Show IV penn COL by GEORGE MARSH WK U bervic e SIXTEEN THE STORY SO FAR bound for the gold cold country six men lost their lives on the nottoway Nott away river red malone garrett finlay brother of one ot of the six and blaise halfbreed half hall breed guide arrive at nottoway Nott away posing as surveyors to investigate murder Is suspected it it Is thought that isadore rich fur ur man has made a gold strike and alms to keep prospectors out on the way to the hudsons Hud sons day bay post they visit isadore in his palatial home meet his wite wife and lise Is adores stepdaughter answering an appeal from use lise finlay Is ambushed and rescued by malone and blaise it develops that they are mounted police officers blaise returned one night after a fight with some indians CHAPTER XV continued what ayou mean by spoiling a i a afternoon nap you old say w 0 0 tore your shirt demanded malone you pick up all that dirt on that handsome face of yours what you been trying to do while we were asleep 9 blaise gazed benignly down on his startled friends you wake up quick wen ven you hear flame was nuzzling at carrys neck when the blinking eyes of the latter suddenly widened what in thunder you been into flame youre cut and that damned smell on you ive got it beaver castor red smell of that dog hes smeared with it and what happened to his head blaise hes been struck with a club solicitously garry examined the scratch of the knife and the swoll swollen ezi head of his dog when blaise had told his story of the missing dog the log deadfall dead fall set in the clearing and the fight the three friends ate and prepared to leave the island in the early dusk there was no doubt that their camp had been discovered and that the Montag nals had been confident of luring the dog across the strait and into the deadfall dead fall with the beaver castor without the al airedale to smell ft cr othear hear them a night attack could b c made on the camp with small chance of discovery until the indians struck home blaise you and flame are two lucky devils said garry as they lay hidden in the shore alders waiting tor for the rose tints to fade from sky and lake and the dusk to mask their movements both of you walk into trouble and both of you bob up smiling but my guess is that when those two you left bound at the clearing are found by their friends we may hear something queer they have their guns with them when they tried to ambush you wy dey carry gun dey sure dey find flame dead in de trap dat is all dey come to de cl earin for i d dey e y saw me dey hide bide and vink tink aut U t a knife in my back but gnip bip wen ven flame yell and fool dat knife when dusk fell a peterboro Peter boro drifted through the shadows like a wraith bound for the head of the lake where in the full of the moon old Wa bistan and blaise brassard had an appointment with Kine bik the shaman As they traveled with muffled strokes of the paddle the thoughts of the two bounties mounties Mo Md unties were far from the grim business that brought them again to the head of lake pi red malone was deep in dreams of a girl with red gold hair who was praying tor for him far in the west at matagami Ma garry finlay was wondering if lise had found his letter if blondelle Blon dells plane had arrived A Af cy thought of her at Is adores ab Oa P waiting for his return the lesire to turn back and go dl di erectly to the fur post and bring her away drove him close to desperation but he stoically paddled on into the night tor for the lives of many men hung on his mission at the head of the lake CHAPTER XVI the police party were hidden near the head of the lake waiting for the return of moise with news from his father the following night in the round of the moon it had been rumored through the fishing camps that the spirit voices would speak to the during the day canoes had passed within a half mile of the camp it was evident that tete tele blanche had guessed that the men he sought were at the head of the lake and that his scouts were hunting the shores for them moise should be showing up if were going to move to that hideout hide out tonight said finlay moise will follow de dark of de shore grunted blaise de moon is so bright it bodder him dey got plenty men batchin wat chin well need those shore shadows too garry said red when the moon slides toward those ridges be safer traveling look muttered blaise pointing hardly a mile distant the black shape of a cut across the shimmering ribbon of light banding the lake theres another exclaimed red and another what do you make of it blaise aise asked finlay think got a hunch that were in these islands brassard scratched his iron chin hard to telli tell this islands not a hundred yards long said red if they land here weve got a tough fight on our hands be a case of wolf eat wolf the trouble regretted finlay we want no trouble tonight itu kill stans plans spoil the whole show tree canol banol grunted blaise dat look bad to me we watch de shore dey may land on us dere was ten in dose boat all right said finlay this island is three cornered each man take a shore that ought to cover any landing in the dark fill your pockets with shells ill keep flame gagged and hitched to my belt I 1 wont cut the gag and turn him loose until im sure they know were here and are going to land so dont count on his getting their wind and sounding off in case anyone fires askea red do we leave our posts and back him up yes if they land weve got to get together hitching flames leash to his belt garry crossed the little island and took up a position with his uneasy dog so long as the airedale felt his masters hand he would not make any noise with the gag in his mouth but the instant he caught a strange scent his shaggy body would vibrate with excitement less than a hundred yards from where finlay and his dog waited lay the black bulk of shadow of the mainland the water between was washed by moonlight but past midnight as the moon arched into the west the murk reached out toward the shore where finlay waited shortly the strait between the islands would be smothered in blackness then if the had bad discovered the police hideout hide out thea the would cross with his rifle on his knees finla sat listening his arm circling th fretting dog the night slumbered on time and again the dogs throat swelled to be shut short off by the quick pressure of Fin lays fingers at last the black bank of creeping shadow reached the shore where finlay watched be moving soon it if over there finlay whispered suddenly the dog stiffened the hair along his neck and back lifting as he sniffed Fin lays hands closed on flames nose and throat wind something steady boy then from the murk drifted a faint sound like a splash of water ah I 1 hear it coming muttered finlay again finlay strained his ears with caught breath for a repetition of the sound at last he heard what resembled the wash of ripples as if something was swimming slowly across the strait what could a finlay sat listening his bis arm circling the fretting dog that mean he cut the gag and lease and the airedale tore through the alders up the shore instead of the brittle airedale challenge to unseen foes there was a splash as the dog plunged into the lake it must be a swimming otter or beaver hes winded muttered the surprised finlay hed roar at a canoe shortly from the gloom rose snarls the thrashing of creatures battling in the water then muffled gurgles rigid finlay listened praying for the dog he loved flame groaned the man on the shore mats happened to you boy what did you meet out there had he lost his dog had flame gone out there in the blackness to his death it was no canoe but what was it garry waited in suspense ears still straining then something moved swiftly through the water to the shore near him shook itself and bounded to his side flame you old water rat what did you strike out there finlay hugged his dripping dog are you hurt boy A rapid search of the dogs head and shoulders with groping fingers finger s seemed to reveal no wounds garry threw a loop of a thong around flames flame I 1 s jaw and waited with arm crooked about him presently the silence was split by a demoniacal wail which lifted like an eagles screaming whistle to die in thin air the startled finlay clung to his aroused dog clamp ing a hand over his nose what in I 1 the name of all the fiends in hell bell was that wondered the kneeling policeman li ceman the voice ceased and si lenca again pulsed over moon drenched forest and lake shortly the night was tainted by the bellow of some tortured brute voicing his agony it was followed by mad roars of rage which echoed back and forth between the forest walls of the strait holding his struggling dog finlay knelt on the shore as the mystery was solved in his active brain shortly he heard the thud of wood on wood fading rapidly into the distance he released flame who plunged up the shore roaring his challenge to the hidden owner of the magic voice by the way they are beating it from that howling windigo those wont stop until daylight finlay laughed until he was tired superstitious all right blaise the windigo the giant who eats indians but where did he learn how to do this what a voice what a voice that you garry carry called red stumbling through the bush wheres that foxy blaise ever hear squalling equalling squal ling to beat that they were waiting at the island to come across but he scared them stiff those paddles were hitting the lake sixty a minute our blaise the big voice the ventriloquist how you like dat song with flame at his heels blaise moved down the beach and joined his friends Wa bistan tell me dose Montag nals have fear of windigo so I 1 leeng dern dem de windigo song blaise youre some prima don na you always claimed you could sing now I 1 know it said red A swell idea to scare those tag just what is a windigo anyway blaise chuckled wal de injun vink tink de windigo is beeg wat vat you call giant who eat injun and is ver bad fallar he like to holler at night and scare dem most bush injun is scare of windigo and will not go into country were he live they certainly thought a man eater was loose and hungry tonight said garry you had me guessing hard blaise when you first opened up now before we get out of here I 1 want to take flame back into the bush and look him over with a torch happened demanded red finlay described the dogs strange battle in the water then they went back where the light from an electric torch would be masked from the lake and looked the airedale over hes scratched garry said red brassard peered closely at the surface scratches which crossed flames shoulders and forelegs fore legs no claw or toot make dern dem mark he grunted it was a knife then said finlay you think a was swimming across the strait but few of them can swim we put cano in and have a look said blaise at their camp they found moise Wa bistan waiting and told him the story then the peterboro Peter boro followed by the passed through a patch of moonlit water before entering the bank of shadow from the bow finlay pointed to something floating ahead of them that the canoe slid up to the drifting object kept afloat by air bladders of moose entrails fastened under er the arms was the half submerged body of a man blaise reached down and turned the drowned body to stare into an evil grimacing face wat you vink fink he demanded meeting the peering eyes of his friends tetu tetu the side kick of f tete tele blanchel blanche gasped red ah hahl hah and good ving for sure he was coming across to hunt tor for us when flame went out and met him nose to nose and the best man won said red good old flamey flame pull him and drown him before he stick a knife in him added blaise dat smart chien I 1 saw so smart he know more dan most man but he get foolish wen ven he smell beaver castor eh flame 0 0 0 0 0 it was the first week of august for days the heat like river mist before sunrise had hung in the windless forests of the nottoway Nott away country are you game for a swim use lise im stifled with this heat beat theres an urge in me to mingle my curves with some nice cool lake water yawned dawned corinne isadore im crazy to but since that day at the beach ive been ordered to keep away from there replied lise 1 I fixed that with jules this morning the king says we can go have you noticed him since he returned from that trip lies hes worried use lise he mumbles and raves in his sleep one night he kept saying their game their game weve got to get em quick if they seethaa see that plane and get back to montreal its all over use lise stiffened in her hammock had tote tete blanche got them already what could he have meant corinne she asked with seeming artlessness wondering just how much the other knew it sounds as if they were hunting for garry finlay and that darling malone boy it as if they were going to put them out of the way lise im terribly frightened 1 I am too you saw the indians who stopped here yesterday yes there were twenty of them they were hunting for the survey party how do you know 1 I heard tete blanche talking to them they acted drunk corinne jules is giving the liquor and its against the law jules swears that Fin lays a spy sent from montreal to jump his gold strike on the river I 1 suppose the reason for it all has jules ever talked to you of his bis gold strike no he treats me me like a baby but im sure hes secretly shipped a lot of gold south hes made much money yes hes made money moneys his god but going to come of all this it makes me shiver to think of it three men have been shot what will the police do when they learn of it corinnec Co rinnes great eyes were wide with apprehension wheres it going to end if finlay stays here and tries to find jules gold strike tete blanchen kill him its horrible TO BE CONTINUED |