Galen Albret sat in his rough-hewn arm-chair at the head of the table, receiving the reports of his captains. The long, narrow room opened before him, heavy raftered, massive, white, with a cavernous fireplace at either end. Above him frowned Sir George's portrait, at his right hand and his left stretched the row of home-made heavy chairs, finished smooth and dull by two centuries of use.
His arms were laid along the arms of his seat; his shaggy head was sunk forward until his beard swept the curve of his big chest; the heavy tufts of hair above his eyes were drawn1 steadily2 together in a frown of attention. One after another the men arose and spoke3. He made no movement, gave no sign, his short, powerful form blotted4 against the lighter5 silhouette6 of his chair, only his eyes and the white of his beard gleaming out of the dusk.
Kern of Old Brunswick House, Achard of New; Ki-wa-nee, the Indian of Flying Post--these and others told briefly7 of many things, each in his own language. To all Galen Albret listened in silence. Finally Louis Placide from the post at Kettle Portage got to his feet. He too reported of the trade,--so many "beaver8" of tobacco, of powder, of lead, of pork, of flour, of tea, given in exchange; so many mink9, otter10, beaver, ermine, marten, and fisher pelts11 taken in return. Then he paused and went on at greater length in regard to the stranger, speaking evenly but with emphasis. When he had finished, Galen Albret struck a bell at his elbow. Me-en-gan, the bowsman of the Factor's canoe, entered, followed closely by the young man who had that afternoon arrived.
He was dressed still in his costume of the _voyageur_--the loose blouse shirt, the buckskin leggings and moccasins, the long tasselled red sash. His head was as high and his glance as free, but now the steel blue of his eye had become steady and wary12, and two faint lines had traced themselves between his brows. At his entrance a hush13 of expectation fell. Galen Albret did not stir, but the others hitched14 nearer the long, narrow table, and two or three leaned both elbows on it the better to catch what should ensue.
Me-en-gan stopped by the door, but the stranger walked steadily the length of the room until he faced the Factor. Then he paused and waited collectedly for the other to speak.
This the Factor did not at once begin to do, but sat impassive--apparently without thought--while the heavy breathing of the men in the room marked off the seconds of time. Finally abruptly15 Galen Albret's cavernous voice boomed forth16. Something there was strangely mysterious, cryptic17, in the virile18 tones issuing from a bulk so massive and inert19. Galen Albret did not move, did not even raise the heavy-lidded, dull stare of his eyes to the young man who stood before him; hardly did his broad arched chest seem to rise and fall with the respiration20 of speech; and yet each separate word leaped forth alive, instinct with authority.
"Once at Leftfoot Lake, two Indians caught you asleep," he pronounced. "They took your pelts and arms, and escorted you to Sudbury. They were my Indians. Once on the upper Abitibi you were stopped by a man named Herbert, who warned you from the country, after relieving you of your entire outfit21. He told you on parting what you might expect if you should repeat the attempt--severe measures, the severest. Herbert was my man. Now Louis Placide surprises you in a rapids near Kettle Portage and brings you here."
During the slow delivering of these accurately22 spaced words, the attitude of the men about the long, narrow table gradually changed. Their curiosity had been great before, but now their intellectual interest was awakened23, for these were facts of which Louis Placide's statement had given no inkling. Before them, for the dealing24, was a problem of the sort whose solution had earned for Galen Albret a reputation in the north country. They glanced at one another to obtain the sympathy of attention, then back toward their chief in anxious expectation of his next words. The stranger, however, remained unmoved. A faint smile had sketched25 the outline of his lips when first the Factor began to speak. This smile he maintained to the end. As the older man paused, he shrugged26 his shoulders.
"All of that is quite true," he admitted.
Even the unimaginative men of the Silent Places started at these simple words, and vouchsafed27 to their speaker a more sympathetic attention. For the tones in which they were delivered possessed28 that deep, rich throat timbre29 which so often means power--personal magnetism--deep, from the chest, with vibrant30 throat tones suggesting a volume of sound which may in fact be only hinted by the loudness the man at the moment sees fit to employ. Such a voice is a responsive instrument on which emotion and mood play wonderfully seductive strains.
"All of that is quite true," he repeated after a second's pause; "but what has it to do with me? Why am I stopped and sent out from the free forest? I am really curious to know your excuse."
"This," replied Galen Albret, weightily, "is my domain31. I tolerate no rivalry32 here."
"Your right?" demanded the young man, briefly.
"I have made the trade, and I intend to keep it."
"In other words, the strength of your good right arm," supplemented the stranger, with the faintest hint of a sneer33.
"That is neither here nor there," rejoined Galen Albret, "the point is that I intend to keep it. I've had you sent out, but you have been too stupid or too obstinate34 to take the hint. Now I have to warn you in person. I shall send you out once more, but this time you must promise me not to meddle35 with the trade again."
He paused for a response. The young man's smile merely became accentuated36.
"I have means of making my wishes felt," warned the Factor.
"Quite so," replied the young man, deliberately37, "_La Longue Traverse_."
At this unexpected pronouncement of that dread38 name two of the men swore violently; the others thrust back their chairs and sat, their arms rigidly39 braced40 against the table's edge, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the speaker. Only Galen Albret remained unmoved.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked, calmly.
"It amuses you to be ignorant," replied the stranger, with some contempt. "Don't you think this farce41 is about played out? I do. If you think you're deceiving me any with this show of formality, you're mightily42 mistaken. Don't you suppose I knew what I was about when I came into this country? Don't you suppose I had weighed the risks and had made up my mind to take my medicine if I should be caught? Your methods are not quite so secret as you imagine. I know perfectly43 well what happens to Free Traders in Rupert's Land."
"You seem very certain of your information."
"Your men seem equally so," pointed44 out the stranger.
Galen Albret, at the beginning of the young man's longer speech, had sunk almost immediately into his passive calm--the calm of great elemental bodies, the calm of a force so vast as to rest motionless by the very static power of its mass. When he spoke again, it was in the tentative manner of his earlier interrogatory, committing himself not at all, seeking to plumb45 his opponent's knowledge.
"Why, if you have realized the gravity of your situation have you persisted after having been twice warned?" he inquired.
"Because you're not the boss of creation," replied the young man, bluntly.
Galen Albret merely raised his eyebrows46.
"I've got as much business in this country as you have," continued the young man, his tone becoming more incisive47. "You don't seem to realize that your charter of monopoly has expired. If the government was worth a damn it would see to you fellows. You have no more right to order me out of here than I would have to order you out. Suppose some old Husky up on Whale River should send you word that you weren't to trap in the Whale River district next winter. I'll bet you'd be there. You Hudson Bay men tried the same game out west. It didn't work. You ask your western men if they ever heard of Ned Trent."
"Your success does not seem to have followed you here," suggested the Factor, ironically.
The young man smiled.
"This _Longue Traverse_," went on Albret, "what is your idea there? I have heard something of it. What is your information?"
Ned Trent laughed outright48. "You don't imagine there is any secret about that!" he marvelled49. "Why, every child north of the Line knows that. You will send me away without arms, and with but a handful of provisions. If the wilderness50 and starvation fail, your runners will not. I shall never reach the Temiscamingues alive."
"The same old legend," commented Galen Albret in apparent amusement, "I heard it when I first came to this country. You'll find a dozen such in every Indian camp."
"Jo Bagneau, Morris Proctor, John May, William Jarvis," checked off the young man on his fingers.
"Personal enmity," replied the Factor.
He glanced up to meet the young man's steady, sceptical smile.
"You do not believe me?"
"Oh, if it amuses you," conceded the stranger.
"The thing is not even worth discussion."
"Remarkable51 sensation among our friends here for so idle a tale."
Galen Albret considered.
"You will remember that throughout you have forced this interview," he pointed out. "Now I must ask your definite promise to get out of this country and to stay out."
"No," replied Ned Trent.
"Then a means shall be found to make you!" threatened the Factor, his anger blazing at last.
"Ah," said the stranger softly.
Galen Albret raised his hand and let it fall. The bronzed and gaudily52 bedecked men filed out.
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1
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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blotted
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| 涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干 | |
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lighter
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| n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级 | |
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silhouette
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| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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beaver
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| n.海狸，河狸 | |
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mink
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| n.貂，貂皮 | |
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otter
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| n.水獭 | |
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pelts
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| n. 皮毛，投掷, 疾行 vt. 剥去皮毛，（连续）投掷 vi. 猛击，大步走 | |
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wary
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| adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的 | |
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hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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cryptic
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| adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的 | |
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virile
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| adj.男性的；有男性生殖力的；有男子气概的；强有力的 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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respiration
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| n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用 | |
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outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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26
shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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vouchsafed
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| v.给予，赐予( vouchsafe的过去式和过去分词 )；允诺 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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timbre
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| n.音色，音质 | |
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vibrant
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| adj.震颤的，响亮的，充满活力的，精力充沛的，(色彩)鲜明的 | |
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domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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meddle
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| v.干预，干涉，插手 | |
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accentuated
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| v.重读( accentuate的过去式和过去分词 )；使突出；使恶化；加重音符号于 | |
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deliberately
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| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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40
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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42
mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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43
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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45
plumb
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| adv.精确地，完全地；v.了解意义，测水深 | |
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46
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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47
incisive
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| adj.敏锐的，机敏的，锋利的，切入的 | |
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48
outright
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| adv.坦率地；彻底地；立即；adj.无疑的；彻底的 | |
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49
marvelled
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| v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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50
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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51
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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52
gaudily
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| adv.俗丽地 | |
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