three acres in extent, and was so situated as to be
practically impregnable against the attack of an ordinary force; the
rim-rocks forming a natural barricade which reduced the necessity for
artificial fortification to a minimum. Across the neck of the tiny
peninsula, Lapierre had thrown a strong stockade of logs, and from the
lake access was had only by means of a narrow, one-man trail that
slanted and twisted among the rocks of the precipitous cliff side.

The plateau itself was sparsely covered with a growth of stunted spruce
and banskian, which served as a screen both for the stockade and the
long, low, fort-like building of logs, which was Lapierre's main cache
for the storing of fur, goods of barter, and contraband whiskey. The
fort was provisioned to withstand a siege, and it was there that the
crafty quarter-breed had succeeded in storing two hundred Mauser rifles
and many cases of ammunition. Among Lapierre's followers it was known
as the "Bastile du Mort." A safe haven of refuge for the hard-pressed,
and, in event of necessity, the one place in all the North where they
might hope indefinitely to defy their enemies.

The secret of this fort had been well guarded, and outside of
Lapierre's organized band, but one man knew its location--and few even
guessed its existence. There were vague rumours about the Hudson Bay
posts, and in the barracks of the Mounted, that Lapierre maintained
such a fort, but its location was accredited to one of the numerous
islands of the extreme western arm of Great Slave Lake.

Bob MacNair knew of the fort, and the rifles, and the whiskey. He
knew, also, that Lapierre did not know that he knew, and therein, at
the proper time, would lie his advantage. The Hudson Bay Company had
no vital interest in verifying the rumour, nor had the men of the
Mounted, for as yet Lapierre had succeeded in avoiding suspicion except
in the minds of a very few. And these few, realizing that if Lapierre
was an outlaw, he was by far the shrewdest and most dangerous outlaw
with whom they had ever been called upon to deal, were very careful to
keep their suspicions to themselves, until such time as they could
catch him with the goods--after that would come the business of
tracking him to his lair. And they knew to a certainty that the men
would not be wanting who could do this--no matter how shrewdly that
lair was concealed.

Upon arriving at Lac du Mort, Lapierre ordered the canoe-men to load
th