Show fes oo POOR POORMAN'S H MANS MAN'S TS T'S GOLD Co Courtney Ryley Cooper 0 O c Courtney Courtner Ryley Cooper Service 1 o o. o 0 0 t CHAPTER CHAPTER VI Continued VI-Continued Continued 4 m a 12 swiftly crossed the I end nd toward Loon creek The leers heers along the stream passed blur Far ahead he sighted two 4 He broke into a run w turned his weak face Ke fi sound of his approach Then lenly enly gray-featured gray he begged fit t me alone let alone let me alone had growled his big had outstretched now he was the man bending him in m his j- j jf f f ive ive e me that money he com com- ed r. r youre you're oure all wrong I haven't got money money The weak-featured weak f T e had caught the distended L ts of the miner and was hanging liem desperately Hammond id d his heavy shoulders 3 pin in in his grasp legs dangling like tho those e of a dummy I hall all I choke it out of you asked Quickly he threw the thea a from him then rushed him new grip his muscular fingers spread struck out at att atI t I Wildly Hammond gave no ev- ev zi Ji that he felt the blows Now hinds ands distorted with muscle hed 1 ed deep into throat ok k out Jack Kenning shout- shout kill him at of it growled the pros- pros cE- cE 1 r r. r Then to Give me money J Lew writhed gasping You know that money you stole t I Jeanne Towers Lew only a second longer Then his weak hands and point- point 1 JJ his liis throat Slowly Hammond fed d his grip still reeling pawed for I O Currency the nuggets of golddust slowly he tad them over into the waiting of Jack Hammond The prosy pross pros- pros y s turned to Bruce Kenning Mats Mat's this rat to you Jy nothing We Ve were just jg fig about a job e sure its it's never anything more that Black with rage he heto to the gasping Now I F g get t over there on the Alaskan FAnd And KAnd stay there Do you unhand un- un hand and r. r ply 1 y the man began to move o Win in the dir direction of the buildings of Around the Annies Annie's dance hall hour later Jack walked toKay's toKay's toKay's to- to Kays Kay's claim Something of ess jess had come now calmness For the first time timed timet d life life he had wanted to kill t jW i- i He did not know why All 11 1 d realize was that a blind ous rage had held him unI un un- last Jeanne Towers' Towers I money e e in his hands and he was g back to her cabin with it CHAPTER VII ad d the World Annie strode I o glassed passed as the streets of Sap- Sap Lake upon an important misa mis- mis a Summer had bad come now with t t days and almost incessant JAnnie Annie was dressed for it I 4 r i y Moon had brought her quite a drobe e on his last trip and andY Y was displaying a sample A p pIn period of expenditure was In now inow she could announce to toI I northern world that she G Z b bout ut to reap the profits and then Around the World paused in supreme survey e was here on business Pre- Pre 1 Q her as she went through Were ere two men with hammers 1 i ft f n full of placards printed in Aver ver ver and a mouthful of ff Gradually they were turn- turn i B drabness of cabin exteriors J earning aming blasts of white and 1 GRAND OPENING OPENING- i m S ee Alaska Thursday Alaska Thursday July 4 I THE EAGLE SCREAM 4 ME OVER TO ALASKA t f and 1ST THE TIGERS TIGER'S TAIL V- V at atTHE atm I ND m THE WORLD ANNIES ANNIE'S NORTH BAR GAMBLING SINO and DANCE HALL wk k fD m r FIREWORKS DISPLAY INSIDE AND OUT OUTI tY to Eat More Eat More to Drink Nf j i. i EVERYTHING FREE FREET T t But the IBLING GUZZLING AND DANCING SONE J ONE COME COME TE ALL COME ALL COME J COME VEN-COME COME ELEVEN Alaska Alaska tO 10 p p. p m. m m.- m. Thursday July Fourth o Wrote that all aU by myself explained explained ex ex- ex- ex Around the World Annie to toa toa toa a quickly thickening throng of ad ad- H Aint bad for an old gal eh Among the many who paused to read was a stocky man whose eyes recently had borne the shadows of deep worry All had hadnot hadnot hadnot not gone well for McK McKenzie Joe during these last few months He had been forced to watch a tremendous tremendous tremendous tre tre- tre- tre change engulf the young man whom he long ago had come to regard with an overpowering af af- af But McKenzie Joe never had been diplomatic He was doing more in that direction nO ever before At least he kept his mouth tight when every atom of his supremely honest nature shouted to him to have a show-down show and proclaim I that he was tired of being dealt cards from a stacked deck Something Something Something Some Some- thing was wrong he felt sure of it His distrust of Kay Joyce and Bruce Kenning amounted almost to mania Not that Joe blamed Jack for being being being be be- ing blind It was a wholly natural condition the North makes a man snow-blind snow or woman-blind woman and either ei- ei either ei ther affliction is hard to cure Jack Hammond was not the first person McKenzie l Joe had seen take to climbing trees at the will of a wom wom- an He could remember a few experiences experiences experiences ex ex- of his own All AU prospectors prospectors prospectors tors can The placards announcing Annies Annie's great premiere were still fresh in m his mind as he turned into Jeanne's store Listen he announced I HI need some new duds Can you get em emby emby emby by plane If you'll give me your measurements measure measure- ments Jeanne replied Ive got o. o i e eA er ei t r A i o But Theres There's Somebody Else I Am an order going in on a plane tomorrow tomorrow to to- tomorrow morrow easy four Forty-four chest for the coat thirty-six thirty waist and thirty-one thirty legs for the pants I If the sleeves are too long Ill I'll turn em em up Then without a break Hows business Rushing answered Jeanne writing down the measurements Fine Fin McKenzie KV Tn Joe looked soul sourly into into the h di distance tan o only l t to turn back as quickly Say he asked peering hard into her face You and me always have been good friends I think a lot of you Thanks Joe If U Jack Hammond had any sense sense- Do you have any particular color color color col col- col- col or you'd like for this suit Jeanne broke in Well I guess not Im I'm kind of partial to blue Not that dead blue you know Something kind of live live- ly She laughed You can see electric electric electric elec elec- blue a long ways my color I want em to know Im I'm coming And get me a couple of shirts White I guess And a n tie with some red in it not it-not not all red Im I'm going over to Around the World Annies Annie's on the Fourth of July Wearing red white and blue chuckled Jeanne Might as well welI be neighborly he grunted and started away Jack Hammond was at home when he arrived with a poster he had ripped from a cabin wall Have you seen it he asked McKenzie Joe nodded Ive HIve ordered a new suit for it Jack stared Are you going over The older man pretended a casual air air He reached for his shovel and pick preparatory to moving up the trail toward the test shaft Yeh I figured I might drop in inand inand and slap a n few drinks under my belt Jack Hammonds Hammond's jaw fell Youre not Dot going to do that Joe His tone bore the portent of impending calamity McKenzie shouldered his pick and shovel wrong about that You went down to Seattle and got drunk didn't you ButI But I leI figure if one partners partner's got a arIght aright aright right to get drunk the other ones one's got the same privilege Yes I guess you have Joe Hammonds Hammond's features were clouded The elder man started away then paused Say I seen you on the upper flat yesterday afternoon with a n coupie couple cou pIe of men Vl What at were you doing It was the last question Jack desired desired desired de de- sired to answer Oh just looking around In other words figuring out a place to test that wild-eyed wild theory the of yours that the Big Moose swung over toward the B. B C C. hills That it Well since Well since you put it that way And you didn't take me Into your confidence Ive tried to talk to you about ita it ita ita a dozen times the younger man said desperately And Ive I've tried to talk you out of it But theres there's somebody else I am Jack caught the meaning His lips became colorless See here he argued Im not trying to stop you from working the way you see fit Why shouldn't the rule work both ways Im I'm paying paying paying pay pay- ing the bills on this experiment of mine No matter whose idea is right well we'll share and share alike Um Urn humph McKenzie Joe rolled his tongue and stared far up the valley I knew another fellow fellow fellow fel fel- low like you once Jack He got an anI I idea that he had to go after things on a grand scale First thing he knew all his money was gone And he had to sell sen out idiotic Sos your idea said Joe blunt blunt- ly Hammonds Hammond's eyes snapped Youre only saying that because you youve you've ve got a prejudice against anything anything anything any any- thing that's modern or sensible All you want to do is waste everybody's time staggering around blindfolded blindfold blindfold- ed Heatedly he hG h swung down the step then and headed for the village McKenzie Joe stared after him a not unkindly light in his troubled eyes Now I know Im I'm goin over to Whoopee and get drunk he mused a at t last For that matter hatter Hammond knew it too and the knowledge helped considerably to cool his anger as ashe ashe ashe he pounded along the trail toward his placer claims Getting drunk with McKenzie l Joe was like a plague of locusts or a spring flood Something disastrous always hap hap- At last Jack turned from the trail and went into Jeanne's store for a tin of tobacco You look worried she roe saidI saidI saidI said I am Joe has announced that hes he's going to get drunk Thursday night Well Nell V elI she laughed hell have plenty of company Jeanne was much more buoyant these days Lew had not come ome again to Sapphire In fact Kenning had told J Jack th k that t the the man l had p d purchased ha d done one of several newly imported canoes canoes canoes ca ca- noes and gone down the lake pros pros- Enough that he had de de- parted Jeanne went on You wont won't have to call calI out the reserves when Joe gets going Jack remained serious Its really pretty terrible Jeanne Cracked heads and all that But youre you're going to be with him to to see that he doesn't get hurt I cant can't leave him something him something I always happens when I do Jeanne smiled Maybe hell he'll fool you this time tune and be good Heres hoping Jack felt better better better bet bet- ter now Strangely he always felt better after he had talked to Jeanne Jeanno Towers Yet he did not realize how often he needlessly dropped by this little store to buy tobacco when he had plenty matches when his pockets were full socks he did not intend to use A week before she had insisted on paying the partners partners partners part part- ners for the original supplies which they had furnished her only to go deeper in debt It had been beena a secret loan from Jack Hammond for to be rushed out by airplane airplane airplane air air- plane the next day and sent by express express express ex ex- press to The Pas At least the monetary weight of her past was off her conscience Now she came forward wistfully eager Gee its it's good to see you smile again she said Then hesitantly Youve helped me so much Id I'd give anything if I could could- could There she halted and turned away Jacks Jack's eyes eves followed her gaze gaz to sight the the the- trim form of the approaching Kay Joyce Oh there you are the Seattle girl exclaimed with her usual easy I command of spontaneity Ive been looking for you Jack Hammond felt again the queer emotions which flooded him whenever these women met As though he should explain Jeanne extol her good qualities It made him angry with himself Jeanne needed no extolling and Kay had never made an outright move of enmity I was just on the way down to the creek Jack said I heard beard some shouting Yes Olsons Olson's made another strike Olson again Hammond turned fn to J Tn coins B a tt cr t in a n nt new uY orto or- or U U pu u u. der Then to Kay Olson practically practically practically buys out the store after every every every ev ev- ery new strike Kay covered her rejoinder with a disarming smile I must learn how to handle these rich miners You'll teach me some sometime sometime sometime time Miss Towers J Jack a c k Hammond gasped For Jeanne replied with the same smiling smiling smiling smil smil- ing pleasantry Yes we must exchange reci recI- pes Oh gorgeous Kay Joyce was equally unctuous Then Jack can you walk down to the creek with me Once away from the cabin Youve simply got to help me out with this man Olson TO BE DE CONTINUED |