They had turned and were approaching the post when the practised eye of Marcel caught the far flash of paddles toward the river mouth. For a s.p.a.ce he watched the rhythmic gleams of light from dripping blades leaving the water in unison, which alone marked the approaching canoe on the flat river. Then he said:
"There are four or six paddles. It must be a big Company boat from Fort George. I wonder what they come for during the trade."
As Jean and Julie Breton entered the post clearing the great red flag of the Company, carrying the white letters H. B. C., was broken out at the flagpole in honor of the approaching visitors. The canoe, now but a short way below the post, was receiving the undivided attention of Esquimos, Crees and howling huskies crowding the sh.o.r.e. The boat was not a freighter for she rode high. No one but an officer of the Company travelled light with six paddles. It was an event at Whale River, and Indians and white men awaited the arrival of the big Peterborough with unconcealed interest.
"It must be Inspector Wallace," said Jean.
With a face radiant with joy in the unexpected arrival of Wallace, Julie Breton hastened to the high sh.o.r.e, while Marcel turned slowly back to the Mission stockade where his dog awaited him at the gate.
As the canoe neared the beach the swart _voyageurs_, conscious of their Cree and Esquimo audience, put on a brave burst of speed. At each lunge of the narrow Cree blades, swung in unison with a straight arm, the craft buried its nose, pushing out a wide ripple. On they came spurred by the shouts from the sh.o.r.e, then at the order of the man in the bow, the crew raised their paddles and bow and stern men deftly swung the boat in to the Whale River landing amid the cheers of the Indians.
"How ar" yuh, Gillies?" said Wallace, stepping from the canoe; and, looking past the factor to a woman"s figure on the high sh.o.r.e, waved his cap.
"Well, well, Mr. Wallace; we hardly expected to see you at Whale River so early," answered Gillies, drily, smiling at the eagerness of Wallace.
"Anything happened to the steamer?"
"Oh, no! The steamer is all right. She"ll be here on time. I thought I"d run up the coast during the trade this year."
Gillies winked surrept.i.tiously at McCain. It was most peculiar for the Inspector of the East Coast to arrive before the accounts of the spring trade were made up.
"How has the famine affected the fur with you, Gillies?" asked Wallace, as they proceeded up the cliff trail to the post clearing. "The Fort George and East Main people were hit pretty hard, a number of families wiped out."
"Yes, I expected as much," said Gillies. "A few of our people were starved out or died of disease. Nine, all told, have been reported, four of them old and feeble. It was a tough winter with both the rabbits and the caribou gone; we have done only fairly well with the trade, considering."
"What"s this I hear about a murder by one of your Frenchmen?" Wallace suddenly demanded. "We met a canoe at the mouth of the river and heard that the bodies of two half-breeds who had met foul play were found this spring and that you have the third man here now?"
"That"s pure Indian talk, Mr. Wallace," Gillies protested forcibly. "I will give you the details later. A half-breed killed one of his partners and attempted to kill the other, Jean Marcel, the son of Andre Marcel; you remember Andre, our old head man. You saw Jean here last summer. He is one of our best men. In fact, I"m going to take him on here at the post, although he"s only a boy. He"s too valuable to keep in the bush."
"Oh, yes! I remember him; friend of Father Breton. But we"ve got to put a stop to this promiscuous murder, Gillies. There"s too much of this thing on the Bay, this killing and desertion in famine years, and no one punished for lack of evidence."
"But this was no murder, Mr. Wallace," Gillies answered hotly. "You"ll hear the story to-night from Marcel"s lips, if you like. We have some pretty strong evidence against his accusers, also. This is a tale started by the relatives of one of the men to cover their own thieving."
"Well, Gillies, your man may be innocent, but I want to catch one of these hunters who come into the posts with a tale of starvation as excuse for the disappearance of their partners or family. When the grub goes they desert, or do away with their people, and get off on their own story. I"d like to get some evidence against one of them. The government has sent pretty stiff orders to Moose for us to investigate these cases, and where we have proof, send the accused "outside" for trial."
"When you"ve talked to him, Mr. Wallace, I think you"ll agree that he tells a straight story and that these Lelacs are lying."
"I hope so," answered Wallace, and started for the Mission, where Julie Breton awaited him.
CHAPTER XXV
INSPECTOR WALLACE TAKES CHARGE
That night when Inspector Wallace had heard the story of the murders on the Ghost, he sent for Jean Marcel, to whom it was quite evident, on reporting at the trade-house, that the relations between the former and Gillies had recently become somewhat strained. The face of the Inspector was noticeably red and Gillies" heavy brows contracted over eyes blazing with wrath.
"Sit down!" said the Inspector as Marcel reported. "Now, Marcel,"
Wallace began, severely, "this case looks pretty bad for you. You go into the bush in the fall with two partners, and the body of one is found with a knife wound, together with the effects of the other, in the spring."
"Yes, M"sieu!" a.s.sented Jean.
"You say Piquet killed Beaulieu and was killed by your dog when he attacked you. All right! But suppose when you began to starve you had killed Beaulieu and Piquet to get the remaining grub, how would that, if it had happened, have changed the evidence at the camp?"
"De bodee of Antoine on de cache," replied Jean coolly, "proves to any smart man dat I did not keel heem. Eef I keel heem I would geeve de bodee to de lynx and wolverines out in de snow. Den I would say he died of de famine, lak de Cree do, and no one could deny it."
Marcel"s narrowed eyes bored into those of the Inspector. He tried to forget that before him sat the man who had taken from him all he held dear, this man who now had it in his power to dishonor him as well--send him south for trial among strangers.
"Well, the Lelacs say you did hide the body. But suppose you left it on the cache. You were safe. Why should anyone come to your camp and see it? You were two days" travel up the Ghost from Whale River. They surprised you while you were away hunting."
With a look of disgust but retaining his self-control, Jean answered: "Eet was a ver" hard winter. De Cree were starve" and knew we camp up de Ghost. Dey might come tru de bush for grub any tam. Eef I keel heem would I wait till spring to hide him under stones, as Lelac say?"
"Um!" The face of Inspector Wallace a.s.sumed a judicial expression. "The circ.u.mstantial evidence is against you. Of course, you have something in your favor, but if I were on a jury I"d have to convict you," Wallace said with an air of finality.
"One moment, Mr. Wallace," growled Gillies. "How about the previous reputation of Marcel and the character of the whole Lelac tribe? Hasn"t that got any weight with you? I believe this boy because I"ve always found him honest and straight, as his father was. We thought a lot of his father on this coast. I don"t believe the Lelacs because they always were liars. But you"ve missed the real point of the whole matter."
"What do you mean? The case is clear as a bell to me, Gillies." The Inspector colored, frowning on the stiff-necked factor.
"Why, putting the previous reputation, here, of Marcel aside, if he had killed Beaulieu, would he have told us that Beaulieu was stabbed?
Clearly not! He would have said that Antoine died of starvation and was not stabbed, for as soon as he heard they had not turned in the fur, he knew he had the Lelacs in his power and could prove them thieves and liars, and we all would have believed him. The story of the Lelacs as to the man having been murdered would not have held water a minute after the hearing proves them thieves.
"Furthermore, he knew they could not prove their tale by the body of Beaulieu, either, left to rot on the sh.o.r.e there in the spring freshets.
There would be no evidence for a canoe from the post to find." The Scotchman rose and pounded the slab table as he drove home his final point.
"Why, Jean Marcel had it in his power, if he had been guilty, to have walked out of this trouble by simply giving the Lelacs the lie. But what did he do? He told his tale to Pere Breton, here, before he learned what the Lelacs had said.
"He freely admitted that Beaulieu had been stabbed when he might have denied it and got off scot free. Does that look like a guilty man?
Answer me that!" thundered Gillies to his superior officer.
The force of Gillies" argument was not lost on the unreceptive Wallace.
The stone-hard features of Marcel reflected no emotion but deep in his heart smoldered a hatred of this Inspector of the Company, who, not satisfied with taking Julie Breton from him, now flouted his honor as a Marcel and a man.
"Well?" demanded Gillies, impatiently, his frank glance holding the pale eyes of Wallace.
"Yes, what you say, Gillies, has its weight, no doubt. If he had wanted to avoid this thing, he might have done it, when he learned that the Lelacs had held the fur. Still, I"ll think it over. It may be best to send him "outside" to be tried, as a warning to these people. I can"t seem to swallow that tale of the dog killing Piquet, however. Sounds fishy to me!"
"Have you seen the dog?" demanded Gillies.
"No!"
"Well, when you see her, you won"t doubt it. She"s the most powerful husky I"ve ever seen--weighs a hundred and forty pounds. She"s got a litter due soon."
"Oh, I"d like to take a pup or two back with me."
"Well, you"ll have to see Marcel about that," chuckled Gillies. "Her pups are worth a black fox skin. We"ll have this hearing to-morrow, then, if it"s agreeable to you, Mr. Wallace. When you see the Lelacs you may understand why we believe so strongly in Marcel."