Mission of Mercy
Bert N. Dean
Under his sealskin parka Inspector Don Norton, ace manhunter of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, wore the tunic of a special constable so as not to arouse suspicion when he reached the Mackenzie delta by dog sled.
His
lone companion on the perilous trek into the Arctic was a young
surgeon who had only recently been assigned to duty with the police.
Doc Gibson, the young medic, had plied Norton with questions about
the typhoid epidemic along the delta, but the inspector made it clear
that he did not want to discuss a number of matters concerning the
epidemic and their trek into the delta.
Reaching
the first Eskimo settlement, they found that three persons had
already died of the plague, and seven more were seriously ill.
Doc
Gibson busied himself with the stricken Eskimos and inoculated all
those who had not fallen ill. He could not gather any information
from the people, for their knowledge of English was scanty and the
doctor knew not a word of the Eskimo tongue.
But
Inspector Norton, who introduced himself as Constable Jones to the
head man of the settlement, could speak the Eskimo dialect fluently.
Wise in the ways of the North, Norton put forth no direct questions.
He used clever suggestion to make the hardy trappers talk about the
things he had come to find out.
Uvalak,
a sturdy, bronze-skinned man, showed Norton a great store of white
fox and otter pelts in a shed fashioned from sealskins stretched
between poles of driftwood. The inspector knew that the Eskimos had
made a record breaking catch of fur, and this strengthened his
suspicion as to the origin of the epidemic.
Not
until the second day did Uvalak, grinning with pride, show Norton a
shiny new Winchester rifle. Norton still didn't ask questions, but he
was soon rewarded for his tact when Uvalak told him that the rifle
had been given him by one of the two white men who had passed down
the delta a fortnight before. They had, of course, given skinning
knives and tobacco to all the villagers on the promise that none
would make known that they had come through the settlement.
That
night when all were inside the huts, Inspector Norton put the sled
dogs in their harnesses and told Doc Gibson that they were leaving.
He cautioned the surgeon not to arouse any attention.
Making
fast time on the hard-packed snow, the inspector drove the dog sled
across the frozen delta and reached a settlement on the opposite
shore three days later. He told the surgeon to go about his business
immediately, for they would be heading back to the nearest police
post before darkness fell.
Norton
unhitched the sled dogs, chained them to stakes and went about as
though he were planning to stop there several days. The Eskimos came
in small groups to greet him, for like all Eskimos they recognized a
Mountie as a friend. Norton greeted them cheerfully, but asked no
questions. He knew that the epidemic had already struck them.
An
hour passed before two white men came forth from a tent at the edge
of the settlement. They told Norton that they were brothers, and were
searching for a friend who had inherited a fortune after going into
the wilderness for the trapping season. Norton, the manhunter, knew
they were lying. In a flash, he drew his revolver and ordered the men
to turn around and throw up their hands. He disarmed them quickly.
"Which
of you is the typhoid carrier?" Norton demanded gruffly.
The
pair knew the jig was up. The taller of the two nodded toward his
companion. "Neal's the carrier, Constable."
"Don't be fooled by my chevrons," Norton snapped. "I'm an
inspector, and you don't need three guesses to hit on why I was sent
up here. You figured that by wiping out the villages with typhoid,
you could make off with this year's catch of fur. I'm arresting you
both for conspiracy and murder!"
