THE AVENGING OF NESIS.
His lordship started back thoroughly discomposed. "Really! Really!"
he murmured helplessly. The prisoner hid his face in his arms again.
An audible wave of compassion traveled over the room.
"Should I tell about that?" Colina asked quietly. The judge signified
his assent.
"On the third morning on the prairie," Colina continued, "the Indians
found us again. They had tracked us all the way from the Kakisa. They
did not attack us, but followed about a quarter of a mile behind.
"There were about fifty of them. Whenever we stopped to rest or eat,
they rode around us in a big circle yelling and firing their guns in
the air--trying to break our nerve."
A gasp escaped her hearers at the picture she evoked--three women on
the wide prairie, and a horde of yelling savages!
"I did not mind them so much," Colina went on simply, "for I was sure
they were too cowardly to attack us. But our food was all gone by this
time, and I could not leave the others to hunt for game. The horses
were completely played out.
"At night we suffered from the cold. We could not make a fire because
the light of it blinded us and showed us to the Indians. On the fourth
night as we were trying to push on in the hope of losing them in the
dark, the horse that Nesis was riding fell down and died in his tracks.
After that we took turns walking.
"Next day they easily found us again. It was very cold, and we could
scarcely keep going. In the afternoon we came to the edge of the bench
of the Spirit River. It was a long way down to the bank.
"When we got there we saw that heavy ice was running in the river. We
had to travel another mile along the bank before we saw enough dead
timber in one place to make a raft. I was afraid we wouldn't have
strength enough to move it. We hadn't eaten for two days.
"It was still daylight, and we made a fire there. The Indians came and
watched us from a little knoll, less than a quarter of a mile back.
"Cora took one of the remaining horses away and killed it, and brought
back meat to the fire and we ate a little. I thought if we slept a
little while we would be better able to start the raft. So Cora and I
lay down while Nesis kept watch."
Colina's voice was shaking. She paused to steady it. "I was careful
to choose a place out in the open," she went on. "We were in a grassy
bottom beside the river.
"The nearest cover was a poplar bluff about three hundred yards back.
He--he must have crawled down to that. I was awakened by a shot. They
had got her!"
Colina's clenched hands were pressed close together, her head was down.
The quiet voice broke out a little wildly.
"Ah! I have never, never ceased to blame myself! I should not have
slept! I ought not to have let her watch! But I never thought they
would dare shoot!"
Colina went on in a schooled voice more affecting than an outcry.
"Nesis was shot through the breast. I had nothing to give her. I
stanched the wound the best way I could.
"I saw at once that she could not live. Indeed, I prayed that she
would not linger--in such pain. She lived throughout the night. She
was conscious most of the time--and smiling. She died at daybreak.
"I do not know what happened after that. I gave out. It was Cora who
saw the launch coming down the river, and signaled it with her
petticoat. They landed and carried us aboard. I remember that.
"I wanted them to turn back and take us up to the crossing. But it was
impossible to go against the current on account of the ice. They took
us down to Fort Enterprise. We took Nesis. She is buried there.
"At Fort Enterprise we had to wait until the ice packed in the river,
and enough snow fell to make a winter trail. Then we started with dog
teams. I brought Captain Stinson and my servant, Cora Thomas, for
additional witnesses. It is seven hundred miles. That is why we were
so long."
Mr. Pascoe rose. His erstwhile ruddy cheeks showed an odd pallor under
the purple veins, and he looked thoroughly disconcerted. "My Lord," he
said, "this is a very affecting tale. It is, however, my painful duty
to protest against its admission as evidence."
Colina interrupted him. "I beg your pardon," she said quickly. She
produced a little book from inside her dress. "May I explain further?"
she asked the judge eagerly.
"One moment, please, Mr. Pascoe," said his lordship. He signed to
Colina to proceed.
"I meant, of course, to bring Nesis here," Colina continued. "When I
saw that--that I never would, while I didn't know anything about courts
or evidence, I felt that it would be safer to have a written statement.
"This book is my diary that I always carry with me. That night I wrote
in the blank pages what Nesis had told me, and later when she was
conscious I read it to her, and she affirmed it sentence by sentence.
She understood how important it was.
"You may know that she comprehended what she was doing because she made
me make changes--you will find them here. At the end I wrote her name
and she made a cross. Cora Thomas heard me read it to her, and saw her
make her mark."
The judge held out his hand for the book.
Once more Mr. Pascoe rose. "My Lord," he said, "it must be clear to
you that the ends of justice have been defeated by the dramatic power
of this tale. It would be farcical to ask this jury to deliver an
impartial verdict now. This new evidence must be weighed and sifted
with calm minds. I request that you declare a mistrial, and that--"
A still more dramatic surprise awaited Mr. Pascoe and the court.
Toward the end of the telling of Colina's painful tale Gordon Strange
had been forgotten by all in the room except the policeman detailed to
watch him. This man suddenly made a spring toward the half-breed,
where he sat huddled beside his table. He was too late. The court was
electrified by the muffled sound of a shot. Strange fell forward on
the table. A revolver clattered to the floor from under his coat.