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Without a word Jinaban sprang to his feet, and, with a glance of bitter hatred at the trader and the girl who stood beside him, he walked out of the house, accompanied by his old men and the rejected Sépé, who, as she turned away, looked scornfully at her rival and spat on the ground. In a few weeks the marriage took place, and Palmer made the customary presents to his wife's relatives.
The news of this soon reached Jinaban, who soon after made his appearance at Palmer's house accompanied by many old men of his clan and a young and beautiful girl named Sépé. Trembling with suppressed rage and excitement, he addressed the trader with all the eloquence he could command.
In a very short time the half-caste learnt from Letanë that Sépé, who lived in Jinaban's village, was strongly suspected of receiving visits from the outlaw, and even of visiting the man himself; for on several occasions she had been absent from her mother's house for two or three days at a time.
A murmur of joyful astonishment burst from the assembled natives, and in another moment they were running after Palmer down to the beach. The instant the canoe touched the sand, Porter called out in English "Collar the girl, Mr. Palmer, and don't let her get near your wife. She means mischief." Before she could rise from her seat on the low thwart, Sépé was seized by two of Palmer's people.
There it is called the Lesser Slave River, but in the classic Cree its name is Iyaghchi Eennu Sepe, or the River of the Blackfeet, literally the "River of the Strange People." The lake itself bears the same name, and even now is never called Slave Lake by the Indians in their own tongue.
Before the trader could frame a reply Letanë, accompanied by a number of her young girl friends, walked into the room, and, sitting down beside him, put her hand on his shoulder, and, though her slender form trembled, gave her uncle and the girl Sépé a look of bold defiance. Palmer rose to his feet, and placed his hand on the head of the girl, who rose with him. "It cannot be, Jinaban.
The Beavers had also an enemy in their congeners, the Chipewyans, the three nations seemingly dividing the great river between them. But neither succeeded in giving a permanent name to it. The Uńjigah, its majestic and proper name, or the Tsa-hoo-dene-desay "The Beaver Indian River" or the Amiskoo eëinnu Sepe of the Crees, which has the same meaning, has not taken root in our maps.
Having said good-bye to Bishop Clût and his clergy, and to the Hudson's Bay Company's people, and others, we passed on to Salt Creek, which we crossed at dusk, and then to the South Heart River Otaýe Sepe where we camped for the night.
The day following, however, the wind was fresh and fair, and we made great headway, reaching the mouth of Swan River Naposéo Sepe about mid-day. This stream is almost choked at its discharge by a conglomeration of slimy roots, weeds and floatwood, and the banks are "a melancholy waste of putrid marshes."
But in some way Sépé had betrayed herself, and Letanë was now having a strict watch kept upon the girl by two or three of her women attendants whom she had sent to reside in Ijeet, as Jinaban's village was called. Ostensibly they had gone to visit some relatives there. Sépé, however, was always on her guard, and so far the spies had learnt nothing fresh.
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