The Last of the Plainsmen

June at Port Chippewayan to d

o halt at the extreme northern end, where a plunging rivulet formed the source of a river. Here

I feel the winter in the wind. An' see

ng musk-oxen,"

land of the midnight sun. Soon we'll be shut in fo

ll and uniform in size. Black stumps protruded, here and there, from the ground, showing work of the steel in time gone by. Jones

ebbe fifty years ag

ing trees ar

don't grow fast

hes of spruce and a layer of sand. In digging near the fireplace Jones unearthed a rusty

here when he was in search of Captain Ross of the vessel Fury. It was those explorin' parties thet cut t

ruits, the sacks of flour, boxes of crackers, canned meats and vegetables, sugar, salt, coffee, tobacco-al

to stop up the crack, a task by no means easy, considering the lack of material-Rea laughed his short "Ho! Ho!" and stopped him with the word, "Wait." Every morning the green ice extended farther

oboggan, an' presently she'll commence t

ze of a few hours, and filling his bucket, returned to the cabin. Jones had no inkling of

e cabin, his back to the wind, and threw the water. Some of it froze in the air, most of it froze on the logs. The simple plan of the trapper to incase the cabin with ice was easily divined.

ng, seeping brushing against the cabin. "Ho! Ho!" roared Rea. "'Tis good; let her snow, an' the reindeer will migrate. We'll have fresh meat." The sun shone again, but not brightly. A n

Rea, "come nor

itations with no distinguishable doors. Fires smoked in the holes in the snow. Not till late in the day did any life manifest itself round the tepees, and then a group of children, poorly clad in ragged pieces of blankets and skins, gaped at Jones. He saw their pinched, brown faces,

said Rea. "A starved t

e remained still, as if transfixed,

white man goo

nearer. Jones ate a lump of sugar, then handed one to the little Indian. H

olie!" he shouted to his brothers

nterpreted Rea. "Of course the

r tasting the white lumps, shrieked in such delight

ng black hair, hungry, wolfish eyes and moccasined feet. They crowded into the path before the cabin door and mum

to send the reindeer. Buff, whatever you do, don't feed them. If you do, we'l

nothing to eat in the tepees, he invited the little ones into the cabin, and made a great pot of soup, into which he dropped compressed biscuits. The savage children were like wildcats.

" said Jones. "Poo

ly shook his

ding. He secured a dozen of the large-boned, white and black Indian dogs, huskies, Rea called them-two long sleds with harness and several pairs of snowshoes. This tr

the grub to them in r

orant savages had glutted the generous store of food, which should have lasted them for weeks. The next day they

th dismal chant and doleful incantations to the Great Spirit, and the tum!

remained unbroken. The reindeer did not come. The days bec

y dropped, and sang till their voices vanished, and beat the tomtoms everla

rance, and clamored so fiercely, and threatened so desperately, that Jone

mer fist knocked a brave against the wall, or through the door into the snow. When he could reach two savages at once, by way of diversion, he swung their heads together with a crack. They dr

aid gruffly. The expanse of his chest heaved slightly, like the slow swe

gave thanks for the comra

tier and warmer, and frost feathers floated in the air. Sky and sun and plain and lake-all were gray. Jo

Aton! Aton!" they mean reindeer. The idiots have scared the herd with their infernal racket, an' n

ye upon them, the hunter ran swiftly. He had not hunted antelope and buffalo on the plains all his life without learning how to approach moving game. As long as the caribou were in action, they could not tell whether he moved or was motionless. In order to tell if an object was inanimate or not, they must stop to see, of which fact the keen hunter took advantage. Suddenly he saw the gray mass slow down and bunch up. He stopped running, to stand like a stump. When the reindeer moved a

e beaded sight cover first the stately leader. Bang! The gray monarch leaped straight forward, forehoofs up, antlered head back, to fall dead with a crash. Then for a few mome

he saw several trying to rise on crippled legs. With his knife he killed these, not without some hazard to himself. Most of the fallen one

ared running with two sleds, with the whole tribe of

as he surveyed the gray pile. "Here's winter meat, an' I'd n

s," said Jones, "An' I'll bet every ball

ount. I guess mebbe you can't handle them shoo

ng aloft, and they sang, prayed, rejoiced on their knees. Jones turned away from the sickening scenes that convinced him these savages were little better than cannibals. Rea cursed them, and tumbled t

hem, Rea, sha

ursting into a babel of savage glee and tumbling over o

orge every hair, hide an' hoof of their share in less than a week. Thet's the last we do for the damned cannibals. Didn't you see them eatin' of the raw innards?-faugh! I'm calculatin' we'll see no

rting them to the cabin. "Buff, there ain't much doubt about them keepin' ni

asted. How long the ten reindeer might have served the wasteful tribe, Rea and Jones never found out. The next day two I

ng with the water pail, "An' I'll be durned, Buff, if I don't believe them crazy heathen have

hand on the old wrinkled chief, who repulsed him, and turned his back. With a growl, the trapper spun the Indian round, and spoke as many words of the language as he knew. He got

gers. "It'll go bad with you to come Nazain' any longer

he white hunters in any way. That night the dogs were kept inside, and the men took turns in watching. Morning showed a broad

t and fuel to cheer them, the hunters sat down in

plainsman, new to the north, the dim gray world about him was of exceeding interest. Out of the twilight s

wolves?" aske

're farther south after caribou,

o -sixty degrees. He turned from the wonder of the unreal, remote sun, to the marvel in the nor

he were speaking of biscuits. "Y

st over the fire. The reindeer were harder than iron. A knife or an ax or a steel-trap burned as if it had been

omed to the waiting, the restraint, the barrier of the north, worked on guns, sleds, harness, till he felt he would go mad. Then to save his

e north. At such times he longed with all the power of his soul to be among those scenes far southward, which he called home. For days Rea never spoke a word, only gazed into the fire, ate and slept. Jones, drifting far from his real self, feared the strange mood of the trapper and sought to b