Show r iii STRINGER SO FAR to help save ve 00 HIS from bankruptcy alan aim 1 d abys pap agrees to 0 o fly a so o cued called scientist ado rny an ladd d big hl assistant ls tant kar KIIs sexed the a Ana canavotto river in search earth ot of sell to of the trumpeter reeding llna ground round 0 of it slide gai Is ii suspicious of frayne who aaa la 11 yrtl elN paid them enough to ile a slides slide partner to buy cruger ail bit just before leaving I 1 alth lynn lyna Mor loek daughter of to goes IKI doctor to rive ive first aid treat am 1 10 flyer by named sum SU Tum bumstead stead ie r ll is rot not plea to learn that TUM d j as B outcast flyer who his has lot lost his hi j for or drin icing knows know about ur the jceal and lat about Fr fracnes Fray aynes net expedition pill dew I 1 sight nil the 0 lockheed Ic Is 1 tolen stolen by a ed who 10 lo bed beads north on the bl to go till the Anaw annotto otto with frayne fryan and niall ell slade runs out ot of gas and the they y forced ta to spend the night at the cabin am prospector friends lendt fr zeke and lil blades tiet t where slide blade keeps keep a gas t cache thoin DOWN no Int 11 erett terest in the lct fact JIM surrounding country Is rich in mam the jul 1 ol of a new dew kind of 0 bug the next morning frayne lite decuf go stay lw near there and 1 not dot lo go on 0 while slide slade ti Is on the the HI way 10 IT back lynn I Luor locks kt father decides decide oa an the blind eskimo urns uma operate 1 A in IB the hope ol of restoring his hl eyet abt ll is anxious to see lee again gil 11 can ca bunt the devil bird he 0 itus side glade has hai tern returned arned the he ope operation ratio in lend aid he be and lynn are talking talk ln II 11 over pe us received a letter from rom barrett barren ald wb who for or lynns sake lake has ha offered ler iff father a job in ottawa lynn feels eel gut diat till his frontier Iro work ll is too hard lor for him dm now coir continue with the story CHAPTER EK EC her father watched her as she lead the closely written pages it aine coe home to him as he studied ite stooping figure in white the vital yung toung figure with its ripening lines rf of womanhood that they could not together sow how about alan he repeated Is the girl in white looked up from her ber letter barretts been pulling wires again she observed without meeting her fathers eye for whom was the padres prompt demand for you said the girl with the letter he writes that hes had a cable from the minister and theres in opening tor for you in the department of timber and mines he says its lt a grand chance for somebody in the know to ordinate coordinate co the medical care of miners the flying padres face hardened a 1 little and who asked barrett to pull wires cres for me he demanded it was his own idea acknowledged lynn but he naturally held back until he knew I 1 a greed agreed with mth him the stooping shoulders stiffened no he said with conviction 41 4 1 I 1 cant go to seed not yet lynn looked at him for a moment or cr two of silence barrett she said will be disappointed Bp her father swung about on he her you know of course why he hes doing all this 1 I was only tl thinking king of you dad the she said as sh leaned against his towering r he lifted hei bead and looked into her face ja A but elways a string to arran arrange gerner A logos pe e that and in this case that r a would be you she attempted otest against that but he 0 P a ni i her barretts a good V de hi him IT a lot and I 1 dont hinline inline e him for being in love with you but I 1 happen to know youre not in love with him would that be so important she he asked he stroked the cropped head that looked so and yet remained 90 womanly youre not such a bad egg your elf he said with a stabilizing sort tl of gruffness 1 I happen to know something tom ething that youve got tucked sway away in that lopsided heart of yours and im not going to sell my girls happiness tor for an old age pension and a berth in barrett Wal dens department part ment of timber and mines slade after checking over a series M U uncertainties n oties decided to head for ech echo harbor r cruger back at waterways ter ways had told him to follow up y clue that showed itself and this u shadowy plane that had been seen men flitting between tidewater and some ome unknown hinterland base was orth looking into that base slade acknowledged 1427 y have been unknown but he had ad a theory or two of his own which rich he felt kept his quest from being ing entirely a wild goose ch chase ase ile e knew welle well enough the vastness of the country over which he was lying ying with here and there only a time me bleached eskimo cairn to mark s destitution and to look for a plane lane in that tangle of river and Inu of ice scored bluffs and Itar starveling tree growth seemed very much like looking tor for a needle in it haystack he was further depressed by the discovery sc overy that a sea tog fog rolling to in brorn m the arctic ocean was cutting whis h is v view ew ot of the broken coastline her here eh he should hould have found echo arbor or he saw only a blanket of gray eray mist so he turned south and winged bed his way into the clear lWe weeping the horizon with his glasses as he went but still no inan of lite lile came to him this IMS section ot of the sub he felt i as he stared about abou t him had for jbv IOUs fus seasons eamons remained over liked if there was mineral in r k 7 but you yon might remember you yon dont own this country those lonely gray ridges below him the new frontier crawled that farnworth far north to find it it still seemed to ache with emptiness and for that reason as he winged his way over the gray wastes he knew a distinct quickening of the pulse when he caught sight of a faint plume of smoke beyond a darker stretch of spruce land that circled a lake studded with many small islands for smoke meant fire and fire implied the presence of human life slade dropped lower avoiding the island studded lake and circling off to a companion lake that offered clearer water tor for a landing a mile or more to the southeast his eyes searched the shoreline as he drifted into a ridge sheltered cove where he could moor and land without trouble he mounted the ridge and once more peered about at the starved looking spruce land but he could see no sign of life yet on second thought he stepped down to his plane and quietly removed a breaker assembly with that out he knew his engine was tied up and he had no intention of taking chances his next line of procedure he decided was to push on overland in search of that small but unmistakable wisp of smoke but the going was not easy he found it best to follow the rock ridges where the tooting footing was safe even though the direction of his advance was variable his presence there he knew had been well advertised to any watcher between the spruce ridges and the rushes yet he advanced with both caution and quietness twice he was compelled to back trail and seek out more solid footing his final line of advance he saw was taking him out to a rush fringed point abutting into an island dotted lagoon that was half reed beds and half open water it looked lonely and empty ile he was on the point of turning back and rounding founding the lower arm of the lake when he was arrested by an unexpected sign of life in in the reeds ahead of him this was confirmed a moment later by the discovery of footprints in the soil about him but whoever or whatever lay jay hidden there refused to disclose itself so he pushed push ed quietly on following the vague path where other feet had preceded his own he went on until a turn in the narrow runway brought him to a thicker tangle of shrub willow and rushes there just at the waters edge he caught sight of a man this man was crouched low in a blind of rushes roughly together beside him lay a pair of binoculars and a telescopic camera but at the moment he was making use of neither he was merely crouching there intent and motionless staring out over the island dot ted lake slade knew it was frayne even before he saw the bony face that turned to flash a look of annoyance at the intruder quiet please was fracnes Fr aynes preoccupied command as his gaze went back to the watery wa tery vista in front 0 of f him s happening slade questioned what wb I 1 have traveled eight thousand miles to find was wa s fracnes Fr aynes quietly reply the half whispered and half hissed words came clearly tinged with w ith reproof 4 it is a trumpeter swan making love to his mate slade peered through the rush tops and caught sight of two floating islands of white along the remoter remoler reaches of the 1 lake ake the thing that thai impressed him was first their size size and then the snowy whiteness of the feathered bodies that glided in and out between the darker bodies of land that turned the lake end into an archipelago then youre getting what you came aft after er slade suggested he noticed for the first time the collapsible able sible rubber canoe plainly lighter lap indian which ch the than in any lay half conc concealed baled in the fringe of rushes not no t when outsiders outsider s interfere with retorted the ornithologist studies my 1 where is your plane southeast of here two A mile or slade explained dis disturbing 1 I wont have a plane this territory frayne proclaimed w with i ahme an n t unexpected m ex te d note e of passion 1 fotr I it t means a n s all m my y work k has been for nothing slades laugh was curt youre welcome to your wilderness he said im looking for something bigger than swans then kindly leave the swans to me sure said the unruffled flyer but you might remember you dont own this country perhaps not was the sharp not ed response but the sooner you leave it the happier IU ill be thanks said slade his mouth hardened a little as he stood eyeing the other man and what would you do if I 1 happened to hang around frayne became conscious of the challenge in that question his thin lips compressed and tor for a moment he remained silent then he shrugged and stared out over the brow of his blind you would not be so foolish he quietly announced that announcement slade taw saw was not without its own tacit chal lenge then since you regard this as your territory he ventured 1 I suppose your camp is here it is not countered frayne this is merely an observation post my camp is farther south toward the kamakana Kas akana since that seems to be caribou country and we must have meat of course if youre nearer the kamakana Kas akana ventured slade you must be neighbors to my two old sourdough friends I 1 mean zeke and minty the men we bunked with on the way out 1 I have seen nothing of them was the deliberated response my jy one object here is to be alone thanks again said slade he stood silent a moment before asking where is that camp mate ol of yours karnell said frayne is cutting wood and smoking fish in case we should winter here I 1 have le learned arnea in unsettled country to think of the future it if you winter here observed slade you will no longer have your swans A man of science learns patience retorted frayne they will come back in the spring but bu t before next spring persisted slade be needing g some plane service 1 I have no need for a plane 0 asserted the other A and youve had none of course not slade found it necessary to give that some thought then why did you try to buy a plane a couple of weeks ago and why did you want to hire a flyer the opaque eyes regarded him with disdain that asserted frayne A was before I 1 found what I 1 was looking for and now youve spotted your swans youve no need tor for us none whatever was the acids answer and you happened to see a plane in this neighborhood not until I 1 had the misfortune of seeing yours then you saw me as I 1 came in fracnes Fr aynes nod was curt As did my trumpeters trum peters which ich you disturbed he announced before I 1 leave you to your trum peters said the flyer id like to ask just one que question stion where do you come from what differ difference ence does that make demanded the other because your manners make me think you are german the ornithologists face harde hardened med but his voice when he be spoke was a ca controlled nt rolled one sif if I 1 had my P passports as sports here he quietly asserted you would soon learn otherwise his movement as s he turned away and reached for his binoculars took on a touch of the valedictory and I 1 regret that my inter interest es in bird life must interfere with your burlos curiosity ity as to my origin slade laughed well good luck with your trum he said as he turned and st peters strode rode from the blind he realized he studied out the uncertain in t trail 1 I 1 as ab to where his p plane ane must be resting that meetings like this were m mighty eighty rare along the frontier TO BE CONTINUED 11 |