Show JS 4 P Tl J I 7 11 n y By ARTHUR STRINGER l STORY STOUT SO FAR To help save lave end e Airways from bankruptcy Alan AlanI agrees aneel I g to fly ny a called so-called scientist M Frayne and his hIl assistant Sarto Karto tar Kar- to the river In search lurch of cf ceding reeding ground of the trumpeter 1111 i Slade Blade Is II suspicious of Frayne who paid them enough toed to too o Cenger Slades Slade's partner to buy fd ed k- k Lockheed Just before leaving leavings f s with Lynn 1 daughter of g at doctor to give Ive first aid treat treat- Jes i. i b t 1 to a flyer Oyer named Slim SUm With e Is not Pleased to learn lurn that Turn Tom i an outcast flyer who has lost his 1 1 for drinking knows know about the thed d i Mane and about DOnt Frayne's expedition it the Lockheed Is stolen by a am m Wd thief who heads north On the 4 Ito to the with Frayne and ft t 1011 Slade runs out oot of gas as and they 3 forced read to spend the night at the cabin i 1 slides jades prospector friends Zeke and fy where Slade keeps a gas cache Interest In the fact yae shows no I g L the surrounding country Is rich In tove 2 blonde lende source of a w ne-w new kind of 1 I 1 r. r But the next morning Frayne ties des es to stay tay near there bere tere and not go on U While Slade Is I. on the ht back Lynn father decides i ti Or rate on the blind Eskimo Uman Uma Uma- n d to In the hope of restoring his eye- eye top t. t is I. anxious to see again the lie can hunt bunt the devil bird he be i Slade has returned the operation Ver Per and he be and Lynn are arc talking I 11 has as received a letter from Barrett fill fa ti den flen who for Lynns Lynn's sake has bas offered father father a Job fob ob In Ottawa Lynn feels his s frontier work Is too bard hard for him 0 i r w continue with the story n 01 cr CHAPTER IX o CJ rte red Ir r father watched her as she the closely written pages Ithome It Ito o i home to him as he studied bt baCQ figure in white the vital Jg figure with its ripening lines linesa a manhood that they could not nots z u s be together ite MW oW about Alan he repeated r e girl in white looked up from t etter t s been pulling wires L i ti she observed without meet- meet than er fathers father's eye aye r whom whom was the Padres Padre's s pt demand the or r you said the girl with the b m b He writes that hes he's had a athe a from the Minister and theres there's nr pening for you in the Depart- Depart of Timber and Mines He says grand chance for somebody inU in mow ow to ordinate co-ordinate the medical U p II of miners e Flying Padres Padre's face hardened au tie nd d who asked Barrett to pull id for me he demanded I was his own idea id fd Lynn But he naturally back until he knew I agreed r 1 him un Fe shoulders stiffened n stooping r Q ti he said with conviction I Igo Io go o to seed Not yet looked at him for a moment W m pao of silence t she said will be dis- dis glinted L father swung about on her l ou iu U know of course why hes he's J c gaU all this was as only thinking of you Dad said as she leaned against his hising using ing shoulder P F rr 4 l lifted ted her head and looked into r ace ce y Jut ut i theres there's always a string to ti like that And in this that it string would be you She a protest against that e stopped her Barretts a egg I like him a lot And I II I blame him for being in love you But I happen to know f TaL s ire fre re not in m love with him tum Would that be so important Basked t asked 1 d the cropped head that y ed d so boy like and yet remained Youre You're not such a bad egg your- your f he ne said sad with a stabilizing sort i I happen to know x lathing that youve you've got tucked in that lopsided heart of yours sR m Im not going to sell my girls girl's i iness for an old-age old pension a berth in Barrett Walden's Dep De- De p D ent of Timber and Mines 1 d de after checking over a series certainties decided to head for 7 Harbor Cruger back at Ways Wa- Wa jays ays ys had told him to follow up clue that showed itself And shadowy plane that had been beenA Ji A flitting between tidewater and unknown hinterland base was rf iIi th looking into hat at t base Slade acknowledged have have been unknown but he hem hea UT a m theory or two of his own h i he felt kept his quest from entirely a wild-goose wild chase ew well enough the vastness foe e e country over which he was It with here and there only a bleached Eskimo cairn to mark Destitution And to look for a ai ain ain i in that tangle of river and eg g of scored ice-scored bluffs and cling eling tree growth seemed very i like looking for a needle in e was further depressed by the overy that a sea-fog sea rolling in inthe inthe inthe the Arctic Ocean was cutting V his is view of the broken coastline 1 ere e he should have found Echo i f bor bor he s saw aw only a blanket of s mist So he turned south and A Ac ged his into c way the clear j ping J the horizon with his ses as he went But still no nor r r lof life came to him i his s section of the sub he heas I EI as he stared about him had for fot fotus 6 pious us reasons remained over- over ed I If f there was mineral in 41 ri r I k i 9 But you might remember you dont don't own this country those lonely gray ridges below him the new frontier hadn't crawled that far north to find it It still seemed to ache with emptiness And for that reason as he winged his way over the gr gray y wastes he knew a distinct quickening of the pulse when he caught sight of a faint plume of smoke beyond a darker stretch of that circled a lake studded studded studded stud stud- ded with many small islands For smoke meant fire and fire implied the presence of human life I Slade dropped lower avoiding the studded island-studded lake and circling off to a companion lake that offered clearer water for a landing a mile or more to the southeast His eyes searched the shoreline as he drifted into a sheltered ridge-sheltered cove where he could moor and land without trouble He mounted the ridge and once more peered about at the starved- starved looking But he could see no sign of life Yet on second thought he stepped down to his plane and quietly removed a breaker as as- With that out he knew his engine was tied up And he had no intention of taking chances His next line of procedure he decided decided decided de de- de- de was to push on overland in search of that small but unmistakable ble wisp of smoke But the going was not easy He found it best to follow the rock ridges where the footing was safe even though the direction of his advance was varia varia- ble His presence there he knew had been well advertised to any watcher between the spruce ridges and the rushes Yet he advanced with both caution and quietness Twice he was compelled to trail back-trail and seek out more solid footing His final line of advance he saw was taking him out to a rush-fringed rush point abutting into an island-dotted island lagoon that was half reed-beds reed and half open water It looked lonely and empty He was on the point of turning back and rounding the lower arm of the lake when he was arrested by an unexpected sign of life inthe inthe in inthe the reeds ahead of him This was confirmed a moment later by the discovery of footprints in the soil about him But whoever or whatever whatever whatever what what- ever lay hidden there refused to disclose itself So he pushed quietly on following following following follow follow- ing the vague path where other feet had preceded his own He went on until a turn in the narrow runway brought him to a thicker tangle of willow shrub-willow and rushes There just at the waters water's edge he caught sight of a man This man was crouched low in a blind of rushes roughly to to- gether Beside him lay a pair of binoculars and a telescopic camera But at the moment he was making making making mak mak- ing use of neither He was merely crouching there intent and motionless motionless motionless motion motion- less staring out over the island dot ted lake Slade knew it was Frayne even evenI I before he saw the bony face that I I turned to flash a look of annoyance at the intruder Quiet please was Frayne's preoccupied command as his gaze went back to the watery vista in front of him happening Slade ques ques- What I have traveled eight thousand thousand thousand thou thou- sand miles to find was Frayne's quietly reply The half- half whispered and hissed half-hissed words came clearly tinged with reproof It is a trumpeter swan making love to his mate Slade peered through the rush tops and caught sight of two floating is islands islands islands is- is lands of white along the remoter reaches of the l lake ke The thing that impressed him was first fast their size and then the snowy whiteness of the feathered bodies that glided in and out between the darker bodies of land that turned the lake end into an archipelago Then youre you're getting what you came after Slade suggested He noticed for the first time the collapsible collapsible collapsible col col- col- col rubber canoe plainly lighter light light- er than any Indian which lay half-concealed half in the fringe of rushes Not when outsiders interfere with my studies retorted the gist Where is your plane A mile or two southeast of here Slade explained I wont won't have a plane disturbing this territory Frayne proclaimed with an unexpected note of passion It means all my work has been for nothing Slades Slade's laugh was curt Youre welcome to your wilderness wilderness wilder wilder- ness he said Im looking for something bigger than swans Then kindly leave the swans to me Sure said the unruffled flyer but you might remember you dont don't own this country Perhaps not was the sharp not ed response But the sooner you leave it the happier Ill I'll be Thanks said Slade His mouth hardened a little as he stood eyeing the other man And what would you do if I happened to hang around Frayne became conscious of the challenge in that question His thin lips compressed and for a moment he remained silent Then he shrugged and stared out over the wa brow of his blind You would not be so foolish he quietly announced That announcement Slade saw was not without its own tacit chal chal- lenge Then since you regard this as your territory he ventured I suppose suppose suppose sup sup- pose your camp is here It is not countered Frayne This is merely an observation post My camp is farther south toward the since that seems to tobe tobe tobe be caribou country And we must have meat of course If you youre you're re nearer the ventured Slade you must be neighbors neighbors neighbors neigh neigh- bors to my two old sourdough friends I mean Zeke and Minty the men we bunked with on the way out I have seen nothing of them was the th deliberated lh tn res onse Mu M u v p oJ y yone one object here is to be alone Thanks again said Slade He stood silent a a moment before asking asking asking ask ask- ing Where is that mate camp-mate of yours Karnell said Frayne is cutting cutting cutting cut cut- ting wood and smoking fish in case we should winter here I have learned in unsettled country to think of the future If you winter here observed Slade you will no longer have your swans A man of science learns patience patience patience pa pa- tience retorted Frayne They will come back in the spring But before next spring persisted persist persist- ed Slade be needing some plane service I have no need for a plane asserted asserted asserted as as- the other And HAnd youve you've had none Of HOf course not Slade found it necessary to give that some thought Then why did you try to buy a plane a couple of weeks ago And why did you want to hire a flyer The opaque eyes regarded him with disdain That asserted Frayne was before I found what I was looking for And now youve you've spotted your swans youve you've no need for us None whatever was the acidulated acidulated acidulated answer H And you haven't happened to see seea a plane in this neighborhood Not HNot until I had the misfortune of seeing yours Then you saw me as I came in Frayne's nod was curtAs curtAs curt As HAs did my trumpeters which you disturbed he announced Before I leave you to your trumpeters trumpeters trum trum- peters said the flyer Id HId like to ask just one question Where do you come from What d difference does that make demanded the other Because ybur your manners make me think you are German The ornithologists ornithologist's face hardened But his voice when he spoke was a controlled one If I had my passports here he quietly asserted you Hyou would soon learn otherwise His movement as ashe ashe ashe he turned away and reached for his binoculars took on a touch of the valedictory And HAnd I regret that my interest in bird life must interfere with your curiosity as to my origin Slade laughed Well good luck with your trumpeters trumpeters trumpeters trum trum- peters he said as ns he turned and strode from the blind He realized as he studied out the uncertain trail to where his plane must be resting that meetings like this were mighty rare along the frontier TO BE CONTINUED |