Show rhe ER in RIVER v 1 T jf ejr of f SKULLS by george gervae 16 31 marsh larsh 5 0 arnn publishing CO SERVICE paek IX continued 13 babl grunted noel camp oke ike hanging over that spruce oil 11 right but whose smoke S or the aska pils of hunt doer on de dc bar ar vat oat ees M mcqueen queen mccord listened to camp I 1 kt it J on our heels liko like wolves deer leer ehl eh well they wont gh deer in us I 1 ileather heather sat gazing into the r brown face grave with lore fore noel too was silent as biked lied on a piddle paddle with ills his knife tot for the tales ho he had tince since childhood of the spirit j d rivers and the fierce no aho ho roamed the interior fol the caribou herds harassed ji y after daylight tho the peter iid into the slant of the first 1 i I the outlet on its long voy rth post fast shores rimmed with hows and alders behind which ung leaves ot of the aspen io it the breeze apple green st t the olive of the spruce they ie e strong water farther on old ild boulder strewn shores and h alake lake expansions they trav yond the sunset and into the low ov e morning when they raised et alan took from among the bellied ellred square tails and the sh h a graceful dark backed fish and held it up for johns s tion ion must be a john e as you youre re born no sea n i can get up here above till all falls alls and its too parly any fa 0 dont have these fellows on ast st only the hernes salmon red ed spots in the day bay this 3 were on waters brown face widened in as he examined tile the fish id ad locked salmon boy ive t them often of ten in quebec I 1 noat line he of black spots along lei del by glory im going to ome lome fun un nights on this river e SQ go a rod and some flies idl adl my scotch blood e come without them amusement mccord ced ed from a stout skin case a I 1 steel rod a reel with oiled ic e and a small leader and fly i river men though they were A few days taxed the skill of the crew chutes hite alte water and flumes blumes followed ther endlessly past boulder I 1 shores where great cakes of aby by the high water still melt lie e tun sun with terraces of strati md and rising above them the boro oro lunged packing around ig 9 falls and rock scarred es they labored day after day always ways beyond the valley cd d the tundra its white moss tippled stippled with flowers and ed d with caribou paths las as the last month of the north movement io Oven lent of the great central hat winters in the forests aldoes and fauns dauns had preceded icks As to the cool wind whipped us 3 where the mosquito pest pesi ot pies flies are less troublesome 0 canoe bound tor for the river rive alls Is did not linger in the high u country they had ample ON ions with the river fish and goal was too far and the sumo oo 00 short a one day the country ahead to fall all away the valley nar and a muffled roar reached tars cars from below where the entered a long rocky gorge ig 9 alan and noel went ahead he e boulders and gravel at the of the gorge to inspect the hours flours later they hey returned e miles they had followed the of 0 the gorge jammed with r piled high by the ice and the river impassable to a cafor three days they slaved e canoe and outfit over rocks alders heather insisting on her share of the portaging he e tump line strap over her h head ea d halow the canyon the was again p put u t in and shortly er widened into a lake where al ped for or a days rest s e I 1 is s no spring on the high a P plateau it I 1 eau winter dies hard 1 s snow now hurries flurries and nights in june then sum magician touches the land tundra overnight with its myriad floal flowers rs spring to life ailing is barrens between the in able lakes and rivers become reen n carpets of 0 caribou velvet ivet to the feet splashed e white blooms of the baked and service berries the pale allt k the e fragrant t twinflower twin win flower and patches of the nov w dv d summer had come to 1 I valley of da the Kok soak and fly y rainbows arched the for r Ws vs is the land of ill are e luo bu we going back to joe look k on the b barrens aarens arrens alan fleather eacher as the tired voy lay on oil the th the ih C warm wann sand d beach wo two small traveling tents with cheesecloth cheese cloth mosquito linings there id like to see sec the country up alan opened his eyes where he drowsed in the sun to consider the graceful figure of the girl near him how many women could have come through the days of hardship behind b them and hardly look tired lie he thought of the girl back at fort george so lovely in her dark acm fe M anine way but compared with this tall girl who lay near him on the warm beach berthe was trail frail too soft for hardship acre were ees do de glass asked noel who had been staring for some minutes at tho the hills to the north in tho the tent on my clothes pack noel got the glasses and sitting down on the beach began to sweep the distant ridges below tho the lake after an interval he announced excitedly cit edly smoke sign down do de it if smoke and not haze then its indians replied alan getting to his feet no haze dist insisted noel his eyes frozen to the glasses while an X V ah hahl grunted noel camp smoke heather and alan stood beside him idere dere beet go again tree puff I 1 tell you he cried excitedly ide de injun signal will a blank etl let me have a looka noel handed the binoculars to alan from a blue ridge down the river valley alan shortly saw a column of smoke rise to be cut short off presently this was followed by another column and this later by another there was no mistaking it this wa was s no haze this was smoke signalling sign alling by alternately holding a blanket over the fire and it to separate the puffs wheres john over at the outlet fishing for salmon salmen replied heather therel theres the answer from the farthest blue hill on this side of the see it noel noel took the glasses ah hah he be said 1 I see acet well do a little signalling sign alling ourselves and alan tied 11 heathers cathers white sweater to a paddle and waved it back and forth to the man a mile away in the canoe when the canoe was seen to head towards camp the two men and the girl started hurriedly to roll their tents and get the outfit ready for the canoe the matter demanded the curious mccord reaching them there are indians signalling sign alling from a hill below here they may be hunters who have found deer and are telling someone across the val valley lc then again they may have seen us us and are starting to be head ad us oft off wove weve got to get downstream past therril illow how about mcqueen if I 1 know anything about canoe men Queens mcqueens Mc fifty fafty miles behind us john this is Nas kapil calling tile the dogs who were hunting back in the scrub they loaded the canoe and started for the outlet for a few miles below the lake there was good canoe water then when the peterboro Peter boro was abreast of the ridge where they hai had seen the first smoke signals the river fell off in a long rapids taking his rl rifle noel leaped ashore ashare and ran allaead to inspect the water while alan sad and mccord remained at the boat with heather watching ding the shores for a possible ambush shortly noel waved them snubbed the boat on and they downstream with their poles and picked him up it look bad but we con can run deml de ml was the report weve got to run insisted at alan an they can shoot us out of the boat from the shore here weve got to get out of this count ryll right alan agreed mc a soothing arm circling the shoulders of the girl who stood gripping her rifle ride her frightened eyes patrolling the opposite shore Ah hahl we coill gol the peterboro Peter boro caught the suck of the farst drop and was into the maw of the white water where the river boiled and churned and lashed itself into a frenzy of foam and hung flung spume until hidden by a rocky bend following black water chancas past boulders over which the driven water mounded high to burst into cascades of spray missing by the width of a paddle up thrusts and splinters of rock where the river thrashed itself into white fury dodging knife edged ledges that would rip the bottom from noso nose to stern the peterboro Peter boro raced and plunged past the menacing shores where hidden could pour upon them a withering fire on down the river they pushed through the day and into the long twilight putting mile after mile between the canoe and the hills of the signal smoke the dusk was beginning to pack the spruce of the shores when the tired cano emen began to look for a place to camp at a widening where the river bed was strewn with boulders but the water not strong the bowman swung the nose ot of the canoe toward the beach but within a hundred feet of the shore the peterboro Peter boro with its heavy load rode upon a submerged boulder and before the crew could save it rolled and they were in t the he river save the flour and dont let the pemmican dinki cried alan as he crime came up beside the filling boat aro are you all right heather he called to the girl who had been thrown wide and was swimming back to the canoe calloe pivoting on its caught bow with the cur rent all righta answered the girl who swam like a fish get her bow off quick fulch before wo we lose our loose ive got itt yelled the giant standing on tho the submerged rock as he heaved and reed freed the bow frantically the crow crew worked in water anter like ice to bring the halt half filled craft ashore they were shortly in shoal water whore where they freed the precious pemmican flour fl our and a nd provision bags from their lashings and put them on tho beach then emptied the canoe any paddle gono gone cried alan mine and heathers answered mccord come on noel drift ashore in that bendl bend I 1 and the two boys leaping into tho the canoe in th the fast fading light hurried away and were back shortly with the lost paddles then while a atre was kindled the flour bags were carefully exam ined the water got to two bags mourned alan but well save some of it it if we work quick the all righta they opened the wet bags and removing what flour had not been reached by water placed it in spare bags then spread their outfit out to dry by the fire owing to the fact that everything of value in the canoe was lashed to the thwarts they had lost nothing except the flour halt half of that was ruined while the steam rose from their wet clothes and their socks hung an on a thong suspended by sticks they stood in their bare feet drying out beside the alre TO BE CONTINUED |