FROM DUMB LIPS.
The judge proposed an adjournment. The witness, the prisoner, the
prisoner's counsel were all against it. It was decided to continue. A
breath of relief escaped the spectators. Another day they might not be
able to secure seats in the court-room.
Colina described how they gave their pursuers the slip and gained the
prairie.
"We decided to make for the nearest point on the Spirit River," she
went on, "and headed southeast. After we had ridden for two hours we
came to a slough of fresh water, and camped for the rest of the night
to let the horses feed and rest. Nesis and I could not sleep. We
talked until morning.
"I asked her questions, and she would answer yes or no, or let me know
by signs when I was on the wrong track. She was wonderfully clever in
making up signs.
"As she made signs to me I interpreted them aloud, and she would nod or
shake her head according to whether I was right or wrong. I had to try
one question after another until I hit on the one she could answer. In
this way little by little I built up her story.
"The next day we continued on the prairie. The sky was heavily
overclouded, and there were flurries of snow. We were lost for several
hours, until the sun came out again. Our food was almost gone, but I
managed to shoot a rabbit.
"The horses were very tired. Whenever we stopped I talked to Nesis.
We stayed up most of that night. It was too cold to sleep. By the end
of the second day I knew everything she had to tell me."
Colina drank some water and went on. "Nesis's story begins a year ago.
In the middle of the winter my father was accustomed to send Gordon
Strange with an outfit to the Kakisa River to trade with the tribe and
bring back the fur.
"While there he lived in a little log shack overlooking the Indian
village. Nesis said it was Watusk's custom to go up to the shack every
night and the two men would talk. She knew that they talked English
together, and she used to steal up after Watusk and listen outside
through a chink between the logs."
Every eye in the court-room was turned on Gordon Strange. The
half-breed made marks with a pencil on a pad and tried to call up the
old modest, deprecating smile. But an extraordinary ashy tint crept
under his swarthy skin.
In spite of himself, his eyes darted furtively to measure the distance
to the door. There were half a thousand people between; moreover, the
doors were closed and guarded by six policemen.
Colina carefully avoided glancing in Strange's direction.
"At that time Nesis had no idea of using what she learned from their
talk," she went on. "She merely wished to hear English spoken, so that
she would not forget what her father had taught her. Nesis attached a
mysterious virtue to the ability to speak English. It was a kind of
fetish with her.
"She believed that her father's ability to speak English had threatened
Watusk's power in the tribe, and that Watusk, on that account, had had
her father put out of the way. Therefore she kept it a secret that she
could speak it, too.
"Nesis said that all of Mr. Strange's and Watusk's talk was against the
white people. She said they used to discuss how the whites could be
driven out of the country. She said that Mr. Strange used to tell
Watusk about how Louis Riel fought the whites.
"He said that Louis Riel would be the king of this country to-day if he
had not gone crazy. He used to ask Watusk how he would like to be a
king. He used to flatter Watusk and tell him he was a great chief.
"He explained to Watusk how he could kill a whole army of the whites if
he could lead them into the little valley beyond the Kakisa."
A gasp of astonishment escaped the court. In almost every sentence of
Colina's there was the material of a fresh sensation.
Ambrose lifted his head, and a little color came back to his cheeks.
Whether or not it saved him in the end, it was sweet to hear himself
justified.
Colina continued: "Nesis said that Watusk often complained to Mr.
Strange that my father was always making the goods dearer and the fur
cheaper. Mr. Strange told him to wait a little while and he would see
great changes.
"Pretty soon things would get so bad, he explained, that the Company
would take John Gaviller away and make him the trader. He told Watusk
to wait until the grain was thrashed next year, meaning last summer,
and there would be great trouble.
"He said if Watusk did everything he told him he would make Watusk a
great man. At different times he gave Watusk presents--silk
handkerchiefs, finger rings, pistols, a sword. By and by he said he
would make Watusk great presents.
"Nesis's story then jumped to the time, last summer, when Watusk and
many of the people rode into Fort Enterprise to get flour," Colina went
on. "In the mean time Ambrose Doane had been to Enterprise, and had
gone away again to get an outfit.
"My father refused to give the Indians any flour because they had been
trading with his competitor. The Indians were angry, Nesis said, and
Watusk was scared. One night Gordon Strange came to see Watusk, and
Nesis listened outside the teepee.
"She said Strange said to Watusk to let the Indians get mad. Strange
said he wanted to have trouble. There was talk of burning the store
then. Strange said that would fix John Gaviller, all right. He told
Watusk that the police would let the people off easily because, as he
said, my father had treated them so badly."
Colina drew a long breath to steady herself. "They talked about the
chances of my father's dying," she went on. "He was very sick at that
time. Mr. Strange suggested to Watusk that it wouldn't take much to
finish him. They both laughed at that.
"He told Watusk that if John Gaviller died he, Strange, would settle
all the trouble, and then the Company would make him the trader for
good. He told Watusk that when he got to be trader he would soon fix
Ambrose Doane, too.
"Mr. Strange was always telling Watusk to tell the Kakisas that my
father hated them, but that he, Strange, was their friend.
"Nesis said that a couple of days after this Ambrose Doane came down
the river, and after him his outfit on a raft. When Ambrose Doane
heard that the Indians were hungry he took men and crossed the river
and broke into the flour-mill and ground flour for them.
"This took two nights and a day. On the second night Gordon Strange
came across to see Watusk again. Nesis said he was so angry that he
started in talking without sending her out of the teepee. He had no
idea, of course, that she could understand English. She made herself
look stupid, she said.
"Mr. Strange was angry because, if the Indians got their flour and went
back to the Kakisa River satisfied, all his plans would be spoiled.
His attempt to create a rebellion among the half-breed farmers had
already failed.
"Nesis said that Strange cursed Ambrose Doane for spoiling his plans.
She said he told Watusk he must burn the flour, and then the Indians
would surely make trouble. They talked about how to do it.
"It was arranged that Strange was to bring Watusk a big can of
coal-oil: Watusk was to hide it under the floor of Gaston Trudeau's
empty shack, and afterward store the flour there. Then Watusk was to
give a big tea-dance to get all the people out of the way.
"Before going to the dance he was to pour oil over the bags, and leave
the window open so Strange could fire it after he had gone."
Colina paused to take a drink of water. The judge whispered to a court
attendant, who in turn whispered to a policeman. Thereafter the
blue-coat's eyes never left Gordon Strange. The half-breed had lost
all pretense of smiling.
He looked like a trapped animal. The court-room scarcely regarded him.
They hung upon Colina's lips.
Every time she paused her listeners' pent-up breath escaped.
Colina went on: "At the tea-dance Nesis saw Ambrose Doane for the first
time. She said she--" Colina lowered her eyes and sought for a
word--"she liked him. After that she wanted to help him. When the
alarm of fire was raised, and all ran to the burning building, Nesis
kept near to Ambrose Doane and watched all that he did.
"She said she saw him go after Watusk, and heard him make Watusk tell
the Indians not to be foolish, but go back to the teepees until
morning. But Watusk spoke to them half-heartedly and they did not
listen. It was Myengeen, Nesis said, who urged them to go across the
river, and break into the store.
"Nesis did not see what happened at the boat. The crowd was too great
for her to get near. But next morning when they came back she heard
Myengeen say to Watusk that Gordon Strange had sent word that they must
tie Ambrose Doane up and carry him away.
"She said it was soon known throughout the tribe that if the police
came everybody was to say that Ambrose Doane made all the trouble. She
said he was tied up and carried away on a horse.
"When they all got to the Kakisa River a week later she found that he
was imprisoned in Gordon Strange's house, and watched day and night."
So far the power of Colina's story had carried her hearers along
breathlessly with her. Not until she reached this point did a very
obvious question occur to the judge.
"One moment, Miss Gaviller," he said. "I presume you understand that
this story would have more weight as evidence if the girl Nesis was
produced in court. Can she be brought here?"
Once more Colina faltered--and steeled herself. Her eyes became misty,
but she looked directly at the judge. "My Lord," she said simply, "she
is dead."