Show f 0 HAROLD titus CHAPTER XII continued 20 old francois had taken long in reaching the fire fighters and deliver ing steves steve s note his crippled foot bothered him and so it was late in deed when he reached the men who guarded the fire line it t was as viell vi ell after midnight before two canoes began their dash up the good bye lafane in the bow of the first stepped ashore at the mad woman trail the battery of flashlights gave sufficient light for them to read the sign left there down both of em said lafane at the forking of the trail any other would have believed so too the tracks of both men and the girl they followed took the right hand fork and with their faith so firm in the one who had led them all sum mer it did not occur to them to search for further indications it sure looks as it if they went down river lafane repeated but we may be wrong you to a strapping young woodsman take the trail back to the good bye and bring two canoes with plenty grub over here to wait tor for orders who 11 go with you young jim asked his voice was strained and his lips twitched in suspense lafane larane said promptly wartin bartin and I 1 you and mac vac scout the lake if it you find anything that looks hot follow it if there s no sign come back here well get word up if we need help below and so young jim flynn entered the lake from which lafane larane had dragged him a fortnight before eyes scanning the near shore and the islands beyond soon rain began be to fall in a fine persistent drizzle restricting their range of vision they went slowly following the eastern shore line what s that yonder young jim asked some time later pointing with his paddle looks like a canoe they headed on it and as they drew near old mac said starkly Y G d Us a canoe I 1 they went swiftly after the C craft raft it its S young himsl mcnally said sharply not yet knowing the strange tangle of names which had concealed identities from him and all the others except lafane cooki cried the boy isla t that a bullet hole one two why three of em I 1 for a moment they stared at one another mutely questioning he caught up with them I 1 the boy bald said huskily he caught up and there was shooting and god knows what else I 1 all we know is that they re up ahead son I 1 we got no time to lose no use around hermany here more after murder theft and anyhow more and whatever happened to katie hell make tracks up country if he bes s able he won wont t be around here our only chance Is to find where here he leaves the upper river they began to paddle desperately CHAPTER XIII the first drop of rain falling on her cheek forced bate hate flynn to a decision to remove the pressure of her thumbs from that bandage might permit the blood to flow again to leave this un conscious weakened man exposed to a boiking might take away his last chance of ulal ultimate ate survival slowly she relaxed the pressure she had held on the wound and anxiously watched the edges of that clotted gauze no fresh flow appeared the bleeding was stopped for the interval she hastened to the canoe and threw the duffle ashore A tent was there of balloon silk packed in its bag swiftly she shook out the shelter and set it up over the spot where steve lay she had the tent up before the rain became more than scattered drops the clot over the wound still held that was something to be thankful for but although she had accomplished that much she needed help she ran into the timber gathering fuel and heaped it in three piles along the beach fifty paces apart and with matches found in franz s pack ignited her fires three smokes three shots thee are to the woodsman what the S SOS 0 S Is to the mariner the fires however must burn con they must be fed and with green wood which would throw out dense smoke but as she hurried back toward the canoe for a hand as ax she saw one of steves steve a double and straighten again in a spasmodic movement she prated a aim ain when she saw blood oozing from the wound she watched the rain beat out her fires and d d not dare leave off the task of holding that bandage tight she he just sat there and pressed her hands down on the bandage and watched the mists come down from the hills and blot out horizons when the hard driven canoe passed her island though it was within easy rifle shot she had no indication of the nearness of friends the hours dragged on for an in terminable interval interial kate flynn sat holding the bandage firmly against drakes drake s side and then as the mists gave way Y ay to a steady rain he corn coin fenced to mutter and to stir again does it hurt she asked no an awer do you hear me mea does it hurt much now A mumble came from his lips her own orn name spoken so clearly and sharply that the girl started yes I 1 in here I 1 its it s kate late herewith here with youl you his eyes opened and stared at her blankly it its s all right she said the bleeding has stopped P ease lie ile still so it won t start in again do you understand that his lids fluttered closed but he lay still whether he had understood or not she could not know he ile had locked h s fingers about her small wrist and would not let go after a time she tried to disengage his clasp so she might start the fire going but r ice 1 I 1 cooki this man Is terribly hurt he clung the tighter and murmured thickly it was not until nearly dusk that she could unlock his fingers and slip away without rousing him she dragged driftwood from the beach and made a pile of it behind the fire which served the double purpose of throwing heat into the open front of the tent and drying fuel for the night hours then she resumed her vigil beside the figure determined ter mined to fight sleep with all the resources at her command so it was that mary wolf paddling her light canoe through the steady rain saw a point of warm light shin ing through the darkness this might be franz come to look for her despite young jim jims s command that he let her alone bhe she went on proceeding with ut most caution but she wanted to know who was there if it it were franz she would not be forced to keep a watch for him afterward she thought she heard a sound an odd noise v bich she could not identify and as she was about to pass a point of the island which would screen the fire from her that sound recurred she arrested all movement that was strange another woman crying here in a camp so the indian girl came upon kate flynn kneeling at steves steve s side beg ging him to speak to make some sign that he was aware of her being there her words covered the small sounds of mary s approach through the rushes and it was not until the new arrival arrivals s shadow fell across steves stene s figure that kate started up alarm and relief min aled in her heart oh ohl I 1 she cried oh you ve comet comel look I 1 this man Is ter bibly hartl he ile was stabbed and has bled most of his life out I 1 mary appeared to give no heed she stood bent oi over er hands crossed on her breast eyes fast on drakes drawn face inhere ft here he hurt she asked and kate drew back the blankets to reveal the ugly patch on drakes bared body see it doesn doean t bleed any more I 1 held it tight for hours until it stopped oh what else can be done the indian girl then did a strange thing she knelt quickly and took one of drake drakes s hands in both hers ya yong ng jim I 1 she called softly yo yong ng jim I 1 her ter voice husked yong jim you all right she held her breath for answer but none came no indicating movement or A i i I 1 1 change of expression even she turned a tragic face to the white girl vho aho swayed away from her with some thing I 1 ke le shock as franz s lying words cime back to her A squaw man he had said this man was and here was wai a loung young squaw a stricken expression in her eyes the thought that this man who nho had worked for her per haps was now dying fr her and who only a few hours ago bad had kissed her might be the ioner 1 of this Us dusky girl wrenched and tugged at something deep in her heart lie he say ay nothing no thing mary whispered he won t say no thing I 1 I 1 she bent her body low cheek close to drake drakes a face and kate rate started to turn her head avav but when she saw that the movement was not in caress but in query she checked the gesture of aver slon sion lie ile breathing mary said he ile not hot may be she turned to the scattered packs beyond the fire dumping their con tents to the ground opening a grub sack exploring its contents yes she muttered and poured coffee into a kettle running into the reeds for clean water deftly she raked coals from the fire and put the kettle on to boll then without a word of explanation disappeared into the timber in a few moments she returned with a wad of pitch on a curl of birch bark this she put pu to heat on a pan cover went to her own canoe and returned with a bundle from which she extracted a piece of white cloth tore the cloth into ribbons and then testing the con sis tency of the softening pitch with great care brought her materials into the tent and drawing back the blan bets set to work to bind the clotted gauce firmly into place she smeared pitch on the flesh pressed an end of cloth into it car ried the cloth over the bandage and pitched it down on the other side over and over first this way then that she drew the adhering cloth frag ments until the chance of breaking the clot by movement was slight by then the coffee had boiled she fetched the kettle within and a spoon ful at a time dropped the hot fluid into drake drakes s mouth persisting until he had swallowed several times coffee no whisky she said briefly and sat back on one hip I 1 he ile not bleed now coffee make him strong but he must have help some one who lvovs all about injured people must be brought here or he may die dle mary nodded I 1 and I 1 cant can t go I 1 kate cried 1 I get back to headquarters I 1 coulden couldn rit t carry a canoe across that trail you can can t you you go for help may alay be not now he Is 1 not hot maybe I 1 go sometime he ile needs me we now he Is my friend friend 1 A tightness came into kates kate s tone as a wonder which was wa almost alarm asserted itself when th the word caused her once again to think 0 the possible relationship of these two he ile your brother I 1 see you once you are 01 jim jims s girl I 1 know this with a gesture yong JIM he Is my friend she was silent a moment struggling against things wanting to speak not knowing just how bow me I 1 got no brother I 1 got nobody yo ng jim was good to me he ile made franz let me come here he ile tol franz to leave me be franz I 1 franz s girl long time I 1 say to yong jim I 1 be his girl wash cook he tell me no ri 0 he tell me go to school he ile Is my friend she repeat ed simply as though it explained everything and in the words was an inflection a quality which made kate late flynn know that franz had lied A low moan came from steve just then which checked the many ques eions kate wanted to ask after a moment his brows furrowed and he uttered a weak inarticulate word then as if the effort of that had wearied him beyond measure he let breath slip from his lungs and turned his head to one side 0 silently mary moved away and replenished pleni shed the fire she heated the coffee again and forced more of it into drake drakes s mouth throughout this interval steve was strangely aware of voices near him they came to his consciousness however as from a great distance rush ing nearer retreating as rapidly all but fading out then coming close again he ile fought against an overpowering weakness a terrible lethargy he was in pain somewhere yet there was something he had to say something he must say something on which more than his own life depended he could not remember what this was for a time he was at peace yes more than at peace he had a feeling of wonderful happiness he was happier than he had ever been in his life some one he had always wanted to see was at hand some voice he had hungered and rd thirsted to hear was in his ears cars then things even happiness faded out and after another incalculable interval he was aware of fretting again TO BB BE CONTINUED |