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diff --git a/old/52385-0.txt b/old/52385-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index bc4efed..0000000 --- a/old/52385-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6725 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, Dick Kent with the Malemute Mail, by Milo -Milton Oblinger - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: Dick Kent with the Malemute Mail - - -Author: Milo Milton Oblinger - - - -Release Date: June 21, 2016 [eBook #52385] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK KENT WITH THE MALEMUTE MAIL*** - - -E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan, and the -Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustrations. - See 52385-h.htm or 52385-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52385/52385-h/52385-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/52385/52385-h.zip) - - -Transcriber’s note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - - - - -[Illustration: “Bring the two white men here at once,” he ordered. (Page -216)] - - -DICK KENT WITH THE MALEMUTE MAIL - -by - -MILTON RICHARDS - -Author of -“Dick Kent with the Mounted Police” -“Dick Kent in the Far North” -“Dick Kent with the Eskimos” -“Dick Kent, Fur Trader” - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Logo] - -The Saalfield Publishing Company -Akron, Ohio New York - -Copyright MCMXXVII -The Saalfield Publishing Company -Made in the United States of America - - - - -Contents - - CHAPTER PAGE - I A Creeping Menace 3 - II Inspector Cameron Takes Charge 11 - III Smoke! 17 - IV The Fire Patrol 28 - V Mackenzie River Post 38 - VI Ships From the Stars 49 - VII Returning Memory 57 - VIII The Toll of the North 66 - IX Cameron Feels the Strain 74 - X The Mutineer 81 - XI Phantoms of the Storm 92 - XII A Hungry Prowler 102 - XIII The Lone Cabin 112 - XIV Outwitted 122 - XV Bill and Thomas 135 - XVI An Indian with Boots 144 - XVII The Pursuit 154 - XVIII The Return to Camp 165 - XIX The End of the Journey 175 - XX The Night Patrol 184 - XXI Disaster Looms 194 - XXII When Moments Are Eternity 205 - XXIII Back at the Mission 217 - XXIV A Trek Homeward 223 - - - - - DICK KENT WITH THE - MALEMUTE MAIL - - - - - CHAPTER I - A CREEPING MENACE - - -A discouraged, dishevelled human figure crossed a narrow woodland to the -west of a chain of hills, thence made his way slowly down to a sun-baked -valley or depression, many miles in extent. The valley was rough, -broken, repellent to the eye. For the most part unverdant, it ran in a -northeasterly direction—bleak, uninviting, monotonous—here and there -rutted with long gray drifts of silt and sand. - -No trail of any sort traversed that sinister, malevolent wild. Except -for an occasional poplar or charred, broken stump of spruce or -jack-pine, there were few landmarks to relieve the discouraging -prospect. However, at one end of the valley, scintillating like a silver -coin in the bright rays of the sun, the traveller discerned a small -lake, fringed with green. - -In the center of the narrow green strip, on one side of the lake, stood -the cabin of a prospector. The traveller regarded it impassively for a -moment before he went on. - -Still hours high, the sun struck its bright rays across the land: a -glare of white in the somnolent valley, a sheen of mirrored brilliance -where it radiated over the placid, blue waters of the lake. A deep hush -had fallen over the earth. Below the wide, azure arch of the sky -feathered voyagers of the air coasted silently to unknown haunts, -apparently the only living things in the dead gray world around them. - -The figure hurried on. The sight of the cabin had acted as a slight spur -to his jaded body. He pushed forward steadily until he had made his way -over the narrow strip of green and up the path to the house. He knocked -listlessly at the door, then stood silently, as might a criminal -awaiting the heavy hand of the law. - -A half-breed admitted him, white teeth shining in an expansive welcoming -grin. - -“Come in, Meester Davis. By Gar!—et ees good. You!” - -An old man hobbled excitedly across the room, his long white beard -flaring out in the sudden breeze from the doorway. His palsied, -rheumatic hands crept up slowly to the younger man’s shoulders and -remained there for a moment in silence. - -“Davis,” he declared simply, “you are welcome back.” - -A wan smile parted the other’s lips. - -“I’m glad to see you again, Mr. Harbinson.” - -The old man motioned to a rough, worn bench. “Sit down, man, sit down. -You must be tired.” He turned to the half-breed. “Baptiste, hurry -something to eat for Mr. Davis.” - -While the preparations for the meal were proceeding, the old man talked -steadily. Presently Davis, unable longer to postpone the ordeal, face -red with humiliation, blurted out: - -“Mr. Harbinson, I did not succeed in my mission. I have failed.” - -“Failed!” exclaimed the old man. - -“Yes,” Davis rose from his seat, voice quavering, “yes, I can see no -hope for us. The doctor was gone. I got nothing. Nothing!” - -Gloomily he paced back and forth across the rough floor of the sparsely -furnished room. The eyes of the white prospector and the half-breed -followed him curiously. - -“I was afraid of that,” Harbinson declared presently, “I knew you had a -chance of missing him. It is a terrible thing!” - -Davis stopped short in the middle of his nervous pacing and raised one -arm in a hopeless gesture. - -“Even if I’d seen him, it might have done us no good. The entire north -country is undermined with the thing, especially among the Indians. It’s -working gradually south. The missions are filled to overflowing.” His -voice lowered to a husky whisper. “It’s awful, Harbinson. Awful!” - -The old man gazed dully at his partner through a long interval of -silence. Davis spoke again: - -“Since I left here two weeks ago, has there been any new development?” -He looked searchingly at the other. - -“Yes, it’s reached the village.” - -“That’s only ten miles away,” Davis calculated roughly. “How did you -find this out? Send Baptiste?” - -“No. Pierre La Lond passed here two days ago and told us.” - -“You didn’t let him in?” - -Harbinson evaded the other’s eyes. Baptiste, advancing to the table with -a steaming kettle swinging from one hand, stopped short and shot a -questioning gaze at the two. - -“Yes, I couldn’t stop him. We were busy at something. He opened the door -and walked in. It was too late then.” - -“That’s unfortunate,” Davis scowled. “He should have known better.” - -“But what am I to do? Sooner or later, we’ll be exposed. We can’t always -be isolated. Another thing, we’ll soon need more supplies. Our -grubstake’s getting low.” - -“There’s the post thirty miles south of here.” - -“Closed up,” said Harbinson briefly. “La Lond told us that too. Won’t be -able to get any supplies there.” - -“We’ll live on a meat diet then,” Davis declared grimly. - -“Scurvy!” - -“That’s much better than the horror of this other thing.” - -Harbinson did not reply. Stillness fell over the room again. Davis -resumed his seat on the rough bench and sat with his head in his hands -until Baptiste announced that the meal was ready. As he ate, the young -prospector could hear Harbinson’s asthmatic breathing and the scraping -of the half-breed’s moccasined feet across the floor. - -Hungry though he had been, he had little taste for food. His mind was -too much upset. The disappointing news he had brought back to his -partner, he well knew had been a heavy blow indeed. - -Later, the three men walked outside, seeking the warm sunshine that fell -aslant across the land. The lake still shimmered under the bright glare. -A few birds winged their way across the sky. Desolate at all times, the -sleepy valley now held no trace of life anywhere. Off to the westward -the hills and rocks formed a dun labyrinth, and from the crest of the -nearest slope one looked down over heights and depths, broken ridges, -crooked valleys—all pervaded, choked with an awful solitude. - -“Well,” croaked the old prospector finally, “what’s to be done? We’ve -not only ourselves to think about—but others. It’s late in the fall now. -By spring there won’t be a single soul north of the Mackenzie.” - -Davis studied the problem, as he had done almost continually since he -had left Fort Garrison a week before. - -“Only one thing we can do,” he answered quietly. - -“What’s that?” - -“Notify the police. It’s our only hope.” - -“I hadn’t thought about that,” said Harbinson brightening. “You’d go to -the Mackenzie River Barracks?” - -“Yes, I’ll carry the news there. It will be much quicker than to wait -for their regular patrol. I know Inspector Cameron. He’ll act promptly.” - -“Hate to see you start out again, Davis, so soon.” - -“It can’t be helped. I’ll leave in the morning. But this time, -Harbinson, let me warn you. Keep everybody away. Do you hear? Nobody -must come here. If necessary, enforce this rule at the point of a gun. -But enforce it you must.” - -The hands of the old prospector were shaking. He thrust them in his -pockets to hide the fact from his partner. But he could not conceal from -the other’s inquiring gaze the flush that flooded his cheeks, the -unearthly sparkle of his eyes. - -“You’re not feeling well,” accused the younger man. - -“No! No! I’m all right. Don’t think that,” quavered Harbinson. “It’s not -that.” - -The young man, apparently, believed him. - -“It’s the worry, I suppose. But forget it, Charley. We’ll beat this -thing yet. Inspector Cameron will see the necessity of doing something -at once. You can always rely on the mounted.” - -For the remainder of the day nothing more was said on the subject. -Baptiste and the younger man busied themselves about the place, while -Harbinson retired to his bunk and slept for several hours. On the -following morning, when Davis rose early, neither the old man nor the -half-breed were astir. He prepared a hasty breakfast, deciding not to -wake either one of them. In another hour he would be on the trail. - -But Harbinson, it appeared, had not slept well. He had rolled and tossed -in a high fever. He lay now in his bunk, his glassy eyes furtively -watching his partner. When chance took Davis close to the bunk, he -closed his eyes, feigning sleep. This simulation continued until the -younger man had completed his preparations and had departed. An -indescribable look flitted over the old prospector’s unutterably weary -and fevered face. His lips trembled a phrase: - -“Out in time, thank God!—good luck!” - -Then he slid over to the side of his bunk, dressed with trembling haste -and, hobbling over, began ransacking a crude pine box, containing -articles of apparel. Finally, he found the object of his search: a red -flannel shirt, which he tore apart. - -He crossed the room with the garment under his arm, picked up a hammer -by the door and stole outside. He reappeared less than two minutes -later, staggering toward his bunk. His expression was pathetic. He made -several futile efforts to remove his clothes. In the hollow of his -cheeks, over his forehead, along each side of his neck a raging -temperature had left its seal. - -Twenty minutes later, when Baptiste rose noiselessly and went outside, -he started back in amazement. Again his gaze went back, as if -fascinated, to the flannel signal, fluttering just above the door. A -groan escaped him. - -“Mon Dieu! Mon Dieu!” he choked. “Et ees zee red flag of quarantine!” - - - - - CHAPTER II - INSPECTOR CAMERON TAKES CHARGE - - -The orderly approached Inspector Cameron’s desk and saluted. - -“Man here, sir, from up-country. Calls himself Davis. Wants to see you, -sir.” - -“What about?” snapped the inspector. - -“He didn’t say, sir, except that it was something important. Says he -knows you.” - -“Davis—Davis——” mused Cameron, chewing reflectively on his cigar. -“Perhaps I do. Yes—young prospector from up near Garrison. Show him in.” - -Inspector Cameron’s brow wrinkled when the man appeared. If he had ever -seen this uncouth fellow before, he could not place him. Surely this was -not the Davis he knew. Why this man looked old—a heavy black beard, hair -unkempt, disreputable, dirty clothing. But the voice—hah!——Davis after -all, the Davis he knew. He extended a hand. - -“Heavens, man, how you deceived me. You look terrible. What’s happened? -Nothing serious, I hope.” - -The visitor dropped into a seat with a sigh of weariness. - -“Couldn’t be much worse, inspector. I’ve trekked three hundred miles. -Tired. Sleepy. About all in. You see——” - -“Yes, Davis. What is it?” - -“Smallpox!” - -Cameron’s face blanched. - -“You don’t say. How bad?” - -“Terrible. My country’s rotten with it. Whole villages gone. Mostly -among the Indians so far. But the whites are getting it too. Fort -Garrison has closed its doors. I saw the red flag of quarantine waving -from twenty different cabins on my way here.” - -Cameron’s jaws clamped over his cigar and his steel eyes flecked. - -“Why haven’t I heard about this before?” he demanded. “It’s only two -months since we patroled that region.” - -“There wasn’t a trace of it then,” Davis informed him. “You know how -these things come. Suddenly. No explaining it. Two weeks after I heard -about the first case, it had ravaged the whole countryside.” - -“Have you been exposed yourself?” - -“Not that I know of.” - -The inspector leaned back in his chair, his arms folded, his gaze -seeming to rest upon the papers in the letter-tray on his desk. He -picked up his fountain pen and turned it thoughtfully in his hand. - -“This thing couldn’t have come at a more inopportune time. Richardson is -off on patrol and won’t be back for three weeks. Three days ago a murder -was committed over at Run River, and Pearly has gone to investigate. -Corporal Rand is confined to barracks here, suffering from an attack of -pneumonia. I haven’t an available man right now.” - -“But what’s to be done? How do you propose to combat this thing? Haven’t -you a supply of medicine here at barracks?” - -“If I had a room full of it, it wouldn’t help us in the least. There’s -only one antidote. You inject it in the arm with a hypodermic needle.” - -“Where can this stuff be obtained?” - -“Big cities outside. The only places. Edmonton is the closest.” - -“Hopeless!” gasped Davis. “Half the population of the North will be -swept out of existence before you can get help from there.” - -Cameron shook his head. - -“Not quite as bad as that, I hope. We have the government telegraph and -the radio. Within twenty-four hours Edmonton will send out a relief -expedition. We’ll meet them.” - -As he spoke, the inspector reached forward and touched the buzzer on his -desk. The orderly appeared, saluted. - -“Get me the swiftest Indian runner you can find. Send him here. I want -you to hurry, constable.” - -Then Cameron drew a sheet of paper towards him and began to write. When -he had finished, Davis inquired: - -“I suppose it will be necessary to wait until one of your men returns -before you send out someone to meet that relief party?” - -“No, not in this emergency. I’ve already decided. There are three young -men living over at Fort Good Faith who will be glad to help me. One is a -nephew of Factor MacClaren, another a young chap named Dick Kent, while -the third boy is a young Indian scout called Toma. Two of them, Kent and -Toma, we had planned to send to the mounted police training barracks at -Regina last year, but the school was crowded and they have been -compelled to remain here awaiting further word from the commissioner.” - -“These boys are dependable, you say?” - -“Absolutely.” - -Davis eyed the other reflectively. - -“I can go myself if you wish, inspector.” - -“You’re in no condition,” Cameron replied promptly. “What you need is a -rest. But don’t worry about this thing, Davis. We’ll be able to check it -before many weeks.” - -“Weeks!” Davis’ voice was sepulchral. - -“Yes, weeks,” Cameron reiterated. “And we can be glad that it isn’t -months.” - -He turned to the papers lying on his desk with a gesture of dismissal. - -“Drop in at the barracks and they’ll fix you up. I’d like to thank you -for bringing me this information, Mr. Davis.” - -Soon after Davis had gone, the orderly entered the room, accompanied by -a tall, sinewy young man, the Indian runner. The police official greeted -the native with a curt nod, rose and pressed an envelope in his hand. - -“Take this to Dick Kent at Fort Good Faith. He’s a young man about your -own age. Hurry through as quickly as you can. It is very important. I -will pay you well.” - -The Indian smiled as he tucked the letter away in an inner pocket, -grinned again for no apparent reason and stalked silently out of the -room. The orderly still stood, waiting for his own dismissal. Cameron -regarded his subordinate for a moment, then turned quickly and hurried -over to his desk. - -“Constable, we have much to do. Smallpox epidemic in the country north -of us. Sweeping down this way. Very serious condition. We must move -quickly. I’ll ask you to wait here while I write a message to be sent -out by telegraph to Edmonton. Instruct Mr. Cooley, the operator, to -repeat his message at least three times.” - -The orderly saluted, but made no reply. Like a red-coated statue, he -stood while Cameron wrote quickly. He received the message with another -salute, turned on his heel, his spurs clattering as he strode to the -door. The inspector breathed a sigh of relief. - -“Well, that’s settled.” - -His brow wrinkled with thought. Slowly he turned again to the work -before him. He was busy when the door opened and the orderly reappeared. -One look at the face of his subordinate told him that something was -amiss. - -“Yes, Whitehall, what’s the matter now?” - -The orderly hesitated, clearing his throat. - -“I’m sorry to report, sir, that we won’t be able to establish -communication with Edmonton or outside points. The wires are down. Big -forest fire raging to the south of us, sir. The operator says it will be -days before the damage can be repaired.” - -In his agitation, the inspector again rose to his feet. His eyes -snapped. - -“Tell Mr. O’Malley, our radio expert, I want to see him. Bring him here -at once.” - -Whitehall saluted and went out. - - - - - CHAPTER III - SMOKE! - - -Sandy MacClaren put down the moccasin he had been attempting to patch -and turned to his friend, Dick Kent, who had been listening attentively -to Sandy’s absorbing narrative. The story dealt with the exciting -experiences of one Clement McTavish, Scotch prospector and trapper, who -had returned from the foothills a few days before. McTavish had -relinquished his former trap-line, seceding his claims to a more -ambitious enemy—a colony of murderous grizzlies. - -Dick laughed. “You mean, Sandy, that those grizzlies drove him out?” - -Sandy picked up the moccasin again and scowled at the results of his -handiwork. - -“Exactly. They drove him out. And he was glad to go, too. There wasn’t -just one or two to contend with—but a whole regiment. The country was -simply infested with ’em. McTavish is so badly frightened that you -couldn’t get him to go back with a bodyguard.” - -“I think I talk McTavish,” Toma began eagerly. “Where you say he find -all these bad grizzlies?” - -“Four miles east of Lake Florence.” - -“I think I like to go there,” Toma made the assertion as calmly, as -unconcernedly, as if he spoke of entering the next room. - -“Me too,” said Dick, quite ungrammatically. “I’d like to investigate -that story. My personal opinion is that McTavish was spoofing you.” - -“Sure,” retorted Sandy. “What I thought myself. But there are a few -things rather difficult to explain. McTavish brought back five grizzly -pelts and his arm in a sling. Killed five of ’em! Think of that! But in -a fight with one of them he got clawed up. Hurt pretty bad.” - -“I’m going,” said Dick with quiet determination. - -“I go too,” Toma echoed. - -“Well, if you fellows are willing to risk it,” declared Sandy, not very -enthusiastically, “you’d better include me in your party. Personally, -I’m not very keen about going. I’ll have another talk with McTavish -and——” - -A knock sounded at the door. - -“Come in!” Sandy shouted. - -Factor MacClaren stood framed in the doorway. - -“Thought I’d find you here. Dick,—someone to see you. A runner from -Mackenzie River. It’s important. He’s waiting out in the trading room.” - -Dick rose excitedly and streaked for the door. He pushed his way past -the factor, hurried down the hallway and soon emerged in the spacious -storeroom of the company. For a brief interval he paused, gaze darting -through the crowd, then made his way unerringly to a tall young Indian, -who stood waiting near the counter. - -“I’m Dick Kent,” said that young man. - -“By Gar, monsieur, I glad I find you here. Et ees veree important thees -letter from Inspector Cameron. He told me to geeve et in your own -hands.” - -With trembling fingers Dick broke the seal. He read: - - “Mr. Richard Kent, - “Fort Good Faith, - “Province of Alberta. - - “Dear Richard: - - “I am compelled to ask you and your two friends, Sandy MacClaren and - John Toma, to undertake a very urgent and important journey on behalf - of the people in this territory. I received this morning the news of a - terrible smallpox epidemic, two hundred miles northwest of here—an - epidemic which can only be checked through the media of outside help - and assistance. - - “You will proceed at once to Peace River Crossing and report there to - Inspector Anderson, who will give you further instructions. I have - notified Edmonton of our plight and have asked the authorities of that - city to send out a relief expedition, which you are to meet and - conduct back by the shortest route to Mackenzie River Barracks. - - “I need not impress upon you the necessity of haste. Many lives hang - in the balance. May good fortune attend you. - - “Sincerely, - “Jason C. Cameron, - “Inspector R. N. W. M. P., - “Mackenzie River Barracks.” - -His face very sober, Dick thrust the letter in his pocket, thanked the -messenger and hurried back through the hallway in time to meet Sandy and -Toma, both of whom were laughing and scuffling as they came up. - -“Hey! What is it?” Sandy piped out in a tone of voice intended to be -jocular. “Invitation to a wedding or a message from the War Department? -We’re dying to hear.” - -Sandy checked himself, however, as he perceived Dick’s serious look. - -“Why—what’s the matter?” - -“Smallpox north of the Mackenzie. A terrible epidemic. Inspector Cameron -has asked us to go south to meet a relief expedition, which is being -sent up from Edmonton. We leave at once.” - -“What! Right now?” - -“Just as soon as we can get ready. You boys pack your things together -while I see Mr. MacClaren and arrange for the supplies—our grubstake. -We’ll take our ponies for the first stage of the journey.” - -The boys separated hurriedly, each going to his own particular task, -nimble fingers and hands making short work of their preparations. Within -thirty minutes they had “packed” one of the company’s ponies and had -their own saddled and bridled. It was exactly two o’clock by the -factor’s watch when they bolted into their seats and waved an -enthusiastic farewell. A short time later they cantered across the -meadow and swung south on a well-beaten trail. - -At Fort Bentley, three days later, they secured fresh mounts and another -pack-horse. It was while they were resting for a few hours here that -they received their first disappointing news. - -“Big fire raging to the south of here,” stated Nesbitt, the factor. “The -area affected is wide—hundreds of square miles, lying on the east side -of the Peace. Unless you make a wide detour, you’ll never get through. -It will be impossible to travel along the direct route to Peace River -Crossing.” - -The faces of the three messengers fell. - -“Gosh!” exclaimed Sandy. - -“My advice to you,” Factor Nesbitt hurried on, “is to proceed straight -west to Fort Vermilion, thence travel along the west side of the river -until you reach the Crossing.” - -“Will there be any chance to get a boat at Vermilion?” Dick asked. - -“I should think so. Company boats will be running up to Peace until the -freeze-up.” - -The boys decided to go that way. Both Dick and Sandy had visited Fort -Vermilion on a previous occasion. They recalled with a great deal of -pleasure their meeting with Sheridan Lawrence, the intrepid pioneer, who -had achieved almost world-wide renown for his enterprise and foresight. -There in the heart of a wilderness were hundreds of acres of cultivated -fields, mills, an electric light plant, and the bustling activity of a -progressive modern village. - -Lawrence possessed launches and boats of his own and would be eager to -help in a worthy cause. With this valuable assistance, the boys would be -able to make the trip from Fort Vermilion to Peace River Crossing in a -very short time. - -“It’s our best plan,” approved Dick. “Do you suppose, Mr. Nesbitt, that -the fire has worked very far north?” - -“I couldn’t say. All I know is that it’s one of the worst we have had in -years. A trapper who arrived here yesterday from that region reported -that it had destroyed the government telegraph line and had completely -wiped out Jess Haldane’s trading post on Little Brush Creek.” - -“Little Brush Creek!” Sandy frowned at the information. “Why, that’s -only about twenty miles south of the trail we propose to take now—the -one to Fort Vermilion.” - -“No,” said Dick, turning to his chum. “It’s farther than that. I’d call -it a good fifty miles.” - -“Well, have your own way. But what’s fifty miles to a fire like that? By -the time we get there, it may be raging not only south but north of the -trail as well. You can’t deny it.” - -“It’s quite possible,” Dick agreed. - -“True enough,” appended Nesbitt. “I’m a little afraid that no matter -which way you go, south to Peace River Crossing or west to Fort -Vermilion, you stand a good chance of meeting the fire.” - -“Tell you what we can do,” proposed Sandy. “We’ll strike out for the -Peace, not west, but northwest of here and follow it up to Fort -Vermilion.” - -Dick and Nesbitt both laughed. - -“Take us hundreds of miles out of our way and through a country almost -impassable,” Dick objected. “Not a single trail to guide us. No, it -would be foolish to attempt it. Our best plan is to follow the Vermilion -trail and then, if necessary, circle around the fire.” - -With considerable misgiving, they started out. Three days from Fort -Bentley they made their way into an enveloping cloud of smoke, so thick -and dark that at times it was almost impossible to see the sun. It -formed a huge blanket which wrapped the earth. Hourly, it grew denser; -breathing more difficult. It soon became apparent that they would be -unable to get through. Turning to their right, they entered a densely -wooded area, groping and gasping for breath. At times it was almost as -dark as night. The smoke which settled around them was of a greenish -tinge. It crept up the coulees and hollows in twisting snake-like form, -while above the treetops swirled a heavy black cloud. - -That night the stars were hid, but off to the southeast the sky was an -orange curtain of fire. Its lurid glow lit up the horizon, a ghastly and -awesome sight, giving the impression that the earth itself was being -devastated, devoured by the ruthless monster of flame. - -On and on the boys hurried in an effort to pass safely around the -terrible conflagration. Worry and apprehension shadowed the faces of the -three as they paused for their evening meal. Little was said. Their eyes -were smarting and their throats burned. In spite of their weariness, the -ponies grew restless and frightened, pawing and stamping the ground, -sometimes raising their heads and, with distended nostrils, neighing -plaintively. - -Again the boys pushed on. Dick took the lead, wondering how much longer -he and his two companions could bear up under the strain. Fortunately -the coming of night did not interfere materially with their progress. -The forest was illuminated. The ghostly reflection of the fire was cast -across their path. - -Every hour was taking them closer and closer to the northern end of the -great conflagration. Not far ahead they could see the flaming blood-red -sheet. Its close proximity struck terror in their hearts. It was a race -with death. Their only advantage was the help of the wind, from the -northwest, whose chill, unabating blasts contrived to keep the oncoming -fury somewhat in check. If the wind fell, their only hope of escape lay -in a precipitous retreat to the north. - -“We’ll make it,” said Sandy, moistening his parched lips, “if that -northwester continues to hold. But it may die down before midnight. -Sometimes I think that it doesn’t blow as hard as it did a few hours -ago.” - -“We must get through, Sandy,” Dick declared grimly. “If necessary, we’ll -ride our horses until they drop. Think of the lives that hang in the -balance.” - -Shortly after midnight they approached so close to the fire that the -stillness through which they had been travelling gave place to a -rumbling, crackling roar. A withering, scorching heat came out to them. -The ponies seemed to stagger under their burdens. Dick, who was in the -lead, waved his arm encouragingly. - -“A few more miles,” he called. - -“No can make!” Toma’s voice suddenly rose above the deafening roar about -them. “My pony him no walk any farther.” - -Dick and Sandy dismounted quickly and went back to where the young -guide’s horse stood quivering and panting. Toma loosened the cinches and -drew off the saddle just as the exhausted beast sank to the ground. Each -one of the boys knew what was about to happen—what ought to be done—but -each waited for the others to move. - -“You take ’em what supplies you can from packhorse,” Toma ordered. - -“Yes,” said Dick, “the rest we’ll have to leave here. Throw your saddle -on the pack-horse, Toma, and lead him up where the other ponies are. -Wait there for me.” - -Sandy turned a white face in the direction of his chum. - -“Are you really going to do it, Dick?” he quavered. - -“Hate to,” answered the other, attempting to conceal the tremor in his -voice. “But hurry on, Sandy. I’ll join you in just a moment.” - -Determinedly he turned, one hand trembling above his holster and walked -over to where the doomed pony lay. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THE FIRE PATROL - - -A few hours before daybreak they had successfully circled the fire and -had reached a sparsely wooded height of land. So tired and worn out were -the three messengers, that as soon as they had picketed out their -ponies, they crawled into their blankets without troubling to prepare -something to eat. Dick had almost fallen asleep when he was startled by -a most peculiar sound—a sound so unusual and different from anything -that he had ever heard since coming to the northern wilderness, that he -sat bolt upright, wondering if his senses had not suddenly deserted him. - -The metallic thub, thub, thub grew louder. He sat staring in the -darkness, bewildered, a little frightened, and yet very curious to know -its cause. More than anything else, it sounded like a high-powered motor -boat, such as he had often seen and heard near his own home on the Great -Lakes, back in the United States. Yet it was not a motor boat. They were -still forty miles from the Peace River, and no body of water of any -extent lay between them and the river. - -Then, suddenly, he had it. An airplane! His mouth curved in a smile of -wonder and admiration. An airplane! What was it doing here? With an -unearthly howl, he bounded to his feet and was soon shaking Sandy and -Toma. - -“Wake up! Wake up!” he shouted. “Listen to that!” - -Daubing one hand across his sleep-dimmed eyes, Sandy gave vent to an -ejaculation: - -“For the love of Pete! Where did that come from?” - -Immediately he broke forth in a howl of glee, pointing a finger at Toma. -In all his long acquaintance with the young Indian, Dick had never seen -the guide display any great amount of fear; yet he was frightened now. -He sat huddled in his blankets, frozen with a nameless panic. Here was -something beyond his ken and experience—to him an inexplicable, -supernatural thing: A noise from the heavens, some horrible monster -swooping down upon them from the black vault of the sky. - -“What you—you call ’em that?” he finally stammered. - -“Airplane,” said Sandy. - -“A boat that flies through the air,” Dick elucidated. “What do you -suppose it’s doing here?” - -The sound grew louder and presently the plane alighted less than two -hundred yards away. The boys raced madly along through the darkness, -finally coming out in an open space, where they could see a dark blur -and hear the sound of voices. - -Approaching, Dick hailed them: - -“Hello there! Who is it?” - -“Dominion Government cruising plane, C 94,” came the prompt answer. “Put -out from Peace River Crossing to investigate this fire.” - -Two men stood beside the plane and when the boys came up plied them with -questions. Had they come through the fire? Were there many cabins -destroyed in the country north of there? Where were the boys going? - -Sandy and Dick gave them what information they could, in turn asking -many questions of their own. Then Dick stated their errand: - -“We’ve been sent out by Inspector Cameron to meet a relief party, which -is bringing help to the people suffering from smallpox in the remote -districts north of the Mackenzie. The situation is very serious. -Hundreds have already died from the disease and probably hundreds more -will before assistance can arrive.” - -Horace Alderby, one of the aviators, spoke up quickly: - -“Queer we didn’t hear anything about it when we left the Crossing. I -should think that if Inspector Cameron had wired to Edmonton the people -at Peace River——” - -“But look here, Horace,” interrupted the other, “have you forgotten that -the wires are down as a result of this fire?” - -“Why, yes, Randall, so I have,” laughed Alderby. “The line is clear from -Peace River Crossing to Edmonton, but north the service has been -disrupted. It is quite likely,” turning to the boys, “that your -Inspector Cameron has not been able to get in touch with Edmonton at -all.” - -“That’s too bad,” said Dick. “It makes it all the more important why we -should hurry on and send in the news from Peace River Crossing. Our plan -is to go over to Fort Vermilion and from there try to secure a ride up -the Peace in a steam or motor boat.” - -“That’s a good three days’ trip,” stated Alderby. “It’s fortunate we ran -across you.” - -“Why?” Sandy asked innocently. - -“Because,” the aviator replied, “we can take you over there ourselves -just as soon as we look over our motor.” - -“Did motor trouble force you to land?” Dick inquired. - -“Yes, but it’s nothing serious. We’ll have it ready in a jiffy.” - -“Trouble is,” said Randall, “there’s room only for one of you.” - -This statement immediately relieved Toma’s mind. He had begun to fear -that he would be asked to sail through the sky in the bowels of that -awesome monster—an invitation he had firmly decided to decline. - -“That’s all right me, Dick. Mebbe you or Sandy go, but I like stay here -with the ponies.” - -“Dick will have to go, of course,” Sandy stated, experiencing a moment -or two of regret as he looked at the plane and thought of the thrilling -ride through the clouds. “As Toma just said, he and I can remain here -with the ponies. We’ll make camp and wait for your return.” - -“Good heavens, you can’t do that!” Dick expostulated. “You’ll be in -danger here with the fire so close. You never can tell when the wind may -change and blow it this way.” - -“But we no stay here,” Toma enlightened him. “We go on to Fort -Vermilion. You come back that way.” - -It seemed a good arrangement and soon afterward Dick climbed aboard, -crouching down in the limited space assigned to him. He felt a little -nervous now that they were about to start. At the first crackling roar -of the powerful motor, his heart leaped up in his throat. He called out -something unintelligible to Sandy and Toma, grabbed for his hat as the -plane commenced bounding along the uneven ground, then stole one -frightened look over the side just as the earth commenced to drop away -from him in a manner that was both sickening and disconcerting. Nearly -ten minutes had passed before he had recovered sufficiently from the -shock to realize that he had actually started out on his first journey -through the air. - -“How do you like it?” asked Randall. - -“Do-o-n’t kn-n-ow yet,” he managed to articulate. “How long are we going -to be up here?” - -“Just a few hours,”—reassuringly. - -Just a few hours! Saints and martyrs! Could he stand it that long? When -minutes were terrible, what would hours be like? Instantly he dismissed -what remained of a once overpowering ambition to become an aviator. It -wasn’t exactly in his line anyway. He lacked the necessary physical -qualifications. He hadn’t realized it before, not until now, but his -stomach was weak. It felt as if there was a big hole there, through -which a current of cold air passed every few seconds at a terrific rate -of speed. It made him almost ill. - -In an effort to keep his thoughts in more comfortable channels, he -addressed himself to Randall: - -“You said this was a government plane?” - -“Yes,” came the ready answer, “one of five sent out to this north -country to assist in the prevention and control of forest fires. The -country will need all this valuable timber some day. Millions of dollars -going up in smoke. Time we put a stop to it.” - -Randall’s voice trailed off and became lost in the roar of the motor and -the screeching of the wind. Dick tried to stretch his legs. He tried to -sleep. He endeavored to accustom himself to the queer, unpleasant motion -of the plane. He was unutterably glad when he heard Alderby trumpeting -in Randall’s ear: - -“Crossing lights!” - -Dick steeled himself and looked down. Ahead and far below he perceived a -faint effulgence—like glow-worms shining feebly across a vale of -darkness. - -Not long afterward they began to descend. Hills took shape. The wide -ribbon of the Peace and the Hart, cascading down through the hills to -join it. The shape of trees, the rugged contours of the land and, -finally, straight below them, a level field, which seemed to come up, -up, up to meet them, and upon which, a short time later, they landed in -safety. - -“Here!” exclaimed the jovial voice of Alderby. - -In the chill, gray light of dawn, Dick followed Randall past the hangar -and into the town. His heart was beating jubilantly. - -His companion led the way through the streets of the little town, -pausing at length in front of a small brick building, which served as an -office for the government telegraph. The door was locked, but following -a short rattling at the knob, they were admitted by a sleepy operator, -who demanded to know their business. - -In a few words, Randall explained the reason for their early call. - -“We would like to know,” he continued, “if you have any information -concerning a smallpox epidemic in the north, or of a relief party which -has been sent out from Edmonton?” - -“Yes, I know something about it.” - -The operator invited them inside and switched on the lights. He in turn -asked a question of Randall: - -“Is this one of the young men Cameron instructed to come here to meet -the relief party?” - -Before Randall could answer, Dick produced the letter he had received -from the Indian messenger and handed it over. - -“That will serve as my introduction. Read it.” - -“Fine!” exclaimed the operator, glancing over the missive. “Yes, Cameron -got his message through. The relief expedition is already on its way.” - -“But I thought the government line was out of order, had been destroyed -by the fire north of here.” - -“So it was. Inspector Cameron’s s.o.s. was broadcast by radio from -Mackenzie River and someone in Edmonton picked it up. The message was -repeated again early this morning. It’s common property now all over the -province. Every available airplane in Edmonton and Calgary is being sent -up. A few of the planes ought to arrive any time. Also a special -passenger train is scheduled to arrive tonight.” - -“Can the airplanes go as far north as the Mackenzie?” Dick asked. - -Randall replied in the affirmative. “The only difficulty is to carry -enough gasoline.” - -“In that case,” said Dick, a little crestfallen, “our services will no -longer be required.” - -“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty to do,” laughed the operator. - -“Your troubles have only commenced,” smiled Randall. “I’ll take you back -and pick up your friends at Fort Vermilion, then we’ll pilot the other -planes through to the Mackenzie. You’ll be a regular air-hawk before -long.” - -He turned to the operator. “Thank you very much for your kindness. I -think I’ll take Dick over to one of the hotels and then slip back to the -flying field.” - -“I can’t go to a hotel just yet,” Dick interposed. “I was told to report -to Inspector Anderson at the police barracks here.” - -Hardly were they in the street again, when the aviator clutched Dick’s -shoulder with one hand, while with the other he pointed aloft. Through -the still air there came to them the distant strum, strum, strum of a -motor. - -“Look!” he shouted. “The first plane from Edmonton!” - - - - - CHAPTER V - MACKENZIE RIVER POST - - -Convalescing after a serious illness, Corporal Rand found it expedient -on this bright autumnal morning to rise, don his uniform and go for a -stroll along the banks of the mighty Mackenzie River. He was still very -weak and shaky as a result of his long confinement at barracks hospital, -yet the crisp, still air was tonic in its effect and something of his -old cheerfulness and buoyancy returned as he proceeded along the narrow -footpath leading away from the post. - -The corporal’s thoughts touched upon many subjects. Above all, was he -glad to know that he would soon be able to return to duty. The tedium -and monotony of what amounted almost to imprisonment would soon be at an -end. Accustomed to a life of ceaseless activity, he yearned to be on the -trail again. The old restlessness was in his blood. Before starting out -he had paid a visit to Inspector Cameron. With a smile he recalled the -interview with his chief and in retrospect, he saw himself again, -standing at attention before the grizzled and stern director of police -activities in that part of the North. - -“Well, how are you feeling, corporal?” - -The words had been snapped out at him in the usual brisk, nervous -manner, the man’s steel-gray eyes carrying no hint of the real feeling -behind them. - -“I’m ready to report for duty, sir,” he made the statement carelessly. - -“Humph! Duty! You’re pale as a ghost, man. Shaky! Wonder how you dare to -come here with your deceptions. Back to the barracks with you and don’t -let me see you again until you’re a well man.” - -Rand smiled, saluted, and half-turned to leave the room when a thought -came to him. - -“No objections to my taking a stroll, sir? Think the fresh air will do -me good.” - -“Certainly,” said the inspector a little crisply, then turned to his -work, only to raise his eyes again as Rand walked over in the direction -of the door. - -“Hold. Have you heard the latest news, corporal?”—more kindly. - -Rand hesitated, one hand on the knob of the door. - -“No, sir, I haven’t.” - -“Good news. Wonderful news.” Cameron’s eyes were sparkling now. “Most -astonishing too. The relief expedition left Peace River Crossing -yesterday and will be here before night. Marvelous!” - -Rand wondered if he had heard aright. There was a faint trace of -incredulity in his voice as he answered: - -“Marvelous, indeed, sir. Last year Sergeant Richardson made the trip in -a little less than ten days. Who’s leading this expedition?” - -“Dick Kent,” answered the other. - -Corporal Rand was smiling broadly now. - -“He must have sprouted a pair of wings, sir.” - -“That’s it exactly. They’re coming by airplane.” - -Rand recalled his astonishment at this unexpected bit of information. -Amazement widened his eyes. He turned swiftly. - -“Airplanes!” - -“Yes. I don’t understand it myself. If they make it, it will be the -first time in history. The petrol supply will be their chief trouble.” - -“Great experience for Dick and Sandy,” mused the corporal. - -“I wasn’t thinking about them. I was thinking about the hundreds of poor -devils up north, whose lives will be spared if that flight should prove -successful.” - -“Certainly, sir, that’s true. A sort of race against death, isn’t it? By -the way, inspector, how is the smallpox situation now?” - -“Appalling! The reports I have received stagger me. The ratio of persons -who die after incurring the disease is about four out of every six. The -epidemic has spread out over a very wide area. It has already reached -the Eskimo tribes on the eastern side of the barren lands. They’re dying -like flies.” - -“Do you think you’ll have sufficient medicine and men for the whole of -the territory affected?” - -“I doubt it. Nevertheless, we’ll do the best we can. If Kent and his two -friends get through safely, I’m sending them up to the barrens with one -physician and as much of the remedy as we can possibly spare.” - - * * * * * * * * - -Corporal Rand looked out across the valley. The opposite bank of the -river flamed with the gold and bronze of autumn’s foliage. Though the -season was getting late, the weather was glorious. Not a breath of wind. -The sun shone from an unclouded, deep-azure sky. Large flocks of wild -geese went honking overhead. - -A little regretfully, Rand turned and retraced his steps. It would soon -be time for the midday meal, and he was hungry. Tomorrow, he decided, he -would see the inspector again and repeat his request. Perhaps he might -be ordered out for duty. Perhaps he might be permitted to do his part in -a worthy cause. In any event, once on the trail, he would soon forget -his weakness, probably gain new strength, be more like his former self. - -He spent the afternoon reading and loitering about, but just before -sundown went outside in the hope that he might catch sight of the planes -of the relief expedition. In this, however, he was disappointed, -although he scanned the southern skies until long after twilight. He -returned to the barracks troubled by a strange premonition. He tried to -read, but threw down the book before he could become interested. He -paced the rough floor of his room, puffing nervously at his pipe, his -mind filled with a hundred vague alarms. - -Reason, finally, came to his rescue. How foolish he was. The party would -probably arrive during the night. His senseless worrying, no doubt, was -caused by his recent illness and the nervous tension of being confined -to the barracks. Shortly after midnight, when Constable Whitehall, the -orderly, entered his room to wish him good-night, he had regained a -great deal of his previous cheerfulness. - -“Well, how are things?” he inquired of his visitor. - -“All right, I guess, but the old man’s worrying about that expedition. -Says it should have been here before this.” - -“I’ve been worrying, too,” Rand admitted. “Do you suppose anything has -gone wrong, Whitehall?” - -The constable wagged his head. - -“Couldn’t say. Personally, I think they’ll be in before morning.” - -“Rather difficult to make a landing in the dark, wouldn’t it?” - -“Don’t know about that.” - -“I’m afraid it would,” the corporal answered his own question. “Beastly -dark night. Like the inside of a pocket. You don’t suppose they’ve been -driven off their course or have lost their way?” - -“Pshaw!” exclaimed Whitehall. “You’re as fidgety as the chief himself. -Everything will be all right, I’m sure. My advice to you is to hop into -bed. This sort of thing isn’t good for you.” - -For a long time after the two friends separated, Rand rolled and tossed -in his bed, obsessed by that queer and unexplainable premonition. He -fell into a sleep which was fitful and broken. Through his dreams ran a -thread of horror. He woke repeatedly. Finally, he threw back the covers, -rose and lit the oil lamp which stood on a table near the head of his -bed, and once more essayed to read. Impatiently, he threw the book from -him, darted to his feet and commenced pacing back and forth, now and -again pausing to pull aside the curtain and look out. - -Daylight found him shaved, fully dressed, waiting for the stir of life -about the barracks. The rattle of a granite plate in the kitchen at the -back came as a signal for his release from the trying ordeal of the -night. He pulled on his short fur coat and walked outside, wandering -listlessly away in the direction of the stables and dog compound. To his -surprise, he perceived that another person was already abroad. -Approaching closer, his astonishment increased. Inspector Cameron!—a -somewhat ludicrous figure that morning: Head bent, jaws clamped over a -cigar, arms behind his back. He shambled to within a few feet of Rand -before he looked up. - -“Well?” - -“Yes, sir.” - -“What are you doing here?”—fiercely. - -“I couldn’t sleep, sir.” - -“Neither could I. Rotten luck! What do you suppose became of them?” - -“You mean the planes, sir?” - -“Certainly.” - -“They—they ought to be in this morning,” Rand stammered. - -“They should have been in last night.” - -For a time they lapsed into silence, each regarding the other intently. -Finally the corporal plucked up enough courage to make his request: - -“If you’ve no objections, inspector, I’d like to return to duty.” - -Cameron glared at him. - -“I’m really all right,” Rand hastened to inform him. - -“I told you——” began the inspector, throwing away his cigar and staring -fiercely at his subordinate. “I told you——” - -“Yes; yes, I know,” said Rand softly. “But it’s this way, sir. There is -much that I can do to help out at this critical time. A few days in the -open air and I’ll be perfectly well again.” - -“I’ll think about it. Lord knows we need you. I may possibly be -compelled to go out myself. Report to me this afternoon at two o’clock.” - -They separated, each going his own way. After breakfast, Rand secured -his gun and went out in the vicinity of the post to hunt geese. When he -returned, it was well past the lunch hour and when he had eaten it was -almost time for his interview with Cameron. - -When he had arrived there, the inspector’s office was a scene of unusual -activity. Four stalwart half-breeds stood in front of Cameron’s desk, -and the orderly directly behind them. The room was sticky and hot. -Cameron’s hair was rumpled and he was issuing orders in crisp, choppy -tones. - -“You have your instructions,” Rand heard him state. “Now take your -ponies and go out and see what you can do. Search the country carefully -and make inquiries wherever you can. I’ll expect you back in two days.” - -The natives went out of the room, followed by the orderly, then Rand, -seeing his chance, walked up in front of the inspector’s desk. Cameron -did not even look up as he made a notation on a pad in front of him. - -“All right, corporal, I have a job for you. Proceed at once to Keechewan -with your horse and full equipment. Know where that is, don’t you?” - -“Yes, sir,” the corporal saluted. “Just south of the barren lands. -What’s the trouble up there?” - -“I’m coming to that. Natives causing no end of trouble at the Keechewan -mission. It’s an outgrowth of this smallpox trouble. The Indians seem to -think that the plague has been sent among them by the gods of the white -man. The missionaries have warded off two attacks by the infuriated -inhabitants of the Indian village, just south of Keechewan. Your duty, -corporal, will be to straighten this thing up. Endeavor to instil a -friendly feeling among the Indians. If any lives have been taken, bring -in the murderers.” - -If Corporal Rand manifested any sign of the fear that was in his heart, -it was not noticeable to his chief. He merely saluted and inquired: - -“Any further instructions, sir?” - -Cameron rose to his feet, strode around his desk, and, to the corporal’s -surprise, placed a trembling hand upon his arm. - -“You don’t know how I hate to do this, Rand. I don’t want to send you up -there without first having you inoculated. You may be going to your -death—I’ll be perfectly frank with you. I wish there was some other way. -I’ve thought long and carefully over this matter and I’ve come to the -conclusion that unless we send help to the mission at once, it may be -too late. All of them may be murdered.” - -“It’s all right, sir. I’ll go.” - -Cameron seized the other’s hand and held it during an interval of -oppressive silence. There was no thought now of the inequality of rank. -Man to man, brothers in a common cause—each understood and appreciated -the other’s attitude and feelings. - -“Thank you, sir,” said Rand, “for letting me go, permitting me to do -this thing.” - -He walked out of the post with a queer smile on his lips. He hurried -away in the direction of the stables, his heart beating exultantly. His -hand still tingled from Cameron’s steel-like yet affectionate clasp. -Dazedly, he groomed and saddled his horse and was in the very act of -leading it outside, when Whitehall appeared at the stable door. - -“Drop everything at once and come back to the office. Cameron wants to -see you.” - -Rand threw the reins over his horse’s head, and followed the orderly -back to barracks. Again he stood in front of his chief. - -“You wish to see me?” - -“Rand, I’ve changed my mind. I’ve decided not to send you after all.” - -Rand gulped. - -“Don’t change your mind on my account. I’m willing to go.” - -“Tut! Tut! I’m in command here. You’ll do as I say. I want you to take -charge during my absence. I’ve already written a few instructions for -you.” - -“Will you be away long, sir?” Rand asked tremblingly, a vague suspicion -in his mind. - -“Several weeks, I expect. I’m going to Keechewan in your place.” - -“In my place!” A sudden blinding weakness overcame the corporal. “In—in -my place!” he stammered. - -For a period of at least five minutes the room was as quiet as death. -Then, suddenly, Rand’s voice rang out clearly: - -“Inspector Cameron, you’re a man! But I am too. My horse is saddled and -waiting for me. I hate to disobey you, sir, but I’m leaving at once. -When I return from the Barrens—if I ever do—I’ll report here and you can -place me under arrest. Good-bye, sir!” - -He saluted briskly and turned away. Inspector Cameron was still gaping -when the door closed softly after the retreating figure. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - SHIPS FROM THE STARS - - -A wonderful huntsman was Kantisepa, the very greatest among his people. -In his aimless journeying he had passed over a large part of the vast, -immutable north, proceeding far from known haunts into lands which -seldom had heard the footfalls of the hunter. He had viewed wild scenes, -the glory and grandeur of which few other eyes had seen. Unnamed rivers -and lakes, lofty mountains, interminable swamps, places so barren and -devoid of all vegetation, so breathless, weird and forlorn that life -passed on in horror, fearful of the madness that lurked there—all these -he had looked upon during his ceaseless pilgrimages. - -He had hunted moose and caribou and the ferocious black bears of the -mountains. Once he had fought off a wolf with no better weapon than a -club. His long association with the wild and its denizens had bred in -him a certain uncanny wisdom. Insects and beasts and birds—he knew them -all with the unerring certainty of a trained naturalist. Yet now, -standing in the bright glare of the sun, gaze focused on certain huge -dark specks in the distant horizon, it was evident from his expression -that at last he had seen something he could not classify. - -Two birds of mammoth, gigantic size were flying straight towards him. -Larger than a moose or bear, of greater size even than the largest -tepee, they sailed through the air, drumming as they went. Their speed -and size and the horrible noise they made so frightened poor Kantisepa, -that he crouched low in a thicket, resolving under no circumstances to -show himself to the invaders. - -Two of the huge birds flew close together—evidently for companionship. -The third one, probably much younger—for it was smaller—brought up the -rear, at a considerable distance behind its mates. As this bird drew -close to the clearing, an incredible thing happened. It fluttered -suddenly and began to fall. It came down, spinning, righted itself, -coasted along for quite a distance, as if planning to alight, then lost -control of its equilibrium entirely and crashed to the ground with such -a sickening thud that Kantisepa was quite sure that it was destroyed -utterly. - -The two other birds were almost out of sight when the catastrophe -occurred. These, Kantisepa considered, must be the parent birds, and in -their eagerness to reach their destination, had probably forgotten their -offspring, which was probably just learning to fly. At any rate, though -the Indian stood a long time waiting, the others did not return and, -finally, overcome by the natural curiosity of his race, he set out in -the direction of the luckless victim. - -When he had approached to within a few hundred yards of his objective, -he was startled almost out of his senses. Crawling out of the mass of -broken wings and fragments of the bird’s body, came a curious animal, -which in many respects resembled a man. A very marked difference between -the creature and a man was the enormous size of the creature’s -eyes—three or four times larger than the eyes of his own people—composed -of some peculiar substance which glinted and sparkled under the bright -reflection of the sun. Then Kantisepa noted another peculiarity: -Although possessing legs almost identical to his own, this strange being -did not stand upon them in the ordinary manner, but chose instead to -walk on both arms and legs, as a bear sometimes walks. Of a very ready -and open mind, Kantisepa could explain the creature’s presence in only -one way: a parasite of some kind, possessing the same relationship to -the bird as a flea would to a dog. - -Coming still closer, he was forced to readjust his first impressions. He -knew wood and iron when he saw it. He gasped in wonderment. No bird at -all! Instead a magic ship, a marvelous creation, invested with the -strange power of sailing through the air. It, together with the two -others, had come from some remote land beyond the stars. Trembling in -every limb, he approached the strange being, who had crawled away from -the wreckage of the ship. The creature was grievously hurt. Blood -trickled on the ground beneath him. He had abandoned his efforts to -crawl away and now lay perfectly still, his shoulders heaving in -distress and pain. - -Not without pity, Kantisepa shuddered at the sorry sight. With a slight -grimace, he turned and walked over to examine the magic ship. Peering -down within the center of the wreckage, he saw the form of another -creature, identical to the first except that this one was hopelessly -crushed and apparently quite dead. He withdrew his gaze quickly and -turned back again to the first being, who still retained some signs of -life. - -Kantisepa quickly decided upon a course of action. He walked forward, -stooped down and picked up the man from beyond the stars and started off -in the direction of the village. He would take him to the chief medicine -man, who, if he could not actually save the creature’s life, could at -least place him on exhibition for the benefit of his curious kinsmen. - -The village was a good six miles away, but the stalwart Indian on -previous occasions had carried heavier burdens. He would proceed half -way to his destination that night and the remainder on the following -morning. He was forced to move slowly and to rest often. The hours -passed. Finally the sun slid down to a far corner of the world until -only a dazzling sector of light remained. Kantisepa made camp just as -night dropped its curtain of dusk over the earth. Near at hand, he could -hear the murmur of a tiny stream, above which a mist arose, spreading -out gradually like a gray protecting shroud above the natural willow -hedges fringing the stream. Presently, the dew wet the grass. With a -mournful, unearthly cry, a night bird swooped down to the place where -Kantisepa stood, rising again on whirring wings to the dark vault of the -sky. - -“It is an ill omen,” he thought, a sudden fear gripping his heart. - -And so through the brooding, interminable hours he had remained awake. -First he had bathed and dressed the wounds of the strange being, then, -wrapping him in his own blanket to shut out the damp cool air, he had -kept silent vigil. Time crept on, its movements so slow and wearied that -it seemed to him that day would never come. The tense silence oppressed -him. It throbbed in his ears until the reaction of any slight sound -smote sharply upon him. - -Morning came at last, heralded by flaming colors in the east, preceded -by a fitful breeze that stirred the dry grass uneasily at his feet. -Kantisepa was very tired. His body was stiff and sore. When he picked up -the strange being again to resume his journey, his legs trembled, -scarcely supporting him. - -Late that morning he stumbled into the Indian encampment. Like many -brown inverted cones were the dwellings that stood row on row within a -narrow, peaceful valley. Through the center of the village trickled a -brook, which was fed from numerous small springs bubbling up between -broken rocks. - -The place slept in a glare of brilliant sunlight. Dogs lay curled up in -the shade of the tepees. Children played listlessly in the dead grass or -waded knee-deep in the riffles of the brook. Here and there Kantisepa -discerned the squat indolent forms of women and, farther on, standing at -the extreme end of a willow copse, a single solitary hunter. - -Suddenly the village came out of its picturesque somnolence. A dog -barked unexpectedly near at hand. Magically, the plain became dotted -with a scurrying throng. Men, women and children tumbled forth from drab -tepees. Sharp cries arose. Led by the most nimble of foot, the entire -populace raced forward to meet the returning hunter. Soon he was -completely surrounded. Inquisitive eyes peered down at the strange -being. Kantisepa was forced to put down his burden and immediately a -babble of voices arose, continuing until a tall, gaudily-apparelled -warrior pushed his way through to the spot and waved one arm -peremptorily. - -“Who is this you have brought among us?” he demanded. - -“A strange god from the skies,” Kantisepa answered proudly. “He came on -a ship which sailed through the clouds, but which met with disaster.” - -“Are you sure he will not bring a curse upon us?” inquired the old -warrior. - -Kantisepa wiped the perspiration from his face. - -“He is without friends and without people,” he asserted. “A number of -his comrades in other magic ships of the air saw him fall but did not -come to his rescue.” - -The chief stooped down and examined the partially conscious figure. - -“He is a young man—a mere stripling youth. Did he travel alone?” - -Kantisepa shook his head. - -“No, there was one other with him, who now is dead.” - -With a wave of his arm, the chief dismissed the jostling crowd and -turned again to the hunter. - -“You have done well,” he complimented him. “Raise him up and bring him -to my tepee.” - -Morning had passed. South the sun swept through blue unclouded skies. -Together Kantisepa and the chief went forward through a lane of curious -natives. - -“This being is hurt and cannot return to his people,” said Kantisepa. -“His wonder ship of the air became demolished when it fell from the -clouds.” - -They entered the tepee where Kantisepa deposited his burden gently on a -soft rabbit-robe, then rose with a weary gesture and turned again to the -headman of his tribe. - -“It is a strange story,” he declared. “Yet it is true. If you will -summon the chief men of the village, this afternoon I will lead you and -them to the magic ship.” - - - - - CHAPTER VII - RETURNING MEMORY - - -When Dick sat up he saw the walls of a tepee, the tall form of an Indian -of doubtful age, dressed in beaded moosehide, and the shadow of still -another figure on his right and a little behind him. Kantisepa’s -ministering effort had not been in vain. The strange being had recovered -consciousness! - -As Dick’s mind grew clearer, memory came back to him. He recalled the -flight through the air from Peace River Crossing. As far as Fort -Vermilion he had travelled with Randall, but there had given up his -place to Sandy and Toma, he himself entering the plane which was being -piloted by Cliff Stewart, a member of the Edmonton relief expedition. - -From that very moment their trouble had started. In “taking-off” Stewart -had slightly injured his machine in a collision with a tree. Later there -had been trouble with the motor. Two hundred miles north of Fort -Vermilion, a few minutes before the final tragedy, Dick had heard a -sudden crackling noise and had seen Stewart’s face turn pale as he had -reached for the controlling levers. - -Dick shuddered at the memory of that fall from the skies when the plane -became unmanageable. A terrifying spinning sensation, a horrible rush of -air from below, the cracking and splitting of wood and steel, -culminating in a terrific descent and the lapse of consciousness. - -How he had contrived to escape with his life seemed more than a miracle. -Had Stewart been equally as fortunate? Who had brought him here? He -looked up into the expressionless eyes of the old Indian who stood -opposite. - -“Where am I?” he asked in Cree. - -The old chief started. Here indeed was undeniable evidence of the -divinity of this strange being. He was a god surely. Did he not speak -the language of their tribe, this stranger who had come from some -shadowy land beyond the moon? - -“Glorious one, do not fear. You are safe among friends. I give you my -assurance and the assurance of all my people. We are deeply honored by -your coming.” - -“But who brought me here?” - -“I did,” the man beside him spoke up unhesitatingly. “When the magic -ship crashed to the earth, I bore you here in my own arms.” - -“And my companion?” trembled Dick. - -“He is dead.” - -For a moment the young man could not speak. Something choked him. The -memory of the valiant pilot was a particularly poignant one. In one -sense of the word, Stewart had become a martyr in a noble cause. Like -many another fearless flyer he had engraved his name in blood on the -flaming altar of achievement. It was several minutes before Dick could -trust himself to speak. - -“Did the other ships come back to our rescue?” - -“No,” answered Kantisepa, “they sailed on through the heavens and became -lost in the mists of a distant country.” - -It was strange, thought Dick. Queer the others had not seen their fall. -But surely by this time they had discovered the absence of the third -plane and would come back to investigate. - -“How long has it been since we fell to the ground?” Dick inquired of -Kantisepa. - -“Late yesterday afternoon. This is another day.” - -Dick’s heart sank at the information. He had supposed that only a few -hours had passed since the accident. - -“And you saw no sign of the ships returning?” he persisted. “Are you -sure?” - -Kantisepa shook his head. - -“I am sure, my brother. Even if I had not seen them, had they returned, -my ears would have caught the sound of their coming. Perhaps they have -gone back to the land of your people, the place beyond the stars.” - -For the next ten or fifteen minutes the young adventurer attempted to -make his two companions, credulous and highly imaginative Indians, -understand that there was nothing in any way magical or mysterious about -those ships of the air; and that neither he nor his friends were gods -from some vague land beyond the rim of the world, but flesh and blood -men like themselves, men who had come from Edmonton to bring help and -relief to hundreds of their kinsmen suffering from the plague. - -Both Kantisepa and the chief had heard of the existence of the big city -to the south, and the name “Edmonton” was not unfamiliar to them. But -neither had ever heard, or if they had heard would have believed that -ordinary mortals, even the smartest of the white race, could fashion -boats from wood and iron that could float through thin air. Finally, -however, when Dick had nearly exhausted his patience and his vocabulary, -he saw that in a measure, at least, they had begun to credit his story. - -“It is very wonderful,” said the chief, “that men are now able to go -floating through the skies. But tell me, my brother, have not certain of -the braver ones already journeyed to the stars?” - -“No,” answered Dick. “Thus far no boat has ever been built which would -be strong enough to undertake such a voyage. Perhaps that will come in -time.” - -An interval of silence ensued, broken at length by the appearance of an -Indian squaw, who brought food and drink and placed it before the young -man. Then, while Dick ate, he talked. He told them of the smallpox -epidemic north of the Mackenzie, of his adventures in going to Peace -River Crossing at the request of Inspector Cameron of the mounted -police, and subsequently of his ill-fated ride from Fort Vermilion. - -“Those ships of the air,” he concluded, “are carrying medicine to the -sick.” - -The two Indians appeared to be very much interested, offering their -services in any way that would be useful in such a cause. The chief -said: - -“We will give you ponies so that you may proceed on your journey.” - -Dick thanked them. “That is very kind of you.” - -He looked up with beaming eyes, then abruptly his face darkened as a -thought occurred to him. - -“I must take the body of my friend with me,” he trembled. “I must start -today. The great white father of the police will be pleased to hear of -your kindness. Perhaps some of your people will be so good as to -accompany me on my journey.” - -The chief advanced and laid a hand benevolently on the young man’s head. -Something closely akin to a smile lighted the wrinkled, weatherbeaten -face. - -“I myself,” he announced proudly, “will lead the expedition which will -set out this afternoon for the Mackenzie River. It is said.” - -And with a stiff, formal bow, he turned with great dignity and strode -out of the tepee. - -A few minutes later Dick rose and followed Kantisepa outside. They -proceeded to a far end of the village, where a poplar pole corral had -been built. This corral or compound contained between thirty or forty -Indian ponies. A number of youths had already entered it, carrying -lassos. Following much shouting and stampeding of hoofs, they soon had a -number of the little beasts saddled and bridled in preparation for the -journey northward. - -Kantisepa and Dick stood near the entrance of the corral, conversing in -low tones. It was during this conversation that Dick learned for the -first time that the place where the plane had crashed to the ground was -not close to the village. This information had come as a result of his -request that he be taken to the spot. - -“Come,” he said to his Indian friend, “we will walk over there while the -young men are packing the ponies.” - -Kantisepa stared at the other in mild disapproval. - -“Why do you wish to go now?” he asked. “It is far to walk.” - -“How far is it?” asked Dick. - -“Six miles,” came the astonishing reply. “Very soon we will go that way. -The magic ship lies broken in a little meadow that lies straight in the -direction of the noonday sun.” - -“And you carried me here all that way?” Dick asked in amazement. - -“Yes, it is so,” Kantisepa answered, the tone of his voice implying that -the achievement was scarcely worthy of mention. - -Dick looked at the stalwart Indian with something very much like a lump -in his throat. He could see it all plainly now: The shattered airplane, -himself crawling dazedly from the wreckage, only to sink unconscious in -a place where eventually he would have died, had not this dusky friend -come to his rescue. Impulsively he stepped forward and imprisoned one of -Kantisepa’s long, thin hands in his own. - -“My brother,” his voice quavered, “I have very much to thank you for, -and never shall I forget your kindness.” - -Not long afterward a young Indian led a pony over to where Dick and -Kantisepa stood and indicated with a gesture that the beast belonged to -Dick. Immediately behind, came another youth with a mount for Kantisepa. -Soon the cavalcade was formed. At two o’clock they rode forth in the -bright glare of October sunshine. - -As they went forward in the direction of the little meadow, Dick was -conscious of many mixed emotions. He was glad that they had started out -on the trek to Mackenzie River, yet the thought of approaching the -shattered airplane and taking Stewart’s crushed body north for burial -filled him with many unhappy thoughts. - -On they went through the beauty of a perfect Indian Summer. The earth -was languorous and quiet, wrapped in a blue haze, made resplendent by -the vari-colored autumn foliage. Kantisepa, who was riding close beside -Dick, presently raised one arm and pointed ahead to where the trees -thinned out to form a natural meadow. - -“We will be there soon,” he announced. - -Dick looked, then turned his head away. He hated the coming ordeal. With -difficulty, he steeled himself for the trying experience of approaching -the battered plane and removing Stewart from the wreckage. In his -weakened, nervous state, he felt unequal to the task. He rode forward, -eyes on the ground, feeling sick and unhappy. - -They pushed their way to the edge of the meadow, when, suddenly as if by -a common impulse, the cavalcade checked itself and a low murmur of -excitement, mixed with fear, ran along its entire length. - -Dick supposed that the sight of the broken plane had been the cause of -the momentary delay. However, when he looked up, he too became excited. -A surge of happiness welled up in him. He leaned over dazedly and -grasped the pommel of his saddle. - -Straight ahead, not far from the ruins of the craft in which he had -nearly been killed, stood two gray airplanes, graceful as birds. They -had come back to rescue him. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - THE TOLL OF THE NORTH - - -Corporal Rand’s bloodshot eyes watched the bannock baking before the -fire. It was a small bannock, as bannocks go—a few ounces of flour, -water and salt, simmering and bubbling there in the bottom of the frying -pan. Unsupported by as much as a single pinch of baking powder, this -culinary effort of Rand’s wore an appearance of deep and utter -dejection. Either as a work of art or as an achievement in cookery the -thing was a failure—an unsavory, unappetizing mess. Yet the corporal -regarded it with elation in his heart. His mouth watered and his stomach -did an acrobatic flip-flop of happy anticipation. It was a wonderful -moment for Rand. - -Half-starved, almost worn to the bone, in his desperate effort to make -Keechewan Mission before the final freeze-up, the young policeman was in -dire straits. For several days now he had subsisted chiefly on the dry -and withered berries of saskatoon, with an occasional small morsel of -bird meat. For hundreds of miles he had trekked along in worn moccasins, -flapping miserably about his ankles, the bare soles of his feet -pattering monotonously over a rough, difficult, uncertain trail. - -Since leaving Mackenzie River barracks one disaster had followed -another. First, he had lost his horse and rifle in attempting to ford a -difficult river. Three days later, while he slept, there had come in the -night a soft-footed Indian prowler who had, without compunction, stolen -his only pair of service boots, his shoulder-pack and his revolver. - -He had been placed in a terrible predicament. Barefooted, hungry, an -unabating rage in his heart, he had struggled on for a distance of -nearly twenty miles before luck favored him to the extent of directing -him to an Indian encampment, where he ate his first full meal in many -days and where, after many threats and much patient dickering, he had -been able to purchase a pair of moosehide moccasins. - -A few days following this fortunate meeting, he had been reduced almost -to his previous condition of want and suffering. Then the tables had -turned again. Not more than an hour ago a great good fortune had -befallen him. - -He had come down into a little valley between two hills; hobbling down -on tortured feet to a sizeable grove of poplar and jack-pine. -Half-cursing, half-moaning to himself, he had crossed a low ravine, then -scrambled up in the mellow afternoon sunlight to the edge of a small -natural clearing. His incurious gaze swept the view before him. For a -moment he paused, leaning somewhat dizzily against a small sapling -before continuing his course southward to the Wapiti River, where he had -planned to camp for the night. - -In the short space of time in which he stood there, shaking with -fatigue, there impressed itself presently upon his vision an object of -unusual interest. It was the small stump of a tree—an ancient, -weather-beaten stump, probably not more than eight or ten inches in -diameter. As Rand looked at it, a half-hearted wonderment stole over -him, then a sudden quickening of the heart. Here before him was a -man-made stump, the first he had seen in the last two hundred miles of -steady travelling through the wilderness. - -Someone, perhaps a long time ago, had felled a tree here. The corporal -could easily make out the imprint of an ax. And looking farther he had -found other stumps, upon which trees had once rested—about thirty of -them in all—standing there old and rotten at the heart, like so many -dreary sentinels in an unsightly garden of desolation. - -Suddenly Rand gave vent to a sharp, quick cry of excitement. In spite of -the fact that his feet hurt him almost beyond endurance, he went forward -at a run, racing over the thick dry grass. The trees had been cut down -for a purpose, as he had surmised. He could see the cabin now, faintly -showing through the screen of underbrush on the opposite side of the -clearing. - -But his heart fell as he came closer to the cabin. A sickening wave of -disgust and disappointment swept over him. He could see plainly that no -one lived there. The door, partially open, hung loosely on broken -hinges, while across the threshold, the grass had woven a tangled mat -which encroached a full twelve inches into the dark interior. - -Years had passed probably since a human foot had stepped within that -cabin. In its present untenanted, dilapidated state it had very little -to offer to a man whose stomach gnawed with the irrepressible pangs of -hunger. In a fit of sudden despair, he stood and regarded it darkly. - -Nevertheless, he strode through the doorway, for no apparent reason that -he could imagine, unless it was to satisfy a somewhat morbid curiosity -as to what he would find within. In the dim light of the single room, he -moved cautiously forward, peering about him with half-frightened eyes. -His feet stirred up a choking dust. There was a smell about the place he -did not like. It rose to his nostrils—a faintly sickening odor of -decayed plants. - -A crudely constructed cupboard at one side of the room attracted his -attention. He walked over and examined it. The lower shelf contained -nothing of interest: a few black, dirty pots, covered with rust. On the -second shelf there was a miscellaneous assortment of knives and forks, a -small hammer with one of the claws broken, two enamelled plates, chipped -badly, but otherwise in fair condition. - -The policeman found it necessary to rise on tiptoes in order to reach -the third shelf at all; but after a good deal of fumbling and groping -about, his hand came in contact with a round object, which he lifted -down for better inspection. - -The weight of the thing, about six or seven pounds, indicated that it -was not entirely empty. It was round and cylindrical in shape and was -fitted on the top with an air-tight cover. Rand’s face became damp with -moisture as he turned the vessel slowly around in his hands. He shook it -several times, listening to the dull thud inside. Then, with a quick -in-taking of breath, he placed it hurriedly on the floor and attempted -to pry off the lid. - -Several minutes later—for the cover was rusted down—he straightened up, -gibbering inanely. His eyes were bright with the joy of his discovery. -He laughed loudly, gleefully—a hint of madness in his laugh. He stooped -forward again, ramming one hand into the cool, white substance. For one -delicious moment he pawed around in it. - -“Flour! Flour!” he gloated. “This is lucky!” - -And so he ate the bannock with thankfulness in his heart. He had used -very little of the flour. With careful rationing, it would still last -him a long time—perhaps even to Keechewan Mission. - -He sat now, staring into the fire, vaguely wondering what the morrow -would bring forth. He was in a much happier frame of mind than he had -been for many days. Things looked brighter somehow—after that bannock. -In the morning he would build a raft and cross the Wapiti. After that -there would be fairly smooth and open country until he came to the -Little Moose. More trouble there. A day or two crossing the divide—then -Keechewan Mission less than thirty miles away. - -A short time later, Rand stirred himself and hobbled down to the river. -He would bathe his aching feet in ice-cold water before turning in. They -were in terrible condition and required immediate attention. If only he -could get the pain and fever out of them. Tomorrow morning he would tear -up his shirt and make soft cushions to wear inside his moccasins. - -For several minutes he sat, dangling his feet in the glistening, -gurgling flood of the turbulent Wapiti. It was so dark now that he could -scarcely see. It was chilly sitting there on the rock with a north wind -whipping across his face and the water, like ice, around his ankles. -Much as he hated to admit it, the weather was not promising. In fact, -there was an indefinable something in the air, a vague, mysterious -portent that caused him to shiver with apprehension. - -Suddenly, above the sound of the river and the moaning of the wind, -startled and alert, Rand heard a splashing out in mid-stream. A moose or -caribou, was his first thought. Too bad he didn’t have a gun. In his -half-famished state a moose-steak now would be his salvation. - -A human voice carried across the water. Another voice. Rand could not -credit his senses. He rose, forgetting about his bare feet, and strained -his eyes until they hurt in the hope that he might be able to see -something. He was all atremble. It was dark out there, dark as black -midnight. The water rippled and the wind moaned in the pines. Surely he -was mistaken about those voices. He couldn’t hear a thing now—not even a -splash. - -“Pull out! You’re gettin’ too close tuh shore,” warned a voice, deep and -resonant. - -There was no mistaking it this time. Rand’s heart leaped. In the -tremendous excitement of the moment he forgot himself completely. Like -one daft, he sprang from the rock and raced wildly along the shore, -cutting his already bruised and battered feet. He screeched at the top -of his voice—one long and prolonged screech that shattered the silence. - -“Yip! Yih!” shouted Rand, waving his arms. - -“Did you hear that?”—from the river. - -“Look out! Look out! You plagued fool. Look out! Now you’ve done it. -There!——” - -A frenzied splashing of oars, another warning shout—a crash! It was the -crumpling impact of wood against rock that Rand heard, followed by the -shrieks of two men in mortal terror. Experienced in such matters, he -sensed immediately what had occurred. Sweeping down the swift, -treacherous current, the boat had veered in too close to shore, had -struck a rock and had overturned. The men were in the water. His fault -entirely. That foolish screech—— - -Shouting out his encouragement, the corporal waded out into the stream -and, without a moment’s hesitation, dove forward and commenced swimming -to their rescue. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - CAMERON FEELS THE STRAIN - - -The advance guard of the Edmonton relief expedition arrived at Mackenzie -River two days late. Included among its personnel were Dick Kent, Sandy -and Toma and two medical men, Drs. Brady and Mattinson. Joy over the -safe arrival of the party was shadowed by the news of the destruction of -one of the planes and the death of Stewart, the aviator. - -Inspector Cameron began at once to plan two separate itineraries into -the stricken areas. One of the physicians, it was decided, would be sent -immediately to the country north of the Mackenzie, from whence Davis had -brought first word of the epidemic. Another party was instructed to -proceed north and east toward the barren lands, over the selfsame route -Corporal Rand had but recently taken. - -It was while these preparations were being carried out that the three -boys, Dick, Sandy and Toma, were called into the presence of the mounted -police official. Caps in hand, feeling awkward and ill at ease, they -listened to the grave and somewhat impatient voice of the inspector. - -“Can’t tell you how pleased I am. Splendid! You’ve done well. Want to -thank each one of you. Suppose you think you’re going home now.” - -The assertion seemed to require an answer. Sandy twisted his cap into a -knot, smiled, cleared his throat and assumed the part of spokesman. - -“Yes, sir. We are under that impression.” - -Cameron scowled, running his fingers through his rumpled hair. - -“Not a bit of it! You’re not! Might as well disillusion you right now. -You’re to undertake another errand, equally as important and dangerous.” - -“What is it?” asked Dick. - -“You’re to lead the way to the barren lands. Escort to Doctor Brady.” - -The boys exchanged furtive glances. Cameron continued: - -“Dick, I’m placing you in charge. You’re the oldest. Sandy and Toma will -be your lieutenants. This expedition must not fail. Nothing must happen -to it. I’ll hold you all responsible.” - -“Yes, sir,” trembled Dick. “But how do we get there?” - -“There’s no trail. I’ll try and find a guide for you. You proceed -northeast, cross the Wapiti, the Little Moose, pass over a height of -land known as ‘The Divide,’ enter the barren lands and thus eventually -come to the Keechewan Mission, an important Catholic missionary center. -It’s a hard trip and you’ll never forget it.” - -“Are there many people at this mission?” inquired Sandy. - -“Yes, there’s a sort of village there—a mission-village: flour mill, -schools, hospital and the like. There are always several large Indian -encampments close by. The plague has found its way there. Scores have -died. As far as I know, no other section of the country is in such dire -straits.” - -The inspector paused, scowling again and for a moment seemed to have -forgotten that he was not alone. - -“The epidemic is bad enough,” he resumed, “but to add to the horror of -the situation, a revolt has taken place among the Indians. I’ve been -compelled to send Corporal Rand up there. You will follow but I doubt if -you will overtake him. He’s travelling light, while you will have -medicine, supplies, mail——” - -“Mail!” interrupted Dick in surprise. - -“Yes, mail. All of the mail for the Keechewan Mission comes here and is -forwarded, usually through the efforts of the R. N. W. M. P. There will -be three large sacks, including one packet of registered letters. Are -you willing to undertake this responsibility?” - -The boys were a little confused and shy. For a time no one spoke. - -“I asked you a question,” persisted the inspector. “Do you or do you not -want to take the mail?” - -“Yes, sir,” said Dick hurriedly, “we’ll be glad to.” - -“All right. Then that’s settled. I’ve given you an idea of the route. -Anything you wish to know?” - -“It will be necessary to supply us with some sort of transport,” Dick -reminded him. “Would you suggest ponies?” - -Inspector Cameron smiled. - -“I might suggest ponies did I not know the North as well as I do. The -season is growing late. It is now the last week in October. The weather -has been wonderful—unusual, but we’re due for a change almost any day -now. You’ll have to take both ponies and dogs. Just as soon as the first -snowstorm comes, you can turn the ponies loose and proceed with the -huskies.” - -A short discussion then took place. Dick could see that the inspector -was very anxious to have them start as soon as possible. For the past -few weeks the police head had had much to worry him. That was evident. -Deep lines showed in his forehead. At times he was subject to fits of -brooding, although the safe arrival of the Edmonton party had -considerably cheered him. - -Burdened with so many responsibilities, Cameron revealed his state of -mind from time to time, either by his expression or by some chance word -he let fall. Naturally, the boys supposed that the inspector’s chief -worry had to do with the epidemic. They did not know that one of the -things that caused the grizzled veteran of police many hours of -apprehension and nights of wakeful, intolerable anxiety was Corporal -Rand’s hazardous undertaking. He feared for his subordinate’s safety. -The corporal had not been vaccinated. He had been sent to a district -which festered with the plague. - -“Rand has gone up ahead of you,” he told the boys. “When you arrive at -the mission, the first thing I want you to do is to look him up. Doctor -Brady has my instructions. He’ll vaccinate the corporal if—if——” - -He broke off suddenly and his eyes sought his desk. Absently he picked -up a letter-file and ran through it. Dick observed that his fingers were -trembling. - -“If it isn’t too late, Dr. Brady will vaccinate him,” he resumed more -calmly. “The thought of his being up there troubles me. Shouldn’t have -gone in the first place. Matter of fact, he went against my wishes. -Hardly in physical shape. Weak. Been sick a long time with pneumonia. I -don’t like it.” - -Again the police chief became absorbed in his thoughts. The boys stood -undecided, then turned and left the room. Outside, where they would not -be overheard, Sandy broke forth: - -“Never saw him just like that before. I’d say he’s losing his grip, -Dick. Acts queer, doesn’t he?” - -“I don’t wonder at it,” Dick came staunchly to the inspector’s rescue. -“You must admit his position has been trying enough of late. If I’d been -in his place, I’d be a mental wreck by this time.” - -Soon after the subject was forgotten in the hurry and interest of their -departure. All three had been sent to Dr. Brady and were vaccinated. At -three o’clock that same afternoon the cavalcade set out. An Indian -guide, who professed to know every foot of the route, had been added to -their train at the last moment by Inspector Cameron. - -“I’m not altogether sure about this man,” he had told Dick in strict -confidence. “Seems intelligent enough, and I’m sure he’s been over the -route many times. My only objection to him is his appearance. But one -can’t condemn a man on that score. He’ll probably prove invaluable to -you.” - -Dick glanced at the new recruit and pursed his lips. - -“Did he volunteer for this service?” he asked. - -“Yes. Seemed anxious to go. Didn’t even want pay for his services. -Rather unusual, isn’t it?” - -“Perhaps he has relatives or friends at Keechewan he’s been worrying -about,” surmised Dick. - -“Of course, that may explain it. Still, I can’t say I like his looks. -You’d better watch him.” - -“I’ll be on my guard,” laughed Dick as he leaned over in his saddle to -shake hands. “I’ll do my very best, inspector.” - -“I know you will. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have sent you.” - -The grim mouth relaxed into a faint smile. Cameron reached up and -gripped Dick’s hand. - -“Good-bye,” he said simply. - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE MUTINEER - - -Three days out from the mounted police detachment the weather grew -suddenly cold and the first snow fell. Without preliminary warning, -winter had come. It swept down from the north, a mad trumpeter blowing -his blast at the head of a vengeful, icy column. On the morning of the -second day after the storm six inches of snow covered the earth. - -Dick’s first act was to remove the packs from the ponies and place them -on the dog sleighs. This task took less than an hour. With the malemute -and husky teams transporting their supplies, they pushed on, discovering -that, despite the cold, they now made better progress. Dick drove the -mail sledge, while Sandy and Toma had charge of the team which conveyed -most of the medicine, not to mention the worthy and genial Dr. Brady -himself. - -Brady was popular with everyone. Always in good spirits, he became known -for his wit and humor. Although considerably past middle age, he had -never contrived to outgrow the young man’s viewpoint. He felt like a boy -again. He talked and laughed and played pranks like a boy. To him this -incursion into a vast wilderness region was an experience long to be -remembered. He insisted upon doing a share of the work, soon learned to -drive a dog team and often took his turn in breaking trail. - -For the most part, cloudy weather prevailed, with an occasional light -snowfall. The country was new to Dick and he was compelled to leave the -charting of their route to the guide who had joined their party just -previous to their departure. - -The guide’s name was Martin Lamont. He was probably of French -extraction, although he claimed to be a full-blood Indian. For a native, -his skin was too light, his cheekbones too low, and, what was most -incredible of all, his dark hair was curly. His nose was large and -unsightly, while his lips were thin—thin and bloodless. A slight cast in -one hawk’s eye gave him a peculiar squint. - -“He can’t help being so murderous-looking, I don’t suppose,” Sandy -declared one morning. “Just the same, that eye of his chills me to the -bone whenever he looks my way. And did you ever notice, Dick, that -horrible scar on his left cheek?” - -“Yes,” Dick replied, “I’ve noticed it. But I think I could endure his -looks if only he had a more pleasant disposition. He seldom talks. When -he does, it’s usually a grunt or a snarl. A while ago he acted queerly -when I asked him to relieve one of the drivers, who was breaking trail.” - -Dr. Brady was walking right behind the two boys and evidently had been -listening to their conversation, for, at this juncture, he suddenly -broke forth: - -“He did act queerly—only I think I’d call it defiant. There was a -mutinous look in that squint eye of his.” - -“It was unprovoked,” said Dick, a little bitterly. “I asked him in a -friendly way. It’s only fair that we should all take turn in breaking -trail. He’s the only one that seems to object.” - -“But what did he say?” Sandy demanded impatiently. - -“Nothing,” answered Dick. “Merely muttered something under his breath, -glared at me, then walked back behind the last team. He’s sulking there -now.” - -“I can’t understand it,” Sandy wagged his head. “He volunteered his -services and yet doesn’t want to do his part. What would you say is -wrong with him, doctor?” - -“Haven’t properly diagnosed his case yet,” grinned Brady, “although his -symptoms indicate a very serious condition. Offhand, I’d say that he -required immediate treatment.” - -“He may get it,” Dick hinted darkly. - -Sandy laughed. “Places you in a kind of bad position, doesn’t it, old -chap? First thing you know, you’ll lose face with the rest of this -outfit. That Nitchie is setting a mighty bad example.” - -“Exactly what I think,” appended Brady. “You’re in charge here, aren’t -you, Dick?” - -“Yes,” Dick nodded. “Worse luck. If it comes to a show-down of course, -I’ll have the police behind me. Still, I hate trouble. Sometimes I think -I’ll let Mr. Lamont have his own way, and again I feel that to do that -will only breed discontent among the others.” - -Dick turned and looked up into the physician’s face. - -“You’re older than I am, doctor. What would you suggest?” - -Dr. Brady’s brow puckered. - -“I’m sure I don’t know. I hate to advise you, my boy. You might be -inclined to follow it.” - -“Out with it,” Dick laughed. “You’re putting me off. What would you do -if you were in my place?” - -“I don’t like him,” said Dr. Brady, “and I never did. I’ve been watching -him ever since we left Mackenzie. His actions are suspicious. His -disposition is unbearable. He’s a hard and dirty customer. In spite of -which—if I were in your place—I think I’d have it out with him. But if -you do, I’m afraid there’ll be trouble.” - -“You mean he’ll fight?” - -“Yes, but not openly. He isn’t that type. He’ll wait his chance to get -even. It’s hard to say what he’d do.” - -For a time they walked on in silence. Then Dick stepped out to one side -of the trail, a grim look on his face. - -“Well, we’ll soon find out. I’m going back there now.” - -Sandy’s eyes opened wide and his gaze followed his chum as he walked -back to the end of the line. Brady chuckled. The driver of the team -behind turned his head and grinned. - -Lamont’s squint eye gleamed balefully as Dick approached. Probably the -man knew why Dick had come, sensed the other’s motive. - -“A little while ago,” Dick spoke calmly, “I asked you in a nice way if -you wouldn’t help out in breaking trail. Why didn’t you go, Martin?” - -“Don’ want to go,” grunted the miscreant. - -“Why not?” - -“What you think,” screeched Lamont, now in a flaming temper, “me be -guide an’ do all the work too? I tell him Mr. Police Inspector I go show -you the way. That’s all. No work! No break ’em trail! Nothing! Me big -fool if I go break ’em trail like you say.” - -“No doubt,” said Dick, endeavoring to control himself. “Just the same, I -think you’ll go. All day yesterday you rode on one of the sleighs. You -didn’t walk a mile. Is that fair?” - -“Sure,” the other answered maliciously. “Me guide here. That’s all I -do.” - -“And I happen to be boss here with instructions from the man who hired -you. Either you’ll do your share of the work or you’ll leave this party. -Come now, which is it?” - -“Me guide here,” reiterated Lamont. “Sorry you no like it, but I no -break trail.” - -Dick was in a quandary. He was angry, yet also was he nonplused. He had -never encountered a situation like this. He wasn’t quite sure how to -proceed. He wished he had Brady at his side to advise him. He was -treading on ticklish ground. - -“All right, you’ll have to leave the party, Lamont, you understand -that.” - -Martin grinned across at him, a malevolent, maddening grin. It carried a -challenge. Dick’s hand fluttered toward the butt of his revolver, but he -caught himself in time. - -“Lamont, I’m not fooling. I mean what I say. You’re leaving this party -tonight when we make camp. I’ll give you enough rations to take you back -to the Mackenzie.” - -The guide’s eyes narrowed to two mere slits. There was something -venomous, snake-like in his stare. - -“I no go back to the Mackenzie,” he retorted quickly. “I go where I -wish. That place I go is Keechewan Mission. How you think you stop me go -there?” - -“Go there, if you like, but you’ll not go with us.” - -“Mebbe not,” said Lamont stubbornly. “We see about that.” - -Dick left the man and hurried back to the head of the column. His face -was grim and set as he rejoined Sandy and Dr. Brady. An angry flush had -mounted to his cheeks. His fists were clenched so hard that the nails -dug into the palms of his hands. - -“Well,” said Sandy, his voice lowered and anxious, “what did he say? -What is he going to do?” - -Dick could not trust himself to speak. Rage had overcome him. - -“I’ll show him! I’ll show him!” the words kept singing through his -brain. “I’ll show him!” rang on the vengeful chant. “He’ll not make a -fool of me. Guide—paugh! I’ll show him!” - -Then, happening to glance up, he saw that Dr. Brady was looking at -him—looking at him with friendly and yet appraising eyes. And in that -moment he felt somehow that his measure was being taken by that genial -but worldly-wise physician. - -“He provoked me,” said Dick by way of apology. “Lost my temper. He -refuses to break trail, to work—to do anything at all except just loaf -around and point out the way to Keechewan Mission.” - -“And what did you say to that?” - -“I told him that I didn’t propose to put up with it. I said that he’d -have to go. Tonight, when we make camp, I’ll give him rations, send him -on his way. He’s through.” - -“I don’t blame you. I think you’re doing the right thing,” declared Dr. -Brady. “We’ll be better off without him.” - -“I wish I could believe that,” Sandy suddenly interjected. “You say -we’re better off without him—but are we? When he leaves us, who’ll show -us the way? Lamont is the only member of this party who has been to -Keechewan. There’s no trail. We can wander miles off our course, get -ourselves into all sorts of difficulties and dangers—freeze and starve -and heaven knows what. The Barrens is a horrible place in winter, a -death-trap if you don’t know it. My Uncle Walter has been there and he -told me about it. It makes me shiver to think about it. Well named the -Barren Lands. An eternity of snow and utter desolation. You simply -travel on and on and on—and get nowhere. Twenty years from now some -wandering Eskimo will kick your bleached skeleton out of his path.” - -“Can’t help it,” said Dick stubbornly. “That man goes.” - -“You’re in charge here, of course. I know it’s hard to put up with his -insolence and his bad example, still——” - -“Yes,” said Dr. Brady, who had become very much interested in Sandy’s -point of view, “tell us the rest of it. I’m very anxious to hear.” - -“There’s nothing more to tell,” confessed the young Scotchman. “I’m -merely asking Dick to think this thing over very carefully before he -comes to a decision. Even if we don’t get lost without a guide, we’re -certain to be delayed. You know what that means?” - -“Delays mean human lives. Is that it? Is that what you’re thinking?” - -“Yes. Inspector Cameron wants us to get through to Keechewan as quickly -as possible. It’s important. It’s imperative. What if we do have to -humor Lamont? Better to let him ride every foot of the way and lord it -over us than let all those poor devils die without a chance.” - -“Sandy,” declared Dick—and his voice caught—“you’ve won me over. If I -dismissed Lamont now I’d—I’d have blood on my hands.” - -Dr. Brady did not speak for a moment His face was grave and thoughtful. - -“What do you think about it?” Dick asked. - -“A peculiar situation,” finally admitted Brady. “Lamont ought to be -punished, of course. He’s a miserable bounder, to say the least. But——” - -“Sandy’s logic and good sense has convinced you too.” - -“Exactly.” - -“We’ll have to keep that guide no matter what happens,” - -“We’ll have to keep him,” said the doctor. - -“Even if I’m compelled to apologize to him,” grimaced Dick, “and cook -his meals and wait on him hand and foot, we’ll have to keep him.” - -“There’s no other way. You can punish him when you get to Keechewan, of -course. I’d suggest turning him over to the policeman up there, your -Corporal Rand.” - -Silence settled down again, broken only by the cracking of whips and the -sharp cries of the dog drivers. The afternoon slowly wore on. An -overcast sky brought the darkness early. Yet they pushed on for nearly -an hour through the gloom before Dick gave orders to halt and make camp. - -“We’ve made a record today,” exulted Sandy, as he came forward to assist -Dick in unharnessing the malemutes from the mail-sledge. “We must have -come nearly forty miles. With a good snow-crust, we’ll do even better -than that.” - -Dick was about to answer, when he became aware of a form emerging from -the dark. A familiar voice accosted him: - -“Is that you, Dick?” - -“You bet! Why hello, Toma. Where’s your team?” - -“I get ’em off harness already. Feed ’em fish. Bye-’n’-bye they crawl in -snowdrift an’ go to sleep.” - -“Tired enough to do that myself,” declared Sandy. Toma came closer. He -took Dick’s arm. - -“You know that fellow, Lamont,” he began eagerly. - -“Yes, yes,” said Dick. “What’s he done now?” - -“He tell ’em me to give you this,” answered Toma, placing something in -Dick’s hand. - -A small, flat object of some flexible material, which felt like leather. -Dick fumbled in his pockets for a match and struck it. The sudden tiny -glare revealed nothing more than a piece of birch bark, blank on one -side, a pencilled scrawl on the other. Presently, with the help of -another match, he made out two words wholly unintelligible: “god by.” - -“God by,” asked Dick perplexedly. “What does that mean?” - -“It means,” answered the quick-witted Sandy in a voice that was -unusually calm, “that Lamont has left us. Can’t you see? Gone!” - -“But this thing—these words, I mean—what——” - -“He couldn’t spell. It’s ‘good-bye.’ He’s gone, I tell you.” - -Bewildered, weary, disheartened, Dick stared miserably out into the -enveloping darkness. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - PHANTOMS OF THE STORM - - -Long before the camp was astir on the following morning, Dick rose -shivering, dressed, and made his way to Dr. Brady’s tent. Lamont’s -departure had completely upset him. He could think of nothing else. -Through the long night he had lain awake thinking unpleasant thoughts, -upbraiding himself for his lack of diplomacy and negligence. To a -certain extent he and he alone was responsible for the calamity. He had -asked Lamont to leave the party and the guide had gone. Now he bitterly -regretted the incident. He had been a fool—rash, hasty, unthinking. He -had jeopardized the lives, not only of his own party, but, worse still, -the lives of scores of others residing in the districts affected by the -plague. - -Hurrying along through the chill of early dawn, it occurred to him that -there might still be some way out of the difficulty. Dr. Brady, who had -not yet been informed of the guide’s departure, might be able to suggest -something. He entered the physician’s tent and proceeded to wake its -occupant. Brady sat up, for a moment stared dully about him. - -“Well! Well! So it’s you, after all. When I first opened my eyes here in -the darkness and felt you tugging at my arm, I was sure that my time had -come. ‘Indians,’ I thought. ‘Brady, you’re about to be scalped.’ Then I -remembered that I am bald-headed. They couldn’t scalp me but——” - -“I’m in trouble, doctor,” said Dick, Brady’s jocularity failing to draw -even a smile from him. “Lamont left us last night.” - -The other whistled—a habit he had when surprised or excited. - -“What! You don’t say!” the doctor brushed one hand hurriedly across his -suddenly furrowed brow, staring straight at his informer. Then: - -“So you had trouble with him after all? Was there a fight?” - -“No; nothing like that. I hadn’t even talked to him except that once. He -left just when we made camp last night. Sent me a sort of message on a -piece of birch bark. I would have given you the news before you turned -in last night if Toma and I hadn’t gone back on the trail to see if we -couldn’t find the place where he’d struck off across country.” - -“Strange, isn’t it?” as he spoke, Brady arose, pulling a blanket around -him. “Too bad! Too bad! No wonder you’re worried, my boy. Did you sleep -any last night?” - -“Not much,” admitted Dick. “You can imagine how I feel. It’s all my -fault. I really told him to go. It places us in a terrible position, -doctor. I’m not sure whether we can find our way to Keechewan Mission or -not.” - -“We can try,” said Brady. “That, at least, is a comforting thought.” - -Dick removed his mittens in order to light a candle. It was very cold -inside the tent. Their breath was like vapor. - -“I have a plan,” Dick informed the physician. “At first, when I heard -that Lamont had left us, it didn’t occur to me. It may be a worthless -plan. I’d like your opinion on it. One reason why I came over here so -early.” - -“What is this plan?” asked Brady. - -“To send Toma out to overtake and bring the guide back.” - -“What! By force?” - -Apparently Brady hadn’t thought of that. He frowned as he began pulling -on his clothes. - -“Yes, if necessary, bring him back at the point of a gun. Force him to -guide us whether he wants to or not.” - -“I’m a little in doubt as to the wisdom of that. Toma may be able to -overtake Lamont and compel him to return. But what guarantee will you -have that he’ll guide us correctly? Don’t you think that there is the -danger that in revenge he’ll take us way out of our course entirely, -lead us afield? That would be disastrous.” - -“He wouldn’t dare. His life would be forfeit. I’ll attend to that,” said -the young man grimly. - -“Well, at any rate, it’s worth trying. But why don’t you go after him -yourself, Dick? Do you think this young Indian will be as apt to find -him as you will?” - -“Yes, more apt to. You don’t know Toma. He’s a jewel. Clever tracker and -all that. Courage like a panther. He’d succeed where I’d fail.” - -“I call that a compliment.” - -“It is a compliment. He’s wonderful.” - -Brady completed dressing. - -“Is there anything that I can do to help?” - -“Yes, if you will. You might waken the dog mushers and see that -breakfast is started while I go over and consult with Toma.” - -“I suppose we’ll have to remain in camp here until your friend returns. -The delay will be provoking but of course it can’t be helped.” - -“I had planned to have the party go on the same as usual,” said Dick. -“You see, doctor, time is precious. We can’t afford to lose a minute. -Toma will have to take his chance. He knows the general direction in -which we are travelling and can easily pick up our tracks.” - -Dr. Brady and Dick separated just outside the tent. The wind sent a -swirl of snow about their ankles. Already a few of the malemutes could -be seen emerging from their snowy dens or standing, gaunt and motionless -with raised muzzles, sniffing the frosty air. - -Toma was not only awake but had already left his sleeping quarters and, -when Dick found him, was squatting Indian fashion in front of a roaring -spruce fire, drinking a hot cup of tea. At sight of his chum, he put -down the cup, his face lighting with a smile. - -“You up so quick,” he greeted him. “I thought mebbe I only one.” - -With a sidewise movement of his head, Toma indicated to Dick that he -should sit down beside him. - -“You drink ’em tea. Make you feel good.” - -“No, not now, Toma. I’ll have breakfast later. I’ve come to see you -about—about Lamont.” - -The quiet eyes surveyed Dick curiously. - -“I thought that right away when I first see you. You no like it about -Lamont run away?” - -“You’ve struck it. I don’t. But it was partly my fault that he left, -Toma. I’ve been wondering what we’ll do without a guide.” - -“We get along all right mebbe.” - -“I hate to risk it,” said Dick. “I wish Lamont was here. He’s lazy and -worthless in lots of ways but he knows the trail. Will you go out and -bring him back, Toma?” - -The Indian lad blinked, stared at his chum unbelievingly. Surely he -didn’t mean that. Go after Lamont? Why the man wasn’t worth his salt. He -broke the silence with a sudden jarring laugh. - -“No. I’m in earnest,” Dick hastened to reassure the other. “I really -want you to go, Toma. Find him and make him come back. You can take your -gun. You must be very careful. While you’re out there after him, we’ll -go on. You can follow and overtake us later.” - -The Indian rose deliberately to his feet. His eyes were sparkling now in -his eagerness. No need to tell Dick that he would meet his wishes, would -be glad of the chance for this adventure. - -“And you won’t be afraid?” Dick asked. - -Toma grunted disdainfully, lifting his shoulders in a gesture that -implied scorn at the mere suggestion. - -“I start right away,” he informed his friend. “Mebbe you be surprised -how soon I bring him back. Him lazy fellow. Not go very far before he -stop an’ rest.” - -“That’s the spirit. I know you’ll succeed, Toma.” Dick rose and placed -one arm affectionately about the broad shoulders, a great weight lifted -from his mind. - -“I be gone in a few minutes. You say good-bye Sandy.” - -“All right. Lots of luck, odd chap. Don’t get into any trouble. If I -were you, I wouldn’t take any chances with Lamont either. If I’m not -mistaken, he’s more treacherous than a wolf. You’ll have to watch him.” - -“I be careful—don’t you worry. Good-bye.” - -And not long afterward the young Indian stole silently forth on his -dangerous errand. Expert in the use of snowshoes, he seemed to glide -away, his queer shuffling motion taking him quickly across the open -space to a clump of trees beyond. When Dick had joined Dr. Brady and -Sandy and the little group around the campfire, he had disappeared. - -“Hope he’s successful,” Sandy sighed, picking up another armful of wood -to throw on the fire. “You’ve shown good judgment in sending him, Dick.” - -“But it’s not a very pleasant morning,” said Dr. Brady. - -Dick glanced at the lowering sky, at the black clouds rolling up from -the horizon and nodded grimly. - -“Yes, that’s the worst part of it, if we should have a blizzard Toma -might as well come back. He’d lose Lamont’s tracks and could never find -him.” - -“Not in a storm,” agreed Sandy. “It would be almost impossible. But -let’s hope that that won’t happen.” - -Yet happen it did. They were out on the trail by that time, mushing -slowly along the edge of a wide ravine, their faces toward the wind, -which was very sharp and penetrating. The loose snow, covering the -drifts, was awhirl by now, sweeping around them. Yet this preliminary -barrage was as nothing compared to the terrific onslaught that followed. -A fearful darkness descended over the earth, for the light was smothered -as the snow gods hurled their challenge. - -Dick and his party did the only thing possible under the circumstances. -They blindly sought out the nearest shelter and clung there, helpless -and as impotent as babes, mere human specks in a tremendous vortex of -wind and snow. Night had fallen when finally the sky cleared. Everywhere -around them were mountainous drifts, battlements, peaks and even -pinnacles, showing white and ghostly in the pale starlight. - -As the little party straggled forth from its shelter, the earth -presented an aspect of strangeness, of newness, so entirely different -from its original appearance, that one could almost believe that he had -been transported in some mysterious manner to another world. - -“I honestly believe,” Sandy gasped, “that all the snow in the universe -has been gathered together and dropped down in this one place.” - -“It certainly looks like it,” agreed Dr. Brady, as he took a step -forward and slid waist-deep into a drift. “How are we going to break -trail? I certainly pity your friend Toma. Do you think it will be wise -to push on until we hear from him?” - -Dick shook his head despondently. - -“No, we’ll have to wait here. This storm is the worst thing that could -have happened. Toma may not be able to rejoin us for two or three days.” - -“If not longer,” despaired Sandy. - -So, imagine their surprise and delight on the following morning to find -the young man in question already amongst them. Toma sauntered up with -solemn unconcern to the place where Dick and Sandy were endeavoring to -build a fire. No apparition could have astonished them more. From their -squatting position, they looked up and gasped, then rose in unison, -howling like two maniacs. They descended upon the young Indian with a -varied assortment of whoops and yells, lifted him up bodily between them -and carried him triumphantly away to the tent of Dr. Brady. - -“Look!” shouted Sandy. “Look what we’ve found.” - -“He’s safe, doctor,” screeched Dick. - -The center of so much interest and enthusiasm, one would have thought -that Toma himself would have caught some of the infection. Not so. With -each passing moment, his face became more and more gloomy, his manner -more despondent. He struggled out of Dick’s and Sandy’s embarrassing -embrace to a more dignified position on his feet. Soberly he waved them -aside. - -“You think mebbe I bring back Lamont,” he said bitterly. “It is not so. -I no see him.” - -With averted eyes and shamed, flushed face, he pushed the two boys -unceremoniously to one side and stalked sombrely outside. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - A HUNGRY PROWLER - - -For three hours Dick had been breaking-trail steadily and had reached -the point where his endurance was spent, where it seemed to him that to -take one more step would result in physical collapse. Behind him -straggled a perspiring, panting line of weary dogs and wearier men, -while ahead—snow; acre upon acre, mile upon mile, interminable, -never-ending—snow! - -The sun of late afternoon shone brightly on the snow and made of it a -vast, brilliant, sparkling field of intolerable whiteness. To gaze for -any length of time into that field was impossible. The human eye wavered -before that blinding radiance, could not for long meet and hold its -glaring intensity. So it was that Dick looked down as he staggered on at -the head of the column, and so it was that every other member of the -party moved forward with bent head. - -They were travelling northeast in the general direction of Keechewan -Mission. Keechewan Mission was at the end of an imaginary straight -line—a very straight line—beginning at the Mackenzie River barracks. -Sometimes, because of topographical obstructions—hills, ravines, dense -forests, and the like—the party was forced to deviate or detour from the -prescribed route. Naturally this wandering brought confusion. No one -knew with any degree of certainty whether, when they came back and -attempted to get on the right track again, they were a little east or a -little west or directly upon that imaginary line. - -It was a problem that would have absorbed the interest of a navigator or -a civil engineer. To Dick, however, it was a hopeless tangle—blindly -guessing at something and hoping it would come out all right. More and -more he fell to consulting other members of the party, especially Toma, -who had a strong sense of direction, and who had been uncannily -successful in guiding Dick and Sandy on previous expeditions. - -He was thinking of all this as he plodded wearily along. Perhaps even -now they were off the trail and would eventually come to grief in some -forbidding wasteland, far from the haunts of men. - -He heard footsteps behind him and felt the weight of a hand upon his -shoulder. - -“What—you break trail all time. You go back now an’ drive ’em my team -an’ ride a little while mebbe. Too hard break trail an’ no stop an’ -rest.” - -It was Toma, of course. Always faithful and observing. A ready champion -and trusted friend. - -“It’s good of you,” Dick said wearily. “I am tired. My eyes hurt too. -This glare is terrible.” - -“It very bad,” agreed the young Indian. “One dog driver back there,” he -pointed, “him almost snow-blind.” - -“Glad you told me. Tonight when we make camp, I’ll send him to Dr. -Brady.” - -Dick stepped to one side to permit Toma to pass. - -“Very well, then, you’ll take my place. But have I been going right, -Toma? Don’t you think we ought to turn more to the left? I can’t imagine -why it is, why I feel that way, I mean, but I keep thinking that we’re -striking too far east.” - -The Indian shook his head. - -“No, I guess you go about right. Mebbe it no hurt to turn little more to -left.” - -Dick vaguely wondered. - -“Why do you believe our course is about right?” he asked. - -“All right,” returned Toma, “I tell you. In morning an’ at night when -you look off that way,” Toma made a sweeping motion with one arm, “you -see ’em big hill. We go towards that. We keep hill in front of us. If we -go wrong on trail, big hill be one side or other—not in front. That’s -how I know.” - -“Hill,” said Dick, puzzled. “I haven’t seen any.” - -“Then you not look very good. Mebbe you not look right time. Morning -early, before sun him get too bright, you see ’em plain. Jus’ before -sunset another good time. Tonight you try it an’ see.” - -“I will,” said Dick, as he turned back to drive Toma’s team. “You may -depend upon it.” - -So, just before sunset, he called an early halt and while the other -members of the party unharnessed the teams and proceeded to make supper, -he climbed to the crest of a small hill and gazed off towards the -northeast. Shadows had already commenced to appear along the hollows and -ridges. There was no glare over the snow now. He could see for miles -across that forsaken, desolate land. - -Yet at first he could see nothing that resembled a hill. Where the -horizon began, it was true, there reposed what looked like a bank of -mist, but which, unlike mist, remained perfectly stationary and -unchanging in form—a sort of purplish blotch against the blue background -of the sky. - -This, he decided, must be the hill Toma referred to. It didn’t look like -one to his inexperienced eyes, yet hill it must be. The young Indian had -good eyesight and a vast knowledge of the North stored away in that -clever brain of his. At any rate, provided it didn’t disappear during -the night, he would use that hill or blotch, or whatever it was, as the -goal for tomorrow’s weary trek. - -He returned to find supper waiting for him. The dog mushers sat huddled -around the blazing campfires, resting after their arduous day. Dick was -glad that he had called a halt earlier than usual. The physical strain -of tramping hour after hour through soft, yielding drifts had been -almost unendurable. - -Usually after the evening meal, Dick remained beside the campfire to -talk with Sandy and Dr. Brady, but tonight he felt too tired. After he -had eaten, he bade his friends good-night and repaired to his tent, -where he was soon lost in sleep. - -When he awakened, a blue darkness still enveloped the earth. It was very -early. He had a vague notion that he had been disturbed. Somewhere at -the back of his consciousness was the dim memory of voices and running -footsteps. But whether this was reality or a fragment of some vivid -dream, he could not say. He lay still for a few minutes, listening. - -Satisfied, at length, that he had heard nothing, that it was all an -illusion, he turned on his side and attempted to go back to sleep. Just -then there broke across his hearing, unusually clear and distinct, a -shrill human cry. The cry was followed by the sound of a struggle and a -muffled groan. - -In a flash, Dick was up and fumbling for a candle. He tore into his -clothes. He sprang to the tent opening and darted through—coatless, -hatless, a revolver gripped firmly in his right hand. He made his way -quickly toward the sound of struggling, arriving just as two men swayed -to their feet and seized each other in another desperate embrace. - -In the darkness, it was impossible to tell who the two combatants were. -For the life of him, Dick could not guess their identity. However, he -advanced, gun held in readiness. - -“Stop it! Stop it, I say. I have you covered.” - -The two figures drew apart. Dick wondered if they weren’t two of his own -dog drivers, between whom ill-feeling existed, and who were employing -this method to settle their differences. Imagine his surprise when the -voice of Toma broke the quiet. - -“Dick! You!” he puffed. “This fellow he put up pretty good fight. Twice -he almost get away.” - -“But who is it?” Dick asked wonderingly. “Who is it, Toma?” - -“Lamont,” answered the young Indian briefly. - -Dick took a step forward and almost dropped his gun. - -“Lamont!” he exploded. “Lamont! Lamont! It can’t be——” - -“It is,” said Toma stubbornly. “Pretty soon you find out. You see I tell -you right.” - -“But what in the name of—” Dick began, then paused breathless. -“Lamont—what’s he doing here? How did you happen to find him, Toma? What -were you fighting about?” - -“I wake up over there in tent,” Toma explained, “when I hear something -go by. First I think mebbe it one of the huskies. Then I hear more noise -out by my sledge. I dress quick as I can an’ go out there. No -gun!—nothing! An’ I find him this thief try to steal. Soon as he hear -me, he start run over here, near your tent. I grab him by shoulder, but -he slip away again. More run. Again I catch him. I trip him down an’ -grab him by his throat. Then he make yell.” - -“You’ve done well, Toma,” Dick complimented him. “Good boy!” - -He turned upon the panting culprit. - -“Mighty glad you’ve come back. Very kind of you. This is a pleasure we -hadn’t expected,” he could not conceal, even in this attempt at sarcasm, -the satisfaction and relief the guide’s coming had brought. He seized -Lamont by the arm. - -“Step lively now over to that tent. You’ve played your last little game -with me.” - -Flourishing his gun, he sent the former guide staggering ahead with a -well-directed push. - -“Get in there,” he thundered, “and be quick about it! We’ll have a -pleasant little talk—you and I. There are a few things I want to tell -you.” - -He followed Lamont inside, motioning to Toma to follow him. In the -feeble light of the single fluttering candle eagerly he scanned the -downcast features of the man who had caused him so much misery and -trouble. He pointed to his bunk. - -“Sit over there.” - -For a moment he glowered, then: - -“What were you doing here? Why did you come back?” - -The guide looked up, his squint eye gleaming defiantly, his mouth -quivering with suppressed anger and humiliation. - -Silence. - -“Answer me!” shouted Dick. - -Lamont’s eyes fell before the young leader’s unblinking gaze. His -fingers played nervously with the worn fringe of his short fur coat. - -“If you don’t talk,” stormed Dick, “it will go hard with you. Why did -you come back?” - -“I get lonesome,” lied Lamont. “I get lonesome all time out there -alone.” - -“A very pretty story,” laughed Dick. “You come back in the middle of the -night because you were lonesome. You didn’t come back, of course, to -steal. Getting hungry, weren’t you? Thought you’d come over and sample -our supplies. Well, you failed. You’re a thief, Lamont, a dirty thief, -and when we arrive at Keechewan I’ll turn you over to Corporal Rand of -the mounted police. How’ll you like that, eh?” - -At mention of the dreaded name, the guide stirred uneasily. He looked up -again, his features distorted with fear. - -“I no help I come back,” his voice broke. “What else I do? I get hungry -like you say. You owe me money. What hurt I come here an’ get little -something to eat, get mebbe few dollars grub. Anyway,” he hurried on, -“you tell me no want me here. You say go.” - -This, of course, was perfectly true. Dick had told Lamont that his -services were no longer required. - -“Yes, I told you. But you had no right to come back here to steal. Now -you’ll be punished for it. You’ll remain with this party, Lamont. You’ll -work. You’ll break trail. You’ll guide us. I’ll watch you close, and -there’ll be a bullet for you if you try to escape. You won’t have an -easy time of it like you had before, Lamont.” - -The guide did not answer. He merely sat and glared at his accuser. He -was nervous and ill at ease. Dick consulted his watch. - -“It’s now four o’clock,” he announced to Toma. “Everyone will be awake -in two hours. We might as well stay up.” - -Toma rose to his feet. - -“I take this fellow over to my tent,” he said winking at his chum. “Him -hungry, very hungry, he say. All right, we make him start to work. He -get himself big breakfast. Get breakfast for you, me too. Start -campfire. Do plenty work.” - -“That’s not a bad idea. I’ll go over with you.” - -He motioned to Lamont to follow the young Indian outside, then remained -behind for a moment to blow out the candle. A short time later, they -stood around while Lamont worked. - -The guide offered no objections. He was hungry, so hungry indeed, that -he would have worked gladly for hours for a mere crust. - -Lamont, Toma and Dick were sitting around the fire at breakfast when the -camp awoke. Here and there a light flickered through the gloom. The -plaintive howling of the malemutes and huskies. Drowsy human voices. The -sharp, quick blows of an ax, crackling brush. Ruddy flames leaping up, -brighter and brighter. More noise and bustle and confusion. - -They were still sitting there, when Dr. Brady and Sandy appeared. The -pair of them came up, laughing, but, at sight of Lamont wolfing his -food, they paused in sheer wonderment. - -Dick beckoned to them. - -“It’s all right, doctor. Don’t hesitate, Sandy. Come on over. He’s -perfectly harmless. Permit me to introduce him to you. Gentlemen,” he -grinned, “Mr. Martin Lamont—our guide!” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - THE LONE CABIN - - -The days that followed proved arduous for the guide. No longer, in -lordly, domineering manner, was he permitted to ride on one of the -sledges and point out the way. His hours of leisure were at an end. He -took his turn in breaking trail, drove dogs, chopped wood, assisted in -putting up and taking down the tents, and in many other ways became a -useful and valuable member of the expedition. - -His presence, distasteful as it was, had brought a quick change in the -spirits of the party. Hope rose again in Dick’s heart, and his -enthusiasm and energy were unbounded. He had ceased to worry about -getting lost or even wandering from the trail. Threatened with the most -dire punishment, Lamont was forced to set their course. - -Shortly after the return of the guide, they came upon the first log -cabin they had seen since leaving Mackenzie River. It stood in a thick -clump of trees, and had been recently built judging from the -freshly-scored logs and its general appearance of newness. A flutter of -interest, not unmixed with awe and wonderment and curiosity, stirred the -party. Necks craned suddenly, drivers deserted their teams to go forward -to talk to other drivers, even the huskies raised their tawny heads, as -if to sniff out this new mystery. - -In the lead at the time, breaking trail, Sandy gave the cabin the -benefit of one swift look of appraisement, then started forward on the -run. He proceeded very rapidly for fifty or sixty yards, then stopped -short so abruptly that the point of one snowshoe became entangled in the -other and he fell headlong. - -Dick and Dr. Brady both started to laugh, but the sound died on their -lips. They watched Sandy rise and start back, waving his arms -frantically. The driver of the first team pulled up short. The second -team, close behind the first, also pulled up short, but not soon enough -to prevent an entanglement, which led to a furious fight among the -malemutes. - -Dick and Dr. Brady ran to the driver’s assistance, reaching the scene of -trouble just a moment before Sandy arrived breathless. White-lipped, the -young Scotchman waited until the commotion had subsided. - -“Dr. Brady,” he began, “I guess you——” - -His words trailed off to a mumbling incoherence. He sat down on the -sledge, gesturing a little wildly, his expression difficult to describe. - -“Did you——” he inquired in horror-struck tones, “I say, did you see—see -it, too?” - -Dr. Brady nodded gravely. Dick stared, moistening his lips. - -“A red flag,” said the physician. “We weren’t quite sure. There was -something there just outside fluttering—— A cloth. A rag of some sort. -Looked red.” - -“Exactly,” Sandy spoke tersely with a deep intake of breath. “Smallpox!” - -“Smallpox!” Dick echoed the word. - -“I’ll go over,” announced Dr. Brady quite calmly. “Get my case, Dick.” - -The case was brought. The physician took it smiling. - -“Shall we go with you?” asked Dick. - -“No; it isn’t necessary. You’d better stay here.” - -The news quickly spread. Smallpox! Faces grew gray and anxious. One by -one, the drivers slunk back to their places, while all talk ceased. - -Finally, Sandy jerked his hand back in the direction of the cabin. - -“We’ll see lots of that sort of thing before we return to the -Mackenzie.” - -“Yes, when we get to Keechewan. But I doubt if we’ll find another -smallpox case this side of the Barrens,” said Dick. “Terrible business, -isn’t it?” - -Both, as if by a common impulse, looked up and stared over at the cabin. -The red cloth fascinated them. It furled and fluttered softly, yet -ominously, in the light breeze. - -The boys wondered what Dr. Brady was doing. He had entered the cabin, -closing the door after him. They both started as the door opened and -their friend emerged. They saw him raise one arm, beckoning them to come -closer. A little fearfully, Dick and Sandy obeyed. They were strangely -excited. Stalking up before the door, they observed that the physician -was very grave indeed. - -“Well?” said Dick, the first one to speak. - -Brady stepped away from the door and came toward them, his eyes evasive. - -“There’s only one thing to do,” he announced in a curiously soft and -gentle voice. “Set fire to the cabin. We’re too late.” - -“Too late?” repeated Sandy. - -“Yes, too late.” - -“How—how many inside there?” whispered Dick. - -“Two half-breed trappers—one young and one old.” - -“And they both had it?” the boys asked in unison. - -“Yes,” Dr. Brady’s mouth twitched at the corners. “They’re gone. We came -too late. As I just said, there’s only one thing to do: Set fire to the -cabin. Burn it down.” - -“Burn it,” asked Sandy. “What for?” - -“As a matter of precaution. To protect the lives of others. Now and -again, some lone wanderer might chance this way.” - -Sandy and Dick stood looking at the physician during an odd interval of -silence. Of course, he knew best. They realized that. And it would save -time. Dick touched Sandy’s shoulder and together the two friends moved -toward the timber at the back of the house. They carried dry bark and -branches, soon gathering a large pile, which they threw down in front of -the door. Soon a fire was started. It mounted slowly at first, -smouldering and cracking, but presently it leaped up, quickly spreading -to every part of the building. - -“That’s done,” Sandy sighed relievedly. “Let’s go back.” - -It was a little awkward joining the party again. Yet no one questioned -them. They were greeted with curious stares and frightened glances. At -noon they were miles away and halted for a midday meal in the shelter of -a spruce grove, through which there ran the wandering course of a tiny -stream. - -It occurred to Dick that this stream might be one of the tributaries of -the Wapiti River, which they must cross ere long. He was discussing this -possibility with Toma, shortly after lunch, when Sandy came up shaking -his head. - -“A pretty business! A pretty business!” he muttered, taking a place -beside them. “They’re as frightened as sheep. Too bad we had to come -across that cabin. Hope nothing serious grows out of this.” - -“What do you mean?” asked Dick. - -“Just look at them.” - -Dick turned and looked toward the place Sandy indicated. The dog drivers -were assembled there in an excited, gesticulating group. - -“I overheard part of it,” said Sandy. “They’re telling each other that -they don’t want to go on, that they’re afraid, that no white man’s -medicine can save them from the horror of the plague.” - -“But all of them have been vaccinated,” Dick protested. - -“Sure. But they don’t realize what that means. They have guessed, -somehow, that the men who lived in that cabin died. They know the -meaning of that red cloth, and it has struck terror into their hearts. I -heard Fontaine say that he, for one, intended to turn back.” - -“Mere talk,” objected Dick. “They’ll get over it. The thing is fresh in -their minds now and, of course, they’re worried. By tomorrow or the next -day they’ll have forgotten all about it.” - -“Do you think so. I can’t help feeling that in some way Lamont is at the -bottom of this. He’s stirring them up.” - -“I believe you’re right.” Dick stared moodily into the fire. “Come to -think about it, I saw Lamont talking to them.” - -“Well,” said Sandy, “we’d better watch him. And the others, too. You -know what it will mean if they decide to leave us.” - -Dick’s face shadowed, then brightened quickly. Such a possibility seemed -remote. Surely, they’d do nothing of the kind. They wouldn’t dare. - -“They’ll soon forget,” he said. - -But in this, as it subsequently proved, he was mistaken. That night a -deputation came to him. The face of each of the drivers was set and -determined. Altogether they were an ominous crew. They gathered around -him and abruptly Fontaine, who acted as their spokesman, spoke up: - -“M’sieur Dick, these fellow,” indicating his following, “they tell me no -want to go any farther. No want to die. Smallpox get ’em sure. You know -that. You know everybody die pretty soon jus’ like them fellow in -cabin.” - -“Nonsense,” said Dick. “You’re all vaccinated.” - -Fontaine shook his head with great emphasis. - -“No good that. Nothing stop smallpox. Very bad. Make ’em all die, these -fellow.” - -“But you know better yourself, Fontaine. You know that isn’t true. We’re -all safe enough. Tell them not to worry. They need not be afraid.” - -A mutter of defiance ran around the little circle. Fontaine’s voice rose -to a higher pitch. - -“No good tell ’em that. They understand what you say. They know better.” - -Dick was rapidly losing ground. In desperation, he raised one arm, -calling for silence. - -“But wait! Just wait!” he beseeched them. “I will bring the white doctor -to you and he will explain. Dr. Brady will repeat what I have told you. -There is no danger. If you do not believe me, surely you will believe -him. He is a great medicine man.” - -“That doctor him very much mistake,” a new voice broke into the -discussion. - -Turning quickly, Dick perceived Lamont standing at his elbow. - -“Who asked _you_ for _your_ opinion?” Dick demanded hotly. “Lamont, keep -out of this.” - -The guide’s defective left eye rolled up in a way that made Dick shiver. -The man stepped back, leering. - -“Lamont know all about this,” Fontaine cut in quickly. “He tell me his -father, two brothers die from smallpox four years ago. White doctor him -there, too. Try help. No good. What you say about that?” - -Dick had nothing to say. It was a lie, of course, A story to feed these -frightened and credulous fools. He could see the purpose in it all. - -“I tell you another thing,” Fontaine took up the thread of his plaint, -now speaking triumphantly. “One of these fellows,” he pointed to a -half-breed, who stood directly opposite, “think mebbe already he get -sick. All afternoon his head hurt. Him feel very hot—deezzy.” - -“Faugh!” grunted Dick. “It isn’t the smallpox. He wasn’t within three -hundred yards of the cabin. And even if he were exposed, he wouldn’t get -sick less than ten hours later.” - -But the drivers were obdurate. Sandy, Toma, and later, Dr. Brady himself -took turns in pleading and arguing with them, but to no avail. Fontaine -insisted that one of their party had already contracted the disease, so -the physician examined the man while the rest of the drivers went to -their tents. Outside Brady’s tent, Dick, Sandy and Toma waited -impatiently. - -“Well,” asked Sandy, when the doctor finally appeared, “what is your -verdict?” - -“I’m not quite sure yet,” answered the physician. “But the symptoms -are—smallpox.” - -“How can that be? He’s vaccinated,” Dick protested. - -“Yes, on several different occasions, but the vaccine took no effect. -There are cases like that.” - -Dick moved over to one of the sledges, too discouraged and alarmed to -trust himself to speak. For several minutes he stood, gazing off across -the white bleak waste of snow and wilderness. Back near one of the -campfires, the drivers had come together again to discuss the -all-important topic. - -“You see what we’re up against, doctor,” Dick turned suddenly. “If they -won’t listen to reason, we’re beaten.” - -“Yes,” echoed Sandy, “we’re beaten. Licked. We can’t go on without -drivers.” - -The doctor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. - -“The situation may not be quite as serious as you think,” he attempted -to cheer them. “Before morning they’ll probably change their minds.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - OUTWITTED - - -Dr. Brady broke off a twig from a branch above his head and sat down on -the sledge near Dick, commencing to trace queer patterns in the new, -loose snow. - -“It will soon be time to start on again, won’t it?” asked the doctor. - -“It’s eight-thirty,” Dick replied. “We should have started a half hour -ago.” - -“Why not try taking a firmer hand with them,” suggested Brady. “Tell -them that if they won’t go on with the party, they can return without -supplies. That ought to frighten them.” - -“I’ll try it,” Dick fell in with the suggestion. “Come on. We must do -something. I want you fellows to back me up. Maybe there’ll be trouble.” - -The drivers were still arguing amongst themselves as the four -approached. - -“Fontaine, come here.” - -The spokesman drew away from his fellow conspirators. - -“Yes, M’sieur Dick.” - -“Tell the others to harness the dogs. It’s time to start.” - -Fontaine’s eyes sought the ground. - -“They no go, m’sieur,” he declared doggedly. - -“What do they intend to do?”—brusquely. - -“Nothing. They say go back to Mackenzie.” - -“Utter nonsense. You’ll never make it. It’s hundreds of miles south of -here. You’ll starve before you get there.” - -“Starve!” exclaimed Fontaine. “But, M’sieur Dick, you mus’ be mistake. -You have plenty grub here. Fellows no go back without grub.” - -“That’s exactly what they’ll have to do if they leave this -party—everyone of them. You’ll get nothing from me. I’ll shoot the first -man that makes an attempt to take anything with him. Do you understand, -Fontaine?” - -The spokesman blinked and backed away. Here was a turn of events neither -he nor any of the others had anticipated. It made their position -somewhat untenable. It required careful consideration—more discussion. -Quickly he turned and broke forth in Cree. It volleyed from him. He -punctuated his talk with rapid-fire gestures. - -When he had completed his oration, a deep silence fell. It was an angry -silence. The half-breed drivers glowered. - -“Well, what’s your decision?” Dick spoke sharply. - -Fontaine was coldly deliberate. - -“We eight men against four. We no go on. Fellows get supplies an’ start -back to Fort Mackenzie.” - -Dick was astounded. He looked up appealingly at Dr. Brady, his pulses -quickening. He observed that Sandy’s hands trembled. A sudden movement -among the dog drivers attracted his attention. All of them had started -forward menacingly, then as quickly fell back. For a brief moment Dick -wondered at this hesitancy on their part, but catching sight of Toma, -the truth of the situation flashed over him. That young man stood, -fondling an ugly-looking revolver, his eyes defying them to come on. - -Sandy was quick to see their temporary advantage, and he, too, whipped -out his gun. The mutinous dog drivers attempted to slink away, but Dick -perceived their little ruse and stopped them peremptorily: - -“No, you don’t. Stay right where you are until I relieve you of your -guns.” - -Three of the men carried revolvers, while all of them possessed knives. -He quickly secured all these, placing them on one of the sleighs. Then, -while Sandy and Toma kept the men covered, he and Dr. Brady hurried over -to the tents and sledges, returning with three rifles and four more -revolvers. - -“Quite an arsenal,” puffed Dr. Brady. - -“Yes, and they won’t get them back either,” Dick retorted. “Without -arms, they’ll be helpless. During the day while we’re traveling, I’ll -keep them on my sledge with the mail, and at night in my tent with a -guard posted. That means we’ll have to take turn, the four of us, at -sentinel duty.” - -Placing their load of weapons on Dick’s sledge, they rejoined Sandy and -Toma, who still guarded the mutineers. - -“You can put away your guns,” ordered Dick. - -“But what about these prisoners?” Sandy asked. - -“I think they’ll be willing to go back to their teams now. Is it not so, -Fontaine?” - -The stalwart French half-breed pretended not to hear. - -“Fontaine,” Dick raised his voice, “did you hear what I said? You can -all go now. Take up your tents, harness your dogs the same as usual, and -get ready to start.” - -The dog drivers were at a disadvantage and they knew it. There was -nothing to do but to obey. Yet it was with much muttering and grumbling, -that they turned again to their morning’s routine. They would bide their -time. The boys had gained the upper hand now, but this was only the -first round in a battle of wits. Tomorrow, perhaps, they might be the -victors. - -“We’ll have to watch them day and night,” Sandy declared, shoving the -revolver back in its holster and turning away. “Heaven help us, if they -ever get a chance at those guns again—or those deadly-looking knives.” - -“Yes,” agreed Dr. Brady, “I don’t like their looks. Naturally, they’ll -resent this. I think that we can expect trouble. I’ll volunteer for the -first night’s guard duty.” - -“That’s splendid of you, doctor,” Dick smiled. “But we’ll let you off -easy. You can stand guard from eight until twelve tonight, and I’ll take -your place for the remaining hours until morning.” - -The first day, following the events narrated above, passed without -incident. On the second day, however, the driver, whom Fontaine said had -contracted smallpox, and whom Dr. Brady later had examined, died -suddenly. The morale of the party tottered. If ever the half-breeds had -placed any faith in the medicine of the white man, they lost it now. -Again they became panic stricken. The muttering and the complaining -broke out afresh. Hourly, it grew more and more difficult to keep them -at their work. Dick found it necessary to have either Sandy or Toma -drive the last team in the line, with instructions to be ever on the -alert, their revolvers always in readiness. - -That night, fearing trouble, Sandy, whose turn it was to stand guard for -the first part of the night, asked Dick to keep him company. - -“I hope you don’t mind, old chap. The truth is, I’m a little bit afraid. -I have a feeling that the time is nearly at hand for them to strike. I -don’t like the way they’ve been acting.” - -“Nor I,” said Dick. “They’re up to something. They gather about in -little groups, whispering. Fontaine and Lamont keep stirring them up.” - -“Their first move,” reasoned Sandy, “will be to try to get back their -rifles and cartridges. With these in their possession, they’ll be able -to take what supplies they want and return to Mackenzie.” - -“A sorry day for them if they do,” Dick declared. “Inspector Cameron -will know how to deal with them.” - -“Of course, that is true. But they don’t stop to think about that. Their -chief worry now is to get away.” - -As usual, the mail and guns were taken to Dick’s tent, where the two -boys stood guard. This constant vigilance was wearing upon them. The -three boys and Dr. Brady suffered from lack of sleep, yet each day they -were compelled to carry on. There was no help for it. - -Despite Sandy’s presentiment, no attack was made that night, nor yet on -the following day. Late in the afternoon, while crossing a low chain of -hills, they perceived, about a quarter of a mile away, a small Indian -encampment, consisting of four lonely tepees. - -“There may be smallpox there,” said Dr. Brady. “I’d better go over -there.” - -Leaving Sandy and Toma behind to watch the camp during their absence, -Dr. Brady and Dick went forward to investigate. They were received -warmly at the first tepee, and were informed that no one was ill. In -fact, the Indians had not even heard of the epidemic. At each of the -tepees in turn they were received graciously until they came to the -fourth and last. - -Here their reception was very cool indeed. The place was occupied by an -aged Indian couple and by a young man, evidently their son. This young -man became very angry upon their entrance. He sat opposite the entrance, -blankets wrapped around him, and scowled continuously. When Dick -questioned him, he refused to answer, pretending that he did not -understand. The old Indian squaw seemed to be the only one equipped with -vocal powers. Over and over, she kept repeating the words in English: - -“Go ’way! Go ’way!” - -“Don’t seem to be very popular here,” grinned Dr. Brady. “Well, there’s -no use of staying very long. I’ll vaccinate them as quickly as I can and -then we’ll be on our way.” - -Yet when Dr. Brady opened his medicine case and attempted to vaccinate -them, they repulsed him stoutly. They were afraid of the doctor. His -instruments frightened them. It was evident that they believed that his -ministrations were for no other purpose than to subject them to some new -and mysterious torture. Finally, the young Indian rose threateningly and -commanded them to depart. - -As he did so, Dick drew back in surprise. The Indian wore boots, heavy -top-boots—the service boots of the Royal Mounted Police—and, what was -even more astonishing, a service revolver in its holster at his side. -For a full moment he stared at the tell-tale articles, scarcely -believing his eyes. Where had the Indian secured these things? Certainly -not from the police—unless they had been taken by force or stolen. -Dick’s arm trembled as he took Dr. Brady’s arm and pulled him toward the -entrance. - -“Come on, doctor, we’d better get out of here. It’s no use.” - -Outside the tepee, he turned quickly upon his companion: - -“I say, doctor, did you notice what that young Indian wore?” - -“No,” replied Dr. Brady, “I didn’t notice particularly. Moosehide -garments, weren’t they?” - -“No. No. The boots, I mean—the revolver!” - -“Yes, he did have boots. Rather queer, isn’t it? They usually wear -moccasins.” - -“Usually wear moccasins!” exploded Dick. “Why those were mounted police -boots. They’re different. No one else wears them. And that revolver, -holster and belt could have been obtained from no other person on earth -except a policeman.” - -“That’s strange. I wonder how he came by them?” - -Dick did not answer immediately. His mind had turned to very sober -thoughts. The more he dwelt upon this unusual circumstance—an Indian -wearing mounted police boots and carrying a service revolver—the more he -became perplexed. As they made their way back to their own party, his -suspicions grew. A great fear tugged at his heart. - -“Dr. Brady,” he began very soberly, “I don’t like this. I’m afraid——” - -The physician turned and smiled. - -“What? Still thinking about those boots? I wouldn’t worry, if I were -you, Dick. The explanation is probably simple enough. The boots and -revolver might have been discarded. Aren’t you troubling yourself -needlessly?” - -“No, I think not. You remember Corporal Rand, don’t you, the man -Inspector Cameron spoke of, the one he sent up here ahead of us, and -about whom he was so worried?” - -“Why, yes,” said Dr. Brady. “Corporal Rand. The name is familiar.” - -“Well,” trembled Dick, “I have a terrible suspicion that those boots and -that revolver belong to him.” - -It was Brady’s turn to become grave. - -“And you believe that he——” - -“I don’t know what to believe,” Dick filled in the pause. “It looks bad. -They might have killed him. They——” - -He broke off, overcome by such a probability. - -“You see, doctor,” he resumed, “Corporal Rand wouldn’t carry an extra -pair of boots and probably not an extra revolver along with him. Just -remember that. If the Indian didn’t kill him, something or someone else -did. He might have taken those things off Rand’s dead body. Somehow, I -feel that I ought to go back and question him—make him talk. I don’t -like the looks of this.” - -They were now within a short distance of their own party, and an idea -suddenly occurred to Dick. - -“Tell you what I’ll do. I’ll get Toma to go with me. He speaks the -Indian language more fluently. The two of us will go over there armed -and compel that rascal to confess. And we won’t come back either -until——” - -Dr. Brady interrupted him. Dr. Brady had seized him by the shoulders and -was staring into his face, his eyes wide with excitement. Then he swung -the younger man in front of him, released him, and with one trembling -hand pointed in the direction of their camp. - -“Look at that! Look at that! What? I say——” - -Instantly Dick’s body grew taut. The color drained from his cheeks. He -shook off the restraining hand and started forward. He ran. He shouted -out at the top of his voice, one hand fumbling with the holster at his -side. In his haste to get forward quickly, he stumbled and fell. As he -rose to his feet, he broke into an exclamation of dismay. - -He was too late! The long-looked-for attack had taken place. The drivers -had overpowered Toma and Sandy, had seized the guns, two of the dog -teams and sledges, loaded with supplies, and were now hurrying back. -They had accomplished their purpose and had made good their escape. When -Dick reached the scene of disaster a few minutes later, he cried out in -his rage and exasperation. - -Thrown across one of the sledges were Toma and Sandy, bound securely -hand and foot. A few yards away, lying helplessly in the snow, was the -unconscious form of one of the drivers, who, upon closer examination, -proved to be Lamont. Everywhere was confusion and disorder. Several of -the sledges had been overturned, their loads scattered. - -Dick took out his hunting knife and cut the rope which bound his two -chums. They were both a little dazed, but had not been seriously hurt. -They looked at him with sombre eyes. - -“How did it happen?” asked Dick. - -Sandy sat up and commenced rubbing his chafed arms and legs. Tears of -exasperation trickled down his cheeks. - -“It came so—so suddenly, Dick,” he choked. “I can’t begin to tell you. -We were sitting on the mail sledge, when one of the drivers came along, -passing about twenty feet away. He acted queerly. He commenced to groan, -and then suddenly he fell down in the snow, just as if he had fainted -dead away. It was a trick—but we didn’t know it. We rushed over to help -him. We were stooping down when they came up from behind—the whole crowd -of them, and seized us so quickly we didn’t have a chance. I’m so—so——” - -Fresh tears trickled from his eyes again. - -“But Lamont—what’s he doing there? What happened to him? If you didn’t -have a chance to do anything, how did he receive his injury?” - -“Toma—— When they grappled with him, he fired from his hip and got -Lamont.” - -Dr. Brady, who had come panting up in time to hear Sandy’s story, now -turned toward the prostrate body of the guide, and with the help of Dick -and Toma, carried him over and placed him on one of the sledges. - -“He’ll never make the trip,” presently announced the doctor. “He’s hit -in the shoulder—a dangerous wound—and will never be able to stand the -jarring and jolting of one of the sledges. We’ll have to leave him -here.” - -“How can we do that?” asked Sandy. “He’d freeze. He’d—he’d——” - -“There’s the Indian encampment,” suggested the physician. “They can look -after him.” - -“Good riddance,” declared Dick. “I, for one, won’t be sorry.” - -There followed an awkward silence. - -“The Indian encampment,” said Dick at length, “will be forced not only -to look after Lamont but to supply us with several drivers. Perhaps one -of them will know the way to Keechewan.” - -He paused, gesturing hopelessly. - -“In any event, we’ll have to push on. We can’t stop.” - -Dr. Brady nodded grimly. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - BILL AND THOMAS - - -In front of a crackling wood fire, three men dried their wet and -bedraggled garments. In spite of the close proximity to the blaze they -shivered and their teeth chattered and they looked very unhappy and -uncomfortable, indeed. Two of the men wore the conventional garb of -white prospector or trapper, while the third, a tall, rather handsome -fellow with clear blue eyes and a decisive chin, was arrayed in what -might once have been a uniform of his majesty’s Royal North West Mounted -Police. - -“We gotta thank you,” said one of the men quite humbly, “fer gettin’ us -out of that river. Yuh saved our lives all right, but our grub-stake an’ -ever’thing we had is gone.” - -“Yes,” he resumed mournfully. “Gone! It’s Bill’s fault.” - -“I think,” said the man in the wretched uniform, “that it was partly my -fault. I startled him. I shouldn’t have cried out to you. It drew his -attention and for a moment he must have forgotten to steer.” - -The maligned and unfortunate person referred to as “Bill,” drew himself -up to a proud height and grunted his disdain. Then he turned his back -haughtily upon his partner and addressed himself to the man in the -uniform. - -“Thomas here,” he declared deprecatingly, jerking one thumb over his -shoulder, “ain’t allers responsible fer what he says. I wasn’t the only -one that’s been a steerin’ o’ that boat. He was a helpin’ too. An’ he -kep’ puttin’ me off, Thomas did, with his jabbin’ here an’ there in the -water, like the crazy fool what he is.” - -“No such thing,” remonstrated Thomas. “Did yuh tell the officer what yuh -done yisterday? I ’spose that wuz all my fault too—you runnin’ aground.” - -Bill wheeled about so swiftly that his dripping garments sprayed water -in every direction. For a moment even the fire sputtered. - -“A lie!” shouted the now infuriated Bill. “I wuz asleep in the boat -an’——” - -He paused for breath. - -“Asleep when yuh wuz supposed to be on duty,” his partner completed the -sentence for him. “That’s the trouble with you, Bill. You don’t pay no -’tention to nothin’. Yuh don’t use your brains; yuh don’t look; yuh -don’t listen. Yuh go ’round dreamin’, with your head up in the air an’ -your intelligence in the seat o’ your pants. An’,” Thomas completed his -lecture defiantly, “I won’t take that back neither.” - -The conversation had reached a critical, dangerous stage, and the man in -the frayed uniform thought it wise to intervene. - -“If you’ll pardon me, gentlemen, I believe I can settle this dispute. -I’ve been thinking it over, and the more I think about it, the more -clearly it appears to me that the responsibility is all mine. It was my -shout that startled both of you, that put you off—that caused all the -trouble. I’d like to apologize.” - -“It wuz a terrible shout,” admitted Thomas. - -“Sounded like the howl of a madman,” declared Bill. “But yuh saved our -lives an’ that’s somethin’ I won’t forget in a hurry. We’d be down in -the bottom of the river now, keepin’ company with our rifles an’ our -grub-stake, if it hadn’t been for you.” - -The man in the uniform acknowledged the compliment with a somewhat weary -smile. - -“I’m afraid I saved you from one disaster only to plunge you into -another. What are you going to do now?” - -“Jus’ what do yuh mean?” asked Bill. - -“How will you manage without rifles and supplies?” - -Bill shook his head mournfully and turned to his partner. - -“He’s askin’ yuh a question,” he upbraided him, “can’t yuh hear?” - -Thomas immediately applied himself to the problem in hand. He stared -gloomily at the fire. Suddenly he brightened. He addressed the mounted -policeman: - -“But you got grub, ain’t yuh? You can sell us a little—enough to take us -over to Half-Way House.” - -“I’m almost in as bad straits as you are. I have a little flour—five or -six pounds. I’ve had trouble too.” - -“Five or six pounds o’ flour ain’t very much fer three hungry men like -us,” ruminated Bill. - -“Worse than nothin’,” said Thomas bitterly. “An’ that’s all yuh got?” - -“All. Absolutely all! Found it in a cabin back here in the woods. I’m -very sorry, gentlemen.” - -Thomas dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. - -“If it can’t be helped—it can’t. I been plenty hungry before this.” - -“Me too,” murmured Bill. - -An interval of silence, during which three men shivered and shook before -the fire—a fire that had commenced to burn itself out. Red, angry embers -blinked up at them. - -“Your turn to gather more wood,” Bill informed Thomas. - -Thomas scowled at the unpleasant imminence of this chilly duty and spat -disgustedly into the lowering flames. - -“Yuh better hurry,” implacably his partner spurred him on. “We’ll soon -be freezin’ entirely. There ain’t enough heat here to warm a sparrow.” - -Thomas grunted out an oath before he departed, purposely bumping against -Bill as he lumbered past. - -“Yuh can see the sort o’ disposition he’s got,” Bill complained to the -policeman. “I been aputtin’ up with this sort o’ thing fer ten years -now—ten years this comin’ March since we become partners.” - -In spite of the fact that he was shivering, uncomfortable, worried, -suffering untold agonies from his feet, the man in the frayed uniform -smiled quietly to himself. - -“Why don’t you break your partnership?” he suggested. - -“Eh—what? What did yuh say, officer? Break up——” - -For a moment Bill was so amazed, so utterly dumfounded at this simple -solution to his difficulties, that he could not find words to express -himself. - -“That’s what I said. Break up your partnership. Quit each other. Each go -your own way,” elucidated the policeman. - -It was an appalling thought. Unthinkable. Bill tried to picture a bleak -pattern of existence from which Thomas had become erased. It filled him -with a sense of loss so tremendously acute that it positively hurt. -Little shivers of dismay ran up along his spine and seemed to settle -there. - -“Oh, Thomas ain’t so bad, once yuh get used to him,” he said. “Thomas -got a queer way about him, an’ he’s cantankerous an’ stubborn, but he -really don’t mean nothin’. Besides, I don’t rightly know what Thomas’d -do after I left. He’s sort o’ helpless without me. He’s got so he sort -o’ depends on me. Wouldn’t be worth his salt. I’d hate fer his sake——” - -Thomas himself interrupted the conversation at this point by striding up -with a huge armful of wood and throwing it angrily down upon the fire. - -“Yuh can toast your shins now,” he declared angrily, glancing at Bill. -“But next time it’s your turn.” - -“Next time it’s my turn,” admitted Bill pleasantly. “I won’t ferget.” - -“You’ll likely be asleep by then,” sputtered Thomas. “Great guns!—but -ain’t that wind cold?” - -“Winter’ll soon be here,” Bill croaked, humping up his shoulders and -fighting back the smoke that drifted up around his head and into his -eyes. “Six pounds o’ flour between three men an’ winter, an’ five -hundred miles to the nearest tradin’ post.” - -“Keechewan Mission is closer than that,” Thomas corrected him. “I ’spose -we can go that way.” - -“Not me,” shivered Bill. “I’m as close to Keechewan Mission as I intend -to get.” - -“Did you come from there?” sharply inquired the policeman. - -“No,” answered Thomas, “but we heard about it. It’s rotten with smallpox -an’ boilin’ with trouble like a hot teakettle. It ain’t no good place -fer a white man to be.” - -“I’m going there,” said the policeman. - -“Yuh don’t say?” gasped both men in one voice. - -“If I can make it on two pounds of flour,” appended the policeman. - -“You said yuh had six,” remembered Thomas. - -“I’ll divide with you in the morning.” - -Bill and Thomas exchanged glances of genuine wonder and admiration. - -“I’d like tuh shake hands with you,” declared Thomas in an awed voice, -offering one dirty paw. - -“Me too,” said Bill, extending a hand equally as dirty. “You’re a real -man an’ no mistake about that. What’s your name, officer?” - -“Corporal Rand.” - -“Where from?” - -“Mackenzie barracks.” - -“If I ain’t gettin’ personal, where’s your boots?” - -“A Nitchie stole them one night while I slept.” - -“The dirty skunk!” - -“An’ your revolver?” noticed Thomas. - -“Stole that too.” - -“Yuh mean to tell me,” exploded Bill, “that you’re goin’ up to Keechewan -like that—no boots, two pounds o’ flour an’ nothin’ to protect yourself -with when them rampagin’ Nitchies catch sight o’ yuh? If cold an’ hunger -don’t get yuh, the smallpox will, an’ if the smallpox don’t get yuh, the -Nitchies will. Yuh got about as much chance to come back alive as I have -o’ jumpin’ up to the moon.” - -“You’re a fool to try it,” grumbled Thomas. - -“I have my instructions,” said Corporal Rand, and then remembered -suddenly that this was not the truth. “I mean to say, I did have my -instructions.” - -“An’ yuh lost ’em?” - -“No. The inspector changed his mind. He decided to go himself.” - -“Why didn’t yuh let him?” - -“It was either his life or mine.” - -Thomas was puzzled. He appealed to Bill. - -“I can’t make nothin’ out of this, can you?” - -Bill came to the rescue. He picked up the thread of discourse, where the -other had let it fall. - -“Do yuh mean to say that this here inspector’s life is worth more to you -than what your own is? That don’t seem reasonable.” - -“I intend to give you four pounds of flour in the morning,” Corporal -Rand smiled. “Now do you mean to tell me that your lives are worth more -to me than my own. Just figure it out.” - -Bill and Thomas exchanged worried, doubtful glances, and commenced to -figure. For twenty long minutes they threaded their way through a deep -and abysmal mental swamp. - -“I can’t make it out,” acknowledged Thomas. - -“Me neither,” grumbled Bill. “You’re a bloomin’ martyr an’ no mistake.” - -“We ain’t got nothin’ we can give you,” lamented Thomas, feeling in all -of his pockets. - -Then suddenly his face brightened. - -“Here,” he announced proudly, presenting it, “is somethin’ yuh can have. -Take it. Yuh never can tell. Mebbe it’ll save your life.” - -Corporal Rand received the gift in the spirit that it was given. Nor did -he belittle such a gift. Too well he knew the vagaries of the North, the -unexpected turns of fortune, good and bad, the little inconsequential -things upon which hinge life or death itself. Moisture had gathered in -his eyes as carefully, almost lovingly, he put the gift away in an inner -pocket: - -Three fishhooks and a ball of string! - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - AN INDIAN WITH BOOTS - - -Dick, Sandy and Toma hurried over to the Indian encampment in the -afternoon of the same day the dog drivers had deserted them. Toma, it -was decided, would act as interpreter, while Sandy—as he expressed -it—merely trailed along to lend his moral support and to give advice. - -“You must offer them unheard of wages for the trip,” reasoned Sandy. “We -must give them presents and supplies. These Indians don’t know the -meaning or value of money, so you’d better make them an offer they can -understand. I’d start out by offering each one a brand new rifle and a -winter’s grub-stake, also some bright-colored cloth for the squaws.” - -“That not bad idea,” Toma approved. “I tell ’em that. I do my best. I -say plenty. Make ’em good speech.” - -“You can say anything you like,” Dick instructed him, “but don’t promise -them anything we can’t give.” - -So Toma, in his role of employment agent, made a round of the tepees. He -was received warmly and, thus encouraged, waxed eloquent. He described -to them the vast number of beautiful and useful things that could be -obtained in the stores at the mission: Fruits (dried), of delicious -flavor, from lands beyond the seas; meat from animals they had never -tasted (pork); flour in large quantities for the making of bannock; -sugar, both brown and white. Then, taking a new tack, for the benefit of -the women, he told them about the multi-colored fabrics of wool and silk -and cotton, of ornaments for the fingers and beads for the neck, of -things that pleased and delighted the eye. - -The Indians sat in open-mouthed wonder as Toma went breathlessly on with -his fanciful description of the gifts that might be theirs if only the -young men would assist them in driving the dog teams to Keechewan. And -in order to convince them of the sincerity of his intentions, at Dick’s -request, he offered each of the families a small quantity of tea, sugar -and bacon, to be delivered at once. - -The leader of the Indians at the encampment made a quick calculation. -Besides himself, he told Toma, there were eight able-bodied hunters. -They could spare a few of these. Perhaps half could go. They would be -very glad to help their white brothers. They would appreciate the gifts -described. Toma and his friends could be assured of their co-operation. - -A surge of happiness ran through Dick as he listened to the leader’s -words. Then he bethought him of Lamont, and his face clouded. - -“Toma,” he directed in English, “tell the leader about Lamont. Ask him -if we can leave him here until we return.” - -After the request had been made, the boys waited expectantly. - -“Who is this injured brother?” demanded the chief. - -“A worthless dog,” replied Toma. “He was a traitor to us. He and his -companions fought us, and during the encounter I was compelled to shoot -him.” - -The Indian’s face darkened. - -“Will my brother promise not to shoot any of my people?” - -Toma hastened to set his mind at rest. Then he asked: - -“When will your young men be ready to start? We are very anxious to -proceed on our journey.” - -“Tomorrow morning,” answered the leader. - -In high spirits, the three chums left the Indian encampment and went -back to their own camp. Dr. Brady greeted them anxiously. - -“What luck?” he asked. - -“I think we have been successful,” Dick informed him. - -“How many men?” - -“The leader said four.” - -“And will they look after Lamont?” - -“Yes, they gave us their promise. I think we’d better take him over -there right away and pitch our tents. Might as well be there as here. -Saves running back and forth, and besides, we promised the Indians a -small quantity of provisions.” - -The remainder of the day passed quickly. A place was made for Lamont, -and Dr. Brady succeeded in extracting the bullet and washed and dressed -the wound. The guide had recovered consciousness by this time and lay -staring up at the brown walls of the tepee with dark malevolent eyes. - -When morning came, the boys rose early and went over to the leader’s -tepee, pleased when they found him and his household already awake. - -“Are your young men ready?” asked Toma. “We wish to start.” - -For some inexplicable reason, during the night the Indian’s manner had -cooled. He received them with little of his former cordiality. - -“Are your young men ready?” persisted Toma. - -The leader fixed them with a sombre stare and, to the boys’ surprise and -astonishment, shook his head. - -“They have asked me to inform you that they have changed their minds.” - -“Changed their minds!” Sandy started back in dismay, while Dick rubbed -his eyes, under the impression that he had not heard aright. - -“They have decided not to go,” repeated the leader. - -“Toma,” said Dick in hoarse undertones, “tell him to summon those young -men and we will talk to them. They must go. They have promised.” - -The Indian complied with the request. Soon the young men appeared before -them and stood awkwardly and shyly beside their leader. But every -argument failed to move them. No, they would not go. They must look -after their trap-lines. They were very sorry to disappoint their white -brothers, but the thing was impossible. - -In desperation, Toma made a brief summary of his speech of the day -before. They were foolish to spurn his offer. He would even increase his -reward. Instead of one rifle, he would give them two, and many traps and -cartridges. - -This time, however, his oratory suffered from repetition. The young men -were very much interested but not enthusiastic. Only one of the four -stepped forward to announce that he would go. Further argument proved -useless. - -“Well,” said Dick, turning to Dr. Brady, “one man is better than none at -all. We’ll manage somehow, I suppose. I wonder if this young man knows -the way to the mission?” - -Upon being questioned, the Indian declared that he did. - -“I will show you the way,” he informed Toma. - -Disappointed, the boys made their preparations for the start. Soon they -were on the trail, their teams doubled up—twelve dogs in one string, -pulling two sleighs; ten in another, while the only single team were the -six malemutes who pulled the mail sledge. However, they were scarcely -out of sight of the encampment, when, looking back, Sandy saw two -figures on snowshoes, following them at a rapid rate. - -“Stop!” he shouted to his companions ahead, immediately checking his own -team. - -They waited until the two figures came up to them, two Indians from the -encampment: the leader and, to the boys’ surprise, the young Indian, who -wore the service boots and revolver of the mounted police. - -“What do you want?” demanded Toma. - -“This young man,” replied the leader, pointing to his companion, “wishes -to go with you too.” - -For a moment, Dick was in a quandary. He required the fellow’s -assistance, yet he was afraid to include him in their party. The Indian -might be a murderer or a thief. His appearance was against him. He might -prove to be a worse customer than Lamont. The leader noticed Dick’s -hesitation. - -“He is a very good man on the trail,” he hastened to assure them. “You -will not be sorry if you take him.” - -“All right,” decided Dick, “he can come along.” - -After all, he reasoned, it would be just as well if he did. Perhaps they -might be able to discover the mystery of those boots. - -Again the party started forward. With the acquisition of the man in the -mounted police boots, they were now able to send one of their number -forward to break trail. They hurried quickly along, and by noon had -reached a height of land, looking down from which, they perceived the -rugged valley of the Wapiti River. At sight of it, the boys’ delight was -unbounded. - -“We’re getting along splendidly,” remarked Sandy. “If only the weather -will stay like it is, it won’t be very long now until we reach -Keechewan.” - -“I hope weather get cold,” said Toma. “Weather been warm now for two, -three days. If it get cold, make ’em crust on snow. No need to break -trail. Then we be able to go along very fast—mebbe fifty, sixty miles in -one day. Dogs run all time.” - -“Yes, that’s true.” - -But it was not until three days later, after they had crossed the Wapiti -and were proceeding northward across a level, wind-swept district, that -colder weather actually arrived. A fierce Arctic blast beat down upon -them, chilling their blood. Particles of frost hung in the air. Trees -cracked, as the intense cold penetrated within, freezing the sap. Yet, -though the weather was almost unendurable, Toma’s prophecy had come -true, and they were able to speed across the level waste, the miles -dropping away behind them. - -One night, following an intensely bitter spell of cold, they drew up to -make camp in the lee of a tree-covered hill. All night long they took -turn in replenishing the fires. But even with this help, and wrapped in -blankets, fold on fold, they had difficulty in keeping warm. They were -glad when morning came. - -“I hope,” shivered Dick to Sandy, muffling his face in the collar of his -fur coat, “that the weather moderates a little before night. This is -terrible. It must be fifty below.” - -“Seems more like seventy-five below to me,” grumbled Sandy, stirring the -fire with a long poplar stick, his eyes blinking as a flurry of wind -caught the smoke and sent it whirling around him. - -At this juncture, Dr. Brady came hurrying up, gesturing excitedly. - -“I’ve more bad news for you, Dick. Just found out. Toma and I made the -discovery.” - -Dick was conscious of a sudden sinking feeling in the pit of his -stomach. - -“What is it, doctor?” he finally managed to articulate. - -“Your team of malemutes is gone, and——” - -“Oh, you must be mistaken,” interrupted Dick. “They’re here somewhere.” - -“And the mail sledge is gone too, including all that quantity of -vaccine.” - -Sandy threw up his hands in a gesture of hopeless surrender. - -“Is that all?” he groaned. - -“No,” answered the physician more calmly, “the Indian with the mounted -police boots is gone too.” - -Dick gave way to his feeling of despair. He put his head in his hands -and rocked back and forth. - -“I knew it! I knew it!” he moaned. “I knew all the time that I ought not -trust that—that miserable thief. I hesitated when his services were -offered to me. I’m a fool. Why did I take him?” - -“What I can’t understand,” Sandy broke forth, “—what I can’t understand, -Dick, is why he should take the sledge with the mail. There isn’t a -single thing on that sledge that would be of the least value to him.” - -“Of course, he didn’t know that,” Brady spoke up. “To his simple -ignorant mind, those pouches of mail must have contained something of -immense value. He’ll be a very sorry, disgusted and probably repentant -Indian when he discovers his mistake.” - -“He’ll be a repentant Indian when I get my hands on him,” stormed Dick, -jumping to his feet and pulling his parka in place. “Well, I might just -as well go after him.” - -“He has about three hours start of you,” said Dr. Brady. “The only time -he could have left this party was between four and five o’clock, when he -was awakened to take his turn in replenishing the fires.” - -“I’ll unload one of the sledges and take the swiftest team we have,” -decided Dick. “Travelling light, I ought to be able to overtake him.” - -“Can I go with you, Dick?” Sandy asked eagerly. - -“I’d like to have you, Sandy, but Toma is better on the trail. I must -hurry. Every minute counts. Dr. Brady, will you help Sandy pick out and -harness a team, while Toma and I unload a sledge? We’ll take our rifles -and a few days’ provisions.” - -In less than twenty minutes, they were ready. The dogs strained at their -harness, eager to start. Toma took his place in the front of the sledge, -Dick behind. A whip cracked. The voices of Dr. Brady and Sandy called -out an encouraging farewell. - -The huskies leaped forward. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - THE PURSUIT - - -A cold bitter wind hurled its defiance along the slope, its shrieking -voice trumpeting through the pines. In the sky—a vast canopy flung over -a frozen world—the sun shone wanly. On either side of the sun hung -sun-dogs. In the air—frost. Below, a limitless, monotonous expanse of -snow. - -In the sledge, which flew along over the hard snow-surface, Dick and -Toma sat muffled to their ears. From time to time, they beat their arms -about their shivering bodies and urged on the dogs. Already they had -come eight or ten miles along the faint trail they had made on the -previous day. - -In their pursuit of the Indian they had expected, quite naturally, to go -southwestward in the direction of the Indian encampment. With their -lighter load and swifter team; they would rapidly gain on him. Before -night, surely, they would overtake him. It was all simply a matter of -time and patience and perseverance. In the end, they would be -successful. - -Much to their surprise, the thief chose a different route entirely. -Apparently he had no intention of returning to his home and friends with -his ill-gained booty. A few miles farther on, he had set his course to -the west, following a hill-chain that ran parallel to the Wapiti River. - -The boys turned sharply and continued the pursuit. The sledge tracks of -the thief could be discerned quite plainly. - -“I can’t imagine where he’s going,” mused Dick. “It isn’t to his own -home. Where do you suppose, Toma?” - -“Mebbe up in the hills somewhere to another encampment. Mebbe him ’fraid -to go back to his own people.” - -“Or,” guessed the other, “perhaps his purpose is to make a secret cache -up there in the hills. He thinks, no doubt, that the mail sacks and -medicine chests are filled with valuable provisions. I’d like to see his -face when he opens one of them.” - -Toma broke into a low chuckle. - -“It make me laugh if he try drink medicine an’ get very sick. Mebbe him -fool enough to think medicine some new kind of whiskey.” - -“God help him, if he does. I don’t know what sort of medicine Dr. Brady -may have there. There’s vaccine for smallpox and drugs of all kinds. I’m -sure that some of them are deadly poison. He’s apt to be more than sick -if he tries it.” - -Presently the trail wound into the hills. It went up and up and up, and -then down and then up again. It skirted deep ravines and dangerous -precipices. It crossed the wide basin of a lake. It continued on—the -rutted tracks of that thief’s sledge—with the unbroken insistence of the -passing of time itself. - -“He’s certainly travelling and no mistake. He must be going almost as -fast as we are,” complained Dick. “He’ll kill that team of mine.” - -“Don’t you worry, we catch him. Pretty soon we catch him.” - -“We will, of course, if we don’t lose his trail. The fool will be -compelled to stop soon for something to eat.” - -“Sometimes Indians go days without stop for something to eat,” commented -Toma. - -“Not if he thinks he has a store of precious things aboard,” grinned his -companion. “His fingers will be itching to get at those sacks. He’ll -want to explore the mystery of those medicine chests.” - -Again Toma chuckled. - -“This mail all same like ’em paper?” he inquired. - -“It is paper,” replied Dick. “Envelopes, hundreds of envelopes, bulging -with paper. Then, in the second-class mail pouches, there’ll be -circulars and catalogs and newspapers, hundreds of pounds altogether to -tempt his mounting appetite. I think he’ll relish the stamps too. -They’ll be green and red, with a picture of King George on one side and -mucilage on the other. The mucilage has a sweet, toothsome taste he’ll -like.” - -Toma doubled up in a paroxysm of laughter. - -“I think that very good joke on that Indian. Mebbe him find out it bad -thing to steal.” - -“I don’t know about that. He looks as if he were beyond redemption.” - -Toma cracked his whip, and the huskies sprang forward, scrambling up an -incline. It was steep here, so Dick got out and trotted behind. The -exercise warmed his feet and sent the blood racing through his body. - -When he tumbled back on the sledge again, Toma half-turned and with the -butt of his whip pointed excitedly at the dogs. - -“Look!” he cried. - -The sudden change in the behavior of the huskies was very noticeable. -Their ears were pricked higher. The leader, a beautiful long-haired -malemute, so much resembling a wolf that it was almost impossible to -tell the difference, had commenced to whine softly, straining at her -harness in fitful, nervous leaps. - -“Somebody close ahead,” Toma whispered. “We see ’em pretty quick now.” - -Dick leaned forward and picked up his rifle, and commenced fumbling with -the breech. His expression had grown suddenly tense. He rose to a -position on his knees, swaying there from the motion of the sleigh, his -gaze set unwaveringly, expectantly, on the trail ahead. - -At a furious rate of speed, they descended another slope, then, more -slowly, began circling up around the next hill, emerging to a sparsely -wooded area, which, in turn, at the farther side, dropped abruptly to a -deep tree-covered valley. - -Abruptly, the boys turned toward each other. Toma muttered something -under his breath; Dick relaxed to a sitting position, whistling his -astonishment. - -“I didn’t expect anything like this,” remarked Dick, recovering somewhat -from his surprise. “An Indian village! Look, Toma, there are scores of -tepees down there. No wonder he came this way.” - -Again they started—but not at the sight of those tepees, strung along -the floor of the valley, nor yet at the sight of the Indians themselves, -here and there plainly distinguishable—but at the appearance of a loaded -sledge behind a team of gray malemutes, proceeding quickly toward the -village. - -“He isn’t very far ahead of us,” exulted Dick. “He’ll soon be cornered. -He can’t get away. We’ve won, Toma.” - -Toma’s eyes were shining. - -“Him big fool to come here. What you think?” - -“He may have friends. Perhaps they’ll want to shield him.” - -The young Indian’s answer was to crack his whip and to shout to the -huskies. The sledge leaped forward. It threw up a quantity of loose -snow, through which it plowed. It rocked perilously as it negotiated the -top of the valley slope, then, in spite of Dick’s foot pressed hard on -the brake-board, shot down, almost running over the dogs. - -Taking a steeper but more direct route to the village than had been -attempted by the thief, they were only a few yards behind him when they -made their final whirlwind spurt through the orderly row of tepees and -the gaping crowds, and came to a jarring but dramatic halt. - -The thief was unaware of his danger, had not even a premonition of the -near presence of his pursuers, until, with a certain amusing dignity, he -slipped from the top of his precious load and waved an exaggerated -greeting to the crowd. - -His triumph was short-lived. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw two -figures who looked strangely familiar. In order to make sure, he turned -his head and in that moment his self-confidence poured from him like -water out of a bucket. - -A tiny squeak, of the sort a mouse makes under the heel of an enraged -householder, and his mittened hands went straight up. He came forward, -bellowing for mercy. Tears of terror welled into his eyes. Never before -had Dick seen any person more craven, cowardly-weak and utterly -disgusting than he. Somehow, it blunted the edge of his own and Toma’s -victory to take a man like that. It was too easy. - -Startled at first, the onlookers broke into a roar of laughter. They -were quick to grasp the situation. In a trice, the two boys and their -prisoner were the pivot around which circled and revolved a jeering, -highly-amused crowd. - -“They ask ’em me to make ’em talk about how it all happen,” Toma shouted -in Dick’s ear. - -“Tell them that we’ll explain later,” Dick instructed. “Say that we want -something to eat. Tell them——” - -He broke off as the milling throng unexpectedly drew back, making a path -for a white-haired old man, who carried himself with great dignity. - -“Chief,” said Toma. - -“You talk to him.” - -“What I say?” - -“Tell the truth, Toma. Nothing else. Explain to him that this man is a -thief, that we followed him here to recover valuable mail and medicine -for the sick. I’m sure he’ll believe you. Be honest and straightforward, -Toma.” - -Dick found it utterly impossible to keep his place at his chum’s side. A -forward surge of the inquisitive swept him and his prisoner this way and -that, while shoulders bumped shoulders and curious eyes peered into his. -He was glad when the interview came to an end and the chief motioned for -the crowd to disperse. Toma sought him out, smiling with satisfaction. - -“Ever’thing all right, Dick. Chief him know this man for very bad -fellow. He say him very glad if you leave him to be punish.” - -“Does he belong to this tribe?” - -“Yes.” - -“I’ve a good notion to do it. It will save us a lot of trouble and -worry. By the way, did you remember to tell him about the police boots -and revolver?” - -“Yes, I tell him that too.” - -“What did he say?” - -“After while I tell you.” - -“Why not now, Toma?” - -“You understand bye-’n’-bye. You come with me pretty soon to chief’s -tepee.” - -“All right. Well, they can have this cowardly sneak if they want him. -I’m sure I don’t.” - -A little later, escorted by one of the headmen of the village, Dick and -Toma arrived at the tepee of the chief. On hands and knees, they crawled -through the aperture, over which hung a wide strip of tanned moose-hide, -soft as chamois. Bear-skins covered the earth floor within, except in -the center space, where a wood fire burned cheerfully. It was warm -inside the tepee and clean and tidy. A faint odor of wood smoke mingled -with the more pungent and appetizing smell of broiling meat. - -Dick’s first impression was that it was pleasant to be there in so warm -and comfortable a place; his next, a condition accentuated, no doubt, by -the boiling kettle, was a feeling of hunger and weariness. Presently -curiosity induced him to examine the interior more closely. Looking -about, he perceived several persons of both sexes. One was the -white-haired chief, who had interviewed Toma. Behind the chief, at a -respectful distance, an aged squaw—probably the chief’s wife, and beyond -her an individual of such unusual appearance that Dick’s eyes, resting -upon him, remained there as if transfixed. - -The man was emaciated, worn almost to a skeleton. From the depths of -sunken sockets, burned two feverish eyes. A heavy beard-growth covered, -but did not conceal, the deep hollows under the protruding cheek bones. - -Dick continued to look at the man for several minutes, conscious of a -steadily increasing horror. The person’s forehead was ghastly white, -curving up to a matted crop of straw-colored hair. Around the drooping -shoulders a blanket was held in place with considerable difficulty by a -thin, wasted hand. - -Dick was about to turn his gaze toward something less pathetic and -terrible, when the effort of holding the blanket in place, proved too -much for the unfortunate creature, and it slipped down over one thin -shoulder, revealing—to Dick’s unutterable amazement—a crimson, tattered -garment, the tunic of the royal mounted police. - -Reaching out, Dick seized Toma’s arm, holding it in a vice-like grip. - -“May God help him! Is that Rand?” - -“Yes,” said Toma, his voice seeming to come from a great distance, “it -Corporal Rand. All time, before I come here, I knew that. The chief him -tell me all about it. Indian hunter find ’em Corporal Rand two days ago, -where he lay down in the snow. Half dead, feet froze, no eat, no -rifle—nothing. He get much better after while. Bye-’n’-bye mebbe all -right. Get his sense back. Jus’ like crazy man now.” - -Dick gulped down a lump in his throat, and hurried to the side of the -mounted policeman. Gently, he placed one hand on the corporal’s head. - -“Corporal Rand.” - -No answer. - -“Corporal Rand.” - -Still no answer. - -“You know me, corporal. This is Dick Kent. Toma is here, too. Look up at -me, corporal. Look up! We’re here to help you. Look up!” - -Corporal Rand looked up. - -“This is Dick Kent,” beseeched that young man. “Don’t you -understand—Dick Kent.” - -“Of course,” muttered the mounted policeman, and his eyes burned into -Dick’s, “I’ll remember that—certainly. Tomorrow, gentlemen, we’ll divide -the flour. Two to Bill, two to Thomas, two to me. That’s all there is. -You’re welcome, I’m sure. It was my fault entirely.” - -Rand paused, mumbling to himself, wholly unaware that a tear had fallen -from somewhere above to the thatch of straw-colored hair. His chin -dropped forward until it rested on his chest. His eyes closed wearily. -For a moment he seemed to doze. But only for a moment—then—— - -“Provoking, isn’t it?” he made a pathetic attempt at a smile. “I’d begun -to fear I’d lost them.” - -“Lost what?” gulped Dick. - -“Boots,” came the prompt rejoinder, “a pair of boots.” - -“Yes! Yes! But what else?” - -The answer was disappointing: - -“Three fishhooks and a ball of string. I’m very sorry, gentlemen.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE RETURN TO CAMP - - -Two courses of action were open to Dick, yet which one to follow, he did -not know. They had found Corporal Rand, but just what were they going to -do with him? It was a difficult problem to solve, Dick thought. The -corporal was in serious plight and required medical attention. It was a -fortunate thing that they had found him. It was a fortunate thing, too, -that Dr. Brady was in the vicinity and would be able to attend him. But -the problem—and it was not easy to decide—was whether to bring Dr. Brady -here to the village, or to take Corporal Rand over to the physician, -when he and Toma returned that afternoon. - -He decided finally in favor of the latter course. They would take Rand -with them. Surely if he were wrapped warmly in blankets and placed in -the empty sleigh, he could endure the cold, would be safe and -comfortable. - -Then suddenly he remembered that he needed that sleigh upon his return. -That morning he had unloaded it for the purpose of pursuing the Indian -thief. Either he must secure another one here at the village, together -with a team of huskies, or abandon his plan. - -To his great joy and happiness, therefore, upon making inquiry, he and -Toma were informed that not only would the chief gladly sell them a team -and sleigh, but also would lend them three of his best drivers, men who -could absolutely be depended upon to help them on their journey to -Keechewan. More than that—an act of generosity, which struck both boys -almost dumb with gratitude—he would present them with caribou meat and a -goodly supply of frozen fish for the dogs. - -In the end, Dick purchased two dog teams and sledges in place of one. -They left the village just as the sun slipped down below the rim of the -valley and abrupt Arctic night drew on. Across the lonely face of the -hills, they speeded on their way. The Northern Lights hissed and cracked -above their heads. About them beat the trembling pulse of a vast and -impenetrable silence. - -It was after midnight when they reached their destination, shouting and -happy, storming down upon the row of chilly white tents. Their furious -halloos soon brought Sandy and Dr. Brady shivering outside. - -“That you, Dick?” called out Sandy’s anxious voice. “Who’s with you?” - -“Friends,” came the jubilant answer. “Stir up the fires, Sandy, we’re -almost famished. No!—Come over here, you and Dr. Brady. I have a -surprise for you.” - -“What’s that?” - -Sandy and the physician looked down at the sleeping form, then across at -Dick and Toma in perplexity. - -“Guess.” - -“The Indian with the boots. You’ve half-killed him.” - -“Wrong. Guess again.” - -“One of our former dog drivers—probably Fontaine,” said Dr. Brady. - -“No. You’re not right either. I’ll give you one more chance.” - -“Look here,” Sandy growled impatiently. “Enough of this. You’re not a -child any more. Who is it?” - -“The man who owns the boots.” - -“The Indian owns the boots,” exclaimed Sandy triumphantly. “I guessed -right after all.” - -“No, you didn’t. The Indian don’t own the boots. He stole them.” - -“Pshaw! I know now,” sudden light dawned upon the young Scotchman. -“It’s—it’s a mounted policeman.” - -“You’re right. Corporal Rand.” - -Breathlessly, Sandy leaned forward over the sledge. A parka concealed -the sleeper’s face. Blankets, many thick folds, enwrapped him. None of -the features was visible. Yet Sandy had seen enough to convince him that -this man was not Rand. - -“I don’t see why you should try to deceive me, Dick,” remonstrated -Sandy. “That isn’t the corporal at all. Too thin. Don’t attempt to fool -me.” - -“It is the corporal,” insisted Dick. “But he’s changed a lot. I met him -face to face, and at first didn’t even recognize him. He must have had a -terrible time. He was picked up two days ago by an Indian hunter, where -he’d fallen in the snow. His feet were badly frozen.” - -“What did he say to you?” - -“Well, not much. You see, Sandy, he didn’t know me. He’s out of his -head. I brought him over here so that Dr. Brady can help him. We’ll have -to take him along with us.” - -“We’d better not disturb him tonight,” Dr. Brady cut in. “I wonder if it -will be possible, when you unhitch that team of dogs, to push this -sledge inside one of the tents. He might wake up if you attempt to lift -him up. In the morning, I’ll make my examination.” - -“A good idea,” said Dick, moving forward to unharness the team. - -Sandy followed him excitedly and touched his shoulder as he stooped -forward. He pointed one arm in the direction of the other sleighs and -dog teams, where the forms of men were seen hurrying here and there -through the half-light. - -“What’s all that?” he demanded. “Two extra teams and more men! I see -you’ve recovered the mail sledge. Who are those fellows, Dick?” - -“Those,” answered Dick, happily, “are our new drivers. And the teams and -sledges I purchased over at the Indian village, where we captured the -thief.” - -“What Indian village do you mean?” - -“It’s up in the hills to the westward, that chain of hills you saw on -this side of the Wapiti. They run parallel with the river. We followed -the tracks of the thief all the way there, and overtook him just as he -pulled up at the village. He’s a renegade member of that tribe and the -chief will punish him. He’s the same man who stole Corporal Rand’s boots -and revolver.” - -Sandy straightened up, glaring about him angrily. - -“Too bad we didn’t find that out before.” - -“It’s a good thing for that Indian that we didn’t.” - -“I think I’d have shot him,” Sandy bristled, “although shooting’s too -good for him. He ought to be flayed alive, tortured, the way they used -to do.” - -Fires were quickly re-kindled, and a lunch prepared. It was nearly two -o’clock before everyone finally retired and the camp became hushed in -sleep. - -On the following morning the sun had already risen, when Toma, the first -to awake, crawled wearily from his blankets into the bitter air of forty -below and proceeded to arouse his comrades. Immediately there began -again the monotonous routine of building fires and preparing breakfast, -assembling the dogs, and making ready for the day’s journey. But on this -occasion, there was in evidence much more spirit and enthusiasm than at -any time during the preceding two weeks. Dick was reminded of the day -they had left the Mackenzie. Now and again one might hear the cheery -whistle or laugh of one of the drivers. During breakfast, conversation -flourished, and, after the meal, there took place a keen rivalry as to -who would be the first to harness his team and take his place at the -head of the column. - -By mutual arrangement, it fell to the lot of Sandy to drive the team -which conveyed Corporal Rand. Dr. Brady had completed his examination -earlier in the morning. - -“It is a pitiable case,” he told the boys. “Rand’s condition was caused -by hardships, privations, hunger and exposure. He has a wonderful -constitution, or he would never have been able to endure the half of it. -I don’t wonder that his mind has become unhinged. Yet, I haven’t the -least doubt but he’ll recover his memory and his reasoning powers as his -health improves.” - -“So you really think he’ll get better?” - -“Yes. I don’t believe there is any question about that. But he’ll never -be able to take his place again in the ranks of the mounted.” - -A deep silence followed this statement. Both Dick’s and Sandy’s face -fell. - -“What’s that? You really mean that, doctor? Will have to give up his -duties—— Won’t——” - -Dick left the sentence incompleted as he turned beseechingly to the -physician. - -“No, he’ll never be able to resume his duties,” Brady answered gravely. - -“But why?” argued Sandy. “You just said that he’d recover, would get -well again. You said——” - -“But I never said that he’d ever walk again,” the doctor reminded him. -“His feet—terrible! Frozen, bruised and cut. I may possibly have to -amputate them. Even if I don’t, they’ll never be right again. But,” and -the doctor looked from one grave face to the other, “we can be mighty -thankful that his life has been spared, that with proper care and -attention, he’ll soon recover his full mental and physical powers.” - -Dick turned his head to hide the tears that had come unbidden to his -eyes. Sandy kicked disconsolately into a drift of snow, his gaze -searching the ground. Both boys left immediately to take their places -within the line of waiting teams and sledges. - -“I still insist that we ought to go back and string up that Indian who -stole Corporal Rand’s boots,” Sandy declared savagely as he and Dick -parted, the former to go to the invalid’s side, the latter to the mail -sledge. “The way I feel now, I could gladly tear that sneaking thief -limb from limb.” - -“Mush! Mush!” The words floated down along the waiting line. “Mush, -boys, mush!” - -A creaking of sledges, the cracking of whips, a shout here and there—and -they were away, an orderly column which, after the first forty or fifty -yards, gathered momentum until it had gained its maximum of speed, then -settled down to a steady, unchanging pace. - -Whatever enjoyment the others might have had at the commencement of that -exhilarating ride, it was not shared by Dick. For him the day, which had -begun so propitiously, was entirely spoiled. Dr. Brady’s assertion had -wrung his heart. Time and time again, he turned his head and glanced -back at Sandy’s sledge to the helpless form lying there, and sighed -bitterly. - -“He may never walk again,” the sentence haunted him. “A pitiable case! -He’ll never be able to take his place again in the ranks of the -mounted.” - -He wondered what Cameron would say when the news had been brought to -him. And Sergeant Richardson—what would he say? Rand! One of the -noblest, bravest spirits that had ever come into that land of noble and -brave spirits. No longer a policeman? That seemed incomprehensible. Rand -in civilian clothes? Dick snorted at the mere suggestion. To think of -the service at all, was to think of Rand. Rand might have his feet -frozen, yea, and his arms too, and his body hopelessly crushed; yet, -notwithstanding this, in spirit, in reality, in fact, he would still be -a policeman, and nothing else. A mounted policeman. A scarlet-coated, -high-booted, undaunted and courageous soul. - -He was still brooding over this when they pulled up at the noon hour, -hilarious and joyful. They had made a record run that morning, in spite -of the late start. Drivers shouted at each other as they stepped from -the back of their sledges and dropped their whips. Dick moved -automatically, and he, too, dropped his whip. But he did not shout. He -did not even smile. - -“Hello, Dick.” - -“Hello.” - -“We made good time, didn’t we?” The voice was that of Dr. Brady. - -“I guess we did.” - -“Hope this keeps up.” - -“Yes.” - -“Good gracious, boy,” exclaimed Brady in alarm, “you look—why you look -positively ill.” - -“I—I guess I’m tired,” said Dick. - -“Well, a good sleep for you tonight. I’ll prescribe it. You’ve been -worrying too much lately. It isn’t good for you. Yet here I’ve come, -blundering ass that I am, to sprinkle a few more gray hairs in your -young head.” - -“I thrive on responsibility,” Dick smiled a little, “so you’d better -trot it out. What’s wrong? Did you lose your medicine case?” - -Dr. Brady laughed. - -“Sometimes I almost wish that I could lose it. No, this worry isn’t -related to so trivial a thing as a mere medicine case. It’s more -important than that. I’m not fooling now, Dick. I’m in earnest. I’ve -been thinking——” - -“And the more you think, the worse you feel,” interrupted Dick, a little -bitterly. - -“Come now, that’s not very kind of you.” - -“I didn’t mean it that way,” Dick flushed. “I was referring to—to—— Oh, -hang it all, doctor, I’m all upset about Rand.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - THE END OF THE JOURNEY - - -Dr. Brady regarded Dick for a moment thoughtfully. There was, Dick -observed, a certain hesitation about his manner. - -“Before we left Fort Mackenzie,” the physician began, “your Inspector -Cameron called me to his office. He told me about the epidemic. I -remember that there was a large map that hung on the wall behind his -desk, and to this map he frequently referred. The districts affected by -smallpox he had encircled in red ink. All of these were north of the -Mackenzie: one straight north, several northwest, but the largest area -of all northeast, in a district which he called Keechewan.” - -Brady paused to help Dick unharness one of his dogs, then continued: - -“The circle on the map which he called Keechewan was, he explained to -me, the country most dangerously affected by smallpox and contained the -greatest number of people. - -“‘This is to be your territory,’ he told me. ‘I’m giving you a most -difficult task indeed. Not only will you experience difficulty in -reaching your destination, but when you do reach it, you may have -trouble with the natives there. There has been an uprising among several -of the Indian tribes. Relations between the white people and the Indians -are strained. There has been some bloodshed. Your work will not be easy. -It is sure to be dangerous, and possibly, doctor, you may never come -back.’ - -“I asked him if anything had been done to relieve the situation. He said -that he had sent one of his men, a Corporal Rand, up to that region a -few days before to take charge. He was to place the district under -police rule.” - -Dr. Brady cleared his throat. - -“I guess that’s about all, Dick, but you can see what I’m driving at.” - -“Yes,” Dick answered, “I think I know what you’re trying to tell me. -Corporal Rand never reached his destination. Misfortune overtook him -with the result that the uprising at Keechewan has never been put down.” - -“Exactly. The district, when we reach it, will not be under police -surveillance. We can expect trouble.” - -During the trip from Mackenzie River barracks, Dick had learned to -admire and respect the genial man whom he was conducting to Keechewan. -Never had he occasion to doubt the doctor’s courage. In every emergency, -he had not been found wanting. Yet in the present instance he seemed -much worried. Was he really afraid? Dick decided to try him out. - -“We may be risking our lives by going to Keechewan now,” he said. “Do -you realize that, Dr. Brady?” - -“Yes, I realize it.” - -“I sometimes wonder,” Dick evaded the other’s eyes. “—I sometimes wonder -if it is all worth while. Most of them are only Indians. They not only -do not appreciate what we’re doing for them, but more than that, they -resent and scorn our help. Why not,” Dick’s gaze was fixed on some -object on the distant horizon, “leave them to their own devices, let -them suffer the consequences?” - -If Dick had struck Brady in the face, the good doctor could not have -been more surprised. For a moment he actually sputtered. - -“Richard Kent! Do you mean that? Do you really mean to say that you -contemplate such a thing—would leave those poor devils in the lurch?” - -Dick raised one hand and grinned mischievously. - -“There, there, doctor! Such a thought hadn’t entered my mind, I assure -you.” - -“You rascal! So you were trying me out?” - -Dick laughed as he turned the dogs loose And straightened up to take -Brady’s arm. - -“Well, what do you propose to do?” - -“That’s just the question I want to ask you.” - -“There’s only one thing that I can see: Do our work and Corporal Rand’s -too.” - -“Yes, that’s what I was thinking, why I came to you just now. I wondered -if you had considered the situation.” - -“To tell you the truth, I hadn’t. I’ve had so many other things to worry -me.” - -“We can’t be far from Keechewan mission now,” stated the doctor. - -“Only a few more days. Those hills you see over there in the distance -must be the divide Inspector Cameron spoke of. From there it is not very -far to Keechewan, provided, of course, that we don’t get lost again, -that our Indians know the way. We’ll soon enter the barren lands.” - -For the time being, the subject was dropped. But Dick did not forget -that interview. Often, during the next three or four days, he found -himself contemplating the future with worried, thoughtful gaze. He took -inventory of his munitions and his provisions. Not counting Corporal -Rand, there were eight men in the party, really not a very strong force, -yet he comforted himself with the thought that Corporal Rand had gone -forth alone to cope with the situation. - -One evening, after they had crossed the divide and had pitched their -tents on a hill, dark with the shadows of approaching night, a driver -drew attention to an unusual phenomenon. Far away, faint, yet plainly -discernible, was the glimmering of many tiny lights. These lights -blinked and beckoned to them—and a cry of elation went up from every -member of the party. - -“The mission!” boomed Sandy, throwing his parka high in the air. -“Keechewan Mission!” - -“Not more than eight miles away,” adjudged Dick. - -“More than that,” said Toma. - -“We’ll arrive there tomorrow forenoon sometime,” exulted the doctor. - -That night, so elated were they, that they could hardly sleep. Dick and -Sandy lay awake until a late hour, talking and planning. On the -following morning, they rose early to waken the camp. Breakfast was -hurried through, and they were on the trail nearly an hour before -sunrise. - -It was eleven o’clock by Dick’s watch, when they entered the mission -village, their eyes feasting on the row of snow-roofed cabins that -fronted the winding, narrow street. - -Here and there, a face appeared at a window. Now and again, some -incurious form opened a door and watched them go by. But no one was -abroad on the single narrow street. Had it not been for the sight of -smoke, circling upward from mud chimneys, one might have thought that -the village was practically deserted. There hovered about it an -atmosphere of loneliness. There was something ominous about it, too, -something eerie and unnatural. Dick felt somehow as if he were -proceeding through a village of the dead. This feeling was accentuated -by the sight of many red flags, draped over windows, hanging from -doors—mute tokens of a terrible visitation. - -It was a mournful little party that drew up in front of the small but -picturesque Catholic Church at the far end of the winding street. They -stood there as if in doubt and perplexity, looking at each other, no one -volunteering to be the first to move or make a suggestion. Finally, Dick -called to Dr. Brady and the two strode across to a more or less -pretentious two-storey dwelling, immediately beyond the church. - -A little man, dressed in the flowing robes of a monk, answered Dick’s -timorous knock. The priest started in surprise as he perceived who his -visitors were, then his face brightened and, with a friendly gesture, he -motioned them within. - -“Ah!” he said, a slight but unmistakable catch in his voice. “White men! -How do you do. You honor me, monsieurs. May I not bid you welcome?” - -“Inspector Cameron of the mounted police sent us here to help you,” -explained Dick. “This gentleman here,” indicating Dr. Brady, “is an -Edmonton physician. I am Dick Kent.” - -The priest nodded understandingly and led the way to a small but nicely -furnished room, standing aside as his visitors entered. At one end of -the room, a spruce log burned brightly in the mud fireplace. There were -several comfortable chairs and a large bookcase, filled with row upon -row of books. Near the bookcase was a desk, fitted with drawers, and on -its smooth, highly-polished surface were papers, ink, and a small bronze -statue of the Christ. - -The atmosphere of the room was cheerful and inviting, and Dick and Dr. -Brady immediately felt at ease. They took the chairs their host -indicated, waiting for him to speak. - -“I sent a message to Inspector Cameron,” the priest began fluently, -“about six weeks ago. I am glad to see that he is sending help to my -stricken people. You, doctor, are especially welcome. We have done all -that we possibly can to check the course of the terrible disease, but -our efforts, I am sorry to inform you, have not been very successful. -Many, many deaths have taken place. The villagers are almost without -hope. There are many bereaved, monsieurs, much suffering and,” he -hesitated for a brief moment, “much complaining.” - -“Inspector Cameron,” said Dr. Brady, “told us about an uprising of some -sort. Has the mission been attacked?” - -“It has,” the priest nodded. “Twice there has been a general attack, -which we repulsed. Since then we have not been left in peace. Skulkers -come here at night and attempt to fire our dwellings. One man, a loyal -and true friend of mine, was shot down in the street. We live in -apprehension. Daily, there is some new outrage to add to the complexity -of our other troubles.” - -Dick looked across at the grave but patient face. - -“We will do all in our power to help you,” he encouraged him. “We will -attempt to deal with these skulkers and prevent an uprising. Does most -of your trouble come from outside the village?” - -“For the most part, yes. There are several Indian tribes in the -vicinity. At first we went among them, caring for their sick, but lately -we have not been able to do this because of their warlike attitude. On -the last occasion one of us went there, Father Levereaux was treated -most shamefully, subjected to many indignities, and finally left outside -their village. He was hurt and unconscious when we found him. He has -now, I am glad to inform you, recovered from his injuries, but I fear -that he has contracted smallpox. Last night, when I went to his room, he -was very ill.” - -“I will attend him,” said Dr. Brady, while Dick rose to his feet. - -“There are nine men in our party,” Dick said. “Perhaps there is an empty -dwelling somewhere where we can stay.” - -“There are several places,” the priest answered, “any one of which I can -place at your disposal.” - -He, too, arose. “I will lead you there. You must rest after your -journey. I can see that you are very tired. I must find you something to -eat.” - -“No,” objected Dr. Brady, “we must start to work at once.” - -“What do you propose to do first?” asked the priest. - -“Vaccinate every person in the village. After that I’ll attend to those -who already have the disease.” - -“Have you plenty of medicines and supplies?” - -“Yes.” - -The other’s face wreathed in a smile. - -“That is wonderful, monsieur. It was very kind of you to come. In my -heart I thank the noble Inspector of Police. Praise God, I think we have -come to the end of our trouble. I am very happy, monsieurs.” - -And tears of gladness slowly trickled down his cheeks. - - - - - CHAPTER XX - THE NIGHT PATROL - - -Dick and his party were billeted a few doors beyond the mission school -in two houses, built of logs—warm and comfortable quarters. They found -plenty to occupy their attention for the remainder of the day. They -assisted Dr. Brady, gathered wood, delivered the mail, and in many other -ways made themselves helpful and useful. - -The trouble which the priest, Father Bleriot had spoken of—the impending -danger of attack, the fear from the Indians in the hostile villages, not -far from the mission—did not seem very imminent to them just then. But -as night drew on and the villagers locked and bolted their doors and -native sentinels commenced to patrol the streets, rifles in hand, the -thing began to take on a different aspect. - -Nearly every night, so they were informed, some depredation had been -committed. A home was broken into and looted, a cabin fired, or a bullet -sent crashing through one of the many darkened windows. Every morning -the sentries, who seemed powerless to prevent it, reported the night’s -happenings to one of the three priests, then went away with sorrowful, -wagging heads, only to repeat the same performance twenty-four hours -later. - -Hearing of these things, the three boys and one of the Indian drivers -decided to stay up that night to keep the sentinels company. Dick and -the driver took up a position at the south end of the village, while -Sandy and Toma patrolled the northern section, in the vicinity of the -billet. - -The first part of the night, from eight o’clock until midnight, passed -without incident. Shortly before one, Dick and an Indian sentry entered -the latter’s home for a cup of tea and a bite to eat before resuming -their lonely vigil. Scarcely had they seated themselves around the rough -board table, when the crash of a rifle brought them to their feet. They -stormed outside, looking away in the direction from which the sound had -come. - -The bright moonlight revealed nothing at first, but presently, less than -a block away, they perceived an angry red glare and a black funnel of -smoke ascending from one of the cabins. - -Outside in the snow were the shivering forms of women and children, -while here and there, householders rushed frantically about attempting -to put out the blaze. The incendiaries had escaped. It galled Dick to -realize that they had crept up right under his nose unobserved. The shot -they had heard, he soon learned, had not been fired by the invaders at -all, but by one of the occupants of the burning cabin in an effort to -bring help. - -The cabin was doomed. Efforts to save it proved futile. The native -sentry took the women and children in tow and conducted them along the -street to the shelter of other cabins. Slowly, resentfully, the, crowd -dispersed. The sentry returned, accompanied by Sandy and Toma and the -dog driver. Together they repaired to the sentry’s home, where in gloomy -silence they drank their delayed cup of tea and ate the hot biscuit -their host set before them. - -“You fellows’d better go back now,” said Dick finally, rising to his -feet. “Nothing else may happen tonight, but it’s wise to be on our -guard.” - -Sandy grinned as he pushed his empty cup back from the edge of the -table. - -“I don’t want to rub it in, Dick,” he remarked, “but that was a good -joke on you. The cabin that is burning down isn’t more than a block from -here. Whoever set fire to it must have slipped right past you. What were -you doing, Dick?” - -Dick flushed, but did not reply. - -“Didn’t you see anyone?” persisted Sandy. - -“No. They caught us napping all right. But be mighty sure, Sandy, that -they don’t come in on your side before the night’s over. Well, good luck -to you. I’ll be along before daybreak.” - -Sandy and Toma departed, and again Dick and his two companions took up -their lonely patrol. This time, however, at Dick’s suggestion, they -separated, each having under his surveillance a certain definite section -of the village. Up and down, forth and back, through that cold and -stilly night, their moccasined feet beat across the snow. - -Then, suddenly, for the second time that night, a shot rang out. There -came the sound of crashing glass and a woman’s startled scream. - -It had all happened right in Dick’s beat, scarcely fifty yards away. -Instantly he was alert and ready. This time instead of rushing away -toward the cabin which had been fired on he cut obliquely across the -street in the direction the invader would have taken in making his -get-away. He fairly flew across the snow, dodged between two low -buildings and came out on the farther side, panting for breath. - -In the path of moonlight in the cleared space ahead, he saw a fleeting -form, and, without even pausing for breath, started forward in swift -pursuit. - -Dick was a fast runner, as he had proved to his satisfaction many times -before. In the present instance, he put all his heart and strength in -the race. He exerted every ounce of energy. But if he was fleet of foot, -excelling in this particular line of physical endeavor, so was his -opponent. Try as he would, Dick seemed unable to gain upon him. Between -buildings, across fields, over a narrow footbridge that crossed a brook, -then along a trail that threaded its way south from the village, the two -forms flew. - -After a time Dick began to gain slowly upon his quarry. Foot at a time, -he drew closer. He saw the Indian, tall and lithe like himself, cast one -worried glance over his shoulder, see that he was being overtaken, then -hurl his rifle to the snow, free from which encumbrance, he quickly -regained his former advantage. - -Somewhat reluctantly, Dick followed suit. He still carried his revolver -at his belt. He puffed as he ran. The blood throbbed in his ears. The -continued exertion had begun to tell. On and on he raced, slowly -shortening the distance that separated them. Thirty yards! Twenty yards! -He was only a rod or two behind him now, gaining at every leap. But with -every leap his heart felt as if it would burst within his body. Finally, -in despair, he had commenced to slacken his pace, when he saw the runner -ahead stumble over some obstruction in the path and fall heavily. - -When the Indian rose choking to his knees, Dick stood over him, revolver -in hand. - -“I’ve got you, you human greyhound,” he panted. “You can come back with -me now. The race is over.” - -The Indian, of course, did not understand a word of English. He rose, -brushing the snow from his garments. - -“Come back with me, brother of the deer,” ordered Dick in Cree. “Come -over on the path here and start back toward the village.” - -His captive obeyed. They marched back, puffing like two locomotives, one -a little shamefacedly, the other exultantly. - -“You run very fast,” said Dick admiringly, as he drove the other on, -feeling very magnanimous in his victory. - -The other grunted. - -“You have feet more swift than a wolf,” Dick went on. “It was -unfortunate for you that you fell.” - -Again the Indian grunted. - -“Why do you come bothering these people?” Dick took a new tack. “They -have done nothing to hurt you. They are your friends. Why do you attack -them and set fire to their homes and send bullets crashing through their -windows?” - -For the third time the Indian grunted. Dick gave up. He could learn -nothing from this sullen fellow. Very well then, he could go back and -cool his heels behind the guarded door of some village dwelling. - -They reached the place where Dick had thrown down his gun, and, farther -on, he also picked up the weapon belonging to his prisoner. Not long -afterward they made their appearance in the village, where they were met -by a number of people, including Sandy and Toma. - -Ordinarily Sandy would have come forward to compliment Dick upon his -achievement, but this time, for some reason, he refrained. And Sandy’s -appearance and behavior were strange. He stood and stared at Dick almost -dully. Toma’s attitude was equally peculiar and inexplicable. - -“Well,” said Dick, “I’ve brought him back.” - -No one replied. - -“Sandy,” stated Dick, “this is the Indian who fired that shot a while -ago. I ran him down. What do you think we’d better do with him?” - -“I don’t know,” Sandy muttered, in a voice that might have come from the -depths of some subterranean vault. “I don’t know, Dick. This is -terrible. What will we do?” - -Dick flushed angrily. - -“Do,” he snapped out testily, “why we’ll do what we’ve been doing for -the last two months—the best we can. What makes Toma stand there like a -lump on a log, eyeing me so queerly? What have I done? Why, you all act -as if I had committed a crime, instead of bringing this man back to -answer for his misdeeds.” - -Sandy emerged from his despondency at this unexpected verbal attack, the -light of battle in his eyes. - -“What have you done?” he demanded sharply. “What have you done? Well, -I’ll tell you. You’ve done just what the rest of us have done. Made a -fool out of yourself. Permitted yourself to become a dupe—a-sucker.” - -“A sucker! See here. I’ve had about enough of this. I——” - -But Sandy went inexorably on: - -“Father Bleriot and Dr. Brady have been captured.” - -“But, Sandy!——” gasped Dick. - -“They’ve been captured, I tell you.” - -“But look here, Sandy——” - -“Keep quiet, will you, and let me finish. Do you know why this Indian -fired that shot?” - -“No.” - -“To draw all the guards to this end of the village so that another -attacking party could swoop down from the other side and play general -havoc They got Brady and Father Bleriot and two of the Indian servants. -No one was there to stop them. They had plenty of time to get away. Toma -and I and the other guards came down here, while you were chasing away -across country after your friend. Now, I ask you, what are we to do -about it?” - -Dejectedly, Dick put one of his rifles on the ground and sat down upon -it. He was breathing hard, but not from the effects of the race. His -triumph had been short-lived. He leaned forward and put his head in his -hands. - -“The villagers are panic stricken,” Sandy informed him. “They’re about -done for. They’ve lost all hope, and I don’t think they’re to be blamed -very much either.” - -Dick raised his eyes. A crowd had gathered round him. It was a silent -crowd. Dejection showed in every face. Somewhere, at the edge of the -gathering a woman was crying softly. Dick staggered to his feet. - -“Her husband was one of the servants the Indians took,” Sandy explained. -“Everyone here believes that we’ve seen the last of those four men. -They’ll all be murdered.” - -Dick found his voice. - -“Does anyone know which way that attacking party left?” he demanded. - -“There are plenty who can testify to that. They went north into the -barrens.” - -“Is there an Indian village up that way?” - -“Yes, about four miles from here. What do you suggest doing, Dick?” - -“We can do one thing only,” Dick’s tone was tragic. “I’ll call for a -party of volunteers and set out in pursuit.” He raised his voice: “Come -now, who will be the first to go with me?” - -Toma stepped forward. - -“I go,” he said. - -Sandy was scarcely a foot behind him. - -“I’ll be one.” - -A moment’s hesitation, then the tall form of a villager drew away from -the crowd. - -“I will accompany my white brothers,” he asserted. - -Others also came forward. By ones and twos they shambled up—tragic-eyed -men, frail, hollow-cheeked youths, white-haired veterans of a hundred -trap-lines. Steadily they came and took their places at Dick’s side. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - DISASTER LOOMS - - -Four miles is not far. In the north country, where distance plays such -an important part in the lives of the inhabitants, four miles would be -accounted but a step, a unit of space hardly worth considering. Yet to -Dick and his party, who had set out in pursuit of the Indian invaders, -it seemed a long way indeed. It was a weary trail and a hard one. It was -fraught with danger, with grave foreboding. - -It seemed to the young leader, as they fared forth across that ghastly -moonlit field, that his life had been spent on trails. Daily he walked -along some trail. At night he slept beside one. When chill morning broke -across a bleak snow-covered land, it was only to resume that -never-ending, continuous trek. - -It was a sort of Nemesis that haunted him. Somehow he couldn’t get away -from it. The trail!——It was there always. It beckoned to him. It defied -him. It led him wearily, doggedly on to new dangers and disasters. - -On the night in question, the four miles seemed inconceivably long. The -feet of his party dragged. A moody silence hung about them. No one -laughed. Conversation had ceased. Behind him came the monotonous crunch, -crunch, crunch of scores of snowshoes, beating out a path. Crunch, -crunch, crunch—tired, laggard feet moved hesitatingly, moved fearfully, -ready at the slightest pretext to turn and flee. - -Neither Dick nor his two chums believed that in case of an attack, any -of the Indians, comprising their party, would make a stand. They were -too fearful. In the final crisis, so Dick believed, he would be forced -to depend solely upon his two friends and himself. Yet in numbers there -is strength. Their imposing array would be sure to impress the enemy. - -They reached the village. They bore down upon it, forty strong, shouting -their defiance. With their rifles ready, they entered the outskirts, -laggard steps becoming more laggard, frightened faces becoming more -frightened as the crisis approached. They were offered no resistance. -Could it be that the village was asleep? A few huskies sniffed at their -heels. A papoose cried in one of the tepees they passed. Still they went -on. - -In the brilliant star-sprinkled sky a few clouds were visible. One -particularly dark cloud passed across the moon. Shadows fell athwart the -tepees. It was darker now. The forms of Dick’s followers became shrouded -in gloom. Along the white snow surface crept a huge dark stain, an -immensity of shadow that blotted the earth. - -The tepees were black blotches now against a dark background. Out of -this obscurity, coming as unexpectedly as a fire-siren, shrieking its -warning, there rose a blood-curdling, hideous yell. Dick literally froze -in his tracks. A cold sweat broke out upon his face. He had scarcely the -strength to stand upon his tottering legs. - -The yell was followed by the cracking of rifles, the whining of bullets. -Appalled, his men drew back. For a brief moment they stood their ground, -then broke and fled in confusion. The retreat became a rout. Panic -spread, rifles were hurled to one side, and a few minutes later Dick’s -valiant supporters disappeared from view, swallowed up in the -semi-darkness. - -Dick saw the absolute futility of attempting anything further that -night. Moving more leisurely, he and his two chums followed his defeated -column. Again the trail oppressed him. Hope had gone glimmering. He had -reached the end of the road. He heard Sandy speaking in mournful tones: - -“Well, I guess there isn’t much we can do now. It’s all over. I wouldn’t -give one whoop for Dr. Brady’s chances now, or the priest’s either. What -do you think about it, Toma?” - -For once the young Indian was at a loss to know what to say. He shook -his head and walked on beside them. - -“I’m tired of it all,” said Dick. “Our luck has deserted us. There used -to be a time, Sandy, when we could stumble through difficulties blindly. -But I’m afraid that that time has passed. We’re up against a solid rock -wall. We can’t scale it. It’s too high for our puny strength. We’re -helpless.” - -“And yet,” said Sandy, almost reverently, “Corporal Rand came up here -single-handed to accomplish what we have failed to do with forty men. -Have you stopped to think about that?” - -“Yes, but Corporal Rand is licked too.” - -“The trail did that. I’m willing to bet that if Corporal Rand were here -now, he’d dare to go back to that Indian village alone, and would -probably be successful too.” - -“I realize that. But how do they do it? It’s a thing I’ve often wondered -at.” - -“I can’t explain it myself,” said Sandy, “unless it is the awe in which -they are held. You see, Dick, all the people who live in this north -country know what wonderful men they are, how brave and determined. -They’re afraid of them. But it’s something more than fear. It goes -deeper than that. It’s—it’s——I can’t tell you what it is. It isn’t -exactly awe or reverence or fear. Perhaps it is a mixture of all these -things. I really can’t tell you.” They struggled on, soon reaching the -village, where they were met by Father Michaud, who was now in charge of -the mission. Father Michaud carried a lantern. He was a much older man -than either of his two associates. He held the lantern out before him, -and as the boys came closer, peered up anxiously in their faces. - -“Ah, monsieur, is it not terrible. Ees everyone safe? Are there no dead? -So terrible—so terrible!” he lamented. “Even from here I hear those -awful shouts an’ ze sound of ze rifles. Did you make a brave -ree-sistance?” - -“How could we?” answered Sandy. “Everybody ran away. At the first sound -of firing, our brave little army vanished like a flock of frightened -sheep.” - -“An’ you saw nothing of ze Father Bleriot an’ ze good Dr. Brad-ee?” - -“No. We saw nothing of them.” - -“Et ees so terrible,” wailed the priest “Tomorrow will you go again?” - -“I’ll have to think that over,” Dick replied. “But what is the use. If -you can supply me with some really brave and courageous men, I’ll -undertake to bring the good father and Dr. Brady back.” - -“Ah, but my people, zey are so prostrate, so heavy with grief. Ze spirit -has gone out of them.” - -“Well, I’m not surprised at that,” said Sandy, a little more charitable. - -“Et ees to be regretted zat ze policeman ees seeck. He ees a wonderful -man, zat Corporal Rand. Nothing on earth can stop zat man.” - -“What did I tell you,” whispered Sandy, nudging Dick’s arm. “He knows it -too.” - -“What will monsieur do now?” - -“First of all, we’ll have something to eat and a few hours sleep. After -that, we can make our plans. To be perfectly frank, Father Michaud, I -don’t know what to do.” - -Dick’s shoulders seemed to droop as he made the assertion. He was -feeling the weight of his responsibilities, had reached the point where -it seemed impossible to go on. - -And then, suddenly, there flashed through his mind the grim figure of -the Inspector of Police. The steel-gray eyes were regarding him. - -“If I didn’t have implicit faith in you, I wouldn’t send you on this -expedition.” - -Implicit faith in him! Yet he wondered if Cameron, knowing of the odds -against them, would have held out hope for their ultimate success. - -“Et ees too bad zat Corporal Rand ees ill,” Father Michaud repeated. -“Zey would be afraid of him; monsieur. Zey see ze mounted police an’ zey -are afraid.” - -Suddenly Dick had an idea. He turned quickly to the priest. - -“Father Michaud, where is the man I captured earlier in the night? Where -is he now?” - -“In one of ze cabins. Zey have put a guard over him.” - -“Father, will you lead me to that cabin?” - -The priest nodded. He commenced hobbling down the road. They followed -him and turned into the narrow street, with the row of cabins on either -side. They hurried on through the dim light of early morning, presently -drawing up before a low structure, in front of which stood a native, a -rifle clutched in his hands. - -“Open the door,” said Dick in Cree. “I wish to see the prisoner.” - -They entered the dark interior. The guard struck a match and lit the -tiny taper that had been placed on the mantle above the fireplace. - -In front of the fire, rolled in a blanket, which had been provided him, -lay Dick’s former track-mate. Toma aroused him by shaking his shoulders -none too gently, yanking him to an upright position. The man daubed at -his eyes, looking sleepily about him. - -“What is your name?” asked Dick in Cree. - -“Tawanish.” - -“All right, Tawanish, I’m about to release you. You can go back to your -own people.” - -“Dick, are you mad?” suddenly interposed Sandy. “Have you taken leave of -your senses? Do you realize what you are saying? No, Dick, we will hold -him here as a hostage. They have Dr. Brady and Father Bleriot. We have -this man.” - -Dick turned almost angrily upon his chum. - -“Please, Sandy, don’t interfere. I know what I’m doing.” - -He turned again to the Indian. - -“Tawanish, I am sending you back to your own people. You can go free.” - -“It is very good of my brother,” stammered the Indian, blinking at his -liberator. - -“You will carry a message to your people,” Dick went on. “Do you -understand that, Tawanish—carry a message. You must remember what I say, -else it will go hard with you and them.” - -“What is the message?” Tawanish asked. - -“You must tell them,” Dick replied, choosing his words carefully,”—you -must tell them, Tawanish, that the mounted police have arrived. Corporal -Rand is here. Tell them that they must release the good father and the -white medicine man. As soon as you return and tell them this, they must -release these two men and give them a convoy back to this village. Do -you understand what I have told you?” - -“Yes,” answered the Indian. “I understand.” - -“This Corporal Rand,” Dick resumed, “is a terrible man. He is one of the -greatest among all of the mounted police. If you do not comply with his -request, his vengeance will be sure and certain. Do you follow me, -Tawanish?” - -“I understand what you have said. It shall be done.” - -“Very well,” said Dick. “Know you then that if the good father and the -white doctor do not return to us before the time of the noonday sun, -Corporal Rand will proceed to your village.” - -Sandy and Toma stared in open-mouthed amazement. - -“You’re mad!” sputtered Sandy. - -“If you will come with us, Tawanish, I will give you back your gun. Then -you can start at once.” - -They filed from the room. Outside Dick dismissed the guard, then led the -way to his own billet, where he had left his captive’s rifle. Extracting -the cartridges, he handed it over to Tawanish. - -“Go,” said Dick, “and give your chief and your people my message.” - -The Indian’s departure was sudden and abrupt. He streaked for the door. -Father Michaud touched Dick’s arm. - -“I hope,” he declared, “zat you have not made a serious meestake, -monsieur. Do you think zey will heed your request?” - -Dick sat down on the edge of his bunk, under the accusing gaze of his -two chums. - -“I don’t know,” he answered. “There’s a chance.” - -The pent up rage and anger, which had been seething within Sandy’s -breast, suddenly broke forth. - -“You fool! You fool! Of all the unthinking, crazy actions I’ve ever -witnessed, this is the worst. Do you realize what you’ve done? Do you -know what will happen now? Wouldn’t listen to me, would you? Nor Toma? -Nor Father Michaud? You—you——” - -Sandy’s tirade ended in a choking and sputtering wholly unintelligible. - -“What have I done?” asked Dick. - -“You haven’t the sense to see it, so I’ll tell you. The Indians might -hesitate about killing Dr. Brady and Father Bleriot as long as we had -one of their own people here. They’d be afraid that if they did commit -such an act, we’d retaliate by taking the life of that Indian.” - -He paused, clearing his throat. - -“Now, by your colossal blunder, you have made the way easy for them. -They can kill them with perfect impunity. Dick, how could you be so -thoughtless. Your plan won’t work. You acted on impulse. I’m sure,” more -kindly, “that if you’d paused to reason it all out in your mind, you’d -never have taken that step.” - -Dick had nothing to say. It did seem as if Sandy were right. It was an -awful moment. - -“Well,” said Sandy, “we might as well go to bed. There is nothing more -that we can do now. Come on, Dick, let’s tumble in.” - -The priest turned away quietly and left the room. They could hear the -crunch of his footsteps outside. Toma and Sandy sat down and commenced -pulling off their moccasins. But Dick did not stir. His hopeless, tragic -eyes stared into the fire. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - WHEN MOMENTS ARE ETERNITY - - -Sandy consulted his watch. His face was anxious. Little worried lines -showed under his eyes and at the corners of his mouth. - -“It’s eleven o’clock, Dick,” he announced. “One hour to go. If they -aren’t here by twelve, they won’t come at all.” - -“Yes,” said Dick miserably. “Eleven o’clock. But they may come, Sandy.” - -The suspense was difficult to endure. In the last half hour, Sandy’s -watch had been jerked from his pocket no less than seven times. The -three boys sat in their billet and marked the slow passing of time. All -through the morning they had experienced a nervous tension, which was -becoming rapidly more and more acute. Toma paced up and down the floor, -paying little heed to what his two chums said. Occasionally, he looked -out through one of the frosted windows, straining his ears for the shout -that would announce the safe return of the two captives. - -In his heart, Toma half-believed that Dick’s plan would work. He knew -the awe and reverence in which the mounted police were held. If Dr. -Brady and Father Bleriot were not sent back, it would be because the -Indians had come to the conclusion that Dick’s statement regarding -Corporal Rand was merely a bluff. - -Sandy’s watch ticked off the seconds. Dick stepped forward to stir up -the fire. There came a timid knock at the door. - -It was Father Michaud. He shuffled through the doorway, his robes -rustling about him, his thin bare hands rubbing each other to restore -their sluggish circulation. - -“Ah, monsieurs,” he broke forth, “I have slept but ill. Et ees most -difficult theese slow waiting. Do you not think, monsieurs? All night I -worry veree much. Zen I pray, monsieurs. Et ees a great help.” - -Sandy pulled forward a chair for their unhappy visitor. - -“Sit-down, father. Take a place here close to the fire.” - -“_Merci._ You are kind, monsieur.” - -He half-turned in his chair. - -“Do you think zey will come?” he asked, addressing Dick. - -“I do not know.” Dick’s face was tragic. “I’m afraid, father, they may -not come.” - -For twenty minutes the priest kept alive a failing conversation. -Occasionally, Sandy consulted his watch. Time slipped by. - -“Twenty minutes to twelve,” said Sandy, at the end of what seemed like -an eternity. - -Toma continued his pacing back and forth. Dick sat huddled in his chair. -The priest rambled on. - -“Ten minutes to twelve,” Sandy informed them. - -Dick could endure the suspense no longer. He rose, crossed the room, and -flung open the door. A cold draft of air whirled in across the floor. -Toma hurried over to where Dick stood and peered over his shoulder. They -heard a shout. It brought Sandy and Father Michaud to their feet. -Villagers were running in the street. A crowd had gathered. - -“They—they’ve come back,” blurted Dick, darting through the door, Toma -right behind him. They joined the throng. - -In the center of the crowd stood, not Dr. Brady and Father Bleriot, -but—and Dick’s heart sank at the sight of him—their captive of the night -before. In his hand he waved something—something white. With Toma acting -as his interference, and employing football tactics, Dick plunged -through, gaining a place by the side of the messenger. He seized the -piece of birch bark and scanned it eagerly. It was covered thickly with -Indian signs and symbols. - -“Toma,” cried Dick, “can you make this out? Tell me, what does it say -here?” - -Toma took the birch bark in his own trembling hands, studied it for a -moment, then in a fit of anger threw it at his feet, where with one foot -he trampled it in the snow. - -“What does it say?” Dick’s voice was shrill, plaintive. - -“It say,” stormed Toma, “that you tell ’em big lie about mounted police; -that Corporal Rand no come here at all. They make you big laugh.” - -At that instant Dick bethought him of the messenger. Defy him, would -they? Well, he’d see about that. At least, he’d seize their messenger. -He sprang forward with this purpose in view, but the Indian slipped -under his arm, dodged behind the tall figure of one of the gaping -natives, and before anyone could prevent it, had made his escape. At -that moment, Sandy came plowing through the ranks of the spectators, -shouting hoarsely. - -“Where is Dr. Brady?” - -“He didn’t come back.” - -“What’s all this rumpus about then?” - -“That Indian prisoner I released last night came back with a defiant -message, which says that they, the Indians, don’t believe that the -policeman is here.” - -“And the messenger?” - -“He slipped away from me.” - -Dick ordered the crowd back with an authoritative wave of his arm. His -feeling of hopelessness and despair had given place to anger, to a -consuming, burning rage. The Indians had defied him openly. They were -making a fool out of him. They had called his bluff. - -It occurred to him that he could recruit another attacking party and go -to the doctor’s rescue. But the memory of his experience of the night -before still rankled in his mind. No—if he were to accomplish anything, -it would be through his own efforts, and with the assistance of only -Sandy and Toma. He beckoned to his chums. - -“Let’s go back to the billet,” he suggested, “and talk this thing over.” - -As his two friends came up, he linked his arms in theirs and began: - -“I can see now, Sandy, that I have made a terrible mistake. I’ve got -myself in a hole and may never be able to get out of it. Just the same, -I don’t intend to give up. I’m not licked yet. I want to know if you -boys will stand behind me.” - -“Yes, Dick, we’re with you,” Sandy assured him. - -“You depend on us,” added Toma. - -Back in the billet again, they commenced to lay their plans. On the -previous night they had tried, by the superiority of their numbers, to -intimidate the enemy. They had failed. Now they would employ stealth. -That night, they decided, the three of them would creep up to the Indian -village and attempt a rescue. - -“We may be successful,” said Sandy. “We have a chance, at any rate.” - -“Our last chance, too,” declared Dick. “If we fail in this, it is all -over.” - -A little later, Sandy went over to the mission store to purchase a few -supplies. Toma remained behind, his head bowed deep in thought. Silence -had come to the room, broken only by the breathing of the boys and the -crackling of the logs in the fireplace. After a time, Dick rose. - -“I suppose we’d better be thinking about lunch.” - -Of a sudden, Toma darted to his feet. He had sprung from his chair so -quickly, that Dick, who was looking at him, could scarcely follow the -lightning movement. Toma hugged himself in ecstacy. He seized Dick in a -smothering embrace, whirling him around and around. - -“Dick, listen me,” he shouted. “I know what we do now. I think it all -out. It come to me in flash. Sandy no need go at all. Jus’ you, me go. -We go this afternoon. Hurry—you follow me quick!” - -Blindly Dick followed the other. He trotted down the street in the wake -of his excited chum, wondering what it was all about. They hurried past -the mission school, reaching, finally, a low dwelling, into which, -without a moment’s hesitation, without even the preliminary of a knock, -Toma darted. - -It was the house which harbored Corporal Rand. Upon the afternoon of -their arrival, the policeman had been placed here with an Indian woman -in attendance. He was here now, sitting propped up in a chair in front -of a pleasant fire. - -“Good morning, corporal,” both boys greeted him. - -The policeman turned his head. As he did so, the boys stopped abruptly. -A remarkable change had taken place in him. His cheeks were fuller now. -His eyes burned less brightly. The heavy beard-growth had been removed. -He smiled a wan greeting. - -“Dick and Toma, as I live! Where did you come from?” - -“We have a billet down the street,” answered Dick. - -“Ah, yes; and I have been ill. Very ill. I can remember—it is so -difficult to remember—but I was on the trail, wasn’t I? A difficult -trail. And what is the name of this place, Dick?” - -“Keechewan.” - -“Keechewan! Keechewan!” Corporal Rand repeated the name. “It sounds -familiar, doesn’t it?” - -Toma was beside him now—standing very close, looking down into the sick -man’s eyes. He suddenly stooped and whispered something into Rand’s -willing ears, then drew back smiling. - -“It is all right,” he announced to Dick, who had come closer. “Corporal -Rand he say all right. Him willing we go. We must hurry very fast, Dick. -You go back to billet an’ pretty soon I go there too.” - -And almost before he realized it, Toma had seized his arm and was -dragging him toward the door. - -“Quick!” he commanded. “You go back to billet. I know place where I find -two horses. You get us something to eat in plenty hurry. Two rifles, -cartridge belts, revolvers——You work quick—plenty fast. So me too.” - -“But Toma,” protested his bewildered companion, “I don’t see. I don’t -know——What——” - -“No time ask ’em questions now. Do like I say. Quick! Hurry!” - -Through the open doorway Dick was bundled, pushed, treated somewhat -roughly, considering that Toma was his friend. Outside in the chill air, -he had started to protest again, but the door was slammed in his face. - -“You be good fellow. Hurry now!” the inexorable voice boomed at him -through the heavy barrier. “I be along mebbe eight, ten minutes.” - -There was nothing left for him to do except obey. Shaking his head, -wondering what new form of insanity had seized hold of his friend, he -wheeled about and struck back towards the billet. There he gathered up a -bundle of food, secured the rifles, cartridges and revolver—exactly as -he had been instructed—and sat down to wait. - -In a remarkably short time Toma appeared. His coming was heralded by the -clatter of hooves. Dick heard a voice calling to him. - -Toma did not even dismount, as Dick thrust his head through the doorway. - -“Is that my horse?” asked Dick, feeling a little foolish. - -“Your horse. Bring ’em rifles an’ grub an’ jump up into saddle quick.” - -Sandy was just coming down the street, his arms loaded with provisions, -when the two horses, their flanks quivering, nostrils dilated, leaped -from the trodden snow around the doorway and galloped away like mad. - -They turned off on the north trail, whirling past an open-mouthed -sentry, who, in his hurry to get out of the way, stepped back in a huge -snowdrift and sat down. They streaked over a narrow bridge, spanning a -creek, shot up the steep embankment on the farther side and, at -break-neck speed, headed for the open country in the direction of the -Indian village. It was not until they were two miles out, that Toma drew -in his horse. - -“We stop here for a few minutes,” he informed Dick. - -“What for?” - -Toma produced a bulky package, deftly opened and shook out—a frayed -crimson tunic of the mounted police. - -“What’s that for?” Dick gasped. - -“You put ’em on—quick! You Corporal Rand now. Indians be much afraid -when we ride up.” - -Trembling, Dick removed his own coat and put on the crimson garment. -They rode on again. - -It was all that Dick could do to sit erect in his saddle, much less -simulate a quiet determination, a bravery he did not feel. The two miles -dwindled into one. The remaining mile to the village—how quickly did it -seem to slip away past them, bringing them closer and closer to that -unwavering row of brown tepees. - -Their horses went forward at a walk. From the tiny dwellings emerged -human figures. Malevolent eyes were watching them. Dick caught the flash -of sunlight on some bright object, probably a rifle barrel, and he grew -rigid in the saddle, instinctively reaching toward the holster at his -side. Toma detected the motion and soberly shook his head. - -“No do that,” he advised promptly. “Mounted police never pull gun ’til -other fellow get ready to use his. What you say we make horses go fast? -Gallop right up to village.” - -Dick approved the suggestion. For one thing, a flying mark is more -difficult to hit. Another thing, it gave a touch of realism to their -bluff. It was exactly what a mounted policeman would do. - -So, when less than fifty yards from the nearest tepee, they dug their -heels into their ponies’ flanks and cantered briskly up. They approached -the first two tepees and passed them without mishap. But Dick’s heart -was in his throat now. His cheeks were drained of color. With increasing -difficulty, he kept his place astride his plunging horse. - -Indians were pouring out of their domiciles, like disturbed bees from a -hive. A low murmur came to the boys’ ears. Form after form they flashed -by, scarcely conscious of where they were going until, by chance, they -perceived that toward the center of the encampment there had gathered an -excited crowd of natives, who were watching their approach. Toward this -crowd, they made their way at a quick gallop. - -Dick felt a little dazed as they came to a sudden halt. The Indians had -fallen back, yet did not disperse. Deep silence greeted them. It was so -deeply and intensely quiet that Dick could almost believe that the -Indians were statues of stone. - -He tried to speak, but his tongue clove in his mouth. Fear had settled -upon him and he seemed powerless to shake it off. At the crucial moment, -when everything depended upon his actions and deportment, he was failing -miserably. Fortunately, he had the good sense to see this and tried -desperately to control himself. He sat up more rigidly in the saddle, -his mittened hands clenched. - -“Make ’em talk,” whispered Toma. - -Dick flung up one arm in a commanding gesture. - -“Bring the two white men here at once,” he ordered. - -Then suddenly his gaze seemed to waver. The crowd became a blur—a -shadowy something before his eyes. In their place rose up the stern -figure of Inspector Cameron—the worn, austere face, the steel-gray eyes, -the decisive chin. Again Dick threw up his arm. A strange calmness -pervaded him. - -“Bring them here,” he repeated in a voice of gathering impatience. - -A murmur rose from the crowd. Suddenly it fell back, hesitated for a -brief interval, then hurried away to do the white chief’s bidding. The -tension had relaxed. As he slowly turned in his saddle to meet the gaze -of his friend, a ray of sunlight fell across Toma’s face. - -“Bye-’n’-bye they come!” he cried happily. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - BACK AT THE MISSION - - -“You’ve won, Dick. Dr. Brady says that you were absolutely wonderful. -The way you sat on your horse, the way you ordered that crowd of natives -about—your calmness, your courage. You were every inch a policeman!” - -Dick laughed. - -“I wonder what Dr. Brady would say if he knew the truth. I wonder what -he would say if he knew that I was quaking inside like a jelly-fish. It -is true that I sat on my horse, but the credit is due the horse, not me. -If he had moved as much as one front leg, he’d have shaken me out of the -saddle. Our cause would have been lost.” - -“Come! Come! You’re fooling, Dick.” - -“Not at all. I was never more frightened in my life, and I never want to -be as badly frightened again. I was trembling like a leaf. When the -chief brought out Father Bleriot and Dr. Brady and turned them over to -us, I very nearly collapsed.” - -“But the Indians were frightened too. They were afraid of you.” - -“Perhaps they were. Everyone was more or less frightened, I guess, -except Toma. Cool! Honestly I think he enjoyed it. He egged me on, -encouraged me. I never would have had the nerve to enter that village if -it hadn’t been for him. There’s a young man, Sandy, who was born without -fear. He doesn’t know what it means.” - -Sandy rose and threw another log on the fire. Then he rubbed the palms -of his hands together and grinned. - -“Well, I’ll grant that. He doesn’t. He loves action and excitement. He -eats it. I suppose he’s off somewhere now, worrying because we haven’t -much left here to do.” - -“I know where he is,” laughed Dick. “He went back to the Indian village -with Dr. Brady. Brady is finishing his work there this afternoon. Toma -is his interpreter.” - -A moment of silence. Then: - -“Dick, were you over to see Corporal Rand this morning?” - -“Yes.” - -“Better, isn’t he?” - -“Much better. I never saw anyone improve so rapidly.” - -“But you didn’t talk with Dr. Brady. Did he tell you, Dick—did you -hear——” - -In his excitement, Sandy pulled forward a chair and plumped himself into -it, putting both hands on Dick’s knees. - -“Dr. Brady admits that he was wrong. His first examination was—er—well, -a little hasty. Those feet, for example. Bad, of course, but——” - -“Do you mean to tell me he’ll walk?” - -“Exactly.” - -“Will be well enough to return to his duties?” - -“Dr. Brady believes so now. He was quite enthusiastic this morning. -It’ll take months, of course—months before he’ll be around again. First, -he must go to Edmonton and have an operation—skin grafting and all that -sort of thing.” - -“And his mind is all right too?” - -“Yes. Almost.” - -“Almost!” snorted Dick. “You don’t mean that, surely. Why, he was -perfectly rational last night, when I had a talk with him. He remembered -everything. He told me about his troubles on the trail. He asked me if -we were intending to take the Keechewan mail back with us. We had a long -talk together. His mind is as bright as a new silver American dollar. -What made you say that?” - -Sandy rose again and pushed back his chair. He walked over and stood -with his back to the fire. - -“It’s getting colder, Dick.” - -“Look here, you gay young deceiver, you didn’t answer my question.” - -Sandy looked up blankly. - -“Eh, what? Question?” - -“Yes. My question. Why do you think that Corporal Rand hasn’t fully -recovered his mental powers?” - -“He hasn’t—quite,” Sandy wagged his head dolefully. “He sometimes -suffers from hallucinations. Dr. Brady and I both noticed it.” - -“What are they?” - -“There was one in particular. It would have amused me, only I feel so -sorry for him. He’s—he’s—well, he thinks he’s going to be placed under -arrest. Can you imagine anything so absurd? And by Inspector Cameron, -too. He’s really worrying about it.” - -Dick’s roar of laughter echoed to every part of the room. Tears of -merriment chased each other down his cheeks. - -“I don’t think that is so very funny,” Sandy declared with great -dignity. “You ought to pity the man.” - -“You chump! You chump!” howled Dick. “Why that—that isn’t an -hallucination; it’s a fact. Corporal Rand may be arrested. He probably -will be, but I don’t believe Cameron will be very severe with him. Not -this time.” - -“What’s he done?” blinked Sandy. - -“Disobeyed orders. He came up here against the inspector’s wishes. You -see, Cameron intended to come himself.” - -“Oh,” said Sandy, much relieved, “the inspector has probably forgotten -all about it.” - -“Not he! Cameron never forgets.” - -“But he won’t be hard on him.” - -“Of course not. He’ll impose a light fine along with a severe lecture. -Then he’ll reach in his pocket and give Rand the money to pay the fine.” - -Sandy laughed. - -“Why don’t you tell Rand that? I think it will relieve his mind.” - -“Guess I will.” Dick rose. “I’ll take a run over there now and cheer him -up.” - -Dick had readied the door, when Sandy called him back. - -“I say, Dick.” - -“Yes, Sandy, what is it?” - -“Remember the night when you released the Indian—sent him back to his -people with that message?” - -“Yes, I remember.” - -“I—I called you some names, Dick. I’m sorry about that. I guess I was a -bit angry and overbearing. You’ll overlook it, won’t you?” - -Dick took his chum’s hand and gripped it firmly. - -“Why—I’d forgotten about it. Anyway, it’s all right. Everything is all -right,” he smiled. - -“And you’re all right, too,” declared Sandy. - -Which, considering everything, was as fine a compliment as Dick had ever -received. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - A TREK HOMEWARD - - -A dog train waited outside the Keechewan Mission. It was a long -train—ten teams of malemutes and huskies—an impatient train, too, for -not only the dogs but the drivers as well, waited impatiently for the -word of command that would set it in motion. Brake-boards were passed -firmly into the snow, the feet holding them in place becoming cramped as -the moments passed and still the leader did not appear. - -Presently a door creaked open and a tall young man, laden with two heavy -mail sacks, emerged to the street. It was Dick Kent—and he was smiling. -Behind Dick came Dr. Brady and the cassocked figure of a Catholic -priest, Father Bleriot. The two last named persons walked side-by-side, -talking and laughing. The priest’s right arm was thrust in friendly -fashion through that of the physician’s, and, as the three figures came -to a halt directly opposite the sledge, to which a team of beautiful -gray malemutes were harnessed, the doctor declared: - -“So we’re to go back at last. I see you have everything ready, Dick. -Nothing to do now except pull our worthless freight out of here.” - -“Monsieur does himself an injustice,” beamed the priest. “You have -reason to feel proud—you and your friends. Hope and happiness and -tranquility have come again to Keechewan.” - -“Have you any message that I can take to Inspector Cameron?” Dick asked. - -“It is there in the sack,” Father Bleriot pointed to one of the mail -pouches Dick had placed in the empty sleigh. “A letter, monsieur, -written from my heart and sealed with tears of thankfulness. All one -night I sat and wrote that letter, page after page, to the good -inspector, and when I had finished, monsieur, I found that I had -expressed not even one small part of what I wished to say.” - -“Cameron will understand,” Dr. Brady reassured him. - -“And now you go,” said the priest regretfully. “You embark upon a -difficult journey. You go south without even a pause to rest.” - -“It will not seem so far this time,” stated Dick, turning toward his -sledge. “Well, thank you Father, for your kindness and hospitality. We -must go now. Dr. Brady, you’ve worked hard, so we’re giving you the -place of honor here with the mail.” - -They shook hands again. Dr. Brady was bundled into the sleigh. At a -signal from Dick, impatient feet were lifted from brake-boards, whips -cracked, and the train whirled away amid a flurry of fine snow. Father -Bleriot, a somewhat lonely figure, stood and waved his farewell, his -expressive dark eyes lighting with satisfaction, as there came to him -the cheers of scores of happy householders, who lined the streets to -watch the party go by. - -Speeding southward, the dog train soon left the village behind. The -bleak landscape of the Barrens settled around them. Rolling drifts of -crusted snow stretched away to the horizon. The wind shrieked up from -behind, a cold wind which froze the hot breath of the huskies, and -painted their lean, gray flanks with a white coat of frost. - -Hour after hour, then day after day, the cavalcade bore on. The Barrens -vanished. A streak of dun-colored forest slowly advanced and silently -enwrapped them. The forest led them to a chain of hills. The hills -carried them begrudgingly to a valley. The valley flung them into a -meadow, which, in turn, by various stages, brought them to another -forest, another valley, across lakes, down ravines, over rivers, on and -on and on, until at last, when they had almost begun to believe that the -trail would never end, weary yet exuberant, they drove into the compound -at Fort Mackenzie. - -There followed a scene which to Dick at least seemed somewhat confused -and vague. He remembered helping to carry Corporal Rand into the -barracks. He recalled a good deal of shouting and laughing. A throng -pressed forward, sledges were unloaded, drivers darted here and there. -Sandy and Toma joined Dick, and they were standing there, talking -excitedly, when a crimson-coated figure pushed his way through the crowd -and approached them. - -“Welcome back,” Constable Whitehall shouted. “Glad to see you all home -again. The inspector is waiting for you.” - -The three boys followed the police orderly to Cameron’s office, followed -him in a state of mind in which excitement, happiness and relief -intermingled. They had expected to find the grizzled police official -sitting, as was his wont, sternly erect in his chair, lips pursed, -steel-gray eyes levelled upon them. But to their surprise, as the door -swung open, revealing the room beyond, the inspector was standing—not -behind—but in front of his desk. - -The grim look was not there. True, his eyes were upon them, and he did -not speak for a moment, as they filed in and halted awkwardly in front -of him. Then Dick noticed the smile: warm and friendly, a sort of -paternal smile that wholly transfigured and enlivened his features, that -had the curious effect of making the boys forget their shyness and feel -at ease. And while Dick was making a mental note of this, Cameron had -suddenly come forward and was shaking them by the hand, talking and -joking, winking slyly at Constable Whitehall. - -“You young rascals! No need to tell me that everything didn’t come out -all right. Don’t try to deceive me. I see it—see it shining in your -eyes. Constable Whitehall, bring over those chairs. That’s better. Sit -down. Now, Dick—— Sit down, I tell you, while Richard here relates his -experiences.” - -In a few words, Dick told his story. Yet he was out of breath when he -had finished, and a little incoherent when he tried to answer the few -sharp questions Cameron fired at him. - -“At any rate,” smiled the inspector, “you got there, and you came back. -From what you’ve already told me, I gather that you had trouble at -Keechewan. Was that the only trouble you had?” - -“Yes, sir,” answered the bewildered young leader. - -“Why, Dick,” Sandy reminded him, “we had trouble on the trail—lots of -it.” - -“So we did,” remembered Dick. “I’d forgotten about that. We picked up -Lamont on our way back, but Fontaine and the rest left us—skipped out.” - -“They’re here,” said Cameron grimly, “—in jail! We can eliminate them. -Now, about this Lamont?” - -“I shoot him,” declared Toma briefly. - -“You did?”—sharply. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Why?” - -“Him bad fellow.” - -Cameron’s mouth twitched at the corners. - -“Is he hurt badly?” - -“He’ll be all right in a few weeks, inspector,” Dick came quickly to his -chum’s rescue. - -“Was Toma justified in doing this?” Cameron inquired, turning to Sandy -and Dick. - -Two young men quickly nodded their affirmation. - -“Well, that’s all I want to know. I’ll overlook it this time, Toma. -You’ve already told me, Dick, about Corporal Rand. Took him to the -barracks, you say?” - -“Yes.” - -Inspector Cameron rose from his chair and paced slowly up and down the -room. For a time he seemed oblivious of their presence. He had become -grim and forbidding now, stern and austere—not at all the companionable -and affable person he had been at the beginning of their interview. Dick -and Sandy exchanged questioning glances, then their eyes stole furtively -toward the door. - -The footbeats came to a sudden pause in front of them. - -“I’m grateful to all of you—very grateful! I’m proud of you. Of course, -I’ll pay you well. You deserve it.” - -Cameron was smiling again. His voice had lost its sharp edge. - -“Now, if there is anything that I can do. If——” - -Dick interrupted him. It was the opportunity he had been looking for. - -“There’s one favor, inspector,” he cleared his throat. “There’s one -thing we’d like—Sandy and Toma and I. You see, we’ve talked it over. We -don’t want the money. Money isn’t everything. We were glad to help out -in an emergency. Glad—but——” - -“Yes; yes, my boy. What is it?” - -“We’d be ever so much obliged to you, sir, and thankful, if you’d -dismiss the charge against Corporal Rand.” - -If Dick had hurled a bomb under Cameron’s desk it could not have caused -more consternation and surprise. Whitehall started back and his mouth -gaped open. Inspector Cameron blinked, gulped several times, and -attempted to cover his confusion by blowing his nose. A deep and -oppressive silence settled over the room. - -Not until then, did Dick realize that he had committed an unpardonable -breach of official etiquette. He had smashed precedent and dignity to -bits. He had violated the code. He had taken advantage of his position. -As the full consciousness of the enormity of his crime came over him, he -hung his head, his cheeks flaming to match the color of the inspector’s -tunic. - -Suddenly the tension snapped. Inspector Cameron broke into a roar of -laughter. He slapped his thighs and still choking with merriment, turned -to his orderly. - -“Whitehall, you—you see how helpless I am. I ask you to become my -witness. I’m powerless. This is blackmail. Conduct these young ruffians -outside. And, Whitehall——” he paused abruptly. - -The constable’s heels clicked as he came sharply to attention. - -“Yes, sir.” - -“Tell Corporal Rand that I’ll see him at once.” - - - - [Illustration: Dick Kent with the Malemute Mail] - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - ---Corrected the Title Page, which (unlike other pages) gave the book - title as “Dick Kent _and_ the Malemute Mail.” - ---Silently corrected obvious typographical errors; non-standard (or - amusing) spellings and dialect were not changed. - ---Added a Table of Contents based on chapter headings. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DICK KENT WITH THE MALEMUTE MAIL*** - - -******* This file should be named 52385-0.txt or 52385-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/2/3/8/52385 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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