Show THE RIVER of SKULLS f by George Marsh MarshO Marshs s 's O 0 PENN PUBLISHING CO SERVICE CHAPTER X Continued X 15 15 bringing in a heavy load of meat Ill I'll bet said McCord Deer go good eh Noel Im I'm hungry hungry hun gry for red meat after so much fish lIes Hes coming Look at the dogs cried leather Heather Powder Shot and Rogue had suddenly risen to face the timber ears pricked their black nostrils eagerly testing the air Then with a yelp Powder plunged into the scrub followed by his broth ers era From somewhere back in the spruce came the familiar yelp of the lead dog Heathers Heather's brown face dimpled in ina a smile of relief She glanced down at her torn tom whipcords and heavy woolen stockings Bending over she smoothed the stockings then went to her tent lent and ran a acomb acomb acomb comb through her short hair As she tame out Noel was watching her She smiled The Indian returned returned re reo re- re turned the smile Heather liked Noel and knew that he shared her secret Well what In the devils devil's happened hap to you two demanded MaCord Mc Ma Cord as the frisking puppies followed fol lowed by the badly limping R Rough ugh and Alan with his back load of deer meat came out of the scrub I Alan waved his hand walked to the beach and dropped his pack His lIis eyes were swollen almost shut and his head neck and hands smeared with blood from insect stings From his forehead rose a a great rc welt where the flesh had been broken One side of his face was wis smudged with a powder burn bum burnand burnand and his shirt around the bullet hole peppered with powder Alan Alanl Alan Alanl Heather choked running to the tired hunter who stood grinning at his startled friends Alan Cameron youve you've been hurt hurll Your head Its It's all swollen swollen len and bloody and your eyes are almost al most shut shull Youve You've been bitten to death by mosquitoes and black flies Oh Alan what's happened to you Good lord youre you're a sight man cried McCord And look at Rough Did you two run into a bear Four bears said Alan Man with a grimace Noel squinted at Camerons Cameron's tattered tat shirt Ah Ah hah You get shot at close to dere dere he exclaimed pointing at the bullet hole and powder stains Shot at all cried McCord You met met the he Alan nodded The last of the migration is passing to the east easU I got two On my way back with the meat they cracked me on the head ambushed me were me-were were going to burn bum me but Rough chewed his leash and found us in time II Burn you McCord exclaimed God that's awful Burn you youl gasped lie Heather ather then with a sob cried I knew something was wrong today I knew it Ill I'll heat some water for your head and get soda for your your poor face And oh see Roughs Rough's shoulder shoulder shaul der While he and his hungry dog ate and Heather and Noel bathed their wounds Alan told the story The following morning with Rough in n the boat because of his stilt still shoulder the Peterboro continued continued contin down the desolate river valley Packing with Infinite toil toll around impassable im tin passable reaches of rapids and white falls leaping headlong over towering ledges to plunge into wide basins beneath passing cUtis cliffs that lifted a sheer thousand feet of granite gran ite wall above the timbered floor of the valley where golden eagles I soared above inviolate nests and gyrfalcons flashed through the air like winged arrows they pushed on toward the goal that beckoned their paddles Then one day the rocky ramparts of the valley began to fall away The country flattened out and they entered a long lake filled with is is lands How lIow far have we come John JohnT asked Alan as the canoe nosed a a wide ripple across the windless surface surface sur face of the lake According to my record said McCord weve made good time on 14 days and been held up on portages port ages or rested on six We mus must have come over miles Aleck claimed he traveled miles up ups stream I believe were we're not far from the River of Skulls All day the valleys valley's been changing and back there a ways before we hit the lake I saw a lot of cliff clift faces that tha were reddish due to the oxide o of iron in the rock This is what th the geologists call Cambrian strata Weve We've left the granite and entered a region of shale and limestone where you find quartz veins and gold eh Sometimes you do If do-If if youre you're lucky According to Drummond the River of Skulls cuts through granite and limestone to make that gorge See Its It's the quartz veins in the granite that carry pyrites and galena ga gas gasena lena ena from which the river once upon a time Ume washed the ane gold into those ands sands Theres the rid eM miner for you Man Alan laughed Heather Give him a squint at a rock and he's hes lost f for r rall all day I believe well we'll see the month of Johns John's river in three or four days went on McCord Then well we'll give Heather and Noel a job sewing up moccasins and patching old clothes while we locate those sands Bands Yes but Im I'm going to pan gold too she insisted and Im I'm going to hunt deer For hours they paddled down the thelong thelong thelong long lake Red throated loons dove at their approach to scold them from a distance with their wailing walling gulls rose from their nesting rocks to flap lazily off oil the liquid mirror that pictured sky and forest sheldrake sheldrake shel shelf drake skittered along the shores i flaying the surface with their short wings When the sun plunged behind the thelow thelow thelow low western hills rimming the tundra tun dra with fire the lake still reached before them mile after mile Into the north They made camp on one of a group of ot Islands edged with the young green of sand bar willows and alders where back from the pebbly pebbly peb bly shore the thick spruce and tam tarn arack would mask their fire from the sharp eyes of the Soon the hardy puppies who had been following the lake shore Insight in insight insight sight of the canoe came swimming out to the island They were now two years old and full grown When they had fed the ravenous dogs and eaten their own supper of white white fish and lake trout Alan and Heather sat on the shore in the long twi light Suddenly Alan's roving eyes focused on a point of the shore two miles up the lake That looks mighty like a canoe to me Heather he said IBid rising his eyes still watching the distant shore i A canoe You dont don't think its it's Indians In she asked her voice husky with apprehension Im going for the glasses Something that looks like a canoe canoe ca noe moving along the shore Alan announced to the two men at the tents All three hurried to the beach and joined Heather Focusing his glasses Alan gazed for a space without comment then handed them to McCord Its hard hari to make it out John against the green of the shore but it looks looka like a canoe For a long time McCord studied the object in the distance Then he i handed the glasses to Noel What do you think Noel The Indian was occupied with the glasses and did not answer Heathers Heather's violet eyes grew dark with dread What will happen to the dogs if they run Into the on the shore she cried Oh I dont don't want anything to happen to the dogs Alan smiled at her She loved the as he did and the dogs loved her What indeed would happen happen hap hap- pen he wondered If they ran into the while they followed the canoe along the shore At last after a long observation Noel turned to the others with a twinkle in his small eyes Dat cano ees deer What Deer Ah hah Dey are out in de lak now You see and he handed the glasses to McCord Noel youre you're right said the big bigman bigman bigman man after an interval They were aU all bunched together and looked just like a boa boat t. t We need that meat meat insisted Al an Lets get it iU They launched the Peterboro and the four blades lifted the empty craft through the water for Heather Heath er paddled with the skill of a man Caribou have poor eyesight but when at last they saw the canoe behind them cutting oft off their retreat retreat re reo re- re treat to the shore hore they became panic Lifting themselves almost out of the water with heads backs and white sterns exposed they churned the still surface of the lake with the drive of their piston piston- like legs and splay hooves But the i canoe with its four blades was to too fast for the swimming deer and they were finally driven in to the shore of the Island bland where the dogs got what the masters could not use of ot the meat When it was dark and the smoke could not be seen een a fire was built and they started the venison to preserve it for future use In the morning the Peterboro continued con Ion down the lake It was deep in ill July and John McCord and Alan were growing anxious Already less than two months of summer remained re reo in which to accomplish their purpose Every day was precious and must be put to good use If they were to succeed And beyond this was the danger of meeting the Nas kapl kapi Of McQueen they talked lit lit- tie They knew they would have to reckon with the four men somewhere somewhere somewhere some some- someI I where behind them when they had their gold and started back over the Ice for the cache at t the head bead of the river The canoe traveled past boulder boulder- strewn points and scrub covered is islands is lands down the long lake They were about to turn inshore to boil boll the kettle for a midday meal when the bowman trailing his paddle In one hand looked fixedly toward a point of boulders thrusting out into the lake ahead What see ee Noel asked McCord Noel reached back his hand without without with with- out remo removing ng his eyes from the far PT oJ j ld y- y v s Q J i. i I I II a J Ai Im hungry for red meat after so much fish point Mint De glass glassl he demanded Shipping his paddle the bowman focused focused focused fo fo- fo- fo the binoculars I II I cant can't make out anything can you John JohnT said aid AlanNo AlanNo Alan No Then the muttered Ah hahl Ah hahl o othe of the bowman centered the attention of the other three Man on da dat point dere derel he continued He got fire Ire dere also A fire Dat teller feller ees for sure said the after an Interval He lie raise hees bees shirt on ona a stick now You dont don't think he hes s trying to draw us in shore so they can reach us with their muzzle loaders Well We'll take no chances 1 I said John McCord McCord Mc Mc- Cord making the water boil boll behind his heavy paddle Let Lets paddle over to where an Indians Indian's muzzle loader cant can't reach us John and have a look at this man suggested Alan So while Noel watched the point and swept the shores behind it the canoe moved slowly across and stopped out of range of the shore It was clearly evident now that the theman theman theman man on the point was greatly excited ex ex- ex cited Dropping the stick which he had hac been waving he began to shout as s the canoe cautiously approached with two rifles rifle levelled on him When the boat was within calling distance istance cupping his hands Noel shouted in Why do you build the fire What do you want If H you have people eople hidden behind t the rocks we will shoot hoot you when they fire Our guns have great magic They shoot straight and far farl The Indian understood the Mon Men for back came the reply In Ina a shrill voice I trade at the big Fort ort Chimo I am alone and stare leg Ing ng I have no gun He lie says hes he's starving and alone John Johnl explained Alan lie Ire trades at Chimo Noel was giving the Indian on the beach each a careful inspection with the binoculars Shortly he grunted as ashe ashe ashe he handed them to McCord He lie so weak he not stan up He lIe lean on rock and he ees ver ver poor een de face ace Where is your gun and canoe canoe ca ca- ca noe demanded Noel In Montag nals From the shore came the answer which Noel interpreted lie He say not to shoot he run away from de Caribou People Dey keel all bees hees familee Theres no doubt about that Indian Indian In In- dian being starved Alan said McCord Mc Mc- Cord with the glasses at his eyes Hes lie thin as a spruce I can almost almost al al- al most see his knees shake And he knows if hes he's got an ambush behind behind behind be be- hind him in those rocks hes he's a dead deadman deadman man himself at this range whatever whatever what what- whatever ever happens Shall we go in and look him over Noel asked Alan Ah hah Ah hah dat man ees starve for sure So under cover of three rifles Alan pushed the canoe in to within a hundred feet of ot the point of ot boul ders As th the canoe approached the Indian it was was evident to those who watched him that he was In a starving stare ing condition Ills His dark face was pitiably thin and he was apparently apparent ly so weak that he leaned against a boulder while he talked with Noel He was dressed from head to foot in deerskin coat shirt leggings and moccasins and he wore his hair inthe In Inthe inthe the manner chopped off at the shoulders lIes Hes sure wild looking with that long hair said McCord Not much more than a boy too He does look starved Dad sympathized Heather as Noel con can versed with the Indian My I what queer hair Notice how bright his eyes are That's a sure sign said John Alan understanding most of the conversation listened closely to Noel Noels Noel's No No- Noels Noel's el els el's talk with the Then Noel turned to the others in the canoe canoe ca ca- ca noe while the stranger stared in undisguised amazement at the golden gold gold- en haired girl in the clothes of a man He say beeg band of ees toward de rising sun east of here on de barren Dey spear deer at al cross on lak What is he doing here alone aloneT demanded McCord Why Is he starving when the lake is full of offish offish fish lish Dis Din ees not hees countree lIe He hunt de Quiet Water down de Kok Kok- soak Dees Caribou People keel all hees bees familee He lie run away from dem demo That explains it then He wants to get down river does he Ah They took the young Indian inthe in inthe inthe the canoe and crossed to the Island where they had left the dogs There while Noel made some caribou broth and fed him sparingly the Indian told his story TO BE CONTINUED |