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Show lliWllslsij. Djr JOHN R. MU5ICK, I-Atfcf ( -Miter1eae Mr, Hewerd," "TW Back SUaefer," "Cbarlle AlUadale'a DmMV BIC ohiium. un, kr ttnuri test. All rtskle Mml CHAPTEn XII. "D'ye know him?" Kale asked. I "Yei, t have teen him," "Ye know no good o' him, t be K bound, and I'm one ns In not low In K' exprcssln' tnjr mind about inch cat- ft "Don't, Kate, I beseech you." w All the while the marble whlto face H cf Theodore was unmoved K "Is thti your band ban, Ijiura?" he K liked, picking up the pretty, white I bai; where tbo porter had left It. Wf "Yes." K' "Let me rarry It to tho hotel for 1! you. Thla good woman will assist E you. Come, there la but one hotel In the ptare, and there la no missing It. W tt la a lonK way from tho landing, with H no cabto line " n In a mate the unfortunato I.aura H was led from the landing back toward Wh the hotel. She had left home, hoping to be rid of her persecutor, and found K, htm waiting at the landing for her, B' 8he longed to know, and yet dreaded K1 (o aak him why ho bad como to ft Alaska. Iter heart told her ho waa f aa hla way to the Klondykc, and alio felt a atriKige dread of him, On reaching tho hotel, which waa a miserable, nffalr mada of board and but roughly finished, alio ordered a i room and u taken to It. Kato was assigned a miserable little apartment near the kitchen, where aho could amell Uit beef roaatlng and hear the cooks quarreling. Laura had not been long In her apartment when there camo n tap at I her door, and a boy with tangled, red hair entered and aaldi "Kf ycr please, mum, thar'a a fcltcr downstair who gin mo thla keard fer ye, an' saya lio'd llko tor chin yea a .it Laura took tho small, neat card from the dirty hand of tbo boy and, glancing at It, read tho namo of Theodora Theo-dora Lackland. Should aho loo him! She knew tho Interview must come. In fact ahe wished for It on her own account, ac-count, ao why not havo It at once, understand each other and havo It over wltht Sho told the boy that aho would see J the atrangcr at once, and ho bowed his red head and retired from tho apartment. Shu nerved herself for the coming Interview, , Tbero camo a light rap at tbo door. "Como In," alio aatd. t Tho door opened and Theodora i i I-ackland entered ths apartment. Thero waa an Insidious smile on his J face, aa ho said: J "You did not cipect to meet me, j did you?" I "I certainly did not," aho anawered, I her cyea growing round with aatnnlsh .1 ment. ' "1 hopo my appearance did not cause any unpleasant shock to your ., nerves, and now that It la over I trust you will be glad to havo a friend In I thla strange, wild land." I Thero waa a abort pauso, after j which he went on: I "1 will bo frank with you. Miss I Kran. I camo that I might bo near '' ou.' "1 am capablo of taking caro of my- Iaelf," sho answered. "Hut whlto 1 concedo all that, I reasoned that ou wcro coming to a ' land beset by many dangcra, and could not feel comfortablo In tho ' thought that you wero alone. I had j lelsuro and means, and consequently f why not dovoto them to your scr- I vlco? Oh, Lnurn," and ho drew his .'. chair a little nearer to her, "I know you spurn me. I kuuw you bdlcrc m to bo a deceitful hypocrlto, but I am not so bad as you think, I am your friend your best friend If you will only permit mo " "1 cannot." j "You havo mistaken me all along." ' "l'crhapa at limes I havo, but I know you now," I "Laura, will you listen to me a moment Juit one moment!" "Yes, I will havo to do to, at I havo no other choice" K Hla vuliu regained Its cnlmneas, but his manner wna still agitated. "I may servo you oven yet," he said. "I havo dono you much wrong R I know that and him, too. I did B you and him a wrong, knowing I would repent It to the last hour of my life, but I was driven to It; t had no power to resist It It mustered mo then; It masters mo now," Thcodoro had risen and took a step y nearer, "Laura," ho said, mid his volco foil to a broken whisper, "I love you to I can sco you tbo wife of another If ho can make you more happy than 1. Do you bcllevo there can bo an unael-fish unael-fish lovoT I know It, and I an ear that If you can bo moro happy as the wlfo of Paul Miller, then I will go with yo,u all over the world to And Paul ti Miller, and If bo be living will find hlra and glo him to you" Ills words had produced a profound ! effect on Laura, and sho could only gaio on him In wonder. Overwhelmed Overwhelm-ed by tho ardent manner of tho man, sho waa speechless and dumbfounded. When ahe could regain her volco aho aald: "Heaven forgtvo mo, Mr. Lackland, If I have done you Injustice." "I freely forgive you. It la so dim-cult dim-cult for us to understand each other that we are continually blundering and making mistakes. Hut now that my motives are plain, now that you e how untelflss I am, ( hope you MMJif' -s-K. will trust me intelicllly. You taay thlnk you have money sufficient to push this search and may be mistaken, mis-taken, all I ask of you It that you allow me to furnish the funda you need You shall not lack meana to find Paul." The man watched with anilnua eyea the faco of the girl to read the Impression Im-pression his great generosity would make. It was favorable, and hla delight at tho discovery was almost diabolical, "Thank you, Laura. You have mada me aupremely happy by accepting my favor. I will endiavor to And Paul for you. We will go together, and do all that can bo done to find him," ILe bowed and went out. She bowed bow-ed her face In her hands and wept. "My heart misgives me," she sobbed. sob-bed. "He talks fair and teema honest, hon-est, but something within keeps saying: say-ing: Trust him not!'" Hen Holton, who had remained behind be-hind to look after her heavier luggage, arrived at the hotel, and went to consult con-sult with his mistress about some mlsslrg packages. On his way to her room he met Lackland, and was much astounded to see a man whom he thought In Fresro that he waa half Inclined to think himself mistaken. "I say. Miss I aura, waa a feller In here a mlnlt ago?" he asked. "Yes." "He looked Just like Lackland." "It waa I.acKland." "Well, Miss Laura, I Jlst be dod gasteil If ho'a here for any good, lie's after grub atakes, ye kin depcud ou oL l.ook out for him." Bho then told her faithful employe tho proposition he had made, and old lien listened carefully to her, and at tbo conclusion raid: "I'll bet my head for a football that It's a salted mine he'a a plantln'. Don't o bite at hla bait, Miss 1-aura; don't yo bite." I.aura waa more distressed after tho departuro of Hen llolion than before Sbo began to realize how utterly holp-less holp-less sho waa. Thero waa qulto a change In tho expression on Lackland'a faco after ho left I-aura's room. All the benovo-lonco benovo-lonco and unselfish concern for tho glrl'a welfaro gao way to a look of selfishness, and ho chuckled In tri umph. "I will havo her yet. Sho will be wholly In my power. A few wecka moro, another turn of tho carda and tho game la mine." At a low groggcry In tho town he found hla two employes, lien Allen and llorsa Cummins. "Well, how aro you faring!" asked l-ackland. "Dryl" growled Cummins. "Come, Cummins, you remember tin obligation Imposed on you when you wcro employed you wcro not to drink.' "Yes, but thai makea me dry," aald Cummins, with a wink. "Now, you havo both been hero before, be-fore, havo you not? ' "Yea." "Do you know whero to procure good outfits?" "Itlght hero Is tho best placo In Alaska," declared Cummins. "How much will a first class outfit cost?" Cummins reflected a moment and said: "Well, I think It will tnko about two thousand dollars," Without returning a word his employer em-ployer counted out tho money and told him to go nnd procuro It at once. Cummins and Davis set out, and next morning reported that all had been secured. "It la well," declared tho shrewd Mr. Lackland. "Ho prepared to go when-oven when-oven I glvo tho word.' "Wo'll bo ready," When hla hirelings bad gnno Lackland Lack-land went to tho hotel nnd aent up hla card to Mlsa Laura Kean. Sho admitted admit-ted him, and he asked: "Miss Kean, when nro you going to rrnaa tho pass and start for tho Klon-dyko?" Klon-dyko?" "Aa soon as I can. I want to go with the drat train." "Thero aro some gentlemen ready to start In tho morning." "Then I can get ready. 1 will go with them," tho declared. "Would you llko my services In securing you an outfit?" "Yet, yet; If you can, tccuro mo an outfit at once." "I'll do so. I would at toon ttart myaelf tomorrow aa any other time. You will want Indian porters fur yuur luggago and a tied and dogs for yourself. your-self. Havo Hen Holton pack up all your effecta and bo ready," and bo left. lien Holton waa only a stupid fellow, fel-low, but he declared ho did not llko tho arrangements at alt, aid tmelled a grcatblg mouto tomewhe.-o. Nevertheless, Never-theless, Hen went to work packing up the goods and preparing for tho Journoy. Laura took her placo on tho tlad, and tho I'squlmau with big mow shoes camo to strap her In and draw the robes and furs over hor, "Aro you strapped In securely?" Lackland asked Laura. "Yes." "Do you think you will ba comfort ablo?" ' "I know I shall." They wcro toon In the midst of s. driving snowstorm, and Kate Willis declared that sho "Just knew that child would freeze." They halted before, reaching tbj aummlt and campod. Tcnta had been brought and every precaution waa taken to provide for tho comfort of Laura Kean. She and Kato were housed In a tent warmed by a gasoline atovo, which Me It quite comfortable, comfort-able, Next day they renamed their march, crossed tho summit and began th deacent. Lackland wait often aeen talking with one of the Indians, who spoka Kngllsb fairly well, and waa a big, burly, vlllalnou looking fellow. On day two men came to their camp. They held long and earnest conferences, confer-ences, and when they went away that night the man named Hen Allen went with them. It la perhaps needless to Inform the reader that the two men wero Morrla and Ned Padgett, who brought tho Information that Paul and tho old hermit wero prisoners In tho cavern. "It Is lucky I learned of hit capture," cap-ture," thought lackland. "Curao hint, why lin't he dead? For over a year ho has been lost In the forest and thought to be dead, now, why Isn't no ueaiiT Lackland Utile dreamed that the very toola ho waa using were willing to betray him If they could make more out ot It, and that they wero trying try-ing by bribes and thrcata to extort from tho prisoners In tho cavern the secret of tho cached treasure. After lien left the party to fulfil hla orders they camped three weeks In a valley. 1-aura Inquired why they delayed ao long, but 1-ncUand had abundant ex cusea, and assured her they would go on beforo winter set In In earneat. Already lowering clouda had hung over tho valley anil covered It with anow At last they broke camp and wero moving slowly toward tho Yukon, when a dog was discovered coming toward them, Ileyond n doubt It was tho proper!) ot some of tho Klondyk-era, Klondyk-era, llorsa Cummins discovered a strip of tanned tktn about Its neck and called tho attention of Lackland to It. He quickly removed It and read: "Wo are In the forest out of food and starting. Follow on tho trail at once and find us. Paul Mlllor and Companion." Tho bit of tanned akin dropped from tho trembling hand of Theodora Lackland. Lack-land. He pressed his hand to his forehead fore-head and groaned, "What ta It, boss?" asked Cummins, "do Into camp. Wo must start at onco to find somo men who aro starving." starv-ing." When they went Into camp, after taking caro to aee that Laura waa mado comfortable, ho took one man and three Indiana and started on the back trail made by tho dog. All the whllo bo waa thinking: "Paul Miller and ono companion. Who can that companion be?" CHAPTER XIII. Clarcnco llcrry and the Mcllakaht- lans. Clarcnco Horry and his bravo llttlo wlfa I.lhol continued to heap up their golden treasure day by day, but they had not forgotten their unfortunate friend, Paul Miller. Ono evening, aa they tat In their ahanty, beforo the great, blailng fire, they received tbo usual visitors, tang Dick and Old Myers. 'Bay, ef yo want t' see d' wont old geescra yo ever clapped ycr lamps upon, yo want t go down d' camp," began be-gan Dick. "Dun know, but It looks mtghtly t' mo llko It waa somo alarvedout I.gyp-tlan I.gyp-tlan mummies ax had been resurrect-cd resurrect-cd from do pryamlda.' "Whero aro they from?' "Metlakahlla." "Whero la that?" "An laland far away across the mountains." Clarence opened hla book again, and, casting a casual glanco over the pagea, rcmarkoj that ho did not aco what thny had to do with the peace of tho mlnera of the Klondykc. aid was about to apeak when hla friend began: "That's whero ycr off ycr trolley, Clarence. They como without recommendation, recom-mendation, but they spin mighty strango jams, and old Olum ba put tills thing and that thing together and say they got aomo Information." (To bo continued.) |