Show avre 2 M air ML M M us i VICTOR ROUSSEAU ROU t I 1 hu R ta T r 49 4 COPYRIGHT BY KIDD COMPAN Y aw CHAPTER X continued 12 that wont do said kitty with sudden ridden fierceness she may come tack back silo she wont and it if she ahe did am aid went avent down on orf her prices I nees to him he look ai at her I 1 what do you mean asked kitty breathlessly i i bowyer leaned forward again and whispered in tier her call ear kitty was ns as pale as death lowll I that do for t you lie asked triumphantly i kitty rose trembling ill 1111 stick to ray my word she said bold but youre the S lowest cur ur ive ever known tom and I 1 hope 1 I hope soro some body lays flays you yon flays the skin off you before youve run your course ill take my chance of that grinned bowyer as an he rose kitty vank sunk back to in her chaar her hands over tier her face of a sudden tile tie abysmal depths of sin find bad opened beneath her she was too tempted to run after blin and cult call him back but she t could not stir it was some time be tore she forced herself to rise slie site went ent to the window she guessed that bowyer was a going to the hank bank lie would return that way and she bhe could tall call him blin in and tell him that she had changed her mind suddenly she started back behind the curtains wilton waa passing on tile the other side of the road lie held lils head high yet he walked like ft a raw who was broken kitty watched him go by iier her heart was full fall of pity for him for ills quixotic dreams ills his foolish faithfulness to joe tho the picture that bowyer had limbed limned of molly faded from froin tier lier mind under the brighter glow that camo came into it it 0 0 0 I 1 like wilton bowyer had business to transact trani transact act with ile he went to the bank it was wag after hours but lie be knew would be e there awalt ing him carruthers is in town said the banh arul presade dant nt I 1 lie ile js s eh eb asked bowyer darting a acen glance at him when did lie he ket get in day before yesterday ile he was on that case f so of course said bowyer bluit did they get six months apiece apece 1 1 no new light on the murder of our friend nothing quain go into that phase of the he affair at ail al hed questioned them and coul dit prove airo ve anything bowyer fe betl in into to a brown study for a few moments f carruthers Carni lieen been here yet he inquired presently not yeb iles hes try in to raise a cool halt n in town tonn I 1 guess iles hes been to the last likely place by now so liell hell be here berd tomorrow tom brrow birrow to renew tile the loan renew of course sald said bowyer excellent wheat lands 1 fine investment for your bank the I 1 by the way you hit it strong with lint flint cart cartoon 1 they both laughed lail phed first at the cartoon then nt at bowyers raillery no more trouble with clarka risked asked bowyer Bow vcr not at present I 1 guess that extra two hun hundred dreI squared him lies iles a dangerous customer to handle though and absolutely indispensable for a job like ivo we had to handle A first gliss closs ian man fit at tits his arnde cool ng as a cucumber and looking like a gentleman knuit and find it hard to heat beat that combination tie ile could have had find more than the two hundred he held beld me up for bues certainty certainly worth it admitted bowyer you do with ulm him next year why he seems to like the work hire here answered Ili laughl laughing laughling ng ill kop keep him on under my eye nt ct a reduced aced salary they both chuckled over that lint but B grew set serious IOUs quickly well iye 1 ve kitty bostock ile ho aid lord its ts a cinch chich handling bundling that type 0 of f wo woman inan once they fancy sonic some 0 particular man tl eyl go through h 11 ll to get him hi i I 1 goldber yuil buy tier her shares at n par ahe lie said you com coin bitted yourself irrevocably to howyer wier eirew his head and en littel onti or of tits his short laughs well weil I 1 may change my mind DIM ho he said it in writing suppose she raises cain she cant ashes lit in too deep she chow chow how deep Il layre laughed again but nervously 1 I never cared much for foi this business boy tr ll 11 lie said if toe joe stock I 1 died as he di alj I 1 id never have got mixed up with if it dut but that gave us 4 out our chance it was a very lucky accident if we bonim belond recovery recover 7 rd pull out erea cren now pull full out echoed the lie other now tho the devil coa we pull out thi th tricks flone done youve 11 ive fixed it about that safe bate we W had a devil of a job the first time we tried lies iles got a dent route mute there who seems to have eyes tike like a a cat rind and sleeps with them open carruthers Carr uthera caught lee chambers at the window anil and smashed ills his nose and of course cours C chambers usefulness at the camp Is ended however ive fixed it now and a day or two will see us with what we want and carruthers with what he fie want 11 1 I suppose se theres no doubt those thosa half broods breeds did kill joe bostock sug posted darting a keea look at I 1 the other 1 I guess not answered bowyer anyway Any woy its ita no busi business nesa ot of ours how it happened quoin put every everybody bod y through the oil including mo me that shows alws lies hes at hla his wits wit send end if a new clue comes to hand hell jump at it for tile the sake ofies reputation oy by the I 1 way the man I 1 came in to so se YOU ion about youve had bad ft a talk avith with elmr rull 1 I saw him yesterday illow how did he take it alnet said 11 hayre rubbing his hands bunds hook balt bait and sinker I 1 could see the hash flash of illumination come into his eye as the seed begaw began to sprout you suggest T not no im not quite such a foot fool as that bowyer I spoke to him about joe Bo Bostoc stocks ka investments and the missing hait that he fie had drown drawn out a day or two before hah murder and I 1 left to draw III his own inferences feren ces dont corryl worry I 1 juell draw them I 1 Copi tall sold said bowyer youre a good partner and in a few days our patience will be rewarded CHAPTER XI tho tha conflagration im going back to work for you yau sir mr wilton had said when ho he left the office and he had meant it without any further hope of keeping the lie line for kitty he resolved for the works sake that the day when the control passed into bowyers hands should see the ho grade across big mua keg ile he found the camp in much tile the samo same condition as when he fie had left it andersen reported that the men were still getting liquor and were slacking wilton whose mind had find no room for rival propositions at the same time dismissed the subject lie ile went straight to bed but lie he was aroused by andersen a little after midnight theres a big blaze a couple of miles north of us said the foreman sprung up tip like lightning and it a gales sweeping sleeping up the swamp the men inin wont turn out to backfire they say its saturday night and most inest of them are drunk wilton put on ills his clothes quickly placed jules la a charge of the shack and hurried to the bunkhouses the wor workmen limen obeyed ills his summons with slow sullenness they were stupid with drink some jeered some refused to turn out at all but some of the engineers and foremen were already hurrying to the vy or P V the fire was waa speeding at a terranc rate toward the camp scene wilton collected these and started with them in the direct direction iba of the conflagration this was boon seen to be serious under thi high wind the alie fire was spec speeding specking dIng down nt at a terrific rate toward the camp filling tho the air with dense clouds of smoke the camp having toys on oil three sides ald not been fre firc guarded these should have been ald enough to protect it under ordinary jr circumstance 4 and the work that was ft as being pushed had left no time for anything else backfiring w was as impossible tor for the wind came up the cleared road from froin the muskeg with hurricane force wilton posted his men along the near side ot of tho the way to bent beat out the patches 0 of flame that would spring up from the tha burning brands carried over it by tile wind the conflagration came roaring town down on them before many minute i had passed it seemed lo in gather force as it advanced the smoke was aa stifling 0 they could see one another only dimly in the swirling tog fog the line of ore fire shot through the crackling fortis ferns unit und undergrowth bo be fore them and reached the edge of t the lie cleared way w ay then the workers found themselves surrounded surround pd with a ring of flume flame tho the trees and grass were ft ere allgot behind them and along alone the muskeg edge i the conflagration had thrust out gripping tentacles of name that edged round and in toward the engine sheds shouting 0 to o those nearest him to follow wilton ran town down toward tile the swamp nut but when tile the grade canie came into sight lie saw something that caught ills cry and killed it on his lips of a sudden his veins seemed to 0 o run rin lee ice for blood the fire had caught the and was running along the timbers eating its way toward the east bank hut but what made him catch his breath and clench his lils fists was tilts this the fire was moving eastward and yet it could not have started on the west bank for here the was comple completely teli hidden under the foundation over oer which the flames could not pass the fire had bad started in the middle of the anus keg and had been started there theio of design I 1 t was the he end of everything everi thing big muskeg would remain after all ail when bowyer assumed control the engine houses were fire red ruins belching up a black sticky smoke that clogged the fighters lungs lunga and settled in fine particles of black dutt all over them drums ot of oil and gasoline exploded with the thesal salvoes of artillery shooting up lip streamers of flame sky high nil of fire broke forth and streamed through the camp spreading the destruction tho the encircling arms of tile the contla gration had bad thrust their fingers all about them through the forest which was ablaze in every direction dut but in the open space itself the ire fire had been stayed though hardly anything was left except tile the kitchens and bunk buni houses the sheds and engine houses tied had gone up in ft a few minutes rind now glowed fiercely with on an intense heat but without flame I 1 the lighters fighters had done all they could do and that was nothing they could do nothing more tiow now except to guard the bunk bunkhouses houses from tile he rivers of blazing oil wilton found a few men and told them to anke spades aal throw up mounds along the courses nf these torrents in order to divert them tha II IT mild with drink gathered in clusters nt at the doors of the bunk bunkhouses houses and jeered at the men me who ought fought to save sae them ano and these too bo disconsolate to care having tit nt last secured the remaining structures structure flung down their spades and drew out of their way everyone Uve knew anew this was wag the end out of the smoke emoke came the figure of mcgee the head loco mothe engineer ills hair was crisped like a negros lie he was as black rind the tears had furrowed white channels down his cheeks checks I 1 its all gone lie he shouted sli noth ing but scrap iron and junk well liae have a bargain satel sale ile ho recognized wilton and seized him by tile the arrit arm who set that blaze he fie man there was gasoline gallons of 14 it so socking liking the sheds before ever tile ure come there they were soaked with will it who did it show me tile the d n skunk 1 lie shouted half beside himself fit it matter now inow said W wilton if mcgee raved cursing and sobbing jid and suddenly rustled rushed away into the file smoke and was lost to view wilton was making lit his a way toward his shack before it occurred to him that tant lie he would not find it yet tot there here was the safe ile ho would stay guard over that to ills his immense surprise however he discovered that the shark had escaped the conflagration though nothing remained of kittys kitrys hut but a 0 few blackened bechis A backfire had been set successfully the grass wits burned all about the place and some of the timbers were scorched but tint that was ill all the shack has an babis in tile the devastation of cinders jules stuck to ills his post wilton knew there ind been trench ery cry lie ile knew that holers bowyers appearance nt at the find not been cli clience clin nce bowyer ila had nut not driven miles from cold junction by coincidence wilton hud and no doubt that the ore was of hla his making and even ean that did not matter at the door of ills his shack he fie stopped stop lie ile had tk a strange instinct of danger the instinct of the beast returning to its don den which tells ells it that something has been there durling during it its absence iio unlocked the office door and went in for or ia moment lie thought ills his sus cicioni biclon tI clon groundless cheif lie he saw that the low door of tho ho safe was open ile he ran to it and found the papers inside and apparently intact just as they had been jules must have 16 scared the thieves away anny before they could cent accomplish their design hut how had got the iho combination wilton shouted si for jules and then remembering that tile hie deaf mute could riot not henr hear him went out jut of the room toward the little wooden which zules tules had and constructed for abod e but t the he muskegon was not boio bax I 1 i lie ile went back through the kit kitchen clien in the middle of the room he baw something dimly outlined on oil the floor lie ile struck a matell match and found jules e a to in ft a pool of blood one side of his head lind had beon been almost battered to pieces with a hatchet that lay on oa the floor nearby and yet set jules jalcs was not dead for as ai wilton bent over him he opened hta big eyes and stuffed smile J very faintly into his tu masters asters face and the lingers fingers of one outstretched hand quivered and pointed toward the office wilton raised raise mules jalcs gently in lila his arms ail carried him film within tind end laid him on the floor tho indian was al most nt at lila his lost gasp aind he fie seemed struggling to express something before he died tho the fluttering fingers pointed upward all that was left of life within the broken body seemed to be concentrated in them wilton watched them the fingers squirmed and twisted it seemed to wilton that there wits was something in the room that jules wanted they were pointing now toward the sate safe wilton raised tile the dying man in his bis arms and supported the shoulders against tits his knees so aa that jules jalcs might see sec jutes jules pointed straight at tile the safe looked up and nodded wilton rt nodded jules julea seemed to lose interest then bui but wilton raised jules jue gently in hit his arms arme the fingers still twisted and now thoy they pointed toward the tha wall behind wilton shifted tits his position and raised tile he shade of tile the lamp to illuminate the other halt half of the room I 1 tho the angers wondered vandor cd ver the woodwork and stopped upon ubon the ctr lealure of lee Chani chambers fiers that jules had drawn jules julea smiled up into waltons Wil tons face and nodded wilton nodded then jules died CHAPTER XII since bowyers Bow sers lost last visit to the store molly had been making plan but when these were made site she did not dare to place them before tho factor slie site knew that hat they could not long remain nt at the I 1 portage there was ills Inc increasing rensing in infirmity there was tom bowyers Bo wyora enmity his hold over oer tier her father which was bringing him into ills his grave yet she feared one of the factora fac torr wild outbursts of rage it if she renewed 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