South from Hudson Bay: An Adventure and Mystery Story for Boys

by Ethel C. Brill

  VIII THE MISSING PEMMICAN

  About the middle of the afternoon, Laroque the guide began to round upcrews and passengers. His shout of "Embark, embark" was taken up by oneman after another, and the idle sled dogs, that wandered at will aboutthe post and the Indian village, added their voices to the chorus.

  Walter and Louis ran down to the shore at the first call. Most of theSwiss obeyed the summons promptly. Their fear of being left behind wastoo great to permit taking risks. Several of the voyageurs, however, wereslow in appearing. When they did come, they gave evidence of having beentoo generously treated to liquor by their friends at the post. Aftereveryone else was ready to start, Laroque had to go in search of Murray.Carrying a bundle wrapped in a piece of old canvas, Black Murray cameback with the guide, his sullen face set and heavy, his small eyesshining with a peculiar glitter. He showed no other sign of drunkenness,but walked steadily to the boat, placed his bundle in the stern, andstepped in.

  Laroque sprang to his own place, oars were dipped, sails raised, and theboats were off, amid shouts of farewell and the howling of dogs. Leavingthe handling of the sail to the Orkneyman, Murray remained stolidlysilent in the stern. His steering was careless, even erratic, but no oneventured to try to take the tiller. Luckily the wind was light, the lakesmooth, and the boats had not far to go. Camp was pitched on a beach ofthe long point, where the travelers had an unobstructed view down thelake to the meeting place of sky and water.

  "It seems as if we had come to another ocean," Walter confided to Louis."Why do they call this Norway Point, and the trading post Norway House?What has Norway to do with Lake Winnipeg?"

  "I have heard," Louis replied, "that some men from a country calledNorway were brought over by the Company and stationed here. Then too Ihave heard that the point was named from the pine trees that grow here,because they look like the pines in that country of Norway. Which storyis true I know not. The post has been here a long time, and always, Ithink, it has been called Norway House. When the Selkirk colonists weredriven from the Red River by the Northwesters, they came this way andcamped on the Little Jack River."

  That night's camp was one of the most comfortable of the whole journey.The evening was fine, there was plenty of wood, and an abundance of fishfor supper. The Swiss sat about their fires later than usual, talking ofthe journey, speculating on what was to come, and planning for thefuture. Nearly three weeks they had been on the way from Fort York. Nowthey looked out over the star-lit waters stretching far away to thesouth, and cheered their hearts with the hope and belief that the worstwas over. At least they would not have to track up stream and portagearound rapids for some days to come.

  "How long will it take us to reach the Red River?" The question was askedover and over again, with varying replies from the voyageurs. Walterasked it of Louis, and the young Canadian shook his head doubtfully. Ifthe weather was good, the winds favorable, they might go the whole lengthof Lake Winnipeg in a week, but if the weather should be bad, no onecould tell how long they might be delayed.

  The autumn weather showed its fickleness that very night. The windshifted, the sky clouded over, and the morning dawned raw andthreatening. The breeze was almost directly east, however, a favorabledirection for the travelers, whose route lay along the north and westshores. So the boats got away early, and, with sails raised, held to thesouthwest, well out from land. They made good progress before the briskwind, but as it grew stronger the lake roughened. Along the north shorehigh cliffs towered, with narrow stretches of beach here and there at thebase. Safe landing places were few, but the waves were growingdangerously high, and the open boats were too heavily laden to ride suchrough water buoyantly.

  Laroque changed his course, tacking in towards a bit of beach. Murray'sboat was not far behind, and the half-breed handled it with skill andjudgment. At just the right instant, he ordered the sail down, the oarsout. The boat was run up on the sand without shipping a drop of water.

  The rest of the brigade were some distance behind. They were forced toput in close under the cliffs, but by using the oars managed to reach thebeach.

  "We'll have to open that last bag of pemmican," said Walter to Louis whowas kindling a fire.

  "Yes, but we must make it last through the voyage."

  Walter brought the rawhide sack, and Louis cut the leather cord withwhich it was sewed. An exclamation of surprise and anger escaped him."What devil's trick is this? Look, Walter!"

  Walter looked, in amazement. "Why, it's not pemmican. How on earth----"

  "It is a fraud, a cheat." Walter had never seen Louis so angry. "Somefiend has filled this sack with clay and leaves and sold it to theCompany for good pemmican."

  "See here, Louis." Walter lowered his voice. "This isn't the bag Icarried over the portage at the White Falls." He turned the sack over andexamined the other side. "There is no Company mark. Our pemmican has beenstolen and this trash left in its place."

  "No one from the other boats would steal our supplies." Louis waspuzzled. "It must have been done at Norway House. Yet I think the Indianswould hardly dare to steal from a Company boat under the very walls ofthe post. And they did not take the tea. The Indians like tea so wellthey can never get enough."

  "Murray had a sack on his shoulder when I saw him dodge around the cornerof the wall, and the sack had the Company mark." Walter's voice had sunkto a whisper. "But why in the world should he steal the provisions fromhis own boat?"

  Louis was thoughtful. "There might be a reason, yes," he said. "_LeMurrai_ might sell that pemmican for something he wanted. He has a bundlethat he did not have before."

  "But how could he?" Walter objected. "They would know at Norway Housethat there was something wrong if the steersman of one of the boatsoffered to sell them a sack of pemmican."

  "That is true, but he might have traded it to the Indians, or some Indianfriend of his might have sold it for him. I would like to know what is inthat bundle. He slept with his head on it last night."

  "Shall we tell Laroque about this?"

  "That this sack is not good, yes, but not about _le Murrai_, no, not yet.We can prove nothing. It may not have been the pemmican he had."

  "I'm sure it was," Walter insisted stubbornly.

  Louis shrugged. "I am no coward, Walter, but I will not accuse _leMurrai_ of stealing and then voyage in the same boat with him. We haveyet far to go."

  Louis was right and Walter knew it. Together they went to Laroque andtold him of the fraud, but said nothing about their suspicions of Murray.

  The guide was much disturbed. He examined the sack of clay, andquestioned Murray and the Orkneyman. Both disclaimed any responsibility.The Orkneyman agreed with the boys that the sacks brought from Fort Yorkhad all borne the Company mark. Murray said he had not noticed. He hadhad nothing to do with provisioning the boats. If the Company had beencheated, that was no affair of his.

  From his own supplies, Laroque lent boat number three a little pemmicanfor supper. The Swiss were indignant at the fraud. Some of them evenwanted to return to Norway House and seek for the culprit.

  Before the scanty meal was over, rain began to fall. The beach was not agood camping ground. If the wind shifted to the south, the waves wouldwash over the narrow margin of sand and break against the perpendicularcliffs. To find a better place was impossible, for the lake was far toostormy to venture out upon. The boats were pulled well up, the tentspitched with one wall almost against the cliff, and the sails, masts, andoars converted into additional shelters. Luckily the campers wereprotected from the strong wind, which had become more northerly. But thewater came down the cliffs in cascades, digging pools and channels in thesand and shingle.

  Fortunately the worst of the storm did not last long. The rain becamefine and light like mist driven by the wind, and before sundown ceasedentirely. As the wind shifted farther towards the north, the waterreceded from the base of the cliff, leaving a wider stretch of sand. Thelake was still too rough for
the boats to go out, but as long as the windremained in the north, the beach was a safe camping place.

  A little dry driftwood had been collected and put under shelter beforethe rain began. So everyone was able to warm and dry himself beforecreeping between his blankets. Laroque assigned the voyageurs to watches,and cautioned each man to walk the beach while on guard and keep an eyeon wind and waves.