Show tT THE RIVER of SKULLS by George Marsh o 0 PENN CO Ca CHAPTER VII ill Continued il 11 11 Youre hungry Heather asked The older of the two men nodded yes I Were ees man Three men she quickly replied They come back tonight Ah hahl Ah hahl the Indians exchanged significant glances glance Men did not travel at night in the bush or on swift rivers You trade at Fort George she asked the cider elder man who had done doneaU doneall doneall all aU the talking at For Geor Gear Were you ou cum From Rupert louse ouse House Again the Indians squinted doubtfully doubt fully into each others other's dark faces face Come inside end and Ill I'll give you some ome supper supped r The men were hun bun gry Dat dog said IBid the older Mon Men tagnais I see lee heem on For Geor No No replied Heather starting to tomake tomake tomake make tea and placing some cold caribou and bannock on the table he belongs to me While the Indians ate ravenously Heather boldly met their furtive glances from where she sat on n the bunk beside the fretting husky When the had emptied the tea kettle and cleared clearer the table of food set before them tucking sucking his with a grunt of satisfaction the older turned to the man girl watching him mm from Irom the bunk Put de husky out We sleep here herel he brazenly ordered The fighting blood of her soldier father boiled In the girls girl's veins veis at atthe atthe atthe the insolence as she rose to her ber feet You sleep at your camp campi Her heart beart pounded in her throat her eyes went black with anger as the grimacing younger man leered Into her tense face Our ees wet We leep Jeep here beret herel insisted the the other with a scowl Put husky out He ees cross crossl Then moving nearer to the girl whose right hand stole to her hip pocket the younger of the Indians reached to touch her hair as he said ees lak de sun Dut But as she drew back from the hand approaching her head there was a snarl from the bunk across the room and launched by his iron iron- muscled legs Roughs Rough's one hundred and forty pounds of bone and sinew catapulted into his collar snapping the rawhide leash like paper Again the dog leaped carrying the young oung Indian screaming to the floor as the older man disappeared through the door Again and again the infuriated ed husky struck with his great tusks at the defending arms of the panic panic- stricken Indian Then Heather threw herself upon the dog and with a desperate des wrench on n his collar fell with him sidewise to the floor Momentarily Momentarily Momen freed treed from the dog with a leap the Indian shot through the half open door pulling it shut behind be hind him Alan and McCord arrived with Noel and the two canoes and Heather Heath er told them of the and their rout by the Infuriated Rough The indignant men stared at each other ether In disgust And to think groaned McCord we staked that pair to grub when we met them on the river I want to see them show up here again That night while Heather listened the three men went into their plans for the winter There was indeed much work to be done if Alan and Noel were to find a water trail to the in the spring When are you ou leaving for the Sinking Lakes asked Heather of Alan who sat at the table poring over the mch handled handled sketch map of Aleck ummond and comparing it with McCords McCord's government map of Labrador Tomorrow he answered without without without with with- out lifting his eyes from the maps to the wistful-eyed wistful girl who watched him Weve got no time to lose If Noel and I strike the last of the migration weve we've got to to tocache cache aUthe all aU the meat we can get then later build a cache on these headwaters were we're going to find and leave a supply of 01 food This will be our cur emergency cache when we come up the river over the ice in the fall with a all 11 that gold You seem pretty sure of finding ending the headwaters and the I gold she replied doubtfully Of course coune Weve We've got to be Heather Or wed we'd wed we'd never dare to tomake tomake tomake make the try tryl The girl gave a little shiver as asher asher asher her brows contracted in a frown Somehow Ive I've got the feeling that were we're never coming back that back that were we're going to starve or drown inthe in inthe inthe the rapids or the will get getus us Here I here all this Ws talk John turned from the fire place where he had been shaping birch helves ax-helves with a drawknife draw Is this my big girl who sent the Indians about abouL their business Of I course coune were we're coming back Were We're I going to meet that deer migration and come up the next fall faU with so much gold dust and meat on In the sled that tha that that- t- t I Suppose de spirit scare away de deer from Riviere ov Skull interrupted inter inter- Noel who was plaiting dog harness his dark face full of fore boding Wat we do den Alan looked up from his maps to grin at John Why then wed we'd have to eat the spirits in the Moaning Gorge NoeL CHAPTER VIII VIlI One morning ten days after the boys had left for the Sinking Lakes Heather who had been hard at work gathering a supply of berries for tor forthe the winter took her pack bag in which she carried them and her rifle rille and started darted for the barren above the valley vaney It was a keen da day in late September The floor door of the forest was yellow with th the leaves leavet of birch and aspen Leaving the valley for an hour she walked across the treeless tundra tun dra gray with caribou moss like velvet to the feet teet and splashed with I patches of low growing blueberries I bake-apple bake moss and cranberries But she did not stop until she he came cameto cameto cameto to a fold in the barren a little valley valley val val- ley or swale where shielded from the wind dwarf spruce Juniper and deer bush gallantly battled for ex ex- Here the berries grew in profusion and of a somewhat larger size than out ul on the tile open tundra Heather had almost filled her bag and was seated eating her lunch of s r S i l h u Again and again the Infuriated husky struck with his great tusks bannock sandwiches when her eyes caught something black moving Inthe in inthe inthe the low scrub a hundred yards away It must be It be-It It must be a bear bearl she exclaimed reaching for her gun Her heart pounded with ex ex- She had seen bears before before be fore but never had she shot one And here was the chance to add needed much-needed meat and grease to their store of winter provisions On hands and knees she started to crawl toward the bear feeding on berries a short shot rifle-shot away She Shedid Shedid Shedid did not dare risk a shot until she had a better view of him so worked her way cautiously through thick growths of Labrador tea lea laurel and moss At last she lay where she had a clear view of the feeding animal Sprawled in a clump of blueberries with both paws he drew the low bushes greedily greedily greed greed- ily to his mouth stripping them of their fruit truit With her heart beating in her throat Heather attempted to draw a bead on the black shoulder of the beast hardly fifty yards away But Buther Buther Buther her sights wavered would wavered would not hold true She must wait wait get get her nerves under control She felt herself growing grow ing cold cold cold-cold cold with the fear that she would miss Then with an effort she calmed her jumping nerves What would Alan her Alan her father think of her if 11 they knew Alan must never know she had been afraid Her white teeth clamped hard as she again aimed at the feeding bear The swaying sights on the rifle steadied Fat Foi an instant the bead of the muzzle muzzle lIe sight held in the rear notch and she squeezed the trigger With a roar the bear reared on his hind legs searching for his hidden bIdden enemy then dropped biting savagely savage savage- ly Iy at his side She had missed the vital spot She must not miss again I Then before she could aim the bear saw her Bellowing his rage he came lungIng lunging lung lung- ing through the low scrub at al the terrified ter rifled girl She leaped to 0 her feet and started to run But the low bushes caught a moccasin and she fell headlong On came the wounded wound ed beast until but a few yards separated separated separated sep sep- them Heather neather twisting around still holding her gun aimed as he came and fired point-blank point into his chest Scrambling to one side she pumped another shell Into the chamber as the stricken beast crumpled in the blueberry heath Ive got him himl Ive I've got him she cried weak from excitement as she stood with cocked rifle Knees shaking shak shako shaking ing under her she watched the hulkIng hulkIng hulk hulk- Ing body sprawled in hi the bushes The second shot had gone home The bear was shot through the heart hearL Trembling from the fright and strain of the last few moments moment she gazed in awe at the great yellow tusks from which the smeared berry lips were lifted lilted in a snarl Lucky Heather heathen she gasped lISped Too close for tor comfort that one onel I II I thought I was a goner I But Im I'm a abear abear abear bear hunter now Walt Wait til Alan hears of this He ne wont won't tease me any more when he hears hurs this story Im I'm a bear hunter now It was freezing every night and the meat would not spoil Her father fa fa- father ther could get it In the morning So the happy girl went to her bag of berries and continued to pick She had stopped for a moment at a dense patch of blueberries and was eating when the slight breeze carried car car- ried ried a sound lound to her ears e ra that straightened her where she sat at every ev eVe ery cry muscle tense as 81 wire Again came the sound louder now It was mens men's voices I Searching along the rim of the valley where It 1 sloped from the barren bar bar- barren ren ren she saw nothing she crawled to some ground juniper and edged in under Its spreading branches Soon the sound came again to her ears Who can it be she said aloud McQueen or r those Indians And I they're coming from the direction of the camp campi Watching both shoulders of the narrow valley at last she saw two men carrying guns They were walking along the rim of the swale talking excitedly She wondered if U they had heard her shots shots shots-or or they could see her Nearer and nearer they came until hardly a stones stone's throw distant on the lip of the valley val vat ley above her they stopped Her heart faltered Suppose they should see the dead bear For a space a thick-set thick white man with a beard argued heatedly with his companion an Indian The man Rough mauled that night she thought trembling where she lay hugging the moss beneath beneath beneath be be- neath the thick juniper But who is the other What's a white man doing here on the Talking Can it be McQueens McQueen's found his way back to the forks But the men noticed nothing so engrossed engrossed engrossed en en- grossed were they in their talk Shortly they moved on while the agitated girl lay for a long time after they had disappeared from sight Then she made her way back home over the barren Reaching the Sinking Lakes Alan and Noel worked to the limit of f their strength against the coming of the Freezing Moon that in October October Oc Oc- Oc tober would ride high over the bar rens rena As they sat in front of f their I I tent before their fires on the frost frosty evenings with the dogs dog lying around them they made plans forthe tor for the search for a water way to the when the large lakes froze and the snow packed hard for sled ding Our finding this River of Skulls Is Just a question of meat and fish Noel if U the Indians leave us u. alone said laid Alan The shook hook his hll head doubtfully Were going to have a lot of pemmican pem pern- mican flour dour and beans In that emergency emergency emer emer- gency cache at the head of ot the riv rive ere er Pemmican keeps all summer lummer and well we'll make plenty plent for there are deer wintering In this valley Shish The two men sat with Kith straining ears Presently far above them Inthe Inthe in inthe the frosty air the they heard the faint like clarinet marching chorus of a aDock adock dock flock of whistling swan Iwan High up under the stars that shone blue behind be hind the pearly banners of the aurora aurora au au- rora that writhed across the heavens heavens heave ens they passed like ghosts on their long pilgrimage to the southern waters Guess that's about the last of ot those boys this year said Alan Straight from Baffin Daffin Land Ill I'll bell bet Well Noel my lad the long soon be with us and then then the the big Jump off l Day by day the platform fish fish- cache mounted on high peeled spruce saplings ringed with Inverted Invert ed hooks cod-hooks to baffle bame climbing wolverines wolverines wol wol- verines received the nights night's catch of the two gill Great lake trout the the fish that swallows everything some running to twenty pounds in weight whitefish white Jack fish or northern pike red and gray suckers suck ers era and ling came to the nets It would require an enormous supply of fish to feed the hungry through the winter months and there were four humans besides Deep in the spruce and tamarack swamps that circled some of the chain of Sinking Lakes Lakel and gave them their name Alan and Noel were much relieved to find scattered scattered scat scat- bands of caribou that had lingered lingered lin lin- lin behind the migration to winter win ter in the valley and feed on the moss called old mans man's beard that draped the dry spruce Before the October freeze up closed the river and the large lake on which they were camped the boys made a hurried visit to the Me- Me Cords with a canoe load of trout and meat and the pie bald skins of young caribou to be turned into hooded parkas and moccasins There news of f Heathers Heather's discovery awaited I them Warning McCord and Heather Heath er cc to be eternally vigilant they returned returned re reo re- re turned North The Freezing Moon had come Each morning the boys had to break breakout breakout breakout out their net buoys for the film ice was reaching out far from the shore although the l large rge lake on which they were camped was not as yet closed Snowshoes strung with caribou caribou car car- thongs which unlike moose and cow hide shrink when wet rather rath er than stretch were ready as well as 81 a long toboggan sled Noel expert expert ex ex- ex pert per hide worker had made hooded parkas and smoke tanned moccasins moccasins mocca mocca- sins for snowshoeing working with the strongest thread known the split sinews from the back of a bull caribou So soon as the snow was deep enough for sledding the puppies growing like colts were given their first lessons in tandem harness for their short experience of the previous previous pre pre- spring with the single fan fan- hitch of the Eskimos was of little value TO DE BE 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