did he
pause again till the great bluff was passed, and once more the square,
yellow patch of light gazed out at them from the dark vault of night.

With a brief explanation the Indian yielded up his command.

"Him Louis Creal," he said pointing. Then he swung his arm away to the
right. "Him Indian lodge. Much teepee. Much dog." He paused.
"Charley him finish--yes?" he added almost regretfully.

Kars promptly led the way back to the cover of the woods.

"Guess we'll sit around," he said, in a low voice. "I'll hand out the
talk."

Under the deep hush of night the village of the Bell River terror
slumbered. The raw-pelt teepees, their doors laced fast, stood up like
shadowy mausoleums with rigid arms stretched high above their sharp
crowns, as though in appeal to the frowning night heavens. In vain
glory an occasional log hut, with flattened reed roof, stood out
surrounded by its complement of teepees to mark the petty chieftainship
of its owner. Otherwise there was nothing to vary the infinite squalor
of the life of a northern race. Squalor and filth, and almost bestial
existence, made up the life of aboriginal man in a land where glacier
and forest vied with each other as the dominating interpretation of
Nature.

Nor was there need for optical demonstration of the conditions. It was
there to faculties of scent. It was there in the swarms of night
flies. It was there in the howl of the scavenging camp dogs, seeking,
in their prowling pack, that which the daylight denied them. Savage as
a starving wolf pack these creatures wallowed in the refuse of the
camp, and fought for offal as for a coveted delicacy. And so the women
and men laced tight their doors that the fly-tormented pappooses might
sleep in security. In daylight these foraging beasts were curs who
labored under the shadow of the club, at night they were feared even by
their masters.

Kars, and those with him, understood the conditions. The night hid no
secrets from them with regard to the village which sheltered their
enemy. They had learned it all in years of the long trail, and
accepted it as a matter of course. But, for the present, the village
was not their concern. It was the yellow patch of light shining in the
darkness that held them and inspired their council.

The light was widely apart from the village. It was on a rising ground
which overlooked the surroundings. It was one of the many eyes of a
low, large, rambling b