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Show M Vaniihed Men g U A Cy GEORGE MARSH Ca U 0 THE STORY SO FAR: Six men traveled trav-eled the Chibougamau trail and six men died. Later they were reported report-ed drowned. Murder Is suspected. Garry F inlay, brother of one of the six; Bed M alone. Mounted Police officers, INSTALLMENT EIGHTEEN and Blaise, half-breed guide, posing as surveyors, arrive at Nottaway to investigate. inves-tigate. Isadore, rich fur man, is thought to have made a gold strike and aims to keep prospectors out. Later they visit Isadore at his magnificent home and meet Lise, his stepdaughter. Finlay talis in love with her. Later they land on an island and are attacked by Indians. They learo that Isadore's men are hunting hunt-ing them and tense themselves as they bear the gunmen approaching. Before the three men could drop to the beach below, where the canoe lay, there was the sound of something some-thing approaching over the shore path. "Club 'em with your gun, Blaise! Don't make a noise!" "Here dey are!" With the impact of a sledge-hammer Red's clubbed .45 dropped the first man senseless. Finlay's heavy pistol glanced from the face of the next and he fell with a scream. In his surprise the third Montagnais fired his rifle in the air as a blocky body lunged into him carrying him to the ground. But the damage was done. The bush was now full of yelling Montagnais headed for the sounds. "Launch the canoe, Blaise, while we stand them off!" cried Finlay. As the Peterboro shot past the point and into the moonlight a canoe broke from the shore shadows to bar their path. "Everyone down!" warned Garry. The three paddlers flattened as spurts of flame leaped from the birchbark. But in the half-light the aim from the moving boat was poor. "Don't shoot! Run 'em down!" ordered or-dered Finlay. The Peterboro leaped to the drive of the maple blades. With a crash the bow of the wooden craft knifed through the birchbark, amidships, rolling her under with its momentum. momen-tum. Before they could fire again y- -"Just got your note! I'll wait at the nearest island, tonight, tomorrow tomor-row and every night following, for your canoe. Courage! I love you! "Garry." That night, before the twilight died, Finlay and Red lay in the thick alders of the shore of the island opposite op-posite Isadore's with binoculars focused fo-cused on the anchored sea-plane and the post. Later, lights, like stars, glowed In the trade-house and the living quarters. The lights died. Hour after hour the two men waited. wait-ed. But Lise did not come. "She'll come tonight, Garry. Don't worry." "Somehow we've got to learn why that plane comes here from James Bay before we go after Isadore." "We know she carries flake gold and nuggets from the river bars when she finally heads south. Isadore admitted that to McNab, at Mata-gami." Mata-gami." "Get shot for our pains and, besides, be-sides, spoil the whole show? No, I'm going to learn more about that plane from the Bay first We can't arrest Isadore without a gun fight." "Very good. Sergeant Finlay! What are the orders?" laughed Red. "You'll get them, constable, when that plane shows up." At daylight the faint hum of a plane's engine brought the police from their hidden camp to the shore. Far across the lake, above Isa- Jt- Because I love you!" she whispered, while Red paddled hard for the camp. "Oh, my dear! My dear!" murmured mur-mured Garry, shielding her body with his own from the night air. "I've worried so been half mad!" "It was too terrible, there! They're drinking and worried! I bad to threaten to shoot Blondell." His arms tightened around her. "Mind? I love it, beautiful!" "You seem to!" she laughed up at him. Then she called out to Red whose thoughts were far away at Matagami as he drove his long paddle. "Not going to speak, Mr. Malone?" "It's Red to you, Lise! If you knew how glad I am to have you here! We've been pretty worried! I want to say they don't come any gamer than you!" "Thanks, Red!" Blaise stared open - mouthed as Garry led a girl wearing his coat over a one-piece bathing suit up to the fire. "Blaise, this is Lise. We picked her out of the lake, swimming to the island." "You swim in de dark?" demanded de-manded the astounded Brassard. "By gar, you are brave girl! Tiens! She swim from Isadore's in dis black night?" Shortly the group of men smoking by the fire burst into laughter. Stiff in front of the tent with hand at salute stood a mounted Policeman. "So you're Mounties? I've wondered won-dered what you really were. Jules Isadore has been wondering, too. He's pretty worried about it. Now that I've fallen into the hands of the police, what am I charged with?", she laughed. "You are charged with the felony of scaring two policemen half to death by swimming to this' island, young woman." "I had to." For a space her face was serious, then a smile broke through as Finlay handed her a steaming cup of tea. The others left Lise and Garry by the fire while she told him her story. 'Since Felix Blondell came it's been hellish, Garry. They do nothing noth-ing at night but drink and quarrel. I've learned what I could from Co-rinne. Co-rinne. She's absolutely petrified. When Tete-BIanche returned, Jules was mad with rage at what happened. hap-pened. It seems Kinebik is dead. Did you know that?" Garry's arm tightened about her waist. "Yes, I know it." "Well, Tete-BIanche brought back a lot of drunken young Indians to hunt for you. Blondell is getting scared. He wants to return south." "They're anxious about that plane from the Bay. It's overdue. They think, now, that that's what you came here for to get that plane. Corinne asked Blondell if that was the plane that carried the gold south and he looked at her queerly and said: 'Yes, it carries the gold. That's what these people are here for, to highjack it, but we've got enough men here to shoot them out of their canoes if they try that.' Garry, you're not going to try to take Isadore Isa-dore just you three, are you? He's got a lot of Indians over there and he's desperate." tne tnree Montagnais were In the water. With a lunge of his long stern blade Blaise pushed the filled shell of the birchbark clear of the Peterboro's stern. Then the maple paddles bowed as the three friends drove their craft through the moonlit moon-lit water and into the protecting shadows of the opposite shore. "Close shave!" panted Finlay, "but we made it!" CHAPTER XVIII Late that night, when Wabistan's canoe found the hidden camp of the police, the eyes of the old ,Indian glittered with triumph. "You not hurt?" he asked, squinting squint-ing into the faces of his friends as they wrung his hand. "Not scratch, chief!" Red patted pat-ted the old man's shoulder. "I'm glad we got clear of that canoe without using our guns," said Finlay. "Too many men have been shot here this summer." "But it was their lives or ours, Garry. Tete-BIanche and his whiskey-fed crew would snuff us out as they would a candle!" "I know, but headquarters may not see it that way. I'm sorry it had to be done." With Flame and young Patamish, who was devoted to Finlay and would be useful as a scout, the Peterboro Pe-terboro started at once through the Islands, hugging the shadows of the western shores, for the moon was now low on the ridges. The following night they reached their old camp and Patamish started start-ed with Finlay's message. Before dawn Garry" was waked by something some-thing pulling at his blanket. "Patamish!" whispered the boy. "I find dis undair stone." Finlav's hand shook as he took the "They'll make It hot for us, now." dore's, they saw a sea-plane spiralling spiral-ling for altitude. The plane started for the outlet, twenty miles to the west, and, later appeared following the south shore. "Tete-BIanche is back with the news and they're out for revenge," said Red. "They'll make it hot for us, now." The plane passed overhead following follow-ing the lake shore and the concealed con-cealed police could see a man leaning lean-ing from the cockpit searching the shore below with glasses. Shortly it faded into the east He drew her red-coated shape close and kissed the velvet eyes that searched his bronzed face. "Don't worry about that, Lise. You don't think I'm going to risk losing you when I've only just got you here safe?" CHAPTER XIX The following night six canoes drifted silently up to the hidden police camp. It was Wabistan and his friends. Finlay decided that it was time to reveal his identity to the old man. He drew him to one side with Blaise. "Tell Wabistan who we are, Blaise, and why we are here." The eyes of the old chief glowed like black tourmalines. "Wabistan navare forget. He come to help his fr'en'." "We must wait until the flying canoe ca-noe comes from the North," said Finlay. "Then we'll go to Isadore's." Isa-dore's." "Yes, we wait," agreed the old man. "We wait." He turned to Blaise and spoke rapidly in Montagnais. "Wabistan say he go to Matagami for flour, shell and tobacco. He come back in t'ree-four day. He start now." On the morning of the fourth day after Wabistan's departure for Matagami. Mat-agami. Finlay and Red were watching watch-ing the post through binoculars from the shore of one of the islands. "He's got a regiment of Indians over there. Red," said Garry. "It looks as if we'd bitten off a large chunk of trouble." "We sure have. Red." "But we're going in just the same and grab that ship." "We are. Red." That night, on returning from the lake with water. Blaise called to Finlay where he sat with Lise by the fire. "Come to de shore! I show you somet'ing." (TO BE COSTl.WED) note, lit a candle lantern and read: "Dearest: "It has seemed so long this waiting wait-ing for you. Blondell is expected now, any day. Everyone except Jules and Labelle are at the head of the lake. I tried to learn what was happening there, but could not They haven't returned. Jules is drinking hard. Corinne heard him tell Labelle that if you saw that plane arrive from the North and got away with the Information, the jig was up. I don't understand for he knows that people In Montreal suspect he's shipping gold south by plane. That's no secret. I've tried to avoid him but he cornered me last night and said: 'You'll never see your friend agaiq. He's walked into a trap, nosing around this lake. We'll take care of him this time. So, when Felix comes, you'd better agree to marry him. He's got plenty stowed away in Montreal can give you anything you want. If you won't be reasonable, you can take the con- 3 sequences.' "Dearest, I'll not stay a day after that plane arrives. I'll take Louis end camp somewhere in the bush. Send for me! Oh, send for me! Let me know, quick, that nothing's happened hap-pened to you! With all my love, "Lise." "You went to the post to find Mik-lsis?" Mik-lsis?" asked Finlay. He could feel the drumbeat of his heart in his throat "Ah-hah! Mikisis was gone. Somet'ing Some-t'ing strange was dcre, on de water!" wa-ter!" "On the water?" The news he dreaded hit Finlay like the chill of ice. "What was it?" "Becg cano' wid wing like gull!" In his remorse Finlay crushed Lise's note in his hand. Blondell's plane had reached Waswanipi! He found a scrap of paper and wrote: "It's the middle of August Red. That plane from the Bay is due." That night they waited on the shore of the island for Lise's canoe. ca-noe. Hour after hour drifted past but through the murk came no welcome wel-come sound of a paddle prying off a gunwale. Finlay slouched on a stone, head in hands. What had happened to her? She had said she wouldn't stay a day after the plane arrived. She had begged him to send for her. She had had two days to get the note. What had happened to Lise? He looked at the illuminated face of his watch. It was one o'clock. They had waited five hours. "She won't come tonight, Red," he said, rising. "No, she won't " Malone did not finish. "Hear something?" "Didn't you? It was pretty faint might have been a loon!" The two men stood rigid with checked breaths. They paddled hard for a minute, then stopped to listen. Suddenly out of the gloom, ahead, wavered the cry: "Gar-ree! Gar-ree! Help!" Eyes stabbing the gloom in search of the crippled canoe, the two men approached the sound. "Where are you, Lise? Where's your boat?" "Here I am. here!" There was a f'aint splash off the bow of the canoe and Finlay's straining eyes caught the dim outlines of a head and bare shoulder. "Hold it Red!" he cried. "She's here swimming! Steady the boat while I get her!" "But your canoe? Why did you try to swim it?" "I had to swim! They hid the canoe! ca-noe! I I couldn't stay! I thought I'd never make it!" "Why did you do it? It was too " With a laugh she threw back her head and kissed him. "That's why! |