Cummins turned to look. When he faced him again the boy's arm had
fallen to his side and his cheeks were white.
The next day he left. No one heard his last words to Melisse, or
witnessed his final leave-taking of her, for Cummins sympathized with
the boy's grief and went out of the cabin an hour before Mukee was
ready with his pack. The last that he heard was Jan's violin playing
low, sweet music to the child. Three weeks later, when Mukee returned
to Lac Bain, he said that Jan had traveled to Churchill like one who
had lost his tongue, and that far into the nights he had played lonely
dirges upon his violin.
CHAPTER XII
A RUMOR FROM THE SOUTH
It was a long winter for Cummins and Melisse. It was a longer one for
Jan. He had taken with him a letter from the factor at Lac Bain to the
factor at Churchill, and he found quarters with the chief clerk's
assistant at the post--a young, red-faced man who had come over on the
ship from England. He was a cheerful, good-natured young fellow, and
when he learned that his new associate had tramped all the way from
the Barren Lands to attend the new public school, he at once invested
himself with the responsibilities of a private tutor.
He taught Jan, first of all, to say "is" in place of "ees.
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