my friendship.
Upon sight of the fragment of blade I will come.

"No people of the earth, and nothing that is upon the earth, nor of the
earth, shall prevent me--and one day you will know that my words are
true."

He raised his hand and, gazing upward, repeated the words of the
strange chant. At their conclusion he gazed steadily into the face of
the old squaw.

"This is _the promise_," he said gravely. "I have spoken."

CHAPTER XXXIV

THE NEW BOSS

The twilight of late autumn darkened the landscape as Bill Carmody
found himself once again at the edge of the tiny clearing surrounding
the cabin of Daddy Dunnigan.

Through the window, in the yellow lamplight of the interior, he could
see the form of the old man as he hobbled back and forth between the
stove and the table.

Remembering Creed, Bill feared the effect upon the old man should he
present himself suddenly at the door. Advancing into the clearing, he
whistled. Daddy Dunnigan paused, frying-pan in hand, and peered
futilely out of the window. Again Bill whistled and watched as the
other returned the pan to the stove and opened the door.

"Come on in out av that, ye shpalpeen!" called Dunnigan. "Ut's toime ye
be comin' back to let th' owld man know how ye're farin'!"

Bill grasped the extended hand and peered into the twinkling eyes of
the old Irishman.

"Well, Daddy, you don't seem much surprised."

"Oi know'd ye'd be along wan av these days, but ye tuk yer own toime
about ut."

"How did you know I wasn't drowned in the river?"

"Sur-re, Oi know'd ye _wuz_--didn't Oi see ye go undher th' logs wid me
own eyes? An' didn't th' jam go rippin' an' tearin' into th' rapids?
An' c'd on-ny man live t'rough th' loike av that? Oi _know'd_ ye wuz
dead--till Oi seed Creed. Thin Oi know'd ye wuzn't. But Moncrossen
don't know ut--nor on-ny wan ilse, ondly me. Oi'd 'a' gone to hunt ye,
ondly Oi know'd phwin th' toime suited ye ye'd come here; so Oi waited.

"Set by now er th' grub'll be cowld. They'll be toime fer palaverin'
afther."

When the dishes had been washed and returned to their shelves the two
seated themselves and lighted their pipes.

"You say Creed returned to Hilarity and told of having seen me?" asked
Bill.

"Well, he did--an' he didn't," replied the old man slowly. "Ut's loike
this: Along in July, ut wuz, Moncrossen an' his gang av bur-rd's-eye
pirates come roarin' out av th' woods huntin' fer Creed. They'd wint in
be th' river, b