WORRALS IN THE WASTELANDS

by W. E. Johns

17. THE END OF THE TRAIL (Pages 211 – 215)

It was dusk by the time Worrals landed the Ranger at Fort MacWilliam and handed over a now unconscious Anna Shultz. “They never saw her again. Her wounds turned septic, as so often do those inflicted by tooth and claw, and she died in hospital two days later”. Lowenhardt recovered and was allowed to remain in Canada. Worrals and Frecks returned to Lake Desolation, taking with them three Mounties. Hanstadt and his men had disappeared and were never heard of again. Wolfe was still in the Box, but dead, riddled with bullets. Noting the men had “refreshments” he would guess the rest “and deal with the culprit in traditional Nazi fashion”. The Royal Canadian Air Force bombed and sank the U-Boat immediately on learning about it and long before Hanstadt and his men could have returned to it. Worrals takes the prospectors back to Fort MacWilliam and the gold is handed over to the Canadian Government pending the inquiry that followed the affair. Later a fair share was handed over to Larwood and Hedin and Hedin shared with his old partner, Fraser. The three men then formed a syndicate to work the Lake Desolation gold. Six months later two heavy packages arrive at the flat that Worrals shares with Frecks containing exquisitely worked brooches, made of fine gold and the colour of it was pale lemon yellow. Worrals says “When Shultz accepted a present of some of it she little thought what it was to cost her, too”. Frecks sighed. “And all because of a lipstick”. Worrals nodded. “That’s what I mean”.