Show IM 0 ifa ill a 0 sa s1 ral w e THE STORY SO fart bruce liar har court ourt alaska engineer finds a satin slipper on flim fifth avenue and on answering all ad aa learnt learns tt it belongs belong to janice trent sister lister ot of a college chum janice quarreled with her fiance rich ned paxton blade dropping her slipper as she gay ay I 1 tried to leave his auto impulsively bruc asks her not to marry ned nea liar har court returns to alaska saves gave a bridge from collapsing hale chief engineer had blundered this and other failures allures led to bis dismissal bruce Is made chief the camp has a new secretary jimmy pe delevan levan hired by tubby grant braces assistant jimmy seems a tubercular youth who keeps out ot of tight sight as much is as possible bruce had sever seen lilai hini when one day he walked into the cabin ol of the samp sisters who run the waffle waffie shop and discovers discover the youth Is janice she Is asleep in a chair martha shows hows him Is a newspaper which arrived that day it tells of ft janice disappearing four our days before her wedding now continue with the story CHAPTER IV has she seen that paper asked harcourt barcourt no replied martha that helps be sure that no one else sees it burn it A useless precaution others like it doubtless have come in this mail I 1 must go to the office you told me yet why you sent for me miss mar tha 1 I want another room built on the cabin for her ashes brought all her handsome wedding things sheets and pillow slips made of pink crepe marys near gone out of her mind over it all she loves pretties if the girl is goin to stay she ought to have a cabin hitched on to ours ill talk with you about that later im due now at the office so is is jimmy delevan but tell him not to come grant must take the notes his mind was in a turmoil should he let janice stay he must get in touch with her brother billy have known that she was coming pasca his part indian part eskimo servant who filled the dual role of houseboy house boy and mechanic was shuffling about the cabin living room when he entered for his papers we all mighty glad you big boss now yes sirree thank you dont on any more wood have rne me roasted elive alive cold later I 1 know these country much number cold nights but I 1 do what you say he lingered what chatis Wh atis is it got something on your ybur mind sidrid 1 I the mans confirmatory grunt deepened the two little lines between harcourte Har courts brows 1 I got kadoyama on mind the matter with him he like helping atthe ile shop after his regular work want more money pascas dark eyes narrowed to glinting slits in his heavy face no sirree he lak helpin samp se esters much good eats he tink he marry on taulma he big chiefs eon one day hale tell her she bhe fine gal becs hale oil off in seattle pay her plenty money to keep hees cabin clean fatima lak money she lak beads an gold nuggets now she tell kadoyama Kad yama who me ine marry on indiana no sirree I 1 lak gol hair men an he say he get hale some day you big boss now you do so somo metIng ting to mak ta tima lak heem save much trouble harcourte Har courts lips tightened as he looked up into the earnest face another tell kadoyama to take it easy pasca hale goes out on the boat day after tomorrow hell never come back the mans expression lightened ile he go day after to you say I 1 tell kadoyama Kad Rad yama yarna yes sirree he tink fatima under spell says black cat black debb ll tings happen after he come bad badt bad ile he keel him some tam araps he shuffled out harcourt looked after him in consternation he had known that the native laborers regarded the black cat askance but he realized that blot was looked upon with superstition better suggest t to the samp sisters that they keep their pet under guard he wondered if he were as colorless as he felt as later he faced the men of the outfit the consulting engineers the heads of divisions divisions what the dickens has jan janice done to her hair I 1 thought it was brown he caught himself wondering before he directed curtly take the minutes of the meeting grant but my secretary coming ile he was conscious of 0 grunt of surprise As in a haze he read instructions and outlined plans from the data furnished by the authorities later in the living room of his cabin he slipped into a brocaded lounging robe crimson as a harvard vard banner girdled like a monks frock rock his taut nerves relaxed as he felt its softness you should see the fighting ii line inc of 01 your mouth janice had said that at night in i n new york the present complication wont soften often it any jan he thought tubby grant slammed in hats the big idea cutting out my cretaro secretary cre tary tonight his green eyes were indignant his voice ei N 0 7 pasca said he keel him some tam araps 11 delevan Deleva nl do you know who delevan is is for an instant the guarded eyes of the two men met grant grinned sheepishly im not dumb it I 1 am fat no and no use bristling like a turkey cock tubby my minds made up ill send her back to seattle ba goehl dont the plea pica was a wall wail think of the time we had finding a secretary ard and ashes good did martha samp show you that paper she did its up to us to shield the girl why send her back to the man she ran away from shield her of course but how its a tricky situation tell delevan to stay in the samp cabin till I 1 see her him tomorrow goodnight harcourt stood at the open door watching grants stubby figure till it melted into the dusk what ought he to do there wre were two alternatives ter natives send her back I 1 or acknowledge now ledge to the men that she had been sent under false pretenses and have her appear as a girl good morning brucel with a barely repressed exclamation of annoyance harcourt returned the greeting of the woman who smiled at him from the office door she was small and slender its great to see you back agam again mrs hale color flooded the thin face mrs halel hale why this sudden assumption of ceremony mr harcourt he laughed business for business hours I 1 picked up that slogan when I 1 was in in the states remembering hales ugly thrust home breaker I 1 uncomfortable feeling like a cad harcourt stuck to his guns could he warn the little woman without seeming a conceited fool come out millicent I 1 want to talk to you As they stood in the strong warm sunshine outside the door he regretted gravely im sorry about halos hales demotion ile he cant have a very friendly feeling toward me better she shrugged her understanding better keep away from your office you mean why should you be sorry the best man wins wins in in the end always he ive felt all that I 1 can feel about joe when he reached seattle I 1 was refreshed rested ile he was like his old self I 1 had the courage to go on but since he heard of his demotion he has been unbearable I 1 suppose I 1 have left him alone last winter they tell me that he was worse than ever but I 1 had reached the stage where I 1 endure my life here another moment however I 1 shant be on your sour mind much longer I 1 came to tell you that we are going out on tomorrows boat to ask you ou to help if id known that he was to be sent home I 1 have come bick back I 1 don dont t dare confide in in jimmy he goes 0 oil I 1 1 like a rocket if he thinks me unhappy joe says he wont go but hes going ive ceased being a dumb dora lies hes going her voice voice woid awid and broke in the last rose 0 on n a sob take it e easy millicent grant and I 1 will help you get him off ill see that jimmy jimimy keeps on the job till you get away perhaps when jo joe e is lack back among his own people hell straighten out do you think I 1 fool myself do think I 1 believe that a man who you he ha has s has lot let himself go so far as back oh well ever come can the use about it youve been dear to me bruce if only if only I 1 could stay with 11 you liar her reckless suggestion sent the blood surging to harcourte Har courts forehead millicent youve board me say before that an engineers camp was for women im mighty place no back to civilization g glad iza ad that you hotl are going i liza tion but you like having the samp sisters here they re choly tholy are not women angels I 1 suspect they ministering were I 1 to banish them f fixtures are their waffles id have a strike and hands I 1 im tn going to the shop on my another cabin building now to discuss for them gone maternal over tubby grants secretary jimmy delevan have you seen him ile hes Is an effeminate little fellow harcourt with difficulty swallowed his heart which took off to furiously run its engine in his throat 1 I spoken to the boy tubby tells me that lies hes a wow at his job they started along the board walk tong at their heels toward the waffle shop connected by a covered passage with the samp cabin millicent hale stared at the snow capped mountain with the faint cloud of smoke hovering above it 1 I hate to leave you here with with no one to look after you sure you dont want me to stay bruce sure millicent color stole over her thin face with a quick drawn breath she turned away harcourt pulled out his handkerchief and wiped b beads c ads of perspiration from his forehead forche ad ile he felt like a brute poor little woman grasping at any hand which would hold her from going on with the man who had failed her she meant that about staying here with him it was only that she was crazed with despair she leave joe hale to shift for himself now that hed lost his job any more than she would desert a sick child his knock on the door of the samp cabin was grimly imperative pera tive come in ile he closed the door behind him backed against it as he regarded janicei janice trent alias ja jimmy ammy delevan the soft yellow m mustache had been discarded eyes like velvety bronze pansies met his defiantly as the girl demanded in a voice forced to bravado pitch what what are you going to do with me in the wall mirror he caught a glimpse of his face it was white his eyes were blazing it was no part of his plan to terrify her to death his attempt at a laugh was a grim failure why did you come suspended sentence prisoner to be allowed to be heard in her own defense 7 he took a quick step forward cut out the sarcasm jan sit down and listen to me As she snuggled into the en folding wings of the big chair the black cat touched her hair with a velvet paw lets not start out as though we were about to light fight and die over this why did you come here in disguise the girl locked and interlocked her fingers now that your voice and eyes are human not like those of a tiger about to spring ill tell you remember the evening you returned my slipper I 1 had already broken my engagement to ned paxton early that morning when whan he was taking me home from a prenuptial celebration I 1 demanded the truth of a story which billy had heard that two nights before he had wined and dined some notorious show women in a nearby near by hy city ile he was insufferably flippant in his answer insultingly sure of me I 1 pushed open the roadster door to jump he pulled me back but not my slipper then he tried to cajole me into a forgiving mood you forgive bima no I 1 returned his ring ile he laughed said that with the marriage but a few days ahead I 1 have the nerve to break it off assured me in his calsing can sing voice that I 1 was the only airl orl he had ever asked to marry him he tried to make me understand that the man who played round with other women was an entirely different self from the one who loved me that his pursuit of the good and beautiful in me was to his credit he was almost convincing but not quite I 1 told him that not being reno minded the double personality argument left me cold that I 1 would cancel my part of the wedding preparations he must take care ol of his that night just after you entered the house he called mo me on the phone to inform me that he given give me up P that he ass sorry that he had pulled ro rough ugh stuff in the roadster ned can be appealingly sorry its one of his charms that he would v see me later in the th evening he had pearls for me TO br CONTINUED CONTINUE DIJ |