Northern Lights

want to go,

nd caught the chi

call your father Ji

mmy calls you

you do, and you mustn't call me

beautiful dark blue eyes raised slowly, shaded by the

eproof, mingled with suppressed laughter. "Nancy

I'll say fa

nty little lass to his breast, while she appeared interested i

ied had touched her not at all to her disadvantage, rather to her profit. She looked not an hour older; motherhood had only added to her charm, lending it a delightful gravity. The prairie life had given a shining quality to her handsomeness, an air of depth and firmness, an exquisite health and clearn

e, of watchfulness and yearning and anxiety, of determination and an inviolable hope. Her eyes had a deeper look than that in Jim's. Now, as she gazed at him, the maternal spirit rose up from the great well of protectiveness in her and engulfed both husband and child. There was always something of the maternal in her eyes when she looked at Jim. He did not see it-he saw only the wonderful blue, and the humor which had helped him over such difficult places

ore she could speak, would read from the pages in a language all her own. She made a fairy world for herself, peopled by characters to whom she gave names, to whom she assigned curious attributes and qualities. They were as real to her as

ade haste to add, "because I love you, Gri-Gri." She called him Gri-Gri from the first, but they knew only

ll, he had suffered as he had never done before in his life. He could not sleep nor eat, and went about his duties like one in a dream. When his struggles against his enemy were fiercest, he kept saying over her name to himself, as though she could help him. Yet always it was Sally's hand he h

tory of a conflict, the aftermath of bitter experience; and through all there pulsed the glow of experience. He had grown handsomer, and the graceful decision of his figure, the deliberate certainty of every action, heightened the force of a singular personality. As in the eyes of Sally, in his eyes was a long, reflective loo

on his pay and on the tiny income left by his mother. With the help of an Indian girl, and a half-breed for out-door work and fires and gardening, Sally had cared for the house herself. Ingenious and tasteful, with a gift for cooking and an educated hand, she had made her little home as pretty as their few possessions wo

urned his back,

rw

ed clouds w

ough right were w

iu

rise, are baffle

to w

of the State; of the insistence of the law, which did not rely upon force alone, but on the certainty of its administration. In such conditions the smallest brain was bound to expand, to take on qualities of judgment and temperateness which would never be developed in ordinary circumstances. In the case of Jim Templeton, who needed no stimulant to his intellect, but rather a steadying quali

s imperfect, but also, on the whole, was moving toward perfection rather than imperfection. He grew to realize that what seemed so often weakness in men was tendency and idiosyncrasy rather than evil. And in the end he thought better of himself as he came to think better of all others. For

is voice told her, the look that came into his eyes proclaimed it to her, his feverishness and restlessness made it certain. How many a night had she thrown her arm over his shoulder, and sought his hand and held it while in the dark silence, wide-eyed, dry-lipped, and with a throat like fire he had held himself back from falling. T

ld coins are counters in the game of success, signs and tokens. Money alone could not have lured her; but rather what it represented-power, width of action, freedom to help when the heart prompted, machinery for carrying out large plans, ability to surro

ildren, full of vivacious memory, shining with impulse and the stir of life, but not to be repeated-days and deeds outgrown. So the light of one idea shone in her face. Yet she was intensely hu

imself unless working through the natural channels of his birth, inheritance, and upbringing. Jim, drunken and unreliable, with broken will and fighting to find himself-the waste places were for him, until he was the master of his will

he had spoken to her querulously, almost sharply. Yet in her tears there was no reproach for him, rather for herself-the fear that she might lose her influence over him, that she could not keep him close to her heart, that he m

eep my temper sweet and cheerful, so that he will find the room empty where I am not, and his footsteps will quicken when he comes to the door. Not for my sake, dear God, but for his, or my heart will break-it will break unless Th

ad her will with all who came her way, from Governor to Indian brave. Once, in a journey they had made far north, soon after they came, she had stayed at a Hudson Bay Company's post for some days, wh

, guns, bows, and arrows. She beckoned to Arrowhead, and he followed her to the grindstone. She poured some water on the wheel and began to turn it, nodding at the now impassive Indian to begin. Presently he nodded also, and put his knife on the stone. She kept turning steadily, singing to herself the while, as with anxiety she saw the Indians drawing closer and closer in from the gate. Faster and faster she turned, and at last the Indian lifted his k

her grimly, then slowly s

go fight; I like marry you when I come back. H

looks. He saw. "My knife is sharp," he said. "The woman is bra

ction they seized what she gave, and thrust it into their mouths, squatting on the ground. Arrowhead looked on stern and immobile, but when at last she and the factor's wife sat down before the braves with confidence and an air of friendliness, he sat down also; yet, famished as he was, he would not touch the fo

life had seemed not worth a minute's purchase; and, as the sun went down, Arrowhead and his men went forth

ure of the eyes, Jim laughed outright. There came upon him a sudden sense of power, of a

ing muscles like steel. You hadn't these when

s the eye could see, nothing but snow, like a blanket spread over the land. Here and there in the wide expanse a tree silhouetted

e-I have a feeling about him. See, he's been riding hard and long-you can tell by the way the horse drops h

ch or waving grass, life palpitated in the air, energy sang its song in the footstep that crunched the frosty ground, that broke the crusted snow; it was in the delica

oing to win out here"-he set the child down-"you and I and this lucky sixpence." He took up h

mes as came

s fail int

is it not wort

us but home

ugh the pain o

'tis a blo

s to grace fr

s to the gar

live a bigger life still, that this is only the wide porch to the great labor-house-it mak

ig one, Jim-bigge

d me-me that wa

utter, dadsie?

e the dish-water goes, midget,

like to be in the gutte

ddenly Sally laid both hands on Jim's shoulders and looked

fighting only for salvation, for those he loved, for freedom. As they stood there, the conviction had come upon her that they had come to the last battle-field, that this journey which Jim now mus

he whispered: "Say, I've done near four years, my girl. I think I'm all ri

onths more-God be good to us!"

the first great stage in their life-j

t each other. She tried to avoid the inevitable operation, but Nature said, 'You must do it, or die in the end.' She yielded. Then came the long preparations for the operation. Her heart shrank, her mind got tortured. She'd suffered too much. She pulled herself together, and said, 'I must conquer this shrinking body of mine by my will. How shall I do it?' Something within her said, 'Think and do for others. Forget yourself.' And so, as they got her ready for

sently Sewell entered. "The Commissione

, Sewell. Is all r

e a change of orders. Something's happened

thirty miles, word of the murder having been carried from point to point. The Commissioner was uncertain what to do, as the Crees were restless through want of food and the absence of game, and a force sent to capture Arrowhead, the

ring, and he made ready to go upon his lonely duty. His wife did not kn