I 1 T I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 il I 1 t I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 rim I 1 I 1 HIN ra lula mi n ff iva exia N IV of aul L 1 L e 3 v I 1 I 1 re I 1 I 1 I 1 1 I i by george marsh ill 1 4 I 1 0 PENN publishing CO SERVICE Z I 1 I 1 CHAPTER I 1 I 1 billowing away like the mighty waves of a white sea to a horizon wiped clear of haze by the intense cold the naked tundra glittered under the march sun slowly over the wastes that lifted above the timbered valley of an ice locked river crawled three dark shapes like crippled ants anta crossing white earth twice within n a mile as they labored over the naked ridge toward the valley the two hooded figures slumped to the hard snow beside the great dog when they rose to go on rawhide thongs over their shoulders and made fast to the almost empty sled alde aided d the dog far back on their trail unnoticed by the three slunk four skeleton shapes when the two men and the dog stopped to rest tho the four gray wraiths also lay down slavering tongues lolling from red jaws rimmed with icicles after a space the larger of the two men raised his hooded head and pushed up his wooden eye shields pierced by slits silts from frost blackened features it was the face of a boy of twenty cracked skin tight on the bones of strongly modeled jaw and cheeks deep set gray eyes bright from starvation if we dont find the Montag nals camps today tomorrow 11 for an instant ho he buried his face in the thick black ruff of the dog that lay beside him then batup sat up and gazed intently over their back trall trail noell he said quietly did you ever eat wold it if I 1 can keep my sights lined were going to eat some tonight or going to eat us wat you see alan the other hooded figure got stiffly to his feet pushed back the eye shields and the long wolf hair fringe of his hood and stared at the sky skyline line behl behind nd them the face was that of an indian by garl he cried we boll de kettle tonight you nevalee eat wolf but you eat cat wolf tonight the breeze had shifted and the great dog following his master painfully got to his feet testing the air with dilating nostrils swaying giddily orf on his feet while he ha rested crested a rabbit skin mitten on the black and white skull of the husky alan cameron pointed to the tour four wolves in hi the distance see them rough he said to the excited dog the hair on the back and neck rose A deep rumble came from the hairy throat as the gaunt frame rame stiffened with shaking hands alan drew his rifle from its skin case where it lay lashed on the sled you go ort on with rough noell follow the trail up ill play dead on the snow and try for or a shot its the only way well get onel the indian scowled slowly shik shak ing his head doss dose are white wolf from de da nord starved starve d dey see you lla ile on do snow here dey weel rush you suppose e you miss dem rough and I 1 weel bo be too far for to help held they wont come close in on us until dark I 1 tell you the only way we can geta get a daylight shot is to do as I 1 hayw bayl the other insisted heres a chance for some meat to keep us alive danl man it if these I 1 spots will stop ingIn my eyes eleb I 1 can get on efrom an elbow rest 1 reluctantly with much shaking of hla his head the tho indian acquiesced marche coughl commanded alan you go with noel ayou hearme hear mea th the gaunt husky stood stubbornly in his traces gaz ingup at his master with uncomprehending slant eyes there were enemies back on the trail and alan was ord ordering erini him to leave him N bending over the bewildered husky alan sharply into a hairy ear car you go with noell marchel A low protesting whine and the raising of a white ahto muzzle as the dark eyes of the great dog searched his masters scowling face was the answer lifting his nose his great throat rumbled in bitter protest as he slowly started tho the sled harassed by uncertain vision and weakness alan settled himself on the snow to wait for the approach of the arctic wolves lying oat flat ou on the crust tits his body shook with the I 1 pounding of his heart but the fear that gripped him as he practiced lining his sights on the slinking gray white shapes was that his uncertain eyes and jumping nerves would cause him to miss when food for rough and ana noel and himself lay within his reach without food they have tho the strength to reach the trappers camps two days perhaps more beyond them sol so the youth who was already known at the fur posts along the Eart Coast as a better shot than oven his dead father graham cam eron cron on once ce hudsons Hud sons bay factor at fort george lay hoping against again st hope that when theotime the time came the rlue rifle in his hands would hold true As alan lay walling waiting the cautious I 1 approach of the tour four assassins of the tundra his thoughts turned back to his home at fort george far to the west on the coast of the great bay it if he and noel and rough never returned with the rest of the trappers for or the spring trade how long would his name linger in the memory of black eyed berthe des sane that sleek arsene rivard clerk at the freres would win her over with his tale ot of life down at quebec and montreal shed soon forget alan cameron whose bones lay somewhere in the nameless tundra country of the big river headwaters and his cabin at the post with the few earthly possessions his mother and father had left him who suddenly the man lying on the snow stiffened the four white wolves were approaching at a slow lope on they come came until a short rifle shot away they separated and A 11 t t P I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 31 t I 1 I 1 0 J 0 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 4 I 1 I 1 10 t I 1 I 1 Y age I 1 I 1 1 51 1 I 1 11 I 1 12 5 I 1 I 1 W iberi 1 I 1 4 lilt lightly one of the nn snarling arling wolves paused a moment began to circle the still shape on the crust until the scarcely moving air had given them the strange man scent the starved beasts squatted on their haunches and pointing their noses at the sky sent the walling wailing cry of the wolf pack cl close to the kill out over the white tundra to i where a man and a dog were making their reluctant way toward the frozen river suddenly not fifty yards from the man on the snow the kers stopped their stealthy and swiftly bunched together they were comingo they started their changet the rifle it roared with a yelp the lead wolf somer faulted in the air then slid limp along the crust followed by a second who rolled over and over frantically snapping at tits his bleeding flanks behind them the remaining two mad with the sight ol of blood fell upon their wounded mates savagely ripping and tearing at their throats with slashes of powerful tusks again the whiplash whip lash crack of a rifle waked the tundra the man on the snow got stiffly to his feet and reeled toward the tha two blood maddened brutes slicing their kin to ribbons ile he stopped took deliberate aim at the milling beasts and fired but in his increasing weakness his rifle barrel swayed like i a branch in the wind lilt hit lightly one of the snarling wolves paused a moment and then loped stiffly awny away on three legs followed by the fourth firing again and missing alan turned to see ai a great black and white dog coning coming at a painful stiff legged lope over the tundra slipping and falling in his weakness rising again to struggle on on to the master who was battling alone back on the trail be hind the dog stumbling forward in a half trot came noel rifle in hand bless their beart heartso heart sl panted the excited boy they sneaked back to help old alanl then turning to the fast freezing carcasses in the snow he cried deliriously but tonight we aati not much on their bones but theres enough to keep us alive alovel wolf stew a feast for a kingl wolf food tor for us all and andrones bones for rough to gnadl for two days the famished boys and the dog rested in the shelter of a windbreak of timber beside the frozen river while the wind droye the fine snow be before foreit it like smoke over the crusted tundra wise in the lore of the bush they ate frequently but little at a time while their weak stomachs gained strength but the nourishment afforded by the leathery and sinews of the two starved wolves was limited while rough with the marvelous vitality of the bred on hudson straits was fast gaining strength alan and noel were still weak and unsteady on their feet when on ohp third morning the three set off up the river valley toward the sinking lakes in search of the camps of the trappers it was morning of the third day of their march up the valley they had stopped to rest on the river ice the two men sprawled on the wind packed snow beside the husky three days now sighed alan 1 and the river has narrowed little we are still long piece from de lac groaned the indian one more thin stew of wolf all noel ah hahl we go wan n two sleep more an den de fox an de da carcajou chew our bones alan reached over to his recumbent dog and dropping the mitten which hung from his neck by a rawhide thong rubbed the massive muzzle his heart shining out of his eyes the dog lifted his head and with a staccato steccato intake and expulsion of breath through his nostrils gave what alan called roughs boughs love snuffle for a moment the man burled buried ha his face in the thick black ruff of th dogs neck then sat up and gazed tar far up the valley where a stand of spruce and poplar occupied the flat country between the river and the lifting shoulders of the tundra his eyes wandered aimlessly then of a s udden sudden his hand brushed back the wolf hair rim of his hood as his gaze focused on the timber blue in the distance scrambling to his feet he cried to the man on the snow beside him look noell look at the timber up there on the shore I 1 the indian rose to his knees wat you seel see in that black spruce up the river noell alan pointed with a shaking mitten my eyes are tricky Is that haze or smoke dat ees de mon ayou hear rough cried alan to th the dog who had risen and was shaking himself fish tonight for a hungry dog and two men maybe tea and flour bann maybe carl boul his great brush of a tall tail sweeping the crust in his excitement rough bough fidgeted in his harness impact impatient ent to be off while the arms of the men circled each others shoulders in a delirious hug standing over his dog two tears slowly froze on his frost cracked cheeks as alan choked we eat food real grubl tonight we eat marche boyl boy marche ont the crust offered good footing and with snowshoes on the sled and with what strength remained in their uncertain legs noel and alan followed the dog over the river ice up the valley turning in shore at the water hole in the ice they followed a beaten trail back into the timber So meting ver strange here said the puzzled indian shaking his hooded head dis ees no camp were are de dog sign no there are no signs of dogs no signs of well look at af that by gar white men on de talk aeng erel standing beside the husky whose throat rumbled as he suspiciously sniffed the air while the hair of his mane and back slowly rose alan and noel gazed in amazement at the substantial log building banked high with snow which stood in the center of the clearing that opened before them white men on the talking river erl alan repeated his curious eyes noting the size of the log cabin with its large mud plastered chimney the huge platform cache evidently piled with supplies which were cov ered by canvas the two pairs of snow snowshoes shoei and the toboggan sled stuck in the snow beside the door and close by the ample remains of what had evidently been an normous enormous woodpile wood pile in the autumn TO BE CONTINUED