The Maid of the Whispering Hills

ere one who was destined to b

the men of the five canoes had taken up a song of the boats, their voices lifting clear and fresh on the wings of the new day, until the first canoe tu

tender mouth that was all Irish above the

wickered jug and he

and give each of the men a cu

no taste for the stra

n Maren Le Moyne's black hair and a

n more to occupy his mind than a maid and

f a hundred canoes on the river a day's journey up-country

were coming

s of the huge, thick-coated bears. At day-dawn they came, having camped for the night a short distance above the fort, to the letter d

braves announced their coming, McElroy gave orders that the three small cannon mounted on a half-moon of narrow breastwork to t

ines, and the first of the tribes, being t

ft, afloat like the leaves of autumn upon the breast of the little river,-two braves to a canoe, the gallant front of the young men flanking and preceding that which held the leader of the expedition, chief of the tri

of the untrammelled summers, and the snow-hindered winters, to the doors of the white man, dependent

n the main way between the cabins, passing alone between the rows of

o the landing; and down the reach of water between them, slightly ruffled into little waves and sparkling r

ues, of the Nepigon, to the far-away Ouinebigonnolinis on the sea coast. His hair was thickly silvered from the years he had spent in the service of the H. B. C., and his heart was fu

ka as he stepped from his canoe, gathering his

lf-moon which closed in with scarce a paddle dip, so deft were the br

hief entered the post, followed by the headmen and proceeded to t

t camp two hundred strong all along the bank of the stream, beached the canoes, stacked the beaver pack

bustle and activity reigned where the silenc

e better view the bustling concourse of braves and squaws, was Maren Le Moyne, her da

ed feet had trod the virgin forest of her dreams, those sombre eyes looked upon the Whispering Hills, those grav

ribou or with news of some friendly tribe, had come upon a man, an old man rugged of frame and face

kn

f tenderness that flickered ever behind the graveness of her eyes leap

vel sun in her eyes. Her thoughts were soon faraway on the misty trail they had worn for themselves in the many years they had traversed the wilderness in search of what it held, and the eyes between the narrowe

and his devil-may-care fa

him was thumping a bit. This was a woman, he recalled having thought, for whom one would

and looked swi

those two are in simple, sensible acc

res of the youth there

id, "my speech was foolish as m

ng aside the folds of her dr

ady and whose heart of a light o' love had taken toll from every maid in the settlement, an

yes were again half-closed and the dreaming look had

thus unmoved beside him when he longed to make

is maid was new to the post, "if there is, I would not be the one to waken

m from the tail of his eye, a round womanly cheek, sweet and full an

on, and presently she straightened with a little breath like a sigh, unclasped her ha

he sought for some common wo

nter beaver. Truly they come well laden, these Assiniboines, and we may we

slope to where the Indians had piled their bales of furs. At the sight they

ieu," she said, shaking her h

ha

pper wa

n the fruits o

g a bit at the edges where the fur rounds over th

r end of a slender pole set leaning in the ground. The delicate hand of a seasoned player must match itself with the forest instinct of these small creatures. The little pole

e hundreds of

ning and the red in his ch

xploitation of knowledge gained first-

if the water runs, waiting with open jaws in the small runway above the dam where the creatures come out from the swim. A sleek head lifting above the ripples a scrambling foot or two,-snap! again the price of a pound and a half of powder,

trail. And those beautiful silver fox, frosty and fine as the sparkle of a winter m

through the flimsy roof of some well-

being still on the bustling camp below. The

speak in a low vo

adway, but those were covered by the fall of three days back and the little creature who made them hangs there at the end, three small feet beating the cold air feebly, a tiny head squirming from side to side, two dull black eyes set at the distorted world. He has caught his marten. It has not frozen, for the snow was light and the forest still and thick, and three days have passed, M'sieu. Three days! Mon Dieu! How much were those three days worth? The tra

ted face beside him, mouth open a

n we

is traps,-he comes eagerly, to peep and peer for what might have happened at the head of the

rocking along ire his quest of berries or some tree that should ring hollow under his scratching claws, bespeaking the hive of the wild bees. The oiled and fur-wrapped Indian stoops down and looks along the dip. Ah! There he sees that which brings a glint to his small eyes. N

akes

trange thing that bit to the bone with its relentless jaws, and tore along the white silence dragging its hindering ball, that, catching on bush and root, skinned down the flesh from the shining bone. And presently the wild trail narrowed to undisturbed snow, with naught s

hed nose flat on the snow and two ears laid lop to a vanquished head. It is still breathing, though

hat the right forele

or wealth,-but to me it is no heartening sight.

ark brows frowned down the slope. She had drawn her hands tight around her

open lips and drew in

o see behind those things. And, oh, Ma'amselle!" his voice fell low and trembling, "I have seen more,-the divinity within your spirit. May the good God make me worthy that you may speak so to me again. I would I might serve you,-

a stone for your foot," he said

and a wonderful tendern

t will be worth while. I think it would be a lifting sigh

; "you do, Ma'amselle? T

day I shal

glowing youth, how true was that word

e forest, "until then may we be friends?" T

was very gentle; "assuredly, M'sieu-I h

fell upon the long camp of the Assinibo

flat stone, the blood hot in his fa

in his ears like the

aring at the waters of the river, now sparkling like a stream of diamonds in t

chief and his headmen sat in a solemn circle, and McElroy, holding in h

ng ornaments, to east and west, to the heavens and to the

lemn visages of these his friends and people, "ma

at the carven mouthpiece and

to the savage on his right, who likewise smoked and passed, it

d in the pen, the bread of the feast been set. So do we love our brothers of the forest. What is th

sat down in his

against the lintel, her face filled with eagerness, her eyes, clear as a child's and as far-seeing, fixed on the Indians. He glanced swiftly to that t

but for his life the young factor of De Seviere could not have said so to this girl who we

was speaking and t