| Show C ON RIVER N I 1 V SYNOPSIS warren lovett thirty three junior partner in the powerful wellington parkes loved incorporated mines of chicago which engages tn in questionable transactions plans to make a secret coup in the canadian arctic where a few years before a rich but inaccessible mining held field has been discovered on resurrection river which lows flows into dynamite bay patricia high spirited and beautiful daughter of crusty old jasper wellington who Is engaged to warren decides to accompany him they go by plane pat fat meets bolcon Pol con a french canadian prospector who tells her there are only prospectors in the field and that because of 0 the difficulties they hey are hanging on by a thread pat Is disturbed when warren will not disclose what his secret mission Is she meets sam honeywell a friend of 0 po leons moved by the plight of 0 bill fornier Forn ler a prospector who though fatally struggles to hold bold his claim pat decides to help him informed by lupe hall breed retainer of the company about pats befriending the prospectors warren tries to dissuade her he tells her that craig tart ton with whom she had once been in love Is now deputy mining inspector for the resurrection ur river area A brilliant geologist he be had resigned in disgust from her fathers company because of its devious methods later she meets craig cragg but he Is cold inferring that she Is merely feigning interest in the prospectors her compassion tor for the hapless prospectors growing pat decides to build a huge community house or den when the job nears completion ion warren tells her to abandon it she refuses after a stormy scene craig leaves on a three month inspection trip to the north pat learns that her father has withdrawn her allowance when warren r refuses fuses e to advance her a loan to a aid id the prospectors she moves moves her tent across the river near the den slie she learns now of warrens plan he hopes to starve the prospectors out and make them sell their claims tor for a song pat tells the prospectors of warrens plan still attentive to pat warren wages a subtle campaign to get the claims just before christmas craig returns suddenly and pat Is overjoyed at his changed attitude ile he brings her a present of furs and apologizes tor for his former suspicions concluding that the she cannot ever marry warren pat returns her engagement ring he ha reveals that craig tarlton Is already married CHAPTER VII continued on one of his trips to the stove to thrust in fresh wood and pour himself a cup of coffee he scraped the rime from a window pane and looked out into the storm it had reached its worst at last had settled to the steady full lunged roar that marked its peak in the blind seething swirl he could see nothing except the nearest pines a drove of huge black animals tossing pawing and rearing one tall pine that stood near his cabin was so doubled over by the screaming gale that its tope top was beating upon the roof he thought it fitting that bill fornier arctic born and bred bed should be passing in this storm ridin riding 9 away in the fury of the worst that the arctic could unloose when he went back to the bunk bill was awake more clearheaded clear headed than at any previous time he was also weaker so weak that his voice was gone and he had to wh whisper iper those claims of mine craig I 1 git the work done on em lea will be left without bill now listen to me im taking care of those claims I 1 spotted potted em for you in the first place and ill see that you that lea gets em in the end a promise bills lips moved if you promise then every things all right his eyes closed and he lay still the expression that came over his face the unwonted peace and quietude startled craig he leaned down felt for a pulse beat found none bill he shook For formers shoulder bill after several minutes he gently straightened out bills arms and drew a blanket up over the bunk on new years day craig started across the river to see warren for an entire week since christmas he had kept to his cabin secluded from everybody thinking mapping a n new ew course for himself the slowly gathering forces which had been at work in him for many months had at last won out the death of bill fornier merely marked the end of the old epoch and the beginning of a radically different one warren received him courteously drew a chair near the desk held a match for his cigarette warren craig went straight to the point ive been thinking about this deadlocked fight between bet veen your company and these men im wondering why you and I 1 cant work out some agreement whereby the y ill get substantial justice and the company will make a good profit on its undertaking in this field warren tapped the ashes from his cigarette you have some s specific agreement in mind he inquired yes instead of buying these claims outright your company would buy a part interest two thirds lets say that way the men be left out entirely later on when the actual mining begins and still your company would be getting the big cut your suggestion warren said dryly is a fine one for these men but from the companas comp anys viewpoint it so fetching let me correct you about one thing this fight is not deadlocked in the last week ive bought 60 claims the stampede that ive been waiting tor for has begun within a month ill own this field why then should I 1 stop short of my complete program you mean why should you be content with two thirds wh when enyou you can betit all by william byron mowery 0 william byron mowery service it if you wish to put it that way 11 yes why damn it warren because of the human justice involved involve dl the welfare of men count for something most of them are arc married have farni families lies the company warren cut him short has no responsibility toward them or their families craig was little disappointed by warrens warren Is cold refusal to arbitrate for he had expected it he had come across the river merely because he did not wish to throw away any hope however faint of settling this struggle peacefully so you dont recognize any responsibility he mused well hardly a surprise the house of wellington parkes lovett founded on consideration of others as I 1 well know the history of their deals with prospectors and operating mine companies would read like a slaughterhouse slaughter house story warren drummed impatiently on his desk ive heard that same line before tarlton from people who got any money themselves if youre aiming that remark at me why I 1 made and threw away two fortunes friend while you were grubbing around after your first one he paused to let that fact sink in and then he went on old jasper wellington belonged to a generation whose ideal was to capture the timber and land and mines and oil and finances of a nation and wield a power as tyrannical as any old feudal baron ever wielded but men like him wont be tolerated in the boat any longer to scuttle the welfare of whole large groups and play havoc with honest business companies its your good luck and mine warren that we belong to a generation which has thrown out that old plunder lust philosophy and is groping toward something nobler warren shoved back his chair listen tarlton I 1 dont care to hear a lecture on political economy of the prophetic sort and im not interested in your proposition about these claims did you have anything else to say craig got up only this I 1 offered f you a deal warren and you w take it we could settle this light fight peacefully but you refuse now well have to settle it on the b basis is s of might well battle it out that suits me very well warren returned he came around from behind the desk by the way tarlton theres a private matter id like to mention to you before you go now that you too have declared war likely be joining with patricia I 1 cant stop that but I 1 under the circumstances I 1 must ask you not to associate with her personally in any way whatsoever IV what hat circumstances are you referring f arri ng to the fact that you have a wife so you dug that up youve told patricia I 1 suppose dont you think she ought to know 1 I dont consider it of much importance good heavens heaven sl 1 yes good heavens its a sheer technicality besides if the occasion ever arises I 1 myself will tell her about that m misadventure isad venture the whole story quite far more in fact than youve uncovered warren followed hirn him to the door 1 I think youre treating this rosalie matter too lightly tarlton it may turn out to be more important than you think isyou if you wont take my warning take the consequences que quen aces ces dont be so mysterious warren up your sleeve warren started to say something but checked himself and nodded a curt goodby good by As craig went back across resurrection he wondered whether that ugly word consequences was a pokerfaced poker faced bluff or a genuine warning he know much care for he was looking ahead to his battle against warren and the company and an exultation was pulsing in his veins it felt good to be on the karpath var path again gu gunning n for powerful ener enemies energies nies good to be back in action in the thick of a fight once more A surge of unlocked energy ran strong in him like a river at breakup break up at patriciaa Patri cias cabin no one answered his knock and he went over to the community house it was the first time that he had entered the den with curious eyes he looked around at patriciaa Patri cias handiwork as he passed through the gear cluttered entranceway entrance way and stepped inside the main room although the den was comfortable and cheery it was a rough and rowdy place truly the den of 75 rock hogs As craig looked around the big room he thought of the wellington north shore mansion where he first had met patricia and he wondered how on earth she a girl and a blue blood besides could endure the uncouth manners and ways of these heavy booted miners it took something more than sympathy it took courage took a fighting heart and a dee deep P conviction of righteousness not glimpsing her anywhere in the room he asked a prospector wheres miss wellington dave over in the office the man in informed pointing at a niche beside the huge fireplace on the west side craig stepped over the office proved to be a little six by eight cubbyhole fitted into the fireplace angle and boarded off so as to shut out the bedlam of the ma main ir i room at his knock a girls voice voice demanded who is it im busy what do you want its tarlton im sorry tove dis disturbed you ill come back some other 21 craiget waitt he heard her chair slide back hastily the door flung open and she he stood before him please dont go im not busy really its just that these men come trooping to me all day long with all sorts of troubles im getting to growl and bark like a sergeant major in her belted corduroy suit she looked so winsome and girlish that craig smiled at the idea of her growling and barking he stepped into the office id like to have a talk with you Tre eshia her cheeks colored he wondered why 1 I was just glancing about at the house that pat built he remarked its really fine Tre eshia you can be proud of it patriciaa Patri cias face clouded over at his mention of the den the men like it a lot I 1 guess she said listlessly turning toward him but but craig noticed then that her eyes had a suspicious redness about k 1 A 13 2 I 1 id like to have a talk with you Tre eshia them as though she had been crying Some things gone wrong tree shia what is it nothing except that I 1 im sunk she quavered two big tears gathered in her dark eyes everything very has has gone to po pot t in in the last few days im broke I 1 a penny left I 1 cant keep the den running any longer and these me men n are cracking wide open warren ls is buying claims right and left and and I 1 dont see any way to turn or anything to do she slumped down into her desk chair and buried her face in her arms gracious heavens girl why you tell me about all this 1 I suppose you cared much what was happening patricia sobbed without looking up but I 1 do carel care craig asserted bending down patting her shoulder sorry for the black days that she had gone through he reproached himself savagely for not helping her sooner As lie he bent over her with his lips so near her hair a disquietude struck him and lovetts warning about his associating with patricia in a personal way went jigging across his mind wall until that instant he simply had not imagined the possibility lity of such an association but now he did imagine it with something thin of a shock it came home to him that he once had loved patricia wellington passionately that in the gods lake days she had been to him a living pagan boern tha chatin his thirty one years he had never loved any other girl all the bitter things which he had later thought about her and which had made him try to forget gods lake all his harsh judgment of her as a worldly creature without ideals or courage she had given the complete lie to them by her valiant battle for these men Tre eshia he said gently this is as much my fight jowas yours im not returning to the barrens youve been all alone so far but now im going to take part of the burden off your shoulders CHAPTER VM vin craigs first step that same afternoon was to give patricia his entire worldly fortune of accrued salary to keep the community house afloat that evening and all the next day he talked and pleaded with the dis heartened prospectors till he finally checked their rising wave of despair and swung them back into line he also wrote to the bureau at ottawa and resigned he hated to sacrifice his job but this move mova would give the men three months of grace for it would take that long for his successor to reach the bay and begin inspecting the claims with these preliminary steps out of the road he tackled the big crucial problem the necessity of raising a lot of money quickly the tha men had to have clothes outfits equipment and to feel the power ot of money behind them they had lived on hope till hope was burned out he estimated that he had to raise at least a hundred thousand dollars under ordinary circumstances he ha would have formed a corporation among the owners of the richest claims and sold a portion of tho the stock to a financial house or operating company but this field was so remote that investment houses were wera not interested and mining companies everywhere were reefing their sails instead of putting on more canvas A good gold deposit would turn the trick gold was at a high premium among the metals and down in the city country low grade mines which had been closed for years were running full blast A silver deposit or copper or even platinum would not do it took guld gold ur or possibly radium but so far or at least so the special government geologists had reported no gold atall had been discovered in the resurrection field from a little cardboard box on a shelf craig picked out seven carefully labeled hunks of gray rock one evening and laid them on his work table and sat looking at them while he smoked a thoughtful pipe humph Hm mph he muttered once or twice no gold on resurrection those seven hunks of rock came from a range of hills the wolf lairs about 50 miles northeast of the bay last spring a city rusher called phil kessler had gone prospecting through h those hills and had brought back a of ore specimens in that collection mostly ores of yellowish mica or fools gold craig had spotted seven odd looking fragments of a gray gneiss sticking one carelessly under the microscope he was surprised to find that it contained wire silver interested then he ran an assay the test brought out not only cobalt and silver in paying quantities but a heavy gold content to the ton kessler had no idea where he had picked up those seven hunks of gray rock A greenhorn at prospecting pec ting he had wandered hither and thither all over that range knocking off samples from any formation |
