CHAPTER IV
A Night of Rough Work
"Phil, where is Katherine?" asked Mrs. Burton, coming out of herfather's room about half an hour after the two had started to bringhome the stores.
"She has gone to help Miles to do some work outside, though what itcan be I'm sure I don't know," grumbled Phil, who was sleepy andwanted to get to bed. He had washed the supper things after afashion, had cleared up the kitchen for the night, according to hisown ideas of tidiness, and now was sitting in the rocking-chair bythe stove, trying very hard to keep his eyes open.
"Oh dear, how unwise of her!" exclaimed Mrs. Burton in a plaintivetone. "I am always so afraid for her to go outside at night whenit is freezing so sharply, for her face would be quite spoiled ifshe were to get it frostbitten, and she is so pretty."
"Is she?" Phil's voice had a drowsy drawl, as if the subject ofKatherine's looks had very little interest for him, as indeed ithad. But an unexpected lurch of the chair, coming at that moment,landed him in a squirming heap on the floor.
"Oh, Phil, I am so sorry that I upset you, dear, but I had to catchat the chair to save myself from falling over the broom! What madeyou leave it lying on the floor?" asked Mrs. Burton, who had beenthe innocent cause of his collapse.
Phil rose to his feet and dusted the ashes from the sleeve of hisjacket with a rueful air. "Did I leave the broom there? Oh, Isuppose I forgot it! I remember I had it to sweep up thefireplace, because I could not find a brush."
"There is the brush hanging close to the stove," remarked Mrs.Burton. Then she broke out again: "I wonder what Katherine can bedoing out-of-doors at this time of the night, and Miles too?"
"Perhaps they are gone to a surprise party. Don't you rememberthere was one at Astor M'Kree's last winter?" suggested Phil, whosetumble had dispelled some of his sleepiness, although he stilltalked in a drowsy tone, and rumpled his hair wildly all over hishead.
"Katherine would not go to a surprise party with Father lying insuch a condition," replied Mrs. Burton severely. Then she wenton: "Besides, she must be pretty well worn out, poor girl, for shehas done thirty miles on snowshoes since the morning, with all theworry and trouble of Father's accident thrown in."
"Perhaps she has gone to help Miles to look after his wolf traps.I wanted to go instead, only she wouldn't let me. I told her thatgirls ought to stay indoors to wash cups and things, while boys didthe outside work," Phil explained, in a rather injured tone.
Mrs. Burton laughed softly. "I'm glad Katherine did not let youturn out to-night, laddie, though I am sorry she had to go herself.Now make haste and get off to bed; I have put everything ready foryou. But you must be very quiet, because I think Father isinclined to go to sleep."
"Katherine said I was not to go to bed until she came in, and I'mnot so very tired," replied Phil, choking back a yawn with a greateffort.
"I am, though. And if you are in Father's room I shall be able tosit down here by the stove and rest without any worry. So runalong, laddie, and be sure that you come to rouse me if Fatherwants me," Mrs. Burton said. Then, drawing a big shawl round hershoulders, she sat down in the rocking-chair vacated by Phil towait for the return of her sister and brother.
She wondered why they had gone out, but did not worry about it,except on the score of Katherine's complexion. Even that ceased totrouble her, as she swayed gently to and fro in the comfortablewarmth flung out by the stove, and very soon she was fast asleep.
'Duke Radford, who lay in restless discomfort from the pain of hishurts, was the first to hear sounds of an arrival, and he tried torouse Phil to see what all the commotion was about. But the boyalways slept so heavily that it was next to impossible to wake him.The dogs were barking. Katherine called out to Miles, who answeredback. Then there were other voices and a great banging at the doorof the store. That was when Mrs. Burton first became aware thatsomething was going on, and started up out of the rocking-chairunder the impression that she had been there the whole night andthat morning had come already.
A glance at the clock showed her, however, that it was not so verylate yet, and still a long way from midnight. Then, rememberingthat Katherine and Miles were out, she guessed it was they who weremaking such a clamour at the door of the store, and hurried to letthem in.
"I hope we haven't frightened Father with all the noise we have hadto make, but you seemed so dead asleep that we had to make a greatriot in order to get in," Katherine said, as she and Miles towedthe sledge inside the store to be unloaded at leisure when morningcame.
"I will go and see to Father, but Phil is with him now. Where haveyou been, Katherine? And oh, I do hope you have not frosted yourface!" Mrs. Burton said, with sisterly concern.
Katherine laughed, but even Mrs. Burton noticed that the sound wasstrained and unmirthful. "My complexion has not suffered, I canassure you. But Nellie, dear, could you get a cup of hot coffeequickly for two men? They have been having a rather terrible timeof it, and are a good bit shaken."
"Bring them into the kitchen and I will have the coffee readydirectly," Mrs. Burton said promptly. But first of all she justlooked into her father's room to tell him there was nothing toworry about. Then she hurried into the kitchen to rouse up the fireand put the coffee pot on to boil.
Oily Dave and Stee Jenkin accepted Katherine's invitation to walkin, following her through the dark store and into the lighted roombeyond with a sheepish expression on their faces, which certainlyno one had ever seen there before. Stee Jenkin had his outergarments nearly torn off him, there was blood on his face, and hesank on to the nearest bench as if his trembling limbs refused tosupport him any longer.
"Why, your face is bleeding! What have you been doing--notfighting, I hope?" There was a touch of severity in Mrs. Burton'stone; for she knew the man did not bear a very good character, andshe was not disposed to give herself much trouble on account ofanyone who had brought his misfortunes upon his own head.
"Yes, ma'am, I have been fighting, and for my life too, which is avery different thing from a round of fisticuffs with yourneighbour," growled Stee Jenkin in a shaken tone, and the hand withwhich he tried to lift the steaming coffee to his lips shook soviolently that he spilled the hot liquid on his clothes.
Katherine and Miles had gone back to the store again, so it wasOily Dave who explained the nature of the fight in which both menhad been involved.
"We'd a perticular bit of business on hand to-night," he said, inresponse to the enquiring look which Mrs. Burton turned upon him,for Stee was plainly too much upset to be coherent. "I'd got arevolver certainly, but Stee had nothing but a knife, for we didn'texpect any trouble with wolves so early in the season, though it isa fact we might have done, for everyone knows the place is justabout swarming with them this winter."
"Did the wolves attack you? Oh, how truly horrible!" exclaimedMrs. Burton, with so much genuine sympathy that both men wincedunder it, hardened offenders though they were; for they knew verywell that they deserved the fate which had so nearly fallen uponthem.
"About ten of the cowards closed in on us as we were going througha patch of cotton woods, where we couldn't move fast because ofcatching our snow-shoes," Oily Dave went on, winking and blinkingin a nervous fashion. "And we were fairly cornered before we knewwhere we were. One great brute came at me straight in the face. Iknocked him off with my fist and fumbled for my barker, but shotwild and did no more damage than to singe the hair off anotherbrute's back; but I managed to edge a bit closer to Stee, who wasgetting it rough, and hadn't even a chance to draw his knife. Butwe should have been down and done for to a dead certainty, if ithadn't been for Miss Radford and Miles. They let the dogs loosefrom the sledge when they heard the rumpus, and that turned thescale in our favour. That great white dog with the black patch onits back came tearing into the cotton woods roaring like a bull,and then I can tell you there was a stampede among the brutes thatwere baiting us." Oily Dave drew a long breath as he finished hisnarration, but the other man groaned.<
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"Katherine, what were you doing so far away from home at this timeof night?" gasped Mrs. Burton, in a shocked tone, as her sistercame into the room. "Why, the wolves might have attacked you."
"Not likely; we had the dogs with us, you see. But we had to goabout three miles along the trail to bring home the things I had toleave behind when Father had his accident," said Katherine, as shestood beside the stove slowly unwinding her wraps. Now that thestrain and excitement were over, she looked white and tired, buther face was set in hard, stern lines, which for the time seemed toadd years to her age.
"It is dreadful that you should have to go out at night like that.Wouldn't to-morrow have done as well?" asked Mrs. Burton in a toneof distress.
"No," replied Katherine slowly, as she wrestled with an obstinatefastening of her coat, keeping her gaze carefully on the ground thewhile. "We were almost too late as it was. A wolf had found outthe cache and was beginning to tear the packages to pieces, inspite of my care in turning the hand sledge upside down on the topof them."
Oily Dave rose to his feet with a jerky movement. "I think we hadbest be moving now," he said gruffly. "Perhaps you'd lend us acouple of the dogs to help us down to Seal Cove; we'll give 'em agood feed when we get there. But neither Stee nor I can face threemiles' tramp without something to protect us."
"Yes, you can have two of the dogs on leash; but remember they aredreadfully tired, poor things, for they have had a long, hard day.You had better leave your sledge here to-night, then there will beno temptation for you to let the dogs draw you," Katherine said, ina hard tone.
Mrs. Burton looked at her in surprise, even meditated a word ofexcuse, because her attitude was so unfriendly towards theseneighbours who had been in such direful peril. But the word wasnot spoken, for Katherine's face was too stern for the elder sisterto even suggest any change in her manner. Miles tied two of thedogs on a leash while the men put on their snowshoes, then hecarefully drew their sledge inside the door of the store, which wasafterwards securely barred.
"Katherine, what is the matter? Why did you and Miles go stealingoff in that fashion to bring the stores home without telling me?And why, oh! why, did you treat those men as if they were the dirtbeneath your feet?" demanded Mrs. Burton, as she plied her sisterand brother with hot coffee and comforting food, to make up to themfor all the toil and hardship which had gone before.
"Because I regard them as the scum of the earth," Katherineanswered with a yawn, as she stretched out her feet to the glowingwarmth of the fire.
"They are not very noble characters certainly, but when men havebeen face to face with such a terrible death, one feels it is aduty to be kind to them," Mrs. Burton said, in gentle reproof.
Miles burst out laughing, but Katherine shook her head at him andproceeded to explain. "It was because I was afraid those two weregoing to steal our stores that we started off in such a hurry toget the lot home, and we were on our way back when we heard thewolves, then cries and shots. We let the first two dogs go then,and had to hold on to the others with all our might to keep themfrom going too. I wish you could have seen how silly those menlooked, when they discovered to whom they owed their lives. Icould have laughed at the spectacle if I had not been so angry."
"It suits you to be angry, I think," broke in Miles. "You orderedthose two round just as if you had been a duchess, and they simplysquirmed before you, like the worms that they are."
"Silly boy, you have never seen a duchess, so you can't know howshe would order people about. Indeed she might be mild as milk,which I am not. But I hate to feel as angry as I have been doingto-night, so I am going to creep in and have a look at Father.That will make me feel better and more amiable, I hope."
"Don't disturb him if he is at all sleepy. I am so afraid he willbe feverish to-morrow if he does not get a good night," Mrs. Burtonsaid, in a warning tone.
"I shan't disturb him," answered Katherine; then, taking a lamp,she stole across the dark store to the little room at the otherend, where her father was lying.
One look at his face showed her how little chance of sleep therewas for him at present; and guessing that it was anxiety as well aspain which kept him awake, she sat down beside him and relatedagain the story of that night's adventures. He laughed, in spiteof his pain, at her description of how the precious pair had lookedwhen they found to whom they owed their lives.
"But I don't like you having such hard, rough things to do,Katherine. I wish you and Miles could change places in age," hesaid, with a sigh.
"I don't," she answered with a shrug. "But you must go to sleepnow, Father, or you will be feverish to-morrow. Do the bruiseshurt much?" she asked tenderly.
"The bed is full of sore places," he answered, with a whimsicaltransposition of terms. "But I shall go to sleep presently, Ithink."
"And wake up in the morning feeling better, I hope," she forcedherself to say brightly, though it worried her to see how ill hewas looking.
"I don't know about that," he said gravely. "When a man has liveda hard life like mine, a knock-down blow, such as I have hadto-day, very often sets a lot of mischief in motion; but there isno need to fear disaster until it actually comes. Get away to yourbed now, child. I shan't want anything more until the morning."
Katherine bent and kissed him. With all the strength of her heartshe loved her father. In her early girlhood he had been her hero.Since her mother's death he had been her good comrade, and neverhad there been a shadow between them until that day when they hadtaken the last mail of the season up to the second portage, andheard the news about the change in the ownership of the fishingfleet from Astor M'Kree. Perhaps he had been taken with somefeeling of illness that day, and this continuing ever since had ledto his altered ways and gloomy looks. But even with this idea tocomfort her Katherine went to her bed with a heavy heart thatnight, and a dread of the morning to which before she had been astranger. Her father had said that it was of no use to feardisaster until it really came, but her heart quailed that night asshe lay sleepless, thinking of the days which stretched in front ofher. Until her father grew strong again she would have to let theday teaching go, even though it might be possible to keep the nightschool together. Her days would have to be spent in buying andselling, in bartering barrels of flour and pork for skins of wolf,of ermine, and of beaver. She would have to stand between home andthe difficulties that menaced from the outside, and if her heartfailed her who could wonder at it?