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RIVERw THE RIVER RIVERof of SKULLS SKULLSs SKULLSby 1Q 1Qr s by George Marsh Mars/i- Mars i Marsi0 / - r COr C 0 I'ElIo'N IElIoN PENN ' ' PUBLISIIII.G PUBLISIIIIG PUBLisuIhG ' . co coWNU CORRQU WNU RRQU SERVICE pTEB R VIU-Contmued VIU Contmued VIII-Continued VIII Continued VIUContmued12 VIIIContinued12 Vin - - Continued Continued12 $ , -12- 12 -12-- - 12ough 12ough - 12lough - - lough ough as s the theRogue leader lcader de deturn folturD fol , turn turD b byas by Powder Rogueis Rogucas Roguc Rogue Roguede as wheel or sled dog the thep thep thees v-eie v eie sere ere started in m the thecollar thecollar thecollar p , es v . - collar trace ' ind 1nd and traiL On Ong Ong Ont g mow snoW ot of those keen Oc Cc Ocy Ccys y ys , , ' when the wind wmd had thei thes the s . knife krue ! it was a joy to toNoel toNoel to1 Noel to tram dogs With Witht withit t aDd and nd power poser po poserthe powerf ' " er erbe f be the ( ( be winter wlOter shut In and andslrenlthened andstrenzthenedFarther andtrenethened slrenlthened strenzthenedFarther ( ! . , .Farther Farther . , and andut andut andat ut the Ice sheet rea reached ched inand inand in innd and nd near the shore be bethick bethick bethick thick that they raised their theirut theirut theirhit ut the big cache was now nowb nowb nowh | b ' mth 'Hth Hth with frozen ( rozen fishwhen fishwhen fish fish'when 'when when ' when the river closed they theyt theye [ e dogs down to the cabin cabm on ong ong onfang g to tad find all well WithHeather withHeather with & Heather and no news fromen from fromn n . ien eo en at * t last came the MonMoon MonMoon Mon , Moon When the Snow Snowthe Snowthe Snowto the Trees and in m the theof theof the.ot theot . of December Alan and andrted andrted andrted rted with the dogs to search searcheadwater searcheadwater searchicadwater eadwater lakes of the Koke Kok ft fthe he e barrens flanking the val vale valie e S nkmg oklOg nking Lakes they the } ) trav tray travthe traythe travi tht the northeast But it was wasaced wasaced wasiced aced Noel who trotted troUed be beeager beeager eager ager dogs over the spar dra ne De evair evalr go into IOto dis dls coun councome councome councome come .back back . he rem nded ndedthey ndedthey ndedthey they stood on a high har bar hargazed bargazed bargazed gazed over the undulatingi undulatmga undulatinga undulatmg undulating a te to to the north and east eastaflame eastaflame easty [ aflame as the sun slant slantis slants 55 $ s its limitless expanseia expansesa expanse ia sa d Alan dropp"lg dropplg dropp " ' ng 'ig ig his hislung hislung hisung lung ; to h s neck by a thong thongmg thonging thongling mg ing the r me from h s face faceare faceare facelire are hand someone always . first eh Rough Roughays ? ' ays aye they traveled north of ofy ofy ofy y of the Sinking SlOkmg Lakes but butdIrectIon butdirection butdirection dIrectIon beyond heond ) the dimi dims dim s thty they had often seen from fromey fromay fromcj ey ay they found no cater caterow \ laterlowngnorth ater aterow ow og ng north no noheadiater noheadiateroming head cater caterormng \ ater oming ormng they tbey headed into mto theI theti the I- I ti . - IIn < In the sparsely wooded woodedsnow woodedsnow woodedsnow snow white arctic hares haresig haresg g ears tipped with black blackfrom blackfrom blackromwillo from willo v thickets to race racet racethe t the coming commg of tl tF " tre e a dor dorODce dorOnce doctace ODce Once at a d stance thre threi.wh threiwh , . . wh te to foxes danced gro- gro groon groon gro-on gro on - - on the snow inspecting mspectmg thei the theh 11 h of the team until untJI the ex exgs exgs exigs gs gelt gett gettng ng fig their scent set setDZ setnz setenz DZ nz ed yelping yelpmg wh ch dro\ dro drot droe droway droeway \ e eway eway way over the tundra lIke lIkef likewh f wh te to smoke smokese se of the wood the boys boysped boysped boysped ped m in a small valley where whereheaded whereheaded wheren headed to bo T r f their ket ketler ketter ketler ler ter eating eatmg they cont nued nuedod nuednd nuedind od nd came out of the told fold m in mto into mto to h gher country As Alan Alanleading Alanleading Alanleading leading the team reached reachedthe reachedthe reachedt the valley and looked far fareast fareast fareast east east , , he raised his hands handsiliout shout handsshout bout . . II P ' he cried Look at that thater thater thatr er there We ve ye found It itlined itned )0 0 lined ) oed h m and the two gazed gazed"zement gazeddiement gazedtment "zement zement diement " across the tundra tundram tundrain below behe m in les away to the east be foregroundthe foregroundd he low hills lulls of the foreground I d < the level while white shell of anoU anouc an oU ouc ' . lake unt until it was lost m in mze inu mof ze u of the distance distanceI distanceUs 1 I ' it s as big as Lake Bien BienIII Bienla Bienn III la the Great Whale Noel Noelcd Noeled Noel"d Noeld " cd ed Alan excitedly ThisODe Thisone This ' one ODe of the lakes in theJ thes the J s < talesdiaD talesdean tiles tales tilesndian ndian diaD dean itood stood in awe gazing ; hlte hate hltereaches gazinghile gazinghlte gazinghate reaches of the distantar distant southd ar " to the north fad 1'nd 1nd 'dnd dnd ' ' south south'd southd ' d the of1 shimmering slummerIng floor ot of otwlDd ofWind wind wlDd scoured ice and mto into intol mtot intok t k , . until Imtil it Ir irerged verged erged WI with th thees the theie ie el es vcr ver cr ' ' beeg lak he said saidere saidere saidwre ere flow fiow out of dls dis dlsthat disthat disth that headthe t river must be a head head1 the Koksoak ' cried Alan AlanOver AlanOver Alan'W AlanW Over ' TheU the Height of Land The Therun The"run Therun ' U 11 " run north ' here We ve ye ve.Koel'WevetouridIt'ght ve.KoelWevetouridItght veKoelWevetouridItght . Noell Noel veNoell yeNoel ' ' We ve ye tou\\d tou d found . \ ' \ 11 it ; Ight 11Ight itigh Ighttbe igh ' thetae thethe } the tbe boys camped on the tae the ereat great lake in the Winda wind * a * ttand stand of black spruce sprucettt theles thelea sprucedogs dogs lay curled in the les lea ' " Alan and nd talked1 Noel talked talkedroaring roaring firetzavel firetravel fire firetravel [ travel tzavel right around this this"we thiswe " 11 ii 11We iiWe 1ii We find the outlet NoeL U NoelU 1 " 1 hunt Jiunt hunt to : to flnd find getWith tWith auway a way tog to get getVfc t With the canoes from the theLakes Lakes 6e Lakes6e 6edls e dls dis ' laknot laicnot lak laic not n t flow lnto Into de deil devlere deviere vlere viere re1 vlereI viereI I this lake i Is , g surely ely the tera tens ' " the.io theio . of ( the , bg bIg oflits oftits river or of ofnor lits tits benor benorth branches " 01108 n It s got e t to be [ north northas nor , Andi Andon la'the lathe as ' the river does And on n flnd find outIn outen out In en entired "gfle gfle sleepinge e tiredthe tired the t\wlbw t wlbw , , \ r sleepingboys caribou sleeping " besidec besidee boys slept beside besidealon.i c e In the morn " " " " "ie ie ng they . along alon.i aloni they"one theyone theyalong " . , ihore shore over the wind wmd , a01"1 a011 Ice m in " "wen wen search " of the outlet they traveled rapidly north " ruy illy northruy northilly "y y " after noon ed they Lh theLh Lhv v , . _ . - _ . . , when the were at the end ot of but as yet had found no h1chwould whichwould which h1ch would lead as they Iknto : ' 1.0 10 . The greatThe the north and the great greatat at theyat atThe theyappeared next morning they theyI I appeared to be a long lying tine off oif the l"e le " shore " Cuttme11 "re re " Cuttmg Cutting d Hh the ? Itland island they found fuund . thAt .t t . the lake reached to the north lIke hkethe lIkethe the fingers on a hand in three threeseparate threeseparate threeseparate separate bays And from each of ofthese these ran an outlet . . theystood Look Noelsaid Noel Noe ! said Alan as they theystood theystood stood on a low hill and followed the thechannels thechannels thechannels channels of the three streams With withthe withthe the binoculars These outlets run runnght runright runright nght right into mto the north . , through a flat flatvalley flatvalley flatvalley valley and must join jom later I tell tellyell tellyou tellyou yell you . we .e e re on Koksoak water To ToIne Tothe Totne Ine the east the ridges ndges all run north northand northand : . themWe and south-not south not south - not a break In them themWe theKoksoak We ve ye found it boyl boy ! We re on the theKoksoak theKoksoak Koksoak I ' IThe The Indian nodded his head in inagreement inagreement Inagreement InagreementNow agreement agreementNow Now we 11 follow the east shore shoreand shoreand shoreand and see it if this is the main mam d s scharge scharge scharge charge Some of these lakes have havetwo havetwo havetwo two But I m positive no water watercould watercould watercould could run to the east east , , from the lay layof layof layof of the country it 11 s bound to travel travelnorth travelnorth travelnorth travelnorthWith north northWith With the boys riding rldmg the toboggan toboggana tobogganaway tobogganaway a away . ay galloped the dogs along the theeastern theeastern theeastern eastern shore In an hour lookmg looking lookmgacross lookingacross lookingacross across the wide expanse of Ice into intothe intothe intothe the southwest they could barely see seethe seethe seethe the white hills from which they had haddl haddiscovered haddiscovered dl discovered covered the great lake In places placesthe placesthe placesthe the hard snow carved by the wmd wind windr wmdr r ppled away for miles like wh te to tewaves towaves tewaves waves in places the ice was wasscoured wasscoured wasscoured scoured almost clean of its snow snowblanket snowblanket snowblanket blanket making makmg sledding sleddmg a delight delightOn . . On up the east shore the eager eagerdogs eagerdogs eagerdogs dogs took them at ata -a a 11 - gallop But at > -.T3b .T3b - . \ t r \ , 1 ' I \ 1 1 1S S . . t s r rNoel Noel ' he cried We ve ye veround yefound vefound round found it " noon the sun m In the south was gradu gradually gradually gradually ally smothered m in haze To the thenorth thenorth thenorth north banks of lead colored clouds cloudspiled cloudspiled cloudspiled piled above the white hIllsSnow hillsSnow hills hillsSnow Snow comin comm comet announced Noel Noelas Noelas Noelas as they stopped to give the dogs a abreather abreather abreather abreatherSure breather breatherSure Sure enough ' agreed Ala Alan Alan.What AlanWhat . What do you say to crossing crossmg the theIake thelake thelake Iake lake to the camp we had two mghts nights mghtsback nightsback nightsback back in that thick timber7 timber ? ' It may maybe maybe maybe be an old drifter and last tor for days daysWith daysWith daysWith With the hills running runnmg as they do dothere dothere dothere there s no outlet from this side sideAfter sideAfter sideAfter After the blow we 11 U make sureEet sureEet sure sureEet Eet ees tar far across there We Wehave Wehave Wehave have to hurry ' But we .e e . ve ye got the dogs to make makeit makeit 11 it Haven t we Rough old boylAlan boy boyl boylAlan ! Alan went to the great dog dogsprawled dogsprawled dogsprawled sprawled on the wind wmd hammered hammeredsnow hammeredsnow hammeredsnow snow and rubbed his ears as be he belooked helooked helooked looked into mto the slant eyesYou eyesYou eyes eyesYou You take the team across this thislake thislake thislake lake before that snow comes comesRougby comesRoughy comesRoughy7 Rougby Roughy ? ' ' Rough answered with a red laugh laughas as bis bls his breath rose like smoke on onthe onthe onthe the biting bltmg air airCHAPTER CHAPTER I IX % Back in their windbreak ot of black blackspruce blackspruce blackspruce spruce the boys holed m for the thestorm thestorm thestorm storm For three days the drift drifter drifter drifter er pounded the barrens drivmg driving drivingevery drivingevery . every living lIvmg thing thmg furred or feath feathered teathered I Iered ered to the sanctuary of the spruce spruceI spruceor spruceor I or to snug burrows in the snow snowI snowThe snowThe snowThe I The morning mormng of the fourth day when whenthe whenthe whenthe the sun fl fl-inked fl inked fl'lnked fllnked ' - inked by two brass balls ballsof ballsof ballsof of sun dogs or false suns lIfted liftedabove liftedabove above the horizon while the skies skiesto skiesto skiesto to the north and west were still a adense adense adense dense blue black the wind had dled died dledWith diedWith diedWith With the stinging stmgmg air shot with ght glit ghttermg glittering glittenng termg tering snow crystals their frozen frozenbreaths frozenbreaths frozenbreaths breaths trailing behind them like likesmoke likesmoke likesmoke smoke men and dogs started forthe tor for torthe forthe the head of o1 the lake Along the theshores theshores theshores shores the wind wmd had heaped huge hugedrIfts hugedrifts hugedrifts drIfts but much of the lake ice had hadbeen hadbeen hadbeen been scoured of snow Camping at atthe atthe atthe the head of the lake the followmg following followmgday followingday followingday day they started over the young youngsnow youngsnow youngsnow snow tor for the shoulders of the near nearest neareat nearest est eat hill to search for a spring water waterroute waterroute waterroute route from the Sinking Smklng LakesHere LakesHere Lakes Here in the timber the boys broke broketrail broketrail broketrail trail on en cn snowshoes ahead of the theteam theteam theteam team tor for there was three feet of ofnew ofnew ofnew new snow and . without firm footmg footing footmgthe footingthe footingthe the dogs wallowed to their shoul shoulders shoulders shoulders ders Everywhere the night be before before before fore the wild creatures had tra tray trayeled traveled v veled eled in search of food after the thestorm thestorm theitorm storm stormAt At . last Alan discovered a water route to the big lake by way of a acham achain achain cham chain of ponds lying lymg on the Height Heightof of Land The object of their thew explor explorIng ing trip was accomplished accomplishedThe The Montagnais Great Moon Moonof Moonof Moonof of January with its searing wmds winds windsand windsand and nig nigits mg'lts mglts ' its when the lake ice splitwith splIt splItWith splitwith With the th ' boom of muffled artIllery artIlleryand artilleryand artilleryand and th spruce snapped under the theccntr.cbon theccntruction theccntr ccntr.cbon ccntrcbon ccntruction . .ction ction . of the frost rode over overthe overthe overthe the barrens followed by the Moon Moonof Moonof Moonof of the Eagle Night after night mght the theaurora theaurora theaurora aurora lit ht the white wlute tundra and andstreamers andstreamers andstreamers streamers of pearly mist writhed writhedacros writhedacros writhedacros acros the heavens beneath stars starstha starsthat starsthat tha that t shone through with a spectral spectralblue blue The Spirits of the Dead at Play atPlay the Eskimos call the danc dane dancmg danemg dancmg mg lights of the polar heavensOften heavensOften heavens heavensOften Often tearful fearful for the safety of the theman theman theman man and g rl wintering wmtering on the Talk ing Talking Alan and Noel rode the iced icedI icedriver icedriver icedriver I river trail behind behmd their galloping dogs dogsMore gallopingdogs gallopingdogsMore More than once during durmg the win winter winter winter ter John had crossed strange snow snowshoe snowshoe snowshoe shoe trails Some were the bear bearpaw bearpaw bearpaw paw pr nts of the Montagnais and andsome andsome andsome some the long shape of the coast coastCree coastCree coastCree Cree The cabin cabm on the Talking Talkmg was wasbemg wasbeing wasbeing bemg being . watched .atched atched McQueen was bid bidmg biding bidmg mg ing his tIme-waiting tIme waiting time - - |