Show - ' S'i v! o '' i ' £ 'S' ri v- i and unloaded Davidson’s supplies By 3:80 I was —flying above the woman again She waved frantically at meNo smoke obscured the tent now and I was surprised to see it was no more than a shelter doth of bright yellow fabric— with black The markings I tried to read them — "N588 fabric was ripped after the last “8” What was the number of that lost planet I was almost sure it was “N58860" The Indians must have found the wreckage and were using parts for shelter But Indians would have reported a crash Could these two be survivors? That was even more unlikely As I climbed I spotted airplane wreckage farther up the mountain the about five miles closer to the lake I located the man again still flashing between lengthening shadows his mirror-fron- t I radioed Watson Lake and told what I had seen My receiver was bad that day and tin only reply I could understand was “Roger" Bnt I sensed theywaro feeling the same anxiety and bafflement as I - - Tm Many Odds Against Survival ' The closest I could land the Super Crib was on Aeroplane Lake another live miles northwest of the man- - Two Indian trappers Charlie Porter and Louie Boys met me and I told them to go inland ' with dogs and sleds as soon as possible: Ieouldba bade at dawn with help Watson Lake was humming with excitement knotted when I got there Pilots and hangers-o- n resene and search the to while around I reported unit of the RCAFand the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Together we developed a plan ' At 'dawn Hal would fly our Super Cub to the lake with Mountie Constable George Lepky? I ' would fly then with Corporal Steve Pentihik in a Cessna 180 From the lake the Mounties trappers 7and Hal would search for the man-- ! would take-t- he small maneuverable Super Cub land in a meadour about threa miles fraa the woman and snowihoe up to her Other bash pilots had been -- ordered by the Mounties to' stand by on the ground in case we needed hdpi By 4 :80 am Monday we were warming our engines (it was than 10 below) Already news wine had flashed stories of “possible" survivors of N58858 The girl was Helen Haben 21 of Brooklyn N Y her pilot was Ralph Flores a Mormon lay preacher and father of six children in San Bruno Calif Both had been returning to the 8tates after working in Alaska I kind of regretted those news stpries- lie Brooklyn and San Bruno families were hoping again It was tragic that their loved ones had vanished in a void of wilderness It was even more cruel though that we should be giving them false hope And we were almost certain that was the case : From the wreckage I had seen the couple must have smashed hard into the mountainside Even if they had lived they had been isolated for BO days They had carried virtually no food in a barren land impossible to live off and during a winter which waa a killer in itself I eouldnt help thinking how my own wife Marion would react to such premature reports if I had been missing end worm how she would feel when they were inevitably scotched By 0:80 I was taking off from Aeroplane Lake in the Super Cubb fearing 1 would be the person to smash the unexpected hopes of the Babes and Flores famiHea I burned low over the meadow looking for a place to set down A guide had ad--' yised against landing there: the windfalls were plentiful and even the smooth stretches of snow might deceptively cloak dangerous obstructions —But the ptaMidldnt need mueh run space and I ' : put the skis down gingerly on a strip of neat snow joggled a little arid slid to a smooth stopi A private pilot Jack MeCaDlnn already had ’ landed nearby but had been unable to locate the woman immediately I had flown over the terrain enough 8unday however to know where to pick up a footpath presumably tracked through the snow by the man I strapped on snowmhoes and followed the trail The dimb was steadily upward and I was slowed by snow three feet deep tangled with brush and blocked by fenealike rows of fallen pine After an hour or so I labored up a ridge and looked aeross a barren knoll to a triangle of yellow I called out A shapeless figure lifted it- self from the ground and waved unsteadily to me Jack McCaBum had just arrived at the scene too The figure slumped down now burying bead in sobs arms and crying in violent But 1 had glimpsed the faee It waa a white woman Helen Klaben was miraculously alive When I reached her she lifted her head “You’ve saved me” Her voice was choked “I’d love to kiss you but I cant walk" Her feet were wrapped In layer after layer of doth she must have been wearing five or six pairs of slacks anda heavy scarf waa pulled around her face She signaled me to sit down and when I did she kissed me and crying trailed up in me ton v ? S' 4 body-shaki- ng wind-burn- A Problem! Hew tatHHel— - ed QotT I had to determine two Qinfs now:' how badly waa Helen injured and how could I got her down1 to the plane? But Helen wiped away tears and rushed on: “ “Ralph I He’s out there! Did you see him?" I assured her that he probably had already ' been rescued and she sighed “Ok thank Gedl It was his faith you know His faith set the example for ms to follow That’s what saved me" She thanked God for' being alive or being rescued for saving Ralph— but again arid'agairi she thanked God frir letting her see things” I didn't understand that at first Later I was to " (Continued on page 1) r—esWMHiuiiMm i |