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Show - . r ft F SKULLSF . , Ai . y " THE RIVER RIVERof RIVERO of Ofby SKULLS V ! 'f f ' ! . , . - , by George Marsh MarshAi c O pr"II prII PFCV " PUDLlSIIING PUIILISIIING co coW'lU CoWNU A . SFRVlCEA W'lU WlU WNU ' SFRVlCE SFRVICE n s . - CHAPTER CPAPTIR CUAPTER : l \ , lw l14 w . f fU - _ -U- U -14- 14 Ufollow 1 < 14follow - follo'ing follow follo'i\ follo'i folloi ' \ ng morning mornmg It was wasthat wasthat wa that Noel should hunt the theacroSs theacross th thacross < across acroSs the river for ( or deer deerD deern deeii D n take tab the country behindCerta behindCerta behind > Certa n that they had put putforty putforty pulforty ( forty m les betw bet\\ bet beteen between \ cen een themnd them themd d the hills ruUs where \ here they hadj had hadz z sgnal s gnal goal smoke the thej they fell felt fellly feltly ly 11 sate safe in m separating separa tlng tc to tcav toav toas and hm tam hmcrub tamGrub timcrub ' the spruce < as av ng crub Grub of the sl eitered eltered vaUey valley vaUeyith valleyith valleyith ith Rough at keel 1ieel eel where he be hen ben heB n trained tramed to folio foUo vat v at comame cornsine corn com cornme shoulder ol of ofren ofren ame sine me out on the ren Here Alan h tchedo tcheda tched a tree by a thong for the thend thend theid nd scent of car bou wouldm would , m too excited to control controla ( a * deeply worn caribouin caribouan caribou an traveled inland mland From aon a aon aon on some rock ptarm gan gane ganhe e r mottled motUed summer plum plumse se with a cackle for their theirght theirght theirght ght A curious arct c fox foxhm1 foxhim foxhmi hm1 him for a space from aorUy aortly a aortly ortly orUy to d sappear From a ae ae aie e barren he sa v what bee hefor he be heie ie e , for Four caribou stood stoodreeze stoodreeze stoodre reeze < ze of o1 a neighbor ng hill hIli hillem hIliem hillem > em teed feed ng on lo 10 to v II deer deerere deerere deerere ere three others Sweepingtry Seepmgtry Sweepmgtry S\\eepmg S eepmg Sweepmg \ try w th h s glasses Alan Alanlltered Alanttered Alantiered lltered ttered tiered groups They were werestragglers werestragglers werestragglers stragglers of the migrat mlgrat on onnorth onnorth onnorth north to spend the sum sume sumhe e cool barrens a\\ a away aay \ \ ay from fromst fromest fromlest est st . . ; ' ircled II'cled IIcled ireled to bring brmg his s stalk ta Ik of ofng oftag ofing ng tag deer d rectly up wind wmd wmdde windde windde de a careful approach be bene bee bee ne e lichen hchen covered boulders bouldersth th n short r fle sl slot ot of vhener vhen vhenr r became exc led ted Theyd They Theyand Theyand and t t\o t o to \ 0 young bucks beance beance be beance ance and rear on thir tholr their * hind hmd hindrap hindrap rap dly before they d sap sapver sapver sapvcr ) ver the rise t tl tI ! e a surprised surprisedrought surprisedrought surprisedbrought rought do vn I t vo of the theed theed theed ed caribou As he ap apd apd apd d the deer h s eyes s veptra lIeptra lIept vept ra to windwird wmd1rd wmd\\ wmd windw \ 1rd ird ' but he saw sawempty sawempty sawempty empty reach of boulderbarren boulder boulderbarren boulderbarren barren grai graj gray vi w \ th ili car bou bouwound bouwound wound the lea leather ther tump line linewa linewa linewa wa st at and rap dly skmned skinned skmneddeer skinneddeer skinneddeer deer When the best of the theas theas theas as rolled in m a h de and andtb andth andth ? tb th h sine s 1 I ne no Alan foUo\\ foUo foUoed followed followedr \ ed edr r path 0\ 0 over 0er o\er o er \ er wh ch he had hadck hadck hadlack ck into mto a small smaU s s\alesheltered s alesheltered ' \ .ale ale . ale alesbeJtered .alesheltered sbeJtered sheltered from the w ndipruce nd ndpruce ndpruce pruce and deer bush fougl-1 fougl 1 fougl1reached fougt - t teached treached \eached eached \ ; reached a huge 1 l chen covtilder cov coy covulder coyolder ulder older he heard a no se be bem bem bem m P Piotng cot \ ot ng w th a s de deb deh deh ( b h s head he freed h s back backeavy backeavy backleavy eavy load to tak take takea take a stunn ngthe ngthe ng ngI I the forehead-foUo forehead foUo forehead-folio folio forehead - folio v.d vd v . > .d d . d by byH byH byf H s 5 gun sl pped from fromis froms 5 s slowlyIe fingers forgers as the 1 I ght slo\\ slo sloly slowly slowlye \ ly lye e lurched forward stumtw sturn stum sturnW stumw W steps sleps then crumpled on onpath onpath ; path pathh pathb : h b ' er em of strange h gh gho o ccs ces greeted h s return ngs ng ngmss s mss " ss 5S Somebody talk ng- ng ng - The ngThe \ i ' r ' rung ring rungo rung0 ringo \o o \0 0 \ ces aga nIus nhis n nhis his Ius ears as he lay dazed on onf.ot onnot oni Not f.ot fot . Montagnais Montagnats but 1 ke keallt kealk ketalk allt alk Who "ho ho 1ho " ' , were they ? Whatmalter Whatmatter What Whatmatter matter malter anyway ' ? to the part partaly a ly stunnedame stunnedame stunned ame ofd the slow real zation zatlon of ofad ofad ad d happened nappened He d beenrom been beenorn lying'rin lyingrin orn m beh nd He tie was Iymg lying Iymgrms lyingIrma ' rms Irma They ached and hetired he hered hered theyd red to move move them lhem but they d beh heh nd ndhs h s back H s feet feetere feetere feetwe [ ere fastened with wllh deer deerf Rap deerRap P dly now his sensesmore sensesmore senses ! more acute He rolled roUed onand onand on and squinted mll'the mllthe in ' the dlree direc direcfhe dlreethe directhe the voices Beside a fire firefour ? four 'our our ' sk n clad cJad , figures Nasf Nasd N Nas Nasfpa as pa d been caught hunting huntmg m muntry muntry mMnlry oldi oldf untry The talcs tales of the ilie old f flashedn flashedhis the Montagnais Montagnats flashed his " cons consc Conse , ousness No man r manr returned " ' "rned rned " from the land of ofxap kap ofkap kapsurge lurge surge urge of desperat on Alanat Alanat Alan at " the thongs b nd ng h s schuidhsback sehind ehind h s back but the pa n 1 I nI t , h hs elIorth efforth 5 s head at the elIortm effortm effort elIort h " i m " He change"e changee changet managed to change t ' ng " posit on and somewhit somewhat : ' somewhat"torture somewhattorture somewhite somewhate " e torture from the mosqu TheII Thef mosquA mosquch ch chswarmed swarmed about h m The II f 1 the " " ' 'our our four ' Ind rnd ans axis roa roasting s hng roasting'ticks roastingticks hng6t roastingstcks ' 6t stcks cks turned to h m w y , thhead th th.head .head head . head is hard wh te to man "oed oed Irned lined linedn man"oed manIrned manlined " [ in n a pecul ar shrillwho shrill shnll shrilllwl lwl Who ' spoke S.P SP kc Montagna . s flu " lied flu"edto fluedto flulied " , to thatr the ? 6 real zation Zitlon : that thatpr thatrtoood r rtoood tood lood IAe the Ind an for the the"e thee theare are " similar sll'Dlar sllDlar sunilar similarte sll'Dlarre sunilarre ' ! te re do Nors Nora you come trom- trom from tromNo - ? ' ' No rs ra * hunt 'n n In ' the land of ; thethe then16 the nuedne . the " Indian ' " a " cont contnued nued ne of contnuedU the U younger ounger men rose ked kedup " , " up "P.Alan P.Alan PAlan Alan . s , 30 30 wh ch Ost oat chOst choat Ostwlthm oatwithin ? 't t ' within wlthm h hs s reach . . As I whoe he spatat epat spat at the man who whoi whoL whoir he e moss r s whoI I lashednlJ L \ with Ith hands lashed nlJ his balk back backas , ss as through "T1 T1 " ? your country " " " " y sWered awered Icry Igry cda [ in Montagnais Montagnats I cry gry and needed meal meat . go to U tie e Fort . in iri tl the , - - " ' i iii-cu- iii cu iiicui near - - the i B g ; ? htcolmt countr country ) of the Raw t , Biers-the Biers the akrs-the akrs M - lhe ! Huskes Husk es ' tWill tWillnot tei Will Willnot er ( r ther 1 not see the fort by the You W wll 11 terd teed ( eod the ra vens ' ind 1nd end tl tI e a to\es to es foes foxes \ ' ( cried the older olderman olderman oldcman man fiercely hl hio him small eVileyes evil eyes eyesgJ eyesgl cye-gl cye gl - gJ gl Henng fienng tterang as he scowled SCOled SCO\\ SCO \ led at h Ii s prls pris prlsoner prisoner pnsoner pnsonerWhen oner onerWhen When Alan s brain bram became clearer clearerand clearerand clearerand and his strength returned he start startcd started startcd cd ed some rapid thinking The four fourIndians fourIndians foulIndians Indians who had ambushed himwere him himwere himwere were lean and hard but lackedwe lacked lackedwe lackedwe we ght and po ver If he had half achance a achance achance chance if of he could once get h shands s shands shands hands free and reach them before beforethey beforethey beforethey they shot him down he would show showthese showthese showthese these wild Naskapi Naskapl hoa how ho\\ ho \ a white man mancould mancould mancould could fight , ; for his tus life one agamst against againsttour agamstfour againstfour four fourMany againsttourMany Many moons ago went on the theleader theleader theleader leader of the ilie Indians white men mencame mencame mencame came down this ilils river The Huskycall Husky Huskycan Huskycall can call it Koksoak Big River TheNaskapi The TheNaskapl TheNaskapi Naskapl Naskapi call it the River of theNa the theNa theNa Na kapi kapl The white men fed thefoxes thefoxesSuddenly ilie the iliefoxes thefoxes foxes foxesSuddenly Suddenly Alan had an msplratlon inspiration msplratlonThe inspirationThe inspirationThe The River of Skulls he sUddenly sUddenlyasked suddenlyasked suddenlyasked asked is it far fareThe far7 fare far7The ' The mink mmk 1 I ke ej eyes e es of the four fourNaskapi fourNaskapi fourNaskapi Naskapi met in looks of o1 stark ter terror terror terror ror Their dark faces went gray grayAlan grayAlan grayAlan Alan watched the ilie hands of one hold holdmg holding holding mg ing a cl ci unk of roasted meat shakeas shake shake'I shakeas ' as he dropped the meat into mto thefire thefireYou ilie the iliefire thefire 'I I 'Ias fire fireYou fireYou You seek seck the River of Skulls'ie Skullsie Skulls ' ? he cried cned shr lly lIy fly lIyYes flyYes llyYes Yes cried Alan bl bJ ndly follow followmg following followmg mg ing up h s advantage I go to taJk talk taJkwith talkwith talkwith with Matchi Matchl Manitou Mamtou I am a wh te to rt t r ra a rl rlII II n s sun gun slipped from nervelessfingers nerveless nervelessfingers nervelessfingers fingers fingersshaman shaman This summer the ilie sp ntsmake nts rits ntsmake ritsmake make med cine cane at the ilip River of ofSkulls ofSkulls ofSkulls ofSkullsThe Skulls SkullsThe The Naskapi Naskapt instinct instinctely \ely ely \ ely started startedand startedand startedand and moved back as if fearing fearmg the theman theman theman man on the ground would at once onceset onceset onceset set in m motion some supernatural supernaturalpo po ver verA A shaman ' gasped one of the theyounger theyounger theyounger younger men He says saj s he goes totalk to totalk totalk talk with tl tI e a sp nts rits at the River ofSkulls of ofSkulls ofSkulls Skulls SkullsWhy Why leered the leader if il youare you youare youare are a talker taller tallier { with wlili sp nts rits d d you fal fall tall\ tall tallhen ! \ hene hen w \ we \\e e e h t iou jOu you ? Why d d.d dd . d you go goto goto goto to sleep7 sleep ? ' Wl WI en I slept 1 I talked with wilh splr spir splrIts spirits spirits Its countered Alan playing for fortime fortime tortime time while he w \ worked orked the blood Into Intolis into1 intoI lis I is hands behind behmd his back They Theyare Theyare Theyare are angry with the Naskapi Naskapt NaskapiBut NaskapiBut NaskaptBut But the Indians were graduallyshak gradually graduallyshak graduallyshak shak shakng ng off the pan c into mto wh chthey ch chthey chthey they had been thrown thrownOh thrownOh Oh Shaman one cried show showus showus showus us you JOU are a jessik d-a d a d - a maker of ofmedic ofmedicine ofmedicine medic medicine me White men do not taUt talk taUtwlili talkwith talkwith wlili with the sp nts rlts rits of o1 the Ind anLose anLose an anLose Lose my hands and feet and I Iwill Iwall Iwill will wall show you youIf youIf ) OU OUIf If you are a talker with wilh Spirits Spiritsyou spiritsyou spiritsyou you w 11 I ! break the thongs dor der ded dedthe dedthe dedthe the leader but Alan saw they iliey wereill were wereall 111 all at ease If U he could only keepthem keep keepthem keepthem them uncertain uncertam of what to do do-only do only doonlygain doonlygain - - onlygain gain a little more time tme-v.hlle tmev.hlle tme v.hlle vhlle time-while time while ! - - while . heworked he heworked heworked worked at the thongs on his swoUen swollen swoUenwr swollenvr swollenwr wr \vr vr \ stsThe stsThe sts The Naskapi withdrew beyond beyondearshot beyondearshot beyondearshot earshot and argued excitedlyh excitedly \ tth \\h h Rh Ie le Iethey lethey Iethey they ceased to watch him he sucked suckedin suckedin suckedin in long breaths and with wilh all the thestrength thestrength thestrength strength of l'f lf ' h s arms and shoulders shouldersstri shouldersstra shouldersstra stri stra : ned at the deer thongs bindingh bmdmgh bmdmg binding h s wrists wnsts Slowly SloIy Slo\\ Slo \ Iy he felt them iliem ease easeThe easeThe The four men evidently decidedon decided on the r course returned Rapidlythey Rapidly Rapidlythey Rapidlythey they tr mmcd w th their knives astunted a astunted astunted stunted spruce standing standmg near to a ahe ahe ahe he ght of six feet above the ground groundTl groundTi Tl Ti ei el et they ga gathered thered a pile pl1e of dry drytw drytw drytw tw gs and branches What was ilie the iliemean themean themean mean ng of this move move7 ? ' Alan won wondered wondered wondercd dered In the meantime the thongs thongshold thongshold thongshold hold ng h s aching achmg arms were werestretchmg werestretching werestretching stretchmg stretching The circulation clrcuJation was flowing flow flowmg flowing mg ing in m h b s hands and their strengthhad strength strengthhad strengthhad had returned He moved his toesand toes toesand toesand and feet They were all aU right rightThen rightThen Then his twisting tWlstmg right hand con contacted contasted contacted tacted tasted something somethmg hard in the ilie hip hippocket hippocket hippocket pocket below his belt His jack jackkn jackkn jackkn kn Ie fe ' But what was the idea of the thetr thetr thetr tr mined mmed spruce - the fire wood wood7Then ? ' Then the realization of the ilie smister sinister smisterpurpose sinisterpurpose sinisterpurpose purpose ol of the Naskapi reach reached reach"d reachd " ' d the thebound thebound thebound bound man whoatcl who \ watcl \\atcl atcl ed them thcm They Theywere Theywere Theywere were talc talt ng him at his word word-had word had wordhaddecided wordhaddecided - haddecided decided to test his bls powers as a aorceror asorceror asorceror orceror sorceror His claims clilms : were to beput be beput beput put to the proof proof-by proof by - by fire fireThe fireThe The Ind abs alts ans were approaching approachlnffh approachingh h m To Alan s surprise the ilie leader leaderbent leaderbent leaderbent I ! leaderI bent and cut the thongs bind ng h s sfeet sfeet sI feet keening keeping his small eyes avert ed cd bythe Rise sorcerer sorceror ind 1nd ' ind stand by the spruce If It you youspeak -speak speak peak - with a idouble adUble adcuble dUble dcuble ( ' , tongue the fire WIUcat willeat will WIU eat cat you youIf youIt It If you are a friend fnend of o1 sp rits rlts rats 1t It 1twl1l Itwill Hwill wl1l will not burn youA youA you youA A surge of hope speeded his heart heartas heartas heartas as Alan scrambled to his feet ancsiretched and andstretched andstretched Buihis ButhIs stretched his cramped legs But hIs hopes suddenly fell feU when hereached he hereached hereached reached the ilie spruce and one of the theInd theIod Iod Ind ans axis wound a deer thong twicearound tWIce tWIcearound twicearound around his neck and made him fast |