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Show "ill fe&k SYNOPSIS As Alan Garth, prospector, Is preparing pre-paring to leave for his mining claim In the Far North, a plane lands at the airways emergency station. In It are Burton Ramill, millionaire mining magnate; his daughter, Lil-llth; Lil-llth; and Vivian Huxby, pilot and mining engineer. Believing him to be only an Ignorant prospector, the men offer to make, an air trip to Garth's claim, although they refer to his samples of platinum-bearing ore as nearly "worthless." Lilith Ramill, product of the Jazz age, plainly shows her contempt for Garth. Through Garth's guidance the plane soon reaches the claim site. Huxby, and Ramill, after making several, tests, assure Garth his claim is nearly valueless, but to "encourage" "encour-age" young prospectors they are willing to take a chance In investing a small amount. Sensing treachery ahead, Garth secretly removes a part from the plane's motor. Huxby and Lilith taunt Garth with his "gullibility," "gulli-bility," but their tone changes when they try to start the crippled plane. Returning to shore they try to force Garth to give up the missing part. Garth manages to set the monoplane adrift and the current carries It over the falls. He points out to the enraged en-raged trio that he Is their only hope in guiding them out of the wilderness. wilder-ness. Garth begins the work of preparing pre-paring for the long Journey. He Insists In-sists that the others help. Ramill and his daughter must be hardened for the hardships ahead In their toll-some toll-some trek to the outpost on the Mackenzie. Garth experiences difficulty diffi-culty in getting his companions into line. CHAPTER IV Continued "Shut up," Giirth ordered him. "Tliat roar is only a warning. She'll not charge if we mind our own affairs. You and Mr. Ramill l take hold of that nearest untorn leg ; and start quietly. Don't hurry and . don't run." - The cool certainty of Garth's tone compelled helief and obedience even from Huxby. Mr. Ramill was al-, al-, ready reaching up for one of the ' two moose legs that had not been pulled down by the wolves. The engineer hastily turned to help him. As they started off, Garth took the j other unmangled leg on his shoulder and sauntered after them. Garth's gray eyes twinkled as he glanced back over his shoulder at the huge beast. He could not have r asked for a better bugaboo to make f his companions behave. Safe out of her sight, he told the two to e bait and get the moose leg on a tote-pole. Huxby at once started to curse him for not shooting. "Go try It yourself," Garth replied, re-plied, and when Huxby drew away from the offered rifle, he nodded approval. "You are wise not to attack at-tack a she-grizzly with cubs." Spurred on no doubt by the knowledge of that gray monster behind be-hind him, Mr. Ramill managed to hold up his end of the tote-pole all the way to camp. Then he sank down purple-faced, wheezing that the exertion had killed him. His daughter sat by the fire brooding. Though refreshed by her bath In the warm pool, she had begun be-gun to feel the craving for drink and tobacco. She had done Uttle Btltching on the moccasins. But she livened to horrified alertness I when Huxby told about the grizzly. Garth forestalled an outburst of hysterics. "Keep cool. The old lady will let us alone If we keep clear of her cubs. Keep up the fire, and she will shy clear of you. She doesn't fancy fire. Burnt her paws trying to rob me of a roasting porcupine." por-cupine." A look at the gold pan showed Garth that the moose muffle had begun to dissolve. He cooled some SJ of the gelatinous broth in the small pot. Mr. Unmlll not only gulped down the drink. He smacked his Hps and asked for more. At that, both Huxby and the girl were stirred to try the rich drink. Garth was glad to have all three take their 1111 of the savory, highly nourishing dish. He knew what was coming. He asked only that the pan be refilled to dissolve more of the muffle. The three were accustomed to the free drinking of their kind. They had already begun to feel the lack of the usual cocktails, mealtime wines and bctween-mpals whisky. J This was aggravated by the lack of tobacco. To ease them as much as possible, he broiled lynx meat on a grating of willow stems, basting bast-ing It with moose fat. The tender meat kept them occupied until the muffle broth soothed their Jangled nerves. There was a limit, however, to eating, and once its effect began to pass, their craving returned more Intense than before. First Miss liamill. thou Huxley, and last of all Mr. Ramill began to make Ironical Iron-ical remarks alined at Garth. He Ignored I lu'iu for some time. The j remarks became more offensively wittj sod sarcastic. lie dropped the moccasin upon which he had been 6ewing, and picked up his rifle. ' . "I've had enough bitters and sour berries, thank you all. Feed them to yourselves for a while. I'll go get the sleep I missed last night while acting as guardian angel of your sweet slumbers." CHAPTER V Mate Woman. FAR up the tundra slope, above the trough of his platinum placer, ' Garth found a dry . moss-bedded moss-bedded nook on the sunny side of a boulder. He lay down, pulled his hatbrim over his eyes, and let himself him-self fall asleep. A full eight hours later the sun swung around Its wide circle nntil the shadow of the rock fell upon Garth. Roused by the passing of the warm rays, he pushed back his hat and sat -up. He came down to the camp. Mr. Ramill sat beside the fire between his daughter and Huxby. Two or three pouches that Garth had hidden under the moss in the leanto lay open before the men. Miss Ramill was emptying the last contents of the sugar pouch Into a pot of thick tea. She was first to see Garth's noiseless approach. "Hall to the chief," she mocked. "My dear Mr. Garth, you are most fashionably late to dinner. Will you not Join us In a cup of tea?" Her father turned to eye the uninvited un-invited guest with a shade of uneasiness. un-easiness. "You .see we found what yon were holding out on us, Garth. It's the only trick you failed to put over." Garth laid down his rifle and came forward. He Ignored the wary hostile look of the mining engineer, nodded to Mr. Ramill, and took off his battered hat to bend low before Miss Ramill in a polite bow. "You are very kind, my dear lady. I could not deprive any of you of your sweets. 'Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow' You may recall the rest of the quotation." Mr. Ramill went red. "What If Lilith did happen to find these things you were hogging for private use? We need them as much as you." "Quite so. While you're about It, you may as well make a clean Sweep. Here." Garth tossed the gold-mounted cigar case to Ramill. "Oh, so that's how Dad lost his smokes," exclaimed Miss Ramill. "Who's the real sneak around here? Steal all those cigars, and the gold case, too. Then come whining because be-cause we've kept you from cheating us out of our share of these things you hld.' Ramill handed the case back to Garth. "Wa-wait!" cried his daughter. He waved her away. "No. The Joke Is on us. He knows what Is ahead. We do not We've emptied mm?' j 0 ' "That Roar Is Only a Warning." the sugarbowl and half the teabag. Tie up that bag and the salt, Vivian, Viv-ian, and hand them to him." Garth shook his head, and bowed to the angry-eyed glrL "Thank you, no. Miss Ramill has taken charge. As I recall my Anglo-Saxon, 'lady' originally meant bread-cutter. She was the one who rationed out the food. I figure upon at least five weeks before we reach the Mackenzie. Miss Ramill will keep charge of the salt and tea do with them whatever she thinks best." She flared. "I will not! I'll do no such thing.-' lie glanced around, taking stork of the camp. "Everything In keeping, I see. No J sewing done on the moccasins, muffle muf-fle all eaten, woodpile nearly used up. You'd better cook and eat all the meat you can before the rest of the wood Is burnt. When the fire goes out, we'll have plenty of four-footed four-footed visitors to relieve us of those moose legs wolves, foxes, wolverines." wolver-ines." There followed a silence, broken at last by Miss Ramill. She repeated repeat-ed her first question, but In a very different tone: "Mr. Garth, may I pour you a cup of the tea?" "Thank you, I do not need It. The rest of you will. I suggest keeping It for breakfast You'll have no other taste of sweets for over a month, unless we find a bumblebee nest." The girl silently covered the top of the pot with the Inverted tin cud. Her father heaved un his soft bulk. He beckoned to Huxby. "Come, Vivian. The agreement was that Garth should be skipper. That wood pile will not last another hour. We can't permit any bear raids on our bull market." Garth lifted one of the moose quarters from the smoke rack and began to cut off large thin slices. These he laid on the poles for quicker quick-er smoke curing and drying. He paid no attention to Miss Ramill. When the girl saw he did not Intend In-tend to speak to her, she picked up the salt and tea pouches and went into the leanto. Garth thought she meant to go to bed. Instead, she crawled out again, put one of the freshly cut slices of meat on a willow, wil-low, spit, and held It over the end of the fire where the muffle had simmered. As soon as the steak was broiled, the cook sullenly offered It to Garth. He took It with no betrayal of his surprise and sat down to eat. "Thank you, sister." She frowned. "I never hated anyone any-one so much In all my life as I hate you. But that was a mean trick, stealing your sugar." "AH the more reason for you to hate me. Not that It matters a penny the sugar or your hate. I'll admit, though, It's very Interesting to watch the reactions of yourself and your father. Huxby is Just a commonplace wolf. But your father fa-ther and you the lady of leisure and the millionaire acquirer tossed from the lap of luxury Into the raw wild. You'll have to acknowledge ac-knowledge It's high comedy." Miss Ramill turned her back on him and went to crawl Into the leanto. Her father and Huxby came with still more wood to pile on the already high heap of fuel. The engineer en-gineer went to lie down at his sleeping sleep-ing place on the lee of the fire. During the day he had gathered a much thicker bed of spruce tips and dry moss. The long hours of twilight slowly slow-ly faded to the semi-dusk of midnight mid-night and as slowly brightened towards to-wards full day. Sunrise found the three visitors from the cities still asleep. Two hours or so later the crack of moose bones under the blows of the belt-ax wakened Huxby. He sat up to turn hungrily In the direction di-rection from which came a savory odor. Garth had drawn a thigh bone from the fire and was buttering butter-ing a piece of broiled meat with hot marrow. .The engineer came around and laid one of the thigh bones on the fire. Above It he slanted a steak on a spit. Neither he nor Garth spoke. He started to eat his steak and marrow before either was more than half cooked. Garth finished his own breakfast and began to sew a moccasin. As soon as Huxby had bolted down his food, he picked up the emptied gold pan. Miss Ramill had sat up in the front of the leanto to lace her boots. Her father crept out past her. "Morning, Vivian," he greeted. "I see you're going to set the pan on the fire again. Good Idea. That muffle aspic Is all Garth told us it would be." "No." Huxby's tone was almost curt "We've lost too much time already. I am going to make a complete test of that placer deposit" de-posit" He looked with cold wariness at the rightful claimant of the placer. Garth smiled. "Go to It The more you pan out the more of my 60 per cent I'll be able to Jingle in my pocket" That sent the engineer off with a crease between his hard eyes. Mr. Ramill . studied Garth's amused face. "What Is the Idea?" he Inquired. "Do you Infer you still stand by the terms you offered?" "Well, I may at least allow you four-teuths of what your Man Friday Fri-day sweats out of my placer. The laborer Is worthy of his hire I'm going for a dip. You and Miss Ra mill might get your moose bones to roasting. The marrow goes well with the steaks. Let me suggest that you build a large fire In the regular cook hole. When it burns low, rake out the coals and lay In one of the forelegs, thickly smeared with mud. Then rake on dirt, em bers and ashes, built a small fire on top, and keep it going four or five hours." Miss Ramill looked down at her slender hands. They were already roughened and grimed, and two of the highly manicured nails had been broken. The large diamond of her engagement ring Unshed blue-white tire up Into her angrily flashing blue eyes, she jerked her head up to flare out at Ganh. He was already al-ready iUa:pe:irlns in the !r.:si) or , his war to the rock pool When he returned from his plunge, a fire was flaming high In the cook hole. Well away from it, the heiress heir-ess to millions was smearing one of the moose legs with mud brought up from the lake shore by her father fa-ther in his expensive soft hat Garth raked the thigh bones from the smudge-fire and set back the spits of the partly burnt steaks, ne then dripped melting mooce fat into a small twist-cup of birchbark that he had brought back with him. The cup already held two or three gills of spruce pitch. Garth offered his dope. "Best cosmetic cos-metic In the North. You may as well go the limit." "I'll - die first!" Herfather dipped his fingers in the dope and smeared the stuff on his face and neck as Garth had done. Garth said: "Eat your fill. Miss Ramill will stay to tend the fires. You and I are to climb. You'll wear Huxby's leather trousers outside your own." . -"But they're too small for me around the belt." "They'll not be after a few days. You'll wear the Jacket also." A taste of hot marrow roused the "You Are Very Kind, My Dear Lady. I Could Not Deprive Any of You of Your Sweets." girl's appetite. Hunger overcame her other cravings. She said nothing noth-ing even when, at the end of the meal, her father drew on Huxby's flying suit over his clothes ,and started off with Garth. Though Garth had spoken of a climb, he first led along the lake shore to the beginning of the muskeg mus-keg swamp. Then turned and slanted slant-ed gradually up through the belt of spruce trees until the west side of the trough was reached at tim-berline. tim-berline. He stopped to look at Huxby Hux-by while Mr. Ramill caught his second sec-ond wind. The mining engineer gave no heed to them. He was hard at work panning out gravel, midway up to the discovery stake. Garth led across to the east side of the trough. After every halt he started the portly millionaire on again as soon as he . could draw a deep breath. They kept plodding up the tundra slope until at last Mr. Ramill's legs gave out. He staggered stag-gered and collapsed. He lay, purple-faced and quivering, spent. Three hours later found them still below the lower end of the glacier. Garth at last called a halt to the climb. He headed back. When able to speak, he gasped an appeal: "Ka-qult! 'U'll kill me!" The exhausted man turned flat on his back and basked. Within a few minutes he drowsed off. Garth let him nap a long two hours, then started him on up the long climb. Midway down to timberland, Ramill Ra-mill collapsed, so utterly spent that he could not get up even after a long rest. Garth took him on his back and packed him on down to the camp, without a halt. Huxby and Miss Ramill were feasting. They had pried the moose log out of the fire hole and broken off the clay shell. The meat had baked to Juicy tenderness. Even the gristle was melted Into gelatine. When Garth laid her father In the leanto, the girl brought a big chunk of the best meat But the millionaire million-aire climber was too exhausted even to eat His daughter turned upon Garth. "Another of your damnable Jokes! He's dying! You've killed him!" Garth smiled approvingly. "So, after all, you're capable of feeling a little concern for someone else than yourself. Boil the cup two-thirds full of water, and put In enough of that sweet tea to cool It for drinking." drink-ing." "The tea Is hot already. I've kept back Dad's share. I'll give it to him straight" "You'll warm that water." The mining engineer stood tip. "I've told you to speak respectfully to Miss Ramill." Garth paid ho more attention to him than to the buzz of a mosquito. The girl looked expectantly at her fiance. He stood waiting for Garth to apologize. When Garth neither replied nor so much as glanced around at him, the engineer's cold assurance gave way to doubt He turned and went down to the lake. (JO DE COWIMED) |