Two on the Trail: A Story of the Far Northwest Read online

  TWO ON THE TRAIL

  A Story of the Far Northwest

  by

  HULBERT FOOTNER

  Illustrated by W. Sherman Potts

  New YorkGrosset & DunlapPublishers

  All Rights Reserved, Including That of Translationinto Foreign Languages, Including the Scandinavian

  Copyright, 1910, by Outing Publishing CompanyCopyright, 1911, by Doubleday, Page & CompanyPublished, February, 1911

  To H. L. D.

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER PAGE I. IN PAPPS'S RESTAURANT 3 II. THE UNKNOWN LADY 13 III. ON THE TRAIL 29 IV. THE STOPPING-HOUSE YARD 44 V. AT MIWASA LANDING 57 VI. NATALIE TELLS ABOUT HERSELF 72 VII. MARY CO-QUE-WASA'S ERRAND 81 VIII. ON THE LITTLE RIVER 100 IX. THE HEART OF A BOY 116 X. ON CARIBOU LAKE 130 XI. THE FIGHT IN THE STORM 142 XII. THE NINETY-MILE PORTAGE 157 XIII. THE NEWLY-MARRIED PAIR 175 XIV. THE LAST STAGE 186 XV. THE MEETING 199 XVI. NATALIE WOUNDED 214 XVII. THE CLUE TO RINA 228 XVIII. MABYN MAROONED 238 XIX. GRYLLS REDIVIVUS 253 XX. SUCCOUR 266 XXI. THE BROKEN DOOR 284 XXII. THE BLIZZARD 295 XXIII. THE SOLITARY PURSUER 315 XXIV. IN DEATH CANYON 326 XXV. EPILOGUE: SPOKEN BY CHARLEY 342

  ILLUSTRATIONS

  "Look!" she cried. "Isn't it like the frontispiece to a book ofadventure!" _Frontispiece_

  FACING PAGE At the same instant the boat lurched drunkenly; and they pitched overboard together 150

  There, clinging to the corner of the cabin for support, stood the figure of a woman 212

  It was a grim figure that the first rays of light revealed sitting on the big rock 336

  TWO ON THE TRAIL

  I

  IN PAPPS'S RESTAURANT

  The interior of Papps's, like most Western restaurants, was divided intoa double row of little cabins with a passage between, each cabin havinga swing door. Garth Pevensey found the place very full; and he wasushered into a cubby-hole which already contained two diners, a man anda woman nearing the end of their meal. They appeared to be incomingsettlers of the better class--a farmer and his wife from across theline. Far from resenting Garth's intrusion, they visibly welcomed it;after all, there was something uncomfortably suggestive of a cell inthose narrow cabins to which the light of day never penetrated.

  Garth passed behind the farmer's chair, and seated himself next thewall. He had no sooner ordered his luncheon than the door was againopened, and the rotund Mr. Papps, with profuse apologies, introduceda fourth to their table. The vacant place, it appeared, was the verylast remaining in his establishment.

  The newcomer was a girl; young, slender and decidedly pretty: such wasGarth's first impression. She came in without hesitation, and took theplace opposite Garth with that serenely oblivious air so characteristicof the highly civilized young lady. Very trimly and quietly dressed,sufficiently well-bred to accept the situation as a matter of course.Thus Garth's further impressions. "What a girl to be meeting up in thiscorner of the world, and how I should like to know her!" he added inhis mind. The maiden's bland aloofness was discouraging to this hope;nevertheless, his heart worked in an extra beat or two, as he consideredthe added relish his luncheon would have, garnished by occasionalglances at such a delightful _vis-a-vis_. Meanwhile, he was carefulto take his cue from her; his face, likewise, expressed a blank.

  The farmer and his wife became very uncomfortable. Simple souls, theycould not understand how a personable youth and a charming girl shouldsit opposite each other with such wooden faces. Their feeling was thatat quarters so close extra sociability was demanded, and the utter lackof it caused them to move uneasily in their chairs, and gently perspire.They unconsciously hastened to finish, and having at length dutifullypolished their plates, arose and left the cabin with audible sighs ofrelief.

  This was a contingency Garth had not foreseen, and his heart jumped. Atthe same time he felt a little sorry for the girl. He wondered if shewould consider it an act of delicacy if he fastened the door open witha chair. On second thoughts, he decided such a move would be open tomisconstruction. Had he only known it, she was dying to laugh and, atthe slightest twinkle in his eyes, would have gone off into a peal. OnlyGarth's severe gravity restrained her--and that in turn made her want tolaugh harder than ever. But how was Garth to learn all that? Girls, moreespecially girls like this, were to him insolvable mysteries--like theheavenly constellations. Of course, there are those who pretend to havediscovered their orbits, and have written books on the subject; but forhim, he preferred simply to wonder and to admire.

  Since her arrival the objective point of his desire shifted from hisplate some three feet across the table; he now gazed covertly at herwith more hunger than he evinced for his food. She had a good deal theaspect of a plucky boy, he thought; a direct, level gaze; a quick, sureturn to her head; and the fresh, bright lips of a boy. But that was nomore than a pleasant fancy; in reality she was woman clear through. Evelurked in the depths of her blue eyes, for all they hung out the coloursof simple honesty; and Eve winked at him out of every fold of her richchestnut hair. She was quick and impulsive in her motions; and althoughshe showed such a blank front to the man opposite, her lips flickeredwith the desire to smile; and tiny frowns came and went between thetwin crescents of her brows.

  As for her, she was sizing him up too, though with skilfully veiledglances. She saw a square-shouldered young man, who sat calmly eatinghis lunch, without betraying too much self-consciousness on the onehand, or any desire to make flirtatious advances on the other. Yet hewas not stupid, either; he had eyes that saw what they were turned on,she noted. His admirable, detached attitude piqued her, though she wouldhave been quick to resent any other. She was angry with him for forcingthis repression on her; repression was not natural to this young lady.She longed to clear the air with a burst of laughter, but the thoughtof a quick, cool glance of surprise from the steady eyes oppositeeffectually checked her. As for his features, they were well enough, shethought. He had a shapely head, broadest over the ears, and thatchedwith thick, straight hair of the ashy-brown just the other side ofblonde. His eyes were of the shade politely called gray, thoughyellow or green might be said with equal truth, had not those coloursunpleasant associations. His nose was longish, and he had a comicaltrick of seeming to look down it, at which she greatly desired to laugh.His mouth was well cut, and decisively finished at the corners; andhe had a chin to match. In spite of her irritation with him, she wasreminded of a picture she had seen of Henry Fifth looking out fromhis helmet on the field of Agincourt.

  As the minutes passed, and Garth maintained his calm, she became quiteunreasonably wroth. Her own luncheon was now before her. By and by shewanted salt, and the only cellar stood at Garth's elbow. Nothing couldhave induced her to ask for it; she merely stared fixedly. Garth,presently observing, politely offered the salt-cellar. She waiteduntil he had put it down on the table, and removed his hand fromthe neighbourhood; then took it.

  "Thank you," she murmured indignantly; furious at having to say it.

  Garth wondered what he had done to offend her.

/>   At this moment there was an interruption; again the apologetic Mr.Papps with yet another guest. This was a tradesman's comely young wife,with very ruffled plumage, and the distracted air of the unaccustomedtraveller. She was carrying in her arms a shiny black valise, threeassorted paper-covered bundles with the string coming off, and a hat ina paper bag; and, although it was so warm, she wore her winter's coat,plainly because there was no other way to bring it. Her hair was flyingfrom its moorings; her face flamed; and her hat sat at a disreputablyrakish angle. As she piled up her encumbrances on the chair next to thegirl, and took off her coat, she bubbled over with indistinguishable,anxious mutterings. At last she sank into the seat by Garth withsomething between a sigh and a moan.

  "I've lost my husband," she announced at large.

  Her distress was so comical they could not forbear smiling.

  Encouraged by this earnest of sympathy, the newcomer plunged into abreathless recital of her mischances.

  "Just came in over the A. N. R.," she panted. "By rights we should havearrived last night, but day-before-yesterday's train had the right ofway and we was held up down to Battle Run. I tell you, the rails of thatline are like the waves of the sea! I was that sea-sick I thought neverto eat mortal food again--but it's coming back; my appetite I mean. Hewas to meet me, but I suppose he got tired after seventeen hours, smallblame--and dropped off somewheres. S'pose I'll have to make a round ofthe hotels till I find him. You don't happen to know him, do you?" sheasked Garth. "John Pink, the carpenter?"

  "I'm a stranger in Prince George," said he politely.

  "Oh, what and all I've been through!" groaned Mrs. Pink, with an accessof energetic distress. She shook a warning finger at the girl. "Take myadvice, Miss," she warned, "and don't you let him out of your sight aminute, till you get him safe home!"

  The girl looked hard at her plate; while for Garth, a slow, dark redcrept up from his neck to the roots of his hair. Yet Mrs. Pink's mistakewas surely a natural one; there they sat lunching privately together inthe secluded little cabin. Moreover, they looked like fit mates, each forthe other; and their air of studied indifference was no more than the aircommonly assumed by young married couples in public places--especiallythe lately married. Without appearing to raise her eyes, the girl in somemysterious way, was conscious of Garth's dark flush. "Serve him right,"she thought with wicked satisfaction. "I shan't help him out." ButGarth's blush was for her more than for himself.

  Mrs. Pink, absorbed in her own troubles, was innocently unaware ofthe consternation she had thrown them into. She plunged ahead; stilladdressing her remarks to the girl.

  "Perhaps you think there's no danger of losing yours so soon," she wenton; "and very like you're right. But, my dear, you never can tell! Blessyou, when I was on my wedding journey, he hung around continuous. Icouldn't get shet of the man for a minute, and I was fair tired outof seeing him. But that wears off--not that I mean it would withyou"--turning to Garth--"but nothing different couldn't hardly beexpected in the course of nature."

  Garth considered whether he should stop Mrs. Pink's tongue by tellingthe truth. But it seemed ungallant to be in such haste to deny theresponsibility. He felt rather that the disclaimer should come from thegirl; and she made no move; indeed, he almost fancied he saw the ghost ofa smile. Under his irritation with the woman and her clumsy tongue, hewas conscious of a secret glow of pleasure. There was something highlyflattering in being taken for the husband of such an ultra-desirablecreature. The thought of her being really one with his future, as thewoman supposed, and travelling about the country with him made his heartbeat fast. Slender, trim and mistress of herself, she had exactly thelook of the wife he had pictured.

  Mrs. Pink broke off long enough to order her luncheon, and from theextent of the order it appeared she had entirely recovered her appetite.

  "The next thing I have to do after finding my man," she resumed, witha wild pass at her hat, which lurched it as far over on the other side,"is to find a house. They tell me rents are terrible high in PrinceGeorge. Are you two going to settle here?"

  Garth replied in the negative. He had decided if the girl did not chooseto enlighten Mrs. Pink, he would not.

  "It has a great future ahead of it," she said solemnly. "It's a grandplace for a young couple to start life in. And elegant air for children.Mine are at my mother's."

  Garth swallowed a gasp at this; but the girl never blinked an eye.

  "But how I do run on!" exclaimed Mrs. Pink. "No doubt you've got a goodstart somewheres else."

  "Not so very," said Garth with a smile.

  The smile disarmed the young lady sitting opposite, and somehow obligedher to reconsider her opinion of him. "I believe the creature has asense of humour," was her thought.

  "Are you Canadians?" inquired Mrs. Pink politely.

  "I am from New York," said Garth.

  Mrs. Pink opened her eyes to their widest. If he had said Cochin Chinashe could not have appeared more surprised. For New York has a magicalname in the Provinces; and the more remote, the more glowing the haloevoked by the sound.

  "Bless me!" she ejaculated. Then, addressing herself to the girl: "Howfine the shops and the opera houses must be there!"

  "I've not been there in some years," she answered coolly. "I am fromOntario."

  "Well, I declare!" cried Mrs. Pink. "Quite a romance! Where did youmeet?"

  "Here," said Garth readily. There was no turning back now.

  "What a nice man!" now thought this perverse young lady.

  "Well! Well!" exclaimed Mrs. Pink with immense interest. "Ain't that oddnow! Was it long since?"

  "Not so very," said Garth vaguely. He glanced across the table and sawthat his supposed wife had finished her lunch. His heart sank heavily.

  "Three months?" hazarded Mrs. Pink.

  "It was about half an hour ago," came brisk and clear from across thetable.

  Mrs. Pink looked up in utter amazement; her jaw dropped; and a pieceof bread was arrested halfway to her mouth. The girl had risen and wasdrawing on her gloves.

  "Good-bye, Mrs. Pink," she said sweetly. "I hope you find your husbandsooner than I find mine!"

  With that she passed out; and the swing door closed behind her. All thelight went with her, it seemed to Garth, and the cabin became a sordid,spotty little hole. Mrs. Pink stared at the door through which she haddisappeared, in speechless bewilderment. Finally she turned to Garth.

  "Wh-what did she mean?" she stammered.

  "I do not know the young lady," said Garth sadly.

  "Good land, man!" screamed Mrs. Pink. "Why didn't you say so at first?"