ge kettle
other men were filling a row of kegs with the precious black GOUDRON
that oozed up from the bowels of the earth, forming here and there
jet-black pools that Carrigan could see glistening in the flare of the
gas-lamps. He figured there were thirty men at work. Six big York boats
were turned keel up in the black sand. Close inshore, just outside the
circle of light, was a single scow.

Toward this scow Bateese sent the canoe. And as they drew nearer, until
the laboring men ashore were scarcely a stone's throw away, the
weirdness of the scene impressed itself more upon Carrigan. Never had
he seen such a crew. There were no Indians among them. Lithe,
quick-moving, bare-headed, their naked arms and shoulders gleaming in
the ghostly illumination, they were racing against time with the
boiling tar and pitch in the cauldron. They did not see the approach of
the canoe, and Bateese did not draw their attention to it. Quietly he
drove the birchbark under the shadow of the big bateau. Hands were
waiting to seize and steady it. Carrigan caught but a glimpse of the
faces. In another instant the girl was aboard the scow, and Bateese was
bending over him. A second time he was picked up like a child in the
chimpanzee-like arms of the half-breed. The moonlight showed him a scow
bigger than he had ever seen on the upper river, and two-thirds of it
seemed to be cabin. Into this cabin Bateese carried him, and in
darkness laid him upon what Carrigan thought must be a cot built
against the wall. He made no sound, but let himself fall limply upon
it. He listened to Bateese as he moved about, and closed his eyes when
Bateese struck a match. A moment later he heard the door of the cabin
close behind the half-breed. Not until then did he open his eyes and
sit up.

He was alone. And what he saw in the next few moments drew an
exclamation of amazement from him. Never had he seen a cabin like this
on the Three Rivers. It was thirty feet long if an inch, and at least
eight feet wide. The walls and ceiling were of polished cedar; the
floor was of cedar closely matched. It was the exquisite finish and
craftsmanship of the woodwork that caught his eyes first. Then his
astonished senses seized upon the other things. Under his feet was a
soft rug of dark green velvet. Two magnificent white bearskins lay
between him and the end of the room. The walls were hung with pictures,
and at the four windows were curtains of ivory lace draped with damask