Show 4 I J X 1 r KAlAN j 4 H HI I I l I i j I By James Jamest 4 t Oliver OliVe 1 I. I Curwood 4 I i I Copyright by tho the Bobbs Company i I I CHAPTER XIV 14 i 1 A Shot on the Sand Bar f July and August of 1911 were months of great fires in the Northland The I i 1 vamp home borne of Kazan and Gray Wolf t ad HI the green valley valle between the two i z d Cs had escaped the seas of devast devas- devas t tilting flame but now as as they set forth forthun on un In their wandering adventures again It v vas as as not long before their padded feet ame came In contact with the seared and blackened desolation Kazan led his 1 mate first into the south Twenty miles wiles beyond the ridge they struck the killed fire forests Winds from Budson's Hudson's Hudsons Hudsons Hudson's Hud Bud sons son's bay had driven the flames in an unbroken sea sell Into the west and they had left not a n vestige of life or a patch of ot green Blind Gray Wolf could not hot see the blackened world but she sensed it All AIl of her ber wonderful Instincts sharp s sharpened ened and developed de by her blindness told her ber that to the north north and and not south south lay lay the hunting-grounds hunting they were seeking The strain of dog dog- that I was in Kazan still pulled him south It J was not because he sought man It was I simply dog instinct to travel southward southward south south- ward In the face of fire It was wolf instinct to tray travel et northward At the end of the third day Gray Wolf Volt won They the little valley between between between be be- tween the two ridges and swung north and west Into the Athabasca country striking a course that would ultimately bring them to the headwaters headwaters' of ot the river Late In the the preceding autumn a n prospector prospector prospector pros pros- had come up to Fort Smith on the Slave river with a pickle bottle filled with gold dust and nuggets He had bad made the find on the McFarlane The first malls mails had taken the news to the outside world worl and by midwinter the earliest members of a It treasure- treasure hunting horde were rushing into the country by snow-shoes snow and dog Other finds came thick and fast The McFarlane was rich in free gold and miners by the score st staked ked out their claims along it and began work Latecomers Latecomers Latecomers Late Late- comers swung to new fields farther north and east and to Fort Smith came rumors of finds richer than th those s of i the Ithe Yukon A score of off men at first first first- then a It hundred five hundred a n thousand thou thou- sand sand rushed rushed Into the new country Most of these were from the prairie countries to the south and from th the placer beds of the Saskatchewan and the Frazer Frosi Frou the far North traveling traveling trav trav- eling eUng by way of the Mackenzie and the Liard came a It smaller number of seasoned seasoned seasoned sea sea- prospectors and adventurers from the Yukon men Yukon men who knew what It meant to starve and freeze and die by inches One of these late comers ns Sandy 1 There were several reasons reasons why why Sandy had left the Yukon Yuko He was In bad with the police who patrolled patrolled pa pa- trolled trolled the country west of Dawson and he was broke In spite of the these e facts he be was one oJe of the best prosper prospect tors that had ever followed the shores of ot the Klondike He had made discoveries cries eries running up to a million ion or two and had promptly lost them through gambling and drink He Be had no conscIence conscience conscience con con- science and little fear Brutality was the chief thing written in his face His undershot Jaw his wide eyes low forehead forehead fore fore- fore fore- head bead and grizzly mop of red h hair lr proclaimed proclaimed pro- pro claimed him at nt once as ns a man not to tobe tobe be trusted beyond ones one's own vision or orthe orthe orthe the reach of ofa a bullet It was suspected that he had killed a couple of ot men meri and robbed others but as ns yet the police pollee had I failed to get nn anything thIng on him But along with this bad side of him Sandy possessed a coolness and a n courage which even his worst enemies could not but admire and also certain certain- mental depths which his hl unpleasant features featurE's did not proclaim Inside of six months Red Gold City had sprung up on the McFarlane a a hundred and fifty miles from Fort Forti i Smith and Fort Smith five was buni hundred hundred hun bun i dred miles from civilization When Sandy Saudy came he l looked over the crude collection of shacks gambling houses and saloons in the new town and made up his mind that the time was not ripe for any of his Inside schemes just yet He gambled a little and won suf suf- sufficient to buy himself grub and half an outfit A feature of this outfit was an anold anold anold old muzzle-loading muzzle rifle Sandy who always carried the latest Savage on the Market laughed at it But It was the best his finances would allow of He Be started south south up up the McFarlane Beyond Beyond Beyond Be Be- yond a certain point on the river prospectors prospectors pros pros- had found no gold Sandy pushed confidently beyond this point he was in new country did he begin his search Slowly he worked his way up a small tributary whose headwaters were fifty or sixty miles mlles to the south and east Here lIere and there he found fairly good placer pIncer gold He might have panned six or eight dollars dollars' worth a day With this much he was was' disgusted Week after week he ho continued continued con con- to work his wa way stream stream up-stream and nud the farther he w went nt the poorer his pans pans pans' became At last only occasionally did he find colors After such disgusting weeks as these Sandy Sandr was dangerous when in the company of ot others Alona Alone lie he was harmless |