the words: 'This work done by friends of
Jean Marcel.'"

The priest raised his hands. "It would have been better to send them
south. Still, they were evil men, and deserved their fate. Tell nothing
of it to Julie. She has taken this thing very hard."

CHAPTER XXXI

THE WAY OF A DOG

When Wallace and Gillies had surveyed the bodies of the dead
half-breeds, the factor turned grimly to his chief.

"Well, Wallace, I don't see how we can send the Lelacs south for trial,
now; they wouldn't keep that long."

"Gillies," said the Inspector with a frown, ignoring the ghastly
witticism, "I want you to run down the men who did this. Whether they
deserved it or not, I won't have men murdered in this district without
trial. The lawlessness of the East Coast has got to stop."

Gillies turned away, suppressing with difficulty his anger. Shortly in
control of his voice, he answered:

"Mr. Wallace, I have put in many years, boy and man, on this coast and I
think I understand the Crees. To punish the men who did this, provided
we knew who they were, would be the worst thing the Company could do.
When the Lelacs stole Beaulieu's fur and rifle, they put themselves
outside the Cree law, and as sure as the sun will set in Hudson's Bay
to-night, the Lelacs would never have got out of the bush alive this
winter."

"I know," objected Wallace, "but to overpower our guards and kill them
under our noses----"

"What of it? The Lelacs had robbed a dead man and would have killed Jean
Marcel, if he hadn't been a son of Andre Marcel, who was a wolf in a
fight. The Lelacs were three-quarter Cree and the Indians here have a
way of meting out justice to their own people in a case like this that
even Canadian officials might envy. You may be sure that the Lelacs were
formally tried and condemned in some tepee last night before this thing
happened."

"These two guards must have been asleep," complained Wallace.

"Well, we'll never know, Mr. Wallace. They say that they were thrown
from behind and didn't recognize the men who did it. Even if they did,
they wouldn't tell who they were, and it's useless to try to make them.
The Crees have taken the Lelacs off our hands. They have saved us time
and money by ridding us of these vermin. In my opinion we should thank
rather than attempt to punish them."

So Inspector Wallace slowly cooled off and in the afternoon went to the
Mission to make his daily call on Julie Breton only to be informed