Show 1 m I alry oft i rw IN ap pp ZI at e ht U ddn fh d M J h Q 1 I 4 6 0 penn S la aa by GEORGE MARSH bervi C C co hi j t NN T TOE THE STO STORY Y SO FAR bound lor for the 3 u gold fold coun country try six men lost lives on the nottoway Nott away river red n rig malone garrett garrelt finlay bro brother her of 1 one t jot t the tit six and blilie halfbreed half breed rolde colde acrive arlve at Nott ottaway away posing as surveyors she was so na finlay waned abed inwardly so terrible ln nd her story seemed so straight ut lut t that was just the bait to catch rhe e mouse poor red and blaisel ahat at have I 1 done to them li with a shiver he brushed her from Us thoughts shame and chagrin angshed ani shed with his 45 covering the woe 91 i of the last sound it was vit Z another nother man who lay there a cold ip fighting man who waited like a co cor r acred 1 I wolverine for a movement in mi mahe e scrub siw 4 evidently 0 from the fact that they zalo ahad not shot him on the beach their was to take him alive 4 brush snapped behind him his RAti leyes flashed back but saw nothing bithey they had him surrounded but could not reach him without drawing his fire so were playing safe for min utes he lay rigid listening kua 6 presen presently aly his roving eyes caught a athe the green plumes of a young spruce shivering as if touched by wind abut I 1 there was no wind the spruce Z top moved into the notched rear slight Ss ight of the 45 again the spruce 47 li quivered and finlay glimpsed a pair bof glittering eyes in a swart face IQ like e glass splintered by a hammer i athe the b of the 45 crashed on ls athe the silence of the bush s there was no face behind the I 1 spruce cab one gonel gone I 1 finlay muttered 14 inching swiftly around to cover his rear H he was just in time from behind the boll of a jack pine eyes roved I 1 lu the undergrowth seeking his toft tion ion finlay lined his sights then S the full face and a shoulder edged VL into view 71 flambeaux Flam beaul i again the forest rocked with the J thunder of the 45 there was a scream followed by a stillness so in in tense it hurt the eardrums ear drums then the liquid notes of a chickadee broke too the spell 4 two gone UL tt but the jaws of the trap were 44 t closing on the hunted man his fir j ing ag had marked his position he must move quick flat on his chest nj he hunched to the sanctuary of an j other spruce from three sides came the snap j ping of twigs as the hunters closed in on the hidden quarry the eyes of the trapped man blazed with the fighting flame of a i beast at bay V t his nerves were ice as he knelt I 1 watching in three directions for the J 1 rush that was coming PC suddenly there were yells and a thrashing in the brush but the coni cealey man would not be stampeded into showing himself then a ring of men simultaneously rushed a few yards to fade flattened to the earth but one never moved again A slug from the 45 had drilled his forehead three gone close in now muttered finlay the next one will reach mel me then five men flung themselves at him he found the white head of tete tele blanche and the 45 flamed again it roared they reached him and he fired point blank into a grimacing face the face burst into a bloody mask with his heavy gun he bludgeoned a black head that dove at him free he stumbled back and swung at another As he did there was a blinding flash of light in his eyes he sagged to his knees then to the earth CHAPTER X at intervals in Fin lays brain flickered a dim consciousness of his surroundings through blurred thoughts filtered the sound of voices only to die away for time and again the dull pounding in his head drove him back into the abyss but gradually he groped his way through the mental twilight and was aware of his splitting head and of an indefinable torture sharp pains sliced through his upper arms and legs he tried to move but his hands and feet were numb something held him like a vise with difficulty finlay peered through the cracks between his puffed eyelids he was on the lip of a bog lashed to a trimmed spruce sapling for a time he stared stupidly at the four men with rifles watching him then into his dazed brain shot the memory of the fight on the shore so they had clubbed him from behind it seemed long ago very long ago they had him lashed hand and foot with rawhide thongs the victim of clouds of black flies that hovered around him like smoke what would they do shoot him or leave him to be stung to death by the flies and mosquitoes men had died that way in swamps he heard again the crash of his 45 and his tortured lips twisted in a smile it had been a fight while it lasted hed got three perhaps tour four remember that but the man he wanted whom hed promised bob hed get stood there with a leer on his hideous face under its thatch of yellowish white hair hed missed tete tele blanche beside him were batoche and two others one a bowlegged dwarf with the darting eyes of a mink tetu installment NINE finlay receives an anonymous letter suggesting that hat the ibe six ix men were not drowned as a reported suspicion prevails that isadore rich fur far man has made a told gold strike and aims aim to keep prospectors prospector out of the country at any cost the three X how you like fl fly surveyor taunted tete tele blanche he start to make hees bees music soon and you swell up like poison dog there was laughter from the three breeds Fin lays face neck and arms were stippled with blood on his head was a lump left by the clubbed gun his eyes were almost closed you win finlay groaned you win win now but tell isadore that a police plane is due here from ottawa in september mounted police I 1 ever hear of them you win now but hang before the snow alies flies think that over the four breeds exchanged startled looks then tete tele blanche stood over the man lashed to the spruce the ine feral eyes in his grotesque face face with its broken nose glittered finlay had seen such eyes in a trapped wolf tree good men you shoot he snarled now you pay for dem A wave of exultation beat through the man who was about to die he had made them pay death held little terror he had looked it full in the eyes before but in the slow hours of unspeakable torture that awaited him he faced an end of chich which he had never dreamed an icy sweat burst from his body but what lay in his heart these men should never see he squinted through the slits which were now his I 1 IVA u r what would they do yes eyes at the venomous face of telee blanche and said 1 I wanted you handsome for my sell self now the get you its too bad to soil an honest rope tete blanche thrust his leering face close to Fin lays the pupils of his eyes dilated like those of a snake you get de kiss from fly and now not de domant he jeered Bonso gonsoir ir feen lee he made a mocking bow we see you in de mornine you swell up good by den look like beeg fat mant man bo jo fernlee Feen lee leel I 1 wish you sleep good the breed waved his hand across Fin lays face on the little finger was a ring of hammered gold bobs ring A storm of hate beat through the man trussed to the tree he strained desperately against the thongs that held him but bul tete blanche had done his work well As they left batoche struck finlay in the mouth dat ees for joe Flam flambeau beaul blood burst from Fin lays split lips as he flung back sorry I 1 missed you you yellow dog garry finlay was alone with the horror of the coming night he gazed through his fast closing eyes at the rose afterglow above h him lm last sunset last twilight garry it he muttered he filled his lungs with thi the spruce sweet air and looked long at the black silhouettes of tree tops etched on the horizon slow death from poisoning and shock slow death he was young and life was good but it was over bowl now he peered hungrily at the fading flush in the sky last evening garryl he thought of the loyal red and blaise anxiously hunting the shore of his family and of the grave on the waswanipi two of us now bob he groaned hes got your ring I 1 saw two instead of one bob and I 1 promised to get tete blanche for youl you again and again he wrenched at the thongs on his bis wrists until his lacerated skin and the throb of his head stopped him sergeant garrett finlay of the royal canadian mounted police lost on duty lost neglecting his butyl I 1 begged for the detail and I 1 got it and this is what ive done with it walked into a trap with my eyes open forgot duty anda clean record for a lying cheat of a giell red blaisel he pleaded forgive Forg ivo me for what ive done to youl men start out oat on the nottoway Nott away and visit isidore isadore in his bj magnificent home where they meet use list his pretty stepdaughter in response to her desperate plea lor for aid finlay meets her secretly ecret ly after she be left gunmen attack him 0 VY under the lash af his remorse finlay grew numb to the stings that were fast poisoning his blood then a sound back in the bush silenced him shortly he called come and finish it you bush rats they had returned it if he could only taunt them to cutting it all short with a bullet Is adores handsome white haired boy comes back he jeered and the cross eyed batoche who was bitten in the face by a rabbit but his answer from the scrub was a mad yelp and the snapping of brush as a dog burst from the bushes stopped gazed in doubt at the huddled figure approached and sniffed at the man who spoke to him then in a delirium of whines and C caresses ars S es threw himself on the master he loved flamel flame 1 god bless your old bones you followed their trail from the shore 1 boy im glad to see your whiskered map again frantic with joy the dog nuzzled carrys tortured face and neck I lope hope flowed through finlay as water through a burst dam with flame there was a chance flame would never leave him if he could only get the airedale to chew through the thongs that bound his wrists wheres red flame red bed and blaise aise they turned you loose to hunt for me but where A distant shot stopped him he listened while the dogs soothing tongue licked the blood on his f face ace and head that s red signalling sign alling or else theres a fight on like a madman finlay battled with his thongs they gave slightly and the blood began to ease into his numb hands then the long hours that sergeant finlay had spent on the education of an airedale puppy began to bear fruit fearing that some day he might be stolen and tied up finlay had taught the dog to chew through any rope leather leash or rawhide raw hide that held him prisoner after much coaxing garry managed to focus the dogs attention on his bound wrists shortly flame was licking the thongs as well as Fin lays hands eat it up its good good chow for dogal chew it it tastes good flame the man endlessly coaxed while his dog licked the thongs and the swollen forearms then flame hooked a long fang under a loop and tugged at it the bogl eat it up flame urged the man battling desperately against time gradually the airedale seemed to comprehend it was a game they were playing and he liked the taste of the fresh hide at last the dog lay down behind the bound man and with his great grinders jammed against finlay Fin lays 1 s wrists began to chew at the knots the dog chew it up spurred by his masters approval and relishing the taste of the hide as he would a bone the airedale chewed through two key knots A last heave and Fin lays numbed hands were free in his joy he shook like grass in the wind again life beckoned as a campfire camp fire to a man lost at night in the bush he laughed now at the black cloud of his tor mentors which once meant a slow death he laughed at tete tele blanche at isadore hed come back from the grave weve licked em flamel flame he panted bless your old hide youve done it boyl boy hugging the dogs wriggling body finlay crushed his face against the scarred skull 1 I love every hair of your old carcass he crooned ill have my feet clear in a minute but have to lead me to the shore I 1 im m stone blind when his numbed legs could carry him flame led him by a thong over the back track to the shore headlong into the cool water plunged man and dog maddened by the thrusts which had stippled their bodies with welts oh this is good flamel flame laving his burning arms and face finlay wallowed with grunts of relief in the comforting water im puff puffed ed up like a poisoned pig flamey old socks but weve whipsawed whip sawed this tete blanche you and 1 I well meet again some day and when we d do 0 therell be lead in the air he laughed bitterly A distant shot cut him short hear that must be red and blaise hunting for us I 1 answer em cm flame I 1 ive lost my gun its redl red tell em were here beret the airedales brittle bark floated through the murk settling on the lake then red hailed finlay answered and shortly the peterboro Peter boro slid up to the man lying in the shallow water of the shore happened to you garry gany g cried the alarmed red leaping from the canoe and bending over the man soaking in the water what are y you 0 u lying there for garry you hurt hello redl red you there blaise 7 im all right but ive been eaten alive by bugs im blind as a dead fish and ive got a lump on my head like an egg I 1 hate to leave this water even to shake hands with you no BE |