Last week, Caribou Joe and his friend Sam leave Mile 53 with a load of dynamite.
The first stop for delivery was at Croydon Landing, a few miles north-west of Tte Jaune Cache.
Joe and Sam unloaded two cases of dynamite at the newly constructed wooden ferry dock without incident.
The men were able to enjoy a smoke from time to time on their down-stream run. They had been warned by Mr. Bates not to smoke near the cargo.
However, Joe had his tobacco pouch and old pipe, and Sam had his cigars. They made certain that the dynamite was covered with a canvas tarpaulin.
Sam had a recent issue of the Fort George Herald and was planning to read the newspaper on the trip down the river. When Joe took a turn at the paddle Sam would catch up on all the local news.
A few miles downstream from Croydon, Sam was reading his paper out loud, much to his partner's entertainment.
"Listen to this," he instructed. "A dance hall is flourishing, five miles west of Tte Jaune Cache, where 18 motley girls nightly swing to the inharmonious bows of two
violins."
Sam stopped to ponder. "Joe," he said, "I've been around all last summer and all winter. And, I never heard of no dance hall."
He continued reading, "Permission to locate at the Cache was denied by the railway contractors, whose order compelled the promoters to locate five miles away from active railway work. The tinseled dames and promoters are reported to be doing a thriving trade, providing light entertainment for the myriads who congregate there nightly."
Sam stopped reading the paper long enough to light a cigar.
"Are you listening to me?" he asked Joe.
"Yep," said Joe, as he back-paddled slightly, just before a turn in the river. Joe had been daydreaming.
Sam continued again.
"One man recently had his skull fractured during one of those entertainments and is reported to have died as a consequence. There is no liquor sold openly, but the bootlegger is in evidence at every corner willing to rehabilitate weak hearts at a dollar a dose."
Joe was contemplating about all the whiskey that he had brought in to the Tte Jaune Area a few months earlier. He wondered if any of his bottles had ended up at that same dance hall.
Sam stopped to fold his paper and was about to pick up the story once again when, as they rounded the bend in the river, Joe yelled, "Sam, look out!"
In the next episode, River mishap, a bone-chilling experience is about to challenge Sam, as the story
continues.
