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Ren Frew Of The Mounted 1948-03-15 Canadian Mounted Police
00:12:42
Ren Frew Of The Mounted 1948-03-15 Canadian Mounted Police
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- [00:01]
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Laurie York Erskine
Ren for reporting ready for action.
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WNBC Announcer
WNBC brings you Laurie York Erskine, soldier of two world wars, novelist, explorer and educator to tell in his own words one of the actual experiences of Renfrew of the Mounted. A story based on his own firsthand knowledge of the Canadian Mounted Police. Renfrew of the Mounted has long been one of the best loved heroes of adventure, mystery and exploration. Known to millions of American boys and girls and men and women too. His adventures have been published in a series of famous books for more than 15 years. He was a favorite hero in America's greatest magazine for boys. So tonight, WNBC is presenting Renfrew of the Mounted as an experiment in radio, an experiment to determine whether or not today's generation will enjoy Renfrew as much as their counterparts of yesterday. If you enjoy the program you're about to hear, just write a card to Renfrew. R E N F r e w care WNBC, NY 20 New York. We would appreciate your comments. And now here is Laurie York Erskine to tell you about tonight's adventure with Renfrew of the Mountain.
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Laurie York Erskine
Good evening, friends. This is the story of how Renfrew the Mounted solves a mystery of the Arctic that was preserved for him in ice. It started when reports reached the headquarters of the Mounted Police that a white man had been killed by Eskimos in the remote northern extreme of Baffin's island, which you'll find on the map just about 1500 miles south of the North Pole. The name of the missing white man was Robert Slade, a fur trader who was notorious for his violent and ungovernable temper. He had quarrelled with and driven out of the territory the only white friend he had. And now came this rumor that the natives had killed him. So Inspector Renfrew was sent north to investigate. In July, he sailed on a trading schooner to Ponds Inlet on the northern rim of Battens island, where he had to begin his search of an icebound territory as big as all the New England states. And what was it he was searching for? He was Searching for evidence that a crime had been committed. If the Eskimos had really killed a white man, Renfu must prove it. He must find witnesses who could tell who it was that had done the killing. Then he must find the killer and arrest him. To do all this, renfrew had to live with the Eskimos and gain their friendship. Of course, he knew their language, and soon he knew all the Eskimos at pond's inlet. But winning their friendship was another matter. The Eskimos soon learned that renfrew was a redcoat of the famous mounted police, and it made them afraid of him. And this, renfrew knew, was serious, because when primitive people get scared, they're liable to kill the man that they're afraid of. The renfrew couldn't play safe. He had a job to do. He had to stay in the village constantly mingle with the natives and pretend that he had no fear as he listened to their gossip and asked them dangerous questions. Then a fortunate thing happened. One day late in August, a great bull walrus was seen out on the offshore ice, and renfrew stood on the shore and watched while the eskimo hunters jumped into their little kayaks with harpoons and spears to try and kill the huge animal for its meat and oil and blubber. It was a thrilling sport, and it needed great courage, too, for the walrus is a tough customer. He weighs more than a ton. His flippers can smash a boat, and his great tusks can kill a polar bear. To kill it, the eskimos had to paddle in as close as they dared and fling their harpoons for a vital spot, Because a wounded walrus is dangerous. Renfrew saw that because of this, none of the hunters dared get close enough to score a hit. And the big bull warriors just sat on the edge of the ice and seemed to laugh at him. Then suddenly, renfrew saw one Eskimo whisk his kayak up right under the big brute's nose. He recognized the hunter as a young man named ranungac, and he was surprised at his daring. Because renungak was a cripple. He lost part of one foot and three fingers of his right hand by freezing. But in spite of this, young Renungak paddled close into the walrus and hurled his harpoon into the big bull's throat. Renfrew was so moved by admiration for the courage of that crippled young Eskimo that he couldn't wait to greet him when he ran his kayak onto the shore again. Renfrew strode Forward and he warmly shook the young Eskimo's crippled hand. And you know, Renungak's eyes fairly blazed with pride and gratification at this truth to his heroism from the renowned and mighty Redcoat. After that, Renungak became Renfrew's devoted friend. And it was out of that friendship that Renfrew found the thing that he was searching for. You are a Redcoat, Renungak said to him one day, and the Redcoats always come to find missing men. So you must be looking for the white man, Slade. I can tell you about him. You can tell me where he is, Cried Renfrew. Where can I find him? Go to Cape Crawford, said Renungass. You will find the white man there. Now this was good news, for it looked as if the rumors were wrong and that Slade might still be alive. But to reach Cape Crawford by land meant a 500 mile trip over Stony ridges. With no way of carrying supplies. Renfrew's only chance was to make it by water 200 miles across an open bay where broken ice floes tossed ground in the waves when the wind was high. Through his friendship with Renungad, Renfrew got the use of a big Eskimo boat made of skins stretched across ribs of driftwood. And then he got a crew of five Eskimos. He took with him a dog team and a month's provisions. But Ranungac couldn't go with him because he had to hunt for meat to feed the people of the village. That boat never reached Cape Coffin. Midway across the bay it ran into a gale which lashed the ice filled waters into great comas. It would have battered the boat to pieces if Renfrew hadn't rigged a sail that swept them into a rocky shore. As it was, the boat was smashed open on the rocks as they made a landing. Before they could repair the boat, the drift ice piled up on the shore and that made further sailing impossible. So Renfrew had to make the trip to Cape Crawford by land. To do that, he had to build a sled out of the ruined boat's timbers and wait until winter closed in and the snow fell so that the sled could travel. It was November before they started out and a temperature of 77 below zero in a week. The dog food was exhausted and during the next week, four of the animals died, finally more dead than alive. Renfrew reached a hunting camp of Eskimos, and there among the hunters, was Renungak. Renungak greeted his white friend joyfully and eagerly, consented to go With Renfrew to Cape Crawford, he brought fresh provisions along, and two of his friends were new and stronger dogs. The gales swept the rocky barrens with moving walls of wind that was colder than ice. Both men and dogs were almost whipped by hunger and exhaustion when a few days before Christmas, they arrived at Cape Crawford. And there they found Robert Slade, but not alive, under a mass of snow and gravel in a shallow ravine. They found his body buried in one of his own packing cases. Ripping open the wooden box, Renfrew examined the body and found that Slade had been shot through the head and chest. So he knew then that the rumors had been true. A murder had been committed. But he now had to find the murderer. To do this, he decided he would have to visit every Eskimo village on Baffin island and do a first rate job of detecting. So the tough, cruel traveling began again. The first village he came to was at Arctic Bay. He sent Ranungak ahead, and the Eskimo came back with the ominous message that the people would not allow any white man to enter that village. They didn't know Renfrew had found Slade's body, and they were afraid that he would learn too much. And when he heard that, Renfrew felt certain that the man who killed Slade was living in that village. So he played a daring trick. Uncovering the body of Slade, which the icy cold of the Arctic had preserved in perfect condition. He placed it on top of his sled and ran his dogs right into the village. It worked. The Eskimos were dumbfounded. Renfrew pointed to the undeniable evidences of the crime. You see, he said. He has been shot. Who did it? For a moment, Renfrew saw the Eskimos fingering their spears, and two of them crawled out of the igloos with rifles in their hands. But suddenly the head man halted them. It is no use resisting, he said. It was Nukadla who killed the white man. And that started all the Eskimos talking at once. Out of their excited chatter, Wrench forgot the true story of how Slade had been killed and why. It seemed that Slade was a thoroughly bad man. He had cheated the Eskimos and terrorized them. When he came to trade with them, they were kind to him and friendly. But there was no end to his greed. A young hunter named McCudla had taken Slade into his home, and Slade had proceeded to treat Macudla like a slave, stealing his furs, beating and bullying him. When Macudla resisted, Slade drove him out of his own house and Said he would kill him if he returned. The Nakudla took counsel with the elders of the village, and it was decided that Slade should die before he carried out his threat to kill Nakudla. The next evening, the Eskimo went to Slade's iglo and told him there was a hunter outside with many fine fox skins. Slade crawled out of his igloo and found Nakudla facing him with a rifle in his hand. Nakudla fired, and Slade fell. Then Nakudla fired again. That was the end of Slade. Where is Nakudla? Asked Renfrew. Well, Nakudla was at Hecla Strait, 200 miles away. Renfrew made a mental note that he had more traveling to do. And who, he demanded, is the Eskimo who told Slade that Nakudla had fox skins to sell. He is standing beside you, said the head man. And Renfrew's heart fell when he turned and found Renungak standing beside him. You had a part in this. He cried. You helped to kill this white man. I helped to free my people, said Vernungat, from a thief and a murderer. But why did you tell me? Asked Renfrew. Why did you lead me to where the body was? Because you are a good white man, said the Eskimo. I knew that anything you did would be the right thing. I knew it would be good for my people. And Renfro looked at him, and he knew that he looked on one of the finest men he would ever meet in this world. Renungath had sacrificed his own freedom for the good of his own people, and so that justice could be done. Even this had brought him a prison sentence. But he went further than that. He stuck by Renfrew against the fear and resentment of the Eskimos. He worked with him through all the hazards and cruelties of winter traveling until Renfrew had found Nakudla and arrested him. And together with Nakudla, Renungak went down to Fort Churchill as Renfrew's devoted friend and willing prisoner because he trusted him. At the trial, Renfrew brought out such clear evidence of Slade's brutality and speak that McCudla was considered to have acted faithfully according to the Eskimo code of justice and killed Slade practically to protect his people. So he was given a fairly short prison sentence. And Renungak was allowed to serve out his sentence for helping in the crime by acting as Renfrew's sled driver on a great patrol which Renfrew made to open up new regions of the north and that's the end of the story of Renfrew of the Mountains, which is so true to life that you can find the details of this story as they actually occurred in the headquarters files of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
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WNBC Announcer
Thank you, Lori York Erskine, for another one of your many authentic stories gathered from the files of the Canadian Mounted Police. Stories of adventure in the uncharted wilderness of the frozen north by Renfrew of the Mountains. In closing, may I remind you again that tonight's program was presented only as an experiment and will not be heard regularly unless requested by a sufficient number of our listeners. If you would like to hear more adventures of Renfrew, write a card tonight to Renfrew R E N F R e w Tara WNBC, New York 20 New York we will appreciate your comments on Renfrew of the Mountain. Tonight's program came to you from our studios in Radio City.
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