se paddling. At the same time his ear caught a
new sound--a chant of voices rapidly growing louder.

Cautioning silence, McCorquodale swung the nose of the canoe abruptly
towards the right bank and they slid noiselessly into the deeper
shadows, where the detective caught hold of an overhanging branch and
held the canoe stationary. Presently Phil was able to recognize the
familiar words of an old _voyageur_ chantey, a paddling song of the
French-Canadian rivermen:

"_En roulant, ma boule, roulant;
En roulant, ma bo-u-le._"

With paddles swinging in unison to the rhythm came four men in a large
Indian canoe, speeding with the current down the centre of Indian
creek. Peering from their concealment, Kendrick and the detective
could discern the blacker outlines of the craft and its occupants as it
sped forth from the gloom of the forest into the starlit area of the
tiny lake. The great canoe was low in the water; for heaped in the
centre of it was what was evidently a pile of freight, with two men in
front and two behind. The steersman swung the prow around and on they
went up the Wolverine without a pause in the sweep of the paddles or
the swing of the song:

"_Rouli roulant, ma boule, roulant,
En roulant, ma boule, roulant,
En roulant, ma bo-u-le._"

"French half-breeds," guessed Kendrick when the singing modulated in
distance, "and they're heading for the lumber camp. What do you make
out of that?"

"Looks like this 'Red' party them guys was talkin' about last night had
hit camp. I'll lay even money them fellas has been down to the station
fer another shipment o' booze," asserted McCorquodale. "We gotta do
some careful gumshoein', old man. Them birds is feelin' their oats."

From the junction of the two streams it was only a matter of four or
five miles to the foot of the rapids, and after a while they could hear
the distant roar of the water. Paddling cautiously now and keeping
well within the deeper shadows close to shore, they finally reached the
spot where the tote road debouched on the river and without mishap
disembarked and hauled the canoe out of sight into the bushes. In
following the lumber trail there was the danger that they might meet
some of the men from the camp; but after a whispered colloquy they
decided it was a risk which had to be run. Since the old tote road had
received its last "swamping out" it had accumulated enough underbrush,
saplings and fallen limbs in spots t