the Indians that saved Smoke and Shorty
from being overborne. In five minutes the wall of up-standing,
on-struggling Indians had been changed to heaps of fallen ones that
moaned and gibbered in the snow, and cried and sniveled as their
staring, swimming eyes focused on the grub that meant life to them
and that brought the slaver to their lips. And behind it all arose the
wailing of the women and children.

"Shut up! Oh, shut up!" Shorty yelled, thrusting his fingers into his
ears and breathing heavily from his exertions. "Ah, you would, would
you!" was his cry as he lunged forward and kicked a knife from the hand
of a man who, bellying through the snow, was trying to stab the lead-dog
in the throat.

"This is terrible," Smoke muttered.

"I'm all het up," Shorty replied, returning from the rescue of Bright.
"I'm real sweaty. An' now what 'r' we goin' to do with this ambulance
outfit?"

Smoke shook his head, and then the problem was solved for him. An Indian
crawled forward, his one eye fixed on Smoke instead of on the sled, and
in it Smoke could see the struggle of sanity to assert itself. Shorty
remembered having punched the other eye, which was already swollen shut.
The Indian raised himself on his elbow and spoke.

"Me Carluk. Me good Siwash. Me savvy Boston man plenty. Me plenty
hungry. All people plenty hungry. All people no savvy Boston man. Me
savvy. Me eat grub now. All people eat grub now. We buy 'm grub. Got 'm
plenty gold. No got 'm grub. Summer, salmon no come Milk River. Winter,
caribou no come. No grub. Me make 'm talk all people. Me tell 'em plenty
Boston man come Yukon. Boston man have plenty grub. Boston man like 'm
gold. We take 'm gold, go Yukon, Boston man give 'm grub. Plenty gold.
Me savvy Boston man like 'm gold."

He began fumbling with wasted fingers at the draw-string of a pouch he
took from his belt.

"Too much make 'm noise," Shorty broke in distractedly. "You tell 'm
squaw, you tell 'm papoose, shut 'm up mouth."

Carluk turned and addressed the wailing women. Other bucks, listening,
raised their voices authoritatively, and slowly the squaws stilled,
and quieted the children near to them. Carluk paused from fumbling the
draw-string and held up his fingers many times.

"Him people make 'm die," he said.

And Smoke, following the count, knew that seventy-five of the tribe had
starved to death.

"Me buy 'm grub," Carluk said, as he got the pouch open and drew out a
large chunk of