Hulbert Footner

“ Ann was awake early—that is to say, early for Fort Edward after a big night. She dressed and went out. The sun was high, the sky delicately glorious. Under such a sky the sordid street looked more than ever deplorable.
A great hush brooded over the place. There are no singing birds so far north. One or two mongrel dogs passed silently in and out between the houses on their rounds. They cringed past Ann.
She peeped at Cal's shack between the houses as she passed along. Door and window were tightly closed—shutting out the pure morning air, Ann thought. ”

“ Think you'd be safe with Chako?”
“Why not?” said Ann.
“It's lucky you have me to advise you, said Cal dryly. “I've knowed Chako Lyllac since he first come up here, eight years ago—1903 it was, I mind. Ever seen a Great Dane pup? That was Chako. He has growed some. I got a soft spot for the kid. They don't turn out many like that nowadays; but he's a savage—as wild as a lynx or an eagle. Knows no law but his own instincts. A woman might as well commit suicide as trust herself to him. He has no feelings.” ”

“ Ann came to life again. She would see him!
The unpainted dugout was silvery with age, somewhat warped in the sides, and rotten in the bottom. Care was required in handling her. Chako let her ground softly on a spot where the bank had sunk a little, and the grass was in the water.
“Watch yourself getting out!” he said sharply.
At that, of course, Ann's nerves immediately began to shake. She stood up gingerly. The boat rocked, and she teetered wildly.
“Get out, can't you?” Chako shouted startlingly. “Or sit down!” ”

“ He fell in with her apparent mood.
“Life is just one damned thing after another,” he said jocosely. “At least, Chako's life is. He got laid out in one of the saloons last night. Some dame up the river heard about it, and came running to our shack like a crazy woman.”
“Then it's true!” thought Ann, with a bitter heart.
“That's nothing unusual,” Cal went on. “Seems as if all women, white and red, were bound to make fools of themselves over Chako. There's something about the lad—I don't know what, not being a woman myself. They fling themselves at his head without shame—scores of 'em! ”

“ Ann's room vibrated with the sound of the distant banjos. When the dance hall door was opened, the whining, staccato music came around the corner of the house. A small drove of horses suddenly stampeded through the settlement, pounding and splashing. Men ran out and shouted curses after them. ”

“ The ramshackle little steamboat went off up the river, furiously kicking up the water behind. Having satisfied herself that Chako was not aboard, Ann returned to the hotel with a lighter heart. All the men were drifting back toward Maroney's, and Cal Nimmo fell in beside her. There was an offhand friendliness in his manner that warmed the lonely girl's breast.
“This is a man,” she thought, comparing him with the peevish moralist on the other side of her. ”

“ What's the use?”
“Well, it's a fascinating subject, isn't it?” said Ann.
“Not to me. I don't understand women. No man could unless he was womanish. I just take 'em as I find 'em.”
“And that's pretty bad, eh?” suggested Ann, smiling.
“Oh, women may be all right to women,” said Chako; “but they're devils to men. I don't blame 'em. Men and women are natural enemies. Soon as a woman comes around, I put up my guard. At that, they've often got the best of me,” he added with unexpected honesty.
Ann felt a smile striking through and through her—a warming smile. ”

“ The tears sprang to Ann's eyes. When she got to the bank, Chako offered her a hand, but she angrily knocked it away. That made him roar afresh. Ann climbed out unaided, and walked stiffly up to the top of the bank, Chako following, weak with laughter.
When he could speak, he said:
“Take off everything, and throw it outside your tent. I'll dry it by the fire. Any fool ought to know better than to stand on the edge of a cut bank!” ”

“ On their right the pine forest rose dark and cool and clean; there was no reminder of the scars of the settlement.
“Well, what are we going to fuss about?” asked Ann.
“Here's where it begins!” said Cal. “Let's sit down to it.”
They found a place where the river bank had partly fallen, making a natural seat with a foot rest. Here they sat in pleasant grass. The brown stream, flecked with foam from the rapids above, moved serenely past them.
“You're a fine girl,” said Cal; “and you're a new kind of girl to me. You don't lay back on your sex, like they mostly do. You talk open to a man.” ”

“ They made fair progress by nosing along close to the shore on one side or the other, taking advantage of every backwater. Whenever there was a bend, they kept on the inside of it, crossing over when the river swung back; but for the greater part of the way one long, straight reach succeeded another—beautiful, disappearing avenues of water dazzling in the sunshine, walled by the dark pines—beautiful, but tedious to ascend, for the end of the avenue never seemed to draw closer. ”

“ I hate all towns and settlements! It's rotten the way people herd together in towns. I ran away from it when I was fifteen years old. I hate people! I am best off in the hills, alone. There I feel clean. You've got to come in sometimes, to sell your fur and buy grub, and they sink their hooks into you. Oh, yes, they're waiting for you! They drain you dry. God, I'd like to burn this place off the map!”
Ann, listening to this, his creed, realized how boyish it was, and loved him for it. There was a joy in her breast almost too great to be borne. She had made Chako open his heart to her ”

“ Cal shook his head.
“Not without grub. It's possible he might have saved over enough, year to year, to see him through one season without coming out; but not two. Grub won't keep that long. And it's too late for him to come now. The Rice River is in full flood.”
“Haven't I heard of men living off the country?” said Ann.
“For a short while, yes,” said Cal; “but it seems as if a man must have flour and sugar to keep healthy. It's so with even the Indians nowadays.”
“How dreadful to die alone!” murmured Ann. ”

“ The horses turned and came back, making the heart beat with the furious pound of their hoofs drawing near. Pounding hoofs, no doubt, meant much to our forbears. The horses passed, and Ann heard another snatch of banjo music.
Sometimes, amid the ruck of sounds up and down the street, she could distinguish the quality of some one male voice; but never Chako's voice. Her breast was tormented because she could not know which roof covered him, or what he was doing. She was pretty sure he was not in Maroney's dance hall below; but there were girls in some of the other places, too. Ah, those girls! ”

“ Is it any wonder it makes the men of the north sore to have their country advertised outside? Every year the tenderfeet come straggling in with their crazy notions and their useless outfits, or with none; and the men of the country have to drop their own work and go in search of them, and bring them in, and carry them through the winter, when there's little enough grub for themselves. What outsiders never learn is that you can't take a chance with the north. The conditions of life up here are mighty hard, and won't give an inch.”
“But what's that got to do with me?” asked Ann. ”

“ Cal shook his head.
“Traveling with an inexperienced woman would be the same as traveling alone,” he said. “It would be a damned sight harder, because he'd have all the responsibility of you, see? No, men generally show up better when they travel in parties, and divide the responsibility—or at least in couples, to bolster each other up. Most men begin to wabble when they're thrown on their own. There's mighty few that travel alone up here. It's a certain type. Your dad was one; young Chako Lyllac's another.”
Ann's heart rose slowly into her throat—up, up, until she was almost suffocating ”

“ Chako and the breed boy lifted out the bags and bundles, while Joe Mixer stood by, chewing a grass stalk and goggling at Ann. Some sort of plot was visibly stirring in his muddy wits.
When the wagon was unloaded, Chako said:
“My canoe is cached down the shore a piece. I'll go bring it up.”
As soon as Chako passed out of sight among the willows, Joe Mixer, with mysterious nods and winks, beckoned Ann out of hearing of the breed boy.
“Say, what you want to tie yourself up to Chako Lyllac for?” he said hoarsely. “He ain't got nothing. Never will have nothing. Look at me! ”

“ Nice position for you, eh?”
“I don't care,” said Ann. “I won't be sent away as if I had done wrong. I have a right to stay at the hotel as long as I can pay my bills.”
“I am the boss of this camp,” said Cal dryly. “I have only to say a word to Maroney. I hope you won't make me bring him into it, for he's an ornery cuss.”
Ann stared at him, aghast.
“You—you tyrant!” she gasped. “I know your kind. You've got a little power up here, and it's gone to your head. All you care about is making people feel your power. You ought to have lived in slave-holding days. ”

“ Ann stared at him, speechless with anger.
“Day after to-morrow—that's Tuesday,” he went on, “the steamboat goes down to Ching's Landing to connect with the stage.”
“I'm not going on her!” cried Ann.
Cal spread out his hands expressively. Ann scrambled to her feet.
“I'm not! I'm not! I'm not!” she cried furiously. “And don't you think it! This is the most high-handed thing I ever heard of! I'm not a wrongdoer, to be ordered out of town! I'm my own mistress! I'll regulate my own life!”
Cal got up slowly. ”

“ Ann is staying at Maroney's place, which bears the high-sounding name of the Fort Edward Hotel, but which chiefly consists of a rough dance hall. The principal attraction of this establishment is a pretty girl named Nellie Nairns, and there are many fights among rival pretenders to her favor. Ann witnesses one of these battles, between a local bully known as Red Chivers and a young fellow called Chako Lyllac. Anne is greatly impressed by the handsome Chako, and she watches the combat with intense interest, having gone into the dance hall with a man named Noll Voss as her escort. ”

“ Why?” demanded Ann. “Am I not good enough for Fort Edward?”
“Too good,” said Cal. “It's no place for a young lady. It's only by a sort of miracle you've escaped trouble so far. It will break any day. You haven't any notion of the excitement a mysterious woman can work up in a crowd of idle and womanless men. God knows what direction it will take. They might run you out of town themselves.”
“Then tell them who I am, and what I came for.”
“Not I!” said Cal grimly. “The situation would get right out of hand then. You'd have plenty of volunteers to take you north. ”

“ Ann simply could not face the thought of the coming days and nights. She could not go on with it, that was certain. Perhaps she was a coward, but it couldn't be helped. There was a limit to one's powers. In the morning she would ask him to take her back to Fort Edward. She would pay him liberally for his trouble, and then she would go home!
Ann was awakened by a hail from Chako outside. She answered it.
“If we make an early start,” he said, “we can get a good sleep in the middle of the day. We'll need it. Got to track up the rapids to-day—six miles.” ”

“ It's the look of him that has bewitched you. You don't care what he is.”
“I've got to see him! This struggle is wearing me out!”
“Seeing him will only make it worse. You've got to get the better of this thing.” ”

“ She had as yet no coherent thoughts about Chako—what he was, or what he was to her. It didn't seem to make any difference. She simply felt, and had to yield to her feelings.
The landing place was at the other end of the street, on the Campbell River side of the settlement. Noll Voss tagged along with Ann. The “workingman” did not seem to have much to do to-day, except to bother her. He was burning with curiosity to learn what had taken place between her and Cal Nimmo, but Ann ignored his hints. He vented his spleen in abuse of Cal.
“A bad actor! At his age, too! ”

“ The earth in front of where they sat was beaten smooth and flat.
“Here's Fort Edward, with the Campbell River coming down from the southeast, and swinging around in front of the settlement on its way south. You go forty miles up the Campbell to the portage, and six miles across the height of land to Hat Lake, as they call it. My canoe is cached there.”
Ann knelt beside him on the earth. So close to him as that, she became aware of a strange current emanating from his body that made her a little dizzy. She moved away. ”

“ Get knickerbockers, high moccasins, and a man's hat. Get a canvas duffle bag for what extra clothes you want to bring; but keep your outfit down. Every pound counts on a portage.”
“When will we start?” asked Ann, as in a dream.
“Sun rises about three. Say two thirty to-morrow morning. I'll borrow a dugout to carry us up to the portage. Wes Trickett can bring it back. I'll paddle around to the Boardman River side, back of the hotel. Can you get out by the kitchen door?”
Ann nodded.
“All right! I'll be there at two thirty,” Chako told her. ”

“ Bud went home and told his wife what had happened.”
“His wife?” said Ann, surprised. “Are there wives here?”
“Sure—most of the traders is married. The married people live a quarter of a mile up on the Campbell River side, to keep the women out of town. Well, Bud Carrick told his wife. She didn't say nothin', but as soon as Bud went to bed she sneaked out and ran all the way to town. She busted into Cal Nimmo's shack without so much as knockin', plumped herself down beside Chako Lyllac's bed, and hugged him and cried, and carried on that he was her lover and her darlin', and so on ”