BACK FROM THE BARRACKS.
“Captain Morrison,” said Dick, shaking the pilot’s hand, “I can’t begin
to tell you how thankful I am that I remained here tonight and listened
to that interesting account of your experiences. It has solved a great
problem for me.”
“What problem? I don’t understand. How have I helped you?” Captain
Morrison’s questions came like staccato explosions.
“Did you ever hear of the dinosaur in the Lake of Many Islands?” Dick
asked.
The river man rubbed his forehead thoughtfully,
“No, I don’t believe that I have. Is there a dinosaur there?”
“On the island of the granite shaft,” explained Dick. “A huge skeleton
of a dinosaur, or what has been described as a dinosaur, a big skeleton
weighing tons. At Mr. Scott’s suggestion, I’m writing out to the
Canadian Geographical Society to see if they will be interested in
buying it, or at least, finding a purchaser. My great problem was to
discover how to get the thing out of there if I did succeed in selling
it. I’ve been studying over it for weeks. Until you came here tonight, I
had no idea that it was possible to descend the river in a steamer even
in high water.”
“You didn’t!” gasped the captain.
“No, I didn’t. None of us did.”
“I thought that nearly every one knew that the river had been charted,”
mused the old pilot. “I have the chart in my possession right now. In
the morning, if you will accompany me to the steamer, I’ll show it to
you.”
“Splendid,” enthused Dick. “Now comes the next difficulty. Do you think
the Hudson’s Bay Company would consider a proposal to transport the
skeleton from the Lake of Many Islands to Peace River Crossing?”
“Why not?” the captain looked at Dick in surprise. “We carry thousands
of dollars worth of freight every year for private individuals.”
“When would be the best time to go up there for it?” came Dick’s next
question.
“That depends a good deal upon the season. Ordinarily, I should say, the
latter part of April or the first part of May. Certainly not until the
snow has all melted and the first spring rains have come.”
“If I can find a purchaser, can I depend upon yours or some other
steamer to do the work for me. The reason I’m asking you this is because
I’d hate to enter into any sort of contract and then discover at the
last minute that you were too busy to make the trip.”
“That difficulty can be solved easily. Let me know just as soon as you
have completed arrangements with the society and I’ll charter a steamer
for you.”
“Thank you, Captain Morrison. That’s very good of you. I’ll write a
letter tonight and will send it out to the Canadian Geographical Society
in the mail that you are taking with you tomorrow. Even allowing for
delays, I ought to hear from them within two months. If the answer is
favorable, I’ll get in touch with you just as soon as I can.”
“Very well, Dick, I’ll expect to hear from you. Now, if I’m not too
inquisitive, do you think that such an undertaking as the one you
propose will be a profitable venture on your part?”
“I really don’t know,” came the startling answer. “To be perfectly frank
with you, I don’t care if I don’t make a single penny.”
Captain Morrison’s eyes popped.
“What’s that? You don’t care? You—you——”
Factor Scott’s amused laugh broke across the room.
“Look here, Dick,” he expostulated, “in fairness to the captain, you
ought to give him your real reason for wanting to fetch out the
dinosaur.”
“All right, Mr. Scott, I will.”
Dick pulled forward a chair and sat down.
“If you have just a moment or two more to spare, I’ll tell you. For a
long time now it had been a sore point with me. A number of weeks ago,
at the instance of Mr. Frazer, I went up there to the island of the
dinosaur, accompanied by my two friends, Sandy MacClaren and John
Toma—the two young men you saw yesterday with Corporal Rand. Mr. Frazer
had promised us quite a large sum of money if we would bring the
skeleton back to Half Way House. Not until we arrived at the island and
saw how large the dinosaur was, did we learn that the expedition was
planned by the factor merely to get us out of the way. It was a fool’s
errand. It made us all feel silly. Quite a few people, who have heard
about it, had a good laugh at our expense. I can take a joke as well as
the next one, but this joke was too raw to suit me, or my chums either.
We had paid out quite a large sum of money for tools and grubstake and
were forced to endure untold, almost unbelievable hardships.”
Captain Morrison’s eyes shadowed.
“Atrocious!” he pronounced. “I don’t blame you in the least for feeling
as you do.”
Soon afterward, Dick bade good-night to Factor Scott and the genial
river pilot and retired to his room in the loft to write his letter to
the Canadian Geographical Society. On the following morning, he was up
bright and early and, after a hurried breakfast, went down to the
landing wharf, his epistle in hand.
Captain Morrison greeted him cheerily.
“Good morning, young man, you’re abroad early. Were you afraid I’d pull
anchor before you had time to mail that precious letter? Bet you didn’t
sleep a wink last night.”
Dick flushed under the steady gaze.
“In strict confidence, I didn’t sleep very much, but I guess it was more
than a wink. I feel rested, anyway—and happy, too.”
The captain yanked his blue cap farther down over his eyes and bellowed
out an order. A sailor, standing idly near the gangplank, jumped as if
he had been shot.
“Got to watch them every minute,” grumbled the captain. “By the way, I
told you to come over and see that chart. If you’ll come with me to the
cabin, I’ll give you a peep at it. Rather proud of that chart. Made
under very unusual circumstances. Has the sanction and approval of the
highest officials of the Hudson’s Bay Company.”
For nearly an hour Dick remained aboard with the captain, studying the
chart and listening to the account of that memorable journey down the
river. When the time came for him to go ashore, he shook hands with his
benefactor, thanking him once more.
“I never would have solved the problem if it hadn’t been for you,” he
declared earnestly, squeezing the pilot’s rough hand. “You can’t realize
how happy it has made me.”
“Even happier than the satisfaction of knowing you helped to bring those
crooks to justice?” inquired the other slyly.
Dick smiled modestly. “No, I wouldn’t say that. What I mean is that
everything has worked out so nicely. The slate is almost wiped clean.
Somehow it seemed that our job wasn’t fully completed until we had
settled the fate of that dinosaur.”
Captain Morrison laughed, shook hands again and Dick hurried down the
gangplank just as the steamer’s whistle shrieked out its warning. He
turned to wave a last good-bye then thoughtfully made his way up to the
post.
“Never saw such a change in anyone in my life,” commented the factor as
Dick breezed through the open door. “Your smile would warm the heart of
a stone.”
“That’s just the way I feel,” chuckled the young man. “All I have to do
now is enjoy a well-earned vacation while I’m waiting for Sandy and
Toma.”
“I bet you can hardly wait until they come. They’ll be as pleased as
punch when you tell them the news.”
However, during the next few days, in which he had plenty of time to
think it all over, Dick decided that he would say absolutely nothing
about the dinosaur for the present. Instead, he would keep that for a
surprise until he had received word from the Canadian Geographical
Society. By so doing, if the society’s letter was unfavorable toward the
project, no one would be disappointed except himself.
Nevertheless, he counted the days, almost the hours, while he waited for
his chums’ return. When the thirteenth day came and passed, little lines
of worry and impatience began to etch his smooth, brown forehead. On the
fourteenth day, he had grown so restless that he found it utterly
impossible to remain in one place more than a few minutes at a time. He
walked around the post like a lost soul. What was keeping them? Had the
prisoners escaped? Through his mind there flashed in review a hundred
scenes of lurid, sanguinary combat, through which he could follow the
sinister, gliding form of two Mekewai brothers—triumphant at last. So
vividly did his troubled imagination conjure up these fantastic horrors,
that he could actually see Sandy, Corporal Rand and Toma lying prone and
lifeless in the shadow of the sentinel trees along the gloomy, woodland
trail to Fort Mackenzie.
At four o’clock in the afternoon, almost crazed by his obsessions, he
wandered back toward the trading room, then suddenly stopped short as if
transfixed. Coming out of the woods, less than a hundred yards away,
were two well-known figures—two laughing and noisy young men.
A thrill of joy coursed through him.
“Hello, Dick!” they both shouted as their friend bounded forward to meet
them.
By the time he had joined them, Sandy and Toma had slipped off their
shoulder-packs, heedlessly letting them fall to the ground.
“Fooled you, didn’t we?” cried the former. “Instead of returning by
Painter’s Ferry, we struck straight across country. Had a glorious time.
Toma shot a moose.”
“How did the prisoners behave?” Dick demanded.
“Everything went just like clock-work,” replied Sandy. “No trouble at
all. The Mekewais were docile as two lambs. We both had the satisfaction
of seeing the lot of them thrown into iron cells, where they’ll remain
until the day of the trial. When that time comes, we’ll be the Crown’s
chief witnesses. Inspector Cameron asked me to tell you that.”
“We’ll all be ready,” smiled Dick.
“Inspector Cameron sent his very kindest regards to you,” continued the
young man. “He says that we’re getting better and better all the time.
Here’s your check, Dick.”
“Thank you,” said the recipient of the money, glancing at the bit of
paper while he flushed with pride and pleasure.
“And that isn’t all,” Sandy hurried on. “I almost forgot to tell you an
important bit of news. The story of Miller’s strike at Caribou Lake has
precipitated a gold rush. Hundreds of prospectors are on their way there
and a few already staked out claims. The police think that there’ll be
an important camp established near Miller’s claim before the summer is
over. Constable Perry left two days after our arrival, to go up there
and keep order. The chances are that he’ll be stationed there
permanently.”
“Too bad that Miller isn’t there himself,” said Dick. “If his life
hadn’t been cut short, he might have lived to become very, very
wealthy.”
“That’s true,” Sandy’s face shadowed a little.
Toma turned radiantly upon Dick.
“What you do alla time we be gone?” he asked curiously. “Sandy an’ me
tell each other that you get so lonesome that——”
Interrupting him, Dick put aside the implications with a lordly gesture.
“Not a bit of it. Never had a more interesting time in my life.”
“You didn’t even miss us!” gasped Sandy.
Dick flushed as he stooped to pick up the forgotten shoulder-packs.
“Sandy,” he reproved him, “sometimes I think you talk too much. Come on
now, Factor Scott will be waiting for you.”