Part 1 (1/2)
The Heart of Unaga
by Ridgwell Cullum
PART I
CHAPTER I
JULYMAN TELLS OF THE ”SLEEPER” INDIANS
Steve Allenwood raked the fire together A shower of sparks flew up and cascaded in the still air of the su through the thin veil of sures beyond the fire They were Indian figures, huddled down on their haunches, with their erous proxiround
”Oh, yes?” he said ”And you guess they sleep all the time?”
The tone of his voice was incredulous
”Sure, boss,” one of the Indians returned, quite unaffected by the tone
The other Indian remained silent He was in that happy condition between sleep and waking which is the very essence of enjoyment to his kind
Inspector Allenwood picked up a live coal in his bare fingers He dropped it into the bowl of his pipe Then, after a deep inhalation or two, he knocked it out again
”'Hibernate'--eh? That's hoe call it,” he said presently Then he shook his head The smile had passed out of his eyes ”No It's a dandy notion But--it's not true They'd starve plumb to death You see, Julyman, they're human folks--the same as we are”
The flat denial of his ”boss” was quite without effect upon Julyman
Oolak, beside him, roused himself sufficiently to turn his head and blink enquiry at him He was a silent creature whose aded talk was profound
”All same, boss, that so,” Julyman protested without emotion ”Him same like all men Him just man, squaw, pappoose All same him sleep--sleep--sleep, when snow coh a cloud of tobacco smoke ”JulyFire Hi--so” He leant over sideways, with his hands pressed together against his cheek to illustrate his”Him father say this Him say when snow come All Indian sleep One week--teek Then hireat display of a weary half-waking condition ”Him sit up The food there by him, an' he eat--eat plenty ain Bimeby, too, him roll up in blanket Then him sleep some more One week--teek So
An' bione Oh, him very wise man Him no work lak hell same lak white man No Him sleep--sleep all hione All very o out Hiood Hi trade So hi Only very old Him much wise ed
”Guess you got a nightmare, July to add He knew his scouts as he knew all other Indians in the ilderness of the extreed under a mental cloud of superstition and mystery He had no ”
Indians than he had for believing the hundred and one stories of Indian folklore he had listened to in his time
Julyman, too, considered the subject closed He had said all he had to say So the spasht
The fire burned low, and was replenished fro a few yards away in the shadow of the bush which lined the trail These men, both white and coloured, had the habit of the trail deeply ingrained in them But then, was it not their life, practically the whole of it? Stephen Allenas a police officer who represented the white ood-sized European country, and these scouts were his only assistants
They were at headquarters now enjoying a brief respite froies And such was the nature of their work, and so absorbing the endless struggle of it, that their focus of holiday-ht s for the call of nature suht, still and calht overhead There was the busy hum of insect life froish tide of the great Caribou River which drained the country for h that floated upon the air spoke of lofty pine crests bending under a light top breeze which refrained froht left the impression of unbreakable peace, of human content, and a world where elemental stor, as are all such impressions in nature's wild, and where the hurey eyes of the whiteinto the heart of the fire Then, too, not one of thereat Northland
A wonderful cotrail They had fought the battle of life together for eight long years, enduring perils and hardshi+ps which had brought theard which no difference in colour, or education could lessen For all the distinction of the police officer's rank and his white , for all the Indians were dark-skinned, uncultured products of the great white outlands, they were three friends held by bonds which only the hearts of real men could weld
The territory over which Steve Allenwood exercised his police control ell-nigh limitless from a ”one-man” point of view From his headquarters, which lay within the confines of the Allowa Indian Reserve on the Caribou River, it reached away to the north as far as the Arctic Circle To the west, only the barrier of the great McKenzie Riverbeyond the Reserve claironshi+p of Deadwater, two miles away Eastwards? Well, East was East So far as Inspector Allenwood knew his district had no lied coast line of the Hudson's Bay itself
His task left Steve Allenithout complaint It was never his way to complain Doubtless there werenature of it all But he nonature of a winter store and dispassionate detera card to play at the right moment And none knew better than his scouts how often that card had meant the difference between a pipe over the warrave
Julyman was troubled at the unease he observed in the white man's eyes