The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-10-27

of rock. A few steps farther and
he saw that it was building.
Croisset gripped him firmly by
the arm.
Stay here" he commanded. 81
will return soon"
For quarter of an hour How
land waited. Twice in that inter
val the dog howled above him. He
was glad when Croisset appeared
out of the gloom.
ut is as l thought, M'seur.
Theer is death down here. Come
with mel" 10
The shadow of the big building
shrouded them as they approach
ed. Rowland could make out
that it was built of massive logs
and that there seemed to be nei-
Their door nor window on their
side. And yet when Jean hesitat-
ed for an instant before a blotch
of gloom that was deeper than
the tohres, he knew that they had
come to an entrance. Croisset adj
vanced softly, shifting the air sus-
lpiciously with his thin nostrils
and listening, with Rowland sc
close to him that their shoulders
touched. From the top of the
mountain there came again the
mournful death-song of old Woon.
ga, and Jean shivered. Rowland
stared into the blotch of gloom
and still staring he followed
Croisset - entered - and dtsapi
peared in it. About them waS the
stiffness and the damp SMELL soi
desertion. There was no visible
sign of life, no breathing, nc
movement but their own, and yet
Rowland could feel the half
breeds hand clutch him nervous
ly by the arm as they went step
by step into the black and silent
mystery of the place. Soon there
came a fumbling of Croisset's
hand at a latch and they passed
through a second door. Then Jean
lstruck a match.
Half dozen steps away was a
table and on the table lamp.
Croisset lighted it, and with a
quiet laugh faced the engineer
They were in low, dungeon-like
chamber, without a window and
with but the one door through
which they had entered. The
table, two chairs, a stove and a
bunk built against one of the loe
walls were all that Rowland could
see. But it was not the barren
ness of what he imagined was tc
be his new prison that held his
eyes in staring inquiry on Crois
set. 1t was the look in his com.
panion's face, the yellow pallor OF
fear-a horror-that had taker
possession of it. The half-breed
closed and bolted the door, anG
then sat down beside the table
his thin face peering up through
the sickly lamp-gloW at the engi
|neer.
I'M 'seur, it would be hard 70,
you to guess where you are."
Rowland waited.
If you had lived in this coun
try long, M'seur, you would have
heard of la Maison de Mort Rouge
the House of the Red Death, as
you would call it. That is where
we are-in the dungeon room. Il
is a Hudson Bay post, abandoned
almost since l can remember
When I was. a child the smallpo,
plague came this way and killed
all the people. Nineteen years
ago the red plague came again
and not one lived through it in
this Poste de Mort Rouge. Since
then it has been left to the wea.
sells and the owls. 1t is Stunned
by every living soul between the
Athabasca and the bay. That is
why you are safe here"
I'VE gods!" breathed Rowland
us there anything more, Crois-
set? Safe from what, man? Safe
from what?" H.
From those who wish to kin
you, M'seur. You would not go
into the South, so la belle Meleese
has compelled you to go into the
| North. Comprenez-vous?"
For a moment Rowland sat as
If stunned.
do you understand, M'seurf'
persisted Croisset, smiling.
"I-I-think l do" replied
Rowland tensely. "You mean
Meleese-"
Jean took the words from him.
81 mean that you would have
died last. night, M'seur, had 1t mot
been for Meleese. You escaped
from the coyote-but you would
not have escaped from the other.
That is all can tell you. But
you will be safe here. Those who
seek your life will soon believe
that you are dead, and then we
will let you go back. Is that not
a kind fate for one who deserves
to be cut into bits and fed to
ravens?"
You will tell me nothing
more, Jean?" the engineer asked.
"Nothing-except that while I
would like to kill you / have SYM
Ipathy for you. That, perhaps, is
because once lived in the South.
For six years was with the COM
pany in Montreal, where l went to
SCHOOL"
He rose to his feet, tying the
flap of his caribou skim coat ahout