Show V a ih d M ro 41 J EN by GEORGE MA I 1 penn I 1 OPEN installment THE STORY SO FAR boond for or the gold bold country six men lost their lives on the nottoway Nott away river red malone male garrett finlay brother ol of one of cf the six alx lx and d blaise alse halt half breed gulde guide arrive at nottoway Nott away posing as surveyors YI blaise quieted flame as a figure appe appeared a red in the path leading down from the railroad fill bo jolt jol returned blaise the half breeds eyes roved over the heaped bags then he turned to 1 brassard you on survey the thick muscles under Bl aises shirt tightened at the insolence of the others manner but his seamed face ace might have been carved from wood ah hah lie he said easing a cloud of smoke from his mouth my name is joe flambeau I 1 work for jules Is isadore adorel announced the caller what your name 1 I am big windigo from devil I 1 eat nottoway Nott away riviere man for supper the twinkle faded to a cold stare at the calculated affront the other sucked in his breath by gar you joe flambeau he choked then flambeaus flambeaux Flam beaus groping fingers found and closed on the bone handle of the knife under his coat i don pull dat knife brassards Brass ards i voice was as brittle as shell ice alook behin you he said flambeau turned his head feet bunched under him the big airedale crouched like a panther you pull dat knife and dat dog land on your back and rip your flambeaus flambeaux Flam beaus hand moved away isiom from his knife handle 1 idon I don come here for ll lI he said weakly 1 I talk business wid you forget wat I 1 bayl say appeased blaise 1 I don mean noting wat you want flambeau wy you take nottoway Nott away trail to de bay we survey lower riviere 11 it flambeau surprised blaise with ft dese engineer pay you small wages I 1 get you job wid big money who wid isadore you are stout man isadore pay big money for strong man on de riviere it was growing interesting blaise took the bait ah hahl hah waz wat you pay double wat you get leave dose men and dey will not make survey alone blaise threw back his head and laughed you notice dat redhead ah hah he is injun in white water finlay will run anything any ting dey go to de bay ridout me flambeau scowled batoche will talk wid you at daylight here ah hah I 1 isadore give you big pay shake hand blaise rose and extended a thick paw then he deliberately tossed his big bombshell wy do isadore watch de Nott nottoway away like a fox watch a rabbit run he strike gold on r waswanipi flambeaus flambeaux Flam beaus jaw sagged as he 4 stated stared at the cryptic face of the speaker debbe he got gold meb be you come wid us and fin out I 1 see you at daylight shortly finlay and malone malon e joined blaise at the camp on the shore e this dump is sure stampeded snorted the giant filling and lighting his pipe cant get a soul to talk it i from the way they shut up think the bush north of here was 1 t full of cockeyed man eating windi go 11 you talk with asked i inlay finlay r cotter the storekeepers as j scared as a fox in deep snow with r a lynx on his trail the rest are the same way you see mcleod yes I 1 showed him the last line bof of we th e letter sent to the family and j asked if he recognized the writing by the look in his cifes face I 1 bet he wrote it himself t k lets see that letter again gar V ayi y when cotter asked me to regis 4 ter I 1 saw in his book some writing on an a loose sheet signed by mcleod finlay handed malone the letter he carried in his wilet wallet and the lat 4 ter read aloud 1 to the family of robert finlay y north bay ontario f last spring robert finlay and hi his S partner andrew troup left not ataway bound for the chibougamau gold country by way of the was river in the fall it was reported here that in deans had found their smashed ca noe this is the third party that has disappeared 0 on n the chibon chibougamau agamau trail in two years there are peo pie who have reasons why they dont r want prospectors traveling I 1 i water vater C 1 I dont believe these six men were drowned A friend friel id for some time tim e malone studied the letter yes it looks mighty like that writing of f mcleods McL eods I 1 saw in V cotters book he said V mcleod wrote that letter red finlay inlay repeated his conversation with the station agent and his wife f but mcleods McL eods tied up here and Q want trouble he concluded now whom does he be suspect and i if 4 why do you suppose so made a placer strike on the river and is trying ying to log hog it i A finlay receives an anonymous letter suggesting that the six men were not drowned as reported finlay and malone JI alone find the people ot of the nottoway Nott away ettle ment strangely stra neely averse to discussing the tragedy among amone themselves they qu ques es 1 a 1 sure do it looks to me as if we had run into the coldest attempt to control wild country ive ever heard of garry turned to brassard what do you think of it blaise 1 I tink nodding I 1 got new job cut the funny stuff blaise grunted red your dope on the situation 1 I work for isadore isadora bowl announced blaise his eyes snapping like an otters 1 I leave dis outfit in de mornin then he described his meeting with flambeau good laughed garry certainly worried about us what are you going to tell batoche wal you see I 1 was hit on de head once it leave me wid bad memory I 1 tell batoche dere is some mee stake I 1 talk wid flambeau and will that bird be wild chuckled red watch his right hand dont let him wing you blaise inhaled until his chest resembled se a barrel he flexed his thick biceps and yawned dawned 1 I take good care dat tal fal larl he said then he rose and his face sobered 1 I like to have look at dis isadore outfit on waswanipi dont you realize that weve got to map the lower river demanded garry the idea tomorrow I 1 tink we get telegraph g order from ottawa to map waswanipi lake you old fox youve hit it cried garry well give that telegram the air whether mcleod denies it or not in the morning this city hears that weve been wired from head va 1 I cant tell you im afraid to talk quarters to map waswanipi will that be news finlay rose im dropping in on those prospectors above here he said and left his friends hello mac greeted a voice as finlay reached the tent above the bridge sit down and light up thanks I 1 will where you people heading rouyn drouyn way plenty gold in them quartz veins if you can locate deml em said a grizzled veteran youre on the survey they tell me yes we pull out in the morning for matagami Ma well youre on government business that makes you safe but friend if you was pros pectin id advise you to wet them paddles of yourn south of the steel hows that too many men who left here for chibougamau aint never been heard from finlay finished his pipe and bade the prospectors good night on his way back to cotters store he passed a lighted shack from the shadows in in the rear came a womans comans voice mr Fir finlay daY finlay stopped did somebody call me he asked im mrs macdonald said the invisible speaker speak tr in a low tone think its strange for me to speak to you this way B but ut my husband the section foreman is down the line and ive got to talk what is it mrs macdonald said the interested finlay down river on the you youre re going survey yes mr finlay they d ont dont believe youre on the survey if youre headed for the chibougamau trail I 1 beg you to give it api upi up this is interesting who believe were a survey party 1 11 I cant tell youl you im afraid to talk its too dangerous just I 1 what are they afraid of why dont they talk to the police the police were here last year the provincials they only laughed 0 o at finlay us was both annoyed and in interested annoyed that a government te should be suspected survey party of being something else alon the reports report from the north that tho the bodies of the men were found by indians the name of isadore Isa dorc rich tor fur man when brought by finlay can canses ses in B immediate cessation of 0 further conversation along that line K its mighty good of you mrs M macdonald acdonald to warn us finlay said but we happen to be government surveyors under orde orders rs not prospectors no ones going to be crazy enough to monkey with a survey party 1 I know but mrs mcleod said tonight th that at one of those boys lost last year was your brother that you were making inquiries so it was all over the place he had talked too much to the mcleods McL eods and yet it had been necessary to learn who wrote that letter mrs macdonald finlay suddenly asked who is it youre afraid of isadore finlay heard the sudden intake of her breath oh nol youre wrong there we dont even know him hes a fur man and generally flies to waswanipi from down below belov well anyway im grateful for your kindness but as our job is to re map the lower nottoway Nott away I 1 dont expect to have the pleasure of meeting mr isadore good night in the small bedroom at cotters finlay found malone and told him the story dont think were surveyors eha eh want to warn us off the calbo ug a mau traill trail looks more and more chief as if that letter was yes red that letter was been through our bags whispered malone shortly red malone was filling the room with gargantuan snores but garry carry finlay could not sleep later he heard the cautious tread of moc casines feet on the creaking stairway and someone entered the room adjoining there was whispered conversation that was inaudible then head against the partition of matched boards he heard oua dey sleep leesten beesten Le esten ah hah dey sleep hard one whispered there was the creak of bed springs and a grunt of disgust dat fallar who look like hawk wid his eye say he make map of de nottoway Nott away he lie dey take de chibougamau trail dey carry tool and map of engineer debbe so but I 1 tink cink dey lie chibougamau you tink dey hunt for gold eh we off air dis brassard big pay in de mornin and get him drunk den we find out who dey are there was a muffled chuckle if dey go to waswanipi tete blanche show dem were to find gold and bury dem in de hole shortly the men in the next room slept but garry Fin lays brain was busy tete tele blanche hes white haired and tetu what a pair of names hed not forget them so these were the men who were blocking the chibougamau trail CHAPTER II 11 before daylight finlay heard the two men in the next room creep down the stairs he waked malone told him what he had overheard and later found cotter in the store much travel through here he threw out casually theres a couple of free traders south of here and all the hudsons Hud sons bay and isadore supplies go this way many hit for chibougamau from here 11 A few tried it but were drowned what yes drowned in the waswanipi its nasty water even the indians are shy of it the muscles in Fin lays face suddenly tightened cotter slowly colored before the thrust of the agate eyes how do you know they were drowned isadore says so oh isadore says so say cotter where did this isadore come from how long has he been trading on waswanipi lake the storekeeper was visibly uneasy he was here before the steel went through before the mau gold strike dont know where he came from cotters hand was noticeably unsteady as he filled his pipe say aint you pretty curious I 1 thought you was a government surveyor but you talk like the police garry smiled at the others evident nervousness then he suddenly sh shot ot t the he bald question how ion long g ha has s tete tele blanche been working for hi him cotters face was etched with fear 4 pm im making it my business mr cotter finlay said youre scared silly what are you afraid of cotter swallowed hard youre right I 1 am scared I 1 bin threatened im trying to make a livin here bryin to mind my own business you cant blame me for keepin my mouth shut good I 1 thought garry now im getting somewhere this fellows going to 9 talk then he asked the uneasy man behind the counter just what are you scared of scared ot of being burned out at night in midwinter scared of whal wha mig A happen to my famil TO ao BE CONTINUED |