The Gun-Brand
Page 4
CHAPTER IV
CHLOE SECURES AN ALLY
A shout from the bank heralded the appearance of the first scow, whichwas closely followed by the two others. When they had landed, Lapierreissued a few terse orders, and the scowmen leaped to his bidding. Theoverturned scow was righted and loaded, and the remains of thedemolished whiskey-kegs burned. Lapierre himself assisted the threewomen to their places, and as Chloe seated herself near the bow, hesmiled into her eyes.
"Vermilion was a good riverman, but so am I. Do you think you cantrust your new pilot?"
Somehow, the words seemed to imply more than the mere steering of ascow. Chloe flushed slightly, hesitated a moment, and then returnedthe man's smile frankly.
"Yes," she answered gravely, "I know I can."
Their eyes met in a long look. Lapierre gave the command to shove off,and when the scows were well in the grip of the current, he turnedagain to the girl at his side. Their hands touched, and again Chloewas conscious of the strange, new thrill that quickened herheart-beats. She did not withdraw her hand, and the fingers ofLapierre closed about her palm. He leaned toward her. "Only quarterIndian," he said softly. "My grandmother was the daughter of a greatchief."
The girl felt the hot blood mount to her face and gently withdrew herhand. Somehow, she could not tell why, the words seemed good to hear.She smiled, and Lapierre, who was watching her intently, smiled inreturn.
"We are approaching quick water; we will cover many miles today, andtonight beside the camp-fire we will talk further."
Chloe's eyes searched the scows. "Where are the two who attacked Lena?Your men captured them."
Lapierre's smile hardened. "Those who deserted me for Vermilion? Oh,I--dismissed them from my service."
Hour after hour, as the scows rushed northward, Chloe watched theshores glide past; watched the swirling, boiling water of the river;watched the solemn-faced scowmen, and the silent, vigilant pilot; butmost of all she watched the pilot, whose quick eye picked out thedevious channel, and whose clear, alert brain directed, with a movementof the lancelike pole, the labours of the men at the sweeps.
She contrasted his manner--quiet, graceful, sure--with that ofVermilion, the very swing of whose pole proclaimed the vaunting,arrogant braggart. And she noted the difference in the attitude of thescowmen toward these two leaders. Their obedience to Vermilion'sorders had been a surly, protesting obedience; while their obedience toLapierre's slightest motion was the quiet, alert obedience thatproclaimed him master of men, as his own silent vigilance proclaimedhim master of the roaring waters.
When the sun finally dipped behind the barren scrub-topped hills, thescows were beached at the mouth of a deep ravine, from whose depthssounded the trickle of a tiny cascade. Lapierre assisted the womenfrom the scow, issued a few short commands, and, as if by magic, adozen fires flashed upon the beach, and in an incredibly short space oftime Chloe found herself seated upon her blankets inside hermosquito-barred tent.
Supper over, Harriet Penny immediately sought her bed, and Lapierre ledChloe to a brightly burning camp-fire.
Nearby other fires burned, surrounded by dark, savage figures thatshowed indistinct in the half-light. The girl's eyes rested for amoment upon Lapierre, whose thin, handsome features, richly tanned bylong exposure to the Northern winds and sun, presented a pleasingcontrast to the swart flat faces of the rivermen, who sat in groupsabout their fires, or lay wrapped in their blankets upon the gravel.
"You have decided?" abruptly asked Chloe, in a voice of ill-concealedeagerness. Lapierre's face became at once grave, and he gazed sombrelyinto the fire.
"I have pondered deeply. Through the long hours, while the scow rushedinto the North, there came to me a vision of my people. In the rocks,in the bush, and the ragged hills I saw it; and in the swirl of themighty river. And the vision was good!"
The voice of the man's Indian grandmother spoke from his lips, and thesoul of her glowed in his deep-set eyes.
"Even now _Sakhalee Tyee_ speaks from the stars of the night sky. Mypeople shall learn the wisdom of the white man. The power of theoppressor shall be broken, and the children of the far places shallcome into their own."
The man's voice had dropped into the rhythmic intonation of the Indianorator, and his eyes were fixed upon the names that curled, lean andred, among the dry sticks of the camp-fire. Chloe gazed in fascinationinto the rapt face of this man of many moods. The soul of the girlcaught the enthusiasm of his words, and she, too, saw the vision--sawit as she had seen it upon the wave-lapped rock of the river-bank.
"You will help me?" she cried; "will join forces with me in a waragainst the ruthless exploitation of a people who should be as free andunfettered as the air they breathe?"
Lapierre bent his gaze upon her face slowly, like one emerging from atrance.
"Yes," he answered deliberately; "it is of that I wish to speak. Letus consider the obstacles in our path--the matter of officialinterference. The government will soon learn of your activities, andthe government is prone to look askance at any tampering with theIndians by an institution not connected with the Church or the State."
"I have my permit," Chloe answered, "and many commendatory letters fromOttawa. The men who rule were inclined to think I would accomplishnothing; but they were willing to let me try."
"That, then, disposes of our most serious difficulty. Will you tell menow where you intended to locate?"
"There is too much traffic upon the river," answered the girl. "Thescow brigades pass and repass; and, at least until my little colony isfairly established, it must be located in some place uncontaminated bythe presence of so rough, lawless, and drunken an element. As I toldyou before, I do not know where my ideal site is to be found. I hadintended to talk the matter over with the factor at Fort Rae."
"What! That devil of a Haldane? The man who is hand-in-glove withBrute MacNair!"
"You forget," smiled the girl, "that until this day I never even heardof Brute MacNair."
The man smiled. "Very true. I had forgotten. But it is fortunateindeed that chance threw us together. I tremble to think what wouldhave been your fate should you have acted upon the advice of ColinHaldane."
"But surely you know the country. You will advise me."
"Yes, I will advise you. I am with you in this venture; with you tothe last gasp; with you heart and soul, until that devil MacNair isdead or driven out of the North, and his Indians scattered to the fourwinds."
"Scattered! Why scattered? Why not held together for their educationand betterment? And you say you will be with me until MacNair iseither dead or driven out of the North. What then--will you desert methen? This MacNair is only an obstacle in our path--an obstacle to bebrushed aside that the real work may begin. Yet you spoke as though hewere the main issue."
Lapierre interrupted her, speaking rapidly: "Yes, of course. Bear withme, I pray you. I spoke hastily, and without thinking. My feelingsfor the moment carried me away. As you see, the marks of the Brute'shands are still too fresh upon me to regard him impersonally--anobstacle, as it were. To me he is a brute! A fiend! A demon! I_hate_ him!"
Lapierre shook a clenched fist toward the North, and the words fairlysnarled between his lips. With an effort he controlled himself. "Ihave in mind the very place for your school, a spot accessible from alldirections--the mouth of the Yellow Knife River, upon the north arm ofGreat Slave Lake. There you will be unmolested by the debauchingrivermen, and yet within easy reach of any who may desire to takeadvantage of your school. The very place above all places! In thewhole North you could not have chosen a better! And I shall accompanyyou, and direct the building of your houses and stockade.
"MacNair will learn shortly of your fort--everything is a 'fort' uphere--and he will descend upon you like a ramping lion. When he findsyou are a woman, he will do you no violence. He will scent at once arival trading-post and will hurt your cause in every way possible; willuse every means to discredit you a
mong the Indians, and to discourageyou. But even he will do a woman no physical harm.
"And right here let me caution you--do not temporize with him. Hestands in the North for oppression; gain at any cost; fordebauchery--everything that you do not. Between you and Brute MacNairthere can be no truce. He is powerful. Do not for a moment underrateeither his strength or his sagacity. He is a man of wealth, and hishold upon the Indians is absolute. I cannot remain with you, butthrough my Indians I shall keep in touch with you, work with you; andtogether we will accomplish the downfall of this brute of the North."
For a long time the two figures sat by the fire while the camp slept,and talked of many things. And when, well toward midnight, ChloeElliston retired to her tent, she felt that she had known this manalways. For it is the way of life that stress of events, and notduration of time, marks the measure of acquaintance and intimacy.Pierre Lapierre, Chloe Elliston had known but one day, and yet shebelieved that among all her acquaintances this man she knew best.
By the fire Lapierre's eyes followed the girl until she disappearedwithin the tent, and as he looked a huge figure arose from the deepshadows of the scrub, and with a hand grasping the flap of the tent,turned and stared, silent and grim and forbidding, straight intoLapierre's eyes.
The man turned away with a frown. The figure was Big Lena.