On the tratl of the desparado—a mid-day “‘snack’’ at 40 below.

“We came roaring down the river,”
he said, “and again I peered down at
Johnson in his snow trench. As |
swept past him, I saw a figure lying
on a bedroll near the west bank and I
realized with a sick feeling that one
of our boys had been hit.

“I circled back. Johnson seemed to
be lying in an unnatural position.
He was face down in the snow, his
outflung right hand grasping his
rifle. 1 took another look and saw that
he was dead.

“The chase was over at last.

“J landed on the river bottom, and
taxied up to the man lying on the
bedroll.

“Sergeant Riddell was bending over
him. ‘It’s Sergeant Hersey,’ he said.
‘Johnson got him in the left knee and
stomach.’

“While Riddell was fixing up
Hersey, I joined the posse at the body
of the dead trapper.

“Johnson’s lips were drawn back from
his teeth in a terrible sneer. His teeth
glistened like an animal’s through his
days-old bristle of beard.

“Returning to the plane we got
Hersey in and reached the Aklavik
Hospital in 50 minutes. ‘He’s in a
very serious condition,’ Dr. Urquart
told us. ‘Another half-hour and he
wouldn’t have had a chance.”

Send

The Shoulder Strap

FOR GIEDGS
*

50 cents an issue

P.O. Box 1645

TWENTY-SEVENTH EDITION

88 Miles from Dawson Creek

Johnson had crossed the divide over
the highest peak, an elevation of over
8,000 feet.

A Miracle of Human Endurance

The trip must have been one of
long-drawn-out agony since, once
above the timberline, there was no
wood with which to kindle a warming
campfire.

How he’d kept going, with little
or nothing to eat and in the teeth
of an Arctic blizzard, was a miracle of
human endurance.

Quite unexpectedly the posse had
come on him the morning of the
battle. With Hersey in the lead they
were following his two-day-old trail
when he abruptly loomed ahead of
them.

He had outsmarted himself, back-
tracked once too often. Snatching his
rifle from his sled Hersey opened fire.

Johnson shed his snowshoes and
sprinted for the shelter of the bank.
A barrage from Hersey’s gun drove
him back. Like a cornered rat he
turned and blazed at the patrol. With
a sudden cry of agony, Hersey fell.

As Johnson fled for the opposite
bank, the patrol swung into action,
hemming him into the centre of the
ice with a whistling hail of bullets.
Fiercely he flung himself down behind
his pack and returned the fusilade.

A bullet from one of the posse
struck him and exploded the ammunt-
tion in his hip pocket, blowing a
ragged hole in his hip.

When the posse finally closed in
they discovered bullet wounds in
his legs, back and shoulders. He
was thin to the point of emaciation;

PINE VALLEY LODGE

(Auto Camp and Cafe) offering 24-hour service and
tcwing. In addition to groceries and souvenirs, tires and accessories,
and affiliated credit cards are accepted. A spacious
Kiver, which afferds fishing for Dolly Varden, Grayling and pike.

DAWSON CREEK

“Wop plane solved the transportation problem and brought the
“Mad Trapper’ to bay. At left, Riddell and Hersey, with other

members of the posse.

his feet, legs and hands had been
frozen, and the only food inside his
pack was one lone squirrel!

When the frost-scarred and weary
patrol proceeded to search the sneer-
ing corpse they found he was armed
with a .30 Savage rifle, a .22-calibre
rifle, a sawed-off 16-gauge shotgun
and an ample supply of ammunition.

His bullet-riddled pack sack con-
tained two gold-filled dental plates
which, it was shown, didn’t fit his
mouth; a razor, an axe, a leather poke
containing some gold dust, and $2,500
in Canadian and American notes.

There was not, however, a solitary
clue to his true identity.

Who was the Mad Trapper?

The question remains unanswered.
Though scores of people have come
forward to profess relationship—and
demand his money—the police have
been unwilling to accept their claims.
Probably we shall never know who
Albert Johnson really was. * *

The New Palace
Hotel and Cafe

@ A MODERN HOTEL FOR YOU
@ COMFORTABLE ROOMS
With and Without Bath.

Good Warm Meals and Lunches
SERVED AT ALL HOURS

Fountain Service - Ice Cream

Confectionery - Tobacco - Cigars
and Cigarettes

Dawson Creek B.C.

providing cabins, meals, store, gas and oil service, general auto repairs, welding and
fishing and hunting licenses and fishing tackle are sold. ‘'Esso”
free campground for trailerites and campers is maintained on the banks of the Pine
Guide service is gladly arranged for hunters.

Member of The Auto Cour’s and Resort Association

171 Miles from Prince George

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Page Fifteen