OCR Text |
Show most cold blooded, calculating schemer can be tortured Into erased violence. Miss Ramlll glanced up from her cooking, and uttered a Hurtled cry. It awakened her father from hit doze. He gat erect to stare at Huxby. Hux-by. "My G d. Vtvlan. what happened? hap-pened? Yon took like something the cut brought home." Those d J peat a," Iluxby cursed. "Left my headnet. Hey, you airplane thief, fetch me a drink. Jump lively." Garth lifted hla rifle. 'Tut up your hands. No, don't reach for your pistol. Up with them, or I'll wing you That'a It Now hold them there while Mr. Ramlll takes your pistol. I've had enough of your threatening." The millionaire looked at Garth's cool gray eyes, and heaved himself upon hla feet to shuffle around behind be-hind Huxby's shoulder. lie pulled open the leather Jacket and drew lie stalked through the timber. For the first hundred feet or so out from the shore thickets, willows wil-lows grew along both sides of the low edge. A peer through the foliage foli-age showed the Immense palmate antlers of an old bull moose. Garth flattened down on the moss-covered dyke and crawled away from the bank. Shoreward, on the other side, he caught sight of a slight movement among the willows. He rose on his knees and swung up his rifle. Though he was still screened by the brush alongside along-side the ledge, his quick movements sent a strong whiff of man-scent downwind. With loud snorts of alarm, two cow moose, a coif, and a young bull heaved up among the willows less than a dozen yards apart They started to plunge forward out of the thicket. Garth's first shot dropped the calfless cow with s bullet through the head. His second sec-ond bullet glanced off the base of the bull's left antler. Partly stunned by the shock, the bull swerved sideways, only to drop In bis tracks, shot through the heart A few steps along the bank brought him to a game trail through the thickets. lie laid down his rltle and waded out to the dead bull. The body lay on a down-beaten mat of willow stems. Garth at once set to work with his knife. When he had finished with the bull, be went to the cow. She weighed perhaps 200 pounds less, and was therefore easier to dress out. With the two skins and all the meat ashore, he took a dip In a clear pool and washed his buckskins. buck-skins. As be sloshed out of the willows In the wet garments, he saw Miss Ramlll staring through her headnet at the eight big legs. He had hooked them on the stubs of spruce limbs. Her gaze towered tow-ered from the other raw moose products that were piled on one of the hides. She turned from them loathingly. "Faugh I . What a sickening mess I Have you started a packing plant!" "The packing Is Just about to start" be replied. "Are you too feeble to carry this rolled skin? It's the lighter one." That filthy thlngT Yon may be sure I'm not eo feeble-minded as to touch any of your butcher mess." "Very well. Only remember, It's your own choice, sister." He bagged the contents of the bull bide, slung it on bis back, picked up bis rifle, and headed for camp. The girl looked from him to the folded moose cow hide, hesitated, hesi-tated, flushed angrily, and followed, empty-handed. While still some distance from the rill, he whiffed a tang of wood smoke. He quickened his step. It gave him a pleasant surprise. After all, the girl seemed to have given In, at least partly. He turned to her with a friendly look. She met It with a scornful smile. They came to the opening where Garth trimmed a pair of green willow wil-low spits, opened the moosehlde. ed the broiling. He banded one or them to Mr. ItamllL The millionaire lifted his head net to take a gingerly nibble at bis hot meat His heavy face bright eued with a surprised smile. He smacked his Hps and bit oiT a large mouthful At the sound, his daughter daugh-ter Jerked around. Garth was bit Ing Into the other piece of liver. The girl cried out her Indlgna tlon: "You greedy pigs I Where's my piece?" Garth pointed to the moosehlde. "Help yourself." He met her furious look with cool indifference, and went on eating. eat-ing. Unable to blast him, she turned to her father. "I'll take yours, Dad. You've had two bites. It will not take you long to cook another piece. Make It three." At that, Garth swung around between be-tween father and daughter. "Mr. Ramlll, we'll settle this right now. You said you'd leave her to me. I cooked that meat for you. She will cook her own meat or go without" The older man sat for several moments mo-ments considering the matter. He then raised his piece of meat and resumed his meaL Lllith Ramlll s tared at blm, her eyes wide. "My own father I But wait till Vivian comes backl" He winced. Garth Ignored her. "Iletter He down and rest sir. You've done enough for a while. I'm going to get you Into hard training as soon as possible. Hut we must not overdo It at the start Might mean a breakdown." "I am tired, boy and hnngry as a shark. Could eat all the rest of that liver." "Not now. You'll rest do some work, and then get another slice. Call this valley one of those physical physi-cal culture sanitariums where the tired business man Is worked and dieted buck into fit condition." "I have yet to agree to such training, Garth." "Take your choice. If you refuse, re-fuse, 1 give you my word you'll never reach the Mackenzie. I might backpack you in some places; you don't weigh much over two hundred. hun-dred. Happens, though, I'm not a donkey. You'll go on your own feet" "Very well. Put me on them." Obedient to directions, the big man stretched out flat upon the sun-warmed sun-warmed rock. Gar'b turned about to pull the moosehlde and what was upon It Into the shade of a birch. Miss Ramlll thrust In front of him and seized his knife. She slashed at the liver. The blade was razor-sharp. Her angry stroke not only cut through the liver, It slit the moosehlde as well. Garth said nothing. Enough for him that hunger had humbled the girl's pride. She had learned her first lesson. Long hours bad passed since her finicky breakfasting on wine and delicatessen In the cabin of the monoplane, far over on the Mackenzie. She was fairly ravenous. raven-ous. Her rouged Hps twisted with anticipation as she held the spitted slice of liver close upon the coals of the low-burnt fire. Well satisfied. satis-fied. Garth hung the remaining liver, liv-er, tffe tongues and muffles under the cache platform. Miss Ramtli's only thought bad been for her food. She did not think to put fresh fuel on the cook-fire. cook-fire. When It died down to embers, em-bers, she Jerked the partly burnt, Inwardly rare slice of liver from the charred willow spit There was now no finicky fastidiousness about ber eating. She thrust off her headnet and sank her teeth Into the piece of liver with the gusto of a hungry boy. Bite followed bite In rapid succession. CHAPTER IV The Whip Hand. THE girl licked her fingers and turned to stare covetously at the pieces of moose dangling In the smudge-fire smoke. She spoke to Garth almost civilly: "I've no heed to rest Hke Dad. Do I have to wait for another piece?" "Certainly not But you've let the cook-fire go out Keep this one going, and you can use It Better cut another spit Mind the knife edge. If you don't want to lose a finger." She showed she could be deft enough when she chose. One stroke Of the knife hacked off a willow twig, two cuts sharpened the end. Grasping the bottom of the nncut second liver, she sliced up lengthwise, length-wise, all the way to the rawhide thong. She poked the green wood from the near edge of the fire, piled on dry sticks, and cronched down to hold her spit over the blaze. Garth had at onco begun to make cutgut It would be needed to sew the moccasins. He was Intently at work, and the girl was still more intently eyeing her meat when Huxby came striding between the SYNOPSIS As Alan Garth, prospector, Is preparing pre-paring to leave for hla mining claim In the Far North, a plane lande at the airways emergency etatlon. In It are Burton Ramlll. millionaire mining magnate; hie daughter, Lllith; Lll-ith; and Vivian Huxby. pilot and mining engineer. Believing him to be only an ignorant prospector, the men offer to make an air trip to Garth's claim, although they refer to hla eamples of platinum-bearing ore aa nearly "worthless." LiUth Ramlll, product ot the Jais age, plainly shows her contempt tor Garth. Through Garth's guidance the plane soon reaches the claim site. Huxby and Ramlll, after making several tests, assure Garth his claim la nearly valueless, but to "encourage" "encour-age" young prospectors they are willing will-ing to take a chance In investing a small amount. Sensing treachery ahead, Garth secretly removes a part from the plane's motor. Huxby and Lllith taunt Garth with hla "gullibility," "gulli-bility," but their tone changes when they try to start the crippled plane. Returning to ehore they try to force Garth to give up the missing part Garth manages to set the monoplane adrift and the current carries It over the falls. He points out to the enraged en-raged trio that he Is their only hope In guiding them out of the wilderness. wilder-ness. CHAPTER III Continued Where the spring rill came burbling bur-bling over ledges down to the rocky shore, he halted In a small clearing. clear-ing. Here had been his camp on bis previous visit to the valley. Ten feet up the branch-trimmed trunks of four closely grouped birch trees, a tattered moosehlde bung over the edge of a pole platform. Garf'u glanced up at the platform. "Wolverines have robbed the food cache. But there's plenty more meat on the hoof. While I go for some, you two will start gathering wood." Miss Ramtli's nerves were on edge. She snapped at him hysterically: hysteri-cally: "You Insolent bully I Don't you dare to try to give me orders." Her father had squatted down on the warm rock, tired out by bis day's exertions. Garth spoke , to blm: "Too much Is enough. The condition con-dition was that all three of you would do as I thought best Huxby promptly tried again to bluff me. Now your daughter balks." Mr. Ramill raised his down sagged head. "You'll not be able to say that of me, young man. I stand by your terms. I always play to win. But no one can truthfully truth-fully claim I ever welch or revoke. re-voke. I will take your orders, and so will Vivlnn, now that he has bad time to realize the situation." "How about your daughter?" . "I'll leave that to you. If you can control her, you'll be doing more than I have ever been able to do." Garth met the disdainful gaze of the girl with a smile. "So your father turns yon over to me, my lady. Let me hasten to assure yon. I beg to decline the honor." "Ah. Indeedl" "Yes. I'll let old Mother Nature spank you till yon come to your senses." Her blue eyes finred with scorn. "Oh. you you I D n I" "Better save your energy," he advised. ad-vised. "You'll need It all. unless your .pride stoops to the squaw work of camp-flre tending. SmokP drives off Insects. For another thing, no wolf, wolverine or lynx, or even a grizzly will venture close to a fire. Think that over. Mr. Ramlll. Ra-mlll. yon have your patent lighter." He swung away between the spruces without waiting for any reply. re-ply. Left alone with her exhausted father, the girl might come to realize rea-lize how utterly she had crashed out of her soft and luxurious civilized civil-ized environment A girl whom even her father had been unable to control I That had been evident from the first She was a badly spoiled product of the Jazz-age willful, arrogant utterly selfish. Fortunately she had shown herself no less hard physically than mentally. Otherwise he would have played the game In a different way. No weak-muscled woman could make that travols to the Mackenzie. As for her father, he had only himself to thank. A pirate should Garth Lifted His Rifle. "Put Up Your Hands." the automatic pistol from Its hlgh-slung hlgh-slung sheath. Holding the butt forward, he brought the weapon to Garth. "Keep It yourself," Garth told him. "You can give It back to hlra soon as he gets over this fly madness. mad-ness. There's your headnet Huxby. Hux-by. Better stand In the smoke till you get it on." For the first time since Garth had met Lllltb Ramill, she showed consideration for someone else than herself. Her second piece of liver had been cooked enough to be eatable. She tore It In two and gave half to ber fiance. "It's good, Vivian. Try It You must be famished." Her unexpected graclousncss calmed his half-crazed mind. "Why, Lllith yon roasted this yourself! It will taste doubly dell-clous." dell-clous." He forced a laugh. "But I couldn't take the food out of your mouth." "I'll soon cook more. There's plenty." Garth caught Mr. RamlU's hungry look, and shook bis head. "Not yet for as, sir.' We'll pack In some more of the meat before the wolverines wol-verines get It" He laid a mat of willow foliage, sliced up what was left of the second sec-ond liver, and started off with ItamllL Ita-mllL Though at first stiff, tbe millionaire million-aire did not get out of breath so quickly as before. This was an encouraging sign. That easy climb to the claim and the fast return bad been violent exercise for the mine Investor. He could not have recovered so soon If his heart bad been bad. But when be opened his cigar case. Garth Interposed. "You have only four left sir. Better hold them back to taper off gradually. This change of diet Is going to Jolt you hard enough. No wine or whisky, either." Mr. Ramill walked along quite a distance with the cigar case open, his face impassive Inside the mosquito mos-quito gauze of the headnet When at last be looked up, he closed the cigar case and handed It to Garth. "You're the doctor." Garth put the case In bis shirt pocket "AH right, sir. Youll get them when they'll do you tbe most good and you'lj get them all" Again Mr. Ramill walked along with his gaze on the ground. They were near the muskeg swamp before be-fore be looked up. He turned his shrewd gaze upon Garth, and spoke with blunt directness: "What's your game?" Garth chuckled. "Did yon ever outwit a fox, corner a pack of wolves, or trap a crafty old bear?" The rudv face of the millionaire i!iriiiniiiiiMiil'nUi purpled. "What Is the connection?" 'Nothing Insidious," Garth assured as-sured blm. "I had in mind only the fun of the itnme." "So? Weil, young man. It has already been admitted that you've so far taken all the tricks. I gave you credit for more sense, however, than you showed when you cast loose the plana You had no need to walk up like a dupe and permit V'IvIhh to get the drop on you. Enf.v enough for you to've come out of cover with your rifle up. Don't tell me you'd rather travel afoot to the Mackenzie than Ry out In a plane." (TO BE CONTINUED) The Splash That Followed Told Him a Moose Had Caught His Scent. and cut two slices of liver. He put -s slice on each spit, and started to. broil them over the coals. With a look of disgust, Miss Itamlll turned her back and sat down on the rill bank. Before long the broiling liver began be-gan to send out an appetizing odor The girl's nrse went up for an Involuntary In-voluntary sniff, (inrth met the In tent look of her father, and allowed nls left eyelid to flutter slightly. , Another turn 0! the spits complet- spruces. The once elegant engineer was smeared with mud from his mid-body mid-body down to where the rock-milk water of the ford bad drenched the bog slime from bis shoes and leather leath-er aviator trousers. Snugs bad scratched his flying Jacket and even torn through one sleeve. Worst of all, his bare face and neck was a swollen mass of mos qulto-hite welts and the bleeding wounds of deer-fly stings. The skin had already begun to fluff and discolor. dis-color. At sight of the man's condition. Garth picked up his rifle. Even the expect to take his chances. He might be gotten out to the river, and he might not. That depended upon his heart. Soft muscles could be hardened. Not so a weak heart. No question as to the girl and Huxby. f they obeyed orders. Thej could make It A crash In the alders broke In npon Garth s thoughts. The splash that followed told l.lui a moose had caught his scent mid tnken to the lane. To have run to the bank and shot the swimming beast would have been easy. Only, he had no canoe or raft, and the water here was ruther deep offshore. |