Show the rr i he everlasting whisper by jackson gregory copyright by charles scribner a son bonn service FROM THE BEGINNING mark kins king prospector and his hi partner ben gaynor share with a desperado swen brodle brodie knowledge of a vast store of hidden gold king Is impressed by gloria gaynor s daughter he d sl kes a house visitor named gratton in a spirit of adventure gloria accompanies gratton from san francisco on a business trip at Co coloma lorna she fl finds n ds her father badly hurt he g gives ives ner a message tor for king with gratton oration she goes to the gay nor summer home h me gloria realizes she has compromised compromised herself by her journey w th gratton he pro poses marriage and gloria alpar antly accepts him gratton ar ranges tor for the marriage king watches the ceremony through a window at the last moment the girl refuses to utter the fre requisite yes K ng enters and glor G or a appeals to h in for protection grat ton dismissed reveals knowledge of the hidden gold king ambold ened by glor as appeal to him urges her to marry him really in love with him and seeing a way out of her dilemma the girl consents gaynor message reveals the location of the treasure and urges king to go at once and secure it after the wedding glor la is asserting the necessity tor for rest after he her trying experience king leaves her and prepares tor for his trip next morning gloria insists on going with him on the jour ney her overwrought nerves give way in hysteria she admits to king that she married marred 1 him only to save her name from gossip king humiliated renounces her but refuses to take her home declaring he Is under promise to her father to lose no time seeking the gold she unable to find her way home alone has to go with him glorias gloria s horse goes lame but king keeps on he finds the gold gloria resents his giving her orders she has seen smoke from a campfire and threatens to make her way to it king knows the party must be brodle s and of course forbids it he decides to start back and return with trusted men CHAPTER VIII continued 16 he ile went a second time far back into the darkness of the further cave carry ing a smoking torch as before vanish ing from glorias gloria s eyes she had but to snatch up the few things she meant to take with her to go out to find her way down the cliffs she hesitated and time passed at length king returned she noted that his coat was off oft that in it as in a bag he be carried something heavy I 1 this goes with us wherever we go he announced triumphantly I 1 it its s a big breathing spell for ben gaynor he lie dumped it out there were other lumps like the two he had brought back the first time I 1 if you can whip up enough endur ance for the work ahead of us he an bounced impersonally we stand a good chance of getting out of this otherwise we stand a whole lot bet ter show of being caught here and freezing and starving to death A storm like this he told her may blow itself out soon and it may keep on for a long time As it Is we 11 have our work cut out for us if this keeps up all afternoon and all night he shrub shrugged 9 ed you mean that hen then we t get out at all I 1 she asked sharply king nodded and began his eions with jealous eye he judged the weight bulk and worth of every ar tide bacon to the last small scrap and fat lined rind coffee to the once boiled dregs in the coffeepot coffee pot he packed carefully then he took up the discarded articles and hid them under some loose dirt in a remote black corner of the cave ten minutes later he had gotten first his pack then gloria safely down the cliffs and they started gloria was at every step the expectation of coming presently present presen tl lj d dc in ul to hi lif th st bt I 1 ca ar all ill h hi A ai S h it ai oj a 1 NV va foot h he e aa i to I 1 bilu she moaned miserably I 1 am sick I 1 am dying I 1 think I 1 cant go on kill king grunted disgustedly well go back to the cave for the night after all he told her quietly stand up 1 I 1 but gloria s head moved the slight est bit in sidewise negation her pale lips stirred soundlessly what asked king 1 I I cant came her whisper you ve got to he informed her crisply do you want to ue lie here and die tonight I 1 don dont t care said gloria listlessly he turned away took up his pad pack and gun set his back square upon her and trudged off toward the only shelter that was theirs he did not turn to look behind him until he be had gone fully half of the way to the cave then he dropped his burden and went back to her he ile had meant to storm at her to stir her into activity by the lashings of his rage but instead he stooped and gathered hr h r up li it to his arms and car ried her ti if r ugh the storm shielding her ho iv v 11 thit that he could the climb pw h nd slow and more than ever before filled with danger but in the end it was done again they were in gus ingle s cave king built a fire left gloria lying by it and went back for his pack when he returned she had not moved he made a bed foi her placed her on it and covered her with his own blanket then he boiled some coffee and made her drink it she obeyed again and dropped back upon her hard bed and shut her eyes with a q quickening alarm in his eyes he stood by the smoky fire staring at her to hardship her dell cate body was already beaten with S still till further hardship to come might she not die and what would mark king say to ben gaynor even if he brought back much raw red gold if it had cost the life of ben gaynor s daughter he drew off her boots and stockings and found that her feet were terribly cold lie wrapped them in a hot blanket and hastened to set a pot of water on the coals while the water warmed he knelt and chafed her feet between his palms finally the dead white began to give place to a faint pinkness like a blush and again he put the blanket about them she had not moved he hesitated a moment then the urgent need being more than evident he began swiftly to undo her outer garments the boy ish shirt he unbuttoned and managed to remove he noted her un dergar ments silken and foolish little things with amazement she had bad known no better than to wear such nonsensical affairs on a trip like this I 1 good G d what did she know but he did nat pause in his labors until he had slipped off the wet clothing then he wrapped her in another warm blanket and placed her on her bed her feet to the blaze all of the time she probably was hardly conscious now only she opened her eyes stirred slightly eased herself into a new position cud died her face against a bare arm sighed and went to sleep CHAPTER IX all night king kept his fire blazing his ills nerves were frayed within his soul he prayed mutely that when morn ing came gloria would be alive with the first sickly streaks of dawn he came to stoop over the girl and listen to her breathing then he descended the cliffs for more wood in the noose of his rope he dragged up the cliff much dead wood through out the noise of his comings and go ings the girl slept heavily while he waited for the coffee to boll he took careful stock of provisions for two people there wag was enough for some twenty meals food for about a week he even counted his rounds of ammu here alone he was affluent he had in the neighborhood of a hundred cartridges for the rifle while he was setting the gun aside he felt glorias gloria S eyes upon him he addressed her with prompt frankness inside fifteen minutes weve got to be on our way out As we go well look for the horse but find it or not we were re going the storm Is over then no but we are not going to wait we have food for only six or seven days at the most she let her eyes droop to the fire so that the lids hid them from him it was not yet full day it was still snow ing gratton and the men with him would of course have ample supplies she yearned feverishly to be rid of g and his intolerable domineering am tired out she said faintly I 1 no not t looking up I 1 I 1 cant can t go on tie e stared at her there was a sh on her cheeks his ills old fear rg ged ed back on him gloria was going diet die I 1 so he did what gloria had anted on having him do he hastened serve her a piping hot breakfast of sp bacon hot cakes and jam hers s the victory mark king was again biting on her hand and foot sacr ng tor for her I 1 am going to look for the horse told her I 1 but don t count too much 1 my success another thing if I 1 n II 11 t get buck today he d be no use u that Is if the snow keeps on ut t III do what I 1 can when he had gone she scrambled a up p and went to peer out no sound out there she sought eagerly for some sign of gratton grafton there was none but he would come soon he must she would wait hoping for gratton bratton s coming before king kings s return making his way back to the point where buck had broken his tether king came to the place whence the horse had fled he ile knew that beyond two ridges was the valley of the giant sequoias there a horse woul I 1 find water shelter and grass if he failed to find the animal there well then buck was well on the trail or lost to king in any one of a hundred places when at last he came to the grove of big trees as he had more than half expected he found nothing gloria told herself when king had gone that she was glad to be alone five minutes later she began to stir restlessly another five minutes and already she was listening for his return she drew on her boots and walked up and down when she peered out across the desolate world she drew back from its bleak menace shuddering returning to crouch mis drably by her fire repeatedly she was tempted to go forth and seek gratton to hunt up and down until at last she came to him she sought to tell herself that she was not afraid of the snow of being lost of being unable to find grat ton but she could not climb down the cliff she knew that she would I 1 fall all dizzy and sick shivering with dread and cold she turned back al ways she let her fire die down not anotle ing it then the cold reminded her and she worked long building another she knew where a block of matches was she had seen king ling set it carefully away in her excitement she struck dozens of matches dropping the burnt ends about her at last her fire blazed up and she warmed herself then she was con scions of a strange faintness and real iced that she was hungry she opened a tin till of sardines and came back to the fire with it in her hands she had no clear conception of the deed when half of the fish consumed the smelly stuff revolted her and she hurled the remaining part into the bed of coals king stamped the loose snow from his boots and came in gloria stood confronting him tense rigid white faced her hands stiff at her sides the surge of her ler relief like a sud denly released current impacting with that other current of her unleashed anger made of her consciousness a sort of wild fuming whirlpool king was vms tired fired throughout every muscle of his body coming in from the storm cleansed open he shifted at the closeness of the cave then he noted the sardine cap call with a stick he raked it out of the coals in god s name he demanded what do you mean by a thing like that are you stark raving mad for a moment she was at a loss to understand what had enraged him the act of tossing the distasteful f food 0 od into the fire had been purely tary she was not without reason in their present predicament she was a fool to have done a thing like that she could hardly believe that she had done it and so with an elaborate shrug of disdainful shoulders she turned her back to him hint but king flung to his feet and set his hands on her two shoulders and swung her about listen to me I 1 he said angrily I 1 am going to talk plain to you you are a fool a downright empty headed silly fool what you have destroyed in wanton carelessness would have kept the life in a man a whole day be still he commanded as she sought to wriggle out of his grasp to avoid the direct blaze of his eyes 1 I am going to do what I 1 can for you to see you safe through this it if I 1 can not because you are anything to me but just because you are ben gaynor 8 and he Is my friend understand but I 1 am not going to have you throw all of our chances away by dumping grub into the fire if you do one other brainless thing like that and I 1 catch you at it I 1 am going to tie you up hand and foot and keep you out of mischief you wouldn t dare but she knew better he would dare anything she went slowly to her bed to hide her trembling and lay down then for the first time he saw the waste of scattered matches on fhe the floor from them he looked to her in an amazement so sheer that it left him no word of expostulation the suspicion actually came to him that the girl was mad it was scarcely conceivable that a perfectly sane india individual bidual could do the things which she had done she saw him get up and begin gathering up all of he the foodstuff he carried it to the back of the cave where he passed out of her sight in the dark he made a second trip after which there was left on a shelf of rock only half a dozen matches and enough food for one scanty meal CHAPTER X king awoke filled with resolve and definite purpose it was still snowing heavily steadily implacably the big gest storm in twenty years he told himself he ile must seek immediately to locate his horse one could eat horseflesh if driven to it he ile must try to get game of some sort he went to gloria s bed you d better get up he said brief ly time to start the day while we eat I 1 want to talk with you I 1 never saw a storm worse than this we have enough food for a few days after that if we stuck on here and did not find more somehow we wed d die like dogs therefore we are going to get ready to beat it out the first chance we get gloria I 1 am going to do all that I 1 can for both of us you are going g to do all that you can that Is final I 1 she bit her lips and gave him her scornful silence she ignored him when he called crisply that breakfast was ready there were limits to her obedience she thought rebelliously to be told do this do that was intolerable king looked at her and had the understand ing in to grasp something of her thought so S 0 he explained I 1 want you to come outside with me you 11 find it hard work it would be a first rate idea if you d fortify your strength by the little bit of nourishment which we can afford to take no well I 1 im in sorry here he lie offered her the pieces of a sack he had cut in two for her I 1 tie those about your feet to keep them from freezing when I 1 want your advice ask for it she retorted icily very well he answered and I 1 cant can t make you eat if you don t want to after all perhaps you are not hungry he set aside her portion her heart seemed scarcely to stir in her breast then slowly it began to beat swifter and swifter hammering wildly her reason fled before the flood of the passionate wilfulness of the old gloria and she cried shrilly I 1 won 11 t I 1 I 1 won t I 1 I 1 am not your slave and I 1 am not going to jump at your bidd ng I 1 yon you cant make me i you shan t make me I 1 won 11 t I 1 ato BA I 1 |