Coda

“ Gathering his wife tenderly in his strong arms he carried her swiftly to the lodge, and laid her gently upon a bed of soft furs. Well did he know that she would never look at him again, never speak to him more. Picking up a dressed deer-skin lying near he drew it over Klota's stiffening body. He paused for a moment ere shrouding her face. A slight chain of gold encircled the woman's neck, supporting a small locket concealed beneath her dress. This he unfastened, and handed it to Owindia. ”

“ The Indian's eyes showed his astonishment as he studied the girl's face as if to make sure that she was telling the truth.
"It is true, Sconda. I was there and saw him do it."
"What was bear doing?"
"Coming at me for all it was worth, and Midnight was almost frantic with fright. If it hadn't been for that white man we would be down there now where that grizzly is lying."
"And you want Sconda to fetch bear to camp, eh?"
"I do. Take as many men as you need and go in the morning. Tell the women to be ready to prepare the meat. And, Sconda, I want you to look after the dressing of the skin. ”

“ Cody was fifty years old then, a product of the Nevada silver fields, of the Yukon, of every rush for metal since seventy-five. The transactions in Montana copper that made him many times a millionaire found him physically robust but on the verge of soft-mindedness, and, suspecting this, an infinite number of women tried to separate him from his money. The none too savory ramifications by which Ella Kaye, the newspaper woman, played Madame de Maintenon to his weakness and sent him to sea in a yacht, were common knowledge to the turgid sub or suppressed journalism of 1902. ”

“ Cobalt He lifted his eyes and gazed on the Laurentians. Pencils of incandescence swept across them, whitening their tender purple and then fading, a sight to thrill the heart. Sometimes the pulsation would cease and the whole mountain, older than any Alp, would deepen to cobalt blue, reminding him that there might be cobalt within ten miles of him. In fact within a hundred all the noble metals were being mined. Like most men he loved blue, and what he chiefly loved was a soft cobalt blue saturated with white light, as in petals of forgetmenot. ”

“ They were friendly, and as soon as the canoe touched the shore eager hands grasped the bow and drew it well up on the beach.
While the Indians were crowding around talking in a most excited manner, a tall man pushed his way through their midst, and coming forward, held out his hand to Dan and Natsatt. He was evidently the trader in charge of the Post.
"Good Lord!" he exclaimed, as he looked upon the dead chief, and Owindia, "where have you dropped from? I didn't know there was a white man anywhere south of us within two thousand miles, that is on this side of the mountains." ”

“ Dan thoroughly enjoyed the drive as he nestled by the parson's side. It was very strange to be speeding along in such a luxurious manner, with a horse travelling like the wind, and a big jolly man holding the reins. He said nothing, but kept his eye fixed upon Midnight, his admiration steadily increasing. He would like to own a horse like that, and down in his heart he determined to have one some day--his very own. "What do you think of Midnight, lad?" asked the parson, noticing Dan's admiring gaze. ”

“ The advancing brave hesitated, and then spoke.
"Great Chief," he began, "the Ayana braves are no enemies to Klitonda. They bring peace. They come to serve their chief, not to harm him. They followed hard upon his tracks until they found him. They bring tokens of their allegiance. Will the Great Chief receive them?"
He paused, and Klitonda lowered his bow.
"Why do the Ayana braves come here?" he replied. "Do they wish to mock their chief? But, stay, Klitonda is their chief no longer; they have rejected him. He is an outcast. His own people would give him over to the Chilcats. ”

“ The only thing we can do is to watch, watch, and watch, and, if we are taken by surprise, we shall have nobody to thank for it but ourselves. Now if you'll stand sentry, Coddy and I will get tea."
They set to work, and the meal was in due course served and eaten. Afterwards Codd went on guard, being relieved by Hayle at midnight. Ever since they had made the ghastly discovery in the jungle, the latter had been more silent even than the gravity of the situation demanded. Now he sat, nursing his rifle, listening to the mysterious voices of the jungle, and thinking as if for dear life. ”

“ Nick tapped the floor with his boots for a minute or two lost in thought.
"Boys," he at length began. "I'm sore upset to-night. I've brought yez bad news—the gang's gone down in the Rapids."
The effect of this message was most startling. With a muttered oath Siwash Bill leaped to his feet and confronted the horseman. Pete sat on the stool like a statue. His lower jaw dropped and his eyes bulged big with astonishment. Even the Indian woman paused in her work and looked up. Her eyes glowed with a strange light, whether of sorrow or fierce joy she alone knew.
"Speak, speak, man, fer God's sake!" ”

“ He caught their disengaged left hands, and brought them together.
"The chief of the Ayana gives his daughter to the young white man," he said. "Let their hearts be one. But," and here he hesitated, "will the white man take Owindia far away beyond the mountains of the rising sun? Klitonda will miss Owindia. His heart will be very sad and lonely."
"Natsatt will not take Owindia away yet," was the reply. "He will stay here awhile, and maybe he will stay always. Would that please the chief?" ”

“ At this Jean stepped forward and held out the noggin of rum. Dave eagerly seized the mug, and drained it to the last drop.
"My, that's great!" he declared, smacking his lips. "Fill it again, won't you?"
"No more now, Dave," his chief told him. "You may have another, though, before you leave. And you must leave soon and stop those men. They must wait until I am better."
"But I can't stop them, chief. They won't listen to me. They're out for a big time, an' they're goin' to have it. An' besides, there's that gang comin' from the Washademoak, an' they expect to meet them." ”

“ Finally Cody unfastened them, filled their pouches with food, gave them back their weapons, and advised them to go back to their lodges.
“Let this medicine chief, Death Killer, come himself to learn our numbers and our intentions,” said the scout significantly. “Let him learn about us by his magic. If he is so great a medicine-man why does he not know these things by his magic power? Go, brothers; you have your lives at the hand of the Long Hair.” ”

“ Won't you come, too, Nannie? A spin will do you good."
"Not this evening," was the reply. "Your father may come at any minute, and it would not do for both of us to be away from the house."
Sconda's eyes brightened as Glen came down to the wharf and asked him to take her out upon the water. The Frontiersman, the name of the motor-boat, was the pride of Sconda's heart. When he had been appointed captain of the craft, his highest ambition was reached. This, together with the fact that he was the special guardian of the Big Chief's daughter, gave him a high standing in the camp. ”

“ Sconda at once set to work, and in a remarkably short time he had a simple meal prepared. He served Glen first, and waited upon her until she had finished.
"How long will it take the men to come back?" Glen asked as she rose from the table.
"Till sundown, maybe," was the reply. "Dan is heavy and hard to carry."
"Well, then, I am going to lie down for a while, Sconda. I did not sleep any last night, and the excitement of to-day has made me very tired. You will keep watch around the cabin, will you not?"
"Ah, ah, Sconda will watch. Sconda will shoot Curly if he comes back." ”

“ Klitonda held out the arrows to Owindia.
"Take them, little one," he said. "They will be safe in your keeping. Is it the will of the Ayana braves," he continued, turning to the young man, "that their chief's daughter should guard these tokens which they have brought?"
"Ah, ah," burst at once from a score of lips. "Let the chief's daughter keep the blood-marked tokens."
Thus in the depth of that great forest twenty resolute braves gave their allegiance to Klitonda their chief. Indians they were, in the rough, untouched by any of the refining influences of civilisation. ”

“ The wind had risen, moaning gently at first, but increasing in strength, blowing in from the Yukon, and drawing up the Kaslo as through a mighty funnel. It shook and swayed the trees along the banks of the stream; it played with the old chief's blanket, causing him to clutch it firmly, and tossed Jennie's long black hair in confusion about her oval, dusky face.
Timidly the maiden stood before the expectant miners, uncertain what to say.
"Speak out, gal," encouraged Pete. "Ye needn't fear. Nothin'll harm ye." ”

“ Cody had just reached the age of twenty-two when a series of wars broke out with the Indian tribes, and he was attached to the troops as a scout. A number of Pawnee Indians who thought nothing of this white man, were also serving. They were better trackers, better interpreters and thought themselves better hunters. One day a party of twenty had been118 running buffalo, and made a bag of thirty-two head when Cody got leave to attack a herd by himself. Mounted on his famous pony Buckskin Joe he made a bag of thirty-six head on a half-mile run, and his name was Buffalo Bill from that time onward. ”

“ These are not the only names by which this interesting man was called in the course of his long and thrilling career among cowboys and Indians. First he was little Billy Cody, the western messenger; then Wild Bill, the pony express rider, and as a grown man he was known as Bill Cody, the wagon master. Finally, to the heart’s delight of boys and girls the world over, he became Buffalo Bill. For many years before his death in 1917, he was generally spoken of as Colonel William F. Cody; but to the Indians he will always be their beloved “Pa-has-ka,” or “Long Hair.” ”

“ We laid over one day at Fort Wallace, to get supplies, and while there I had occasion to pass General Bankhead's headquarters. His orderly called to me, and said the General wished to see me. As I entered the General's office he extended his hand and said: "I hope you have no hard feelings toward me, Cody, for having you arrested when you were here. I have just had a talk with General Carr and Quartermaster Hays, and they informed me that you had their permission to ride the horse and mule, and if you had stated this fact to me there would have been no trouble about the matter whatever." ”

“ San Agustin, quoted by Blanco, says that the planks of the sides of the ancient galleys were of lauaan, for balls do not chip this wood. Delgado mentions two species: lauaan mulato, in color almost dark red; and lauaan blanco (white) , which was used as planking for boats.
5 That is, the cubit; a measure of length equal to the distance from the elbow to the end of the middle finger. The codo real, or royal cubit, is three fingers longer than the ordinary codo. The geometrical codo is equivalent to 418 mm., and the codo real to 574 mm. ”

“ The color in codiensis is lighter than in nanus. As compared to the new subspecies named below from the Big Horn Mountains to the east, codiensis is of similar size in head-body length, but has a relatively as well as actually longer tail; the hind foot averages longer; the upper molar tooth-row is relatively longer ”

“ But Dan shook his head.
"We can't afford the time, lad," he replied. "We must hurry on with the lassie, and see what's ahead of us. To-morrow if nothing comes our way there'll be nothing left but to go after game. So let's get on down stream."
Embarking, they slipped around the point of the island, and skirted the left hand shore. They had not gone far when Natsatt, who was seated somewhat astern, ceased paddling, laid his hand upon Dan's shoulder, and pointed ahead to the right. Then he lifted his musket and brought it to bear upon a fine moose standing drinking at the edge of the water. ”

“ As the law of her country did not permit her to frequent the earth with an earthly being, she and her mother invented a way of avoiding the one thing and of securing the other. A great piece of sod was set to float on the surface of the lake, and on that she used to be for long hours, freely conversing in tenderness with her consort on shore; by means of that plan they managed to live together until he breathed his last. Their descendants owned Drws y Coed for many generations, and they intermarried and mixed with the people of the district. ”

“ There are five ladies, and one only of them is elderly, the Mrs. Coade whom a voice in the darkness has already proclaimed the nicest. She is the nicest, though the voice was no good judge. Coady, as she is familiarly called and as her husband also is called, each having for many years been able to answer for the other, is a rounded old lady with a beaming smile that has accompanied her from childhood. If she lives to be a hundred she will pretend to the census man that she is only ninety-nine. ”

“ At this moment Coddy leant forward in his chair, and placed his hand upon his friend's arm. The effect was magical. His fit of impotent rage died down as suddenly as it had sprung up, and immediately he became again the quiet, suave, smoothspoken individual who had first entered my office.
"I must beg your pardon, Mr. Fairfax," he said, in a totally different voice to that in which he had just spoken. "When I remember how we have been wronged I am apt to forget myself. I trust you will forgive me?" ”