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Show A Man To His Mate j By J. ALLEN DUNN COPYRIGHT BCEBS MERRILL CO. j CHAPTER X Continued. 11 Lund sooner or later, meant to take her, willing or unwilling. lie had said so, none too covertly, thnt very evening. And, If Kainey meant to stand between her nnd Lund as n protector, pro-tector, Lund would accept hlni in that character only as the girl's lover nnd his rival. For the time being, the safety of the Karluk and the successful carrying carry-ing out of the purpose of the trip took nil of Lund's attention and energy. Twice he had been thwarted by the weather from glennlng his golden harvest, har-vest, nnd It began to look as If the third attempt might be no more fortunate. for-tunate. "The Knrluk's stout," lie said once, "but she ain't built for the Arctic. If we git nipped badly she'll go like an eggshell." "And then what?" Rnlney asked. "Git the gold! That's wdiat we come for. If we have to make sleds an' use the hunters for a dorg-tenm.'' lie laughed indomltalvjy. "We'll ninke a man of you ylt, Italucy, afore we git back." Lund was snntchlng sleep In scraps, seeking nlways to feel a way toward the position of the island through the Ice that continually bullied progress. Against all opposition he forced his tvny until. Just nfter sunset one night, as the dusk swept down, he gave a shout nnd pointed to a fitful Hare over the port bow. Kainey thought It the nurora, but Lund laughed at tilni. "It's the crater atop the Island," he said. "Xothln' dangerous. liez'lar lighthouse. Now, boys," he went on, ids deep voice rlnudng with exhilaration, exhilara-tion, "there's gold In sight! Whistle for a change of weather, every mother's moth-er's sen of you !" The dock was soon crowded. On the previous trip the schooner laid ri-proached ri-proached the Island from a different angle, but the men were swift to neknov.JedL'e the clow of the voh-ano as the expected b.ndfall. I. and remained re-mained on deck, an.l It was late he-fore he-fore nny of the crew turned In. Kainey. during Ids watch, saw the irountain l'.re-puNe. eh. wine; an.l wink-ll:e wink-ll:e like the eye of a Cycle! s, Irs gler'm reth'etc 1 In ti e e;. es of the wat. I.ers who wire about to invade the Maitd and r..! !t of Its golden sands. The chance of wt athcr came i:h .at three In t'ae n.inii:::, though iat as l.und had hoped. A sudden wind materialized ma-terialized from the north, stiffenhi.; the tiiavas wl:h lis leedaden breath, g!M7.ia- ti.e seh.kei.er w hert ver mols- ..- . i .. - ' : is ;k ' j "Wc'il l,l,V a M n rf You Yit, n.ilncy. Afore Wo Git Ciclt." Mire .1: 1 : ed, bllng'liL: up mi ale.;y end of eloU'lH thai foa -lit with tile on. 'I lie son appeal e.l to b.i e lldokeiied. The K :r! Ill; w. 1:1 slll:;:d ly. ns If she was sailing In n sea of tieiiele. CMAPTf!H XI. S'rioke. When I'alnev eaine on dock the next mornlnu' he found 11 e :. ho oner ilonl-ing ilonl-ing In a srcall bn'ooii lluit n.ade Ilie eeiiler Of II Hoe. ' lie W 'lief III It W 11 1 .'.lush, half Holid. Main un.l fore were elo.io furled, the heailsiills also, nnd Mie Knrluk was nosing ncillnst the I'nr end of the rapidly diminishing basin. The bid was Mill llte'y. A deep In f I iiii 'il I'n: ciirf under- toned all other noises nnd, prisoned ns she was. the aeliooiier and her Moo ivero sweeping slowly toward the Jnnd In Ihe grip of a current rather Hum before the glli'ty wind. Lund came up within the hour and Hli.d blinking nl the brilliance. lie seemed well Hill lull d Willi the nrosjiiot. "Had bi enltfuat ?" he nsked 'laliiey, and then : "All l ight. We'll dt Ihe men nit." Me bellowed on ordi r, nnd neon every one came trooping, to gather in two groups either side of the caldn skylight. Their faces were eager with tiie proximity of the gold, yet half sullen as they waited to hear what Lund had to say. Since the attempt against him Lund hud said nothing about their shares. They acknowledged acknowl-edged him as master, but they still re-belh-d In spirit. "There's the Island," said Lund. "We'll make It afore sundown. The beach Is there, waltln' for us to dig It up. It'll he some job. I don't reckon It's frozen hard, on'y crusted. If It is we'll bust the crust with dynamite. Hut we got to hop to It. There'll be another cold spell nfter this one peters out an' the next Is like to he permanent. perma-nent. I want the gold washed out afore then, an' us well down the strait. It's up to you to hump yore-selves, yore-selves, nn' I'll help the humpin'. "We'll cradle most of the stuff an', If they's time, we'll flume the silt tall-In's tall-In's for the fine dust. I'rovldln' we can git n fall of water. There'll he plenty for all hands to do. An' the shares go as first fixed. I ain't ex-pectln ex-pectln you to do the diggln' an' not git a pinch or two of the dust." The men's faces lighted, and they shuffled about, looking at one another witli grins of relief. "No cheers?" asked Lund Ironically. "Wall, I hardly expected enny. Idan-son, Idan-son, you'll lie one of the foremen, with pay areordln'. Iteming." "I can't dig." said the hunter truculently. trucu-lently. "Neither can Pcale, with his ribs." "You've got a sweet nerve." said Lund. "I reckon you've won enough to lie sure of yore shares. If the beys pay up. Knough for yon to do some d!g:;!:i' In yore pockets for TVuIe. Ills ribs 'ad be whole If you hadn't shirted the bolsPo.I'c stunt. Put I'U fad something for both of you to do. Don't h t that worry you none. "We've got mer.-ury aboard somewhere." some-where." Lund continued, to Kainey, whin the men had disperse 1, far more cheerful than they had gathered. "We'll use that for coneeatrathm In the tilm ritlhs. lhinsea'U have r.. fliers fli-ers made that'll catch tho hi:.- stuff. If tl e worst cei: i s to the worst, we'd lo.ol up the rid. .....her with the pay-dirt pay-dirt an' wash it out en the way home. I'i! strip that l ea. h down to bedrock If I have to worl; the toes an' i'.hgors off 'em." l'.y n-.an the s'hooner was clar.-i! In as firmly ns a toy m.-d.-l that Is u.ounlel In n gJ:i sen. The wind !.!.. ps. if entirely out. hut the current cur-rent I ore them steadily on to the I rhimonus shore, where the swells .tore erecting promontories, bays, cPf s and elias;ss In the piled up Con-' Con-' fusion of tl:.. iPh's posn !i;iL' en the r..e':s, breaking up or s'idltig atop oi.e a: eti it In noi. y confusion. Tie marble-whiteness of the Ice nais-.s was set off by the (dues and. soft violets of their shadows, and by pearly sic en wherever the planes caught the light at a proper slant for the play of prUms. P.eautlful ns It i was. the sight was fearful to Kainey, In h.iii!::..ii wkii the crow. Only Lund i sarv. ;. ed It nonchalantly. I "It's bustin' up fa-t." he sail. "AH j we need Is a Ihtle luck. If we ain't I got that there's no use of worry. a'. We can't blast ourselves out o' this without risl.ln' the schooner. We on, in to he thankful we Iptc In con-tic. con-tic. There nl.i'l n plank started. The i tloe'II fend us off. 'I here ain't enny i big i hunks enny w ay near us aft. Luck to make a decent la:, lin' Is nil wc need, na' It's my hunch It's coaiin' our W II V." IPs "lamch" was correct. Tt.oir.h they did not in-: unity make the litt.'e lay ill which the treasure leach debouch. de-bouch. ,1, tbey fetched Up luar It a: alli-U a bfol 1,111 ef Ice that had lo.l.-ed oil tl.e sharp slopes of n little ; r..i ie'.tory, na.king the conneelton viil.-ut fin 1 1 : r dcneige than a split-tile; split-tile; of the forward, end of their en--:eli! ; with hardly a Jar to the Kni Ink. Lund sent na u ashore over the Ice, clhabln; to the promontory onus will) hawsers by which Ih.iy tied up sol nor. lino nnd nil. to the land. If the broken hill suffered further catas tropin., which did not .seem likely, lis fraanients would fall upon the Hoe. In ea-e of cmcritencv I und ordered men told olT day and nb.ht to stand by Ihe laiw s.'l s, to cast loose or cut. lis Ihe exhei.ilty needed. It was dark before they were snngaed. The men volunteered, Ihrouch Hansen, to commence aigi.se: that nh ht by the Ih.ht of ' ' lires so ern-.'.y were tley at Ihe ne:irness of the gold. i'ul Lund forbade II. "You'll work reiflnr shifts when yon git slutted," be siilil. "An you won't start till telinorrer. We've got to stand by Ihe ship ternlght until we Hud out by mornlii' how snug we're u-olu' to be herlhed." All night long they lay In n pnn-deinonluni pnn-deinonluni of noise. After n while Ihcy would become used to It ns do the workers In a Hlnmpinlll. but thai night It deafened them, kept them nwiike and nlert. fearful, wllh the t'o uieiiiloiiH cannonndlng. The hit of the frost made the timbers of Ihe Knrluk en all and Its thrust eon I liuuillv worked among Ihe Hlrniided nuo-se'. with groanleg thumb is and shrill grindings, while the surf ever boomed on (he resonant sheets of Ice. Dawn came before they were awnre of It, a sudden rush of light that dyed the Ice In every hue of red and orange, that tipped the frozen const with bursts of ruby flame that flared like beacons nnd gilded the crests of the long swells, tinging all their world with a wild, unnatural glory. Lund, striding the deck, his red heard Iced with his breath, suddenly stopped nnd stared into the east. There, In the very eye of the dawn, was a trail of smoke, like a plume ngalnst the flaming, three-quarters circle cir-cle of the rising sun 1 Lund's face, on which the bruises were fast fading, changed purple-hJtiok purple-hJtiok with rage. lie whirled upon Sandy, gaping near, and ordered him to fetch his binoculars. Through them he stared long at the smoke. Then he turned to the girl nnd Kainey. "Come down Inter the cabin," he said. "We'll need all our wits. That's n patrol bont, Japanese, for a million! None other this far west. An' it's dt d funny It should come up right at tills mlnnlt. We've made the trip nn sclnsdule time, an' here they show. Put we'll let that slide. We've got to think fast. They'll board us. They'll overhaul us lookin' for seal pelts. At least I hope so. "We've got none. Our hunters an' our ritles an' shotguns'll prove our claim to be pelagic sealers. We got to trust they believe us. If there is a hide aboard or a club, or a sign of a dead seal tin the benches they'll nail us. They may ennyway, Just on suspicion. suspi-cion. "It's lucky we didn't start mussln' up that beach. I'.ut they'll go over everything. I know 'em. They claim 1 to own the seas hereabouts, nn' they're ; cockier than ever, since the war. j Kainey, you got to elt busy en the leg. if yore father didn't keep It up. Miss j t'eggy. so much the bettor. If he has, l you got to fake It .. leeways, Kainey. j "I'm Slmms, get me. until we're clear ' of Vts. An' you, K.ilu.y, are D..C ('arisen. Nethln' must show In the log about enny deaths." "Put why?" n-!-:e.l the girl. "Why do we have to r.,a s.p.iera le If we haven't toechod the seals?" Lund barked at her: "I gave you credit for sharper wits," he said. "We've g"t to have every-thir.i every-thir.i so reg'lar they can't find an excuse ex-cuse for hattl'n' us in an' scttin' lire to tl.e sole. -nor. They'd do It in a li.Ty. We got to show Vm our ch.ir-rr.ee ch.ir-rr.ee pnpers. an' we've got to tnhy up ail down the line. K.iiuoy ain't on the ship's h. o'.s Carlson K Lund ain't but Simtas Is. I'm Sir:. :'.. An' you" he stop ed to grin at her "you're my daughter. I'll dis-.'ive the rela-tien-h.ip after n while, I'll premise you that. An' I'll drill the men. They know what's ahead of 'em If the Japs git Suspicious. "flat nin't the worst of It! They lt.ay know what we're after. If they do, we're goners. liver occur to you, Kainey. that Tama. la. who Is a deep one. may have tipped olT the whole thing to Ids consul while the schooner was at San t'raticisco? He was alor.g lit- h'.-t 'r'p. He'd knew the approximate approxi-mate positi. n. Might have go; the right ftc-ors out o' the leg, him k:vin' the run of tho cabin. A cable would do the res:. He'll tit his whack oat of It. wltli Ihe order of the . (h.hlen ( 'h.rysai'.thctauni or seme Jig- j :irl; t b.s.t. an' git even with the i way he feois pCard our outfit for'ard. that ain't bin none too sweet to h!:n." The suggestion hold a foundation of conviction for Kainey. He laid thou -p.: of ihe coa-al. He l::il always sensed depths In Tama.'.i's reserve. It looked plans;':. le. l.nial ro-c. "I'll fx 'l'.iaanhi." he said. Hut the girl stopped him. "Y. u d n't know thill's true. Tain:!. Ta-in:!. la I, as been wonderful to me. What do you iu'el'c! to do with I'.ha?" "I'll make up my mind 1 -'tween here and the galley." said Lund grimly. "'Phis Is my third time of tackling this Island an' no .lap Is uohi' to stand I e-tween e-tween me an' the told, (his trip. l.y, even If I i' ain't blown on us. he'll give the whole thing away. if lie dhln't want to they'd make him ceme tiirocgli If they laid Iheil' e es en him. They vc got mere tricks than a Chines:' man darln lo niakc a man talk. Stands to reason he'll tell 'cm. If he can talk when they git here," he added ominously, om-inously, standing ball'-way between the table and the door of the corridor, his hand opening and closing siiggcs-titely. siiggcs-titely. " 1'lie crew'd settle his hash If 1 didn't. They nin't fools. They know what's ahead of 'cm In .lapan. mi, Kalncv. git busy w ith thnt log. That muihoat'll have a boat alongside this Hoe Inside of ninety mlnnils." Hut Peggy Simuis was between hlni nnd the door. "You shan't do It." she snld. her eyes hard ns lllnls. If Lund's were like steel. "You don't know whnt lie was lo me w lieu -w hen dnd wns bnrhM. Call him In nnd let hlni talk for himself him-self or- or I'll (ell Ihe Japanese myself what we hnvo com" fori" Lund stood slnrlng nt Iter, Ids face hind his hoard thriiHt out like n hush tl'h he Jut of his Jnw. Still -die faced him, resolute, Purely up to Ids shoulders, slim, defiant. Gradually hU fentures crinkled into a grin. "I believe you would," lie said at last. "An" I'd hate to fix you the way I would Tamada. But, mind you, li I don't git a definite promise out of him that rings true, I'll have to stow him somewheres, where they won't find him. An' that won't be on board ship." The girl's face softened. "You said you played fair," she said with a sigh of relief. She stepped to the door, opened It, and called for Tamada. Ta-mada. The Japanese appeared almost instantly. Lund closed the door behind be-hind him nnd locked it "You know there's a patrol comln' up, Tamada?" he asked. "A Jap patrol pa-trol ?" "Y'es." "What do yon Intend tellin' 'em if they come on board?" "Nothing, If I can help It. I think I can. I nm not friendly with Japanese government. It would be bad for me If they find me. One time I belong Progressive Party In Japan. I make much talk. Too much. The government govern-ment say I am too progressive." Italney imagined he caught a glint of humor In Tamada's eyes as he made his clipped syllables. "So, I leave my country. Suppose I go on steamer I think that government govern-ment they stop me. I think evea In (:';; , - ',.v;: -Jg-i' ' 4 ,-,J ' j But Peggy Simms Was Between Him j and tho Door. j j Calif err. in '.hey may make trouble, if j they f.nd r.;e. So I go sampan. Some- : times Japanese cross to California in ' sang, an." i "That's right." sai l Ralncy. Ke had j handled more than one story of Jap- j anese crews landing on some desolate l portion of the coast to avoid Immigra- j tion laws and steamer f.'.res. Generally they were reunited up after their perilous, daring crossing cf the Pacific. Tamada's story held the elements of truth. F.ven Lur.d nodded in reserved adirrtntioti. "Also I ship on Karluk as cook because be-cause of perhaps trouble If seme ore know me In San Francisco. I think much better If they do not see n-.e. I have a plan. Also I want my share of gold. Suppose that gunboat End me, find out about gold, they will not give me rew ard. You do not know Japanese. They will nit me In pr!s.ui. It will be sugrest to inc. because I am of tlalmio Mood" Tamada drew himself up slightly as he claimed his nobility "that I make hari-kari. That I do not wish. I am Progressive. I much rather cool; en beard Karluk and get my share if gold." Lund sv.rveyoit hint moodi'v, half .. convinced. Tl.e g'.rl was all eager approval. 'What Is your plan, Tamada?'' "We're los'rt' time on that log." cut' In Lund, "tilt husy. Kainey. Leek among Carlson's stuff. He may have kept one. Do--e up o?o cf 'em, an' burn the other. New then. Tamada, dope en! yore scheme; It's get to ho a good one." Loth 1 und nnd the girl were laugh-ir.g laugh-ir.g whci Kidney came out into the me.hi e;;hin again with the records. Taiga. hi ha I ilisgnnearcd. (TO PS' COXTI N 1' MP.) |