ONAWGUISHIN (Light of the Evening) jumped to her feet, ran swiftly to
the gate, and watched him go. The finely chiselled face quivered, then
she turned and went to the store. Silently pushing her way through the
Indians gathered there, she found the factor. “Wa-ymit-te-go-osh,
Weer-baux [Frenchman gone, Verbaux],” she told him abruptly, and went
quickly as she had come. The black eyes gleamed fiercely, as she went
back to the tepee and sat down to the sewing of the moccasins.
Everything was turmoil in the yard; the Indians and voyageurs ran about
shouting, the factor yelled furious orders from the store; then a dozen
men on snow-shoes sped out of the post, took Verbaux’s trail swiftly,
and disappeared on it. Evening Star sewed on quietly. Steps approached
the tepee and Cuchoise came, threw down his load of fur, and looked
around the interior. “Verbaux ta-nin-dai? [Where is Verbaux?]” The girl
looked up at him steadily. “Ma-tche-ma-ni-tou [Evil Spirit],” she
answered. He stared at her without understanding.
“Here, girl, where did this mon Verbaux ye told me of go?” The factor’s
loud voice at the entrance startled them both. Cuchoise’s face was blank
in amazement.
“Sa-gai-egan wa-bu-no-ng [Lake to the East],” she answered.
“Hurry up there, he’s gang over Bear Lake to the island; take the quick
road,” Nelson shouted to some one in the yard, and went back to the
store.
Jean Cuchoise’s eyes were ugly; he stepped toward the girl, who stitched
on silently.
“Oo-kut-ta-aw koo-me-cha-n! [You betrayed my friend!]” he said in a low
voice. Evening Light nodded. The voyageur’s face grew black with rage at
the thought of Jules, who confided in him, having been betrayed by his
wife. He lunged forward, and his big hands closed round the girl’s brown
throat. Her head fell back and the black eyes looked up into his, but
she did not make the slightest struggle. “Serpent!” he snarled, flung
her from him, rushed from the tepee, picking up his snow-shoes as he
went. In the yard he stopped and listened. All the men had gone on the
chase, and the place was deserted. He stole out of the post and hurried
away toward Bear Lake, that showed flat and dreary in front of him. He
could see many specks straggling over the surface, heading for an island
whose timber showed black in the distance.
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