CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nanette, the woman, saw Jacques come out of the edge of the timber latein the afternoon, dragging something on the snow behind him. In herheart, ever since her husband had begun to talk about him, she had keptsecret to herself a pity for the wild dog. Long before the last babyhad come she had loved a dog. It was this dog that had given her theonly real affection she had known in the company of The Brute, and withbarbarous cruelty Le Beau had driven it from her. Nanette herself hadencouraged it to seek freedom in the wilderness, as Netah had at lastsought his. Therefore she had prayed that the wild dog of the traplinemight escape.
As Le Beau came nearer she saw that what he drew after him upon thesnow was a sledge-drag made of four lengths of sapling, and when, amoment later, she looked down at its burden, she gave a little cry ofhorror.
Miki's four feet were tied so firmly to the pieces of sapling that hecould not move. A cord about his neck was fastened to one of thecrossbars, and over his jaws Le Beau had improvised a muzzle ofunbreakable BABICHE thong. He had done all this before Miki regainedconsciousness after the clubbing. The woman stared, and there was asudden catch in her breath after the little cry that had fallen fromher lips. Many times she had seen Jacques club his dogs, but never hadshe seen one clubbed like this. Miki's head and shoulders were a massof frozen blood. And then she saw his eyes. They were looking straightup at her. She turned, fearing that Jacques might see what was in herface.
Le Beau dragged his burden straight into the cabin, and then stood backand rubbed his hands as he looked at Miki on the floor. Nanette sawthat he was in a strangely good humour, and waited.
"By the Blessed Saints, but you should have seen him killNetah--almost," he exulted. "OUI; he had him down by the throat quickerthan you could flash your eye, and twice he was within an inch of mylife when I fought him with the club. DIEU! I say, what will happen toDurant's dog when they meet at Post Fort 0' God? I will make a sidewager that he kills him before the second-hand of LE FACTEUR'S watch,goes round twice. He is splendid! Watch him, Nanette, while I go make acorral for him alone. If I put him in with the pack he will kill themall."
Miki's eyes followed him as he disappeared through the cabin door. Thenhe looked swiftly back to Nanette. She had drawn nearer. Her eyes wereshining as she bent over him. A snarl rose in Miki's throat, and diedthere. For the first time he was looking upon WOMAN. He sensed, all atonce, a difference as vast as the world itself. In his bruised andbroken body his heart stood still. Nanette spoke to him. Never in hislife had he heard a voice like hers--soft and gentle, with a breakingsob in it; and then--miracle of miracles--she had dropped on her kneesand her hands were at his head!
In that instant his spirit leapt back through the generations--backbeyond his father, and his father's father; back to that far day whenthe blood in the veins of his race was "just dog," and he romped withchildren, and listened to the call of woman, and worshipped at theshrine of humankind. And now the woman had run quickly to the stove,and was back again with a dish of warm water and a soft cloth, and wasbathing his head, talking to him all the time in that gentle,half-sobbing voice of pity and of love. He closed his eyes--no longerafraid. A great sigh heaved out of his body. He wanted to put out histongue and lick the slim white hands that were bringing him peace andcomfort. And then the strangest thing of all happened. In the crib thebaby sat up and began to prattle. It was a new note to Miki, a new songof Life's spring-tide to him, but it thrilled him as nothing else inall the world had ever thrilled him before. He opened his eyeswide--and whined.
A laugh of joy--new and strange even to herself--came into the woman'svoice, and she ran to the crib and returned with the baby in her arms.She knelt down beside him again, and the baby, at sight of this strangeplaything on the floor, thrust out its little arms, and kicked its tinymoccasined feet, and cooed and laughed and squirmed until Miki strainedat his thongs to get a little nearer that he might touch this wonderfulcreature with his nose. He forgot his pain. He no longer sensed theagony of his bruised and beaten jaws. He did not feel the numbness ofhis tightly bound and frozen legs. Every instinct in him was centred inthese two.
And the woman, now, was beautiful. She UNDERSTOOD; and the gentle heartthrobbed in her bosom, forgetful of The Brute. Her eyes glowed with thesoft radiance of stars. Into her pale cheeks came a sweet flush. Shesat the baby down, and with the cloth and warm water continued to batheMiki's head. Le Beau, had he been human, must have worshipped her thenas she knelt there, all that was pure and beautiful in motherhood, anangel of mercy, radiant for a moment in her forgetfulness of HIM. AndLe Beau DID enter--and see her--so quietly that for a space she did notrealize his presence; and with him staring down on her she continued totalk and laugh and half sob, and the baby kicked and prattled and flungout its little arms wildly in the joy of these exciting moments.
Le Beau's thick lips drew back in an ugly leer, and he gave a savagecurse. Nanette flinched as if struck a blow.
"Get up, you fool!" he snarled.
She obeyed, shrinking back with the baby in her arms. Miki saw thechange, and the greenish fire returned into his eyes when he caughtsight of Le Beau. A deep and wolfish snarl rose in his throat.
Le Beau turned on Nanette. The glow and the flush had not quite gonefrom her eyes and cheeks as she stood with the baby hugged up to herbreast, and her big shining braid had fallen over her shoulder,glistening with a velvety fire in the light that came through thewestern window. But Le Beau saw nothing of this.
"If you make a POOS (a house-kitten) of that dog--a thing like you madeof Minoo, the breed-bitch, I will--"
He did not finish, but his huge hands were clinched, and there was anugly passion in his eyes. Nanette needed no more than that. Sheunderstood. She had received many blows, but there was the memory ofone that never left her, night or day. Some day, if she could ever getto Post Fort O' God, and had the courage, she would tell LE FACTEUR ofthat blow--how Jacques Le Beau, her husband, struck it at the nursingtime, and her bosom was so hurt that the baby of two years ago haddied. She would tell it, when she knew she and the baby would be safefrom the vengeance of the Brute. And only LE FACTEUR--the Big Man atPost Fort O' God a hundred miles away--was powerful enough to save her.
It was well that Le Beau did not read this thought in her mind now.With his warning he turned to Miki and dragged him out of the cabin toa cage made of saplings in which the winter before he had kept two livefoxes. A small chain ten feet in length he fastened around Miki's neckand then to one of the sapling bars before he thrust his prisonerinside the door of the prison and freed him by cutting the BABICHEthongs with a knife.
For several minutes after that Miki lay still while the blood made itsway slowly through his numbed and half-frozen limbs. At last hestaggered to his feet, and then it was that Le Beau chuckled jubilantlyand turned back to the cabin.
And now followed many days that were days of hell and torment forhim--an unequal struggle between the power of The Brute and the spiritof the Dog.
"I must break you--OW! by the Christ! I WILL break you!"--Le Beau wouldsay time and again when he came with the club and the whip. "I willmake you crawl to me--OUI, and when I say fight you will fight!"
It was a small cage, so small that Miki could not get away from thereach of the club and the whip. They maddened him--for a time, and LeBeau's ugly soul was filled with joy as Miki launched himself again andagain at the sapling bars, tearing at them with his teeth and frothingblood like a wolf gone mad. For twenty years Le Beau had trainedfighting dogs, and this was his way. So he had done with Netah untilThe Killer was mastered, and at his call crept to him on his belly.
Three times, from a window in the cabin, Nanette looked forth on thesehorrible struggles between the man and the dog, and the third time sheburied her face in her arms and sobbed; and when Le Beau came in andfound her crying he dragged her to the window and made her look outagain at Miki, who lay bleeding and half dead in the cage. It was amorning on which he started the round of his traps, a
nd he was alwaysgone until late the following day. And never was he more than well outof sight than Nanette would run out and go to the cage.
It was then that Miki forgot The Brute. At times so beaten and blindedthat he could scarcely stand or see, he would crawl to the bars of thecage and caress the soft hands that Nanette held in fearlessly to him.And then, after a little, Nanette began to bring the baby out with her,bundled up like a little Eskimo, and in his joy Miki whimpered andwagged his tail and grovelled in his worship before these two.
It was in the second week of his captivity that the wonderful thinghappened. Le Beau was gone, and there was a raging blizzard outside towhich Nanette dared not expose the baby. So she went to the cage, andwith a heart that beat wildly, she unbarred the door--and brought Mikiinto the cabin! If Le Beau should ever discover what she had done--!
The thought made her shiver.
After this first time she brought him into the cabin again and again.Once her heart stood still when Le Beau saw blood on the floor, and hiseyes shot at her suspiciously. Then she lied.
"I cut my finger she said," and a moment later, with her back to him,she DID cut it, and when Jacques looked at her hand he saw a clothabout the finger, with blood-stain on it.
After that Nanette always watched the floor carefully.
More and more this cabin, with the woman and the baby in it, became aparadise for Miki. Then came the time when Nanette dared to keep him inthe cabin with her all night, and lying close to the precious cradleMiki never once took his eyes from her. It was late when she preparedfor bed. She changed into a long, soft robe, and then, sitting nearMiki, with her bare little feet in the fireglow, she took down herwonderful hair and began brushing it. It was the first time Miki hadseen this new and marvellous garment about her. It fell over hershoulders and breast and almost to the floor in a shimmering glory, andthe scent of it was so sweet that Miki crept a few inches nearer, andwhimpered softly. After she had done brushing it Miki watched her asher slim fingers plaited it into two braids; and then, before she putthe light out, a still more curious thing happened. She went to herbed, made of saplings, against the wall, and from its hiding placeunder the blankets drew forth tenderly a little ivory Crucifix. Withthis in her hands she knelt upon the log floor, and Miki listened toher prayer. He did not know, but she was asking God to be good to herbaby--the little Nanette in the crib.
After that she cuddled the baby up in her arms, and put out the light,and went to bed; and through all the hours of the night Miki made nosound that would waken them.
In the morning, when Nanette opened her eyes, she found Miki with hishead resting on the edge of the bed, close to the baby that was nestledagainst her bosom.
That morning, as she built the fire, something strange and stirring inNanette's breast made her sing. Le Beau would be away until dark thatnight, and she would never dare to tell him what she and the baby andthe dog were going to do. It was her birthday. Twenty-six; and itseemed to her that she had lived the time of two lives! And eight ofthose years with The Brute! But to-day they would celebrate, theythree. All the morning the cabin was filled with a new spirit--a newhappiness.
Years ago, before she had met Le Beau, the Indians away back on theWaterfound had called Nanette "Tanta Penashe" ("the Little Bird")because of the marvellous sweetness of her voice. And this morning shesang as she prepared the birthday feast; the sun flooded through thewindows, and Miki whimpered happily and thumped his tail, and the babycackled and crowed, and The Brute was forgotten. In that forgetfulnessNanette was a girl again, sweet and beautiful as in those days when oldJackpine, the Cree--who was now dead--had told her that she was born ofthe flowers. The wonderful dinner was ready at last, and to the baby'sdelight Nanette induced Miki to sit on a chair at the table. He feltfoolish there, and he looked so foolish that Nanette laughed until herlong dark lashes were damp with tears; and then, when Miki slunk downfrom the chair, feeling his shame horribly, she ran to him and put herarms around him and pleaded with him until he took his place at thetable again.
So the day passed until mid-afternoon, when Nanette cleared away allsigns of the celebration and locked Miki in his cage. It was fortunateshe was ahead of time, for scarcely was she done when Le Beau came intothe edge of the clearing, and with him was Durant, his acquaintance andrival from the edge of the Barrens farther north. Durant had sent hisoutfit on to Port O' God by an Indian, and had struck south and westwith two dogs and a sledge to visit a cousin for a day or two. He wason his way to the Post when he came upon Le Beau on his trapline.
Thus much Le Beau told Nanette, and Nanette looked at Durant withstartled eyes. They were a good pair, Jacques and his guest, only thatDurant was older. She had become somewhat accustomed to the brutalityin Le Beau's face, but she thought that Durant was a monster. He madeher afraid, and she was glad when they went from the cabin.
"Now I will show you the BETE that is going to kill your POOS as easilyas your lead-whelp killed that rabbit to-day, m'sieu," exulted Jacques."I have told you but you have not seen!"
And he took with him the club and the whip.
Like a tiger fresh out of the jungles Miki responded to the club andthe whip to-day, until Durant himself stood aghast, and exclaimed underhis breath: "MON DIEU! he is a devil!"
From the window Nanette saw what was happening, and out of her rose acry of anguish. Sudden as a burst of fire there arose inher--triumphant at last and unafraid--that thing which for years TheBrute had crushed back: her womanhood resurrected! Her soul broken freeof its shackles! Her faith, her strength, her courage! She turned fromthe window and ran to the door, and out over the snow to the cage; andfor the first time in her life she struck at Le Beau, and beat fiercelyat the arm that was wielding the club.
"You beast!" she cried. "I tell you, you SHALL NOT! Do you hear? YouSHALL NOT!"
Paralyzed with amazement, The Brute stood still. Was this Nanette, hisslave? This wonderful creature with eyes that were glowing fire anddefiance, and a look in her face that he had never seen in any woman'sface before? NON--impossible! Hot rage rose in him, and with a singlesweep of his powerful arm he flung her back so that she fell to theearth. With a wild curse he lifted the bar of the cage door.
"I will kill him, now; I will KILL him!" he almost shrieked. "And it isYOU--YOU--you she-devil! who shall eat his heart alive! I will force itdown your throat: I will--"
He was dragging Miki forth by the chain. The club rose as Miki's headcame through. In another instant it would have beaten his head to apulp--but Nanette was between it and the dog like a flash, and the blowwent wild. It was with his fist that Le Beau struck out now, and theblow caught Nanette on the shoulder and sent her frail body down with acrash. The Brute sprang upon her. His fingers gripped in her thick,soft hair.
And then--
From Durant came a warning cry. It was too late. A lean gray streak ofvengeance and retribution, Miki was at the end of his chain and at LeBeau's throat. Nanette HEARD! Through dazed eyes she SAW! She reachedout gropingly and struggled to her feet, and looked just once down uponthe snow. Then, with a terrible cry, she staggered toward the cabin.
When Durant gathered courage to drag Le Beau out of Miki's reach Mikimade no movement to harm him. Again, perhaps, it was the BeneficentSpirit that told him his duty was done. He went back into his cage, andlying there on his belly looked forth at Durant.
And Durant, looking at the blood-stained snow and the dead body of TheBrute, whispered to himself again:
"MON DIEU! he is a devil!"
In the cabin, Nanette was upon her knees before the crucifix.