TO
MY FATHER AND MOTHER


CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE
I [The Raiders ]1
II [Foiled ]10
III [Out of the Storm ]21
IV [Warning ]31
V [Secret Depths ]42
VI [Rejected ]51
VII [Tokens ]65
VIII [The Vanguard ]73
IX [Chivalry ]85
X [The Pawn in the Game ]94
XI [Foes Without and Within ]106
XII [The Messenger ]115
XIII [A Maiden's Will ]124
XIV [Captured ]134
XV [The Spirit of Klota ]145
XVI [The Voice of the Deceiver ]161
XVII [In the Forest Depths ]174
XVIII [Loyalty ]188
XIX [Shrouded Light ]197
XX [The Call of the Heart ]206
XXI [By the Water-Gate] 216
XXII [Traitors ]225
XXIII [The Fettered Chief ]237
XXIV [Out from the Hills ]247
XXV [Into the Unknown ]258
XXVI [Regions Beyond ]271
XXVII [Fort Yukon ]280
XXVIII [At Last ]291

THE CHIEF OF THE RANGES


[CHAPTER I]

THE RAIDERS

The crooked river wound its lazy way between gently shelving banks. The pebbles along the shore sparkled like mirrors beneath the sun's bright rays. The whole land stood agleam on this fair summer afternoon in the far Canadian Northland. Only a gentle whisper rose from the dark forest as the drifting breeze stirred the crests of battalions of rugged spruce and fir trees. The wind, floating along the river and rippling the surface of the water, caused the small canoe lying near the shore to chafe fretfully upon the beach.