| Show r p r rN N THE 0 1 By NA NARn Rn D 1 NAI I T U S i If I r I rO r r Yf RS c qt rl I. I Jl rJ ILA ear SYNOPSIS lad of neven l Is Isto II Toung to e a the tte the a burning burning lumber lumber r Jack SnoW sf at III II live with to 0 ot Of KerrY Kerry's mother t the eath instructed lerry to flit fed pu II containing the camps camp Ith I 1111 It b. b endangered Kerr and end Kerry once office th the 5 P Tool Tod and Ale IlIe BI Ibl Br Tod Tool dou acts act v eer At I t and Lit II found empty tv k W bill bill- lit the theD Ik II 1 with taking taking- Snow his hi headquarter headquarters tea D' D wil gOD rODe U i ruined CHAPTER Continued Il for or 2 the West t said ald oIA clean to the Pacific from Itna ho to their window that eve eve- IW Zany i Tod board an east east- I trail it sight bl old Jack Tack grew rew worse t came ame and gave him but bat be he was rest- rest pi frightened Kt Kerry rry the way yd d d it Idt op tip In bt bed d and talk E ind tad flatly finally the boy trying She de tile him crept close Into the ud tad that seemed to bring to the Ibe harried spirit tr If r lack Jack was quiet the boy aln dal ao 10 what they're 1 dIdn't take the wrong one i be told me wrong I that Jack asked Hid aid It again and added i be told me he put his hand handon on Os It right on ou th the one o or on n r I life nd said laid your money k II i It nd lid to come a a he h fer ter me i lick Jack was very silent tit he be do dot After that 1 f be he doli dot dol i the bo boy related In detail fed Tod West had done done ho hod how w d 4 tone gone down by the creek tome rome back tick through the a alders Ider tendering If anyone had hod seen n And Aid of how bow he be hadn't tried ire n tin the buildings that werk were e li k toe line of danger t k Sno Snow wore swore a slow and ter ter- nth then Iben Mold V I he be muttered mattered Het He ne HeV V t Idone dope done that that Nd buried dog It up tip since th fire n nd d bee on en a little feller 1 morning he be was much ranch s and that day they too took k r I mj ray and Ind before the wee week k nt out be had no old Jack look look- to tre him nor would he be ever eve again The Poor o- o f ra u hU hla boss now and w whim was wu u If him Mm ont out malt sot not hide the hurt of ot old of ot course All An he be to C. MI wu to hide himself I In w t at t the edge of ot town i In pus of meadows where e d I lie UI on his face tace and c cry q that Hat other thing the hn hurt rt OBI when boys with the e ti If I of fI their years taunted hl him m b lent Jack bust ent ta hID be found he c could ul cJ cover cove r ta with lIh laughter lie found foun d Md lid defense 1 In a tiled to run ran away repeat repeatedly ii he wu older Always Alway the they y him Ma back an and 1 made ht him m aid kept M him in school when n the rho place e Ind and all a th the p peak pea Peo- ea t k be they never ever forgot forgo t Tod West had told al about ont him hl m lull Dot listen when ae a. a s a I III II 1 he had tried to ll Iud old Tack had suspect 11 lIt fed did suspect suspect- not persist In 14 tit lit pt this footloose sus Some Som e loose foot then the they all y 0 to t hd d. d laughter the things Q Cs deviL he a lit y 1 CHAPTER III m t it to b I a St SL Paul 7 e TOung rial Hl la ii hla tall and brown brow brownt n t lii feet WOOdsman's cloth 0 Was curled a Cues Ches- clever brighter tied dead than th the e 0 grass Crass In ln color al al- Ml lit ti he be e was ore than thaD a decade ha had d I a t o e had got the e 4 d t town a bat had d I d hll he spirit II ci the eau finest Dlan an across tit the e report o On a J I 1 rea have hate ever read d l loll asking Ton 1011 again a bl bit With us Young t 7 a Cf wIth e art I d Ib t 1 man of ot you r te to id lowly more r oIce he be said aId In hl hll a Octo b Der- Der been On thus on one e DerIt's r Its It's aNy no now W. W e a DOd d toward ot the 8 e It 11 III moving urn arent t I Moat Host of at the time The other paused started to speak hesitated and then asked bluntly Why Young Kerry Keny laughed and answered as one will who evades an Issue I like to see country I like to put In this time of ot the year ar at the tile headwaters of ot a river Ive I've never been on and follow tollow her through to the mouth Rivers Hirers are wonder wonderful ful experiences es Mr Burkhead You never know on en the new ones what's around the next neat bend or at atthe atthe atthe the foot of the next rapid II I II II I understand all that But Isn't there something else the tin nth r persisted Something els ell keeps you forever on the move mover Youngs Young's smile faded There Is Is he said simply Once when I was was' a kid I was In la laone In one place too long Its It's while hes he's hela s a kid that a mans man's habits ar are e formed farmed lie He broke short and the smile smil e swept back Into his bis face tace I No use trying to explain I 11 just want to be gone yonder that's alit alii I Some day you'll light and dolot do a alot alot lot for yourself What rivers river's t It t going to be this year Oh Ob any anyone one of ot several I know lots of ot em He lie looked at a large map of ot the Great Lakes section which hung on oa the wall Theres Therel the and the Mad Woman Wom Worn an and the Blueberry all fine line streams Burkhead Burk Durk head rose and walked to the map putting on his glasses We had hadan hadan hadan an operation on the Blueberry years ago We could have one on the Mad Woman now now If It we wanted It A chap up tip there In trouble bit ort oft more than he be can chew I guess West Tod West Nest Know the property For an Instant Kerry did not re re- ply No Ne he said Ive never been on the Mad Woman He lIe rose a abit abit bit stiffly Tod Tad West Youre You're sure I Sure Had Dad considerable correspondence correspondence correspondence corres corres- with him sent a cruiser In there last winter Ever run ron across him r rDe He De looked around sharply when Instead of answering his bis caller laughed a hard and brief and mirthless laugh Once he said ald after that Yes Yea cDe Once You Yon never know what's around the next bend end or at the toot foot of the rapid below you fOU when traveling a strange river he be had said For a week he had been on the Mad Woman now cow One night he be bad had camped by a fire Ore tower and talked for tor long with the lonely lookout Yes Tod West was was a bIgman big bigman man In title this country Another time he stopped for an hour with an Isolated trapper West's Landing Loading was thirty miles below Pretty soon now hed he'd be going through West's West upper hold bold Ings lags A great fellow Tod Tad but hed he'd I been hard hit bit lately folks said I And so on Occasionally as he paddled easily with the current he would wink at Tip seated by the packs and throaty laughter would rumble up from his bis chest cheat Chancel I be said at one of these times The he part chance plays playa In a mans man's life lite I l lAnd And at night In Is his camp beneath beneath be be- neath the stars stare he be would lie He awake hour Dour after hour hoar wondering remembering remembering re re- re- re teasing himself with the thought that finally perhaps be he was going to know Since rounding rounding- the bend bead tar far above the murmur of ot racing waters bad had been In his ears and approaching approach approach- ing the head bead of the rapid be he went cautiously At the right was wan a landing with signs sIgn of many portages on shingle and aDd trees Young was about to step Into the shallows and lead his bis canoe to shore snore wl when en a flash from below caught his eye He lIe lifted the glasses leveled them and went slowly lowly rigid Two people on the bank at the foot of ot that rapid were In flailing combat I 1 IlIe lIe He could see a red fed shirt lie Its wearer evidently having just leaped Into a boat beached there Trying escape be he was but another gave pursuit A larger figure flura this and end andas as 81 be he leaped Into the boat he be bled Again Kerry Kem had that bright glint gUnt of reflected light and saw that It t was wu from an outboard motor clamped to the stern stars And And now the larger figure was wal up and the red skirted one seized an oar steed raised It high and awaa swung wung It smartly smart smart- smartly ly 11 at the other On that gesture a word broke from Youngs Young's lips One word i CIrillO No 0 man ever swung a cudgel In that manner threw The man la In h the bow ducked out out a hand caught the as ae It bashed the gunwale and with lIh w h a wrench tore lore It free tree from the tbt girls Kins grasp graPp ne lie 11 e tossed It over over- board Then lowly slowly he went sent forward raisins raising a toot foot to step tep over r the thwart before him He lle stopped then and threw out ont ws hll arms for balance against the sharp na n ll list ot of the lue boat The girl had hod Oh hol I said Young Tonne sharply to himself Tight Ox fix eh eb ehl Drop Tip I IThe The dog at his hia word won flattened himself In the bottom No 0 time for the carry carrr now The canoe nosed silently Into the first suck of swift current Youngs Young's I oun s 's t eyes res sternly busy with the frothIng frothIng froth froth- Ing tumult below Fast and faster foster he moved morN l ing ag for that narrow channel s straightening his Ills canoe out as he ht gathered speed setting It parallel with the rip rips He lie swung sharply t to the right to miss one snag and end worked back Into the sleek black black- slide which Indicated the safety o of ot f depths He lle went Into a brawling riffle next neat with Ith foam nil all about and an an- c ling Cling across It found deep water ante r a again gai Protruding rocks reared themselves themselves themselves them them- selves again He lie decided In a spit 1 second that the way to the tits left was the better He lie lifted his gaze for a flash of a look at the boat boot below It wasso was so far tar as he could tell empty Whoever Whoever Who Who- ever the girl was she had been bee n followed overboard by the moo man And now again Young was paddling pad pad- d ung desperately great arms arm sweeping with the precision and d r regularity of some device of stout metal power driven Beyond th the e current was actually banked so 10 abrupt was the deflection flan tion of those tons tone of ot rushing water He lie must clear the rock to his left must turn in time to avoid that b r t a aI It I v d 11 He Paddled Stoutly to Gain Even Eve n More Speed which would then lie He close to ht his i right The chute now sped down ml midstream midstream mid mid- d stream and aDlI be he paddled stoutly t to gain even more speed He De felt fel t himself dropping at atoa ataa a break which h was all but a cascade swore once one e sharply and stoutly as he be was wa e wat sucked Into a welter of foam A t slimy nose of ot granite seemed t to reach through the tile lather for hl him m and he threw his bis weight to the left let t righted the frail craft just jost as wat water er boiled balled over the rail and canoe sideways side side- ways was turning still further until h he a progressed backward he shot Into lot the placid pool which marked th the e foot of at the rapid It was waB over his shoulder houlder then the that be he saw the two Their boat boa t was drifting with the current to turgid tur r gid there for tor a space On one si side de of ot the skiff skirt was the girl supporting a herself In the water by hands o othe on a the gunwale on the other was th the theman e man hatless his bis face dark and under er the sun IUn They had bad not seen this approach h of ot a third They were so occupied that all else was WD excluded from a at at- f The man braced himself polled d his bis weight sharply upward hooked hooke d elbows over the rail and aDd threw a up op upa opa p pa a foot to flounder Inboard It was here bere that the girl letting go her hold bold with one hand as If It f for forthe forthe or the second time to attempt ears escape esca Pe by swimming saw sow Kerry lie He ha haa had hada a a flash of a white face tace lovel lovely f In n contour and feature but no now w stamped with heavy fear For an Instant the gaze from hi his a blue eyes locked with the girl girls girl's s 's dark ones Then he smiled He Ill I e smiled and end threw thre back his head bra d and let the smile run Into a laug laugh h hs I Is 1 18 Good afternoon I he said sold s the water fine A bantering greeting this thin a athe and nd the words came the last lut of his bis laughter But nut banter went o out at of ot his bis heart and mirth from hi his s countenance as he looked from ti the Ie girl to the man rising to eta stand nd In the flat bottom bottomed ed boat arms arm hooked clothing plastered pla plas s close to his great chest e and nd strong legs The man hair touched wit with h eray now sow heavier b by man many y pounds his face lined and a b bit bli it full at the chin the chin the man DJan was To Toll Tod d West I IFor For a long they stared stare d at one ODe another West br- br the l 1 rapIdly rap rap- p Idly filly And Aad after that first shock hock of ot y recognition with Its surge of oilier dale r ness and a certain b its bt marked something else Tod West's is face tace was stamped with the die of passion that particular kind of passion which had been repressed too long which had perhaps been blen soured and twisted and fermented to fury b by repression But Dut that rt reflection of passion was fading now astonishment and bewilderment and chagrin were sweeping up to replace It And then In a darkening flood came deep anger against this Intruder West Vest raised a hand way halfway to his hie breast It was his right hand Kerry should have hue noted the g gee ture lure but he did not He ne was wal too close to the answer of an old rankling question now No light of or recognition was In tn Tod Tod's e face Too ninny many years had passed A lad of seven n Kerry had been on that day In old Jacks Jack's camp and aDd West In his hll early ties tips Young rallied hI himself More Important Important Im Im- portent things In his own way of ot reckoning values might be close at hand but he bad had run that rapid to render aid eld to this girl That came first and so ao he be spoke but with difficulty dif dlf- kept bitterness from his hll tone You might he be said Mid pointedly help the young lady back Into the boa boat t. t Still West Neat did not move more nor did he respond The canoe was within a length of a paddle from the skiff now and Kerry could hear the Ule light quick breathing of ot the girl rL I said you fOU might voice might voice voice rising and thickening help the young lady back Into the boat West turned and looked d silently toward shore Young staring up op at him felt an Immeasurable loathIng loath loath- lag Ing for the man arise Put ut the tho blame for old Jacks Jack's ruin on him had he het And perhaps profited profiled by the tragedy himself He lie lifted one foot toot flicked It across the gun gunwales walts walt's and with a heave hea of ot his bis agile arms was stand Ing face tace to face tace with the older manI manI man I take It the young lady doesn't relish having ba you rou here at all Why dont don't you get out The heavy Jaw law trembled ever so 10 slightly and a red flood swept Into the tool cool ol and calculating gray eyes I happened to see from back yonder I happened to see your little lit itt tie tle game of ot of tag Id I'd say any your welcome aboard here bere was at any time highly questionable Id I'd say that the least you could do would be to get out now You Yon forced her to dive once and another another another an an- other swim shouldn't do you yon any M Let go you l I Youngs Young's quick grip on West's arm brought words heavy with rage I 1 wont won't let go until you yon The man was no weakling Kerry felt the tremendous strength In those arm muscles felt the vast power In the stalwart legs and broad back as BI West swept pt an |
