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Show ' 'S'flf jit! PI kK Tr .eddini Nod Pton, J" Mad. Unbeknown to . . an AUsk camp of 11. man wnm be sue-i?, sue-i?, r."dohlm- Bruce i end blck' ? . encounter. P.xton fUr. .nd Insist, on iwtbt SamP ister' w.h0 Shop. Bruce aud Janice disturbed shortly telli Uc m her husband, e rtot dead. "If you ,",be .wUtini to Bruce, Bruce tpe"" tne wbM The commissioner ar- fckt U on. 5 brother, who hated Joe, '1 to the meantime and 1 with the ttury. LrTERxm lissioner's eyes were issuringly friendly as iand of the situation. 1 did you quarrel with j before you went to the !4ning; did he object to Ihim?" ,.. u lly last evening?" he e didn't want me to ;nt?" a short time." beaten you?" e'than usual." i e. Had he quarreled .it hpadauarters?" Out of earshot of the Samp cabin, the Commissioner stopped. drifted lazily Into the pink afterglow, after-glow, as Harcourt entered his cabin. He stopped on the threshold. Was that really an embroidered cloth and shining silver on the small table laid for two, or was he seeing things? The plates and tumblers of the warranted-to-withstand-wear-and-tear variety were his he would swear to that Who was humming to the accompaniment of an egg-beater? egg-beater? He flung open the kitchen eyes, her throat, her mouth. She struggled for an instant before she relaxed against him. He pressed his lips to her hair. "Dearest!" "Ha-ar-court!" The Commissioner's shout outside crashed into his husky voice. Janice Jan-ice caught the back of the chair as he released her. Her long lashes were a dark fringe against her colorless col-orless skin. Paxton was staring out of the window, a fighting set to his A Harcourt. You can't Jyou can't! Bruce nev-fwith nev-fwith him. He was at lop every moment till ime with me and then e in." looting was done with ou know?" The quest-aimed whisper. Lid on the shore." lup with agonized eyes landing by the mantel. Ice!" fur brother were in the ing decorate it Did ! nether the gun was notice." ere besides you and brought in the greens. ikas unpacking some of the bedrooms." describe what you u entered the cabin." ing face down on the ir overturned. I don't 'fig I stood staring at ' nething tugging at my my little dog begging . That broke the spell raised Joe's head and ilized what had hap-ushed hap-ushed for Mr. Har- ssioner fitted spatula ether with nice pre-theory pre-theory as to the mo-attack mo-attack on your hus-ale?" hus-ale?" gers tightened. "No. it was robbery. Joe I a lot of cash." 'ou go for Mr. Har-of Har-of your brother?" nmy? Why he hated )e stifled a cry with Vou're not trying to t Jimmy did it, are iruce! You know Jim-w Jim-w that he's incapable i that." you then that he was ! !re?" She was on her 1 as she stood. Harder Har-der back into the iy, Millicent. Jimmy plane." ce, where?" hour he will be on out. We won't trou- uur. "Janice!" The girl in her gay smock, furiously furi-ously beating eggs in a bowl, bobbed a dancing-school curtsy. "'What are you doing here?" "Here! Didn't milord send word by Miss Martha that if I did not return to the H house pronto he would come for me?" "I didn't send for you because I "wanted a cook." "Don't bite. Miss Martha intimated inti-mated that as a chef Pasca left something to be desired. 'I seen my duty an' I done it Look at that asparagus with sauce vinaigrette. I found a basket of gulls' eggs. I'm making an omelette, a plump, yellow yel-low omelette, not one of those thin things with a soap-sudsy filling. Something tells me that I have mortally mor-tally offended your house-boy. He cares so awfully for himself as a cook." Harcourt looked gravely at Janice seated across the small table. "For the first time in my life I understand why my father always said grace at his own table. Mother was something for which to give daily thanks if he had nothing else." He cleared his voice. "Where did all this elegance come from?" He touched the beautiful cloth with a shining silver spoon. "I told you that I had not realized real-ized quite into what I was adventuring. adven-turing. Thought I might have an occasional afternoon tea." "And you drew this. It is all wrong, Jan, but we won't go back to that now." He looked at the clock. "I am taking off in just thirty minutes." min-utes." "Where?" "After Jimmy Chester." "Oh, no! Not nice Jimmy Chester! Ches-ter! Does the Commissioner think he did it?" He told her of the interview with Millicent Hale, while Pasca served the simple supper. As the Eskimo set cups of coffee on the table, Harcourt Har-court smiled at the girl. "This has the restaurant at which we dined beaten a mile. Feed Tong, Pasca. Fuel the Tanager. I will be at the field in ten minutes.' As the door closed behind the man and dog, Janice asked: "Why are you taking that particular particu-lar plane?" "Because I can take off after a siiouiaers. Harcourt picked up jumpers, helmet, hel-met, rifle. His blood raced. He had Intended to kiss Janice lightly, a mere gesture to impress the late fiance with the reality of their re-lationship. re-lationship. The feel of her in his arms had set him aflame. He had kissed her as though he were starved for her as he was. Would she forgive him? She followed him to the door in true wifely solicitude. Said in a voice disconcertingly steady: "Good luck to you, Bruce." As he stepped to the board walk she leaned forward to whisper furiously: furi-ously: "Your technique is superb. You must have had heaps of practice. But why martyr yourself to impress Ned?" He caught her hand. She twisted it free. Stepped back. The door closed. Harcourt was still stubbornly clinging to the conviction of Jimmy Chester's innocence when on the third day of the search he left the northernmost camp. Not one of the three he had visited had yielded a clue. The Commissioner was irritated irri-tated and air-worn. He had ordered a return to headquarters, had radioed radi-oed Grant to expect them that afternoon. aft-ernoon. As Harcourt climbed to cruising altitude the first uneasiness as to Chester's safety seized him. Once he thought he heard the vibration vi-bration of an engine ahead. It couldn't be the Commissioner, must be a sound mirage. He sent the plane up again and came out into the sun. The altimeter registered a mile. He kept above the clouds till he came into clear sky. Descended to get his bearings. Was that a camp below? Men, looking no bigger than beetles, moving. Digging? Probably archaeologists in search of the first Americans. He looked at the compass. com-pass. His heart stood still. It had gone dead. Some electric current in that prickling rain storm had done the trick. Where was he? A buzz in his ear warned him that he must have more forward speed instantly or the plane would stall and spin out of control. As he climbed swiftly he looked round the horizon to get his bearings. Toward To-ward the south the sky was black with smoke. Old Katmal tuning up. Nnw he knew the direction in which iiuw, Mrs. Hale. !n. See you in the : ie on, Harcourt" ot of the Samp cabin, ' 'Mr stopped. ;m knows more than 1 whole lot more. We'll te're as dumb as she H while we go after lissioner said Bruce i '& where a plane could ; t admitted it. we three large camps Provisions for two Jave gooa fields. Un-lal Un-lal an accident, he me down in one of ildn't go to aity or z- If he is running l now that you would 'Ption broadcast." m an hour. Leave fge with instructions lale have her head. eung secure, that's ! to eat at the Waffle ' cabin. 1 want t0 a- my house-boy. and charge." I ' was strumming a ; n his ukulele as ; ea his cabin and left J eye on Janice, will kwf honeymoon!" : I cen' suggested ."active of the at- 'ie r-?vney was t0"nd , I111 bear watching." fr0Ia the chimney. run of less than three nunarea ieei, and come to a complete stop one hundred feet from the spot where the plane first touches the ground. As I don't know where I may have to come down, it's the best bet." He looked at her steadily. "Do I need to tell you that MiUicent's intimation in-timation that it would matter to me if she were free is a figment of her crazed imagination?" Janice was intent on the pattern she was etching on the cloth with the tip of a silver spoon. "Imagination! It sounded like the real thing to me." He caught her shoulders. ou know better. You know that I-Good I-Good Lord, is that the Commissioner Commission-er knocking? Can't he allow me a minute with with my family? He opened the door. The smiling, smil-ing, Impeccably dressed man facing fac-ing him said suavely: . . "I was told that I would find- "Ned!" The choked exclamation came from Janice. Harcourt glanced at the clock. Five minutes before he was due at the flying field. Only five minutes. He looked stra.ght at Paxton. whose eyes were on the gi"Come in. Jan, here is a friend from the outside world. As i sne took a step forward he glanced I un-seelngly un-seelngly at his wrist-watch. ior-ry ior-ry that I have to leave headquarters just as you arrive, Paxton, but Jan-ice Jan-ice and Grant will show youthe wonders of this north country He caught the girl to his annj. "It's like tearing my heart out to leave you. Beautiful!" He kissed her to fly. , He mounted into the clouds. They were moving south. They would serve as compass. The drone of an engine? Was he really hearing it? The ellcct was weird. Suddenly fog caught him. To his astonishment he came out into brilliant sunlight. What an infernally in-fernally queer world! The berg-dotted sea was over his right wing. In his relief he laughed. The plane had flopped on its side. He righted it and took his bearings. How long had he been flying aim-lessly aim-lessly in the storm? He glanced at his' wrist-waich. Noon. He frowned atthegaseauge. Couldn't do much more experimenting with that sup-nlv sup-nlv He peered over the side of the shin An ice-floe. Big as an able-bodied able-bodied island with acres of plateau. He wing-slipped nearer, wires hum-nil hum-nil Dots! Three of them! Two movtag. One inert. A plane on its l?de The phantom of the clouds fckeSip? Could one of the dots be Chester? No. Jimmy went alone Engine shut off, he side-slipped down Landed, bumped and skid-ded skid-ded over the rough surface to a stop. The floe stretched away inimitably. St coUection of cakes but acres o, grinding, heaving ice-fields, their mfothness broken by an occasbna crevice choked with loose fr ag ments. by swiftly running riU . H. rushed back his helmet. The crip-P, crip-P, h nlane! Good Lord, what a Propeller smashed, one twine gashed into fringe by the ice. Where W8S h0BE COmSVED) |