Show caught caugh in in the wild by robert ames bennet sent copyright by robert arots ames bennet CHAPTER VIE VI continued he set off again at a pace twice as fast as the best her father had been able to travel an occasional snap of a twig behind him told that the girl was still coming yet he be did not once slacken his gait or look back until three hours later the brook began to meander through a stretch of muskeg at the edge of the swamp he stopped beside a game trail lilith came up beside him breathing deeply from the long and rapid walk he pointed jointed to the big water filled hoof prints in the mud ave we may be in luck moose passed here yesterday the water is clear in the tracks they may not have gone too far stay here or be quiet an up tossed cd leaf showed that the wind was in his favor he started along the trail the tracks were still a day old when the they Y turned out into the muskeg toward a lily pool A mother swan and her brood of cygnets cognets were swimming around the lily pads garth skirted on along the border of the swamp to where a bend of the stream twisted in close to dry ground here was the grove rot of birch of which he had spoken 1 he pointed to the fringe of willows below the birch those bitten twigs still white been eaten off less than an hour ago stay here after another test of the wind vind he be went ahead alone silent as a lynx luck was with him As he rounded the bend he saw the immense antlers anglers of an old bull moose rise nse above the willows on the bank before the startled beast could plunge into the water garth dropped him with a bullet through the brain at the crash of the shot three moose cows with calves broke cover beyond the bull the distance tance was considerable and brush obscured barths aim he had to shoot four times to bring down one cow and her calf but that was enough his shout brought lilith on the run she looked delightedly atthe at the bull oh no chance now of starving when a day later mr air camill came limping after buxby to the smoke marked camp lilith was still hanging moose meat on alder poles over the smudge fire buxby dropped his full stuffed knapsack and wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand tah pah to think ive lugged all v that old meat and hes killed again why he come back and tell e me the girl gave him an odd glance weve been too busy old dear wheres the blanket 1 I pack everything if rd id known I 1 could have left this if confounded smoked moose and brought the blanket instead why not have left your load of 14 metal you consider that dad and I 1 will get far more than fifteen thousand dollars worth of comfort out of that blanket I 1 his lips tightened sorry dar 1 ling the thought of a common dirty blanket as against all the t r platinum I 1 did not even think of 1 it now of course I 1 realize but its too late yes she agreed its too late dad you were a real sport not to wait for alan to come back and carry you the millionaire had slumped down to rub his swollen ankle he 1 looked up at buxby with a ban J bering smile we permit our girl to elope with a woods vagabond could we vivian the engineer did not smile his face went blank where is that roughneck lilith down in the willows working hard for us wont you be glad when were rid of him wont you well im not so sure as I 1 was at present he is far more agreeable company than you are buxby stiffened and went off towards the willows without any reply mr camill peered up shrewdly at his daughter that was pretty hard even from you lilith try to keep in mind how matters will stand as soon as we get out of his damnable mess remember that vivian is s my partner in the profits prof its of all our northwest territory deals garth is responsible for our being marooned in this woods hell he set the plane adrift to go to smash over those falls for a long moment lilith camill stood silent she looked down at her er grimy tattered sports suit at her blood smeared hands and broken finger nails the dimmed glitter of the diamond in her engagement ring failed to hold her gaze it t passed on down to her leggings and moo moccasins squaw she murmured dirty squaw he certainly has put us through the mill and more to come were not yet out of the woods dad do you still have vivians pistol why no he asked me for it this morning said that the less weight I 1 carried the better for me she reached down a hand to help him to his feet listen dad no matter how much we hate alan garth well never get out of the muskegs muskets without him you noticed vivians eyes you must ask him to give you back the pistol but its his and to rasp his self esteem with such an intimation of distrust more important his feelings or guidance if anything happens to alan make some e excuse mr air camill got to his feet and limped beside her down to the stream bank buxby stood with his morose gaze fixed upon garth who was tying willow ribs on the gunwale of his canoe frame with rawhide thongs the millionaire spoke in a casual tone how long will it take to put on the birch bark well use the moose hides sir they weigh more but will be much stronger you might ask buxby to chop down a birch and cut it into five foot lengths well have to split the wood to make paddles so mr air camill turned to his prospective son in law you may as well return the pistol to me vivian irwill it will hamper your chopping and as were now to be in a canoe its weight will not bother me buxby sat motionless taken aback before he could think of an excuse to refuse he met barths cooly inquiring gaze he turned away and drew the pistol from inside his tattered coat with a show of careless indifference in the same offhand manner he picked up the belt ax and went to hack at the base of the nearest birch tree another day saw sav the canoe complete the cow and bull hides gummed and sewn together formed the cover hair side in the result was a craft large enough for the party but shorter and broader than the average canoe at barths suggestion lilith had begun tanning the calfskin mr air camill tended the smudge fire after cutting the birch billets bille ts buxby had at first sat around brooding then suddenly he went off up the brook he did not come back until after the canoe was finished but he brought the abandoned blanket garth was beginning to shape into paddles the slabs of wood that he had bad rived from the birch billets he glanced from the blanket to the clouds overhead and from them to lilithe tattered skirt not half bad buxby that blanket will soon be needed too splendid a sunrise this morning were in for a storm miss ra mill that calfskin is cured enough for you to wear make a skirt of it how about vivians shoes she asked hes walking on his uppers hes welcome to my old moccasins they may last out our port ages though ears reddened he accepted the castoff footgear of the man from whom he had sought to bilk a claim worth at least a million dollars he could not refuse his thick shoe soles had scuffed through on the rocks that the pliant rawhide moccasins passed over with slight wear when garth launched the canoe he be fastened it to the bank with a line made from the trimmings of the moose hides for anchor he used the knapsack with its weight of platinum alloy may as well make it useful he met look of moody protest you are to have the bow seat and so can continue to guard my 60 per cent along with A clap of thunder and the swish of a wind gust through the birch tops checked barths banter he spoke a quick order leanto the blanket on that knoll between the trees front this way A glance at the onrushing black clouds cloud S of the thunderstorm sent even buxby hurrying to help the others while they tied the upper corners comers of the blanket with rawhide thongs and weighted the back edge with logs garth pulled the canoe ashore and placed it bottom side up over the smoke racks when three hours later the crashing thunderstorm passed over and the heavy downpour of rain ceased all the party were wet from the drip through the blanket but the fire still smoldered and the half smoked meat was dry under the canoe had you been used to canoeing in g garth said we need not have lost all this time but you 11 get enough drench ings later on wring out the blanket and fetch the meat he launched the canoe again unaided and directed the others to their places all had to kneel facing the narrower prow of the double stemmed craft first came buxby with his treasure bag for kneepad knee pad lilith knelt on the front part of the lengthwise folded blanket her father had the end of the blanket behind her at the wobble of the unsteady craft he squatted back on his heels and clutched the gunwales gunzales gun wales the others held to willow branches while garth loaded in the meat behind his own place he stepped aboard and began to paddle with a steady stroke that sent the canoe stream gliding out into the swamp A paddle lay beside each of the others lilith was first to dip hers at a murmured word from her buxby followed suit both of them had done a bit of amateur canoeing at the fashionable beaches they were able to tart in at once and help a little but two days passed before mr camill gained enough balance and assurance to rise on his knees and try stroking his paddle even after this garth had to bear the brunt of the heavy work much of the time the others were forced to stop off to get the cramp out of their knees or rest their arms and when they paddled their unskilled stroke kept garth twisting his own stroke to I 1 keep cep I 1 the canoe from being swerved from side to side like a ship with the yaws had work been the only consideration he would as soon have done it all there were however creaso reasons ns for more speed than he could make alone with the heavily loaded skin covered craft the summer W was as now far al along on th the e days were rapidly shortening the nights becoming colder and darker delay would mean a serious ous hance chance c of being caught in an early e ar I 1 y autumn blizzard even lilith ra mill might not be able to survive an allday all day drive of sleet such a storm would WO d undoubtedly kill her father and not improbably hux by also persistent use of the paddles paddies would continue the toughening of the three it would also quicken the speed of the canoe as they acquired skill from practice he himself kept to his stroke like the bom voyager he was dipping his paddle for hour after hour his steady pull never varied except when at long intervals he shifted the paddle over to the other side he stopped that stroke only when landings had to be made for food or sleep on the third day lilith attempted to keep stroke with him she paddled until so exhausted that she broke down and wept after that buxby quit less often though I 1 he never came so near to overtly ing hi himself M self they had twice camped on muskeg the third afternoon brought them to broken ridges where the stream dashed through a gorge so far as could be seen the rapids looked easy to shoot but garth said it was a portage he slung a pack from his and took the canoe on his shoulders the total load was a full pounds at sight of it the others took on all the rest of the meat and equipment for miles garth led them up and down rocky slopes through brush and bogs twice they skirted sheer falls that showed why he had taken to land at last below the lower falche fall he launched the canoe in the eddy of a deep pool the others sank down on the bank outspent he built a fire and boiled tea for them they expected to camp overnight he ordered them back into the canoe cant chance waiting here may be too foggy to see tomorrow he explained sit flat in the bottom and keep your P paddles paddies ad inboard they understood when a few strokes of his paddle brought the canoe to the foot of the pool for a long two miles they crouched low in the bottom while the frail craft glanced down the foaming swirling torrent of white water garth smiled at their cowering backs he had often shot worse rapids and he had been down these once before skillfully as an indian he drove the canoe clear of dangerous whirlpools and dodged past rocks with deft twists of his paddle at the foot of the rapids he headed in alongside a bit of gravelly beach and helped mr camill and lilith ashore when he remarked that there was gold in the gravel buxby nearly upset the canoe in his haste to get out and look gold why we bring the gold pan garth laughed and st reached out on the dry grass above the gravel gallant gentleman your lady is building the f fire ire dont mind him vivian lilith chimed in on the banter you can use the cup for panning I 1 need only the pot to boil tea buxby glanced sidelong at garth and hastened to help the girl her father had flattened out beside garth with a yawn garth stretched up his arms and let them fall the left one came down across the millionaires body thel the back of the hand felt a lump under the leather coat buxby had not again gained possession of the pistol nothing would have been easier than to have pulled out the weapon and flung it into the stream the impulse to do so passed as quickly as it flashed into barths mind he was not the kind of sportsman who shoots lions from a boma or tigers from the backs of elephants there is far more sport stalking a beast that has a chance to kill the stalker to be continued |