The Patrol of the Sun Dance Trail

The Patrol of the Sun Dance
Trail

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Title: The Patrol of the Sun Dance Trail
Author: Ralph Connor
Release Date: June 3, 2006 [EBook #3247]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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PATROL OF THE SUN DANCE TRAIL ***

Produced by Donald Lainson

THE PATROL OF THE SUN DANCE TRAIL
By Ralph Connor

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I
THE TRAIL-RUNNER
II HIS COUNTRY'S NEED
III A-FISHING WE WILL GO
IV THE BIG CHIEF
V THE ANCIENT SACRIFICE
VI THE ILLUSIVE COPPERHEAD
VII THE SARCEE CAMP
VIII THE GIRL ON NO. 1
IX THE RIDE UP THE BOW
X RAVEN TO THE RESCUE
XI SMITH'S WORK
XII IN THE SUN DANCE CANYON
XIII IN THE BIG WIGWAM
XIV "GOOD MAN--GOOD SQUAW"
XV THE OUTLAW
XVI WAR
XVII TO ARMS!

XVIII AN OUTLAW, BUT A MAN
XIX THE GREAT CHIEF
XX THE LAST PATROL
XXI WHY THE DOCTOR STAYED

THE PATROL OF THE SUN DANCE TRAIL
CHAPTER I
THE TRAIL-RUNNER
High up on the hillside in the midst of a rugged group of jack pines the
Union Jack shook out its folds gallantly in the breeze that swept down
the Kicking Horse Pass. That gallant flag marked the headquarters of
Superintendent Strong, of the North West Mounted Police, whose
special duty it was to preserve law and order along the construction line
of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, now pushed west some
scores of miles.
Along the tote-road, which ran parallel to the steel, a man, dark of skin,
slight but wiry, came running, his hard panting, his streaming face, his
open mouth proclaiming his exhaustion. At a little trail that led to the
left he paused, noted its course toward the flaunting flag, turned into it,
then struggled up the rocky hillside till he came to the wooden shack,
with a deep porch running round it, and surrounded by a rustic fence
which enclosed a garden whose neatness illustrated a characteristic of
the British soldier. The runner passed in through the gate and up the
little gravel walk and began to ascend the steps.
"Halt!" A quick sharp voice arrested him. "What do you want here?"
From the side of the shack an orderly appeared, neat, trim and
dandified in appearance, from his polished boots to his wide cowboy
hat.

"Beeg Chief," panted the runner. "Me--see--beeg Chief--queeck."
The orderly looked him over and hesitated.
"What do you want Big Chief for?"
"Me--want--say somet'ing," said the little man, fighting to recover his
breath, "somet'ing beeg--sure beeg." He made a step toward the door.
"Halt there!" said the orderly sharply. "Keep out, you half-breed!"
"See--beeg Chief--queeck," panted the half-breed, for so he was, with
fierce insistence.
The orderly hesitated. A year ago he would have hustled him off the
porch in short order. But these days were anxious days. Rumors wild
and terrifying were running through the trails of the dark forest.
Everywhere were suspicion and unrest. The Indian tribes throughout
the western territories and in the eastern part of British Columbia,
under cover of an unwonted quiet, were in a state of excitement, and
this none knew better than the North West Mounted Police. With
stoical unconcern the Police patroled their beats, rode in upon the
reserves, careless, cheery, but with eyes vigilant for signs and with ears
alert for sounds of the coming storm. Only the Mounted Police,
however, and a few old-timers who knew the Indians and their
half-breed kindred gave a single moment's thought to the bare
possibility of danger. The vast majority of the Canadian people knew
nothing of the tempestuous gatherings of French half-breed settlers in
little hamlets upon the northern plains along the Saskatchewan. The
fiery resolutions reported now and then in the newspapers reciting the
wrongs and proclaiming the rights of these remote, ignorant,
insignificant, half-tamed pioneers of civilization roused but faint
interest in the minds of the people of Canada. Formal resolutions and
petitions of rights had been regularly sent during the past two years to
Ottawa and there as regularly pigeon-holed above the desks of deputy
ministers. The politicians had a somewhat dim notion that there was
some sort of row on among the "breeds" about Prince Albert and
Battleford, but this concerned them little. The members of the

Opposition found in the resolutions and petitions of rights useful
ammunition for attack upon the Government. In purple periods the
leader arraigned the supineness and the indifference of the Premier and
his Government