THE LOG SHACK
It struck them as odd that no one appeared out of the shack. For a man
living beside a river generally has his eye unconsciously on the stream,
just as a man who dwells by a lonely road lets few pass by unseen.
Stonor sent him a hail, as is the custom of the country--but no
surprised glad face showed itself.
"He is away," said Stonor, merely to break the racking silence between
him and Clare.
"Would he leave the door open?" she said.
They landed. On the beach lay two birch-bark canoes, Kakisa-made. One
had freshly-cut willow-branches lying in the bottom. Stonor happened to
notice that the bow-thwart of this canoe was notched in a peculiar way.
He was to remember it later. Ordinarily the Kakisa canoes are as like as
peas out of the same pod.
From the beach the shack was invisible by reason of the low bank
between. Stonor accompanied Clare half-way up the bank. "Mary and I will
wait here," he said.
She looked at him deeply without speaking. It had the effect of a
farewell. Stonor saw that she was breathing fast, and that her lips were
continually closing and parting again. Leaving him, she walked slowly
and stiffly to the door of the shack. Her little hands were clenched. He
waited, suffering torments of anxiety for her.
She knocked on the door-frame, and waited. She pushed the door further
open, and looked in. She went in, and was gone for a few seconds.
Reappearing, she shook her head at Stonor. He went up and joined her.
Mary, who, in spite of her stolidity, was as inquisitive as the next
woman, followed him without being bid.
They all entered the shack. Stonor sniffed.
"What is that smell?" asked Clare. "I noticed it at once."
"Kinni-kinnick."
She looked at him enquiringly.
"Native substitute for tobacco. It's made from the inner bark of the red
willow. He must have run out of white man's tobacco."
She pointed to a can standing on the table. Stonor, lifting it, found it
nearly full.
"Funny he should smoke kinni-kinnick when he has Kemble's mixture. He
must be saving that for a last resort."
Stonor looked around him with a strong curiosity. The room had a grace
that was astonishing to find in that far-removed spot; moreover,
everything had been contrived out of the rough materials at hand. Two
superb black bear-skins lay on the floor. The bed which stood against
the back wall was hidden under a beautiful robe made out of scores of
little skins cunningly sewed together, lynx-paws with a border of
marten. There were two workmanlike chairs fashioned out of willow; one
with a straight back at the desk, the other, comfortable and capacious,
before the fire. The principal piece of furniture was a birch desk or
table, put together with infinite patience with no other tools but an
axe and a knife, and rubbed with oil to a satiny finish. On it stood a
pair of carved wooden candlesticks holding candles of bears' tallow, a
wooden inkwell, and a carved frame displaying a little photograph--of
Clare!
Seeing it, her eyes filled with tears. "I'm glad I came," she murmured.
Stonor turned away.
A pen lay on the desk where it had been dropped, and beside it was a red
leather note-book or diary, of which Clare possessed herself. More than
anything else, what lent the room its air of amenity was a little shelf
of books and magazines above the table. There was no glass in the
window, of course, but a piece of gauze had been stretched over the
opening to keep out the insects at night. For cold weather there was a
heavy shutter swung on wooden hinges. The fireplace, built of stones and
clay, was in the corner. The arch was cunningly contrived out of thin
slabs of stone standing on edge. Stonor immediately noticed that the
ashes were still giving out heat.
The room they were in comprised only half the shack. There was a door
communicating with the other half. Opening it, they saw that this part
evidently served the owner as a work-room and store-room. Cut wood was
neatly piled against one wall. Snowshoes, roughly-fashioned fur
garments, steel traps and other winter gear were hanging from pegs.
There was a window facing the river, this one uncovered, and under it
was a work-bench on which lay the remains of a meal and unwashed
dishes--humble testimony to the near presence of another fellow-creature
in the wilderness. On the floor at one side was a heap of supplies; that
is to say, store-grub; evidently what Imbrie had lately brought down,
and had not yet put away. There was a door in the back wall of this
room, the side of the shack away from the river.
Stonor, looking around, said: "I suppose he used this as a sort of
vestibule in the winter, to keep the wind and the snow out of his
living-room."
"Where can he be?" said Clare nervously.
They both spoke instinctively in subdued tones, like intruders fearful
of being overheard.
"He can't have been gone long. He was smoking here just now. The
fireplace is still warm."
"He can't have intended to stay long, for he left everything open."
"Well, he would hardly expect to be disturbed up here."
"But animals?"
"No wild thing would venture close to the fresh man smell. Still, it's
natural to close up when you go away."
"What do you think?" she asked tremulously.
The sight of her wide, strained eyes, and the little teeth pressed into
her lower lip, were inexpressibly painful to him. Clearly it was too
much to ask of the high-strung woman, after she had nerved herself up to
the ordeal, to go on waiting indefinitely in suspense.
"There are dozens of natural explanations," he said quickly. "Very
likely he's just gone into the bush to hunt for his dinner."
Her hand involuntarily went to her breast. "I feel," she whispered, "as
if there were something dreadfully--dreadfully wrong."
Stonor went outside and lustily holloaed. He received no answer.
It was impossible for them to sit still while they waited. Having seen
everything in the house, they walked about outside. Off to the left
Imbrie had painstakingly cleared a little garden. Strange it was to see
the familiar potato, onion, turnip and cabbage sprouting in orderly rows
beside the unexplored river.
Time passed. From a sense of duty they prepared a meal on the shore, and
made a pretence of eating it, each for the other's benefit. Stonor did
his best to keep up Clare's spirits, while at the same time his own
mystification was growing. For in circling the shack he could find no
fresh track anywhere into the bush. Tracks there were in plenty, where
the man had gone for wood, or to hunt perhaps, but all more than
twenty-four hours old. To be sure, there was the river, but it was not
likely he had still a third canoe: and if he had gone up the river, how
could they have missed him? As for going down, no canoe could live in
that rapid, Stonor was sure; moreover, he supposed the falls were at the
foot of it.
Another thing; both his shot-gun and his rifle were leaning against the
fireplace. He might have another gun, but it was not likely. As the
hours passed, and the man neither returned nor answered Stonor's
frequent shouts, the policeman began to wonder if an accident could have
occurred to him. But he had certainly been alive and well within a
half-hour of their arrival, and it seemed too fortuitous a circumstance
that anything should have happened just at that juncture. A more
probable explanation was that the man had seen them coming, and had
reasons of his own for wishing to keep out of the way. After all, Stonor
had no precise knowledge of the situation existing between Imbrie and
Clare. But if he had hidden himself, where had he hidden himself?
While it was still full day Stonor persuaded Clare and Mary to remain in
the shack for a time, while he made a more careful search for Imbrie's
tracks. This time he thoroughly satisfied himself that that day no one
had struck into the bush surrounding the shack. He came upon the end of
the old carry trail around the falls, and followed it away. But it would
have been clear to even a tyro in the bush that no one had used it
lately. There remained the beach. It was possible to walk along the
stony beach without leaving a visible track. Stonor searched the beach
for half a mile in either direction without being able to find a single
track in any wet or muddy place, and without discovering any place
where one had struck up the bank into the bush. On the down-river side
he was halted by a low, sheer wall of rock washed by the current. He
made sure that no one had tried to climb around this miniature
precipice. From this point the rapids still swept on down out of sight.
He returned to the shack completely baffled, and hoping against hope to
find Imbrie returned. But Clare still sat huddled in the chair where he
had left her, and looked to him eagerly for news. He could only shake
his head.
Finally the sun went down.
"If he is not here by dark," said Clare with a kind of desperate
calmness, "we will know something is the matter. His hat, his
ammunition-belt, his hunting-knife are all here. He could not have
intended to remain away."
Darkness slowly gathered. Nothing happened. At intervals Stonor
shouted--only to be mocked by the silence. Just to be doing something he
built a great fire outside the shack. If Imbrie should be on the way
back it would at least warn him of the presence of visitors.
Stonor was suddenly struck by the fact that Mary had not expressed
herself as to the situation. It was impossible to tell from the smooth
copper mask of her face of what she was thinking.
"Mary, what do you make of it?" he asked.
She shrugged, declining to commit herself. "All the people say Eembrie
got ver' strong medicine," she said. "Say he make himself look like
anything he want."
Stonor and Clare exchanged a rueful smile. "I'm afraid that doesn't help
much," said the former.
Mosquitoes drove them indoors. Stonor closed the door of the shack, and
built up the fire in the fireplace. Stonor no longer expected the man to
return, but Clare was still tremulously on the _qui vive_ for the
slightest sound. Mary went off to bed in the store-room. The others
remained sitting before the fire in Imbrie's two chairs. For them sleep
was out of the question. Each had privately determined to sit up all
night.
For a long time they remained there without speaking.
Stonor had said nothing to Clare about the conclusions he had arrived at
concerning Imbrie, but she gathered from his attitude that he was
passing judgment against the man they had come in search of, and she
said at last:
"Did you notice that little book that I picked up off the desk?"
Stonor nodded.
"It was his diary. Shall I read you from it?"
"If you think it is right."
"Yes. Just an extract or two. To show you the kind of man he is."
The book was in the side pocket of her coat. Opening it, and leaning
forward to get the light of the fire, she read:
"April 29th: The ice is preparing to go out. Great booming cracks have
been issuing from the river all day at intervals. When the jam at the
head of the rapids goes it will be a great sight. To-morrow I'll take a
bite to eat with me, and go down to the falls to watch what happens.
Thank God for the coming of Spring! I'm pretty nearly at the end of my
resources. I've read and re-read my few books and papers until I can
almost repeat the contents by heart. I've finished my desk, and the
candlesticks, and the frame for Clare's picture. But now I'll be able to
make my garden. And I can sod a little lawn in front of the house with
buffalo-grass."
Clare looked at Stonor for an expression of opinion.
The policeman murmured diffidently: "A real good sort."
"Wait!" she said. "Listen to this. One of the first entries." She read
in a moved voice:
"They say that a man who lives cut off from his kind is bound to
degenerate swiftly, but, by God! I won't have it so in my case. I'll be
on my guard against the first symptoms. I shave every day and will
continue to do so. Shaving is a symbol. I will keep my person and my
house as trim as if I expected her to visit me hourly. Half of each day
I'll spend in useful manual labour of some kind, and half in reading and
contemplation. The power is mine to build or destroy myself with my
thoughts. Well, I choose to build!"
Clare looked at Stonor again.
"That is fine!" he said simply.
"So you see--why I had to come," she murmured.
He did not see why the one followed necessarily on the other, nor did he
understand why she felt impelled to explain it just then. But it seemed
better to hold his peace. This revealing of Imbrie's worthy nature
greatly perplexed Stonor. It had been so easy to believe that the two
must have been parted as a result of something evil in Imbrie. He could
not believe that it had been Clare's fault, however she might accuse
herself. He was not yet experienced enough to conceive of a situation
where two honest souls might come to a parting of the ways without
either being especially to blame.
For another long period they sat in silence. The influence of the night
made itself felt even through the log walls of the shack. They were
aware of solitude as of a physical presence. The fire had burned down to
still embers, and down the chimney floated the inexpressibly mournful
breath of the pines. The rapids made a hoarser note beyond. Clare
shivered, and leaned closer over the fire. Stonor made a move to put on
more wood, but she stopped him.
"Don't!" she said, with queer inconsistency. "It makes too much noise."
Suddenly the awful stillness was broken by a heavy thudding sound on the
ground outside. A gasping cry was forced from Clare. Stonor sprang up,
knocking over his chair, and made for the door. Getting it opened, he
ran outside. Off to his right he saw, or thought he saw, a suspicious
shadow, and he instantly made for it. Whereupon a sudden crashing into
the underbrush persuaded him it was no apparition.
Clare's voice, sharp with terror, arrested him. "Martin, don't leave
me!"
He went back to her, suddenly realizing that to chase an unknown thing
bare-handed through the bush at night was scarcely the part of prudence.
He got his gun, and flung himself down across the sill of the open door,
looking out. Nothing further was to be seen or heard. Beyond the little
clearing the river gleamed in the faint dusk. The canoes on the beach
were invisible from the door, being under the bank.
"What do you think it was?" whispered Clare.
"Something fell or jumped out of that big spruce nearest the back of the
house." To himself he added: "A natural place to hide. What a fool I was
not to think of that before!"
"But what?" said Clare.
Stonor said grimly: "There are only two tree-climbing animals in this
country heavy enough to make the sound we heard--bears and men."
"A bear?"
"Maybe. But I never heard of a bear climbing a tree beside a house, and
at night, too. Don't know what he went up for."
"Oh, it couldn't be----" Clare began. She never finished.
Stonor kept his vigil at the open door. He bade Clare throw ashes on the
embers, that no light from behind might show him up. When she had done
it she crept across the floor and sat close beside him. Mary,
apparently, had not been awakened.
Minutes passed, and they heard no sounds except the rapids and the
pines. Clare was perfectly quiet, and Stonor could not tell how she was
bearing the strain. He bethought himself that he had perhaps spoken his
mind too clearly. To reassure her he said:
"It must have been a bear."
"You do not think so really," she said. A despairing little wail escaped
her. "I don't understand! Oh, I don't understand! Why should he hide
from us?"
Stonor could find little of comfort to say. "Morning will make
everything clear, I expect. We shall be laughing at our fears then."
The minutes grew into hours, and they remained in the same positions.
Nature is merciful to humans, and little by little the strain was eased.
The sharpness of their anxiety was dulled. They were conscious only of a
dogged longing for the dawn. At intervals Stonor suggested to Clare that
she go lie down on the bed, but when she begged to remain beside him, he
had not the heart to insist. In all that time they heard nothing beyond
the natural sounds of the night; the stirrings of little furry footfalls
among the leaves; the distant bark of a fox.
And then without the slightest warning the night was shattered by a
blood-curdling shriek of terror from Mary Moosa in the room adjoining.
Stonor's first thought was for the effect on Clare's nerves. He jumped
up, savagely cursing the Indian woman. He ran to the communicating door.
Clare was close at his heels.
Mary was lying on the floor, covering her head with her arms, moaning
in an extremity of terror, and gibbering in her own tongue. For a while
she could not tell them what was the matter. Stonor thought she was
dreaming. Then she began to cry in English: "Door! Door!" and to point
to it. Stonor made for the door, but Clare with a cry clung to him, and
Mary herself, scrambling on all fours, clutched him around the knees.
Stonor felt exquisitely foolish.
"Well, let me secure it," he said gruffly.
This door was fitted with a bar, which he swung into place. At the
window across the room, he swung the shutter in, and fastened that also.
"You see," he said. "No one can get in here now."
They took the shaking Mary into the next room. To give them a better
sense of security, Stonor tore the cotton out of the window and fastened
this shutter also. There was no bar on this door. He preferred to leave
it open, and to mount guard in the doorway.
Gradually Mary calmed down sufficiently to tell them what had happened.
"Little noise wake me. I not know what it is. I listen. Hear it again.
Come from door. I watch. Bam-bye I see the door open so slow, so slow. I
so scare can't cry. My tongue is froze. I see a hand pushin' the door. I
see a head stick in and listen. Then I get my tongue again. I cry out.
Door close. I hear somebody runnin' outside."
Stonor and Clare looked at each other. "Not much doubt about the kind of
animal now," said the former deprecatingly.
Clare spread out her hands. "He must be mad," she whispered.
Mary and Clare clung to each other like sisters. Stonor remained at the
door watching the clear space between the shack and the river. Nothing
stirred there. Stonor heard no more untoward sounds.
Fortunately for the nerves of the women the nights were short. While
they watched and prayed for the dawn, and told themselves it would never
come, it was suddenly there. It came, and they could not see it come.
The light stole between the trees; the leaves dressed themselves with
colour. A little breeze came from the river, and seemed to blow the last
of the murk away. By half-past three it was full day.
"I must go out and look around," said Stonor.
Clare implored him not to leave them.
"It is necessary," he said firmly.
"Your red coat is so conspicuous," she faltered.
"It is my safeguard," he said; "that is, against humans. As for animals,
I can protect myself." He showed them his service revolver.
He left them weeping. He went first to the big spruce-tree behind the
house. He immediately saw, as he had expected, that a man had leaped out
of the lower branches. There were the two deep prints of moccasined
feet; two hand-prints also where he had fallen forward. He had no doubt
come down faster than he had intended. It was child's play after that to
follow his headlong course through the bush. Soon Stonor saw that he had
slackened his pace--no doubt at the moment when Stonor turned back to
the shack. Still the track was written clear. It made a wide detour
through the bush, and came back to the door of the room where Mary had
been sleeping. The man had taken a couple of hours to make perhaps three
hundred yards. He had evidently wormed himself along an inch at a time,
to avoid giving an alarm.
When Mary cried out he had taken back to the bush on the other side of
the shack. Stonor, following the tracks, circled through the bush on
this side, and was finally led to the edge of the river-bank. The
instant that he pushed through the bushes he saw that one of the
bark-canoes was missing. Running to the place where they lay, he saw
that it was the one with the willow-bushes that was gone. No need to
look any further. There was nothing in view for the short distance that
he could see up-river.