questioner was convinced.

"But he shall have her, Charley Seguis shall have her," chanted
old Maria, still rocking to and fro.

McTavish, sick at heart and at a loss what to do next, went out of
the cabin and over to the camp that Rainy had made in the snow near
the foot of a big tree. There, he told the old Indian what he had
learned, and appealed to him for counsel. For an hour, the latter
kept silent, and in that time they fed the dogs, and cooked their
own supper of fish, flat flour cakes, and tea. At last, when all
was done and the young man's spirits had risen with the strength
the hot food brought him, Peter Rainy spoke.

"These people have done wrong," he said, indicating the shanty.
"They must be punished. They must go back to Fort Severn to hear
the factor's judgment. One of us must take them. It should not be
you; your heart yearns onward for the thing that is dearest to it,
and you must follow that call.

"Give me authority, and I will take them back, so they can make no
more trouble. Tom is a good Indian, except with his mother. Him I
trust, but that old squaw"--he shook his head gravely--"if she
lived on the plains, she would cut down a burial-tree to build a
fire. That's the kind she is. I'll not feel safe until she's in
jail."

"If you are going back with them," broke in Donald, "you can use
their dog-train, and I'll keep this one."

"It is Buller's, and should be at Fort Dickey," Rainy replied.
"Cardepie's is the only one left there now. But there's no other
way, I guess."

"None. And, Peter, we must set watch to-night, so they can't escape
us. Four hours on and off; I'll stand the first one."

"Master, you are very weary, and need sleep, for we have traveled
far. Let me watch first."

But Donald respected the years of his companion, and gently maintained
his purpose. When they were ready for the night, he went to the
cabin, and placed Maria and Tom under arrest. Before taking his
watch, he tore a page from his note-book, and wrote a signed
statement, authorizing Peter Rainy as deputy to conduct the Indians
to Fort Severn.

Building a fire before the cabin door, he began walking up and
down, fighting desperately the almost overpowering sleep that
weighed upon his eyelids. Doubly exhausted by the day's efforts
and disclosures, every moment was a renewed struggle, and every
hour an eternity.

A rising wind, roared with hollow sound among the trees, and drove
the snow-powder into his fac