Show rin THE H ae RIVER of SKULLS SK W 7 U by george marsh 0 PENN PF NN publishing CO SYNOPSIS alan cameron young trapper noel hla his indian partner and nd rough husky led aled dog look in vain for or the Montae Montag nals trappers camp in the desolate big river country ot of northern canada their supplies destroyed by wolverines rines they are forced to subsist on wolf meat until they come am amazed zed to a substantial tog log house in the wilderness of talking river where they are greeted greeted by a big blond man with a gun producing introducing himself as john mccord hunter the big man asks alan if he be dares go with him next year yea r I 1 to a I 1 the he river of 0 skulls beyond bayon d the sinking lakes where no man Is said to have be been before heather mccord the d daughter aughter who had come with him to the wilderness w ild ernes 3 wins the he t immediate imm c diate devotion of rough bough on the eve of departure for or fort george mccord suddenly tells him to bring him back some dogs and to keep 11 his mouth shut to questions he gives the boy money warning him not to show it at fort george and promises to explain all later returned to fort george alan meets mcqueen and slade provincial police with w ith arsene rivard clerk and rival riva 1 tor for berthe Des deshane sane with whom he Is in 1 love ove the two police are arc looking for or a guide to the big river wilderness accidentally alan drops one of 0 mccords accords Mc Cords bitis bills and when questioned insists tie he had got it from neil campbell Campb cU whose hose life he had saved at whale river two years before ile he realizes he must make rood good his lie by going north and seeing Capi capmbell before anyone else has had 0 chance to talk to him berthes father tells tells alan the police are after a man wanted for murder and have hired a boat to check story at whale river alan beats the police to whale island en route to richmond to get his dogs alan returns to fort george another government agent a seductive mrs airs hanbury arrives by plane tries to bargain with him to tell her the whereabouts of mccord and his daughter the only outcome Is berthes jealousy miserable over berthes coolness alan sus pacts rivard of poisoning her mind CHAPTER V continued 7 1 I want to talk with you cameron said mcqueen all right leaving noel with the dogs alan joined mcqueen and entered his house the policeman took the chair alan offered and leisurely filled and lit his pipe then asked abruptly ewhen when do we start up river it was evident that mcqueen in intended to ignore the matter of the race to whale river was satisfied as was most of fort george that alan had met mccord for a space the eyes of the youth met the others in a fixed stare im starting in about a week said alan are your men strong men yes good river men s slade ade and I 1 were brought up in a canoe good thing for you theres some bad poling water on this river well when youre ready to start le let me know said mcqueen be a month reaching the three forks and need three months grub for you might miss the caribou said alan hoping to learn whether the police intended to winter in the interior or to return before the ice three months laughed the other rising were traveling in two canoes with flour for six months As alan watched mcqueen walk toward the hudsons Hud sons ba bay store he said aloud no you wont get john mccord what a mess hed make of you and slade if you ever met him torn between pride and the desire to see berthe alan sat in his cabin that evening when the afterglow had faded from the sky and the rose flush of the river surface had retreated before the purple dusk but a few days remained now before his start to meet john mccord and heather when would he again see fort george and the girl who douht doubt ed him noel was visiting at a tipi tip and alan smoked alone with his plans there had been a list of things to be bought for heather through one of the girls a friend of noel to avoid suspicion and there was extra flour and sugar beans and tea that mccord wanted to cache somewhere before they plunged into the unknown tundra a relief cache to which they could retreat it if the caribou failed alan sat deep in thought when the yelping puppies in the stockade aroused rough from his sleep he went to the door listened sniffed then snarled hello therel there 1 alan cameron Camer ont I 1 please lease take care of your dog I 1 want to see youl you it was the rich throaty voice that had argued with alan the night before at the french companas Comp anys trade house dark brows met in a scowl but he sent rough to his corner and opened the door good even evening I 1 will you come in he said wondering how soon rivard would reach berthe with the news that mrs Hari hanbury bury had been at his house and yet hoping I 1 as this woman was a government agent to learn more of john and heather mccord alan lit another candle and placed a chair for or his caller she smiled easily up at him while he leaned against the door youre a foolish young man mr alan cameron do you realize that youve ruined your reputation at fort george mrs hanbury leaned forward elbows on knees chin cupped in her graceful well cared for hands as she watched alan through her half shut hazel eyes not only that but youre in serious trouble with the government just what did you come to fort george lor for he countered are you here with mcqueen on this man hunt or is there something else she laughed boisterously at his question and totally unfamiliar though he was with women of the world he caught a ring of hardness of callousness in her voice im a special agent ot of the government at ottawa she went on and her voice suddenly softened with suggestion but id swap secrets with a man as as handsome as alan cameron she rose from her chair and stood in front of him her knee touching his as she looked down at him possessively now if tell me where you left mccord ill tell you just why I 1 happen to be here As he watched her hoping that in her brazen self confidence she would carelessly say too much she suddenly placed both hands on his shoulders and gazed triumphantly down at him as if already she had won but he smiled inwardly at her easy assumption of victory so the rude hunter of fur was now supposed to tell all he knew when the perfumed lady from ir NO 0 1 I cant help myself can 1 I ottawa flashed her teeth threw back her head and looked at him through her long lashes well he also had soma some teeth to show calmly brushing aside her detaining hands he rose from his chair and while her brain fought with her offended pride as wave after wave of blood stained her face he calmly lit his pipe you you she choked you what mrs S special p e c I 1 a I 1 agent he asked coolly suddenly recovering her poise she stood staring at him in amazement you blockhead she finally managed to say she turned to find rough standing at her elbow hair erect his throat swelling in a muffled growl that beast take that beast away from me she cried here rough commanded atan alan youre scaring the lady did you think she was going to bite me I 1 did goodnight good night mrs hanbury he opened the door so the way a special agent from ottawa handles the men standing in the doorway he laughed bitterly into the night he knew now that he could not make his peace with berthe deshane before he left fort george it was july the moon when the birds moult and the trade was at its height at fort george gradually the coast crees were taking their families to summer fishing camps on the coast islands where the hearnes salmon sea trout and were schooling before ascending the rivers to their spawning grounds and where the canada geese pintail and black duck would flock with their new broods remnants of the great ice floe from hudsons Hud sons straits fox channel and the bay of gods mercy which had besieged the coast in the spring now drifted far in the great bay slowly vanishing under the sun and the warm rain winds the remaining days of his stay were busy ones for alan there were supplies to be carefully checked all of which he bought with his credit at the posts the mone money y mccord had given him he hid carefully under the floor of his cabin the extra flour beans and sugar noel got through as well as the extra gill net which might some day in the heart ot of the unknown country save their lives fearing the havoc which the tongue of mrs hanbury had undoubtedly created at the freres through the oily rivard for days alan avoided the parting with berthe but at last hu hungering for the sight ot of her face driven by the desire to defend himself he went to the freres gabriel deshane and pierre were busy with indians so alan waited until the factor was tree free As he lounged against the counter arsene rivard entered the room saw alan flushed and went at once to the desk behind the counter where he busied himself with an account book so ashes been here surmised cameron berthe knows mrs hanbury came to my house ricards Riv ards lost no time telling her mother some wild lie about that call theres little chance for me now with berthe finishing with the indian gabriel deshane approached alan and gave him a hearty handshake how are you alan they ten tell me you got the dogs you were after come outside where I 1 can talk to you in the empty clearing deshane began you start with the police this week mcqueen tells me that is goedl good protested alan 1 I can cant t help myself can 1 I no but your going to whale put yourself in a bad light here alan everyone thinks you met this mccord do you alan looked hard at the kindly frenchman you say you did not for me that is sufficient the other smiled inscrutably into camerons level eyes 1 I came to say goodby good by to berthe but ashes turned against me the other night she heard I 1 had talked to mrs hanbury and was jealous madame deshane Des sane rivard been working on her gabriel deshane raised both arms to the skies in an eloquent gesture mon dieu what that madame hanbury has done at fort georgel george my wife to me will speak hardly at all alan it is terrible alan smiled at the older mans man s vehemence she tried to get inform information atio n the night I 1 was here and three nights ago she came to my house and and and what alan gabriel des sane was interested well she may be a government agent but go on alan she tried her best to make me talk I 1 had nothing to say deshane seemed disappointed he frowned at the distant hills across the great river she has been at me to attempt to learn from you if you met this mccord and to find out where she is a pretty woman yes a pretty woman he said with a sigh she has made much trouble for me now about rivard demanded alan immersed in his own problem you know how I 1 feel toward berthe do do you object to my hoping that some day the older man placed his hand kindly on shoulder there is much time yet alan you are both young too young you have your way to make but rivard hes wasting no time alan demurred vehemently are you his friend or mine dessances Des face sobered rivard is sent here by the company his family has influence I 1 am helpless and there is madame des sanel she is very difficult 1 I see replied cameron with a shrug im a poor man a hunter without a decent home to give her rivard will go up in the company I 1 see seel I 1 well ill go and say goodby good by if shell see me you must not forget that you are under a cloud here the police may make serious trouble for you but berthe will see you she is not happy she does not know what to think alan started to move away then turned to the older man oh I 1 want to ask you a question when you were at fort chimo did you ever hear of the river of skulls deshane stood for a time with knit brows seemingly groping deep in his memory 1 I recall now an old once told me about a river of skulls where there had been a battle between the huskies and the indians he answered they exterminated each other and their spirits now moan in the gorge near which the fight took place he said some of the bones a and nd S skulls kulls are still found along the shore but the indians were afraid of this moaning gorge manitou gorge the gorge of the spirits as they called it and most of them avoided it was this river far in the interior south of chimo oh yes deep in the caribou barrens he said it ii was a branch of nt the Kok soak but no white man has ever been there itsu a country where even even the indians barve starve when they miss the deer migrations alan bade the trader goodby good by then braving the stony face of madame deshane Des sane went dejectedly to say his farewell to berthe at the door where once he had been welcome he was kept waiting by what judging from the sound appeared to be a heated argument punctured by the shrill voice of his friend little marion manon at last the door was opened by berthe 1 I am leaving in a few days he said probing her dark eyes in in an attempt to read her thoughts ive come to say goodby good by berthe come in alan she said with a faint smile berthe he began 1 I cant go with you feeling this its ali all rivard and this woman I 1 know you dont understand what ashes up to 1 I understand this much the girl retorted bitterly she was at your house she boasted to madame martin at the northern trading company that she had twisted you round her little finger berthe flung back caustically her black eyes snapping as blood flushed her dark face there were tears in his eyes as he watched her wrestle with pride and doubt and the loyalty of years oh its not thail youre wrong its not this domant woman 1 she protested its your suddenly going up the coast when been away so langl you went to see neil campbell I 1 you know you did everyone believes it itt its that you went away and did not tell me the truth you care so much for me and do that its that ive lost faith in in you ant all with a sob and a faint goodby good by alanl alan berthe ran from the room CHAPTER VI there were only a few friends to bid alan and noel goodby good by on the beach at the hudsons Hud sons bay company when they loaded their canoe for the long trip to the headwaters but at the freres the entire population watched trudeau and goyette Mc Queens helpers with two hired canoe men stow the outfit in the two police canoes near them deshane and rivard talked to mcqueen slade and mrs hanbury shortly the police and the woman who had turned fort george into a hotbed of gossip withdrew from the group and talked heads together in low tones then after hurried good bys the two boats headed for the far shore where alan with his four running the beach was riding the flood tide later in front of the northern trading company a seaplane sea plane taxied up the river lifted then in a long loop returned and passed over the police canoes TO BE CONTINUED |