These were the great Nakonkirhirinons from that limitless region of the
Pays Ten d'en Haut.
If McElroy's heart had not been so full of his own trouble he would
have exulted mightily in their coming, for did it not prove one failure
for that reckless Nor'wester on the Saskatchewan? They had come, past
all his blandishments of trade, to Fort de Seviere, and their coming
spelled a number of furs this season far in advance of any other for
that small post. If he wondered at first how they had held out against
De Courtenay it was all made plain when among the strangers he espied
many Assiniboines and saw in the great canoe of the chief Negansahima,
old Quamenoka, who had boasted of the coming of this tribe to De
Seviere as his work.
He had spoken truly and had evidently made his word good by meeting the
approaching columns and returning with them.
To him alone was due the failure of De Courtenay, McElroy felt at once,
and determined in his mind on that present which he had promised for
this zeal.
With the coming of the strangers Fort de Seviere was put under military
rule. The half-moon to the right of thegate, with its small cannon,
received a quota of menwho strayed carelessly all day within reach of
the low rampart; a guard lounged in the great gate, ready at a moment's
notice to clang it shut, and seemingly matter-of-course precautions
were taken throughout, for these Indians were as uncertain as the
flickering north lights crackling in a frosty sky.
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