AN ADVENTURER OF THE BAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19349, 9 June 1926, Page 20

AN ADVENTURER OF THE BAY.

BY OTTWELL BINNS,

CHAPTER VII— (Continued.) Fort Bourbon across the river showed a black mass in the prevailing whiteness, something forbidding in its aspect; but to it he yearned as a homing bird to the nest. About it he could see the figures of men moving to and fro, black specks on the snow; and from afar there sounded a faint jingle of bells. He looked up-river and saw a milo away a dog-sled travelling toward tho fort. Then he stepped ■wearily down the brink for the last lap. In the fifteen days since his departure, the liver, almost two miles broad, had been locked from bank to bank with ice, r*" which would last until May, when the soft south wind and the growing sun wakening the land to life would release the •waters once more. Now and for six - months it formed a bridge across which men could pass without hindrance or danger. Slowly, with no spring in his walk, he essayed tho long crossing. Three-quarters of the way over he became aware of interest in himself.. ilea stood in little groups by the water-gate staring in his direction; but he returned their interest only with listless eyes. The jingle of the bells which ho had heard on the bank seemed to become suddenly clear; and turning his head he saw the sled was less than a hundred yards away, one man racing at the head of the dogs, another at the sled-tail, with a third wrapped in furs on the sled itself. He marked their approach and no more, setting his face anew to the bank. ' The team overtook him, passing very close. He saw the Indian driver flash a look of curiosity as he swept past; and became aware of the man on the sled staring at. him round-eyed. Then as the tail of the sled passed him, there came a wild shout that expressed extreme amazement. " Nom do Dieu! " The oath .was followed by a command; the Indian driver shouted to the dogs, and throwing himself on the traces checked their career sufficiently for the man on the sled to leap out into the snow, then they swept forward, yelping, toward the fort, the driver unable to halt them. The man who had been the passenger stepped stiffly through the snow toward Donnington, and a yard away halted. " Tonnerre! " he cried. " So I was not mistaken. It is you, rascal." Francis Donnington halted and stood swaying, feeling that he must fall, as staring into the speaker's malicious eyes he recognised de Berault. "It is I," he answered, almost indifferently, mumbling through his irpstcrackecl lips. A malicious laugh sounded, as the Frenchman considered him. " So you have not found pleasure in your little walk, mon ami! But you must resume—" < De Berault broke off sharply. His dark eyes blazed Suddenly as he became aware of things that puzzled him—the gun slung over the other's shoulder, the axe at his belt, the snowshoes on his feet. " Damnation!" he cried. "Where did you find that pin ? " "That I shall not tell you," answered Donnington quietly. " Take me to .the governor; I have news for him." Do Berault laughed cynically. "That . is a bird that will not fly, rascal! If you think to appeal—" I don't. I bring news of importance that concerns the safety of Fort Bourbon." " A likely story! " scoffed.the other. " A trick, I have no doubt, but it will not serve. ; Monsieur de Noel is absent, so that it is I with whom you must deal." He laughed.harshly-and then:added: "Tell me this coq-a-l'-ane, cochon." The insult braced Donnington's worn "Spirit. He drew himself up. "Monsieur," he retorted, " this is no time for scoffing. I bring -to - the governor a warning from Jean Saboux, who is dead—" .-- ■ ■ . . • " Jean Saboux dead ? " "And scalped,' Monsieur .<ls Berault. • His two companions also." " Mon Dieu !" cried the other, " That is news indeed, if it is true." "It is true! Or why should I march across the wilderness to bring it?"' " Yes! Why ?" Why, rascal? Already lam asking myself that. Tell me your story that I may judge." "'No!" answered Donnington sharply. For three days I have marched on flour stirred in water. lam exhausted. Take me to the fort; and when I have eaten 1 ■will give you Jean Saboux's message—not one moment before." " Sacrebleu! " swore de Berault. "You WOold the terms dictate? But you shall go. to the fort, my friend; and when you have eaten, you shall tell me this wondrous lie; and'after I shall kick vou out into the snow once more,.. Ho! There!" Men from the fort who had been drawn . forth by curiosity ran toward them at the words. At their officer's Ottler they stripped Donnington of the gum, the hatchet, and what remained of the flour ; and then, while two held him, another began to search his person. The prisoner struggled vainly, " Monsieur," he cried, realising his helplessness, "is this insult necessary when I come to do Fort Bourbon ser- '* . . vice!" Service! Ho! Ho!" The Frenchman laughed. " Hear the rascal! Search dili-.* gently, mes ,enfants, there is something he would conceal." The mert obeyed with a will; and soon J the thing that Donnington would have concealed was brought to light—the folded • parchment that held Gabriolle de Noel's message.. De Berault pounced on it like a hawk, and unfolded it:with laughter. Then, as he read,, his face grew black with wrath. • "/ ' " Dog!",he"cried convulsively. " Dog!" j For a moment he stood there raging, then his eyes went to the gun and the snowshoes, and hatchet/ and he laughed discordantly. " So!" he cried. "Now the understanding comes. - But it is I who have the last word!" He looked at the man. "Forward!" he cried. "Bring the dog along." . , The men who held Donnington thrust him forward. It was not far. to the bank; but before they reached it his strength gave out, and the two who held his arms had to lift him up the slope. Stumblingly, supported by his guards, he approached the gate where a little crowd had gathered—lndians, coureurs-de-bois, and the butterfly courtiers who were the guests of Fort Bourbon. In reply to some" question, de Berault gave a rallying answer. Just the English goose we turned loose into the wilderness, who returns to the pen." There was a little cascade of laughter as the light women pressed closer for a nearer view; and ,in a huddled crowd they passed through the gate, the prisoner and his guards in front, with the triumphant de Berault at the side. As they entered the great courtyard there sounded • a sharp feminine cry; and almost directly in front of him, not five yards away, Don- , nington of the suddenest became aware of Gabrielle de Noel, her face white with consternation, the soft eyes bright with distress. CHAPTER Yin. A NARROW ESCAPE. tonkin T W £ ab V clle < Fra ™is Donningsnoak f % dden ; but before he could harshly- ult s voice broke out Hurry the rascal!" he ™s g ™lrc3i,lr; sh p - essnra ' ™ d Bie realised almo.t iratmUv?lre UrnS do the girl an ill-service bv dnvin ii 4ho attention of the lirL £ , ° lier „ him. So, .as he was ierWrf fT 0 b ! hu ? d bowed stifflv savivn* nitk' * he . passed on he heard ?hl nH— as tlle >" maliciously. Straight J, au S' n they went to the northern a very short -time he was in the "p i"* boose once more,, with de. Berault ! S?& hBB ' ** * coupleoo r o"eXttin? tffi?'' ' M ' P ;' C, " J - V

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with callous eyes; then realising that for the moment the prisoner was beyond .either gibes or questions, he gave an order to one of the guards and all three left the room. Twenty minutes later the man who had received the order returned with a large bowl of steaming potage and a hunk of bread. The prisoner was still in the same position, and as he did not move on the entrance of the guard, the latter set down the bowl and bread, and stooped over him to find that ho was asleep. Something like compassion showed on the man's rough face as he whispered: " Pauvre diab'e !"

Then he wakened the prisoner, and, as Donnington stared about him vacantly, indicated the soup and the bread. " Eat, m'sieu," he said, " you will feel more cheerful afterwards."

Donnington took up the bowl and,, began to cat, ravenously at the first; but the man checked him.

"It is better to eat slowly when one has fasted long. I who have starved in the wilderness know. To oat like the famished wolf is to beget a .belly pain." There was a rough kindliness in the man's words and the wisdom of them commended itself to Donnington, hungry as he was. He checked the impulse to eat quickly; masticated the bread and the meat 'in the soup thoroughly; and when the bowl was empty, he handed it to the guard with a word of thanks, who replied cheerfully: " That puts the heart in you, hey, m'sieu? Yes!' And you will need it, for the officer is a bad one."

Francis Donnington had no doubt of that; but he said nothing, and a second later the guard asked another question. " M'sieu, in the matter of Jean Sarboux—is it true what you told the officer, that he is dead ?"

" Yes," answered Donnington. "And scalped, you said? Mon Dieu! But that is a terrible thing!" For a moment the man was silent, then he said: '''You brought a message from Jean! I heard you say it. It was a message of warning, perhaps." "Of warning!" answered Donnington. "Tiens! I knew it! But that de Berault will not believe you, no. You comprehend, m'sieu', he is a bad devil. Already I have heard him say that if Jean and his comrades are dead then it was you who slew them—you and the seamen who were sent to make la longue traverse; and that there is some evil trick bebir>d your return to Fort Bourbon."

Donnington was unutterably startled by the words, visioning suddenly the pit that was being dug for him. Then he himself asked a question: " What trick ?" The guard shrugged his shoulders,"None knows but that de Berault, and maybe le bon Dieu! But he is in command here until the governor returns —" ■ " When will that be ?"

" To-morrow or maybe the day after. Ho is on sortie expedition up the river. He is good, though weak, and he "would listen to your tale like a Christian; but if he should be delayed, and the other can find an excuse—" He broke off—made . a significant gesture, and then added : " You comprehend, m'sieu' ?" ■ " Yes," answered Donnington, understanding quite well. "If you can placate him—" A sound of voices came from the tither, side of the door, and the man checked suddenly, then added in a whisper: "Here comes the bad- one.", -An instant later he cried blusteringly: " Good food wasted on the son of a pig, better, they had let you starve, coquin!" The man winked, and clattering bowl and spoon nosily moved to the door, reaching it as it was opened from without; then sounded de Berault's voice: "The dog has eaten?" "And licked the bowl, m'sieu'.* He was . hungry—that one." The officer laughed harshly, gave .his orders to those who accompanied him, and entered alone,. closing the door behind him. Then lie stood confronting l.is prisoner, while Donnington, heartened by the hot food, met his stare with eyes as' steady as his owp. -'De Berault frowned savagely at' this evidence of an unbroken spirit, and .demanded, harshly: "The story 'that you; bring? Having eaten, you \vill tell it?"

" Willingly; though it was meant for the governor's ears:" " I am governor „ here for the present, and my word is law, you understand. So you. will give me Jean Sarboux's message and you will .tell me how you found him."

Donnington made no demur. After the warning given him by tho guard he had no hope of fair and generous treatment from de Berault, but there was nothing to be gained by withholding the information, which course, as ho realised, would provide the man with an excuse for having him shot at once. . . ' Joan Sarboux's dying message that I bring is one of warning. Two posts west of his own have been attacked and the man killwl by Indiawts, who presently are to make a great attempt on Fort Bourbon."

De Berault offered no comment on this information, and his face revealed, nothing.of what ho thought. > "Tell me how you found him?" he demanded. Donnington told him faithfully all that had occurred, and as he finished the other stood with a dark look on his face for a moment. Then ho broke out: "Nom de Dieu! You do not expect mo to believe this lyine; tale?" » " You will disbelieve ft at the peril of .all.iri Fort Bourbon," answered Donnington sharply. . - • . "No! You rascal, no! Jean Sarboux may be dead and scalped as you say, and the others with him, but there is another version of this story. What if you and the other rascals surprised the post? They had a gun, and you also—how obtained you know and I know, curse you, for playing on a tender girl's compassion. You shot Jean and his comrades—"

" If you believe that," interrupted Donnington, "perhaps you will explain my return to Fort Bourbon with the news?"

"I? No, you rascal! The explanation lies with you. There is some cursed plot behind it. You come here with the blood of Sarboux and his fellows on your hands, with a lying warning and with some black trick in your heart. Maybe you had a thought that this way you would win Monsieur le Governor's favour, or persuade the little Gabrielle to give you kisses! Or maybe you ere a lying spy, leading your countrymen this way, who, when you have won our favour, would bne* dark night open- the gates of Fort Bourbon that we may be massacred while we sleep! We are not children, no! But there is a way to deal with such as you—a quick way! You have returned to Fort Bourbon after having been sent forth. Good! You will pay the penalty, and quarter of an hbur you will die and go to the hell that waits for you." Donnington did not flinch, though he was convinced the man' meant exactly what he said. Very quietly he answered. " And Monsieur de Noel ? When he returns and hears the story, will he approve ?"

(To be continued daily.)