Show T 7 UR W N ut ce THE STORY SO 80 FAR FAH lander mining engineer is to barbara trumbull Trum buU but ap loves carol coburn Ma matakuska licher acher salaria bryton bryson a big also 10 lovcy ves him carols isz td with an unproven claim come back that a i ay the following noan her became alarmed ha even y at the administration 1 and sake asked d for help and it the most natural thing in id id that lander and his loan lean andy should be among those made ready and out ut into th the a surrounding hills bills h hot of her why lander head past the happy 11 appy day I 1 dont ii but I 1 do happen to know len en barbars barbara trumbull inter him blin on the outer trail and to join him in what she he his hl gesture ot of gallantry he ly and firmly declined her this apparently I 1 the lady from the ln lodge blodge for or the ehe later visit fes ei tent office and mado made in as to the character and ap ie beof of the missing artemis obviously add to her nee lers happiness when katie d her visitor that was the M most oat superb f vital and lawless woman old ever clapped eyes on i unfortunate I 1 suppose that should have been the search eventually found salaria Sn larla he led ed in locating her late the evening half way up the 1 big indian mountain in an ittu camp behind a wind for she was woodsman to take care of herself in the when ahen sandy nosed her out in be e was quietly broiling bear over iver a campfire campf lre but rho had mable bable apparently to resume ecward journey because of a akle kle incurred when she had d to hand encounter with a ed i black bear there may peen en some question as to the of her injury but the bear a was wai there to substantiate orl y of the encounter v had bad to rest and make camp I 1 way which took up a night lay day the ankle I 1 gathered worse and for some of the ce surrendered her in nce of spirit to the extent of eting ing her rescuer to carry her jer r times by clinging to his r she was able to hobble at I 1 landers side and I 1 could ne i how the forlornly primitive of t that dusky artemis went at I 1 against her ribs when she ose e sustaining arms about her eie final portion of that safari t as harmonious as it might been sen for it happened to be um bulls car that picked sa i up just beyond the happy day aled her to her fathers door er r for quite discernible rea declined to ride in that car his hl charge and trumbulls Trum bulls 7 expressed view of the adre in no way added to sam ans in peace of mind ie e first thing I 1 suggested la is ye e doctor ruddock look at that I 1 of yours iria however promptly de 4 1 the services of doctor rud she agreed in the end to let ring katie Katle and her first ald aid kit B e shack and it long e that expeditious nurse had bad the member looked over and ill she he be all right I 1 as asked ked ates atles black maria went lurch ack to palmer tl ie ts celtic gray eyes met mine 3 not lot her ankle that needed 1 pin gup announced the red nurse its that many hun bun beart asart of hers that needs attends ds smiled maled at my small and dative ohl 41 tit a bad sprain I 1 inquired teres re something there an all conceded katie but ive girls dance half a night on a vorse than that 18 rave lave me something to think t su OU mean I 1 suggested that 44 1 as helpless as she aided alel i laugh was slightly enig ach tt things she observed be been en known to happen she V saw him coming and ed d herself with a stone ell a I 1 topped stopped at the post office y mall 1 I saw gaw landers landera truck AA moment later lander him cne ame out with an open letter I 1 hand and ae he looked harried and aid id then the trumbull car cd in and shuddered to a stop beside the truck of battleship alone in the drivers seat was ara a trumbull Trum buU with her face ad jd her eyes flashing fire vt e just seen the heroine of your tain ain adventure she said she 8 less ws ashamed of the situation YOU u do she was in fact bar frank about it all der M stiffened 01 in say theres n nothing much for at brought kueht a librata vibrata of passi passion orl hurt 1 l ald htide into barbara trum voice alce when she spoke suppose not she sherried criel cried Es ally 7 as 83 it I 1 the first time which trumbull Truro buU la is contesting lander his employ becomes field manager for or the governments valley project eric the bed makes an tn inflammatory speech carol also peaks peak up and installment XVI youve indulged your penchant tor for nocturnal romance I 1 rnoda made no response to that oblique thrust but landers movement as ho he stepped between us seemed almost a sheltering one about enough he said in a voice as hard as nails til ill say bay it Is tried cried the lady to whom life must have brought very few fe w frustrations and it was till all so futile and foolish that I 1 felt vague ly sorry for her for with a shaking right hand she drew a ring from tier her finger and with a little gasp of anger flung it at lander she hung flung it badly it went past the tight lipped man and landed in the road dust a dozen paces away but lander disregarded it he merely stood there rather gray of face studying the woman in the drivers seat scat who so abruptly threw in her clutch and roared off down the long shadowed iha dowed roadway I 1 picked up the ring and held it out to lander I 1 better keep this I 1 said ell all straighten out in time but lander seem to hear me ills his eyes remained on the vanishing car even when I 1 forced the ring into his hand then he looked at me like a sleepwalker suddenly awakened do you believe that rot he be challenged I 1 tried quite without success to laugh the tragedy out of his face 1 I ills eyes eye a remained on the vanishing car went through much the same thing without any apparent peril I 1 reminded him ive always rather banked on your honesty then you trust me he asked in a disturbingly lowered voice I 1 tried to keep my heartbeats steady under the questioning gaze that rested on my face the barriers I 1 felt were finally down between us it was only my comans womans wom ans pride I 1 suppose that made me fight back the impulse to comfort him in his unhappiness of course I 1 answered an then have to keep on at it he grimly asserted why I 1 asked with a creeping sense of disappointment that sense of disappointment sharpened as ag he deac reached hed for the letter which he had thrust into his coat pocket because ive lust just had word trumbulls Trum bulls putting through his cancellation cel lation of your Cha kitana claim hes to head through to the mines there as soon as a plane can pick him up it failed to stir me as it should have there was a cloud on my heart I 1 remembered more important than mine claims clair ns but men I 1 also remembered too often preferred facing a hard tight fight to uttering soft words its not easy to understand he patiently explained but your fathers patent was granted and recorded theres no dispute about that but the territory has a large area of land land remote from any center of population the Cha kitana falls under that heading beading so the field notes of a survey claim there where the VC Y for any survey Is not tied to a cornet cornei of the public survey has to be tied to a location or what they call a mineral monument something showing definite adjacency adja cence to some recognizable landmark such as a creek or a river or a mountain Is that clear 11 1 1 I 1 think so I 1 dubiously responded in the case of the Cha kitana claim he proceeded the anchoring landmark Is the big squaw creek put but the trumbull plat shows the big 1319 squaw to be where he wants it end not where your father first found it and trumbulls Trum bulls intention anten tion isto ls to fly in with the regular of mines bcd t rt couple of official sur eric topi stops her A shot rings 0 out ut and sockeye sock eye lye an old sourdon sour sourdough dou g hl friend of the coburne Co burns pistol in ha hand nd orders order eric to dance sockeye Is C ordered r arrested but vanishes vani S salaria solaria 4 1 a r I 1 a also has gone and have his plat reading confirmed then what are we to do I 1 asked 1 I want you there as owner was his answer when that official survey Is made mad but how I 1 asked trying to speak calmly well go by plane he explained as soon as I 1 can got get one in here to pick us up I 1 found something consoling in my thoughts during the tumult of packing and maong ready and saying an abrupt goodby to my school chil dren who faced their mid midsummer summer vacation a fe few w days day earlier than they had expected I 1 hurried on to explain to katie but katie when I 1 found her in doctor Rud docks new surgery surrounded by crates and boxes seem greatly interested why the sudden grandeur I 1 asked that tight lipped lady as I 1 watched her hanging curtains in the wide windowed living room that still smelled of fresh paint then mien you heard queried katie itji that boss of mine getting the nest ready tor for the new ladybird you dont I 1 demanded mean the nurse from seattle of course COLUSO I 1 mean the nurse from seattle was katies even toned reply ashes sent up her silver and and the lady herself lands at seward on friday katla katie adjusted a curtain pin and stepped down from her chair to be married on saturday at anchorage and ruddy wants everything shipshape when they swing back to ralmer palmer on sunday katie endured my stare without flinching I 1 studied the line of katies brawny shoulders dark against the window light she smiled a little at my gasp of protest but deep deegin in those celtic eyes of hers I 1 could see the light of tragedy CHAPTER its odd how bow destiny can hinge on small and unforeseen things lings ti in this case it was nothing bigger than a safety pin that proved the god from the machine for our flight in to the Cha charitan kitan 18 as prompt as lander had expected 1 I cant get a plane in today he explained every ship chip within flying distance seems either chartered or spoken for and in that I 1 detect trumbulls Trum bulls fine italian hand so having no choice in the matter I 1 waited the project was like a prospectors pan what seemed like foolish agitation was really a sorting out of the true metal with the weaklings wea klings and the rubbish slowly washed out over the rim of the north week by week the real workers were taking root and making their half finished homes a little more livable or building fences and sheds or clearing ing and draining and seeding more land and discovering it to be incredibly rich land land that could grow thirty pound cabbage heads and climax oats that would run sixty five bushels to the acre the twenty hour summer day breathed warmth into that black bowl touching the dead silt into life steaming abundant explosive life it brought growth that one could almost see with the naked eye hay that could hide a team of horses a tropical prodigality of growth rank I 1 and arrogant gargantuan vegetables grain as high as a mans amans head too rank with straw peas and vetch that smothered themselves in their own luxuriance sweet peas that could overrun over run a cabin and smother it in bloom before frost cut the mad growth short berry brambles that became a forest muskeg surfaces that turned into a choked tangle of grass and alder and cranberry tilled gardens where potatoes grew as big as footballs where carrots were like war clubs where on one strawberry could fill a teacup the tillers of that soil may have wondered where their ultimate markets were to be but they tapped its richness and were stunned by its rewards and much of the glory I 1 also knew went to the women who worked at their side they had waited so long to get into homes of their own that there was some soma excuse for the noisy and foolish way they kept celebrating every escape from tent life each one of those rough and ready house war had meant an all night party with mouth organs and accordions cord ions and much 4 to 47 7 eat and drink yet now and then a more gracious note had struck through the rougher noise when the saari family sedate finns from wisconsin commemorated mem orated their accession to their 11 five ve room bungalow of spruce logs they first sprinkled lea salt on thedoor the doorstep and then conducted a service of prayer in the living room where the carpenters shavings still littered the floor TO BE CONTINUED |