Brothers of Peril

th a bandage around his head. Kingswell looked in at him, smiling i

more amiable since you

rum, and asked the time of day. His recollections of

sun was well up, the fog cleared, and that he was havin

he eighty beaver skins which are now bein

"An' may I ask how ye come by suc

he bunk. Then he said: "I'll now bid you farewell until October. Don't sail without me, good Master Trowley, and look

companion-ladder, leaving the

ition were stowed amidships and covered with sail-cloth. The sun was bright, and the sky blue. The wind bowled them along at a clipping pace. From a mound above the harbour Black Feather gazed after them under a level hand. In the little harbour Trowley's ship alone swung in her anchorage. The others had run o

misgiving. But Kingswell patted him on the shoulder,

rel was stationed a man with two or more fishing-lines. Splashing desperately, the great fish were hauled up, unhooked, and tossed to the deck behind. As the little Pelican slid by, the fishers paused in their work to cheer her, and wav

es ran higher and the wind freshened. Kingswell shaped the boat's course a few points to the northward. The stout little craft skipped like a lamb and plunged like some les

s bright, pale hair streamed in the wind. He leaned forward, to pick out the course through a group of small islands that cluttered the bay ahead of them. He gave an order, and the seamen

sailor is made in this way.

Beothic's belt, for, by this time, the soaring and sinking of the Pelican were enough to unsteady even a seasoned mariner. As for Ouenwa!-the poor lad sim

he said. "Maybe, like as not, a swi

e boy's breakdown. In so doing it served the purpose which Bent had i

naked barrens lay brown and purple and smoky blue. In front, and on the right hand, loomed surf-rimmed islands and flashed the innumerable, ever-altering yet unchanged hills and valleys of the deep. Tom Bent was now at the tiller, and Kingswell was in the bows, g

and waded ashore. It was a dismal anchorage, with only a strip of shingle, and grim cliffs rising in front and on either hand. But at the base of the cliffs, in fissures of the rock, grew stunted spruce-trees and bir

f a sail and three oars, against the cliff. Kingswell and Ouenwa sat on a convenient boulder, and the commander filled a long pipe with tobacco and lit it at a brand from the fire. He seemed in high spirits, and in a mood to further his young companion's education. Pointing t

ain," h

d Peter Harding. By that time the stew was ready for them. They were all sound asleep

liffs. He darted from the tent, with Kingswell and Clotworthy hot on his heels. Bent and Harding were on the extreme edge of the beach, with their backs to the sea, staring upward. Ouenwa and the others turned their faces in the same direction. They were amazed to see about a dozen native warriors on the cliff above them, fully armed, and evident

yer, "and we saw the smoke of your fire before the last darkn

ed Ouenwa, "and I am voyagin

alking about?"

ed to the tent and provisions and

d carried the sail, the oars, and such food and blankets as they had brought ashore, o

t mean?" inqui

lied Ouenw

canoe, little Dreame

le Fox Stabber," Ouenwa cried ba

y friend," replied Wolf Slayer, "or you would

dawn a few moments before, five more warriors, armed with bows, appear

ed Ouenwa. "And why do you summon

en for a seeker of wisdom," rep

slumber, that the foxes bark with

and downward thrust arms. Then, with a clap and a roar, and a gust of smoke, old Tom Bent replied to the warriors on the cliff. The echoes of the discharge bellowed around and around the rock-girt harbour. Ouenwa and Kingswell sprang through the smoke and climbed aboard, and the seamen pushed into deep water and then bent to their oars. But the Pelican proved a heavy boat to row, with her blunt bows and comfortable beam. She surged slowly beyond the cloud of bitter smoke that the musket had hung in th

o carry yourself accordingly, O whelp without teeth and without a den to crawl into. Whose hand has overthrown the lodge of the totem of the Black Bear? Mine! Panounia's! Soft Hand has fallen under it as his son, y

liff was lined with warriors. Like a sudden flight

ot move. The arrows thumped against plank and gunwale. They pierced the cargo. They glanced from tiller and sweep and mast. One, turning from the rail, struck Bent on the shoulder. He cursed angrily, but did

said, softly. "Sh

houted a challenge to the befeathered warriors above him. Tom touched the slow-match to the quick fuse. Something hissed and sizzled. A plume of

he sagged against the mast. The kick of his musk

ch the tide was running landward at a fair pace. Bent was busy reloading his firearm. Ouenwa stood in the stern-sheets, with his bow in his left hand and an arrow on the string. A breath of wind brushed the s

the boatswain. "I learned mun to shoot h

with all the skill that Montaw had taught the boy, and with all the hate that was in his heart for the big murderer on the cliff. Every man of the litt

his own tongue. "The wolf bites the

boat Pelican, urged forward by triumphant sinews, w