The Shagganappi by E. Pauline Johnson
page 52 of 285 (18%)
page 52 of 285 (18%)
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until just at dusk they reached the edge of a long, still lake, with
shores of granite and dense fir forest. "Larry and Jack, you sleep in canoe to-night; no camp. Lake ten miles long; no current; I paddle--me," said the Indian, and nothing that Larry could urge would alter the boy's edict. "Jack, you must wonder what all these precautions are for, yet you never ask," said Larry. "Because I know," returned the boy. "We are trying to escape the man in the mackinaw. He is following you. He is your enemy." "Yes, boy, and to-night you shall know why," replied Larry. "You have taken so much for granted, you have never asked a single question; now you shall know what Foxy and I are after." "You said you were after furs," Jack smiled. "Yes, but not furs _alone_, my son," said the man. Then leaning meaningly towards the boy he half whispered, "I am after the king's coin--_gold_! My boy, nuggets and nuggets of _gold_, that I prospected for myself up in these wilds two years ago, found _pockets_ of it in the rocks, cached it, away, as I thought, from all human eyes, awaiting the time I could safely bring it to 'the front.' I knew of but one being in all the North that I could trust with my secret. That being is Fox-Foot. One night I confided it to him, showing him the map I had made of the lakes and streams of the north country, and the spot where the gold was cached. We were, as I thought, alone in Fox-Foot's log house. That is, alone in speaking English, for his people don't understand a single word that is not Chippewa. We were poring over the map I had made, when |
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