Show The Valley of Voices V THE FUR CANOE with SYNOPSIS With David D halt half halfbreed breed guide uld Brent Dren t Steele of f the th American Museum of f Natural Ille- Ille Hit fry tory lory le Is I traveling tra In northern n rth Canada By Dy a stream ho he h hears hearD Denise nl e daughter of f Cot Col Hll lr Bt It at Onge One factor at t walling Wailing Willing River play the tir violin superbly lie Fie H In- In Introduces Introduces In Introduces himself and nd accepts cc an anK K Invitation to t make the th post poet po t his hl hIs hl t lIe H finds ands i home h nr during stay y t worried and und mystified the tb factor d- d The Th log lor chateau ch te u Is a ft real home honT CHAPTER Continued I-Continued I Continued Rut But they missed you I laughed the Frenchman Yes lest lOur Our Inspector MonsIeur Lascelles In his desire to get fur Cur Ignores the conditions here bere en- en en entirely At the mention of ot the name nome Las Las- La Lascelles relies celles Steele sensed a swift change hango In Denise D St Onge One Ills curious e eyes es caught a faint color in the girls girl's temples tem tem- temples temples ples as ns she avoided his glance In n a moment she had control of herself jut but he wondered s If this then was the cause of her My My I position Is most you sec ee ec continued St St Onge One Laflamme controls the upper countr country with his We get et considerable Little Current and Drowning Ricer trade but Michel and I have to meet them with our goods over o at nt Portage lake Thera Ther are many mIDY who rho fear to come to the House of the WIndIgo on the Spirit rapids n ns as the they call It Strange your our people at Albany tall fall to realize this They will realize It this now now summer flummer for we have come to an on Im- Im impasse Im Impasse passe as we say Bay In French now How is that sir Why my Indians except Michel who Is II a n headed hardheaded Iroquois from the and ond laughs at this devil de talk tolk will not now go 0 into the bush alone Tle They Thep are always nl seeing and hen hearing rIng thlu things s Our hunter Tete- Tete Tete Roule Boule refuses to leave the post since he found some prodigious tracks In Inthe inthe Inthe the muskeg and heard screaming creaming nt at night nl ht Monsieur our people are panic panic- St SL St On Onge e gra el gravely shook his II head all And now n as you ou say In Eng Eng- English English lish the climax Is capped appell Steele leaned toward his host keen keen- keenly keenly keenly ly cu curious of wha what t was as coming as St t On Once e finished dramatically Our fur canoe which left here early In July with four men never ne Albany reached Albany Never Xe Albany reached reached Albany repented repeated the astonished d listener They sent you rou word by canoe Ye Yes they sent a 0 relief party up- up upriver r river r to find my men who were Ion long overdue O They Tiley feared they had hotl lost their boat hOlt In the Albany rapids and were re following the shore And this search party found Cound noth noth- nothing nothing In ing Nothing S1 St Onge lifted shoulders shoulders ders and Ind hands In eloquent gesture Men ren fur canoe gone wiped out swallowed up I nut Rut tb there must have been heen re some same thin some thin washed up alongshore vehemently tM y protested St Steele le the shell of of the small canoe canoe small stuff and stuff and a paddle n I Comes romes ashore Nothing repeated the factor They rhey searched the Albany Altany and then the lower Wallin Wailing for they had to pole and track most of the way as you know Above e the Devils Devil's mile they found the first camp of our peo peo- people people pie hut but below not a n body or paddle or scrap of cano nothing canoe canoe nothing To Ht Steele elp this tills was this Incredible Incredible mysterious tragedy of the fur canoe H lie wished he hn had known what had happened on the Walling Wallin but n a few weeks before when he and David Da fought day by day Its stiff current on onlie the way to the lie post Its simply I unbelievable able colonel he I vigorously l objected A swamped cann canoe broken up in a n big rapid Is to throw something on the leach below helow We lle noticed nothing but we n were ere not on the lie lookout That there way was more to thIs tills story Steele lr lp was convinced Lut tut what per per- peri personal l i onal hearing h could It have on Denise St Onge One Yet t those are the he facts monsieur and our people are mad with fear Thank Heaven Michel had a a a bad ankle and was not with the boat lie liet t tells the Indians that the canoe and Rne bodes are nrc held In the big eddy but butI butI I 1 doubt it Steele teele stared at the factor una unable hie to accept the Die sole Inference to he be drawn from his hosts host's remark St t One Onge was surely ly facetious That Tint leaven y us the the the- theory theory or ory colonel be tic laughed but to his surprise his lils pleasantry was met by so grave e n a face fare that lint for an nn Instant Steele was In III doubt of the mental balance of the Frenchman harassed ed it by the mis mis- misfortunes misfortunes fortunes of the Ibe summer The lark yes es of Denise St Onge fixed on the window were cryptic Then rhen the fac fee factor factor tor mile smiled Inscrutably as he said Monsieur ur I 1 nm am a on n a river believed trl to be haunted It would to le a pol policy Ie most ruinous for me to 10 ad- ad ad admit snit mit a n belief In the In supernatural supernatural Inthis thIs Indian tradition Is It not so But BUI and anI the lie speaker glanced at hIs daU daughter as as well believe It the what other solution Is left Men Mn and canoe like dIsappear disappear like that l I I And he lie snapped his fingers It was clear clar that St Onge Ong was dis- dis dis dissembling for for some reason he wr loath to give his guest the whole story tory But Hut why What was there In inthis this thiN tragedy of ot fear tear un an death that a stranger r should not know Why since St Onga had so 80 frankly revealed reveal I the She to By GEORGE MARSH Author of f r lt of ll The W The f V help help of of f the the h hV Wolf V U Copyright Coy by VJ the CoDs Penn yr hIDIr Co c w N U Service crisis he faced at nt Walling Wailing the threatened loss of ot the trade and abandonment of the post due due to the superstItion of the Indians did Indians did he heI I riddle riddie withhold his own solution of ot the rid rid- rid dle die Certainly there was more much more In this strange situation which Steele had accidentally stumbled upon than the he Toss loss lo s of ot the fur tur canoe rhe daughter furtive e glances of father and dough daugh ter at Steeles Steele's reference to Laflamme the trader free her evident embar embar- embarrassment embarrassment at the mention of Lascelles inspector at nt Albany and above all her mood of ot despair nt at the rapids voiced olred so pol poignantly by her violin these could hear henr no relation to the tragedy of the fur to canoe to the panic of the Indians at the starred Ill post Were your men trustworthy he suddenly asked Absolutely They could not de- de desert de desert sert and hope to dl dispose pose of the he fur tur We Ve and the Hudsons Hudson's Hay flay people have nn an agreement On the Albany at nt that time l I they he hey would surely I have ha run Into the Fort lort lope Hope York boats and antl the Falls and Henley House brigades Besides two of ot them left leet young wives here Still Im I'm sure Michel Is wrong about the eddy ventured Steel Steele hoping to draw out the tact factor or The Big Pelican whirlpool below Lac Seul the worst Ive I've ever er seen throws out the stuff sucked Into It In Inthe Inthe Inthe the course of a few hours St SL St Onge lifted his heavy eyebrows In a nod of oC assent Oh Miche fiche IS s In doubt doutt about It also but that I 1 what he tells the Indians A man of ot parts Is Michel monsieur He Is more than m my right hand here Yes he looks like a good man DId you notice David colonel Steeles Steele's face lighted as he mentioned hIs swarthy comrade de lIe He seemed most Intelligent re- re replied replied re replied plied S1 St Onge and looks as If ho he could pack four hundred over a port port- portage portage age If It he wished He lie can can colonel Then Steele gam- gam gambled gam gambled am- am ambled bled with his hosts host's curiosity What worries me Is how bow to keep him from wringIng Laflamme's neck when we e reach and and aside from getting supplies we wish to stop at nt Colonel S1 St Onge The factor was palpably interested Interest d Ills Ills narrowed eyes seemed to search earch those of at his guest In an endeavor to read his thoughts Then leaning for tor- forward for forward ward elbows on table he asked tensel tensely Why Why hy I am sorry but that Is Davids David's secret se- se secret se secret cret Oh I seen seel see I It Is right then that you do not tell But nut I was curIous monsieur for today when he reached here he asked at nt once how many days travel It was to lake That St Onge should be vitally in- in interested In Interested In the man who by the use ot of whisky was winning the fur trade ot of the whole headwater country of the Wallin Walling was natural but the observant observant observant ant Steele sensed more to the story than mere trade rivalry In the atti attl attl- attl attitude tude of 01 the factor However he dropped the subject and returned to the lost canoe Its by far tar the strangest case I have heard four of-four of four men In n a loaded canoe cano wIped out without leaving a scrap of or a sliver silver of ot spruce as n a clue and a wonderful opportunity for tor forthe forlie the study of at this o superstition at first hand Eighteen thousand dollars In tur furl t sighed the factor whose face was drawn dra and antl old as ns they left the table CHAPTER II Will you come with me to house the trade house monsieur For a time m my daughter will be busy with the dIshes Then Theil we shall have some music De- De Denise Denise De nise If It you wish and addressing Steele she he added sU suggestively It will be begay gay nr music tonight monsieur I promise prom prom- promise I ise e you you-In you In honor of ot your our arrival at atthe atthe the House of the indigo 1 nut But I like your our sad music made made- mademoiselle mademoiselle moiselle he Paid alel and antl I am nm clever at washing dishes If It f I could be ot of service There was challenge challene In her black blackeyes blackeyes eyes es as she slie countered Au Ah monsieur ur but you are more clever I fear at nt concealing con con- concealing con concealing your thoughts As he walked with stilt the Ih he factor tor to the house house trade lie he wondered precisely to had alluded what hat she sue St Onge was writing a lengthy re- re report re- re report re report port of ol 01 the situation at Wallin Walling River to hIs Ills chief at nt Albany three hundred miles downstream so Steele Joined David ld and ond Michel 1 seated beside the post canoes on tb the beach each smoking nt- nt af ter-supper ter pipes In oat front of the ln- ln In I dlan dian shacks n a group roup wom wom- women women en talked In hushed voices Near t them em three e men squatted on their heels IndIan fashion conversed heads to- to together together to together gether No shrill shouts broke the quiet Even en the play of the dusky chIldren seemed suppressed Truly thought Steele Sf St Onge had not ex ex- ex exaggerated The air hung heavy with tear fear The Indians were In a n panic Dread of ot the fabled bad wrought Its spell At this rate It would not be long before the foxes would bark In la the clearing of the abandoned ll post before before padded feet would roam at will In what was now a And the girl up what there what would become ot of hert her t Well David has hns Michel told you ot of the fur tur canoe demanded Steele Davids David's broad face wrinkled In a agrin grIn Taking his bis pipe from his hie mouth he spat deliberately before he be b answered an- an answered ax with another questIon how lIow long we w stop here I dont don't know Why Steele was Interested Wal Michel an Daveed lak to drop down to de beeg strong water We iVe strike back In III eight seven sleep may may- maybe maybe maybe be be your Idea Its It's not Just to tomako tomake tomako make mako another search on a mere chance of ot finding something Theres There's somethIng else cooking under that under that black bat hat of yours But nut David was noncommittal We tak a look at nt de I las all camp fur canoe made an on shore below for tor little piece Steele was se secretly delighted at nt the excuse this expedition of ot Davids David's would give him for tor prolonging Indefinitely Indefinitely his stay at Walling Wailing Ricer As Asa Asa Asa a student of Indian mythology and worshIp of the supernatural the probing probing ing Int of ot this the mystery mystery the study of Its effect on the post Indians demanded Indians hIs best efforts It was a n rare opportunity opportunity opportunity for Cor an ethnologist n a student of folklore to gather data at nt first hand But over and antl beyond that was the rId rId- rIddle riddle rid riddle dle of this girl whose hands of an nn ax- ax ar artist were now busy with the dishes up there In the tir factors factor's house But nut what do you expect to find Michel There have been two canoes over o the ground The have swallowed swallowed canoe fur tur and men The small eyes of the IndIan snapped Daveed and Michel see 1 We lak Ink to had hav look at nt hem heem Tete Boule with n a gesture gesture gesture ture toward the three men grouped to In front of ot the shacks he lie hear bear one two many tam tam- lIe He tin en track een muskeg ver er ver beeg But he hay hav rear Lear to tak Michel to de track Maybe down on de beeg rapids Daveed an Michel shake han wid de Maybe we fin he Is den den we teed feed some heem-some some lead And the smile faded while the swart features of the IndIan set stiff with hate Ah ha thought Steele These two old foxes Coxes have hav got something In theIr heads But nut knowing his people he ho did not press them for tor an on explanation Later alone with David he would be told So he filled his pipe and sat down Michel MIhel he asked why did the ne lIlon Freres build this place at nt the head of these rapids Instead of ot up at lake fake where they could buck Ln- Ln Ln-flamme Ln face to face tace for tor the trade of the whole country For a space Michel smoked IgnorIng ignorIng Ignoring ing the question then he grunted through the stem tem of his pipe You see Lascelles at Al- Al Al No I stopped with the nay Bay people Why Wal eef you see tascelles maybe ma be you know v why was the reply Where were you before you OU came here asked Steele A At t You know him then But nut he cant can't be a good fur man to build here In here Inthe the badlands lands at nt these Spirit rapIds of the De man who build dees pos die Lascelles ees no fool he not keep for tor he t fur he keep for tor noder reason After Arter which startling Michel became a sphinx to Steeles Steele's further questioning More than ever by what he be had heard h he left left the men on the river shore and rejoined his host I In the warm can candle le light of ot the fac fac- factor's factor's factor's tors tor's quarters Steele soon lost himself In the playing o of Denise S1 St Onge There was no trace of ot th the troubled eyes of the reserve of the girl who bad sat Fat mute through the evening meal listening ta tt the talk tall of the men In the gay creature who now conjured with her violin mad marl dances of the Pol Pol- Polish PolIsh ish and Hungarian peasants love songs of Italy French and German opera Here was rare temperament technIque all training training all wasted In this wilderness It was monstrous monstrous-Inex- monstrous What could have ha brought them here It Is superb your mademoiselle mademoiselle playing he cried Impulsively |