Show THE FREE TRADERS I A FIGHT FOR LIFE SYNOPSIS Lee SYNOPSIS Lee Anderson Roy Roy- noyal Royal Key Key-al al Canadian Mounted Police Pollee ser ser- sergeant B geant ant Is sent to Stony tango Hange to arrest a man named PcB Pelly for murder lIe Ho Is In also Instructed to look after Jim Pathway reputed reputed hen head 1 of ot the Free Tree Tra Traders Illicit liquor runners At Little falls Falis l ho he finds ands Pelly Pell Is credited with hawing having found a II gold eold mine an and andIs andla 1 Is missing At the hotel appears R a girl eirl obviously out of oC place pinco In Inthe inthe Inthe the rough surroundings A half half- halfbreed half breed ree breed 1 Pierre an and 1 a n companion Short anno annoy the girl eirl n An derson Interferes Interfere In herf her f behalf halt The girl sets out for Slaton Siston Lake which Is la also An Andersons Anderson's objective objective tI tIlie tive He lie overtakes o her and antl tho two men with whom he lie had troll trou trouble ble blo the night before She Is 19 sus- sus suspicious us of oC him hint ai m amid d 1 the two men are hostile and Short Pierre Shorty ride on Anderson Ander on and aid al 1 the girl In the hills the road rond is blown up before and behind tho two Anderson with his horse Is la hurled down the moun noun mountain mountain tain lain side senseless Recover Anderson finds ands thE girl has disappeared but Lut he concludes she lio Is alive and pro probably probably ably aLl In the power of Pierre and Shorty On foot he makes hi his way to 11 1 Lake 0 There he heIndl finds ands his companion of the do day t ore and vay with a n girl Estelle a former Cormer sweetheart of oC ofA An Andersons Anderson's who wt-o had hod abuse abused 1 his confidence and almost wrecked his life Pathway strikes Estelle and after aCter a II fight ficht Anderson Andorson with Estelles Estelle's help escapes escape with the girl Andersons Anderson's companions companion's mind Is clouded clo and she Is suf suffering suf- suf suffering fering fering- with a n dislocated 1 knee Anderson sets the knee and maes makes the girl as comfortable as a possible lIe He has a n broken rib The two plan to make their wa way a ton toa Moravian lan mission of or which Father McGrath has lias charge Their acquaintance ripens Into love The girl remembers that her name Is Joyce Joce Pelly She Is daughter of ot the man Anderson has been sent to arrest Torn between her love lo for her father and her regard for Anderson the gIrl practically drives him from Cram her In the forest Anderson upon the entrance to A gorge and Is ts convinced con he has located Pelly's Felly's mine CHAPTER Continued X-Continued X Continued 8 I Lee Lc-e e saw that from from the point where lie he was clinging there appeared to be beIt bea bea It a fairly easy descent to tn t the It was on only the upper parts of ot the ell cliffs ITs In the gorge gurge that were But he lie could go no further now Anxiety for Joyce Joce was rising In him lIe Ill was half afraid she might do something rash In some wa way vay seemed to be associated with Telly perhaps he lie was teas protecting him Suppose then that time the girl had gone one back buck to the Free traders headquarters on lake Or 01 lied tied into tune the storm In her frenzy Suppose I they he had been followed Lee Iee remembered his fancy that h tie lie had seen an nn Indian watching them Thel The Free Traders would surely have ha been watching the lie trail at nt either end of the lake Inke knowing that sooner or later the they must emerge rge out of or the forests Then lie he remembered the shallow shadow In Inthe Inthe luthe the log lob house and this specter l Ili which he lie had disbelieved dJ now began to assume In his Ills mind a n formidable aspect Suddenly as ns Lee clung citing there he heard a n rumbling sound above e his head and a It moment later Inter something hurtled past It and smashed upon upun the ground of the chasm Looking down Lee saw the lie fragments of ot an nn enor enor- enormous enormous enormous boulder 1 lying ln on the ground Im Immediately mediately nth beneath him lie hall had had a n narrow escape And AmI reluctantly he lie turned to re enter the tunnel But nut before lie he had thrust his JH head Id and shoulders In there came Clime an- an another another an another other rumble And this tills time It was only the little projecting ledge above e his head licad that saved his life The fhe boulder struck time the lie edge of ot It shot oat out Into the air and Just missing him smashed to pieces below Lee looked up but Lut the overhanging ln cliffs shut out the view of e everything except the overhanging o bushes and the sky ky or not human agency was responsible for the time fall of the two boulders It was certain that the tun- tun tunnel's tun tunnel's nels nel's mouth did not appear to be n a particularly healthy spot at nt that mo mo- moment moment ment ment Ant Anil Lee forced forcell his Ills head licad and LInd shoulders shoulders shoulders ders through h and groped g for the rock ladder within bruising ln his Ids thighs and shins against the ed edges es of the open open- openings openings n ings Extending his hands he lie felt time the smooth surface of the worn water In- In Interior In Interior tenor wall lie He grasped the ladder clung to It pulled himself up and his footing t And then of a mm sudden Lee had the thet unmistakable Instinct that he lie was liS not alone There was another ln living thing I within the tunnel Though It was absolutely dark ex- ex except ex except for the faintest reflection from the Interior of the gorge which filtered up from below and thou though h Loc Lee coul could not hear henr the faintest sound he lie felt Its lis presence h by some Inner sense ense that was not hearing he lie felt relt the rhythmical pulsations of lIf Its lis life And It t was a n human heln being Lee felt the fog of human hatred Hung flung out to toward toward toward ward him Instinctively he lie knew the of an encounter under r con conditions racking nerve than Ihan more store any lie he hall had e ever er r experienced He Ito knew for sure now that the fall of the two boulders had been heen no accident lie fie had been watched he lie had L been en seen to enter and that watcher meant to Il fl ht him to the lh death ath And or of course It tt was telly i lie He did not relish the prospect of ot n a I struggle tru le with the crazed old man one could hardly end In any other wa way than b by the lie death uth of or one of them It would he bo a mt sharp relent relent- relentless relentless less struggle In which Lees Lee's on disadvantage tage tuc age In lay In time ilio fact that he lie could not noibe be the he to 10 lire Lee Je called Is that you Oll Pelly 1 w want mt to talk tall to you rou No 0 answer I canut camel came He lie strained his hisert's eyes erts upward through the darkness Colors and wheels of or light shed I across his Ills vision Islon and went out Telly listen n to me Lee Ie tried fig again You know what ha t Ive I've court for fOI Youve You've got ot no chance cliance Surrender Surrender Surrender der timid anil you'll ouli get fair treatment nt Still no answer and yet et l Lee Iee e could feel el that other human personality close to hint him lie Ito walled waited baffled Th here re was no wa way to move more mo save ver ver- vertically and there was S no possible re retreat re- re retreat treat trent for or him The fhe smooth Ice-smooth granite walls were all about him Time TIll tun tun- tunnel tunnel tunnel nel was a u straight narrow shaft up and down from the rocking ln stone above nho to that d deadly drop below blow It was Impossible to rush the lie other impossible to do anything except to clamber slim up those slippery slipper rungs or of rock expecting every Instant to tc hear the roar of P Pollys Polly's ll s pistol nn and to receive recel the bullet hullet In his breast It WitS was absurdity And once on e again Lee tiled led Pelly Telly Pell you'll you'd oue better give I e up I cnn can shoot you ou from here Surrender and and- lie did not end that sentence For Forus mIs liS he lie clung ther there In a moment time the thing above e him had materialized Into life action fm fury A b bellow burst from Its throat thront and th the lie Found within the shaft and deflected from wall to wall sounded like hike the roar ronI or of orsome sonic some prehistoric mon monster ter And nd n heavy y body hOlh was precipitated against him with a n force that th t all nil but dislodged him For an on Instant Lee struggled wildly to retain his balance and and then there came a blow over o the that knocked the wind out ot of him Lees Lee's es hand liand encountered an enormous normous hand at his Ills chest Within that hand lie he felt the hilt of ot n 0 knife Reaching hack Lees Lee's fingers finger closed upon the thelast thelast last Inch ln i or nr two of n a n wide blade hlade The steel appeared to be burled buried al almost a- a al- al almost most to the ext extremity remit within his bod body There was no sense of ot a stab but for an nn Instant Lee Iee Ml felt a n deadly taint faint faintness ness faint nS ness overcome o him and n again aln he lie reeled and clutched for foothold Then Ihen he had torn the hand away awa J plucked out the knife and hurled It down through the darkness of oC the tunnel tunnel- Into the gorge below The next Instant he was fighting the most desperate battle hattle of ot his Ills life to win through the tunnel before lie bled Into unconsciousness lie Ill cau caught ht at nt two long sinewy arms that clutched his Ills body In the he endeavor or to fling him down o and dJ holding on by their knees and feet the two wrestled In complete silence It was a 0 the man man lie thin thing that held LEe but hut It seemed more like n a mon mon- monster mon monster ster for the naked arms were covered co with thick hair hall underneath which the sinews moved mo over o each other like hike steel tel hands bands Lee was no match In he lie could only cling on me like megrim grim grim death feeling his lungs constrict under that liat pressure and LInd expecting ev- ev eer every ev every er ery moment to feel his Ills Injured rib crack In his side Ills left hand liand encountered a 0 groove In the rocky rung above obo him and ond gripping g It determined that nothing should tear ear his Ills hold away with his right fist lie hum began un hammering his Ills ns- ns assailant's as assailant's face and body Incessantly Ills blows rebounded from front the great rent chest as It If It were of ot rubber and each blow sent the breath Issuing hoarsely from the lungs with whim raucous Wheezing that filled the thc tunnel It If time the oilier other could have got Lees Lee's left hand liand he hc might have hate torn him from Ills his hold but as If It unaware ot of his hold his Ills assailant put all his strength Into the endeavor Or to force breath from his hia body and twist him backward while LeeJ Lee clinging on des dt's desperately desperately continued to batter hatter the face find and bod body Although h it was Impossible to drawback draw drawback hack back Ills his arm atm fur far enough to deliver r a blow hlo with full Core force Lees sees lower lover position gave e a him the nd advantage e o of equipoise over o his Ills strange assailant lint and enabled d hint him to administer fear fear- fearful fearful ful punishment For a minute or two It was problematic problematic matic natle whether Lee Lc-c could withstand the strain lon long enough h to conquer Thereal The real reat shoulders S Sun swung un Lee front from side sille to side In time the r shaft haft like n a child and ill III the while Lee believing hi If seriously It If not fatally wounded fought ht on with the lie mechanical action of a u pl piston tonJ dashing his Ills fists lists Into Inlo his opponents opponent's face until at last groans be- be bean bean be began gan an to burst from rom the other ether Then feeling th lie clutch r relaxing Lee let go o his Ilis hold and standing tl sti night up on tile the rung run rum brought both fists Into Inlo play No human being coult lIu 1 hmm e stud stood UI up against that fearful nt Lees Lee's fists were WE're wet with The Tile grasp rasp about him relaxed III the fur fury of or his blows and found rounel that lie he was Imam Imam- at tile time bare tare face of ot the rock II His Ilik i as assailant was gone five TN ln-ird ln the scraping of or big hie hl feet on onI I upper lell ledges es of the rock ladder Timm n feeling cautiously sl above ahon him It ee continued d his Ills ascent until ot at 1 h there came a u tiny tin glimmer of from above e chon changing Into Inlo n a sod sud sud len laic Iu lane e as of high noon Tin rime tunnel was empty TI glare Iare decreased to n a glimmer Lee understood what It meant Ills His as- as aa gallant hull had tilted back thin tho rocking stone and fled In Tn another moment or two Lee was W B By y Victor Rousseau Copyright by W 0 Chapman Service beneath the Hie stone He lie flattened him him- himself himself self upon the he ground round and drew his au- au automatic au automatic t tic lie Ho tired one shot anti and be he before fore tore the lie echoes choR had lind died away awny had imd pushed the time stone atone back and emerged pistol In hand TIle The glare hind had been only In contrast to the dark of ot the tunnel Outside It was melancholy twilight Leo Lee emerged Into a II solitary snowbound worM world There was no sign of ot his Ills antagonist hull had c evidently hind had enough for the tho present L Leo Lee e looked down nt ot the tho fragments of shirt that remained re to him expect expect- expecting expecting ing to find himself It soaked In blood lie was astonished to see Be-a only n a thin thread on Ills his chest lie He tore the rag op open n There was only a n scratch on limo tho skin front from the point knife but there was n a spreading under bruise bruise under the coils colls of or Joyces Joyce's hair In which time the knife blade hind hod become entangled Time The blow struck struck Immediately over o overtime time heart would have o killed him in- in instantly In Instantly but for that Leo Loo raised time the tresses ere re reverently to his lips And with n a deep feeling of ot tenderness toward the tho girl he began bogon to make his way through the twilight toward the tho tholo lo log house lie was torn between n apprehension for tor her and speculation us liS to his assail assail- assailant assailant ant Ills first thought hind hall been that the man was Telly Pelly But nut now he be- be began began be began gan to doubt this Ills An old man might have had his ants ant's strength strength-he strength would not pare ha had the endurance nut But stronger stroner still was the conviction con tint that mon monstrous trous form which had attacked him mum In time the shaft could never ne have been tho time father of ot Joyce Yet who but Pe Pelly knew the secret ot of the mine The Time problem was at nt present Insoluble Insoluble uble ube but Its consideration brought with It tho fear that Joyce might have hn been attacked as ns well Lee Leo quickened Ills his footsteps through thorough the storm Ill I'll I II II Il If Ii I l I f i l lI I 1 1 w 1 l Ho He He Flattened Himself on the Ground and Drew His HI Automatic which was now DO subsiding thought the snow still fell steadily He lie blamed himself bitterly for having left eft time the girl Surely the time str strength of or that love lore and tenderness lie he felt reIt toward tm her would reach her and sh she would responds respond 1 I And he lie planned what lie Ime would say sayto sayto t to hoer her lie He would all advise her that It waR vas Improbable that h r father would receive recel anything but Jut n a nominal sen sen- sen- sen sentence sentence tence that he might even en go free that In the absence of or witnesses a n con lc conviction tion |