Show YER LIAM A q r rA V rw s WERY J IR 11 IGHT WILLIAM BYRON MOWERY SERVICE EB GR X Continued u ag- ag 18 i moved The men merely ft her The ver very wildness Slon ton Ion of her charges made madera ra deaf ears to what she belief In Craig had been Their god had faIl fallen en shook his head sorrow sorrow- i Don't Dont ont blame her men he meant to j. j She has really onest friend all aU along it let Craig down Patricia with ith them Dont let those d ds cis kill him html The stony disi dis the crowd maddened her i T flinging herself battering 1 a rock wall waIl Help helpT t Craig Hes He's helped you u u u- and how In his Ws need I Oh Ob God youre you're letdown letdown let let- down and hell he'll be bea a Spat Pat the huge huSe redhead we aint blaming you i ing Youve You've been awful 4 rood to us rock rock hogs It Its It's 7 hats ats at's the guilty devil lie He Heend liend 1 end and nd skipped Patricia flashed Marl A e a t But ut In the next breath she 11 ding g Dont Jet let Craig be You can make Warren U where Craig Is and we I out a rescue party party- fee e laughed derisively The tup up the laugh They Jeered or res lotion tion of helping or r man who had sold them Ulem Skipped skipped with a quarter quarter mil mU- mU ars rs n. la is suddenly hated bated aU all of ofu rith th a flaming hatred She u gigs gig's large words pst st winter Dont blame the thea thelIs a lIs they're not note t le e if tf they give in They denly not her friends butu but and ind enemies u It get out of here she sheI sheat Ib I at them Get out of this A It Its It's my house Get your yourd nd d move out Get back to tok k y 7 tents and the mud and 1 cold that I lifted y you u out a paid ild no attention to her A Ar 57 r more were crowding Warren barren arren trying to talk sell sell- m rs a s with him Another dozen king for the main door to st across the river and In ID Ini i to sell sen f nan an did growl sullenly Ill IU I Vre re re as long as I blasted d make ke me move out d cla la is jumped down from thet the t lind nd with rage They thought h i helpless did they Thought fay tay ay there In her house after jet t her down and refused to alg's tg's life Shed She'd show them 1 H et t them out of there I Of anyway was this housea house S a I few days daya it would be a a tenantless a mockery of i Craigs Craig's unselfish battle l ees nees wobbled as II she he rana ran It a corner of the Den and J an m IX and ran back to theA the A a kerosene She smashed J furled vengeful blows blow 9 d 1 gushed out upon the pine- pine j ng in 1 a man yelled he hes he's e's es going to set this place f M tI they could stop top her Pa Pa- to the nearest table f lamp flung it at the pool ene eoe was a puff of blackish U a scorching sheet heet of flame ame emptied t-emptied barrel caught and 5 id d lUnging flinging Its blazing conover conover con con- over the wall waD and floor door piling the whole north end ng In flames gb the panicky crowd of abbing ebbing at their belongings ming lining toward the door Wart War War- ht t his wa way to Patricia and ander er r. r She was limp and jabbing nerve nerve- the point of sinking down downe i e floor lie He beat out a spot a 11 her dress picked her up i her to the nearest window I her ber out of the blazing build build- I near her cabin he stopped her ber er on OD Q her feet and stead stead- I It turned end glanced back r community house her here e symbol of all her work and hope hope- It was wa gutted CUlled doomed doomed- The flames f n D through the roof and were above the surrounding lid Ith the who whole Inside was a mass theto the e if rafters ter and walls were B i g to ii black ruin rule CHAPTER e little shack where Cral Craig O f once oner Lupe d dow down wn beside the low bunk ce Was kind enough but his ted led evilly in the candle candle- 6 wan n to eat or be t he Inquired Shook his hi head You wan me to hold a cigarette cigarette ciga ciga- rette wile you smoke heem No You aw right comfortable for de denight denight denight night den denT Trot along to your deep Craig bade curtly lIe He hated this insistent kindness from Lupe It was the Inhuman In human kindness of an executioner Lupe got up and went out of the thes s shack ack leaving Cesar there as a guard during the brief night Staring up at the rafters raft raft- rafters ers as he had stared for so many pain shot hours Craig wearily listened list ened cued to the macabre hooting of an owl and forced his aching thoughts away from his lost battle and Patricia Pa tricia and the death hanging over him He lIe had little Idea where the Chi Chi- had come with him except except ex that they had made about a twenty-hour twenty Journey from the Bay Day pulling him on a light aUght but buthe buthe buthe he felt sure ure that they had brought him to some ome wild region where Indians In and prospectors rarely came From the sounds outside the outside the booting hootIng hoot boot Ing of owls at night the twittering of and buntings b. b by da day the occasional tattoo of an Arctic woodpecker wood pecker pecker pecker-he he knew that the camp was wa located in a deep woods He lIe reasoned also that there must be a second shack close by where the other slept and where the cooking was done for his food was brought into him already alread prepared During the sled tourney Journey he had clung to the hope that might be trailing the with witha a rescue party part But Dut th that t hope had died in him now Too much time had elapsed If any an- party had followed fol lowed it would have closed in last night and attacked Escape by his Ws own hand by any physical means was flatly ble His Ills wrists w were ware re bound with the green rawhide thongs till he be could not move a finger he was securely roped to the bunk and always al ways close enough to touch him sat an alert guard with a rifle on his lap In his helplessness he had turned to that afternoon afternoon after after- noon and rem reminded ded the half breed of the life debt between them but had bad stonily refused to help him The breeds gratitude had distinctly waned Full of health and strength again he chose to forget the night when he be had lain at the point of death Out in the woods yards away the owl kept up its weird hooting hooting- Whoa Who for The bird was staying in one spot an unusual while wh C Craig r a i g thought He had seldom known a horned owl to hoot more than twice from the same ame place The call brought him a poignant memory of ofa ofa ofa a summer twilight at the Da Bay when loving fun-loving Pole on hid himself In n some brush and sounded the ven ven- and had aUthe all aU the prospectors craning their necks around at the trees The stopped Ten minutes minutes min milr utes later it started up again from froma a different direction nearer and more distinct Craig thought that he be detected a false quaver in the thelast thelast thelast last two notes Listening closely closel he be compared the call with several others here and there in thi tM woods wood This call caD was not exactly like those others A little thrill went through his Ws numbed body Maybe it was Pole on out yonder in ID that dark drogue signaling sig him saying laying Keep your our cheen cheep op Craig Im I'm wit you lIe He drove the thought awa away because be cause it was torment Though he was in extremity of body and mind he refused to clutch at straws Some time later later later-he he had dozed off oft without knowing it It-he It he stirred out of ofa ofa ofa a feverish sleep lIe He was clammy with sweat his throat felt parched his broken nose pained him intolerably Bring Dring me water he asked the vigilant Cesar in French To drink and for a cool cloth on m. m my face Go to sleep Cesar growled Iti It Itis Itis is i. night Sleep Craig I lashed a he d out savagely Beast you youl When your brother lay gasping for life breath I saved aved him and now you refuse me a tin of wa ter Dort Don't then carcajou carcajou hearted A little ashamed Cesar got up reached for a pan behind the stove tove and went out Craig heard him scoop coop the pan full Ml of snow now and start tart back for tor or the door Then all aU suddenly he heard hearda a surprised grunt from the breeda breed a grunt cut short b. b by a hard blow as of a anan nan being smashed over the head Then came the sound of a body sprawling heavily In the snow now Bewildered Craig twisted painfully pain fully in his hii ropes till he could see ee the door A few moments later a adark adark adark dark figure appeared there looked cautiously Inside Then the man stepped stepped In In and the candle shone on him bm Craig started to cry out Sam Saml but his W. voice choked in his throat The shack hack the Low doc and Sam Ion Hon Honeywell's figure went all aU blurry He Ue closed his eyes a moment opened them again stared spellbound spellbound-in In Inthe the stupefaction of a man suddenly confronted with a reprieve from death sh Sam warned We socked one of em era plenty but theys they's four more right a near a-near sleeping with one eye open and Ind we aint got an any guns auns and me In through the doorway came Po Po- leon carrying the limp unconscious form of Cesar lie He threw the half breed down hurried to the bunk bent over Craig drew his hi skinning knife knUe and began cutting the ropes and Here lIere Sam Sam he he tossed Honeywell the thongs thongs Craig Craig don need dese any more so you use em emon emon emon on dat son on of a blue bull You hogtie heem proper and gag heem so tight dat he won holler none till we get plenty plent gone Who with you Craig whispered whis as Pole on cut the last rawhide rawhide raw raw- hide from his swollen ankles Jus Sam and me Where is this place They blindfolded blind folded me on the trip Its in de Wolf Well Lairs bout tree free mile from Kessler hilL hilt You member member mem memo ber dat pine drogue were we cut dem claim stake Well dis camp is In dat dal Dese two shack were Lovetts Lovett's men stayed wen he hesen hesen hesen sen dat party op here In to todo todo todo do the assessment work on de Kess Kess- ter ler gold lode Weve got to get out of this shack and away from here Craig said One of those other may step in ID at an any moment to see that everything's everything all aU right He tried to move but be he could not even rise to his W. elbow He lIe was helpless as a bab baby Ills His arms and legs were stiff lUff as posts and his whole body bod was numb Easy easy gentled him Ill ID have to give you wan good rub and pummeling fore tore you 1 4 I r 1 L Lost Their Packs Guns Cons and Almost Their Lives can stan op Sam you step outside and get dat gun We need dat rifle bad While he be worked with Craig Po Po- Po- Po leon told how Sam and he had got there After discovering the abduction abduction tion they had waited till daybreak then circled the Bay Da and picked up the telltale tracks track of a tied sled and five men In the whipping wind the trail was dim when they first found it it and before they the had followed more than ten miles mlles it was blotted out altogether But Dut the mis had plainly been heading for the Wolf Lairs and remember remember- remembering ing about Lovetts Lovett's party part in April and the shacks they had built for their temporary stay tay shrewdly guessed that the were taking Craig to those shacks in ID that isolated country Luck had been with them on their trip at every turn except one but there it had dealt them a cruel joltIn Jolt JoltIn In crossing a small email upland river that morning they had broken through the rotten mush ice and lost their packs guns and almost al most their lives After struggling ashore they had laid a pole walkway walkway walk walk- wa way out upon the ice and fished for their rifles but the water was too swift and deep and they had come on bare But Sam an and me have got a for guns add add- ed pointing at a wrapped canvas bundle which Sam had Just lugged In Half HaU hour bout ago wen we was nosing round dis camp we ran into a Ice tie stone log cache out dere dat utter shack It was de place were Lovetts Lovett's party stored deir tools and dynamite De heavies heavies heavies' ies' ies tools and some lome odd of dynamite was Wall in dere We wrap op eight wit plenty caps capi and fuse and em alon along In Ina a tight dem might help out out Craig asked Sam That himi's himl's gun is loaded isn't it itT Yes Full clip But none in the chamber Well that's that five cartridges Search his pockets pocket and belt Sam made a thorough search earch but found no more shells With an effort Craig managed to sit u up He If could bend his arms arm and leiS legs a II little now the paralyzing numbness was slowly leaving him and ind in his ineffable gladness at beng be ing ng snatched back bad to life he no longer lung long er felt fell his hI throbbing pains Weve simply got to clear away from rom here he Insisted working hard ard to drive that numbness out of his ill bod body If you fellows will help me walk for tor a mile or two Ill I'll I Ilet get let my legs lei back again I Sam picked up the rifle Pole on the lie bundle of dynamite bent I over the unconscious still Cesar Chi saw aw that he was tightly I bound and end gagged and then snuffed the candle Leaning heavily on the two men CraIg stood up from the bunk shuffled shuffled shuf shuf- fled awkwardly across the floor like a i person on sUits stilts and stumbled tumbled out Into nto the dark out dark out of the shack where half haU an hour ago he be had lain awaiting death Through the pines and he le saw the dim outlines of the second sec ec ond end shack 20 yards away where the he other four tour lay sleeping With an anxious glance at atthe the ho dim shack he moved on with his companions I IGray Gray dawn at two o'clock found them hem five miles down country An hour later the flaming three-o'clock three sun slanted above the northeast horizon horizon horizon ho ho- and started swinging up the bright sky Craig was wa heartened by their progress Seven swift miles nearly nearl a sixth of the distance to the Day Bay and end no sign yet of the mist mis If H he and Sam and Pole on could only hold that fast clip they might outrun the th metis meUs to Resurrection Resurrection mouth lie He had shaken off oa his numbness within the first half haU hour and the crisp night air and vigorous pace had bad cleared up his nauseating head ache In better shape in fact than either Sam or he was wu carryIng carry carry- Ing lag the rifle rUle and dynamite and leading lead ing tog the way His two partners were in worse condition than the they had told him or orthan orthan orthan than he be had reckoned on With no sleep and very little to eat the they had foot foot almost 00 90 miles and the they were badly worn down but the worst was their snow blind ness I Sam especially was hard bard hit Within two hours after sunrise his inflamed eyes were nearly closed and his hi face was contorted with pain Gradually going blind he kept stumbling falling and on rocky rock I I slopes slope or through thick drogues drogue Craig had to lead him b. b by the hand Their route straight arrow-straight toward toward to to- ward the Bay Day led across a monotonous monotonous monotonous succession of stony watersheds and timbered valleys Up one treeless tree less strewn granite-strewn hill a pause on i i the crest for a glance back down the opposite slope into the first I i straggly trees on down into the valley valle timber and up the next granite gran I I with variation that ile ite slope with slope little was the stor story of their trek I Iwas I Near eight o'clock Craig paused on a high bare ridge and glanced back across the watersheds searching search search- I I ing tog the route they had come With a I shock he saw five dve distant man fig I ures cites whip over a rocky crest swing i down the western slope and vanish in the timber The I I I Following the trail with the ferocity I I of lean March wolves Less than five miles awa away they were traveling |