ose, and proceeded leisurely to coil a few turns in his hand. He
paused once or twice to brush particularly offensive mosquitoes from off
his face. Everybody was brushing mosquitoes, except Leclere, about whose
head a small cloud was visible. Even Batard, lying full-stretched on the
ground with his fore paws rubbed the pests away from eyes and mouth.

But while Slackwater waited for Batard to lift his head, a faint call
came from the quiet air, and a man was seen waving his arms and running
across the flat from Sunrise. It was the storekeeper.

"C-call 'er off, boys," he panted, as he came in among them.

"Little Sandy and Bernadotte's jes' got in," he explained with returning
breath. "Landed down below an' come up by the short cut. Got the Beaver
with 'm. Picked 'm up in his canoe, stuck in a back channel, with a
couple of bullet-holes in 'm. Other buck was Klok Kutz, the one that
knocked spots out of his squaw and dusted."

"Eh? W'at Ah say? Eh?" Leclere cried exultantly. "Dat de one fo' sure!
Ah know. Ah spik true."

"The thing to do is to teach these damned Siwashes a little manners,"
spoke Webster Shaw. "They're getting fat and sassy, and we'll have to
bring them down a peg. Round in all the bucks and string up the Beaver
for an object lesson. That's the programme. Come on and let's see what
he's got to say for himself."

"Heh, _M'sieu_!" Leclere called, as the crowd began to melt away through
the twilight in the direction of Sunrise. "Ah lak ver' moch to see de
fon."

"Oh, we'll turn you loose when we come back," Webster Shaw shouted over
his shoulder. "In the meantime meditate on your sins and the ways of
Providence. It will do you good, so be grateful."

As is the way with men who are accustomed to great hazards, whose nerves
are healthy and trained in patience, so it was with Leclere who settled
himself to the long wait--which is to say that he reconciled his mind to
it. There was no settling of the body, for the taut rope forced him to
stand rigidly erect. The least relaxation of the leg muscles pressed the
rough-fibred noose into his neck, while the upright position caused him
much pain in his wounded shoulder. He projected his under lip and
expelled his breath upwards along his face to blow the mosquitoes away
from his eyes. But the situation had its compensation. To be snatched
from the maw of death was well worth a little bodily suffering, only it
was unfortunate that he sho