Show man ar M SYNOPSIS zack jack hammond gold prospector returns to 0 prince rupert otter after a spree in seattle aind nd learns that a gold rush Is starting as a re result alt of some careless remarks he had rapped dropped A at t a party concerning a gold discovery he finds that his partner jexen atle ste zoe joe britten has gone on north to protect i their claims besieged hammond decides to tell tau the prospectors how to breach the new gold fields around the world annle annie a frontier dance hall proprietor tent or has assembled asem bled a troupe of girls and Is bent on ket arting a dance hall at the new camp jack muses about ray kay joyce the girl in seattle ahorn be loves and to v ishom horn he confided the ecret ot of his gold strike going to hi his s lawyers es office ho he passes a young girl on the talas stairs tal rs jack asks barstow the lawyer about the girl and learns that she Is a volunteer client jack tells him about kay timmy moon koon a mutual acquaintance had brought them th em together kay was chilly at first but when she saw some of his gold nuggets they got along beautifully lie he had met her nother and a friend of the family bruce kenning a geologist sergeant terry of the floyal ayal canadian mounted police joins the gold seekers on their trip north jack en counters COlin the girl jeanne towers and the bhe aks asks him to lend her a team of 0 dogs and supplies tUp he suggests that she go back home bome but she says she cant he lets her borrow the team and supplies the next day the trek to the new bonanza begins I 1 CHAP CHAPTER ill III continued i 1 5 e hammond fell in beside her for a moment there was little sound save the quick breathing of dogs the slide of to boggans and the duff cluff of snowshoes punctuated by quick tapping noises as bushers hit their webs on the rising step with light clubs to free the them m from chinook sticky snow the shouting and excited conversation long ago had passed this was gruelling gruenling gru elling effort like the north he asked something like a tomboys tom boys happiness blazed in her brown eyes oh I 1 do its so clean jack went wondering about the remark after a long time he began thinking of some of the city rooming houses in which lie he had spent out of luck days grimy windows carpets gritty with dirt I 1 booi soot on ones face a black taste to the air better not wait too long to make camp he shouted to one of the old timers well get out early tomorrow on the crust but late that night when the rest of the camp was snoring hammond saw that there was to be no crust on the mornings snow the chinook had continued ve veering erin slightly elight ly toward morning dawn was gray lowering cheerless then the wind shifted A bite came into the air yah well have snow it was olson the man with the hewed out face ace whom hammond had met in prince rupert he paused a moment as the long line began to move yah well have plenty of snow enow hammond nodded and went onward he would have a job today it was hard enough keeping this line moving in the sunshine morning became early afternoon the sky grew heavier more ominous d no loafing he shouted as the trek started anew following the noontime halt and no hanging hangin 9 back A stoop shouldered man turned his head skin raw from pelting ice particles eyes like balls of blood from snow burn howll we ever keep in line and change wet moccasins he queried keep em on I 1 suppose and get frostbite make stops for that the first slash of snow had bad begun to drive down out of the high reaches of the mountains keep moving and stay together the flakes had become thicker now like a sticky white shield all in an instant the mountains began to fade stay tog etherl he shouted as he worked back along the line stay tog etherl they had come out of a valley to lake and were now well upon lt it on his lumpy snowshoes jack made the end of the line shouting his caution and hearing it echoed by the more experienced men of this long serpentine of gold seekers the ithe sound of clubbing as sticks rapped against snow gummed webs was general now the world had I 1 become a fog of white once again hammond Ha nimond started forward hurrying at the blurred sight of a laggard beside the trail with some surprise he saw it was jeanne towers fe wrong he queried brusquely my lead dog broke his trace I 1 think in ive ve got it f fixed 1 hammond examined the harness ja looks all right he decided i were going to camp as soon as a s we strike the end of this lake and then how far asked I 1 jeanne aanne hammond had heard that query a hundred times in the last jew days oh were well over the worst of it t well have a tough time tor for while awhile after we get out of this lake country have to hit for the pla baus the winds are pretty bad there then well drop down to the kiiken river going should be fairly tasy aay after that I 1 how far the girl asked again sixty miles A man could make it t in two days with a fresh team h hammond went on toward the lead ead of the line la 5 when do we get to the end of this is lake shouted the lead A note of panic was in his voice dice hammond turned swiftly glancing lanc ilig down the line 01 vl he shouted take the I 1 courtney ryley cooper 0 courtney courtner elcy byley cooper wl NU service lead here and hold ill it when you hit the shore line go into campt camp ay came the azis answer olson with his elongated webs web s strode out of line rounded those in front of him then began to plod again hammond once more moved swiftly toward the rear only to return more q quickly u bickly at last he reached the side of the leader and strode beside him staring back into the snow some blodys missing he told olson ill try to find em if im not back by morning hold camp and start out a gang to look tor for me then down the line he went again finally to drop behind no one noticed him all eyes were straining straight ahead hammond moved swiftly on the back trail it was deep dusk before he picked up a clear trail he shouted and went on again after a period of search he called and for a third and fourth time he thought he heard a taint faint answer he began to run as swiftly as his sticky snowshoes would permit in the distance a faint gray smudge appeared he shouted anew and went forward at last they faced each other jeanne towers t I 1 ip 11 f R I 1 t there aint bothin Cra a bunch oi 01 bushed placer miners tried to cover her weariness with a smile meanwhile wiping the welcome cold moisture of a fur gloved hand across her forehead am I 1 lost she asked with an attempt at cheeriness you were relief at finding her iad had brought a certain reflex wh why y iid did you drop out that trace broke again I 1 suppose I 1 worked on it longer than I 1 thought then when I 1 was through I 1 see anybody and noises seemed to come from all directions hammond scowled but not at her 1 I knew damned well that shepherd husky would never make a lead dog the girl laughed weakly 1 im I m glad im not the only one to blame reaction had passed for hammond he was only glad he had found her A good lead dog would have been able to pick up the trail suddenly he said too tired to go ona on can we reach camp well have to make our own camp he looked about him in the lowering dusk one chance was as good as another memory told him that they had been working for some time to the left certainly shore could not be so far away we much to kick about everything in the world to eat on that toboggan and theres a sleeping bag for you but you he grinned it wont be the first arst time ive piled in with the dogs there was vas a differ different ent spirit now concern for her safety had placed them on a new basis silently they wor worked e orward forward bent against the drive of snow going was increase increasingly difficult the white stick sticky y fall had covered the harder pack for a full six inches their snowshoes sank deep and came up heavy leaden A half hour of terrific exertion followed the world was black now but hammond urged her forward 1 I think I 1 see the shore line ahead he commanded keep going if you can ill keep going was her sturdy answer the search ended within a hundred yards in low lov spruce a rocky shore line and tumbled deadwood again jack saw that she had told the truth when she had denoted herself as being of the north she asked no questions she did not even query their camping place driving the dogs to the first level spot where tw twisted isted tree growth formed a shelter from the wind then as the huskies sank to rest in the snow she turned deliberately to 0 h her cr ne next x self appointed task the d digging agg in g under old drifts or to windward for dry bits of pitch wood for un moistened cones and a handful of b brittle spruce needles meanwhile sweeping nearby near by surroundings with appraising glances in that she told jack hammond m much lich of woodsman ship he knew that she was searching for a birch tree and its inflammable bark but there was none the spruce needles crackled into a feeble blaze as he fed them with a second match jeanne handed him a crushed bunch of fine dead twigs then he took the larger fuel from her stick by stick until the blaze leaped high at last he s straightened and looked down at her youre roure pretty game arent you he asked it seemed to electrify her an almost tomboyish expression came into her eyes she laughed her white even teeth gleaming in the firelight honestly am I 1 she queri queried ed there was a wish in her voice for him to tell her again but she added quickly 1 I hope I 1 can cook something fit to eat it was with the dogs snarling over their fish and mush the man and woman sat beside the campfire long after the meal was finished at last jack unrolled her sleeping bag and bedded it down with a canvas windbreak they said goodnight hammond went back to the fire he sat there a long time finally he he ros rose e and moving toward her faintly outlined form knelt there jeanne he said quietly are you asleep the voice fought dull fatigue no mr hammond my names jack oh came with an air of surprise listen he cut in ive just thought of something funny youre none of my business 1 I what I 1 mean he added hastily is that im not trying to butt in or ask questions you understand that dont you yes ive known that just the same the man went on ive thought of something funny suppose for instance I 1 lent you a little money you know to build a shack with and then 2 he added stilling her exclamation suppose I 1 did what I 1 could to get things going for you ive just b been en thinking that it really would be a whale of a joke on somebody if take this bunch of supplies youve been dragging through for me and really start that grocery store five minutes later jack hammond turned away with a hand at his throat 1 I think shed cry about it he mumbled once more back at the fire he sat there a long time then at last he stretched went over to the dogs disturbed them with a moccas ined foot and rolled in with them the sun shone the next morning they were back at camp in an hour the endless journey began anew six days later a struggling mass of humans slipped and slid across the hum mocked ice of the kiiken river hammond came alon along passed jeanne towers asked a cheery question and went onward CHAPTER IV his thick clothing smeared by f rost frost and soil jack hammond worked with pick and shovel atthe bottom of a deep pit he filled a moosehide moose hide bucket with boulders and stony soil and signaled to mckenzie joe to raise and dump it joe obeyed turning the rough handle of an equally crude windless he was a man of huge shoulders and stocky frame with a great effort he carried the bucket away and emptied it returning he called down hey jack ride the bucket up knocking iff work early a rent arent we hammond queried when he poked his head out of the crude shaft I 1 look answered mckenzie joe with movement of his eyes he indicated the faraway far away camp it was a new trek from Four cross men were shouting and hurrying about their dogs to the first open space unoccupied by the tents of other gold seekers and tearing at their toboggan loads as though they had only a matter of minutes in in which to begin life in a new land at this distance they looked like so many black two legged ants outlined the white of the snow covered sapphire lake mckenzie joe took off his thick cap and rubbed heavy fingers through matted gray hair there aint bothin cra a bunch of bushed placer miners lie ho said at last lets clean out that pit and knock off work for the day sure said hammond then go down to town and find out how to make a million lie he glanced toward the bed of the frozen big moose great fires burned there dozens of them where men and the few women who had made the galling journey worked at a dream of fortune it was tough going now the gravel must be thawed out water for panning must come by dog team from the community water hole cut through the four foot thickness of 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