Show resurrection ILA 14 elk M m RIVER rim lk y AV ER CHAPTER XI continued 12 the answer he got was a stony silence lence ai As he stood there he caught the smell of wood smoke in the cabin just a first faint whiff fresh burn ing wood birch and dry pine craig patricia spoke from the d darkness outside the cabin here at this corner throwing something against the logs I 1 can hear them craig hurried over put his ear to the wall and listened intently he heard beard muffled voices outside then the unmistakable crackle of fire through a chink near the floor the smoke was sifting in so strongly that it stung his eyes wheres that smoke coming from patricia whispered 1 I its ts getting stronger ngee I 1 smelled it a couple of minutes ago trying to burn us out craig had to tell her all right well go out but the surprise will be on them he groped to the wall bench lifted three of the dynamite sticks from their sawdust packing felt on the shelf above for the box of mercury caps and the small reel of no 3 fuse the mercury caps were old corroded but evidently they were still live for ed davis had got his hand mangled by one of them working swiftly he pressed the caps solidly into the ends of the three sticks then he cut three fuses from the reel one six inches long one ten one eighteen and affixed them to the caps with the earthquake sticks in one hand and his knife in the other he went to the window and slashed out one of the squares of caribou skin so that he could throw through the opening Tre eshia here she whispered back take my rifle its lying on the table and go over beside the door where I 1 can grab you and we can get gone weve got to time our getaway get away to the split second it if were too slow well be shot down and if were too fast well be blown to pieces he knelt on the floor struck a match touched it to the six inc inch ah fuse waited till the tiny spluttering splutter ing started then held the match to the ten and eighteen inch lengths when all three fuses were spitting out their little firecracker sparks he stood up drew back his arm the stick with the six inch fuse went flying through the window through the opening he had slashed and hit in a drift twenty feet from the door the next flung harder landed farther down the path the third flung as hard as he could throw went whirring halfway to the river bank he sprang over to the door lifted the heavy wood bar from its notch and waited one hand on patriciaa Patri cias arm the other clutching his rifle he had only a few seconds to wait came a jarring thunderclap boom b o o m that stunned and deafened patricia and him the whole cabin rocked the blast smashed out all the panes of the window and sent the splintered casing flying across the room it tore the door out of craigs grasp wrenched it off its hinges crashed it against the table nearly smothered by the tremendous cloud of snow and spume kicked up by the explosion craig groped through the doorway clasping patriciaa Patri cias arm and stumbled blindly ahead the spume was so thick that he gasped for breath debris was falling all round and upon them lumps of hard snow pine twigs tatters of birch paper in the black welter he banged his head against a sapling turned asid aside e from it and ran into a rick of wood twenty steps ahead of them the second dynamite stick went off the blast of air and smothering snow knocked them bodily off their feet it was like getting hit by a flying snowbank after a bewildered second craig got up fumbled for his rifle found it patricia managed to get to her knees but the explosion had dazed her and she clutched craigs arm to keep from falling behind them the third dynamite stick exploded uselessly for they had no need of its protection near the bank of resurrection craig halted in a clump of squatty balsams glancing back he saw flames leaping up the sides and over the roof of Higgin sons cabin wed better wait here a while he said till things quiet down those fellows are scouring this whole drogue for us and we might run into the them m were safe enough now well angle away from R resurrection Cs ur and make a big swing in in to the bay and this storm storell ll blot our tracks shut while he was whispering courage to patricia craig made out five of the up near higgin sons fuel pile by the light of the fiercely burning cabin he saw them dimly saw them clustered there in a little knot saw one of them lupe it looked to him kneeling down beside some dark object on the snow the storm and the whipping balsam branches kept him from seeing them clearly or seeing what they were doing craig please patricia begged lets go away lets leave this gha ghastly vy place while cpr lupyon yon der no wait craig said A suspicion had struck him as he peered by william Wil larn byron mowery 0 william byron mowery service uncertainly at that dark prone object and he felt that he had to know the truth before leaving there in a few minutes the five chi waugh imis fetched two poles from the wood pile and made a crude bier of them and a blanket and lifted the dark object upon it then with slow funereal tread they came down the path toward the river bank and craig knew that their destination was that hole in the river ice the hole through which they had intended to shove him that night to oblivion craig C r a i g patricia whispered gasping you you killed one of them yes craig whispered back as the little procession neared them 1 I think its it I 1 s young battu I 1 hit and killed him when they were trying to break down the door im sorry young battu came the nearest of that pack to being human I 1 hate to think that he got killed in a fight that was all lupes doing Warren ll tag a murder charge onto you now nol no dont worry about that warren knows his law too well to try that the would have to explain what they were doing here at Higgin sons place and why they burned this cabin and have a hard time concocting concoct ing any story that boomerang A A do I 1 nave have to listen to those nose lies she cried on them lupe will report officially that battu got drowned or acal accidentally killed they dont dare say anything else the procession filed past them five shadowy and silent figures carrying the bier and at the head of them went lupe holding a candle lantern CHAPTER XII the den was all in an uproar that saturday evening with eighty odd prospectors staging a riotous celebration over the kessler hiu hill discovery the news about the gold lode had leaked out that afternoon and created a furore and at the supper hour when craig officially announced that the claims were safely recorded at the land office a first class pandemonium had broken loose whenever anybody came in at the entranceway entrance way the men would peer through the smoke haze to see whether the newcomer was phil kessler kessler was not there and had not been there since they were waiting for him to show up waiting like eighty cats at a mouse hole he the lucky one among them was slated to get a prodigious reception when he did come in their exuberant high spirits they intended to ride him on a thin rail toss him in a blanket put him through the ice test and the blind mans hanging and then make him the guest of honor at the midnight meal which patricia had planned in the doorway of her office patricia stood watching the scene with craig though this was the victory for which she had fought and sacrificed since the poppies were blooming last fall she felt anything but happy herself six hours ago a mail plane had arrived from resolution bringing the injunction and before the legal day was over corporal northup would have to serve the writ on craig and her she tried to believe that this gold lode would eventually deliver them from the bondage of that injunction but the months ahead until that time should come stretched bleak and empty and unbearable and she had written just that day to her mother and frances trying to explain all that had happened to her on this fateful arctic trip and telling them that she was not to come home again or be one with them again across the big room corporal dennis northup appeared at the en trance way looked around at the jubilant men finally saw her and y craig and started over toward them steady Tre eshia craig c comforted om take this like a good little soldier like youve taken all these other hard knocks this is warrens inning but some day well have ours 9 hello northup greeted the them m shamefaced and apologetic come in dennis craig said evenly northup took a document from his pocket its a pretty raw deal you two are getting I 1 hate like poison to serve this and enforce it but my personal likes and dislikes dont matter he tl unfolded folded the paper glanced at patricia and craig then began reading hurriedly TO craig tarlton and to patricia may wellington and to your attorneys attorney 3 solicitors licit ors agents and servants and each and rid every one of you greeting whereas it hath bath been cepres represented anted on the part of rosalie L tarlton complainant nant that sold said complainant is the lawf lawful added wedded wife of said craig tarlton the office door drifted open and the jubilant noise came pouring into the tiny room craig rose and closed the door and he did willfully and deliberately and without cause desert and abandon said complainant his wife and has refused refus ct to live with her or provide tor for her or receive her into his dwelling and Is not providing said complainant with moneys or goods or means of sustenance patricia thought of the million and a half dollars which craig had given rosalie and which rosalie had squandered in europe she glanced up at him thinking to see him indignant di gnant but he was listening calmly to the writ unmoved by its skillfully dressed up lies and its glaring perversion of the human truth As northup paused a moment she heard above the muffled noise of the den the spluttering splutter ing tt tatt tt tt of an airplane motor over across resurrection both craig 0 and northup heard it were puzzled but then northup went on reading by it and listened a few seconds and whereas said patricia ma wellington by undue association with an and d influence over and connivance with said craig tarlton is injuring and damaging said complainant and Is usurping said complainants lawfully established rights and privileges as wife in divers manners contrary to equit equity and good conscience patricia sprang up her eyes full of furious tears the shame heaped upon her was more than she could bear usurping privileges wife in divers manners each word hit her like a blow do I 1 have to listen to those lies she cried its infamy all of ill worse than it makes me out a common streetwalker street walker craig asked northup dennis skip the rest of that part wont you northup dropped down the page we therefore do strictly command YOU the said crale craig tarlton and patricia may wellington that you do absolutely desist and retrain refrain from visiting each others place of 0 abode meeting or holding converse in any manner whatsoever or written aritte n or verbal communications until un g and unless this court in chancery sitting shall make other order to the contrary hereof tail fail not under penalty of 0 what the law directs after a time northup commented theres not much I 1 can do to soften this for you but ill do everything I 1 can you two are carrying on a fight here and youve got to plan together you can do it through or me theres nothing in this writ to prevent either one of you from telling your plans to us and then well tell em to the other person he rose to go one last thing you may consider that this writ goes into effect at midnight tonight instead of now give you a little time to clear up odds and ends patricia looked out of the window windo W unseeingly at the brilliant moonlight on the white snow across the river the airplanes tt tatt tt tt had settled into a steady powerful rhythm but she did not hear it A curious numbness was creeping over her body her knees shook she clung to the window sill with both hands the snow outside seemed to be heaving and tossing like the waves of a lake and the pines were jig gering crazily like the reflections of tree trunks in water in a little time she fancied it was only a few seconds but in reality it was two or three minutes the numbness began going away the trees stopped jig gering the snow flattened out and lay still patricia turned around from the window craig and northup were standing in the doorway staring into the big room everything had quieted out there except tor for a whisper flying from man to tan man from group to group A wh whisper isper that seemed to paralyze everybody who heard it some prospector spoke up in the dead quiet ills his voice was husky with emotion he aughta be shot full of holes the mangy carcajou he aughta be strung up high killings too good tor for a sneak like him craig called sharply sam this kessler done here come herel here tell me happened honeywell left the bull and came stumbling toward the oft office ice none of the other men seemed able to stir from their tracks they were paralyzed waiting waiting for somebody to break the spell and lead them kesslere Kess lers sold us out craig sam blubbered lovett give m spot cash tor for the lode and he double crossed us around the room an ugly muttering started like a ground swell or the rumbling of a quake A voice yang rang out louder than the muttering them claims at all by rights craig was the man that found that lode kessler had give the hunt up cold and now the dirty he sells out on us grabs his money and tt tatt tt tt above the angry rumble of voices the thrum of the airplane came drifting into the den A huge redheaded red headed prospector leaped upon a table and waved his arms kessler he bellowed hes in that planel plane whipping m away from here why that planes been warming up lets git m afore he gits gonel gone lets nail m and them claim papers both if we destroy them papers his deallo be no good then hell deal with us by god his words were the spark that exploded the men his last sentence was drowned in a roar that shook the building As he leaped from the table and made for the en trance way all 80 of the prospectors surged after him crowding and jamming into the narrow passage A little knot of them on the outer fringe seized a chair smashed out a window window and scrambled through to the outside craig shouted an order at the men to stop them but his voice was lost in the uproar northup snatched out ot his belt gun and shot into the floor to draw their attention and halt the mob rush but bu t even the bark of his 44 was drowned out crai craig T seized him by the arm den dennis nis I 1 weve got toi to stop deml blind mad crazy mad wreck the whole works over there they might kill kessler weve got to head em off here this way lets get out this way he yanked at the office window flung it up northup vaulted through craig turned for an instant Tre eshia stay here dont for lords sake get mixed up in this he sprang through the window and disappeared joining northup his order went past patricia unheard clambering through the window after craig she dropped into the snowdrift beneath picked herself up and started running running as hard as she could down to the river bank and out upon resurrection all around her in the moonlight men were surging across the river yelling brandishing snowshoes or clubs or whatever they had laid hands upon somewhere up ahead she heard craig and northup shouting ng trying to stop the rush or turn it from beyond them came the staccato roar of the bellanca pilot odron was stepping up the rew to start his ship down the smoothed os off fairway As she headed for the lake the main rush passed her up ahead she heard yells and oaths and the sound of men fighting furiously and she knew that the five mis along with warrens other men had thrown themselves in front of the prospectors and were battling them trying to halt them |