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Show I Vanished Men VI By GECRCE MARSH fe"". Co lJ H 5o FA It: Bound for (he Um country, tlx men lost Nottaway river. Red '"E Finlay. brother of one TgUlse, ball-breed guide, HLm posing as surveyors m INSTALLMENT ELEVEN to InvesUgate their deaths. They visit Isadore, rich (ur man living In an Isolated, Iso-lated, palatial home. He seems Implicated Im-plicated In their deaths. Here they meet Lise, his pretty stepdaughter. After answering an-swering her appeal for help, Flnlav is ' n. u. service u ambushed, but later escapes. The, eon- i Unue to keep it ,ecret that they ar Mounted Police. Sent to Investigate the deaths of the six "drowned" men, Finlay believes Use was Innocent and writes her a note. I M M downstream. Then there was a grating grat-ing sound as the nose of the Peter-boro Peter-boro slid over a sand bar and the canoe came to a dead stop. They were trapped, yards from the shore! Finlay and Red swiftly traded rifles for poles while Blaise strained to free the boat. One false move and they'd draw a blast of fire. They threw their weight desperately on their poles. There came the low call of "Kekway!" from the murk. The three men stiffened. Crouched in the gloom the crew of the canoe waited for the crash of rifles in their faces. A silence so deep it beat like sound, pulsed in their ears. Ten twenty seconds and the men in the bow felt the canoe tremble. Blaise's signal to go! Like one man they strained against their poles. There was the scrape of wood on sand, the low wash of water and the canoe was backed clear. The nose of the boat had sheered off into deeper water when again, the call of "Kekway!" rose from the invisible shore. The three stopped breathing as the boat drifted. Suddenly Sud-denly there was a movement in the alders and spurts of flame from exploding ex-ploding rifles stabbed the gloom. With a savage thrust Blaise jumped the canoe downstream. The enraged airedale rose under his blanket, but was forced flat. There was a stampede stam-pede of feet along the shore and full in their faces blazed a barrage of rifle shots. The canoe grounded and was cleared again while the rifles of the fl of Blaise's mouth iHje shadow of a smile. I not first time woman L look like fool. But 'Ki yu are fr en' o me! E just de same!" Vte talk, you old carca-jjjpped carca-jjjpped Blaise on a thick Et to the tent and shortly ffj,his reply to Lise Dem-Htttnded Dem-Htttnded to Malone. I, and believe In you. Hiben they left me in the Hj pretty bitter. Against Kidgment I had put my Hand walked into a trap. E to believe, after that B after that moment on H(! re you left, but I had H bitterness faded. There Hgiething too honest about H; to have been acting. H'.m: without your knowl-Hjllowed knowl-Hjllowed you to the sand E meet you until next H.. hear from me then, non't worry. We'll take H I've just received good Elbe railroad. The break Hon. Everything will turn E Kinebik has double-Hore double-Hore to save his hide and Htonight for the head of pp a brave heart. You "Garrett Finlay." H reading Red said: Hf, chief! Wish it was Hdore gets hold of this E jolt he'll get!" I had to consider that io fed him a headache. Bid Tete-Blanche to the lake hunting us while xg for Matagami. Be-got Be-got to keep up her couriered cour-iered Moise and Michel imeet him on his return !rom the old chief, that y passed Isadore's and sxt day concealed near The following evening the lipped into the Quiet Wa-w Wa-w moving thoroughfare fuwanipi with the chain kes to the west. Three away lay Matagami and i'i Bay post. i of a thick July night furest and water. I to order for us, Gar-ired Gar-ired Red, from the waist I where he sat behind i his Lee-Enfield across bile, in the stern, Blaise canoe with a buried pad- I oer the island which iver about five miles be-returned be-returned Garry. "That's I camp. They'll figure k enn't pass them there sg seen or heard. But count on a night like hear us and shoot do we fid push through, or " t fire unless we have to! pass them without their We have to return this now." od, sergeant! Good luck eguarding both channels, to pass within yards of ?e a pineapple handy, us when you throw it so ten." I to toss one into that it! Remember, no firing e caught!" rounded a bend Blaise boat with a swift thrust In the distance, like a smothered in drift, a yel-! yel-! stained the blackness, got a fire!" whispered don't understand it!" close and have a look," lise moved on and was ked. "You hear dem?" " muttered Red. "The are singing!" drunk!" whispered Gar- "re are!" returned Ma-H Ma-H the damp air through De Montagnais drink Is-liskey!" Is-liskey!" grunted Blaise. So Tete-Blanche wins!" "lent, like wind off a bar- finlay cold. "Kinebik's toe Montagnais! Thank w't bring Lise!" kick!" whispered Malone. II drunk they've forgotten !'t be sure. They may l"ard on both shores," Ty 'We'll take the right's'. right-'s'. Blaise. What in " fle scurry of feet and 1 flrk of disturbed shell red ahead downstream, boat. "ws our goose!" cursed ' "They'll know some-d some-d the ducks and will lay olaise!" snapped Finlay. 'r it, now!" was passing the fire Uy'd be clear and lost of the strangers. "I'm Duncan Mc-Nab, Mc-Nab, in charge here, and this It Da- 1 vid. my head man." Finlay introduced himself and his friends. "We passed through the lake some time back, Mr. McNab, on our way in to map Waswanipi." "Map Waswanipi?" The shrewd blue eyes of the trader pictured his amazement. "You're a government survey party, then?" "We were." Finlay shot an amused look at Red. The heavy brows of the trader lifted. lift-ed. "Then you've finished?" "No. Mr. McNab, we're not on the survey, now, but we haven't finished with Waswanipi." Finlay's face stiffened. "We've come to you for help and information. Then we're going back to finish." The clamp of his lean Jaw and ! the points of fire in the speaker's eyes snapped McNab's head forward for-ward in a narrow-eyed stare. "I don't get you, Mr. Finlay. Let's talk it out over a pipe in the trade-room. trade-room. Of course, you'll stay the night with us? We're pretty lonely, here, for a white face. Your men can stow your stuff in that shack. David will show him." 'Thanks," said Finlay. "I'll shut up my dog, too, before there's a fight." Shortly the three white men sat In the traderoom. "Now, Mr. Finlay," said McNab, exhaling a cloud of smoke, "would you mind getting down to brass tacks?" Finlay was measuring the caliber of the man whom circumstances had forced him to trust in order to insure the delivery of his message to the railroad. This trader looked a man full in the eye and had a straightforward way with him. He seemed staunch. According to reports re-ports he had been worsted by Isadore Isa-dore in the fight for the fur trade. That was in their favor and should keep his mouth closed. There was nothing to be gained by waiting. "How well do you know Jules Isadore?" Isa-dore?" Garry suddenly asked. The veins lifted in McNab's neck and temples as he tore his pipe from his teeth and rasped: "Too damned well!" Finlay nodded at the grinning Red. "I thought that would be it. Well, Mr. McNab, we're going to tell you a story. It concerns the deaths of six men. First, possibly you'd be interested to look at that." Finlay Fin-lay produced his police badge and handed it to McNab, whose jaws sagged in his surprise. "We'ni Mounted Police and we're here to have a message relayed to the railroad." rail-road." McNab slowly returned the badge. His eyes strayed from the bronzed faces of the Mounties to the lines of their hard bodies filling the wool shirts and whipcord breeches. "Police, "Po-lice, eh? I might have known from your eyes and the set of your shoulders. shoul-ders. Well! Well! Up on Waswanipi posing as surveyors! So it's Isadore, at last!" "Yes," said Finlay, "it's Isadore, at last!" Then he described the events of the past weeks while McNab, Mc-Nab, drawing furiously on his pipe, punctuated the narrative with outraged out-raged grunts. "That's the story, McNab. For the present, not a word, even to your wife. When can you send a canoe to the railroad?" "We're sending one shortly," 'he said. "But their firing on you on the Nottaway, then ambushing you, and you supposed to be on the government gov-ernment survey! I can't get over it. Sergeant! Of course I'd heard at the railroad of these reported drownings drown-ings and had had my suspicions." "They didn't believe we were on the survey," replied Finlay. Into his gray eyes crept the mist of memory. His voice was rough with pain as he asked: "Did those boys stop here last summer?" "Yes. Nice boys, too!" "One was my brother." "Your brother? Oh, I'm sorry! You didn't say one was your brother broth-er when you told of finding their bodies." "No." "It's tough, Sergeant Finlay, damned tough! That crook" McNab Mc-Nab stopped his pacing to stand over Garry and shake a thick finger. fin-ger. "Why why the man's a lunaticmad luna-ticmad as a hermit wolf! He can't get away with this!" "He's managed to so far." McNab's face filled with blood as his anger increased. "I've seen a lot guessed a lot, since the Company Com-pany sent me here three years ago to try to save the trade on this lake. We learned that Tete-Blanche was bribing our hunters with whiskey to leave us and trade their fur with Isadore. I reported it to the Com pany and the authorities. His freight was searched at Nottaway but they found nothing They thought I was lying to hurt him because he was a competitor, and dropped it. 1 was reprimanded by oit District In spector for bringing charges I couldn't prove. Couldn't prove?' snorted McNab. "I had all the prool in the world " (TO BE COTIM EC: "Go on, Blaise!" snapped Finlay. "We're in for it, now!" Montagnais spat blindly at the invisible in-visible target. At last, far downstream down-stream Blaise trailed his paddle. "Thanks, Isadore, for that whiskey!" whis-key!" panted Red, splashing water on his bleeding cheek. "If it hadn't been for the fact that they were drunk for a fare-thee-well, they'd have slaughtered us on that bar! Good thing we didn't let them have it, though! They'd have fired at the flashes. I thought they'd jump into the canoe." "They didn't know what they were shooting at. Red! The guards on shore heard the duck pass; then the wash of water when we shoved off By now they probably think it was one of those bank beaver we saw when we came up the river." "Wen Injun gret drunk dey like to shoot de gun," grunted Blaise. "Dey navare know if we pass or not onles nose of cano' leave mark on dat bar. I t'ink not. De current take care of dat." "You're right, Blaise," said Finlay. Fin-lay. "We had them guessing. And we'll keep them guessing. I wonder if Kinebik has won them all over or if these were only a few of the wildest wild-est Tete-Blanche bribed with Isadore's Isa-dore's whiskey." "It looks like Wabistan had lost all his influence," said Red. "Mebbe," replied Blaise. "We see." And his long paddle bit chunks from the water. "Lise was right when she warned that Isadore is trying to bottle us up," said Finlay. "With the Montagnais Mon-tagnais hunting us all over the lake we'll have to step lively or we'll never nev-er see that plane from the north." CHAPTER XII Three days later the keel of the Peterboro slid into the gravel beach at the Hudson's Bay post at Matagami. Mata-gami. The door of the white-washed log trade-house opened and two men started for the landing. At the gate of the slab dog-stockade surrounding the trader's quarters a tall girl, whose golden bob the sun touched into flame, curiously watched. From a window of the frame house a worn an and two half-grown children stared at the three men on the be?cl, for white travelers were rare at Matagami. buried in the Notta way wilderness. "Good day, gentlemen! Welcome to Matagami!" The trader, a sandy haired man of fifty, shook the hands |
