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Show The White Desert BY COURTNEY RILEY COOPER. ffjopyright, 1922, Little. Brown & Co.) . -- i (Continued From Our LaM Issue) "I must go on. I gave my promise." She nodded "It means Tollifer now. The descent de-scent in more dangerous." Suddenly the storm lifted for e. I moment, Far below, miles In reality. straight jets of steam rose hlfili above black, curling smoke; faintly, distantly, whistles sounded. The nowplows ! Ho gripped her arm with the sight of It, nor did she resist. Thrilled, enthralled. they watched It. the whirling smoke, the shooting steam, the white spray which Indicated the grinding, churning proKren of thel plbws, propelled by 'he heavy en-1 gines behind. From the swollen Mpsi Of Houston 'They've started the tight. I'm I going to work with them.'.' "But " ! He knew what he meant and l shook his head. I "No she does not need me. My presence would mean nothing to her. r can't tell vow why. My place! Is down there." For nn Instant Medaine Robinette looked at him with frankly questioning question-ing eyes, eyes which told that a Question was arising as to his guilt I In at least one of the things which I circumstances had arrayed ag.tlnsi him. But suddenly she was speak -I Ing, as though to divert her thoughts Well have about thre.- hOttrS. It's lour chance. We'd better out this ' cord the one In the lead may full und pull the other one over Wed : better make haste." Houston slopped before hr. A I moment later they WOT edging thMr way down the dSOltVlty of what onco had been a railroad track Black dots they became dots which appeared late In the afternoon to the laboring crews of the BnOW-f lghters far below; dots edging their way : forward. then stopping. pulling I thomselvep out of the heavier drifts, where drops of 10 and even 20 feet had thrown them. Once, at the edno of an overhanging ledge, ho scrambled scram-bled furiously. failed and fell to drop In i drift far below, to crawl painfully back to the w ilting dot above. Hours! The dot grew I larger. n thoy came. stumbling. ' reeling. The woman wavered and 1 fell; ho caught nor. Then double-weighted! double-weighted! 8 pack on his back, a form In his arms, he came on his blOOd-I blOOd-I red eyes searching almost sightlessly sightless-ly the faces of tho waiting. stoIIJ. grease-smeared men, his thick volco drooling over bloody lips "Somebody take her get her into the bunk cars. She's givni out. I'm I'm all right. Take care of her I ve got to go on lo Tollifer!" t'HAITKR XIX. It was night when Barry' Houston limped, muscles cramped and frost-numbed frost-numbed into tho llttlo undertaking I r.hop at Tollifer and deposited h tiny burden. Medaine Robinette bad I -I malned behind in tho care of the i snow crews. "Nameless.'' he said with an effort, when Ihe lengthy details of certifies, I tlon wore asked. "The mother " and a necessary lie came to his lips "became unconscious before she could tell mo anything except that the baby had been baptized. She wanted a priest." From far away camo tho whistlos j of locomotives, answering the tlg-nals tlg-nals of the snow-plows ahead. Ho ! remembered the bulky cars of mi-chlnery mi-chlnery at Tollifer. It uwas partially his battlo they were fighting out there. Ho fumbled aimlessly In his pockets for his gloves. Something tinkled on the floor and he bent to ! pick up the little crucifix with Its i twisted, tangled chain, forgotten at Tollifer. Dully, hazily, he stared at j It with his red eyes, with the faint feeling of a duty neglected. Then "She only said they might wai.t I it," he mumbled "I'm sorry' I I should have remembered. I'm always al-ways failing at something " Then, anxious to take his place in I the fighting line. he replaced tho j tiny bit of gold in his pocket and threaded his way through the , .-. Icultous tunnel of snow. Even from the distance, Barry could hear the surge of the tcrrlfie impact, as tho rotary smashed against the tight-Jammed contents of j the shed. snarled and tore at its I enemy, then, beaten at last by the I crusted Ice of the rails, came grudc-i grudc-i Ingly back so that the crews might i break the ice from tho rails and Klve traction for another assault. Houston started forward. only to Stop A figure In th dim light of the cook car and caught his eyo. ' Medaine Robinette. If the woman back there in the , west country only would tell! If she would only keep the promise which ! she had given him in her half-de-j llrium ' Ten minutes later Barry stood be-i be-i side a great Mallet engine, a sleek, j greyhound of the mountains taking instructions from the superintendent. I Know anything about flrin' an J engine'1" "I know enough to shovel coal and I've got a strong pair of shoul-I shoul-I ders." "When you get In them gas locketn. stick your, nose in the hollow hol-low of your elbow There ain't no fresh air In that there shed, the minute thS8S engines get inside and start throwin' on the juice, it fills up With smoke That's what gets you " Barry climbed lo his place on the engine. A whistle sounded, to b echoed and reechoed by the answering answer-ing blasts of the snow plow train four engines and the big auger Itself ready now for a fresh sally Into the shed. Throttles open, fire boxes throwing theh red, spluttering glare against the black sky as firemen fire-men leaped to their task, tho great mass of machinery' moved forward. Faster faster then tho impact, Uko crashing Into a stone wall They were within tho snowshod now, the nuger boring and tearing and snarling snarl-ing like some savngo, vengeful thing against the solid mas whleh faced it Inch by Inch for eigh6 feet It progressed; then progress ceased, while the plow ahead shrilled the triple signal to back up. The engineer engi-neer opened tho cab window and gratefully sucked In the fresh, clean air Fight feet that's all," he mused Fight feet nt a time." Mark and forth back and forth fresh air and foul air gleaming lights, then denes blackness so tlr hours passod Sally after sally tho snowplow made Men fell groveling, only to be dragged into the open air and restiscltated, then sent down on o more mtn the cruelty of the right. The hoprs dragged by like stricken thing". Then with dawn the plow churned with lesser Impact It surged forward. Oray light broke through at the end of tho tunnel. The grip of at least one snow shed wa- broken; but there remained twenty more and the Death Trail beyond! 'Somebody Take Her (iet Her Into the Flunk ( nrv She's (,len Out." The day new carried the fight on upward, through three Of the smaller snowsheds. at last to halt at the long, curved affair which shielded tho Jutting edge of Mount Tnluchen The second and third nights were o repetition of the first. Tonight was the last night, the last either In the struggle or tn the lives of those who had fought their way upward to the final barricade which yet separated them from the top of the world the Death Trail. Smooth and sleek It showed before Houston In the early moonlight, an ley Niagara. the snow piled high above the railroad tracks. Already the plows were assembled. This was to be ihe fight of fights, there In the moonlight A quick shoot and a lucky one. Otherwise the men who wen- forward to their engines would not speak of It. But there was one who did She was standing beside the cook cur us Houston passed. "You'll be with them1" n the Death Trail' I expect to" "Thev talk of It as something ter-1 ter-1 rlble. Why?" Houston pblnted to the forbidding wall of snow. His thick, broken lips mumbled in tho longest speech he : had known In days. 'It's all granite up there. The cut I Of the roadbed forms a base for the j remainder of the 6now. When wc cut out the foundation they're '.fniH t K o t Ik, v.V.rn linn t.,111 i the rest and start an avalanche It all depends whether it comes before or after we ve passed through." She straightened and looked at him with clear, frank eyes. Mr. : Houston," came quietly, "I've boon jthinklnn about something all day I hev felt thai I haven't been quite l fair that a man who has acted as ! you have acted since since I met you this last time that ho deserves more of a chance than I have given , him. That " "I'm asking nothing of you, Miss ; Robinette." "I know I am asking something of you, I want to tell you that I ha. been hoping that you run some day furnish mo the proof that you spoke of once. I that's what I wanted to tell you " she onded quick- j ly and xtended her hand. lioodby. I ll be praying for all of you up , there." Houston answered only with a pressure of his hand. He looked at her with eyes that spoke what his i tongue could not say, then ho went on a shambling dead-tired man, even on awaking from sleep, but a man whose heart was beating with B new fervor. She would be praying pray-ing for all of them up there at tho Trail And all of them Included him. At the cab of tho engine, he listened lis-tened to tho final instructions of the cursing, anxicus superintenden. then went to his black work of the shovel Higher and higher mounted the steam on the gauge; theirs was the first plow, theirs the greatest task. one by one the final orders came crisp, shouted, cursing commands com-mands answered in kind Then the last query: "If there's a damn man of you j who's a coward, step out! Hear thaf If you're afraid come on there's I no stopping once you start!" Englno after onglne answered, in Jeering, sarcatlc tones, the bellger-ant bellger-ant cries of men hiding what pound- I ed In their hearts, driving down by sheer Wlll-powsr the primitive de- I Bin - of self-preser ation. Again the call was ropoated. Again It wasl answered b men who snarled. men who Qtirssd that they might not j pray And with it: "A-W-W-W rlffht' Dei er ro' ' Continued in Our Next Isue |