Show RE aff oiw au C 0 n CHAPTER XVI continued 15 surprised craig looked at warren nar narrowly bowly your game warren theres no game I 1 assure you this is purely a business proposition we can make a mutually advantageous vant ageous deal you need money cash at once I 1 need your mine ill give you as good a price as you can get anywhere else and maybe better craig shook his head warren I 1 dont believe I 1 care to deal with you on anything youre out for yourself first last and always and sometimes you deal from the bottom of the deck warrens cheekbones reddened but he made no reply to the thrust tarlton he said presently youre quite right in thinking that im out tor for myself in this proposition I 1 am and ill explain why ive got to get back to chicago theres a federal investigation on down own there its getting ugly and nobody except myself can handle it besides parkes is edging me out of the firm and ive got to fight him it if I 1 stay here in the arc arctic tic any longer im going to lose the position that I 1 worked 12 years to attain craigs interest picked up lie he knew that warren was talking honestly so far at least for patricia had told about parkes and the investigation ive been hanging on an and d on here warren continued in hope that these men would break but they and now youre back with a valuable property and well I 1 realize that the field is yours I 1 intend to close out my dynamite bay affairs to the best advantage I 1 can and return to chicago where does my pitchblende lake fit into this picture craig inquired ive got to take back something to show for the time and money ive spent on this venture except for the kessler hill block the claims I 1 own now are not a very striking exhibit your radium property would be why I 1 want to buy it puzzled as to what warrens game was craig decided to probe a bit and find out how much are you offering for the lode how much are you asking two hundred and fifty thousand crai craig said coolly a steep price warren objected a quarter of a million its hardly an eighth of what the lode is worth ayou call that a steep price well no not exactly warren admitted parkes and old wellington would never go that high on a single claims block but I 1 can make up the difference I 1 suppose out of my own money the lodes worth it all ail ill pay you two hundred and fifty thousand craig was astonished he had demanded a quarter million merely to call warrens bluff and warren was taking him up ill pay you in cash of course warren added no notes or time payment this offer of spot cash astonished craig still more he knew perfectly well that there was a trap for him somewhere in this proffer that warren was planning to doub lecross him somewhere along the line though the trian man was indeed frantic to get back to chicago he was also grimly determined to take the resurrection ur field and patricia along with him put but this scot cash offer he seemed to mean business there where and how would the money be paid warren anywhere and anyhow you like you can write your own ticket to see just how far warren would go craig made an almost impossible demand have to pay me beforehand the money would have to be in the bank in my name and without restriction before id sign any papers to that lake a pretty harsh stipulation id have to take your word that sign but yes ill agree to it humph you seem willing to agree to just about anything anything within reason yes im getting a bargain and so are you craig thought a moment there was no question but that warren stood ready to deposit the quarter million in any bank and under any conditions that he specified no crookedness possible there where then was the deadfall in this proposition os ion craig pondered a long while in spite of the unknown trap in this deal warrens proposition attracted him ile he was convinced that warren intended to deposit the money according to promise under conditions that ruled out trickery if he dealt with warren lie he would have a quarter million dollars in hand within a few days of that he was entirely sure all this could moan mean but one thing warren was going to trap him after the deal maybe you will craig thought eying his pokerfaced poker faced opponent whatever happened however warren might try to doub lecross him the fact remained that he himself was holding back a far better trap than warren could possibly have before he and had returned by william byron mowery a william byron If mowery service to the bay he had deliberately built that trap out of a fierce resolve that no legal trickery no shrewd investment house or bargain break ing company was going to cheat him of his radium lode suppose you go ahead warren he suggested finally and deposit that quarter million on the terms weve sketched if the thing looks all right to me then ill sign the lake over to you if it ill return your money warren stood up reached out his hand ill do it youre making no mistake tarlton craig cut him short warren dont imagine youre pulling any wool over my eyes I 1 know and you know that youve got a joker up your sleeve now listen he laid his hand on warrens arm dont try to play that joker here and now im warning you dont As you said youre getting a bargain A damned fine one be content with that if you deal square so will 1 I but if you try anything shady youre going to get the worst trimming of your life let that be understood der stood two days later at noon craig received a wireless from the win cepe bank which lie he had named the message stated that the ter million had been deposited there for him he took no chances that the message might be a fake with the infinite caution which had marked every step of his negotiations with warren he wire lessed the bank directly for confirmation and also wire lessed instructions to an old winnipeg c lawyer who had been his friend and his fathers friend within three hours the banks reply came DEPOSIT AUTHENTIC STOP MONEY YOURS WITHOUT restriction STOP DEPOSIT MADE BY DRA DRAFT FT NOT BY CHECK THEREFORE NO possibility OF PAYMENT BEING STOPPED toward eight that evening corporal northup came down from the signal corps station bringing craig the lawyers wire lessed reply the old attorney stated that he had investigated the deposit from every conceivable angle and that craig was absolutely safe with sam and as his bod bodyguards y craig went across resurrection to warrens cabin taking along the claim papers which he had been holding ready it was dark by the time they had completed the transaction across the desk craig handed warren the last document signed and wit hessed the lake is now yours warren he said provided you remember my warning and dont play your joker he turned on his heel and strode out of the cabin with his two dependable bodyguards g bards he started back across the river A fluffy six inch snow probably ahe the last of the year had fallen that day but the sky had faired off and on the northwest horizon lingered a beautiful orange afterglow of the sun at his cabin he unlocked the door lie he kept his place locked up tight now ow and turned to his two partners you step down and visit patricia and tell her the news stay with her for a cup of tea ashes hav I 1 A V 44 V 4 A I 1 w X your game warren ing a lonesome time of it t these hese days sam you go down to the den and send up half a dozen men to watch my cabin while the dark lasts only be two or three hours I 1 want to bo be guarded every minute till warren and his outfit have pulled and left dont tell the men anything about this deal ill tell em myself he went inside his cabin barred the tha door stepped across to his table and lit a candle As the tiny flame flickered and brightened brighten pd d he heard a slight noise why on earth did an experienced pilot like him ever head into so ba bad d a snowstorm I 1 lovett ordered him to W why hy northup snapped angrily maybe odron managed to get down safe when he hit the storm dennis hes an sawfly good flyer yes its probably just a forced landing likely find him somewhere along the route with a broken ski or something like that they talked for a few min minutes utes about the search presently northup asked by the way patricia wheres craig why at his cabin hea he no and hes not down at the den ayou have any idea where hes gone he planning to go anywhere that I 1 know about do you mean hes not here at the bay at all northup realized that patricia knew no more than he about craigs strange disappearance not wishing to alarm her when possibly there was no occasion for alarm lie he said casually craig must be up to something or other I 1 guess hes kept this move completely to himself patricia thought no more about the matter just then but when she got back to her cabin she began wondering where craig had gone and she became uneasy if lie he had planned to leave the bay surely he would have told her through and northup he always kept her informed of everything he did at mid morning she stepped across to the community house and made inquiry among the prospectors none of them had seen craig since the previous evening bolcon and sam were gone also they said the two men had left at dawn without saying where they were going this news about and sam relieved patricia considerably they were with craig she rea bored and so craig was entirely safe the prospectors however were badly upset by craigs disappearance from some mysterious source a rumor had sprung up that lie he had sold his radium lake for a big price and they were all on edge to know whether the report was true while patricia was stilling the fears of the men a plane came winging in from the south and lit in the mouth auth of resurrection somebody called out that the ship was one of the fort rae searching planes most of the prospectors left the den and hurried down upon the river patricia went into her office watched through the window saw the crowd gather about the ship pilot leo opened t the he cabin door stepped down upon a ski strut his shoulders sagged he took oil off his helmet and hung his head as he spoke a few words to the nearest men hes found odron patricia cried to herself Sn eddons bowed head the awed silence that camo came over the crowd meant that the news he brought was tragic news in her cabin half an hour later told her about his sorrowful discovery after he had reported it to northup 1 I left rae at four this morning recounted and star started tedd north following the larion river the air route we all take to great desolation id reached the big lake id come within sight of the bay and almost stopped hunting when I 1 looked down at a little litle wooded island and there there it was the island was a mile offshore said and only nine miles south of resurrection he had A 0 1 al 11 k e 41 1 T X ar M why at his cabin he landed nearby near by taken a short look at the wreckage and then whipped on in to report flying blind in the snowstorm he hit square into hito the pines broke off a wing smashed the fuselage and then crashed headon head on against a little rock wall I 1 found straus and rosalie down under those pines where he first hit but ring bing odron was still in the ship when it cracked and and the gas tanks caught and god there anything left but the black twisted metalwork metal work odron dead rosalie dead patricia could hardly realize it she could feel no joy in being freed from that hateful injunction not when the freedom had cost rosalie and straus and odron their lives near four that afternoon the sled party which corporal northup had dispatched to the wooded island got back to resurrection bringing their tarpaulin wrapped wrapped burdens after the sensation seekers had cleared away from the mounted police building patricia forced herself to go up there she felt that she had to go out of a womans comans respect for another woman out of atonement for the bitter feelings beelin s which she had harbored toward the girl who had been craigs wife dennis northup took her into the room and pointed at the smaller of the two biers and silently left her patricia P a tricia moved over 0 ver to the bier and I 1 looked down at the white shrouded figure I 1 with a strange sadness inside of I 1 her patricia bent down and lifted i the sheet away from face the girl had been spared disfigure ment in the tragedy she appeared to be lying in a calm peaceful sleep from which she might wake at any moment and open her dreamy lidded eyes and look up with the the sun shaft just touching her golden hair and throwing a warm light across her features she was hauntingly beautiful as lovely as the picture of the living girl beside the sundial at her vancouver home before turning away she bent down out of a great pity for rosalie and touched her lips to the girls forehead As she worked in her office that evening g the prospectors kept coming in to the doorway and inquiring whether she had heard anything from craig the question jarred on patricia every time a man asked it all that day as the hours passe and craigs strange absence lengthened her uneasiness had grown and vague suspicions had begun preying on her the sun finally sank below the northwest horizon under the trees outside her window the purple shadows deepened from somewhere up the lake shore came cam the eleven noted hooting of a great horned owl the weird sepulchral call snapped patriciaa Patri cias hold upon herself flinging her work aside she hurried out ou of the office out cf the den w TO BE CONTINUED CONTINUE DI |