body of the man he’d traveled 4,000
miles to seek. A wave of overwhelming
pity possessed him as he gazed upon
the wasted frame and marble face
seared deep with lines of suffering.
So! this was the end of Janes’ search
for a fortune in white foxes.

In a soot-blackened igloo lighted
with stone kudliks, and surrounded by
half-naked Stone Age savages and lit-
ters of squirming puppies, Joy held a
coroner’s inquest; bringing in a ver-
dict that Janes had been murdered
by Nukudlah, with Ourourengnak
and Ahteetah acting as accomplices,
and issuing formal warrants for their
arrest.

* * * * *

But Joy's work had only com-
menced. The Government patrol
ship, S.S. Arctic, would arrive at
Pond’s Inlet in July. In the meantime
he'd have to arrest Nukudlah and
Ahteetah; bring in witnesses to that
spot and hold a preliminary hearing
in time to send back a report by the
ship to Ottawa so that judge, jury and
lawyers could be brought north the
following year for the trial. Not only
would the slightest flaw mean at least
a year’s delay but he had no jail in
which to hold the prisoners when they
were rounded up. While the cripple
was already his prisoner circum-
stances were such that he would have
to let him return to his family to
hunt a living and keep them from
starving. He would, however, have to
return to Pond’s Inlet when the
summer sun was high to attend the
hearing.

There also remained the seemingly
insurmountable task of arresting
Nukudlah and Ahteetah. Nukudlah
was said to be hunting hundreds of
miles away in Hecla and Fury Straits,
while Ahteetah was pursuing the pre-
historic musk-oxen a like distance in
the opposite direction. Joy decided to
send word to them by the first
Eskimo trading party that arrived,
ordering them to come in—and pin-
ning his hopes on their compliance.
Failing that, he’d have to go after
them—which would entail a year’s
delay.

The return journey to the trading
post proved even more soul-trying
than the outward one. Lean, attenu-
ated and hungry they staggered, at
last, into Pond’s Inlet with only half
their dogs alive.

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TWENTY-FIFTH EDITION

Nukudlah Sends Word

During the ensuing weeks the
sergeant’s persistent efforts to break
down the Eskimo’s_ hostility was
gradually rewarded. Then, one night,
he received a visit from a_ genial
Eskimo named Ai’vuk, whom he’d be-
friended. “Nukudlah’s people come
for trade,” Joy interpreted the
Iglulik’s words. “Say they have it hard
time. Dogs, dey all die from dog
sickness so Nukudlah—he no come!”
But, the Eskimo added, Nukudlah
had sent word that if the man in the
red-coat wanted to see him to send

him a “talking paper’ and he'd
come in.
Consumed with anxiety the

Mountie watched the sun peep over
the saw-toothed horizon then climb
higher and higher in the sky as the
days went by till ship-time was draw-
ing closer. True to his promise the
crippled Ourourengnak arrived with
his family. Then came a smashing let-
down that threatened all his plans.
Ahteetah’s brother, Edina, brought
word that Ahteetah had gone far to
the westward, to the musk-ox country,
and wouldn’t be in for another year!

In impotent wrath Joy sent secretly
for Ai’vuk, certain that Edina was
lying. “Since when,” he demanded,
“did you think the red-coats were
fools? Your brother’s hiding two
sleeps from here and awaits your re-
turn with food and cartridges so that
both of you can flee.” He caught the
cowering Huskie in a grip of iron.
“You and your family will remain
here—my prisoners—till your brother
arrives,’ he snapped. “I’m sending
Ai’vuk to bring him in.”

Unable to meet Joy’s accusing eyes
Edina dissembled like a child and
agreed to send word by Aij'vuk,
begging his brother to come in.
Anxiously the Mountie waited. Four
days later Ahteetah arrived and was
promptly placed under arrest.

At last Joy permitted himself a
sigh of relief. From the moment he'd
set foot on the shores of Baffin Land
and set out in search of the murderers
of Janes, he’d realized he was taking
his life in his hands. He was one
lone white man amongst scattered
hordes of primitive savages who
settled suspicions or misunderstand-
ings with a swift stab in the back, or
the thrust of a harpoon. He’d known,
too, that a hasty misstep on his part—
a misunderstanding, a hint of revenge
or even a sudden flare of exasperation

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Phone 87

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*

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PHONE 1928

Page Twenty-five |
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