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Show CHAPTER XI Continued 16 He smiled bautcrlnKly. "Well, I wouldn't say that. A handy cook Isn't altogether a nuisance. The pot Is le;,'lnnln; to simmer. You mif,'ht drop In a pinch of tea. How's your ankle?" "ICver so much better. I've exercised exer-cised It a little every time I went outside. And I've half finished my parka. Rut how " she Interrupted herself "how can you win If you don't kill them?" "Why, for a starter. Miss Cook, we'll let them stew In their own Juice for a few days. That will tend to soften their bonds of mutual aid. No bedding and a diet of saltless meat will help those three placer Jacks to consider the desirability of that five thousand dollar reward I offered for their boss." "Alan Garth, you're marvelous 1" "Not nt nil. It Just happens I know this same, and I told you before be-fore that Iluxby Is only a commonplace common-place wolf. If he were a wolverine, I'1 have to look sharp." By noon the next day Llllth's Eskimo suit was finished. Her ankle, an-kle, though weak, was no longer sore or swollen. Garth bandaged It firmly with a strip of skin, and had her begin practicing on her webs. Not being hurried or excited, she soon caught the knack of the snow-shoe snow-shoe stride. Their last climb took them up around the bend In the great cleft. Before they turned back, Garth had the girl fire the pistol. She neither shut her aiming eye nor flinched as she pulled the trigger. Each time the bullet struck within a foot of the nearby mark that Garth set up. "Not half bnd," he approved. "I'll let you go down with me tomorrow morning." Though the temperature had become be-come milder, It remained below freezing point. As on the other occasion. oc-casion. Garth started dowcguleh two hours before dawn. This time Lil-1th Lil-1th trailed with him. Huxby had moved his camp to the lake shore opposite the stranded cabin plane. The engineer and two of his miners lay asleep, huddled In nests of spruce sprays and dry moss. The fourth man sat on a log beside be-side the fire, his rifle between his knees. He yawned drowsily. The first slight tinge of dawn had begun to gray the east. But among the trees the night was still black. A sudden flicker of light in the darkness dark-ness behind the leanto brought the sleepy watcher's head up with a Jerk. Beside the skin-clad man with the lighted match, he saw a second man squinting at him along the barrel bar-rel of a pistol. Garth put his fingers to his lips for silence, and held a fuse-wrapped stick of dynamite close to his match. The miner let go of his rifle and straightened upon his feet, his hands high above his head. The match flickered out Garth dropped the dynamite and darted forward. He was none too quick. The slight thud of the fallen rifle had wakened Huxby. As Garth paused behind the corner of the leanto, the engineer peered out, with his pistol thrust forward. As Garth Jumped he struck with the butt of his belt-nx. It cracked down on Huxby's wrist. The engineer's engi-neer's pistol dropped. With a curse. Huxby grasped at the weapon, but Garth was quicker. As he caught It up, Huxby clutched at his throat Garth felled him with a tap of the ax butt on the temple. Wakened by the sudden flurry, the two miners In the leanto were grasping- at the pair of rifles on which Huxby had lain. Garth whirled the pistol to cover them. "Hands up, and get out beside your mate," he ordered. "We want only the murderer. But we'll shoot you dowD like dogs if you interfere." inter-fere." One of the pair jerked up his hands. The other man hesitated. The miner outside called warnlngly: "The Jig's up, Laney. The other feller has got the drop on us too." Laney lifted his hands and stared j out after his bed-mate. Huxby was ; staggering up. still dazed from the blow that had felled him. Wild with desperate rage, he struck out furiously. furi-ously. Garth side-stepped and thrust In a tripping foot j The engineer pitched face-down on the hard-cmsted snow. Before he could spring up again. Garth ( Jumped upon his back. The blow knocked him breathless. It was then i an easy matter to click Constable : Dillon's handcuffs on the wrists of I the murderer. j "Stop that cursing, or I'll gag i you," Garth said. "There's a lady ! present All right, Miss Ramlll. j Join ns." Huxby fell silent, to gape like the miners at the skin-clad form that came forward out of the black shadows Into the firelight "I.ilith! Vou?" "Yes, It's me, you cowardly sneak killer! I came after you with Alan, and he has let me catch you." The murderer twisted around with his back to her and the fire. Ills head sagged forward. With a sudden sud-den return of alertness, Lllith turned her gaze away from his shadowy profile to watch the three llned-up miners. Garth did not smile at the girl's needless caution. She had earned th right to think herself an Invaluable Invalu-able helper. He allowed her to stand guard while he gathered up the three rifles and unloaded them. "Righto, Miss Rnmill," Garth said. "Sit down. It's all over now but the talking." She lowered the pistol but drew back where she could watch Huxby ns well as the miners. Garth looked soberly at the men. "If you know Kipling, you'll bear in mind that the female of the species spe-cies Is more deadly than the male. I dare say, though, you can safely venture to lower your hands and sit down with us." At the welcome permission, the three dropped their arms. Two of Jill my w V He Kissed Her Red Lips and Scarlet Scar-let Cheeks and Tightly Closed Eyelids. them at once squatted on a log. Laney lingered for a surly question, before following suit: "What's the play?" "All we came for was to arrest Huxby. Help with the cabin plane, and there will be no mention of any shooting other than his murder mur-der of the constable. What wages did he promise you?" "Double the usual. Tole us he had to get In his assessment work before the freeze-up." "The clnlm belongs to me," Garth replied. "I will pay you the double wages." "Ugh," growled Laney. "You outplayed the d n fourfiusher. It's a deal. You're boss. We're working for you." Garth walked back Into the blackness of the spruce trees. He returned with the floursack pack-bag, pack-bag, his own and Llllth's buckskin suits, and a hlndquarter of fat caribou cari-bou meat At his Invitation, the men eagerly went at the frozen meat with an ax, and put the big teapot full of snow, on the fire. Huxby continued to sit In morose silence, with his back to the fire. The feasters paid no heed to him. After a time Lllith began to stir uneasily. At last she had to act She handed her pistol to Garth and went to put a piece of meat on a spit. When it was broiled, she took It and a cup of tea to nuxby. He stared up at her as if dura-founded, dura-founded, then shook his head sullenly. sul-lenly. She put down the cup and plate beside him, and returned to Garth. At his look of cool inquiry, her eyes flashed with defiance. "I don't care! It's not right to starve anyone." He replied In a noncommittal tone: "You're a woman." The murderer took up his cup of hot tea In his manacled hands and drank. He began to eat the meat. When daylight came, Garth ordered or-dered everyone out to the cabin plane. The hard-frozen slush ice gave solid footing over the bag. It also gave a solid foundation out at the plane upon which were based the engineer's lifting operation. The Ice had been chopped from around the floats, and a crib bul'i under the Inner end of seli win. By holsilng first on th aUT c of one wing and then th wthtr, tb cribs had been heightened until the 1 floats were level with the top of the Ice. A glance inside the cabin showed Garth the body of Constable Dillon lying where he had left It Laney explained, with a Jerk of a mit-tened mit-tened thumb to Iluxby: "He first says we'd chuck the stiff under the ice. Then he says, no, to wait an' heave It out when we was flying over the muskegs." "We'll wait still longer," Garth said. "That brave constable is going go-ing to receive an honorable burial. Now get to work with those sapling levers. Another pair of logs on the cribs will raise the floats high enough to roller her clear." Lllith had stood off a little to one side, watching the work with wondering admiration. A shriek from Lllith whirled Garth face about. Huxby was rushing rush-ing at him, with an ax lifted high in his manacled hands. Lllith flew at the attacker as If frenzied. She sought to block his charge. He gave her his shoulder with the skill of a football player. It caught her on the chin and sent her spinning. But the slight check allowed Garth time for a leap in under the ax before the blade could whirl down on his head. His left fist appeared to punch deep Into the pit of Huxby's stomach. His right drove up under the chin of the gasping murderer. The uppercut lifted the killer off his feet and dropped him on his face, clean knocked out. With no more than a glance at his fallen attacker, Garth sprang to help Llllth's dazed effort to sit up. "Well played," he said. "Not hurt, are you?" "No-no I you he didn't 1" she cried, and burst into tears. Garth gave her a pat on the head, and turned away, embarrassed. embar-rassed. "No wonder you're overcome. over-come. IT "been too much for a girl. We'll ho,,T)ut of here at once." He lashed the unconscious killer's kill-er's wrists to his belt, tied his ankles together, and climbed Into the cockpit of the plane. After replacing re-placing the breaker points, he had the men take turns spinning the propeller. He then tried the self-starter. self-starter. The engine roared. Pulled by the whirling propeller, the plane slid forward off the log rollers. After cutting the gun, Garth ordered or-dered two of the men to heave Huxby Hux-by Into the cabin. The third man he sent for the rifles. "I want the one with which he shot Constable Dillon. Dil-lon. But you may as well bring the others also a lot of that bear fat." He himself went to pick up the still-weeping girl and help her to the second seat In the cockpit He made sun oi- --the supply of gasoline, gaso-line, and climbed down again to see that the men gave the bottom of the floats a thorough greasing with the bear fat. After that, when all were aboard, and the rifles In Lilith's keeping, he started the engine. The plane at first moved slowly. The floats dragged on the rough surface of the frozen slush. But when they glided out on the streak of glare ice, the friction became less than -that of a water take-off. Within a half mile the speed had so Increased that an easy pull on the Joystick sent the plane skimming skim-ming up off the glassy surface. Garth banked In a long curve to the left, listening to the roar of the warmed motor. Every cylinder was hitting sweet. CHAPTER XII Squaw Lilith. THE cross-country flight brought the plane to the Mackenzie at the great bend below the Liard. But Garth did not come down at Fort Simpson. He flew on up the vast river' to Great Slave lake, and east across the lake to Fort Resolution. Some time before sunset, he set the cabin plane down at the landing land-ing of the Airways base by the mouth of the Slave river. After handing Lllith ashore, he left her standing while he went to speak to the Airways superintendent. That courteous gentleman hastened to tell the girl that his wife would be delighted If the daughter of Mr. Burton Kamill would honor their hospitality. Garth was not Invited. He turned awav to meet the red-coated sergeant ser-geant of police for whom he had sent. Lllith did not see him again until the next morning. Told by her hostess that Mr. Garth wished to speak with her, she made a hurried etTort to adjust her borrowed dress. She went hesitatingly hesitat-ingly Into the room where Garth waited alone for her. Her dress, though more stylish than the one loaned to her on the steamer by the Fort Norman missionary's wife, was not cut for her lithe figure. Sight of him in his caribou parka brought her to a startled halt. Her eyes widened. "Oh, still in your skin suit! You you're going back!" "What difference does it make to you?" he asked. "You'll soon be In Edmonton and civilization." She stepped suddenly close to him, her hands held out In appeal. "No! I Alan, take me back with you !" "Back there? Don't tell me you like that squaw life. Those days In the valley and the trip out must have been a h 1 of torment to you dirt, rags, mosquito dope, flies, starvation. And now Ice, snow, bitter bit-ter cold." "Anything anything Just to be with you, Alnn dear!" He put his arms about her. He kissed her red lips and scarlet cheeks and tightly closed eyelids." "My girl," he said, "you are going go-ing with me wherever I go. Get on your parka." Her arms were clasped tight about his neck. She lingered a moment mo-ment to return his kiss. Then, her blue eyes aglow, she ran to obey him. When she came hastening back, In her Eskimo costume, she ventured ven-tured an appeal: "Can't I have a comb and brush and and soap, Alan?" He looked soberly past her shoulder shoul-der at the amused face of her hostess. host-ess. '''Well, yes, I dare say you can. We're going first to Edmonton. Your father is there. I sent him a message mes-sage that we were coming." He took her Into his arms, regardless re-gardless of the onlooking lady. "My girl, we are back In civilization. Wo are first going to be properly married." mar-ried." " "But theseaft3ou"80tcsT!' " "Best of flying costumes. We're taking a two-seater. The suits will come In handy again this winter when I teach Mrs. Garth how to drive a dog team. Until that it's to be silks for my girl. I must first testify at the trial. After that we'll hop over to Victoria and take a steamer to Japan for our honeymoon." honey-moon." "Oh, Alan, how how delightful ! But Japan? Why, I never dreamt a prospector like you would care to travel In the Orient So, If If you'd rather go . back to the valley, dear " Her hostess could no longer keep silent "Prospector, Miss Ramill ! Is that all you know about Mr. Garth? His father Is one of the heads of the Hudson's Bay company. He himself is a member of our parliament, a fellow of the Royal Geographical society, a noted explorer " "And the winner of the gamest girl I ever knew," Garth cut In. "Come on, Squaw Lllith. You'v proved yourself a mate woman. Now you're going to be my laoy wife." THE END |