Show MEN r oft if MU ff EGI by VICTOR ROUSSEAU C I 1 1 ly WHEN NATURE FROWNS i la Is not a genial old dame nature writers and poets to the contrary notwithstanding go 00 at her bar ath with a club and the she wl give free lafer Y 13 but it site she alwa always watches for a chance to get even he 0 her and she 1 Is cruet cruel am aa the tap grave she k edons no mistakes and always se resents mares mans intrusion int finiw her places Is id north american indian lor a swamp tuge tuse 1109 we its generally general a bad place for or travel this big ritu wits was crossed here herc and there by trolls but was war never stable contained a river of 0 booz ooze a and had unsounded d depths nature had apparently black attick it 11 ru right t there thera mop atop the he Exter going farther se 6 around uie big re colven a thrilling story of 0 canadian railroad d buildings buil dinga a ight against the ho hostile forces of nature ex K interesting are the aide lights on the life ot of the north vest best ot of nil all theres there a a fascinating mry of tile the love los land and passions of the tha strong men and women voine ii ft who bo are cori conquering que ring the wildern espi victor rousseau knows known life from rom experience he has bas been a student lnE in Engi ngian a tighter fighter in south africa flip a newspaper Paper man in the united e states ile he to Is the author of mariy many noiel and his public to IB large CHAPTER 1 I A bolt from thi the blue Right eighteen een below fair weather for december in new manitoba blant tuba where liere m the forest though hough it t chills tle the soil roll till oil midsummer yet let shuts out the of odthe the winds that alake the fie pral rf ries ea farther south nit an ley irv inferno here the bush which had seemed to stretch out ably thinned into bedraggled patches among the up iii cropping rocks A little farther and it began bedah ance once more morettie mor etlie 1 the brook break was like it a great curving arm anil thrust into the heart of it ni as it if some giant fingers liiK cra had bad plucked up the trues trees in handout and scooped the foundation train the frozen coll an and d then had been with draft n leaving tile the imprints Impi luts of the great finger tips these anger aps ops were mere huge holes sometimes bilica kllc d with water vater so that they formed jortner clear takes more often sodden odden sponges of decayed es eatable inetter oozy treacherous ond and unstable uni the finger ians were the circular ridges marking the subsidence of the mud the thumb ans vas nig ifie mus illus ke keg alch which the two t vo men who stood on oil the top of ilia ho humpbacked could see extended beneath them big 1119 lilu muskeg at this paint less than half a 1 mile ns everywhere ever where of unsounded depth it curved cun ed anil and v wound a river of ooze now broadening into chains ota lakes now into gu gullies liles here an and there tin re crossed by bi trails but never stable of f cering farni foundation for the permanent w way tty ay of ilia lie railroad tile the mas a lit tondi anch line feeding the alie new roid road that ans ft as push ing toward the lie ports to lie bo on hudson buy bay it linked with it ni at it was as being extended etrul cd eastward ead 1 to a virgin wilderness hven in the dna dayi alien wn hulf a dozell doon companies compan lea were pegging out anys for floes that sicre to divert the hear north joe nix Bo stocks 8 line ciul joke of le IId thres ahil those other lines that were ere being built into clayton parsed through ti rough tile ali JOL S line ran ann cast out of clatch intha had secured ills capital calif tal but lie had no and nal slowly with will its tinnel shareholders land tHi means eins eliud till gone ahead tiie alie first location parties butil lutil clel cleared ired a biond to big muskeg 4 the rails lind been laid inid half way ny but that ans oil all sine save for tile HIP partly constructed shacks and buildings for tile there und tha sl sheds a its for the cuned netlon material f that lind had not yet et leen been freighted ln in joe standing with legs ite top of the ridge turned to wilton carruthers tile hie chief of th ilif I 1 company with eyebrows evel irown arched aind humorous tin inquiry on ills his weather old faie face there was VM no need for speech at that moment because the mind of each inan dwelt on the identical problem tam two men hittl lime acome east by do dog sleigh alel gli lv fly two tw half breet lit jeon awn and nn liin ibe one oiw in fit chairge cli arin of t the lie dog hi the mthm carrying thirry varr tt irry ying the comein they hid find d seven kevell baek back on 01 tilt the preceding even eventino and hild had felt out tit at dah rutt to v the swamplands landstrom from tile hf ridge for lie problem hild risen up tip t confront them chin loMI for Ai lution defore fore construction could be carried forward and on its lt solution depended the future of if the mefi athil with the physic id eye 03 e neither jo 1 nor could hope to acca alil wilton was seeking inspiration though thoi igli lie be did not know it theoretically Theoretical lp lie he was vs endeavoring 0 to o bonio someplace altice h foien tint roii might ile be ivied iii ed above the unstable quaking surface lilt and trib crill work I 1 pr cros ang chilt tile jell tencil 1 I possible ble of mile i till hh no lucro than four of one per ier cent ot of grade gra and four degrees of curve actually and unconsciously he war wai seeking to interpret the natural ron con aulsion which had in time Immen sur ably remote renio tc cloven clot en the of tilt anti arid and set the swamp samp seeping into the ilia aa ure af t lie he could rend read the lie meaning of that thai convulsion under understand the llie igind an anil mood ot of tile the groat grent architect he could las ns if just where the muskeg lay iny thinnest oil the roots boota of ait the he hills where ballast would mould appear kippear the soonest rheve the lie sucking iwai sinai si nii nip but lie could rend nothing joe bostock wrinkled tits ills eves eyan 11 against tile the athul I 1 was os nUng dug wll wit ton lie suld but its got to he be flone So metod 11 build it some day it if tile the t that was the he nearest it peach to tie le 1 tant ut jpe invincible that flint lie ile was ns lind had ever itin inide le weeks months of resurvey mut mu t en sue site with work halted and the capital to vanishing point while the story atory of tile the gre great nt blu blunder percolated the lob bobble ble of the legislature filled filth th blana jeering jeer lne III conditioned men to w aiom one days trump such as 03 their laborers performed would menu apoplexy opley op their their faces haunted wilton ile he remembered half a dozen whom lie had approached when the was that hist bruited bruised abroad was in particular tom bowyer of the new northern line his many interests en tren cliett behind the bulwarks bulwa of political influence joe Ilo itoch had SUR sug an in tile the belief that toni lom bowyer could wreck thu the bill lit in them the le lesl baitt slature ure nut but tom had find laughed in joes face and had not even een opposed tile go with our joel lie he had sald said 4 1 I wont hinder you on the surveyors who ho made the prep lini fuRry lind biad shirked their work nud and ved suspect ed that most of them chein h had ad been in bow I 1 WIM ij 1 I if joe bos ock laid his hands hand on the other mans shoulders any noyce allow cr wid Bo bontol stol were ad rivals they had find reported nl mui mu keg kt to ile he nn an sin nip with alli a ann andel bed nhouy tile the port tage nse it could ile cro aril cr il of comire coi ire e lit in ill the end since ri nature liture elmma vF yielded lel deil to man but the he must elther cither swing a huge loop it through territory or set to lulf jap be taft of those depths with ath thousands of ons of of rork rock D n ii youl sald said wilton liall ng his list toward the valley valle well hear you yet weve made n bad blunder joe Ciol kvil work word it hout doubt though I 1 cant imagine atly gang should toke the lie trouble to hurt us unless dunles 9 of course they gleis P joe rostock bostock shook ills his bentt no they gaic abed that wilton Wilto oll he answered ill stake my flat on oil that there aint abbody except mi me and yoo and kitty knows leg its je eq fiad atik wilton miton joe could never benge treachery nor ajor bring himself to belleve ellve li in its po poil wal allty bality field tf if that weakness had kept blin aim in the miltin main a poor ninn it find hound ills ilia friends to him film with able bonds at ilic ifie bt lla its gross grom al wilton those surveyor it scamper their woth worl I 1 their reports porta ic I 1 KI go out with the lie trait it aud and ari erold ani aix follow alieni all up tip to chech their ir but I 1 might have FOti filled hig big I 1 ills his voice ello liol ted d loe it if you lieve any sense fie cre HIP in first he mid all joe bottock told ills all oi tit lit other mans slimily sli mild mt n tile bunni ous oui smile cime on fin ill faie fai e well I 1 i SULKS guess not willius Wil liui lie 4 ild 1141 1111 ii aint to blome youve cuvi ilenin i mortal nian man could tit do till thi V 1 have been built a at I 1 all with etli lut fiut you fire you why have ny lay life if I 1 dured dared suggest such a thing alne I 1 wilton mohmd it involuntarily kita rily ot at the deference ere efe rence to the pretty young wife whom hom joe bostock lind had tn in winnipeg the lie year before bedfor e joes fairst imd had been unhappy it hall hail I 1 icen een long imig ogo ago vind wilton knew there iud been a sepu separation rution though jot jor was always reticent about that kitty viah vi ah ns five and thirty years younger oui iBer than jo joe e and title she imd had inter deneil into a fust friendship of indre than a decade between joe mid and vilton it mude a difference ns as it alway doas though jourad jou lind sworn it should not biot and kitty thought tile the world of df wilton wilton could never understand his bis feeling about kitty slie she was devoted to joe flint was wan what lay ben clith ills intent alsin toward tier lie he wits was jealous of her ile he was mas jealous of a love for joe 1 I guess hotl not said joe bostock again pressing lilt hand hard down on waltons Wll WIl toua tons shoulder and in III that instant wilton heard ilia crack of a bitle nod and felt a violent blow on the part of tile llie left abib anil which knocked him to the ground As he fell joo joe I 1 blostock lostock pitched forward upon him twice joes iaia quivered qu ivera ns as if ibbe be vita trying to ing to ti speak then tile the lower jav dropped and the lie eyes rolled up ward A pallor crept over the ahle wilton saw that joes mackinaw lind a tiny tear in it over the brei bre cist A trickle of blood seeped through the cloth el oth lie ile wrenched tile the gaii ment open with ills ilia right hand pulled lulled up tle the sWeater 4 and tort tore the shirt a part apart th the heart fluttering like a wounded hird bird stopped under liti ivorid lift joe once but lie he never stirred agal apola n the bullet hall passed clean through jot joe bostocky stocks Ho Bo kart heart from tile back and as tic lie tried to balse jofs joes hody wilton volition realize tl that tile the same saine bullet had broken his left arm which hung p from the lie shoulder th lie epram to hla feet a raad wrath anth giving bark back to him his ebbing strength tre lie glared about hita him but tt it was impossible to ascertain iwert from here the shot lind come lie could cou d not even locale tile lie direction a hundred undred li degrees for joe lindseen lind been ln the lit net t of nobody was in sight and the lie woods were ellent ills lilii bellowing ix call if fury that went echoing through the lie net free ellel elicited led no ilo ile tore from roin lih his hand lennil Lerch lef holding it ills bis tt fifth 1111 rind with ills ids left hand band on his knee knotted their about a 1 tick find ill hiir plowed a the blooml wio win spurting dovin ills his sleeve ints tn acts tilt coln was uns intense ami it was as impossible to take ukia ort off the mackl end llope in hn hi arina in it if but lie twisted all his 1 Is force until tin the flow don showed blint lie he inid vom compressed pressed the artery thrusting file lie long lonser el end ind of llie ilia stick beneath tits la arin pit lie he passed the llie other through the buttonhole e of tile tie gari nein and stoop hig to get joes body bodi lipon lils shoulder and to hold it mill tits his ellit arin ills impulse ivul wim to curry joes bral back to UK ilia but lie klipa that it would ile be impossible to make the llie ills dia tunce yet to leave it would lile viviin lill the certainty of hy hears bears or wolves wol unless lie emild build a cairn af n stones anil or of unit that lie be os equally incapable lie ile set joe ires loli boly lon and lit in the erl full eal of ills loss and ills his credic predl cn a llie lit tic lie climes tip llie IN sky Ili tit had been intended Intend fd lie mill did not liot 1 wileve no dniel tilt find hern been it ft tit illel ired fired tit bt some nearer nia murk 1 rk perlin pi a hare und lind liy by o osie ole le of llie ilia liala bral lie that lint taw lie linnit learer g alli up had fired ahle alt n alj teeing 1116 lie fatality kall ned fled nut but tile the that his might he the file in was only a flo floeting efing one joe allavi ui dead and his hody must le ile c cawl kimt f fur ur just tin nn it if lie he were alive taken nick buck to ito tile lie balul unit ani thence out of the woods woodi there watt wa no por albi lity of leaving joes joea hotly there liere yet Y rt it see ineil 1 l to 10 him hill tie lie could not flat llop chopo to erwich emch the tie caira and now another ide Id ae to 0 o film it was seven an adi es pock to the camp hill but only c aly five 10 0 o alie over the frozen tin the other aide of tin tile was a traill mil that nini out of the warl aal wound bilto the unknown noAn north along this fild india lawt n brought tivit wn kr jer catches itches ci to tile the r aitor tore of mcconald McP onald lit llie file fitter factor fit ter of tile the liny company Innel lne si hard along fliri ohp of if the great ilu mckeg anit lilt li it vil tild bilello tun IWO mile leq IP arld iw it w to ninke ilip store medon tild nd olia it inar old inn benl enl hill ciul a nr fir nil tp owell i 4 fill ioanid crt i fijn ait 14 rem lire wi P rv or vw MI eidly f I 1 cpr i 11 n i if li 1 14 i thou livi tl tl i 11 0 P 1 tl it 11 strow tor it I 1 i haills in 1 his arid doggedly he ha began ills hla awful journey ills his right arin grasping tile lie dead man ills his helpless left hugging the he tourniquet stick against ills side lie stumbled over the lie rough ground until ile he reached ilia conred cle ired road the lie tres trees here the ruing going was easier caster but the burden numbed his hl tight bana and shoulder the throbbing pain aln in tits his left seemed to t beat lime to lila ills footsteps find and tile the ache of tho crum ping muscles invades increased the agony of tits ills wound and began to spread down tits body A whid sprang up tip driving gusts of uh whirling irling snow into tits his eyes A deadly lethargy was creeping over him and p presently turning lila ills head to shield h ills iii eyes from the lie beating bitis bluehs ts lie he saw n trickle trl clile of cit nison on ilia road fond behind him the tourniquet had loosened lie ile aas aa bleeding its ills life awny tile blood was gushing down tits his fingers wil 11 ton set joes body down and in the lie compress compres and it only after till nn almost superhuman struggle that he could ret get joe over his shoulder lie ile knew that if lie was forced to set get tile hotly body down again lie could never lift it with knees bent tripping over tilt roots of |