, and took it up the ladders, drawing up one 8 A USELESS MAN. •of the guide ropes to eke out the length. Some men were piling blankets and sacks upon the rocks below in order to break the fall. Hastily we lowered the rope and called out to Eustr^^e. From below he was seen to swing outwards from the cliff", holding only by one foot and hand — his last support gave way, and he fell into space — a tremendous wrench threatened to drag us from the ledge — he had caught the rope and was swinging like a pendulum in mid air. As we lowered away we felt him swarming down to the lower end — a moment more and they were calling loudly from below for more rope, and the last yard was in our hands. " How much more ? " ^'Twenty feet." We gave up the hold of one man, and lowered a little ; we gave up the second man, and one bore the strain alone — the strain was more than one could bear : "Look out ! " There was a dull thud — a cry of expectation — and three ringing cheers ! When I had descended to the grade again Eustace led me away from the crowd, he had en- joyed a faint in the meantime he said, and thrust a scrap of stone into my hand : "What's this ? I found it where the mark was to be made." "Why, it's silver !" A USELESS MAN. U Next day Ilustace told me that he thought that it would be advisable for him to go down to Port Arthur and have his teeth doctored : *' Because I have neuralgia you know — and really the diet here does not suit me." I have had many a worse investment than in the shares of a certain mine found on the face of a cliff by a thoroughly useless man. THE ICE CORTEGE. From the Toronto " Week," August, 188T. THUNDER Bay is formed bj-^ a monster island rock, and by a peninsular extending into Lake Superior, whose cliffs on either side arc ver- tical and of immense height. Thunder Cape in- deed, from its resemblance to the human form, from its great size and desolation is looked upon with awe by the Indians, and as the sleeping Nani- bijou, worshipped. The Bay is almost landlocked, and can be entered only by two straits, one of which is that between the Cape and Island. To-night the Giant is veiled in a soft mist, and the moonlight where it can pierce that mist is faint and ghostly. Where the precipice towers up some thirteen hundred feet above the bay, there is a little shanty by the water's edge. The vast wall hangs over it, its blackness more awful by contrast with the summit silvered in the moonlight. The mountain seems to breathe as the night sets in, and THE ICE OORTEOE. 11 the mournful cedars tremble, as the flowers on the altar tremble at the sound of a cathedral organ. There is a lamp in the shanty, and its light illumines the ice below the window, showing a path leading out on to the bay. The wind is rous- ing, and the great Spirit wiil breathe heavily to- night. A half-breed comes ©ut of the shanty, and stands in the doorway looking across the bay. The •■ light from the house illumines lus sash, a medley of claret, orange, and Vermillion, contrasting strongly with his homespun clothes. The black hair falls from under a cap of brown fur ; and his deep eyes and red brown skin look strange under the vague moonlight. The voice of his young wife is heard within in earnest dissuasive tones ; but half angrily he persists in his enterprise ; and, when she has come to the door and kissed him, he throws a sack of fish over his shoulder, calls his dog, and sets out across the bay. She watches him as his form is fading slowly into the dim distance, and soon he is alone upon ihe Bay despite the warning of the Spirit Cape. 12 THE ICE CORTEGE. She looks up at the black precipice, and some- thing of its gloom is in her heart as she turns away. She sits clown on a bench and mends her husband's old moccasins ; she busies herself pre- paring delicacies to welcome his return ; she turns down the light and sits brooding by the stove. The wind is howling along the cliff; the snow is driving on the bay ; the Griant is breathing in his sleep. She is iilled with dread presentiment, but is weary. The snow drifts are hurled against the house ; the cedars are writhing, tortured in the : tempest. There is a scratching sound at the door — but she has sunk upon the ground and is sleeping ; the dog without, his dog, frozen and sheeted with ice, is howiing piteously — but she never heeds. She stands — her eyes are open and filled with yearning love — she leans forward and mutters in her sleep. She throw^s a plaid about her head, and the folds cover her. She has gone out, and the dog is leaping about her, barking, and looking towards the bay — then, uttering a sharp strange low cry, he runs before. She accepts its guidance on the rotten ice ; the drift is blinding, the storm is rising still, but she pays no heed — she never swerves or turns as she goes to meet her death. THE ICE CORTEOE. 13 # # The ice has broken up on Thunder Bay, and is moving through the strait between the Cape and Island, on its way to the open lake. The Spirit of the Cape looks down on the glittering- rioe : the Island and the Capo look down in sor- row. The ice is sweeping through the mighty gate as it has for many a thousand years before ; but never has it moved the clilTs to sorrow until to-day. In the centre of the lloe is a larger frag- ment than its fellows. It is studded with clear emerald pools, fretted with a lace work of pure white ice, and in the centre is a mound of snow outlined with turquoise shadows. There lie two human forms clasped in each other's arms, taking their rest together upon the drifting ice, and lying upon the snowy forms is a dog. The ice cortege advances to the Lake, and there will the mourners bury their human dead. How grand a pageant this sejmlture in the crystal waters under the piv^e sunlight ! And there will be a day when the mighty Lake will render up its dead, taken away from the earth by an all-seeing God. THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. WHY what's up Fred ? You haven't a word to say to a ( hap all day — you goes growl- inn^ along as though both of us was to be hanged when the loads was sold out." " Oh shut up, for heaven's sake : a man must be talking away like a durned old woman or you think he's got jim-jams." "That's your play, is it ? AV^ell, I trump. It won't do Fied, worth a cent. Here you goes like a bear with a sore ' ead, as though youd been robbed of a new five cent tail. Why what more could you have man ? A good dog train, diy moccasins, plenty of tobacco, any amount ot whiskey, fine weather, and a good supper ahead ! Get up there, Smeller! Git up, you ! ' And Tom reached out the bitter end of his whip, and caught the leader of his team a welt on the off ear that made him uplift i hearty yell, and all the other dogs inly shudder. " Taint that, Tom," said his chum confiden- THl-: WHISKEY RUNNEUS. 1o a tially, as he jumped on his carriole and proceeded with the solemn ceremony oi invoking a light lor his pipe : " It's the darned meanness of the thing-. Think how these railway men would get on ii' it wasn't tor the likes of us." " How they might get on, eh~get on the Jirst boat in the Spring, and olF to the "Landing" (Port Arthur) for a three hundred dollar drunk that'd etarnally clean bust them tor good-and-all. instead of letting down easy like with a small spree between times that don't do no harm. " •' Don't see it — don't see it, nohow. What <'all have they for to go and get drunk at all, anyway ? " " Why what do you get on the spree for re- gular as soon as we strike the first saloon ? " " Blamed if I know." "Why, isn't it because you kind'er want to have a whooping time, and nothing better turns up, so you go to Black Auntie's, and set the bills a- flying, and have a bully good time 'till it's all gone ? " Why what else could you do when you've got lots of wealth. You can't spend it all in board and clothes ? " " Why not bank it V " 16 THE WHISKEY RUNNEES. " Bank it ? Catch me banking it ! What ! after being chased three hundred miles down the line from the " Landing " to Pic and Michipicoten and three hundred miles back keen jump — with any amount of storms, and perhaps a two hundred dollar fine to finish up on ! I say bank it ! Whoop — I'm a wolf, and its my night to howl- to h-o-w-1 ! Let me out ! Let me out ! Whoop ! Ky— aaiii-i-i-i ! — ! ! " " You're tough, you are ! You'll have a wild and woolly time, you will ! Have a big time in gaol ; guess you'll have a big time and no end — but what then ? what then, eh ?" " Well, I guess the world owes me a living, anyhow ; and when the ranches get too hot, I'll turn an honest dollar stealing cattle or selling whiskey; and you bet I'll have a gay old time until I go under. That's what this chicken says." " And what then ? " " What then ? I dunno — Let's see : I dunno." And then they both relapsed into silence while Tom solemnly filled his pipe and evoked a light. " Hullo ! Say Fred, what's that coming out of THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. 17 Mazukama yonder ? Well I'll be etarnally chawed up if it aint Bertie." " Full cry too," said the other, "about time we was out of this, eh ? " •' Out of this ? No, hold on— let her flicker ' " and pulling the dogs up to a solemn walk, Tom began to make signals to two detectives, who haAdng come from under cover of the land, were now in hot pursuit and about a mile distant. " Lucky they're on foot," said Fred, as he set his carriole rather ahead of the other, but appeared to enjoy the game notwithstanding ; for he was by no means averse to a little innocent sport with the Law ; which, as represented by the detectives employed by the Canadian Pacific Railway Syn- dicate, did not inspire much reverence. To the sunny Australian with his merry blue eyes, and sunburnt face, no observer would have attributed the character of a law breaker ; and half his friends thought, from his voice and manner, that he was an Englishman and a sailor ; but, perhaps he had picked up his unconv^entional half (childish air and manner from the life of the wild free prairie, for the plains as well as the mountains- 18 THE WHISKEY liUNMEKS. and the sea can breed children of Nature in Nat- iire's own wise way. But if Tom represented the Prairie, his chum no less represented Lake Supe- rior with his gloomy moods and occasional rousing storms ; and one could read well the meaning of his deep set eyes, his firm jaw, and dusky count- enance ; for they meant unalterable strength of will, and passion, and courage. Yivd was a ruined man. The detectives Bertie and Slicke were gaining rapidly on the dog trains, which were creeping along as though tired out, while their masters sat on the sleighs M'ith their snowshoi^s at hand ; and the pursuers pursued on foot the rugged trail, bent on etFecting a capture. The trail was one [leading over the ice along the North Channel from Nipigon to the eastern end of the islands, and thence skirted the open coast as far as Michipi- €oten some two hundred miles away. The whiskey runners were bound eastward with their carrioles, •each, drawn by a team of seven dogs, loaded with whiskey. When the detectives got within hailing •distance the game began. "Well I guess you fellows are coming down to the Landing with us, aint it ?" THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. 19 " Not by a long chalk." The dogs now kept the distajice at about a hundred and fifty yards, and the silence was pre- sently broken by Tom saying: " Well, what are you going to do about it, iny- way ? " " Wait ! " yelled 81ieke, " and you'll soon find out." " Sorry not to oblige you, gentlemen. Grot an appointment at Michipicoten. Any messages?" "Say Bertie," cried Fred, "hope your wiie's getting round nicely ? Sorry to hear she's down." " Thanks ; much better by last accounts. Pretty close call, though. How long are you fellows going to keep up this monkey business? " "'Oh, I dunno ; guess it'll be as long as you grind the old organ, governor. Say, Italian man, want something to grease the old machine ? " "You bet." " See here ! " and Tom dropped a bottle of his best liquor on the trail, the only seizure made that day. Having pacified the Law, and gone through U 20 THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. the '* So long ! " " Good bye." " An revoir," &(., proper to the occasion ; the peddlers slipped on their snowshoes, whipped up the dogs, and soon left noth- ing in sight to the detectives but the long sway- ing motions of the runners, and the gliding carii- oles beside them, melting into the blue-grey mists of evening. Soon after, the two travellers reached a point where they had agreed to separate, Fred being bound to the East end of the Line, and Tom intending to sell out among the camps on the road back to Nipigon, and afterwards to take up a ' cache ' he had left at Camp Roland near that place. So, after drinking each other's healths, and hearty farewells, the two set off' on their respective ways, Tom intending to do a good business that night at McRae's Camp in Grravel Bay. Knowing that the camp he had chosen was reputed to have a bad cook, our hero abstained from supper, contenting himself with a few hard- tacks as he went along ; and iiually located him- self in the bush near the big log building where the men slept. After giving the dogs their even- ing ration of tish, he proceeded to decoy the rail- way men to his place of business. He was before long surrounded by a stalwart crowd of navvies, regaling themseh'es at the rate of twenty-five THE WHISKEY EUNNERS. 21 cents a drink; and before the stars were out he was supplying his patrons with good wholesome water at the same rate, without their knowing the difference. When none of his customers could hold any more, Tom securely cached his load under a snow bank ; and, taking a bottle in his pocket to propitiate the host, he passed the re- mainder of the night in a comfortable bunk pro- vided at the shanty of an acquaintance. Bright and early the following morning, Tom got the dogs harnessed, and proceeded to a small camp perched among the rocks some three hun- dred feet above the channel ; and; having run his team into a deep black ravine close by, he enjoyed an excellent breakfast and a cigar at the camp build- ing. Leaving word with the cook that he had some lemonade for sale down in the ravine, he went thither, and passed the greater part of the forenoon in disposing- of his merchandise at five dollars for each well watered bottle ; but refused to sell by the drink lest his doings should attract the attention of any Engineer, for the Surveyors were Justices of the Peace for the prevention of the liquor traffic among the navvies. Grravel Bay is probably as wild and rough a 22 THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. locality as any in the Laurentian wilderness. Foi* some three miles the coast consists of aline of clitts from eight to nine hundred feet high, with spurs, crevasses, stone slides, and vertical precipices of every variety, the general plane being that of a mansard roof. Along the base of the cliff runs the line of the great railway, a succession of curves, deep cuttings, side cuts and tunnels, at a rate they say of $250,000 a mile. It was along this grade that Tom proceeded ; and although there were few men to be seen in that part because the grading was complete, Tom was not disposed to show his carffo in broad daylight, and passed leisurely on. Just before he reached Death's Head Peak, he en- countered an acquaintance, and remained for some time in conversation with him ; and, while talk- ing, his sharp eyes noticed a man set off from Mc- Clellan and Fay's camp, which was about a quarter of a mile beyond the Peak. The man was on snow- shoes, and struck out across the Bay towards Mac- Rae's Camp. I'om left his friend, and went on some little distance upon the grade, still watching the stranger, whom he presently recognised as Bertie the detective, doubtless bent on his capture. But just when Tom got immediately under Death's Head Peak, a vertical cliff or spur from the heights THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. 23 above, that towered somewhat over a hundred feet directly over the road, Bertie turned and saw the carriole and the law breaker, and made directly for the Peak. Tom stood with his back against the cliff waiting to see what Bertie would do, and chuckling quietly to himself. Bertie took off his snowshoes at the foot of the dump, and proceeded to crawl up ; and when he reached the level there stood Tom with an amused smile on his face await- ing developments. " Well," gasped Bertie, " I guess I got you ; " and he came forward with his revol- ver at full cock and levelled. Tom was still smil- ing and made no move, but presently observed : '' By the G-reat Horn Spoon of the Palefaces, Bertie, what are you gaping at ? " Still watching the detective, Tom began to look as though he meant business ; and, stooping down, he picked up a cylindrical canister, which he raised at arms length over his head. Bertie was about twelve paces off. There is some thing about the eyes of a real prairie man very like the steel blue eye of a revolver, not less clear, not less stern, not less persuasive. "Now Bertie, don't let that toy go off by mis- take. When you make your second pace doivn comes fke cliff! " 24 THE WHISKEY RUNNEKS. Now Reader, when Tom said that you couldn't have seen Bertie's tail for dust — the flight of birds was nothing to the flight of that bird — his pre- cipitation was simply immense. Persuasive as a revolver may be with a real man behind it, it is iiothing to the argumentative cogency of a canister of nitro glycerine. And, as the form of the retiring detective began to be at some distance, Tom solemnly drank his health out of the canister. That night McClellan and Fay's camp had such a time that Tom completely sold out his load ; and next morning, after turning the empty kegs loose, he ballasted with a sack of frozen fish, bought from an Indian, and proceeded to Mazukama, the place from whence the detectives had made their first sally. On reaching the vicinity of the camp, Tom fed the dogs with some of the fish, and hung the sack up in a tree to prevent the hungry brutes getting to it while he was away having dinner. He was seated in the mess room of the cami^ en- joying the meal in company with the time-keeper, w^hen the outer door opened, and the detective Slicke burst in and proceeded to take possession of our hero, who was too much amused by the idea of what would follow to make any remonstrance. } i THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. 25 " "What's the trouble Slicke, old man," said Tom ; as, despite the heavy hand on his shoulder, he poured a second supply of tea into his dish. " Well, if you are pretty sharp set, you needn't eat me for Mazukama st«^ak. I may be a pretty hard seed, but I'm not as tough as that by half. Why in thunder don't you take a seat and set to — sit down man ! " — and in a somewhat sheepish manner the detective sat down. " Now you just put those bracelets aw^ay 'til T chain you up for a bear afterwards ; you fellows are too much given to sporting cheap jewellery. If you'll only behave yourself I'll stand drinks to the crowd," there were several persons present attract- ed by tlie signs of a row^ — " and w^e'll go down to the Magistrate afterwards and work the boss oracle. Who's the Beak in this here locality, any- way?" There was some little silence after this, Tom probably having a soliloquy all to himself, for pre- sently he broke out : " Durned if I can see why these fellows get all the soft soap ; Justices of the Peace because that they happen to be Civil Engineers ; its little enough justice, peace, or civility that we poor runners r\i 26 THE WHI8KEY RUNNERS. have of them, anyway. Finished Slicke? All right you fellows, come and see his lordship run- ning the show." When they reached the sleigh, Slicke, who had been putting on a few airs and graces of authority, ordered the prisoner to unload — which the prisoner accordingly didn't. The by-standers also told the detective that he might go somewhere where there was a warm climate to get flunkies ; so he was obliged to set to work himself,and uncovered the carriole, calling on two others to witness the transaction. The load was duly inspected, and found to consist of a buffalo coat, a pair of Hudson's Bay blankets, and a few hard-tacks. " Come, stop this fooling around, Slicke ; don't you see the bag of bottles right over head .^ " Slicke did, and immediately began to climb up to the bough of a young balsam from which hung* the sack of fish. Tom called the crowd to make room ; and the dogs, seeing a stranger about to make off'wiih their provisions, began to assemble under the tree, and impatiently await events. Disregarding the dogs, the detective dropped from the tree with the bag firmly clutched in one hand ; and the dogs proceeded to make hair fly. Slicke THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. 27 .-m went down before the first rush, tightly claspiiiii; the bag in both arms ; and for a few moments all was fur, hair, and feathers. When the detective, amid roars of applause, finally gained his feet, and stood with clenched fists menacing Tom, the latter coolly observed : " Grive us a rest Slicke, old chap — you're altogether too fresh. " The detective without a particle of evidence to warrant an arrest, strode off into the bush to cool off; and the crowd returned jubilant to the Camp. In the course of the afternoon the detective turned up ; and Tom, while watching him closely, plunged into a confidential conversation with the cook. Before long the astute Whiskey Runner began to suspect Slicke's motive in loafing about the various buildings, and soon contrived to place himself and the cook in a place where, from behind a neighbouring corner, they could be easily over- heard. It was not long before his suspicions were confirmed by the sound of suppressed breathing around that corner ; and he immediately began to concoct a yarn about his intentions, all of which was greedily swallowed by both the cook and the eaves-dropper. He said that he was going to make •28 THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. a run to Port Arthur for a fresh cargo, but go round in the direction of Nipigon first to put the detective oil' the track ; he said there was some fear about the latter being too smart for him, and running at once to Port Arthur in order to catch him on his outset on the next trip, which ought not to be later than the first day of the next month ; in answer to a question from the other he said that he always used to slip out of the town early by way of the Shuniah mine, as far as wherethe 'tote road' branched oil' towards Nipigon. Then Tom began to say the most dreadful things about the detective Slicke, and all the rest ol them for that matter, and he more than once thought he heard the suppressed grinding of teeth round the corner. When Slicke was charged up to the muzzle, Tom went into supper with the "Walking Boss who happened to come on the scene, and chuckled quietly to himself about the ruse all the time he was a ^-^ble. Ten min- utes after Tom had finished supper and had lit his pipe in one of the shanties, the detective Stevenson arrived at Mazukama with Fred as a prisoner, and half a load of whiskey on the carriole as evidence ; and Tom, ^rom the window of the shanty, saw his chum led har>dcufFed into one of the other build- ings, while his dogs were unharnessed and fed in THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. • )i ), the neighboring hush. Our hero was downcast ; and felt, as he strode oil' to I'eod his own dogs, as hi' would have expressed it ' mean.' But from the first moment his quick brniii was planning some form of escape for his chum, and presently a bright idea came as a match ro a train of powder, and the plot was no sooner laid than iired. First he placed his own dogs con- v^eniently, then brought those of his captive chum to the same spot; a few minutes sulhced to harness both teams to one carriole, that of F'red ; ;i slip knot bound them to a tree, and a bush trail was open right ahead that would enable them defy pursuit if once they got the start. He had conjectured that the astute Slicke would not fail to set out that night on snovvshoes ni the direction of the Landing ; and that a supply of whiskey and a pack -of cards could be made to keep him until the time when it suited the plotter to have him s^»t forth, and to bring him to any condition that might be desired at the time of his starting. Our friend, having started the game of cards and whiskey, left his own hand to a bystander while he interviewed the Cook, and procured a file from the blacksmith. When the Cook was told that ^0 THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. the conversation of the afternoon had been over- hoard by the subject of it, he was easily roused to great indignation ; and when Tom had sufficiently applied whiskey to the case, his excitable friend began to clamour for a whip to thrash the detective, with which Tom promptly supplied him. Our hero went away, leaving the Cook protesting that if Slicke ventured out of Camp that night he would thrash him into a jelly fish ; and, on rejoining the card party, commenced to prime the" other hero for the approaching com- bat. A little after eleven o'clock the game broke up, Slicke being in a most combatant mnod, and determined to catch Tom at Port Arthur at all coats. True to that gentleman's expectations, Slicke no sooner thought he was unobserved, then he slipped on a coat and his snowshoes, and set off on the first stage towards the town. Before he had been out of sight more than a minute, sounds of terrific combat were heard from the direcrion of the wharf ; and Tom began to batter the door of the shanty where slept Stevenson and his prisoner, to such good purpose that, before the row was properly started, the officer of the law was rushing wildly to the rescue, leaving the door of the prison open, and no one within save Fred. A few sharp THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. ^1 words from his chum made the latter spring to his I'eet ; and without the slightest hesitation both took to the bush. To reach the carriole, to slip the knot, to lash up the dogs was the work of a min- ute ; but that minute had also roused the whole camp, the ruse was discovered, and at least fii'ly man headed by Stevenson and the Engineer in charge were already in hot pursuit. But a disor- ganised pursuit on foot was hardly to be expected to overtake a sleigh with fourteen dogs for a team ; and the carriole, scarcely heavier than an ordinary toboggan, was flying like a rumour or a telegram through the bush. It would have been all right if the trail had only proceeded in a btisiness like manner ; but, as ill luck had it, it must needs cross the railway in full view of the camp, and then suddenly end at a little shanty under the trees- The delay caused by climbing the dump brought the pursuers within a few yards ; two were actu- ally ahead, so preventing fliaht in that direction ; and the only course was to descend the dump on the other side, and, with the whole crowd at their heels, take to the thick woods on the far side. Con- summate steering alone prevented the two men from being smashed against the trees as the dogs rushed madly through the undergrowth, which, as :]2 THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. they passed, swept against their faces, knocked otf their caps, and sometimes severely bruised thein. One of the lines broke, and brought them to a halt ; and before the damage was repaired the pursuers were again upon them, and this time very nearly effected a capture. The knot tied — the dogs lashed with the fierce whip — again they began their flight ; and, bruised and torn, at last they reached the bank, and plunged madly down the slope on to the smooth surface of the great Lake ; then, as the baffled pursuers emerged from the bush, Tom who had recklessly pulled up to await their coming, yelled out : "Bully for you Stevenson! Get there every time you don't fail ! Many happy returns old man. Give my love to Slicke!" The fury of the law must be left to the ima- gination as the crowd on the bank watched the carriole with its double team tearing gaily over the sea of snow, already but a speck in the distance, and rapidly being swallowed up in ine night. To follow would have been madness, for the larger live stock of Mazukama consisted of three curs and a torn cat, and there was not a horse THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. 33- for miles round ; so the detectives were fain to con- tent themselves with a mutual disagreement which lasted until morning. The question then arose whether the camp should lose a good cook because he had pounded a bad detective ; and the cook having proved his charge cf eaves-dropping, and several coming forward to assert that Slicke was drunk when he set out from the camp, the latter begged that the prisoner might be let off, as he did not want to get the poor fellow into a scrape ; and he withdrew his indictment. That afternoon the two detectives, on the information overheard by Slicke, set off together for Port Arthur to capture the Peddlers on their next outset from that town. By aid of the file Fred was soon released from the handcuffs, and the two proceeded gaily to Camp Nipigon. The cache at Camp Roland having been brought forth in addition to the half load saved from Mazukama, everybody between Red Rock and Lake Helen was on the spree for three whole days, and all the whiskey fetched good prices. But our Iriends knew that it was time to close the business and seek occupation elsewhere, for the Lake Superior country was becoming too hot to hold young men of such enterprise. When 34 THE WHISKEY RUNNERS. therefore they reached Port Arthur, it was only to take the first train for the West ; and they landed in Winnipeg with several hundred dollars, pre- pared to have a good time. So it all ended happily ? No reader, that is just what it d?dn't. Breaking the laws of God and man never en ' hanpily, and this ca?e was no excep- tion. It end I in that most horrible of all kinds of moral, physical, and financial ruin^Delirium Tremens. The Legend of Thunder. Note by Walpole Roland. Faq., CE , with which Ihia ballad ia headed :in hiaricent woik " Algoma West." 'Among the mo&t popular tradltiona touching the origin of this auggeativo title " Thunder Cape," ia the follow* irg aa related in the Otchipiway, by " Weiaaw," and very freely translated by a friend of the wi iter'a :— " Long yeara ago whi'e my great, great "grandfather, then a young brave, waa returning with a war party from " a bloody encounter with our foe8(the Sioux) near Dog Mountair, a p!acu "twenty-five milea north-west of the Kaministiquia River, their atten- " tion was suddenly arretted by loud and prolonged reverberations, ac- " oompanied by vivid ftaahes of lightning. Aacending the heighta over- "looking the Kitchee Gamee, (Lake Superior) an appalling sight met " their ge ze— far out in the bay towarda the east, vthcro the 'Sleeping " Giant,' Nanlbijou uaually reclined on hia fleecy couch, all appeared in " llamea, while at intervala great pinnacles or ahafts of flame and black '•clouds were driven upwarda with terrible fury Arriving at the " mouth of the Kamlniatiquia River they were told of the fate of two " huntera fiom a diatant tnbe who. regardleaa of repeated warninga, pro- " voked the fiery spirit of the great 'Thunder Eagle' by ascending its home " in thecloud-oapped clifT. and perished in the vain attempt to bring down " a great medicine. Previcua to the advent of the white man our storm? " were grander and more frequent, and only upon rare occasions indeed *' could a view from a distance be obtained of the Cape or Nanlbijou." ' Behold the gentle waters lap against the Giant's side The playful w^ ispers of the winds that by his slumber glide, The warm sun bending o'er his sleep, the breathing of the sea, The cool grey shadows nestled down beneath each fragrant tree. 36 THE LEGEND OF THUNDER. 5. The Monarch of this sombre land, he dwells in clouded state, Beside the "mortals of the East, where yonder mighty gate At morning sunders his broad leaves to let the daylight When Night must quit the Giant's throne, and con- qu'riug Day begin. 'Tis then across the waters that the earliest sunlight laves In The myriad spirit forms that throng that pathway o'er the waves, The beings that come to take the form and humble garb of man , That come to labour and to love, to tread their des- tined span Of sorrow, sickness, and despair, of evil years and few, Before the Potter comes to make the broken vessels new. We fathers, and our fathers saw, before ye White Men came, Yon mighty Giant heave in sleep, and breathe the sulphurous flame ; Have seen him roused to anger, lash these seas m furioup wrath, And all the torrents of his ire in lightning pouring forth— Have seen him ever wrapt in smoke, and his tremen- dous form Forever shrouded in his robe — his night robe of the storm ; But never saw his rugged sides bared to the day, till ye Brake through the mighty Gates as gods, the Masters of the Sea. 20. Once from some nation far away two wand'ring huntera strayed, THE LEGEND OF THUNDER. 37 •1 Their birch canoe all patched and old, 'lieir dress of deerskin made ; ^6. They rested in our Chieftain's lodge beside the stormy bay Ere towards the setting sun in peace they should pursue their way. They came towards the setting sun to seek his resting place, Where all the spirits of our dead and all the huip 'u race Dwell where the sky is ever bath'd in floods of sunset light, 30. The everlasting eventide that knows not death, or night, Or fire, or flood, or drought, or war, where winter never reigns, To the far happy Hunting Grounds upon the Golden Plains. But when men of the Giant spoke, and his deep shroud of gloom, And when they saw across the bay the clouded moun- tain loom, 35, And heard of the dread Thunder Bird whose nest is in the height, Who guards the unassailed cliffs all wrapt in end- less night ; And heard their fate who dared to seek his nest, and bring us down The wondrous sacred medicine hid upon the mountain crown : They laughed our fears to scorn, and said : " Should brave men danger fear ? " 40, "And what is danger if it bring the Life Hereafter near ! " He who hath sought through doubt and dread the Mystery of Life. ;;8 THE LEGEND OF THUNDER. •' And won a blessing for Mankind by warring giant strife " With deathless gods, hath vanyuish'd death, and in his body slain " Lust, wrath, and darkness, self, and shame ; and from a beast's flesh free 4r,. ** Stands naked — man — " So o'er the breast of that still moonlit sea Led by the stranger braves we sped ; and all the night time long The startled clouds fled past the moon, the sad wind's dirge like song Wail'd in vague echoes down the heights, and moaned across the bay. And moaned in tremulous low sighs from great clifl's far away. 50. So on the strangers sped — the spray that from their paddles gleam'd Made in the wake a path whereon our long procession stream'd A cortege to the grave — it seem'd that in that midnight gloom Huge enemies stalked by and frown'd, and moments big with doom Fled wailing lost into the night — Oh why should brave men die 55 While coward hearts of thousands fail, and wing'd with terror fly I So when the East was cold with dawn, and all the clouds were grey The shadow of the mountain loom'd against the wak'- ning day. Twas then an earnest conclave pray'd that Manitoa should save THE LEGEND OF THUNDER. 3^ ! . The strangers who amid the clouds sought wisdom or a grave. eo. The agatos rattled as their skiff touch'd light the sombre main — We heard the solemn thunders warn, but warn the braves in vain. With red plumes waving as they strode they passed along the shore To where a clouded canyon loom'd through broken rocks and hoar ; And high the ancient cliffs soar'd up on every side around, 05. And at their base the fragments lay, and brushwood strew'd the ground. They, clamb'ring o'er the boulders, leapt from rock to rock, and climb'd Right up amid the canyon's gloom, till troubled sight and mind Had lost the tiny spots that moved among the shadows vasji, And every vestige of their forms passed from our sight at last. 70. Then morning instant sank to gloom, and gloom was steep'd in night. The waters all so late at rest had crests of foaming white. Our prayers assail'd and storm'd the heaven for ten- der youth, and age, And the Great Spirit saved our barks amid the cyclone's rage. The hurricanes swept by — a lull — a blast — a loud wild cry — 76. From the rent altitudes, the towers, and battlements, on high And ancient crags crash'd down the heights, and lo- each breaking wave 40 THE LEGEND OF THUNDER. Scream'd in his triumph round a crag, and bounded o'er its grave ! The Giant shook with wrath, the trees, uprooted, hurl'd in space, A hail of monster .spears were shot adown the moun- tain face ; 88. Against the precipice on high the wildest breakers iurl'd. And round a whirlpool's circling deeps the broken waters swirl'd — And who can tell the lightning's glare, recount the thunder's roar. Or the fierce shrieks that through the gloom the vengeful cyclones bore ] How long the tempests swept the bay, how long we fought for life, 85 How long among the lodges mourn'd the aged, child, and wile ; How loDg before we saw the smoke of camp fires far away, Just where the Kamiiiistiquia is emptied in the bay ; How long we s'-pt an J wearied lay restored to home at last — We could not tell, but heard the squaws relate four days were past so. Since they had seen the tempest rage about the Giant's bed, And saw the seas contend with heaven, and mourned their braves for dead. Full many suns were set behind the darksome western height, And still the tempest roar'd by day, and lightning glared by night ; And still these dark cliffs answer'd loud the thunders from the bay ; THE LEGEND OF THUNDER. 41 ys. The forests dared not sleep by night, the beasts were dumb by day ! We pray'd that Manitou should aid the strangers to escape — 'Twas then we named this " Thunder Bay," the moun- tain " Thunder Cape," At last the shades of evening crept across the mighty sea, When all the waters slept at last, the cloud-chained sky was free ; 100. And all the great blue vault on high was ec hoed in the deep, And floating in two azure skies the mountains lay asleep ; Then as the waning sunlight flushed the crested cliffs on high There came to us a lone canoe across the nether sky. It came not urged by by sail or blade, but as a mother's breast 105. The bearing waters nestled it and laid it in its rest. The little ripples at the sides laughed in their heedless play, And in that cradle of the sea a dying warrior lay. We laid him down beside the tents, and death shades like the night Upon his face were chased away by the red sunset light. 110. His dim eyes opened and he spoke, but in the >roice was told The fever spirit dwelt within ; in each stern feature's mould We saw that youth was changed to age since on the mountain side We ceased to find him in the gloom, and hope grew sick and died. 42 THE LEGEND OF THUNDER. •' I Hee the thunder clouds stoop down, and with thoir lean hands grasp 116 " And hurl abroad their lightning fires— the mad winds halt and gasp — •• The hills are sweating in their fear — the weary Air is slain — "The very crags crouch down and hide upon the upper plain. ** The storm is breaking — lo the trees as hail are hurl'd in space — "And all the huge rocks glow with fire along the mountain face ; 120. ** From all the mountain mighty flames in fell contor- tion soar, " And through a whirling rain of fire unearthly cyclones roar ! "In this great storm unaided man a thousand deaths had died — " Break Giant all this world to nought —Avenge — Thou art defied ! " And thou inviolate Thunder hail, for Man lias raped thy hold 125. " Thy nest is desecrate at last — the mighty secret told- ' * He strikes ! And death is near — is come — Erect thy pride my friend — "Lay down the life but not the man, for death is not the End ! " And he is dead — and I shall live to tell to all mankind " The vulture Death is slain by death, and deathless reigns the Mind. ISO. " But oh the price ! — For he is gone —he who had won the fight ; ' ' He who alone had grasped the Truth from that abyss of night — ' ' By fire, by fever, or in fight, by lightning, ice, or wave, "There never sank a braver man than to yon hero's grave. " THE liE(tENl) OV TIIUNDHR. 48 A mightier hero still than he who on the mountain (lied (5. Lay hy the KaminiHtiquia. Now all the hars aside, And mighty barriers of death were melted in the light That streara'd from out the Courts of Heaven o'lr all the realms of Night — The kmgdom of the Life to Come reigned once o'er earthly sin, For sunset opens wide the gates to let the dead come in. The Land of the Hereafter lay before our straining eyes. And amethystine glories tlashed across the amber skies ; And in that light the Hero lay, and closed his eyes and slept — The silver mists upon his brow their tears of parting wept — So all the air was filled with light, and all the earth with rest As that brave Spirit took the trail that leads towards the West. Mil II 14.' THE PRAIRIE, ii: St n n ri h V f< g P t "THE LEAN MAN" From the Toronto World of 5th Nov., 1887. w chapter I. HEN " The Lean Man " entered his lodge at nightfall, and saw his young squaw adorn- ing her cheeks with vermillion, and braiding her straight black hair in tails alter the enlightened manner of the Palefaces; when she had made him a robe for his comfort at night of the skins of over 200 rabbits ; when she welcomed him at the door of his tent with good things earned or stolen from the white men : no wonder that the young husband felt that the Great Spirit had been good to him in giving "medicine" to ward off evil times, and to provide for his modest wants during the long winters. He didn't say much about it however ; but, relieved of a great anxiety after the risky perpetra- tion of early marriage, settled down to a life of honorable theft and genteel idleness, leaving "Turkey Legs" to manage his worldly affairs in the THE LEAN MAN. i ■/ shape of a daily meal, which that lady never failed to produce in good season. " The Lean Man " used to spend much of his time in admiring his red blanket, for which he had wisely traded something that did not belong to him ; and in meditating upon the obtuseness of the "Shermogonish" in arresting "the party of the second part " in that transaction instead of himself. For that ingenuous youth, " The-Man-Who-Bites- His-Nails," had been arrested on the information of the Indian agent at "Big Child's " reserve ; and was now in the guard room at the barracks, and like to be tried for larceny. Our friend was a Sioux ; and had come from Montana to the far Saskatchewan after an escapade on the part of his tribe that did not meet with the approval of the United States authorities. This was the glorious victory of "Sitting Bull" over "The Sun Child," Gen. Custer, who, with some four hundred American soldiers, had been slain in a coulee by only about 1400 Sioux. They had then come to the land of the Great Mother, where the white Okemow told them, to their great surprise, that their conduct was wicked and disreputable ; though, even after the usual largesse of tea and tobacco, they still retain- THE LEA.N MAN. 49 ed some scepticism about the peculiar views of the white men. Gradually this little band had drifted to the Saskatchewan ; and, providing the Great Mother didn't bother them about reserves and treaty — even with the loss of flour and other emoluments — they were fairly content. True, it was a great shame that they couldn't get "treaty payments " like the Crees, without being corralled on a reserve ; but they were better off than when bad' had a chat with "Four Sky," whose people were found busy iskiniiiiig rabbits ; but there was some delay in p^ oducing the settler who had raised the alarm, he having- gone to Fort a la Come, from whence he could not be expected for a day or two. In the meantime nothing (jould be done, and there was no pressing necessity for action because every- thing was quiet. Upon the third day some of the police were sitting in the little general store having a com- fortable growl for want of something better to do. Steen having lit a very bad cigar, sat down on a barrel, and with his broad slouch hat jammed down on the back of his head, opened a discus- sion. "Oh! it's all right," he said in reply to a iivneral observation on the part of the storekeepi'i' concerning the state of the country. "It's all right, if it warnt for them miserable 'nitchies' — who are no use anyhow — running the whole 'shebang' with their confounded monkey business. 'Sif thar wasn't enough drills and fatigues to kecj) the whole darned outfit on the keen jump without their fooling around the country stealing horses, and killing cattle, and raising rackets from one 1,1 il 68 THE LEAN MAN. year's end to another ; and now there's that damn: fool G-arnett robbinj? the mails, and he'll give enough trouble by the time he'b hanged to keep half the troop busy hunting him. 1 " He was interrupted by Sergt. Monmouth ; "Look here, I'll bet anyone a month's pay that there'll be a mounted escort for every mail in the country within this month — you jest see if there ain't i" Constable Mercer took up the growl at this point, and made out a very bad case against the Canadian Government "for running a poor of a buck policeman 'sif he was a nigger or suthin^ worse." Here Le Soeur broke in : "There was — wot you say — General Ordaire ? Yes, General Ordaire, jest befor' we come away — er " Sergt. Monmouth : "0, give us a rest, "nitchie" — go away back to your reserve, man !" At this moment Constable Anstaye burst inta the store wath a joke that could not be kept back a minute, but in a sad dilemma that he had not breath to tell it. The substance of his tale was gathered in the course of a few minutes, and was to the effect that he had been in one ot the tepees THE LEAN MAN. 55> talking to a squaw when a " nitchie " came in, and, when he saw him, looked as black as thunder and went out. Presently he heard a racket out- side, and found the same Indian unmercifully thrashing a boy ; but he was interrupted by "Four Sky" and another, who dragged him off and look- ed about as cheerful as a blizzard on a cold day. •'But which 'tepee' were you in — and what were you up to ? " "Oh, I dunno, it was the one next the trail, and the chap that raised the row was that lanky young cuss in a red blanket, and a top hat with the crown out." ivionmouth strolled down to the camp, but on • his return said that everything was quiet enough there. No further notice was taken of the affair, and the next day it was forg-otten ; but Anstave noticed that whenever he went down to the camp the Indian with the red blanket scowled upon him. In course of time the man Brown, who had raised the alarm, returned from Fort a la Corne ; and was taken by Sergt. Monmouth to the Indian camp. He felt uncomfortable about the result of his assertions ; and being a mean man determined 60 THE LEAN MAN. /•■ that instead of an open confession that he had been needlessly scared, he would justify himself at all costs. Unfortunately it happened that " Would-not-go-out " was absent ; and when all the braves in the little band were brought before him, and he was asked to produce the bloodthirsty savage who had, as he said, attempted to murder him, the white man hesitated, and tried to excusse himself, and make light of it all in the most gene- rous manner, saying that he would be very sorry to get the poor fellow into trouble. " Come on — no fooling ! " said Monmouth. Brown asked in Sioux whether all the band were there ; and the Chief replied that they were all there except a lad who was not even full grown, and could scare nobody with any spirit. Monmouth : " Well, which was it ? " Brown : " Oh, I don't want to get a poor miser- able nitchie in jail ! " Monmouth : " Well you're a pretty specimen, having us sent pretty near 200 miles to take the man who was going to kill you. You say that he attempted murder — by Jove, I'll arrest you if you don't take care, for trying to screen a murderer !" THE LEAN MAN. 61 Brown was now thoroughly cowed, and felt that he must do a dirty crime to save himself from public contempt. Pointing to a tall, surly-looking young man in a red blanket he said : " That one." Monmouth asked the Chief what character the accused bore ; and the reply was sorrowfully ex- piessed that of late the evil spirit had been upon "The Lean Man," for only two days ago he had wantonly attacked and thrashed a lad in camp, named " Would-not-go-out," for no cause. And so it came about that the detachment returned to Headquarters, and carried away " The Lean Man" p prisoner. I ti 62 THE LEAN MAN. CHAPTER 11. i It was a pleasant sight to see a party of Mounted Police ride in from some command, bronzed, dusty and travel-stained, their harness rusted with the rough usages ot the camp, their eyes bright with the reflected breath and freedom of the plains, while the horses pricked their ears to hear the whinny of a colt in the corrall, as they foresaw the quietude of the dim stables, or the sunny up- land where the hero was grazing. Thus came hom(c the party from Carrot River, and drew up sharp before the Guard House. The prisoner was sent into his allotted cell, the waggon unloaded at the Quartermaster's Store, the horses led to water, the bedding taken to the barrack rooms, the cook urged to be ready with the provisions. The arrivals shed their prairie dress, while a rapid discussion took ace on the current news ; and a Guard was tok . L, and having got into uniform its members mauc their way to the Guard House, growlins: not a little that a single prisoner should cause so much extra work. Until then the picquet, had gone on solitary night rounds with his lantern, and dozed THE LEAN MAN. 03 ' away the spare hours in .*:he Guard Room ; but this was only a pleasant reminiscence now. But the Indian, the restless unthinking child of the plains, had come to the weariness of an imprisoned spirit, and sank into the heavy lethargy of despair. The log walls of his prison, the iron bars of the door, the soldier sitting at the little table beyond, and what might he seen through a loop-hole in the wall, were now exchanged for the glorious horizon, with all the sweet sounds and sights of nature that people the broad tent of day. That loop- hole, pierced during the war, was now his only consolation, and he would sit for hours before it looking out upon the world. The sadness ol his spirit seemed to weigh the atmosphere, for the air was dense for days with the smoke of prairie fires ; and once at night he saw the sharp lines of flames coming down over the hills into the river flat, and hoped against h ope that these would come down to release him, " The Lean Man " was examined by the officer in command, but he was found so sullen and in- tractable that no evidence of his innocence could ^■e come at: so he was committed for trial. One thing that he said to the interpreter was beyond e4 THE LEAN MAN. i the man's powers of translation, but was several times repeated among the men on the detachment in the words m which it was rendered : " The (Jood Spirit gave me the prairie for a bed, the trees to shelter me — but you Shermogonish have given me cold boards." And afterwards he said to Ser- geant Monmouth, " You are going to kill me be- cause I fought against you ; be quick — kill me now — I am tired of waiting to die." He thought of the past — when he had gone through the tor- tures of the Sun Dance to come forth from the ordeal a warrior ; he thought of all the excitement of the war, how he had seen the red flames of P'ort Carlton leap up against the night, and had fought in the rifle pits of Batoche under Gabriel Dumont ; he thought of his short happy married life before the dark cloud settled down upon him ; and he brooded over what the Interpreter had said to him ; " You will be tri^d next month." Weeks passed outside the Cruard House ; and Change sat as usual on the wings of Time. The Mission people had ever since the war been as prompt in the matter of alarms as a fire brigade ; and the Carrot River "scare," added to contempor- ary fictions about the Indians, had caused a general feeling of alarm. This was by no means mitigated THE LEAN MAN. 65 by the departure of the Troop for the south by ibrced marches, to meet a great dignitary in the neighborhood of Long Lake ; and by the rumored outbreak of an Indian war at Wood Mountain. The band of " Four Sky " returned from Carrot River bringing the bereaved " Turkey Legs/' who would sit for hours on the ground outside of the Gruard House waiting for a casual glimpse of hev lord ; and comforted him much by her silent sym- pathy. In duo course the great dignitary returned to the East ; and the Troop came home again, to the infinite regret of the little garrison, who by no means yearned for drill and discipline. The sum- mer was ended, the harvest was gathered in, the winter began to send forth scouts to feel the way, and the full ripe year was waiiing to its close. And still " The Lean Man" knelt atthe loop-hole, or made his little daily excuses for access to the free air of heaven. He lay through the long nights wondering what would be done to him after the trial, and feeling in his UTimbed sensibilities only the one terror — Disgrace. And he said within his heart, and whispered it to himself, and heard the winds whisper the words at night : " I will not be tried." (10 THE LEAN MAN. •II Three days after he arrived at this determina- tion some of the men were spending a spare hour in the large barrac^k room engaged in " bed f*ati gue," and between he whiffs of a quiet smoke carrying ol •< d Aitoiy conversation. Burk, who w^as on guai' ^h-A. day, a tall, handsome, good- natured Englitohma-i sat on the edge of his bed fumbling in a kit-bag underneath lor some tob- acco, having permission to leave the Guard House for a few minutes. " AVell, Geometry," said Anstaye, " has the Nitchie been up to any of his games to-day?" Burk : " I should just think he was ! Why, 1 Avas ju'^t taking him over to the kitchen for the guard dinner at noon, when he made a break and got clean away past the Hospital.*' Sergeant Monmouth : " AVell, I hope you shot the—" " Oh, it was no use shooting him ; I just hol- lared out to the others and skinned after him." " That is, you made use A your compasses, Geometry ? " " Oh shut up, Tribulation," said Burk ; "Well, I THE LEAN MAN. 67 taught up close to the Kiding School and nabbed him. A.nd then I ran him ott'to the kitchen and made him lay hold of the big tea pot without any more fooling." '• And did he buck ? " " I saw buck I No, you bet he was as quiet as — as — er — death. That's the third bolt he's iD'^da to-day ; he must have a j)retty bad conscience Indeed, "The Lean Man " had made <" vc 'al attempts to escape, })ut his escorts had each ,'in'' seized him, and taken no extra precautic^^ other than to show him the butt of a revolver or set iorth some counsel. That evening, howan^er, before he was sent with an escort for the supper, he was shackled with a " ball and chain," an instrument intended to restrain the most volatile of captives should he become too retiring. It must not be imagined that the prisoner was treated harshly, for if there is one A'irtue possessed by the rough soldiery of ihe prairies, it is their invariable kind- ness to the criminals committed to their charge. " The Lean Man," thwarted in his attempts to escape, brought to the humiliation of chains, and filled with the darkest forebodings of evil, came to 1 ,i i <;8 THE LEAN :\IAN. / the black shadows of utter despair ; and then, as man can do in the immediate presence of dtath, transcended his poor life as the day transcends night ; he for^^ot the dogrodation of his people, and fought with all the magniiicent courage and haughty endurance of Iiis barbaric forefathers. He stood in the door of his cell when the time came that it was to be locked for the night, and, with his eyes aiiame, his body trembling with the ex- citement, fought with the fury and the strength of madness for liberty. The whole guard hardly sut- iiced to cope with him, and it wasonly after a long and furious struggle that the Indian, overwhelmed with the weight of number^', fell back into the cell utterly exhausted. He had cast aside the dross that had come over the Indian character from ruinous contact with the ruling; race : he had asserted for once the inalienable rights of heredity, the greatci- and manlier past. The change in him was inter- preted by the authorities as insanity. Night deepened down upon the world, and the dim after-light waned through long hours into the north. The air was misty with smoke from the prairies ; and, chilled in the shadowy, day night of Indian summer, all the valley lay in mysterious silence. THE LEAN MAN. 61) The Indian sat long- brooding in the intense stillneBS. Through the barred aperture in the door a stream of golden light poured into the cell ; and under the lamp in the Guard Room the Sergeant of the Guard sat at the table writing. The two men oH'duty lay asleep on the sloping dais at the other side of the room, still in complete uniform, and wearing their heavy side-arms as they took their brief, uneasy hours of rest. There was no sound save their breathing, and the steady scratching of the Sergeant's pen, as he proceeded with his let- ters. Presently the "picket" came in for the stable keys, saying that " the buckskin mare and Bulk- eley's horse broke loose in the long stable — I can manage all right." Then he went out, and the pris oner watched him through the loophole as he went swinging his lantern towards the " corralls." " The Lean Man " slowly unbound the sash from hif waist, and knotted the ends together — he thrust ihe knot through the loop-hole — he drew the sash sharply back, catching the knot against the sides of a narrow gap between two logs — he pulled hard to make sure that the knot would hold. Then he sat a few moments in silence, and covered his face with his hands. He looked about 70 THE liKAN MAN. J liim — the Sergeant ot the CxUiinl had taken a book and lay on the trestle bed beside his table reading; and the night around was inlinitely still. Hold ing the loop ot the sash the prisoner looked up towards heaven and prayed ; then he plated his head within the loop and crouched down, leaning heavily with his throat against the sash. The Sergeant of the Gruard was still reading — the two men were ])reathing (paietly in their sleep — the " picquet " came out from the stables and went and stood on the bank ol the river near by — the mist lay over the valley, and all was still. The cold autumn day broke upon the world, and reveille echoed from the wooded sides of the little valley, and rang melodiously against the banks of the broad river ; the sun rose triumphant over the mists, and the waters were resplendant before his slantins* ravs — but the Indian had gone to the place of his fathers, and his sad stern eyes were closed forever in sleep. This man had dared the long agonies of torture in utter silence, had crushed with determined hands the life within him, and had gone down to the grave triumphant, without one sound to tell the watchful soldier, who was actually in the same room with him, that til in on in In of ra Wl THK LKAN MAX. 1 the last tragedy was being transarted in a linycr- ina" anj»ui«h of sutFocation. They buried him on the banlt of the river, and one of the soldiers made two laths into a cross dur- ing an idle moment and set it over the grave. The Indian lay und»»r the prairie flowers in the shadow of the lue lire diah hob) thre lUai in i^. has vf rsi the abo dut A N.'dHT HALT. ( •> the sound ol' the axes has (•ea^sed in the bush, three heavy camp-kettles are swinging over a roarinu" lire. A bell tent is pitched I'or the oUlcer in com- mand : the horses are watered, uroonied, and led ; and at a last merry order I'rom the buo-lc, there is a general dash i'or plates and cups : and knives drawn from belts and boot-legs arc ready i'or an astonish- ing slaughter of pork and hard-tark. The latter is the Western name lor that whieh is known else- where as ship-biscuit, and it is partaken iu company with strong and hot tea around the camp- lire. The meal is accompanied by an u[)lil'linu" d' blue smoke into the clear skv. and there is a livelv lire of ehaff in good American and even Jjrili>h dialects, Aft(^r a decent interval, the horses aiv hohbled or picketed for the night, and a guard of tliree men placed on picket duty until sunrise. lllajike s are spread out along the saddle-line, and in ii.nd under the waggons ; and betore the sound- ing of the last of thre(^, beautiful evening •' call> ' has awakened the echoes of the sterile hills, con- versation has flagged, and there is silence under the starlight. The horsi's are pulling at the grass, rovinu" about, and clanking their hobbles ; and the man on duty stands l)y the five or glides about amonii 7»; A NIGHT HALT. thorn ; and overhead the stars are blazing in heaven, and the dim white aurora is flitting in the north. Then the stars and the aurora pale, and the north- *iast glows with rose and orange, and the wind wakes up, and the soft mists rise. Startling all the echoes, making the keen air tremble, waking the summer world, and losing coherence in the distant sky, reveille rings, out clear and sharp, a burst of triumphant unexpected music — and the night is gone. Then to successive bugle calls, blankets are rolled, waggons loaded, the horses carefully tended, and breakfast finished ; and ere the sunlight warms the ravine, the mounted party is toiling up the hillside, and the waggons are following across the narrow bottom. Such is a night-halt of a party of Mounted Police under the pleasantest conditions, and while travelling at about forty miles a day. But there are no members of the Force of over a few months' standing who have not travelled i^/Mom^ night-hgclts, or under conditions of hardship that it would be difficult for the reader to realise. Although tht^ statement little accords with those of emigration aueiits. the climate of many districts is extremely rioo 'ous ; and althouii'h this does not detract from A NIGHT HALT. i i the value of the crops, the cold is so great in Decem- ber and January that even an emigration agent would not willingly travel during those months in any part of the Territories. As pioneers preparing- for the advance of civilization, the Mounted Police undertake to suffer discomfort and to perform duties of unexampled difficulty, without the performance of which the new provinces of the western plain^^ must be, as they were before the white men came- a howling wilderness. .'\ D'ANQUERA. THE story is about the Prairies, vast, varied, filled w^ith the melodies of the vrinds, scented with wildernesses of roses ; and the time is the summer of 1884, a year before those months of blood and lire crowded with the events oi Kiel's Second liebellion. Constable Carlo dAnquera, whom we all lall- ed Tough'un, because he didi^'t like it, was a Mex- ican of noble blood, educated m France, and now wandering" in North America. He could speak both French and English almost as well as his native tongue, had sworn allegiance to Her Majesty of Britair and was now travelling over the Plains in her service on a little self-w illed bay broncho. He wore an old red coal, with l)ras.s buttons, embossed with the head of a butfalo and •N. W. M. P.,' moaning North West Mounted Police ; his legs were encased in great and heavy clmparjos (commonly know as " chaps ") of reddish leather with long fringes ; he wore a mighty cart- lidge belt, with a revolver in the holster a foot 1) ANQUERA. 7{^ long ; and a grey slouch hat looped up with a silver brooch and adorned with a dainty wild rose. IJut in all his formidable attire there was no mis. taking the merry black eyes, w^eapons — bright weapons for the heart alone, and rejmted to have done great execution at times. He was not hand- some but for those eyes ; but who can speak ill of a man with such a neat figure, such an honest sun-burnt face, and such a gay reckless laugh as used to disarm all criticism of the person of Carlo d'Anquera. The broncho went on as slowly as he dared, grabbing furtively at some tuft of grass with his ears set back and his eyes on the v. a^ h, pre- tending to a stumble into a gopher hole, or whisk- ing his 'banged" tail at the flies as far as the mutilation of that member would permit. And the Plain extended forever and ever, bright with prairie flowers, aiul blessed with the sweet breath- ing of the wind in the burning noon-time. Presently, at an unusually A'enturous effort aftergrass on the i)art of the broncho, and much to the disgust of the latter, his rider straightened his back, glanced at his watch, and cast certain tender thoughts to the wind , then the spurs came home in a tender spot, a)id betaking himself to ill so d'anquera. business with a wistful glance at the pasture as » iarewell, the horse fell into a pleasant lope, swift, pasy and sustained, that carried him far in thediv- ortion of stables. And if anyone wants to see the world's Master as his best let him watch this toung ji-entleman sweep by, with the long fringes waving, and the great-rovvelled spurs ringing out their sharp notes, and the soft white hand com- manding the horse, and the great dark eyes com- manding the plains. Sunset found him at a log building with a few outhouses ; and, having stabled and tended the broncho, he entered the building. Coon was there, and MoMurrich ; and Black bent over the frying-pan skilllTilly burning some slap-jacii:,3 ; and all greeted d'Anquera, and asked him what brought him into this particular district. He told them that he had been transferred to that troop to which they belonged, and after a week or two in the Post he had been sent with a despatch to the Coon, with orders to continue with the detachment, n^hile his baggage was to be sent on in the next raiion waggon. So he formally report- ed to Coon, who was the Corporal in charge ; and, while the despatch was opened by the latter. d'anquera, 81 '/■iv ,.\ . , ' went out to his saddle to get some letters ont of the wallets for one of the party. On his return he found the rest all gathered about Coon, who was giving instructions in his usual quiet tone as he continued to read the despatch. " Well, you fellov'«, the 'soft snap's' over at last. Black — IMcquet eight to eleven, McMurrich — Pic- quet — relieve Black and wake me at four, I'll tiikc the rest ot the night myself" "Why, what's up?" " Talk about what's up when we're out of ear- shot of these ' civvies.' Look here, you fellows. 1 advise you all to turn in sharp at eight, for we may start off before daylight. Picquet will have to keep a sharp lookout for old Steve the Scout, for he ought to be here from Little Blull's any time be- tween this and to-morrow. When he arrives we are off to the B Hills, with a week's rations. Come and let's see that we have everything ready while Black gets the supper." Everything being ready for the march next morning as far as the greasing of axles and gather- ing up and storing of heavy baggage was concerned, the men came in to supper, the old settler and his IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 *i i.i 1^ 1^ 1^ 2.2 IIIII18 1.25 1.4 III 1.6 .^ 6" ^ Photographic Sdences Corporation s