Show 6 THE RIVER KIV of SKULLS by george marsh 0 PENN publishing CO SERVICE CHAPTER I 1 billowing away like the mighty waves of a white sea to a horizon wiped clear of haze by the intense cold the naked tundra glittered under the march sun slowly over the wastes that lifted above the timbered valley of an ice locked river crawled three dark shapes like crippled ants crossing white earth twice within a mile as they labored over the naked ridge toward the valley the two hooded figures slumped to the hard snow beside the great dog when they rose to go on rawhide thongs slipped over their shoulders and made fast to the almost sled aided the dog far back on their trail unnoticed by the three slunk four skeleton shapes when the two men and the dog stopped to rest the four gi gray ay wraiths also lay down slavering tongues lolling from red jaws rimmed with icicles after a space the larger of the two men raised his hooded head and pushed up his wooden eye shields pierced by slits from frost blackened features it was the face of a boy of twenty cracked skin tight on the bones of strongly modeled jaw and cheeks deep set gray eyes bright from starvation if we dont find the cam camps ps today tomorrow for an instant he buried his face in the thick black ruff of the dog that lay beside him then sat up and gazed intently over their back trail noel he said quietly did you ever eat wolf if I 1 can keep my sights lined were going to eat some tonight or going to eat cat us wat you see alan the other hooded figure got stiffly to ins his feet pushed back the eye shields and the long iona wolf hair fringe of his hood and stared at the skyline sky line behind them the face was that of an indian by garl gar he cried we boil de kettle tonight you navaire eat wolf but you eat wolf tonight the breeze had shifted and the great dog following his master painfully got to his feet testing the air with dilating nostrils swaying giddily on his feet while he rested a rabbit skin mitten on the black and white skull of th the e husky alan cameron pointed to the four wolves in the distance see them rough he said to the excited dog the hair on the back and neck rose A deep rumble came from the hairy throat as the gaunt frame stiffened with shaking hands alan drew his rifle from its skin case where it lay lashed on the sled y you 0 u go on with rough noel te y 1 1 follow the trail up ill play dead on the snow and try for a shot its the only way well get onel the indian scowled slowly shaking his head dose are white wolf from de nord starved out dey see you lie on de snow here dey weel rush youl suppose you miss dem rough and I 1 weel be too far for to help they wont come close in on us until dark I 1 tell you the only way we can get a daylight shot is to do as I 1 say the other insisted heres a chance for some to keep us alive maril kanii ma nIi if these spots will stop dancing in my eyes I 1 can get one from an elbow rest reluctantly with much shaking of his head the indian acquiesced marche rough commanded alan you go with noel ayou hear me the gaunt husky stood stubbornly in his traces gazing up at his master with uncomprehending slant eyes there were enemies back on the trail and alan was ordering him to leave him bending over the bewildered husky alan spoke sharply into a hairy ear you go with noell noel marche A low protesting whine and the raising of a white muzzle as the dark eyes of the great dog searched his masters scowling face was the answer lifting his nose his great throat rumbled in bitter protest as he slowly started the sled harassed by uncertain vision and weakness alan settled himself on the snow to wait for the approach of the arctic wolves lying flat fiat on the crust his body shook with the pounding of his heart but the fear that gripped him as he practiced lining his sights on the slinking gray white hhite shapes was that his uncertain eyes and jumping nerves would cause him to miss when food for rough and noel and himself lay within his reach without food they would never have the strength to reach the trappers camps two days perhaps more beyond them so the youth who was already known at the fur posts along the east coast as a better shot than even his dead father graham cameron once hudsons Hud sons bay factor at fort george lay hoping against hope that when the time came the rifle in his hands would hold true As alan lay waiting the cautious approach of the four assassins of the tundra his thoughts tur turned ned back to his home at fort george far to the west on the coast of the great bay if he and noel and rough never returned with the rest of the trappers for the spring trade how long would his name linger in the memory of black eyed berthe des sane that sleek arsene rivard clerk at the Revl llon freres would win her over with his tale of life down at quebec and montreal shed soon forget alan cameron whose bones lay somewhere in the nameless tundra country of the bi big J g river headwaters and his cabin at the post with the few earthly possessions his mother and father had left him who suddenly the man lying on the snow stiffened the four white wolves were approaching at a slow lope on they came until a short rifle shot away they separated and 20 Y P 4 4 aw 46 4 6 19 f lip 0 I 1 4 ss hit lightly one ot of the snarling wolves paused a moment began to circle the still shape on the crust until the scarcely moving air had given them the strange man scent the starved beasts squatted on their haunches and pointing their noses at the sky sent the wailing cry of the wolf pack close to the kill out over the white tundra to where a man and a dog were making their reluctant way toward the frozen river suddenly not fifty yards from the man on the snow the kers stopped their stealthy circling and swiftly bunched together they were coming they started their charge the rifle roared it roared again with a yelp the lead wolf somer faulted in the air then slid limp along the crust followed by a second who rolled over and over frantically snapping at his bleeding flanks behind them the remaining two mad with the sight of blood fell upon their wounded mates savagely ripping and tearing at their throats with slashes of powerful tusks again the whiplash whip lash crack of a rifle waked the tundra the te man on the snow got stiffly to his feet and reeled toward the two blood maddened brutes slicing their kin to ribbons he stopped took deliberate aim at the milling bea beasts ats and fired but in his increasing weakness his rifle barrel swayed like a branch in the wind hit lightly one of the snarling wolves paused a moment and then loped stiffly away on three legs followed by the fourth firing again and missing alan turned to see a great black and white dog coming at a painful stiff legged lope over the tundra slipping and falling in his weakness rising again to struggle on on to the master who was battling alone back on the trail be hind the dog stumbling forward in a half trot came noel rifle in hand bless their hearts heart sl panted the excited boy they sneaked back to help old alanl then turning to the fast freezing carcasses in the snow he cried deliriously but tonight we eat not much on their bones but theres enough to keep us alive alive wolf stew a feast for a king wolf stew food for us all and bones for rough to gnaw 0 for two days the famished boys and the dog rested in the shelter of a windbreak of timber beside the frozen river while the wind drove the fine snow before it like smoke over the crusted tundra wise in the lore of the bush they ate frequently but little at a time while their weak stomachs gained strength but the nourishment afforded by the leathery and sinews of the two starved wolves was limited while rough with the marvelous vitality of the bred on hudson straits was fast gaining strength alan and noel were still weak and unsteady on their feet when on the third morning the three set off up the river valley toward the sinking lakes in search of the camps of the trappers it was morning of the third day of their match march up the valley they had stopped to rest on the river ice the two men sprawled on the wind packed snow beside the husky three days now sighed alan and the river has narrowed little we are till still s long piece from de lac groaned the indian one more thin stew of wolf all noel ah hah jve ive go wan two sleep more an den de fox an de carcajou chew our bones alan reached over to his recumbent dog and dropping the mitten which hung from his neck by a rawhide thong rubbed the massive muzzle his heart shining out of his eyes the dog lifted his head and with a staccato intake and expulsion of breath through his nostrils gave what alan called roughs boughs love snuffle for a moment the man buried his face in the thick black cruft of the dogs neck then sat up and gazed far up the valley where a stand of spruce and poplar occupied the flat country between the river and the lifting shoulders of the tundra his eyes wandered aimlessly then of a sudden his hand brushed back the wolf hair rim of his hood as his gaze focused on the timber blue in the distance scrambling to his feet he cried to the man on the snow beside him look noell noel look at the timber up there on the shore the indian rose to his knees wat you see in that black spruce up the river noel I 1 alan pointed with a shaking mitten my eyes are tricky Is that haze or smoke smoke dat ees smoke de mon ayou hear rough cried alan to the dog who had risen and was shaking himself fish tonight for a hungry dog and two men maybe tea and flour bann bannock maybe caribou his great brush of a tail sweeping the crust in his excitement rough fidgeted in his harness im patient impatient to be off while the arms of the men circled each others shoulders in a deli delirious riou s hug standing over his do dog two tears slowly froze on his frost cracked cheeks as alan choked we eat food real grub tonight we eat marche boy marche ont the crust offered good footing and with snowshoes on the sled an and with what strength remained in their uncertain legs noel ndel and alan followed the dog over the river ice up the valley turning in shore at the water hole in the ice they followed a beaten trail back into the timber So meting ver strange here 1 I said the puzzled indian shaking his hooded head dis ees no camp were are arc de dog sign no there are no signs of dogs no sig signs ns of well look at that by gar white men on de talk ceng riviere erel standing beside the husky whose throat rumbled as he suspiciously sniffed the air while the hair of his mane and back slowly rose alan and noel gazed in amazement at the substantial log building banked high with snow which stood in the center of the clearing that opened before them white men on the talking river alan repeated his curious eyes noting the size of the log cabin with its large mud plastered chimney the huge platform cache evidently piled with supplies which were covered by canvas the two pairs of snowshoes and the toboggan sled stuck in the snow beside the door and close by the ample remains of what had evidently been an enormous woodpile wood pile in the autumn TO DE BE CONTINUED |