Show A ae dison marshall V U F rz V I 1 C F 41 4 01 J 11 kf fW fiB fill del va SYNOPSIS with his yacht the intrepid abandoned b by r its crew felix norton horton millionaire lio lional rc with his mother his daughter nan and roy stuart puts into squaw harbor alaska to recruit ile he engages a bunch of 0 0 branded cd there A gigantic pole san lomar Is their leader captain the intrepido skipper shipper Js Is an old friend ot of eric Er edlessen lessen unemployed sailor and eric engages to sail ball as chief officer nan and eric ind indulge U igo in a moonlight flirtation which brings thern them both to the threshold 0 of love loie the Is wrecked eric takes command of 0 a small email boat with horton and his party unable to help they watch San domar kill captain capitain and leave the ship with his crowd on landing they learn there Is no communication with the outside world Fir eheart priestess of the island descended from a white roan man in the remote past knowing a little english welcomes the aas cast t San domar declares there shall be no law on the island but eric having the only gun cows cons him for the time declaring he la Is the law ile he lays laya out work for or all lyrics erics love tor for nan swells and he tells her he means to win her tor for his mate she Is 13 not unwilling Fir eheart claims eric as her own and realizing tile the importance of her friendship he Is forced to temporize defending himself from attack erics revolver apparently misfires San domar deaf do not hear the trigger fall nor realize eries erics defenselessness lie ile turns away au ay and gargo cargo follows follow 7 him eric finds the revolver which had been Way mires Is rim lire while five of its six cartridges are center alre eric has one effective cartridge lie he determines on a showdown calling a meeting at which swede makes an attempt on his life lie he uses his one cartridge killing swede but Is left defenseless though roaster master of the situation since he alone snows his gun Is useless CHAPTER VIT VII il in ia the late afternoon nan and eric sat alone on the bird cliffs looking out over the weary vicary sea and searching each others hearts for strength to carry on en ilov how long hare we been here eric this Is the ninth day Is that all it seems weve been here acre always never known an tiling else lse eric what would you TOU ghe to see a sail out there the dull red of 0 her cheeks deepened and spread A ship WP could signal to that would come in arid and take us its home 1 I give you sly my hopes of 0 you I 1 mean there was as no one in hearing only a few aleuts aleuns including Fir eheart tending lending the nets so eric spoke from his heart yet just what id have to give it if a ship came caine now liow do you think thick wed pass out of 0 each others bothers lives 1 I would pass out of yours forget these nine days at most be like a dream forget too eric because it Is nine after all her lids dropped cropped over tier her lustrous ees it if we parted you might take it hard hut but it would leave no scar you mean im not in love with you yet betl 1 I suppose what I 1 do mean we have had no chance to be lovers nothing but honored antagonists yo you dont have to tell me because I 1 know there was a long inn silence the terns danced their aerial minuet over the foam if we stayed here ninety days or nine hundred I 1 could never win la Is that what youre telling me 1 I bellere believe so even leading out roy hoy and hes always in my thoughts rd fd still fear that it was only shipwreck that brought braug lit us its together and shipwreck would surely part us our ways waya are far apart I 1 want to go back to my old life I 1 dare no matter how much I 1 mil hill tempted erect a permanent barrier to shut it out and its a life that you of nil all men could never briare no ill have to stay by bv the sea and the snow well in ili that case I 1 sulp supie lioe you arid roy hoy tillight as well veil follow marje M irle and wilcox the same as marle marie tie lie safer its as sume mans mate it will please Fir eheart and maybe mabe I 1 can call forget a liri pelesa dream ills ilia ees were hard us as blue diamonds the sooner you do it the better 1 I dont think I 1 love him film bet ct put cut if you think best ill make a marriage 0 of convenience for a long time there was no sound but the angry surge of the under nilder tile the din cliff and the stir shriek ek of the sea aea birds eric was called to himself nt at last by the flick of a lung long shadow at the corner of his bis eye ile he wits was never to know why it startled him film so bo arid and could only thank some sixth sense which aich his bis lifes war with the raw powers of the north had nurtured in his brain ills head neier beier turned but his eyes moved in their sockets along the alie crest of the bluff forty feet up FilL beart came stealing she was almost directly behind and over N yau a u eric hall had caught only one glimpse of the priestess when she vanished behind tile big boulders of 0 the summit with the sensation sen bation of sudden bitter cold in his vitals he sprang to his big feet anil and whirled lie ile was not a split se second cond too soon and quite Pos possibly sly to too late destruction in the shape of it hundred pound boulder started lung leg down the bluff non nan was sitting in the trough of the bluie in the certain track or of the missile even a glancing blow would hurl tier her olt off the ledge to the churning water below yet two factors fought for her one was eric leaping toward tier her now his big hand sweeping toward hers the other was the of 0 ne til stone not round but angul angular ar so go thit that it made toward tier her in angry bounds bound sometimes sliding on the steep escarpment rather than in an accelerating era ting cannonball cannon ball roll struggling up mi her hand snatched hs his ile he seemed to jerk tier her headlong through th roii the air into his erm thunder rattled in tier her par ear a passing whirl mind ind raised the linar on her head and tle tie big rock splashed impotently into the sea crucs arm clung about tier her shoulders I 1 pressing her rinse close as though he could never dever let tier her go theres some one up there she gasped its 1 Fir eheart did slie site do this thing perhaps not many of those boulders start at a touch but vieve nere got to find out lie ile turned and led the way up the s steep t cop trill trail they found fir eheart on the summit tier her arms rigid at her thunder rattled in her ear and the big rock splashed impotently into the sea sides tier her head thrown back a sharp agony on her face quietly eric spoke tier her name 1 I no roll the stone she muttered 1 I see him on brink lust just over white girl I 1 touch him and evil spirit get in Fire hearts hand give big push 1 I 1 understand nan said dont morry about it any more IT areheart no understand the slanted eyes were thin crescents of glittering jet why white chief jump up almoite albot get lift hit film himself self jerk you out of way guess maybe he no catch love for FIr eheart because he love you nan knew that site she must answer straight this was neither the time nor the place for subtleties all things had bad been i deduced educed to their primal simplicity city she and FIr eheart were not now society girl and squaw but just two maidens ripe for mating and eric completed complete the triangle that flint Is the first form the eternal symbol of lovese love se lection that has bag evolved mankind ile he t love me die nan said quietly ile he told we me so biow allow Fir eheart know maybe you tell big lie ile fiercely she whirled t to 0 eric she say you tin no love her ter then the n you ii romise no try to get her let it koy oy marry tier her aulk i 1 az I cant promise that it was avas eries deep vibrant tone no less than ills his words that made nan catch her breath 1 I 1 a ani in going goine to try to win her Firc heart I 1 wanted her before I 1 ever eve carne came here you must understand it now dow and be my friend I 1 dont mean to let roy kny have her Fir eheart nodded darkly then turned turne d imperiously to nun nan you love white chief nan shook her lead head slowly lie ile say he nant you try get you it if you ou tell fire heart you ou no want him blur promila true you no let him get you no never promise lise marry roy loy heap quick then fin Fir heart eheart still be your friend be white chiefs friend too what you say answer her uric eric urged this matter may as well be settled now as later nan squared her shoulders and threw up her glossy head then slie she spoke with a low clear cello tune tone 1 I 1 cant promise that I 1 cant make a promise that I 1 may have to break erics heart leaped like a kins king sal mon free of the barb triumphant from the dark water but the squaws squads black eyes globed like those of some ten acted bottom thing hauled up by the trawls brawls Fir eheart soc see now she no forget ifer her love Is big ocean in sunlight bright warm good but her no love lore is heap white floe come down from north no look across no make hole through grind up big rocks to little pebble wont you still be our friend r eric ric ask asked ed FIr Fire eheart hearE shook her head sullenly love him change to no love taste itter bitter in mouth she raised tier her arms in in an imperious and dramatic gesture 1 I nm am Fir eheart priestess of 0 lost people aleuts aleuns they do what I 1 sa say y I 1 tell eni en you no my friend I 1 tell cro cm watch chance turn quick with spears when you no do have little gun L kill 1111 you drive you away big god who come from west lie ile dj da what nhat Firc heart say too I 1 tell him film bring you jou bad luck make you die slow plenty hurt fire heart she wish stone run over you both knock you into sea exile on forlorn island changed slowly from tin an incredible dream to x avid reality erics stern reign seemed like that flint of an ancient dynasty the natural order of things it was commonplace to be living in the hourly threat of San domars fury fire hearts malice As nan tolled toiled with tier slant eyed sisters si stera less and less often did her swift hands and her eyes ees film over as she daydreamed day dreamed of a lost world a pro pre existence halt half forgotten yet it was not all twilight nans little muscles hardened under strain and sometimes site she was surprised at the lite alry airy swing of tier her stride the depth ind and freed freedom jorn of tier glicr breathing ter her calloused hands no longer bled at the fish cleaning though she might crawl in her fur bed dizzy with fatigue she sprang out at sunrise with a tingle in her veins and a glow on her tawny skin slip she became skillful with the nets deadly with the salmon spear and a good catch was almost as satisfactory as a bridge friye long ago before her soul hall had transmigrated trans migrated to the body of a white squaw As tile the summer advanced she was given new tasks asks mot most of them hard many of them perilous hut almost all of them blood stirring breath taking tal ang in wild days tier her laughter as well as her tears seemed easy to flow tier her thrills were no lonor synthetic the tle she was warmer less self centered this growth was revealed not only in her quick moods mirth indignation pity loneliness but subtly in her face fler itar hands grew red and calloused but in the shadow of her parka hood the luster of her hazel eyes set roys cool head awhirl and the curve of her full lips made erics viking heart glow with the lust of conquest it was the month of ripening bud to flower fledgling in the nest to winged courier of the air but nans nana friendship for roy had not yet ripened into love marriage with him would still be for convenience not for deep need of her heart and soul and it was true that eric stole too often into her thoughts iler her good sense told her that eric could never share the scenes to which sometime she must return that beyond these crags and windy wastes they would have little in common but how dreamy those scenes became and how vivid and real the sand dunes clunes of forlorn island the barrier between tier her and the blond viking was not half so strong as the sea reefs enforcing her exile future shipwreck as his mate was a farto far to morrows evil but the shelter of his arms was need in ID the maze of adventure part and parcel of her exile she saw erie eric in a new light one warm afternoon lifter noon at tile the drying racks a young squaw at her side gave a sudden sharp gasp wheeling she beheld the shadow of agony fall on the leathern face linger a few poignant seconds then pass slowly away what Is it nan begged tile squaw a last falls bride named chirum flower could not understand the words but tile the quick pity in the allen alien eyes went straight to her heart an expression only a great artist could paint stole into the dark countenance nans own heart leaped wildly here was something imponderably sad yet close to I 1 the he sublime primal eternal A forlorn half smile touched the coarse lips the eyes gazed off as into another world down the long vista of the centuries with that far magic sight which no son of adam ever dreamed and which conics comes to eves daughters only a few times from the cradle to the grave kotlicky 11 she answered simply at once she began to put tier her flint tools into tier her seal hide poke signifying that she would go now BOW to a another obber labor kotlicky was a word that nan had learned it meant baby As she stared bewildered chirum turned and trudged away toward tier her turf house the other squaws squads grunted and went back to drying fish arent you going with her nan demanded they looked up puzzled and one of them spoke in a tone dark with fatal ism at once nan realized zed that she alone must answer the call mother horton and marlc made were lit in the berry flats out of reach eric and the hunters huntera were spearing sell sen lions on the far bench beach with a bitter c cry ry nan dropped tier her own tools and hurried after the squat figure reeling to her dread appointment TO BE BB CONTINUED |