Show the BY ARTHUR W no LL service TUB THU STORY stony so 60 rad FAR acs ics coburn alaska born is re r she li is disappointed roi that he ti is sidney north to teach in an indian under lander and he Is mist head ot of the indian torn n S surprised in turn school chool to learn her resents carols carol youth carol gets geta name lie 1116 labord chool hool ship she he Is annoyed by erlo eric the trumbull CO Is working tor for a letter from lander asking for he her r fa f Aboard company which is 1 a tied erlston an agitator she is ing her lather fathers claim lie I 1 is I 1 contest dockum document e ants a and nd declaring cha the engaged trumbull cued by a yount young engineer to Trum trumbull trumbulls bulls daughter pany outfit and I 1 are parting corn installment III CHAPTER III tend send documents which possess on to sidney lander d I 1 get any response to repeated letters to the high and officials at ju eaty record office au u I 1 had bad to wait as women so 0 o aten en h have av a t to 0 d do 0 in this world under the shad here up anmer mr idith ot the pole lc seemed a very short abort son igon id been twice to anchor ibe to explore the wooden fronted and DUY buy things to cover my adys and bring homo home an arm of month O old id magazines and ough gh it au as aa the volca voice over our I 1 radio ann announced bounced time ny y aches on ot or the fun un was wa swinging lower d 1 lower and the birch leaves were ning and th the e wildfowl wild fowl heading iirth ith the fireweed was red on the end and I 1 once more faced the aides bilar old task of stoking a drum ve with spruce logs there was heeling of ice on the trail pools the morning and we breakfasted lamplight doctor ruddock night katie oconnell aeden wild ka which held hed shot on the wet inlet laining that the six mallards staff and the spoonbill re e for or the the principal with the coming the first untimely snowfall in t jd id taken to whipcord riding eckes and invested in a pair of s high boots made of rubber h generous enough toot foot room to W for at ae least ast two pairs of wool socks katie when she saw me s attired proclaimed that I 1 once re looked like an old timer then went over her combination rifle I 1 shotgun which she called a me ime getter and asked if id ng in W with ith her on a moose hunt oss the inlet ut instead of a moose hunt we it t on a baby hunt for katie had n right about her vanished pase word came cam e that our poor lit red skinned oedipus had been nd d abandoned in a poplar grove t of wasilla doctor ruddock 0 brought the news newa to Tok lutna 1 there was a passable trail ough augh the hills and delegated ka and me to motor over to mata ka valley and bring the outcast k atle atie who would have started out timbuctoo at a word from that tor of hers bers lost no time it not int an entirely dignified depar for or it took place in the schools wood toting totting motor truck y noon the next day we won ugh to the matakuska Ma river re we were told to push on east d along the valley toward what i called the butte high up in hills as we went I 1 could see intall sheep looking like little ids ds anchored to the rock ledges hen en katie snorted aloud for at rn in the road we came face to 3 with a bewhiskered old timer a holstered bolstered hunting knife and ix gun swinging at his hip to nothing of a long rifle he e crook of his arm ile he looked some reason like a picture out the he past the light in his sat eat ine e old eye was none too kindly he e studied us and then inspected mud covered truck ahem ern contraptions he mordant announced built tor for ath h country mushin no moren en were tle after agreeing with him e an effort to explain our mis there the rugged and defiant figure assailed the trail ruts a barrage of tobacco juice anel juns like that ought to t be shot in the good old days he said ie e slaPPed his six gun id a it on sight he spat again ts is the matter with this e gol darned country ashes soft ot on us and stead 0 spoon I 1 n them copper bellied sons 0 logs 93 she should be putten a ty Y on their scalps and still i he spat sall ls 1 ol 01 territory too much gov ent ive trapped her and pros d her from down t gel and in the ol 01 days ere ro from the Tok lutna mis interrupted katie on an gency case was the junhur response but in the ol 01 days was sayin wo we could run our camp but now its your uncle who steps in and runs us samo same runs the inkins he makes a 0 tool minin laws slaps claps a d season on beaver and gits a warden after us it if we shoot a caribou t f keep body and soul w er lie he tells us t f settle down row turnips but once we clear re or two he claims we aint n her up right and puts her in n the public domain old timer when he ha spat again ble able to convert the movement sweeping gesture of depudia d right now a th levin lot 0 clans ins is set on this val 0 to o a 11 truck garden for a bunch i r ken down corn rustlers on re got gieir survey men thre e out road lines dil Jn drivon stakes and ci almin re 0 davin the way tor for the 1 of alaska and next spring pring countin count ln on plant Plan tint ln an army 0 pie eaters caters on the valley tundra and wat batchin watch chin ln em cm git rich browin spinach for themselves ho shifted his cud and brushed aside the mit mittens tend hand with which katie was semaphoring for silence hence this aint no place tor for college doods he doggedly pursued 1 I got ono one 0 them know it all engl engi beera over to my shack right now ile ho kin talk big about goloby and machine minin but ho he could no more take a tom rocker back in the hills and wash out a poke 0 dust than I 1 could pilot one a 0 them airplanes stam stamped ln our good ol 01 brand 0 husky dogs off the trails of alaska katie very plainly could stand for no more all very interesting she bellowed but were here to find an indian baby and if you can help us in our search id rather like to know it the challenge in katies voice brought a keener look ol of animosity from tho the bewhiskered old face 1 I was a comin to that lady if only keep your shirt on and still again he spat with delibera A ow 91 1 I was a comin to that lady if only keep your shirt on tion your injun babas over there tn in my wick yup its where cried katie reminding me of a colled coiled cobra the old stranger seemed to relish her bewilderment its over yonder in my with that dood engineer bryin to wet nurse a little life into it and ill be doggoned if he aint got it squal squall lin ln again like a two year old take me to it commanded katie her lips were grim as she motioned for the old timer to climb up on the truck she was apparently too exasperated to talk to him so I 1 did the conversing where I 1 asked as we me rocked along the rough trail was the baby found why this long legged quartz cracker came mushin down through the hills with a sheep dog at his heels a right smart dog with tk a nose like a weasels fact Is that hound smelt out something in a poplar grove jus over the knoll bedont my cl clear earin ln kept and in and ci relin back there until his owner jus had f t investigate and there he finds an injun anjin baby wrapped up in a ragged blanket and then comes stam stampeding stamped ln t my shack door sayin weve sure got to t save that little inkins life it looked plumb dead t f me but ill be gol darned if that dood get some signs ot 0 life out 0 the little varmint after over her half the night and her up with hot milk and my last bottle 0 hootch your name I 1 asked primarily to cover katies open groan of indignation you can call me sockeye sock eye he answered sockeye sock eye yourn i oits its coburn I 1 told tho the deep set old eyes studied me with a livelier interest you aint alaska born he ventured 1 I was born I 1 proudly explained on the koyukuk the man mail who called himself sock eye stared at me A coburn from the koyukuk Kyu kuh you aint meanon to tell me youre ol oil klondike Co Coburn burns 8 girl I 1 announced that I 1 was why I 1 many a trail with that leather necked ol oil pan was his slightly retarded rejoinder and I 1 seen you when little brat no you was a squall ln bigger in n a minute e over back a 0 pickle crl cricht camp why it was me helped tote you down t the sky pilot at elk crossin Cross ln when you was christened and my share 0 the moose milk after that sky pilot id d on t his next mission post they called you C carol arol in them days carol koyukuk coburn I 1 said feeling a little closer to him sure sur it wag girlie said laid my newfound new found friend your pappy od d been pay dirt along the koyukuk aid held he was handin luck on f t you with that name sock S 0 ck eye spat luxuriously indicated the right trail fork tor for katie to ta take ket and turned back to me but hi his own luck hold out it sure P still again sockeye sock eye spat that was wag a dirty deal they gave him over on the Cha kitana 11 he died there I 1 said ald with re proving quietness in my tone and died tor for hit his rights tryan to push through to f the record oace to git his hl patent from beant canceled on him but he was wa buck in something too big for him seems like you got to be ba a college go logist and a law sharp betor before eyou you con can stake at ake a claim in this country nowadays then somebody else should be ba keeping up the fight I 1 said with a tort sort of she ghe wolf fierceness that brought the deep set old eyes back to a study of my face taint a fight where a pin feath er cluck like have a lookin look in ln observed sockeye sock eye lie he sp pat at wide into the fringing spruce and much is gained by bellyache in over water gone down the flume girlie you should be satisfied klondike sent you outside f V git proper perhaps im not I 1 said embittered bitt ered by a sense of relapse in the face of some old loyalty then you set on doln doin with yourself my companion coolly inquired I 1 told litin him briefly about my work at Tok lutna but it impress him much youre sure bastin your time on them no account Nit chles he ha averred ills his morose eye ranged along the far oil off mountain peaks same as im bastin my time in this valley batchin batchan ln it in a ten by twelve and bakin my own sourdough ive got me a minin claim up between the little squaw and the goldstream Gold stream where the edth er lode runs as thick as your leg and once I 1 get back there and open her up ashes sure goin t be a second el dorado I 1 could feel katies elbow prod my ribs they PH U say that she muttered I 1 remembered that she was right id seen them broken and wasted from bad diet and arthritic from bad teeth and burnt out with bad whisky but still nursing their dream of some lucky strike that was going to make them millionaires overnight and in it I 1 felt lay both the curso curse and the glory of all alaska here billere we be cried sockeye sock eye as we rounded a trail bend and rolled up in front of a log shack with a pair of weather bleached moose horns over the door the light strong in the shadowy warm room but I 1 could make out a dog lying beside the stove and a man in his shirt sleeves stooping over a blanket lined basket without a handle I 1 stared at that man rather stupidly then I 1 looked back at the dog in an effort to verify the incredible the man stooping over the blanket lined basket was sidney lander I 1 could feel my heart beating a little faster as I 1 stood staring at him I 1 could see katie OCon nella nells eyes widen as she inspected the nursing flask hed made out of what looked suspiciously like a beer bottle with a glove finger tied over its end it working right apparently patently ly from the thin walls of protest that came from the basket leave tills this to me said the nurse as she reached for her handbag hand bag sidney lander thus elbowed aside stood watching the expeditious hands that betrayed none of the hesitations marking his own clumsy movements when the tha dog lifted his pointed nose and rubbed it in a friendly way against my knee his owner raised his eyes and stared straight into my face he saw for the first time just who it was under that worn old parka but he speak and he smile he merely stoa there wl with th wonder in his eyes 1 I expect this he said as sockeye sock eye busied himself stoking the stove 1 I was on my way down to Tok lutna to find out why you much faith in roe me in what did I 1 fau fail you I 1 questioned ti a little resentful of his power to dam dampen pen or quicken my spirits 1 I asked for or the data and documents to back up your Chak itans claim he reminded me 1 I do dont not happen to have any documents as yet I 1 told him but even if I 1 had why should they go to you V 1 I wa wanted anted to lay them before jo john hn trumbull Trum buU replied puzzling me by the grimness of his jaw line illes hed to tb big emoke in the chael tann development company but also your boss I 1 said im afraid he wont be for long to was landers landera unexpectedly unexpected ly deml embla ter sexed ed reply W why hy not I 1 inquired TO DE BE CONTINUED |