No signs or pantomime could make them comprehend his
meaning, and it appeared that he was doomed to remain with them. The
shock of exposure had been so great that he was still very weak and
not able to walk, as he quickly realized when he tried to move about,
and he was compelled to remain within in the company of the women, in
spite of his desire to go out and reconnoitre.
Ma-ni-ka-wan, the maiden, took it upon herself to be his nurse. She
brought him water to bathe his face, which was very sore from
frostbite, and gave him the choicest morsels from the kettle, and made
him as comfortable as possible.
At first he held a faint hope that when Bill missed him at the tilt, a
search would be made for him and his friends would find the wigwam.
But as the days slipped by he realized that he would probably never be
discovered. There came a fear that the news of his disappearance would
be carried to Wolf Bight and he dreaded the effect upon his mother and
Emily.
But there was one consolation. Emily could go to the hospital now and
be cured. Bill would find the silver fox skin and his share of that
and the other furs would pay not only his own but his father's debts,
he felt sure, as well as all the expense of Emily's treatment by the
doctor--and a good surplus of cash--how much he could not imagine and
did not try to calculate--for the doctor had said that silver foxes
were worth five hundred dollars in cash.
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