Show pr e 0 0 2 ah e d M en 64 0 1 CN penn co by GEORGE MARSH VI a U service THE STORY SO FAR bound for or the gold country six men lost their lives on UK tile nottoway Nott away river red lied malone garrett finlay brother of one ot of the six and barise halfbreed half hall breed guide arrive at nottoway Nott away as surveyors reflected in in the mirror behind the counter finlay saw a pair of sinister eyes ekes watching the two through a window he yawned dawned stretched and sauntered to the door wait a minute batoche he called to the man who was moving away your hurry the halfbreed half breed swung around and snarled you spik to me reaching the waiting batoche he announced ive just had a wire from ottawa im ordered to map waswanipi on my way to the bay finlay watched the astonishment on n Bat oches scarred face shift to a covert look of satisfaction you go to waswanipi ell eh yes and well need another man I 1 thought possibly you yourself would take the job if isadore could spare you how about it 1 I got damn good job snorted the furious halfbreed half breed well then said finlay affably how about tete blanche he knows the lake and would make a good man for the survey you you know tete blanche huh know him I 1 knew him long before he went to work for isadore 1 if you see him before I 1 do tell him his old friend finlay asked about him leaving the dumbfounded batoche working his jaw in a futile attempt to voice his thoughts garry turned and entered the store 1 I guess give batoche something to chew on he muttered there was raw terror in cotters face as he whispered tete blanche why hes Is adores the storekeeper gaped at finlay as if he thought him demented Is adores what mr cotter cotter shook his head waving his hands aimlessly youre crazy man plumb crazym crazy he exploded where did you ever hear of tete blanche why hes an old friend of mine finlay left cotter mumbling tete blanche a friend of yours and started for the station mcleod sat at the telegraph key as finlay entered the station good morning mr finlay he greeted off today mcleod returned garry you may be surprised to hear that early this morning you handed me a wire from my department chief at ottawa directing me to change my plans and first run a compass survey of the waswanipi pi chain of lakes before proceeding to the bay the scotchman scowled oh I 1 have have I 1 well I 1 you can deny I 1 got that wire but I 1 if I 1 were you what did you do to him blaise asked garry carry when he and malone reached the river shore with their bags 1 I tell dat batoche he muss mus be crazy flambeau talk wid me last night th that at must have pleased him chuckled red first he was ver cross den he me big pay what did you say 1 I say too small I 1 get tousand dollar a mont wid you he was like wild man I 1 laugh at him and he pull dat clat gun but he was foolish is h he stand too close blaise produced a snub nosed automatic from his pocket heres here s his gun I 1 shortly from the steel bridge two men with heads together watched the canoe start down river and disappear behind a bend CHAPTER ill III for a hundred miles after passing through lake sha Shab bogana ogama the thrashed itself to foam in nottoway Nott away rock scarred reaches of broken water or narrowed to slide past timbered hills is as it raced off the height of land Allon sl we golf go down th the e flume into the white chaos leaped the peterboro Peter boro on either side bou boulders iders pushed up their granite bulk where the river burst high in air eddies to fling spray and cross currents sucked at her keel knife edged ledges that would rip out her bottom snarled beneath the broken water one mistake and canoe and men would be su sucked eked into the maw of the thundering river to be spewed skewed I 1 up ap and cast ash ashore ore battered and broken miles below drenched to the bone ways for th the e safety of the black water the crew ran tho the peterboro Peter boro to the first bend were through the worst of it I 1 panted red as they snubbed the boat to study the river below good channel ahead As he spoke the whiplash whip lash crack of rifles broke th through rough the din of the rapids were am bustedt bus hedt cried red on that point cor come me onia on finlay ca caught aught the blue ha haze of smokeless powder hanging in the a alders of the right shore the canoe was blaise trapped lifted his pole with a shout let h her er run galloping horse the peter like a plunged down the narrow channel boro again and again rifles exploded ded the bowman suddenly the shore on sagged to his knees while his bis installment THREE finlay rec receive elves an anonymous letter suggesting ug gesting that the six fix men were not drowned as reported they question the reports from the north that the oodles bodies of the men were found by indians who declared that the men had bad perished la in pole slipped from his limp fingers blaise is hit cried the desperate finlay get him rod red before he goes over overboard boardl 1 ill hold herl her the kneeling brassard moved his head from side to side as if to clear his brain as red caught him and eased him to the floor of the canoe the blue lips in the graying face framed the words dey got us then he lost consciousness As if it were a chip a cross cur rent snatched the canoe from the control of the straining blinded by bursting spray and whirled her straddling blaines Bl aises body malone battled to head the boat back into the channel As he thrust with all his magnificent power his spruce pole slowly bowed into an arc but the river had its way the boat did not swing the pole splintered in his hands As he lurched back to escape a headlong plunge into the boiling water again the rifles roared on the shore garry felt a sting like the stab of hot iron as his right leg went limp got me he muttered savagely clamping his teeth he managed to brace himself and follow reds lead finlay prayed that he might hold on until they reached the bend the shots from the distant point grew fainter the range was long and they were going wide Fin lays 4 nl tit you hit hard garry carry leg was numb but propped against the gunwale it still babbled under him shooting me men out of canoes he panted even on the nottoway Nott away worse than I 1 gues guessed did batoche pass us in the night on the lake or is it someone else he wondered if they had lost blaise loyal old blaise hunched there in the bow where was he hit called garry carry fearful of the answer in the head came the sorrowful reply carrys leg suddenly went limp in spite of his efforts he sagged to his knees they got me in the leg red he called weve got to land you hit hard garry through the thigh no big arteries I 1 guess lets get blaise ashore with fear in their hearts they examined blaines Bl aises blood caked head glory be cried the giant as he traced the course of the bullet they only creased him get some water red his pulse is good if he got a fracture hell be as right as rain in a few days hes tough when they had washed and bandaged brassards Brass ards head red inspected c d carrys leg straight through thi the thigh muscles clean as a whistle not an artery touched that was a high powered small bore pain anya any not much its just numb and weak shortly red had his two wounded friends on a spread ba blanket working like the moose he was malone soon had cargo and can canoe oe through the alders and back in the bush the hidden camp was now safe from searching eyes on the opposite shore then garry and red held a council of war your guess red there was an ugly glitter in the blue eyes as they shifted from carrys bandaged leg to the still lui unconscious conic ious blaise 1 I dont think batoche and flambeau could have passed us last night and done this it was someone else how about abou t this tete tele blanche do you suppose hes pu putting eting in the summer surnce r on the nottoway Nott away aw who ho knows all we have is the knowledge that someone tried to W wipe out a government survey p party aripe 4 y that means pay through the nose to ottawa after this thing t today its clear what became of B bob ob and the rest who started for chibougamau W well ell as started the rough stuff said red finishing the the rapids of the nottoway Nott away river the name of isadore rich fur man when maLz eign brought by finlay canses an immedi ate cessation of conversation while questioning cotter the storekeeper finlay noticed someone watching them oiling of the action of 0 his 45 ard and shoving it into the shoulder holster strapped under his left arm beneath his shirt three lads I 1 know are going to throw a little rough stuff themselves they wont work in in the open red it will all be injun stuff under tinder cover with no surviving witnesses blocking thee the chib trail but they dont intend to hang for it and I 1 dont intend they shall garryl growled red garry loved reds weakness for a fight and his berserk courage when he was in one but he cautioned remember were a peaceable survey party interested in certain other matters on the side we cant make the first move sure boss but while were running that compass survey of was im going to make a personal sarv survey ey of mr jules isadore if I 1 find what I 1 think I 1 will itu be a sweet job and a dangerous one red uh huh and a dangerous one grunted malone in the morning blaise was conscious six days of rest and careful nursing put him on his feet and gave the clean flesh wound in gar carrys leg a chance to heal in the meantime malone had swum the river below the rapids and found in the mud at the foot of the old indian portage the tracks of two men and freshly broken brush where a canoe had been cached at the head of the carry footprints indicated that the men had come downstream batoche and flambeau must have passed their camp on the river in in the night ambushed them and t thinking in mg that they had somehow run the rapids gone on searching for their supper fire now blaise what do you think of your friends who wanted to give you a job demanded red blaise grimaced as he fingered his bandaged head 1 I vink tink if I 1 ambush carlos cano in dose rapids I 1 make job at less dan hunder yard dey cley start to fire at vree free men who got to stand up and make good target dey shoot eight ten time and get two hit they shot straight enough to satisfy me said finlay 1 I thought wed lost you when you went down if wiped us out have been three more reported accidentally drowned and no proof to the contrary the half breeds eyes blazed with such fury that his friends gaped in surprise we head for plenty trou brou bli he bit off between his teeth debbe we come back who know but wan ving ting you promise blaise brassard Brassar dl you give dis batoche to me I 1 take him in dese han ban so brassards Brass ards thick fingers reached into the air and clamped shut as if on a throat hes yours blaise but hes only a tool said garry what puzzles me is his boss I 1 cant make out Is adores game he must have brains to make such a success of the fur business and yet hes riding straight for a fall with the authorities ties H hes es got a rich placer strike somewhere and to avoid a stampede of prospectors wont register it until hes skimmed off the cream insisted red wal now we feel bet tair we go have look at isadore grunted blaise he drew a villainous looking skinning knife from its sheath and tested its edge with a thick thumb as he said somebody goin to pay for my sore head bead for sure im glad im not the fellow you old wolverine laughed garry when you take the war path theres blood on the moon CHAPTER IV ten days later the peterboro Peter boro borci was approaching the head of matagami Ma lakes lake flanked by black spruce ridges which rolled away to the horizon finlay had intended to stop at the hudsons Hud sons bay post which his map showed was located somewhere on its irregular north shore but as it was hidden in a deep bay th the e survey party had passed the fur post do we go on up the inlet to this lake olga asked red or turn back to hunt for the hudsons Hud sons bay outfit we must be pretty close to the thoroughfare now said garry examining his map weve lost ten days already according to tile the map the post is thirty miles back of us behind a bunch of islands well keep going good waswanipi and isadore or bust is my motto laughed red was that the flash of a paddle up there where the lake suddenly narrows demanded garry the three men stopped p paddling addling to focus their eyes on the distant ant water carlos cano leave de inlet for surel sure announced blaise his black eyes narrowing to slits as he watched we make talk wid dem injun meb be dey cley know so meting TO ITO BE CONTINUED |