ngry, and very fierce. And the white man
offered them council and advice. He showed them how they could trap
Allan Mowbray and kill him. And Louis Creal would help them.

This the young men did on the banks of the river, led by Louis Creal.

But the old villain was careful to explain that now, now, at last--of
course since the ruin of their prospects through the destruction of
their sources of supply--all the Bell River tribe was sorry that Allan
Mowbray had been killed. They understood that he was not a traitor.
It was the others who were traitors. Allan Mowbray was killed because
they wanted all the yellow dust themselves, and he, Thunder-Cloud,
personally, as well as the young men, was very glad that they had both
been found out by the Indians. They were very, very bad men who had
wanted Kars and his people killed, too, but fortunately the Indians had
found out that Kars was a good man, and a friend of the Indian, and so
it was the desire of all to live in peace. In fact the Indian would be
very pleased to trade yellow dust with him.

As the old chief vanished in the region of the Indian workings Kars
turned back to his camp. For some moments he surveyed the scene with
serious eyes. It was all over. Already the persistent energy of Abe
Dodds was making itself apparent. The pumps had been restarted. The
sluices were awash, and gangs were starting to demolish the embankments
of auriferous pay dirt. The armed camp was vanishing before the breath
of peace, and the change brought him a measure of relief he remained
wholly unaware of.

It had been a desperate time while it had lasted. A desperateness
quite unrealized until it was over, and complete victory had been
achieved. And, curiously enough, by far his most anxious time had been
the safe return from his raid on Louis Creal's store, with his
prisoners. Peigan Charley had been unfailing. The Indian had reached
the camp and found it secure. There had been no attack in his absence.
He had explained the situation in his own lurid but limited language to
Abe Dodds, and the assistance needed had been promptly forthcoming.

The whole enterprise, the capture of the prisoners, the burning of
Louis Creal's store, had been carried out without the Indian's
obtaining an inkling of that which was going forward. And
unquestionably it was due largely to this absolute secrecy in the
operation that the present peace offer had been so promptly forthcoming.

But