_
THE RIVER of SKULLS
-by George Marsh
• PENN PUBLISHING CO. WNI’ SERVICE
_
Live Stock Commission
BYERS BROS & CO.
A Real Live Stock Com. Firm
At the Omaha Market
MISCELLANEOUS
FARMS FOR SALE
Write for your copy of Illustrated Ne
braska and Western Iowa farm catalog.
The Travelers Insurance Co., Omaha, Neb.
----
Make Lace Bolero
In Jiffy-Crochet
Gone Forever
They were both writing letters,
but suddenly hubby stopped and
looked worried.
“What’s the matter, dear?"
asked his wife.
“Why—er—I had it on the tip of
my tongue and now it’s gone.”
“Never mind,” she said, “just
think hard and it’s bound to come
back.”
“Thinking won’t bring this back.
It was a stamp,” said hubby.
WHY CHANGE?
Don — Don’t you ever change
your mind about anything?
Joe—Very seldom. I have found
I was just as wrong the second af
ter I had changed it as I was be
fore.
Spring Daze
Mrs. Easley—Three moves are
as bad as a fire.
Mrs. Harder—Yes, and one visit
of the paper hangers beats a cy
clone.
A Substitute
Willie—While mother was sleep
ing the baby got sick licking the
paint—
Caller—Off a toy?
Willie—No, off mother.
When she thinks he’s perfect,
she’s in love. W’hen she makes up
her mind to improve him, she
means marriage.
Willing to Wait
The tiny brother of the bride
was given a piece of wedding cake
to put under his pillow. The fol
lowing morning his mother said
to him, “Well, Bobbie, did you
sleep with the wedding cake under
your pillow and dream of your
future wife?’’
“No, mummie," replied the
boy. “I ate the cake, ’cause I
wanted my wife to be a surprise."
SYNOPSIS
Alan Cameron, young trapper. Noel,
his Indian partner, and Rough, husky
Ungava sled dog, look In vain lor the
Montagnais trappers’ camp in the deso
late Big River country ot Northern Can
ada. Their supplies destroyed by wol
verines. they are forced to subsist on
wolf meat until they come, amazed, to a
substantial log house in the wilderness
of Talking River, where they are greeted
by a big blond man with a gun. Intro
ducing himself as John McCord, hunter,
the big man asks Alan if he dares go
with him next year to the River of
Skulls beyond the Sinking Lakes, where
no man is said to have been before.
Heather McCord, the daughter, who had
come with him to the wilderness, wins
the Immediate devotion of Rough. On
the eve of Alan’s departure for Fort
George, McCord suddenly tells him to
bring him back some dogs, and to keep
his mouth shut to questions. He gives
the boy money, warning him not to show
It at Fort George, and promises to ex
" plain all later. Returned to Fort George.
Alan meets McQueen and Slade, Pro
vincial police, with Arsene Rivard, clerk,
and Alan's rival for Berthe Dessane,
with whom he is In love. The two police
are looking for a guide to the Big River
wilderness. Accidentally Alan drops one
of McCord's bills.
“His Indians came out at Cast
Main in December—deserted him,”
continued Dessane. “He had hired
them to go in with him to trade tor
fur. They came out to get dogs and
supplies but he wanted them to go
into the interior, this summer, and
they were afraid to go. That was
his plan—to lose himself in the in
terior. That was why the police
were suspicious when you dropped
that bill you got from Neil Camp
bell,” the stunned Alan heard Des
sane say, as If from a distance.
“They know there's no money used
in the back country and they sus
pected you might have run into
him.”
CHAPTER III—Continued
When the door of the trade-room
closed behind Pierre, Noel turned to
Alan. "Why you drop dat monee?”
"I've done it, Noel,” groaned the
other. "I forgot I had that bill in
my pouch when I got the tobacco.”
"Mebbe dey not see eet,” com
forted Noel.
"They saw It; they couldn’t help
it! Pierre didn’t see from where he
stood but Rivard and the others—
they saw.”
"Dey spik togedder; mebbe dey
not see.”
“If they did see it, how am I go
ing to account for it? They’ll learn
that I drew no money here last
summer—never touched our bal
ance with Gabriel or the Hudson’s
Bay. Nobody takes money into the
bush so they’re bound to suspect
we met somebody. He trusted me
and this is how I repay him.”
The return of Pierre from his cab
in interrupted the conversation. Lat
er, when the sound of voices out
side the trade-house announced the
return of Dessane and the stran
gers from supper, Alan slipped out
of a rear door and went to the fac
tor’s house. A black-eyed mite of a
girl opened the door to his knock
and, with a shriek of joy, threw her
self at the returned wanderer who
caught and tossed her high in his
arms.
"Petite Manon! What a great girl
she has grown!” he cried, as the
delighted child clung to him. "All
winter long Alan has missed his
playmate and wondered if she ever
thought of him far away in the
snow.”
"Alee, Alee!” laughed the child.
"We all miss Alee! Berthe she miss
him too, but Arsene, he try to make
her not miss him. How is Roughy?”
"Oh, Roughy’s fine.”
Kissing her on each of her bxown
cheeks as he held her in his arms,
Alan suddenly reddened with self
consciousness. Smiling in amuse
ment at the man and child, in an
inner room stood a girl of eighteen
with large dark eyes and a wealth
of blue-black hair.
“Welcome, M’sieu le voyageur!”
Berthe Dessane ran to him and im
pulsively grasped his hands. Her
straight, thick brows met for an
instant in a frown as she noted the
leanness of his face. “Oh, but
you’ve not taken care of yourself,
Alan, as you promised!” she pro
tested. "You look tired and thin.”
He laughed at her solicitude over
his leanness. "We haven’t starved,
Berthe. I’m going to Pierre's for
supper."
“Oh, I’m so glad,” she said
with relief. Then her face suddenly
sobered. She sent her little sister
protesting from the room, closed
the door and returned to the puz
zled Cameron.
"Arsene saw you drop some mon
ey in the trade-room,” she whis
pered. “I overheard him tell fa
ther just now at supper. They have
gone to the trade-house to talk
with the police.”
Police! The bronzed features of
Alan Cameron went slowly gray. He
suddenly felt weak and cold. These
strangers who had arrived only the
day before and of whose presence
Duncan McNab, at the Hudson’s
Bay Company, seemed to have no
knowledge; these men who wanted
to go to the head of the river were
government men—Provincial Po
lice! So Rivard had seen him drop
that bill! And how was he to ex
plain it?
“Alan, what is the matter?”
Berthe demanded, shocked by his
stricken face.
“Nothing, nothing at all!” With
an effort he regained his self-pos
session. “That’s a good joke on
Rivard," he continued, forcing a
laugh. “I’ve had that money in my
pouch two years—got it at Whale
River when I went with the goose
boats that fall.”
“I’m glad, Alan. Arsene was so
mysterious with father, I wanted
you to know because—he—does not
like you.”
Seizing her by the shoulders Alan
searched her dark eyes. “Do you
still like me?” he demanded. “Has
Arsene changed you?"
The long-lashed lids of her black
eyes winked hard as she smiled
back at him. "You know I do—
Alan. I’m so glad—you’ve come
back—so early."
“Thanks for what you told me,
Berthe! I’m going to Pierre’s house
—for supper.” he said at the door.
No, he reassured himself, as he
walked away through the wet snow,
Rivard hadn’t poisoned her mind
yet
Over the hot supper at Pierre’s
the two boys talked with their host
of the winter on the headwaters.
"Pierre,” said Alan, at length, as
he pushed back his chair and lit his
pipe, "you are my friend and will
tell me. What did Rivard say when
he came back with those strangers
to the trade-room?"
A smile lit the broad face of the
head voyageur. His small eyes
twinkled as he answered: "He pull
dose poleece ovair een de corner
and whisper. He know Pierre ees
your fr’en’."
“So they’re Provincial Police
from Quebec? Who are they after?”
Pierre shrugged. "I do not know;
M'sieu’ Dessane tell dem you know
de headwater country, you and No
el, so dey want you to guide dem.”
"How did they get here?”
"Yesterday dey come een ovair
de shore ice by dog-team. Dey got
“But father says the coast la
not clear!”
two half-breed wid dem—bad look
in’ feller.”
“And Gabriel told them I was the
man they wanted.”
"Ah-hah, dey say dey pay you
well to guide dem."
“Well, Pierre, Noel and I are go
ing up the coast for dogs. They’d
better get someone else for a guide.
I might lose the way.”
Back in his own house at the Hud
son’s Bay settlement, Alan and Noel
considered the situation.
Suddenly the great dog lying at
their feet lifted his head. His throat
swelled in a low rumble as he
stalked to the door on stiff legs
and sniffed at the crack. The eyes
of the two men met as they nodded
significantly. Shortly there were
low voices outside which were an
swered by the sniffing dog with a
snarl. There was a knock and a
voice called:
"Tie up that man-eating husky,
wiil you?”
Alan ordered Rough to lie down
in a comer of the room, then opened
the door. McQueen and Slade en
tered, casting furtive glances
around the room for the dog.
“I don’t like that dog,” said Mc
Queen. “Put him outside, will you!
He might jump on us.”
“Yes, he might. He’s a good
Judge of men—that dog.”
Alan realized that he was going
pretty far. These men were Pro
vincial Police, with wide powers.
But they had not as yet identified
themselves to him, and he had that
excuse for his actions. He opened
the door and let Rough out.
“We want a word with you,
alone,” said McQueen.
"Noel, here, is my partner,” re
plied Alan. “We have no secrets
from each other.”
“But you sometimes have a se
cret together, eh?” broke in Slade.
Alan gazed blankly into Slade’s
leering eyes. Police or no, he didn’t
like the cut of the jibs of these two
men. "Secret together, what do
you mean?” he asked.
“Well, my lad, I’m kind of curi
ous to know what a hunter just out
of the bush is doing with a piece
of Canadian paper money,” said
McQueen. "I suppose you got it
from a bear.”
To the horror of the watching
Noel, Alan calmly produced his
pouch from a pocket and drew out
the bill. "You mean this?”
Cameron’s cool audacity took Mc
Queen and Slade by surprise. The
former hesitated, swallowed, then
demanded excitedly: “Where up riv
er did you get that money? Who
gave it to you?”
Alan yawned, then calmly sur
veyed the exasperated McQueen
from head to foot. "When you show
me what business it is of yours, I
may tell you.”
McQueeiVs pale eyes flamed with
anger. "We’re Provincial Police!
Didn’t you know that? You’d better
keep a civil tongue in your head,
young man!”
"Why didn’t you tell me who you
were?” countered Alan, revelling in
the discomfiture of the thick-set offi
cer. "Rivard didn’t say a thing
about it when I met you, and nei
ther did you! I suppose you've got
something to prove it?”
McQueen threw open his outer
and inner coats, displaying a badge
of German silver on his heavy shirt.
"That satisfy you? I’m a sergeant
of Provincial Police, Province of
Quebec. I thought they’d told you.
Slade, here, is a corporal.”
“I haven’t seen Gabriel since I
got in and Rivard said nothing
about your being police,” avoided
Alan, truthfully. He realized the
danger of further antagonizing his
callers. They had wide powers in
the hinterlands when in pursuit of
wanted men. They might even force
him to accompany them to the
headwaters. But remorse over his
carelessness flicked him as a whip
flicks a harness-sore dog.
"Now will you tell us where you
got that money?"
Alan s level eyes met the friendly
gaze of the factor as he replied:
“Yes, I understand. But I don’t go
up river with these police. I’ve got
to get some good dogs from the
Huskies. That will take me weeks."
“Well, I’ll tell Sergeant McQueen
that you must get your dogs from
the Eskimos first, if he insists on
taking you to the headwaters in
stead of some of our Indians."
But while the laggard spring
touched the East Coast slowly with
its magic, to Alan who chafed at
the delay, harassed by his prob
lem, there was one great consola
tion in his enforced idleness, Berthe.
Far away, indeed, seemed the man
and the girl on the Talking River,
when he sat with the small Manon
on his knees while he watched the
busy fingers of her sister at her
sewing. But equally far seemed the
day when Alan Cameron, humble
trapper of fur, could take this black
eyed girl in his arms and tell her
his love.
So the days passed while Alan
and Noel made frequent trips to the
mouth of the river to watch the con
dition of the fioe-ice along the coast.
Then, one day, they learned from
Andrew Christie, Hudson’s Bay fac
tor, that McQueen had hired a York
boat. That meant that the police
were going to try to slip up the
coast to Whale River to check his
story.
“Noel," said Alan, as the two sat
in Alan’s cabin, “ice or no ice, we
leave for Whale River tonightl We
must beat McQueen to Neil Camp
bell or they will know we met John
McCord and compel us to take them
to the headwaters.”
"You t’ink Neil weel tell dem he
geeve you de monee?"
“He’d die for me, Noel. I pulled
him out of the river here when he
was clerk at the Hudson’s Bay."
Early that evening Alan walked
with Berthe along the high shore of
the river near the Revillon Freres
post. He would not see her again in
weeks for his quest for dogs would
take him far north of the Whale.
"It won’t be long, now, Berthe,
before we can start,” he said,
watching the breeze whip a plume
of her black hair across her face.
“But father says the coast is not
clear!” she protested. “It would
be very dangerous for you to start
in a canoe in all that drifting ice.”
"I may have to go to Richmond
Gulf, Berthe, before I meet the Es
kimos. They won’t reach Whale
River until too late. I’ve got to
find them, you know, if I want to
get good dogs.”
“I got that money from Neil
Campbell, at Whale River, two
years ago.”
With a shrug and a smile of im
potency McQueen turned to Slade.
“Guess we’d better let these boys
get some sleep,” he said good-na
turedly. “They’re tired and cross,
need plenty of rest and grub—then
we’ll have a talk with them.”
“You’ll have plenty of time to
talk,” said Alan, winking at the
stiff-faced Noel. “After the ice from
the upper river passes, the river
will run high with snow water for
weeks. You’ll have plenty of time.”
“Well, good-night, boys, no hard
feelings! See you later!”
Alan stood motionless in the door
way until the two callers dis
appeared in the gloom, then closed
the door and turned to NoeL
“I’ve got to see Neil Campbell
before anyone else from Fort
George reaches him. As soon as
the ice clears the coast we head
for Whale River.”
CHAPTER IV
The vanguards of the marching
spring had reached Fort George
and swept on up the East Coast of
the great salt bay of the north.
It was late in May and two men
waited while the lifting sun and the
rain winds from the foot of James
Bay warred with the floe-ice that
blocked the bleak East Coast. Not
yet might a canoe hope to pass the
treacherous Cape of the Four Winds
and reach Whale River.
And while the anxious Alan fret
ted to be off. Officers McQueen and
Slade made repeated attempts to
entangle him in the details of the
story of how he happened to have
Canadian money in his possession.
It had been bitter news to Alan
when Gabriel Dessane told him the
details of the mission of the police.
“Alan, I don’t blame you for be
ing a little stiff before you knew
who they were,” said Gabriel, “but
the law requires that we give the
police any help possible. Their pa
pers order us to furnish guides, sup
plies, whatever they require.
They’re after a man who went in to
Nichicun by way of Rupert House,
last summer—a man charged with
murder.”
Murder! John McCord with the
straight gazing eyes and the big
heart—a murderer!
She laid her hand on his arm.
“There’s something I want to tell
you, Alan. The police are going to
Whale. I heard Arsene tell father.”
“Yes, I know that. They don’t
believe I got that money from Neil
and are going to And out.”
“But I believe you, Alan, and so
does father.”
"I know you believe me, Berthe.
You’re a wonderful friend—you
don’t know what that means to me.
And I can’t sneak away without say
ing good-by. I may not see you—
again—for weeks "
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Forty-Acre “Fort,” Inclosed by High
Cliffs, Once Was a Cache of Bandits
Nestling in the hills near here, a
freak of nature, a high-walled cir
cular fort containing 40 acres, has
beer, publicized by the Shawnee di
vision of the United States forest
service to the extent that thousands
of persons have visited the place
during the last year, writes an
Equality, 111., correspondent in the
St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
The fort, a walled-in mystery to
the present generation, is, accord
ing to tradition, an inclosure that
early Nineteenth century horse
thieves used as a cache for stolen
horses, cattle and other things. It
is almost round in shape and its
walls are perpendicular cliffs from
60 to 120 feet high all around ex
cept on the south side where there
is a narrow winding way by which
one may reach its top. Across this
narrow way there is a tumble-down
stone wall erected by unknown
hands in the distant past.
Because the high-walled enclosure
is well watered by an overflowing
spring and heavily vegetated, cat
tle and horses could be held here
for an indefinite period without fear
of discovery.
Many Indian graves are found in
side the fort, from which numerous
relics have been taken. Some think
that the artificial wall on one side
of the grounds was erected by the
Indians, and that the 40-acre tract
or inclosure served as a herding
ground for deer and other ani
mals. When deer wandered through
the narrow passageway that leads
to the top, the Indians might close
the gap and chase the deer off the
vertical cliffs, causing them to
strike the rock-strewn hillsides be
low with broken necks.
Since the forestry service has
improved the road that leads to this
walled-in mystery, it has become a
favorite sightseeing spot in the
Shawnee unit of the national forest.
The Achyranthes
Achyranthes is known in Hindu
mythology. It is a plant indige
nous to India. The legend attached
to this plant is that Namuchi, a
monster, was slain by Indra, one of
the gods. The Achyranthes sprung
from the skull of this monster and
with this plant Indra flogged all
other demons out of existence.
Any Excuse—
One day a neighbor came over
and wanted to borrow Grandpa’s
new rope. Said Grandpa: “No,
I’ve got to use that rope today to
tie up some sand.”
After the neighbor had left a
friend said: “Grandpa, you know
you can’t tie sand with a rope I"
“Remember, my boy,” replied
the old man, “you can do pretty
near anything with a piece of
rope if you don’t wont to lend it.”
An Operator’s Dream
“I’m sorry I gave you the wrong
number,” said the operator.
“Don’t mention it,” replied the
caller, “I’m sure the number you
gave me was much better than
the number I asked for, only it
just happened I wasn’t able to use
it.”
Madn ss?
Kulper—What reason have you
for marrying my daughter, young
man?
Fogmore—No reason at all, sir;
I’m in love with her.
The following appeared some
years ago in a wedding report:
“Among the gifts of the bride to
the bridegroom was a gorgeous
dressing down.”
Going Down
Two cronies met at lunch.
“How’s things?” one asked.
“How are they? Rotten, old boy.
Honestly, if they keep on like this
it looks as though my last income
tax return will be just about cor
rect 1” said the other, gloomily.
AROUND Items of Interest I
^ HOUSE ,he Housewi,°
As You Iron.—Stack your clothes
in piles according to the rooms
in which they will be put away.
Then when you are finished the
clothes are sorted and need not be
handled twice.
• • •
Improving Cookies.—The flavor
of cookies is improved and they
stay moist longer if one table
spoonful of jam or jelly is added to
the cookie dough.
* * •
Cream Cheese Substitute.—Cot
tage cheese may be used in place
of cream cheese if it is pressed
through a fine sieve to remove the
moisture.
• • •
Outdoor Fireplace. — Backyard
fireplaces are easily constructed
and provide a center for fam
ily recreation during summer
months; steak roasts, corn roasts,
and marshmallow toasts are only
a few of the many reasons for
building one.
• * *
Line the Clothes Basket. —
Clothes baskets can be kept clean
by lining them with washable ma
terial, such as oilcloth, muslin, or
heavy paper may be used.
• * •
Mealy Baked Potatoes. — To
make baked potatoes dry and
mealy, when they are tender put
a fork at least twice into each po
tato to let the steam escape.
* • •
Try This and Please Hubby.—
A tablespoon of borax in the wa
ter in which white collars are
washed will take away that ugly
yellow tint and make them as
white as new.
Pick Up Sharp Objects.—A vac
uum cleaner should not pick up
pins, broken glass, tacks or other
sharp metal pieces, for they may
poke holes in the dust bag, or
chip or throw out of balance the
fan blades.
Strange Facts
| Movies Catch |
# Fire-Rain •
A RAIN of fire, thousands of de
grees in temperature, fell
upon the surface of the sun.
Sprays of flaming atoms shot up
150,000 miles from the sun’s sur
face. A terrific explosion took
place in which part of the sun’s
atmosphere was lifted 600,000
miles above the sun’s surface. On
the earth there were clear skies
and cloudy skies, sunshine and
rain. Even the most sensitive
radio waves were not disturbed.
Yet one instrument, made by
man, recorded this rain of fire.
The spectroheliograph is the
instrument invented by scientists
which has made possible these
amazing photographs of fire-rain.
This instrument is essentially a
spectroscope with a slit which
transmits only one line of the
spectrum. A photographic plate
is moved across the slit at a
rate equal to the sun’s apparent
rate of passage, the sun’s light
entering the slit through the ob
ject glass or mirror of a tele
scope. On September 17, 1937, the
eye of the solar camera received
and recorded celestial fireworks
in motion pictures.
These solar pictures were shown
for the first time in Philadelphia
at the recent annual meeting of
the American Philosophical soci
ety. They are the work of Dr.
Robert R. McMath. The rain of
hot fire falling upon the sun, re
vealed for the first time by im
proved solar photography, pre
sents the greatest mystery. No
one knows why it rains fire on the
sun, or where the fire-rain comes
from.
© Britannica Junior.
Soft Pillows. — One housewife
washes all the discarded silken
articles of the household, cuts
them into tiny pieces and uses
them to fill pillows. They are
very soft and fluffy, besides cost
ing nothing.
* • •
Slow Oven for Sponge Cake.—
Sponge and angel-food cakes
should be baked in a slow oven
so that the air which has been
beaten into them has a chance to
expand and lighten the cake be
fore the eggs set and give the cake
a shape.
Irium contained in BOTH Pepsodent Tooth Paste
and Pepsodent Tooth Powder
V If you really want teeth that glisten and
gleam ... a smile that's bright and
attractive, here’s your answer! Try the
new, modernized Pepsodent, the one
and only dentifrice that offers you the
axtra effectiveness of that wonderful
tooth cleanser, Irium.
For remarkable Irium gives Pepsoden
greater cleansing power—helpsittoquickl]
brush away dingy surface-stains and pol
ish teeth to their full natural radiance
Its action is speedy ...thorough... SAFE
Contains NO GRIT, NO PUMICE, NO DRUGS
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Pattern 1745.
Dress-up your daytime or sum
mer evening dresses with this
dainty lace bolero crocheted in
two strands of string. Pattern
1745 contains directions for mak
ing bolero; illustration of it and
of stitches; materials required.
Send 15 cents in stamps or coins
(coins preferred) for this pattern
to The Sewing Circle, Needlecraft
Dept., 82 Eighth Ave., New York,
N. Y.
Please write your name, ad
dress and pattern number plainly.
Recipe for Popularity:
Keep Notes on Fair Sex
A senator from the Southwest
has revealed the secret of hi«
popularity among the ladies. He
keeps notes on everyone he meets
at lunches, dinners and recep
tions, indexed according to the
date and place. After the name
of each lady he notes an item
concerning what she wore or how
she dressed her hair. Then when
he meets her again, he can say,
“Yes, indeed, I remember you
perfectly, you wore a stunning yel
low dress with blue gloves!”
No wonder the ladies all vote
for him at election time. Any
man who yearns to be liked by the
frail sex can profit by using the
solon’s system.—Liberty Weekly.
.- . . i,
You can win $50 this week—if you act QUICK
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i WNU—U 24—38