Show THE RIVER of SKULL S by george marsh 0 PENN publishing CO SERVICE SYNOPSIS alan cameron young trapper noel hla his indian partner and rough husky tied sled dog look in vain tor for the Montag nals mals trappers camp in the desolate big river co country u of northern canada their supplies de destroyed by wolverines rines they are forced to subsist on wolf meat until they come amazed to a substantial log house la in th the e wilderness ot of talking river where here they ar are e greeted erected by a big blond man with ith a gun introducing himself as john mccord hunter the big man asks alan it if he dares go with mm film next year to the river of skulls beyond the sinking lakes where no man Is said to have been before heather mccord the daughter who ho had come with him to tile the wilderness wins the immediate devotion of rough on the eve ot of departure for fort george mccord suddenly tells him to bring him back some dogs and to keep his mouth shut to questions ile he gives the boy money warning him not to show it at fort george and promises to explain au all later returned to fort george alan meets me mc queen and slade provincial police with arsene rivard clerk and rival lor for be berthe r the deshane Des sane with whom he Is in love the e two police are looking for a guide to the B big 9 river wilderness accidentally alan drops one of mccords accords Mc Cords bills and when questioned 14 0 tied insists he had got it from nell neil C Camp ampbell beU whose ullyse life he had saved at whale river elver two years before he realizes he must make good his lie by going north and teeing seeing campbell before anyone else has had a chance to talk to him berthes father tells alan the police are after a man wanted lor for murder and have hired a boat to check story at whale river alan beats the police to whale hale cistand Isi andi en route to richmond to got get his dogs alan returns to fort george another government agent a seductive mrs 11 hanbury arrives by plane place 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 suspects rivard of poisoning her mind when mcqueen asks alan when they start north alan agrees saying they will III leave as soon as they can be prepared alan says goodby good by to berthe alan and noel mcqueen cn slade trudeau and coyette goyette make the long journey to the three forks junction of the mad Con conjuror uror and talking rivers all of which mcqueen intends to cover in his search when he decides on the mad first firs I 1 alan pretends bends that its headwaters are the mccord r hideout ade out and plots with noel to mislead mcqueen and slade and head across to the Iral talking king river to warn mccord succeeding alan Is warmly welcomed by mccord and heather but teus tells john privately of the search tor for him tor for murder i CHAPTER VI continued 9 alan waited as his friend paced to and fro deep in thought this was not the way a man would act who had been suddenly told that the police wanted him for crime rather mccord seemed mystified puzzled 41 wheres Wh cres noel mccord suddenly demanded stopping his pacing 1 I left him with the police in th the headwater country of the mad river I 1 slipped them and traveled overland with the dogs john mccord scowled into somber face the police came with you up river alan nodded then drawing mccord back beyond earshot of the cabin he swiftly related what had happened on his trip to fort geo george rge As he talked the face of the older man slowly changed from a picture of frank amazement to one of stark rage before I 1 begin I 1 want to ask you a question said mccord swallowing hard as he fought for self control did you believe their story that I 1 killed my wife that was not the question whether you killed your wife retorted alan you had saved my life you were here with heather alone deserted by your indians 1 I had given you my promise to come back that was enough mccords accords Mc Cords blue eyes lit with satisfaction sat is you were going to keep your word whether it was with a wife killer or not eh 1 I think about it there was vas heather along alone with you needing help you had saved my life it was enough partner give me your hand the two men gripped hands a as their eyes unwaveringly met 1 I told you I 1 knew a man when I 1 saw one continued mccord quietly youve proved your mettle we ought to keep this fro from in heather if we can gray eyes probed the giants face as he went on does she know about what happened what brought the police here mccord stood with hands on hips his bold features knotted in a scowl slowly he shook his head no she does not know alan poor kid she does not know then he took the others arm youre hungry so am 11 II well go in and eat later well take the net up to the island and set it weve got four big dogs to feed now then ill tell you a story CHAPTER VII it was a happy girl who repeatedly ly filled the plates of the two hungry men with caribou ribs corn bread and beans while alan told of his trip up the coast in search of the dogs of fort george lie he spoke little it was great luck john getting pure Un gavas theres no better strain in the north weve got a team that will take a thousand pounds next spring on the crust alan said the giant leaning across the table a smoldering flat flame ne of triumph in his blue eyes with those dogs to get out with a year from this winter well own the tha world I 1 tell you lad well own the world 1 own the world dark brows lifted when we have a good talk understand assured mccord heather alan and I 1 are going to set the net at the island we need fish for the dogs the girls fine brows drew together as she looked her disappointment why cant I 1 go too dad take alan away and stay tin till supper have plenty of chance to see him later weve got some plans to talk over now alan followed mccord down to the canoe wondering if the story he was about to hear would shake his faith in the man he had promised to accompany into the blue tundra that rolled away into the north but what did it matter he was in the same pass as john mccord by tricking and deserting the police he also had become a hunted man an outlaw they paddled up to the island and set the gill net in the thoroughfare on the side of the nearest shore where the fish traveled at night then lighting their pipes the two sat down on two small boulders facing each other first I 1 want to know about the police and noel and how you got away with the dogs said mccord 1 I told them we had met you in the headwater lakes of ahemad the mad river so noel and I 1 took them there we always camped with water between us to keep the dogs apart four nits bits back noel started for A I 1 ip did you believe their stories that I 1 killed my wife the forks with the canoe and at daylight I 1 struck straight south cross country with the dogs to warn you and here I 1 am I 1 mccords accords Mc Cords eyes lit ht with approval here you are and youve walked with a heavy pack to get here no I 1 had to circle some lakes and swamp country but I 1 had little trouble making it tomorrow we must drop downstream to help noel up river with that canoe load mccord nodded you left them you say where they f find i nd their way back to the main stream without a guide in weeks alan laughed that count rys a network of lakes and muskeg likely to get into whale water and be on their way to lake bienville before they find out their mistake be lucky if they dont strike the freeze up before they get out good boyl boy I 1 you did a good job on them alan now lets get back to fort george this serg sergeant t mcqueen as he calls himself would be about five feet ten hes thickset and rugged carries his head a little forward and what notice about his face except a mean mouth are his eyes too close together and a faded blue jaw dropped in amazement why you you must know him mccord exhaled a cloud of tobacco smoke as his eyes wrinkled in an amused look 1 I ought to know him he said 1 I had to look at that face for two years or more and slade you know him too lets see sanford wc well Y you ou know him as slade would go a little over six feet medium build sandy hair and blue eyes but the thing notice about him are his hands and feet too large and somehow you always notice them alan nodded right you do slade all right so much for these officers officers of 0 the law sneered mccord now for this hanbury woman who came in by seaplane sea plane you had a chance to look her over that night when she came to your place did you happen to notice a trick she had when she laughed of throwing her head back and looking at you through halt half closed eyes ashes pretty handy bandy with her eyes notice that alan youve met her alan demanded recalling only too clearly the hazel eyes of mrs hanbury halt half masked by the long lashed lids yes ive seen her before used to know her fairly well in fact 1 I know but how did you guess she was the woman I 1 told you about unless it was the name the name was strange ashes used several it was her knowing this follow fellow mcqueen alan those birds are not police camerons jaw dropped as he stared at the others grinning face not police no and ashes got nothing to do with the governments but I 1 dont under understand they had regular government papers signed in quebec identifying them and ordering all fur posts to give them assistance I 1 made mcqueen show me his badge they must be mccord threw back his head and blew a great cloud of smoke from his mouth those pap papers ers were forged these men are looking for me all right alan my lad and ashes their partner but not police and youre not wanted by the government mccord slowly shook his blond head then he asked did this mrs hanbury look like a murdered woman to you A murdered woman what ayou mean you heard I 1 was wanted for the murder of my wife yes mccord gazed across the river up to the shoulders of the tundra above the forest as he said bitterly mrs hanbury is my wife your wi heathers moi molher lier A heavy load suddenly lifted from shoulders as he realized what this startling revelation of john mccord meant john not an butia outlaw w a wanted man he alan cameron a free man at fort george this mcqueen yes heathers mother repeated mccord in a strained voice inarticulate from the shock of his surprise alan allowed his pipe to slip through his fingers to the pebbles of the beach the nightmare through which he had lived had proved after all only an ugly dream its wonderful john wonderful to know youre not a wanted mant he cried im as dazed as a bear in a deadfall dead fall I 1 cant believe it its too good to be truel true I 1 mcqueen slade putting it over on fort george that way oh what a joke on them all aall what a joke on noel and me racing them through the ice to reach neil campbelll campbell alan laughed until he was breathless then he suddenly sobered as a look of such bitterness crept over mccords accords Mc Cords desolate face that alan quickly shifted his eyes to the river while his friend battled with the painful memories for a long space they sat in silence while they smoked then mccord drew a deep breath and turned to his friend not knowing what I 1 was murderer crook hunted by the police you stuck by me through gratitude pity for heather and the fact that we had pledged each other our friendship he said 1 I knew what you were when I 1 first looked into your pinched face alan I 1 knew stand by you have now I 1 want you to hear my story and so there on the shore of the talking john mccord told alan why he had come into the heart of labrador bringing a girl of seventeen on a strange quest the years preceding the world war had found him living in a small town in ontario with a young wife and a little girl occupied as a timber superintendent for a pulp and lumber company he had been compelled to spend much of his time away from home on various timber limits of his employers pleasure loving his wife chafed chafee at his absences at his limited means rumors reached him of her actions in his absence but he brushed them aside by the time the war broke out she had left him and heather she loved life in the cities and went and found it leaving the child with his mother he enlisted and went over seas for two years he served in the same battalion with a man who had been a prospector and had talked much of his wanderings from the yukon to labrador after messines ridge where he got the ugly gash on his forehead mccord found himself in the same hospital with his friend aleck drummond in montreal before the war drummond had met a hudsons Hud sons bay man who had once been st stationed a at fort chimo at the mouth of the great river which rises somewhere in the heart of labrador and flows north into un gava bay 1 I see now why you asked me to talk to deshane about the kok soak and the river of skulls in interrupted alan wait a minute and understand replied mccord continuing his narrative the fur man had been told b by y some wild Nas kapi who once came to the post of a branch of the kok soak called the river of skulls because of a battle between eskimos and Nas kapi in which they had wiped each other completely out later when indians found the bodies they were afraid to bury them because of the moaning of the spirits of the dead in the gorge above so the skulls and bones lay strewn along the shore and flats after this the indians called it the river of skulls and the gorge the gorge spirits manitou gorge exactly the same story deshane told me observed alan yes but listen to this return returned ed mccord and went on with his tale one year some Nas kapi more daring than the rest were camped on the sand flats that reach a long way below this gorge spearing caribou for the deer were crossing here and the indians overcame their fear of the spirits to get the deer they had built a fire against the roots full of clay and gravel of a spruce that had come downstream and grounded on the shore the heat of the fire softened the blue clay stuck to the roots and one of the indians noticed some small stones as he thought in the clay he was fooling with thern them when he realized that the small particles were much too heavy for stones he scraped off the clay and pounding them found them malleable and dull yellow in color these he brought to chimo and showed to the hudsons Hud sons bay people they were nuggets of pure gold but none of the company men could get away to hunt gold in the interior it was a long chance anyway this story the hudsons Hud sons bay man told to drummond TO BE CONTINUED |