| Show sr y fl nj fi il 0 IVA 1015 fly JL L V by GEORGE MARSH service Berv lct copyright by the penn publishing CA CHAPTER XII is 18 garth found joan quarrier nt at the school entering tile the build pg tog he stood for a space in a doorway ind watched her rend read to a group of adree orp orphan hanti M As aa she looked up aware of bi his presence presence he be said it Is not february abut I 1 have returned jut something la Is the matter she sat said d 1 oppre apprehensively v ely what has haa happened ed ost 0 t elkman El kwan M edeane shot himself J r but you why are you here why ald you come ki for you JJ for roe me to go to El kwan dazed t the iden idea her hand sought tier her fo fore re hend bend while the chattering children 11 irow crowded ded curiously around then them ile he wants you there may be in 8 5 ejection atlon and you know wounds lin ve everything in your kit bandages banaag es antiseptics 44 let me put on my coat and well talk outside site she eald unald A so they went to the clearing a 1 I know well what vin im asking he ald it means a n day on the sled discomfort for you dut but ho he Is my arlend Tr tend lend and it may mean his alfo your our coming coining I 1 her troubled eyes turned to his I 1 1 I want rant to go the trip la Is nothing its alone with you it means leaving caving the mission I 1 suppose of course swan will make a fuss to him film it will look immoral your going to save a mans life he sat said d savagely but for you an army bur s e with a life ut lit stake he plead bcd d la is there any choice she smiled wistfully as sho she gazed over the frozen river g ive got togo its in my blood to 0 help them the wounded J ills hla heart leaped at the words to help elp the strong to help nie me Is that in n your blood too joan quarrier the ibe asked passionately she shivered and avoided his eyes aas as a wave of color swept up to tier her dark hair tte strong need no help she fatio parried I 1 again in cottrol of himself the elated guthrie smothered sino hla his own emotion in tills this thought for t the it e stricken friend nt at elkman for whom he had ad lied to tte tle man he respected and all d alie lie girl he lo bcd and ad lie ho wondered what hat she would say bay to him when she learned of the deception that she would have come as aa readily had lie he wil told the truth lie he had no hobt doaby but the secret of Galbrait hs presence at elkman was waa a trust sacred inviolate ile he had told cameron that the crew of the ghost bird lied died to a man at t albany laughing SI 11 cDonald was EH dead man on the way up tile the coast joan oan quarrier should learn the truth oh ye of little falth I 1 guthrie sadly shook hla his head what must I 1 do to convince you the girl made no answer looking up gath GA th saw bundled in fur cap and coat much too 6 large arge for him it a short figure blo aing their path you tire going on this mad journey the shrill voice of swan demanded do you hold your reputation so cheaply you have hav heard yost mtv mn cameron has told me what tills this man has come for youre tot ton late swan she has haa promised to go said garth quietly ignoring guthrie the little man gravelly ly warned H yu yiu realize miss quarrier if you go you cannot return to the mission I 1 yes mr air swan before I 1 became a mission teacher and my moral welfare the object of your solicitude I 1 live I for three years with wounded men A mans malls life Is at stake it Is worth more than my reputation to garth site she said bald abruptly come for me when you are ready ill go and pack my kit bravo healer of wounds that thai was spoken like a soldier and walking ng squarely at the morti mortified fled missionary ary dazed at the flouting of tits his authority tho rity who stepped into tho the soft snow to avoid the threatened coill aelon slon the elated guthrie guthorle hurried to the trade house shell go shell got gol he announced ito 0 the waiting factor good I 1 take good care of f goer er I 1 know I 1 wish you the best of luck my boy slits a rare one Is joan oan 11 s swan told tier her she return ato 0 the mission A ah contemptuously grunted the other well send over and get her belongings shell spend tile the rest ot f the winter with us but ashes much atoo too valuable to the swans for them to stick to their high horse abe be over trying to wheedle her into coming back but I 1 hope she wont well see to that why they know how io to feed a husky pup and ln in charge of twenty children I 1 think of it I 1 joan turned to and taught em loto ething lentina s you know oil hell be baa back k after tier her j guthrie grinned an fn broadly as ho he said so alu L well I 1 nope you yon get gel tier her behind the tha slab counter garth aled vp li oo on li it bundle of blankets for lew few hou baim s eleen bleep until ills bis dogs does were fit to take tile the vinety mile run north to elkman and the sick alck man mail who officially fici ally had died on the ghost at noon lie he drove fits refreshed team to the mission where jonn joan matting beside tier her duffle bogs waited in the snow with the light lond load of two passengers the big runner sled its wooden shoes eliod with ice fee which slips over a hard surface with less friction than steel and cnn ann be renewed at wilt will would be sport for the five powerful dogs driving its as he bovid would to bring biln g skill and medicine to the succor of the guest at elkman garth hoped to reach the post before dawn but much depended on the light A thick night would slow the dogs to a walk while crossing the mouths of the big rivers where title tide cracks opened arid and closed over oer night and the trail led through gli hummocks and ridges bad going by day at night heartbreaking heart breaking to d driver r iv and dogs dogg youre not sorry regretted promising to come he asked ns as lie he wrapped her in robes and stowed tier her bags she shook her head not in the least mr air exile im reconciled now to tho the loss of the last shred of my reputation it was waa a wild scene in the house they even prayed for rao me when they realized threats were futile prayed for you you bound on an errand of mercy in the name of all the saints let an innocent man dle die for want of proper care because of my reputation I 1 must be a 0 men monster to them thein she laughed yes I 1 can truthfully any that after what my brother tot told them they think you ore are a terrible person odo do you he countered leaning over the tiled sled well tier her dark eles flashed up into tits his not mot exactly terrible rather what shall I 1 say stub stubborn boriL A larche castor I 1 and the hu huskies with shot ahead galloped to the trade house there the Cam camerons erous were waiting for tho the girl who had bad also burned her bridges shortly down the cliff ellif trail and over tho the alver lee ace raced tho the team carrying carryl ng hope for craig galbralth deep in delirium at El ninety white miles away As they left the river and turned up the coast guthries Guth rles anxious eyes circled the gray horizon for indications of what would follow the haze smothered sunset over the muskeg for days now the weather had softened to above zero tei temperature nicra a characteristic of james bay winters which are milder than those of the forest country to the south and lie he prayed for a bright night as aa his thoughts were busy with the tragedy of craig galbralth galbraith and his fits own part in the climax of the pitiful history the decision he had made beside the bunk in the ghost once he had struck on a feasible plan of procedure waa inevitable ine vit tible to the man who owed tits hla life to the heroism of the stricken galbralth galbraith nut but the situation which guthrie faced as he watched the high barrens ot of Ald miski catch and hold the veiled light of the dying sun might easily result not only in dismissal from the company but in arrest by the authorities ills ilia clear duty to his employers had nem demanded that he report to cameron the presence of laughing mcdonald cDonald Al at elkman the information that a hudsons Hud sons bay factor had concealed from the government n man suspected of raude murde would raise a hornets nest in ottawa all this garth guthrie had seen with clear vision the night before when he shared his fits plan pinn wath etienne but is as hla his eyes rested for an instant on the tragic face of the friend who that day in front of allens amiens had not counted the cost there was waa in n his fits face the look of a man who would repay to the last farthing ottawa the company lie he hod had served so BO well were nothing there lay craig galbralth galbraith sick hunted by the law he had defied deserted laughing mcdonald whom lie hod fought for the trade his friend and he would see it through craig should have tits his chance slight as it looked with the woman of the great heart and the skilled hands lie he was hurrying over the sen sea ice as fast us five un ua gavas could travel hold on galbralth br ilith V C 01 I 1 as you held at many a disputed parapet and shell holet hole 1 they had talked little through the first miles the thoughts of the man centered on his problem with the skill of long training she had gone into the details of Et Eti lennes ennes wound and garth had find had no heart so early in their journey for a confession of his duplicity but when off the mouth of the big willow he announced that it was ahne to rest the dogs doga and eat the supper prepared by mrs airs cam eron he felt that over the hot ten tea joan quarrier should be told the facts with the aid of cedar kind lings car ofed on the sled he soon had a ore fire aider the teakettle do you realize how you have ignored your passenger mr exile tills Is my first ride behind the dogs doga and I 1 wanted to tall talk about them the hus huskies klis exact tt shot who was inspecting the v t thicket h icke 4 were wera sprawling in their harness unifying hungrily tit lit the odor of bacon now that tie lie wits was alone with jonn joan was to bo be alone with her through tho the long miles to elkman guthrie felt strange ly until lie ho had laid tile the truth before her told of the love he to bore tills this broken thing once feared as laughing mcdonald waiting in such sore need of tier her ministrations and received rec elud tier absolution for his fits deception e cep he would feel III nt at ease w with it tile tho woman who faced the world with the stark truth in tier her eyes let me see sec site she went on 1111 lubnow now castor and pollux but that cream cot col ored one oh lints flints dido lie he laughed and the white gray one Is aeneas aeneas Ae arid and does lie ho run awny away from tier her like tits ills namesake run away hardly sites the fastest dog la in the team more tie lie try lies hes more constant than hero the name of that surly one who growls so BO much oil oh achilles of course tho the dut but hes not so BO much of a hero iles hes deathly afraid of iOns castor gonseor eor and shot fought him to a standstill once pouring tier her a cupful of the steaming ten tea and making a 0 sandwich with 5 m N sa M watched the murk slowly slot blot out the stars I 1 the bacon he passed loon joan her supper my aly im hungry 1 how good the tea tastes I 1 but arent tile the dogs to have some fasti after their work no they were fed tills morning if I 1 feed them now it would make them lazy we reach elthan before noon and im worried lin im afraid were going to be too late laic its as tt it is site she looked hp bp puzzled at tits his tone toile why you said lie he bleeding badly no artery involved its only it matter of keeping the wound clean the moment had come 1 I have a confession to make to you joan quarrier lie he began 1 I have lied to you brought you from a worm warm shelter up this coast tonight on false pretenses false pretenses I 1 what do you mean she was curious but not disturbed 1 I have been the cause of your br eakin with the swans given the missionary people the chance to raise their saintly eyebrows in horror tor for what mint why my dear man I 1 site she protest std 1 I tinder stand nil tant theft tieh prayo prato cant hurt tile me can it I 1 dont where la Is the iier her ile he sucked in a deep breath and loaned leaned toward her ni an he said Eti cinie was not shot youre oa your way ay to help me ino save a friend a friend who crawled with tile me on oa hla his back through gna gas and shell fire they broko broke tila its arm and pot got hint him in tile the chest but lie ho came through can you guess who it Is ifer her dark brows contracted ns as she met inet the pleading look of tile the man standing by the ire alre slowly she aha shook tier her head you said etienne was hurt now you say any it was some otie one else I 1 dont sec mcdonald laughing mcdonald she bhe cried you said sald you found him dead on the schooner ile ho was alive but very sick lu 1 pneumonia ini im not etienne tin and in an indian took him film to while I 1 came to ask you to go to help M lie ile wua tills this friend who saved your life ln in franco france site she asked wide eyed with surprise prise yes capt crogg galbralth lie ile took the lie namo name of mcdonald when lio lie disappeared after the murder site she broke in that la Is unworthy of joan lie demanded gently nut but lila his description tallies with that of the man mail wanted in halifax you forget that ive seen him film canned to the defense of tits his friend suppose he Is the ninn man Is it strange that a man branded for life with that grimace 11 ho he pleaded a etian proud sensitive coming home with the victoria cross twice won should go mad land when the wife lie he cherished as I 1 know he did turns in horror of tits hla scars to a lover tell me to la it strange it if was mu murder ader site she objected halfheartedly no not if the ann was struck in tho the heat of passion masslon no as galbralth galbraith could strike it was retribution after all he was a gallant soldier she roused mused aloud and he saved your life ignoring tile the inference garth pressed his point for he saw caw to his joy that hla his story had touched tier her think what tits his bitterness lits his agony must hate been doomed forever to wear that mask when the woman who should have been proud to bear tits his name failed him imagine ills hla loneliness his despair when in tits hla need she turned to another there was wan a mist in joan quartiers rs eyes as she sha aid you must have loved him to defend him so well ile he throw threw away hla his hope of reaching the lines when he followed shot to my shell hole and started back with a gassed man to la it strange that im fighting for hla his life oil oh healer of wounds for an instant as he waited for fsr answer she ma tile fierce pleading of hla his eyes then looked into the thickening thic lienIng night ns as she said gently yoo have won ill give all I 1 have to save him for he was a gallant sol soldier and has suffered joia joau quarrier did not seethe see the tho pride the gratitude and the love that shone down on oil her front from eyes 4 F for or an hour after the stop at the big biff willow for the hot too tea the weather had beon been gradually thickening As the dogs followed the coast guthries Gut urles restless pies watched the murk slowly blot out the stars it meant feeling their way put the river mouths moul ha and across the delta odthe of atho attawapiskat a sharp on the compass to mold avoid entering the river itself clearly caution dictated turning into the Kapl skau and spending the night tit at tile post but the chance of tit the man at af elkman might hang on the hours houra saved by pushing on through tile the sable blanket which shrouded the coast ile he turned to tile lie girl muffled in robes robea on the sled behind him its not going to be cold but A cold night with the stars would be better than tills this how can you tell where were going I 1 cant |
