Show ul jl e FN I 1 h yu k on T afef 0 I 1 an AB alaspaa story love william macleod raine copyright william macleod aralue by CHAPTER 11 continued 2 the purser gave information to elmot elliot they call her aunt sheba but ashes no relative of theirs the kids are on their way in to their father who ts Is an engineer on one of the creeks back of fatma their mother died two months ago miss oneill met them first aboard the skagit on od the way up and she has mothered them ever since the eyes of elliot rested on miss oneill ONel ll she loves children she sure does no bluff about that an imp of mischief sparkled in ia the eye of the supercargo not married yourself are you mr elliot no ernp that was all he said but gordon felt the blood creep into his face this th is annoyed him so he be added brusquely and not likely to be when the call for breakfast came miss oneill took her retinue of youngsters with her to the dining room looking across from his seat at an adjoining table elliot could see her waiting upon them with a fine absorption in their needs before they had been long in the dining room macdonald came in carrying a sheat sheaf of business papers he glanced around recognized elliot and made instantly for the seat across the table from him on his face fa ce and head bead were many marks of the recent battle trade you a cauliflower ear for a pair of black eyes mr elliot he laughed as he shook hands with the man whose name he had just learned from the purser the grip of this ais brown muscular hand band was strong it was in character with the steady cool eyes set deep beneath the jutting forehead with the confident carriage of the deep broad shoulders you might throw in se veral several other little souvenirs to boot and not miss them suggested elliot with a smile macdonald nodded indifferently 1 I gave and I 1 took which was as it should but we aint through with colby colb macdonald yet tn b 0 but IV its different with you mr emot this your row 1 I been in a good mix up since I 1 left college it did me a lot ot of good much obliged anyhow lie ile turned Us attention to a lady entering the room Mor nW mrs selfridge hows wally she threw up her hands in despair nes hes on his second bottle of liniment already I 1 expect those ruffians have his singing voice when I 1 think et st how bow close you both came to death last night 1 I dont know about wally but I 1 had no notion of dying mrs self they mussed us up a bit that was nal 11 but they meant to kill 1111 you the cowards and they almost did it too look nt at wally confined to his bed end and speaking in a elsper hl sper look at you a horribly beaten up al most drowned we must drive the villains out of the country or send them to prison am I 1 a wreck the big scotsman wanted to know 1 I feel as husky as a well fed mala malamate malamu mute tc oh you talk but we all know you how brave and strong you are biby viby 11 by this outrage ought to be punished what would alaska do if anything happened to you 1 I thought of that admitted macdonald the north would have to go out of business I 1 suppose but youre right about one thing sirs mrs selfridge im brave and strong enough at the breakfast table steward will you yon bring me a double order ot of these shirred sherred eggs and a small steak well im glad you can still joke mr macdonald after such a terrible experience all I 1 can say Is that I 1 hope wally permanently injured mrs selfridge sighed and passed to her place the eyes of the big man twinkled our little fracas has been a godsend to mrs selfridge wally and I 1 will both emerge as heroes of a desperate struggle you wont even get a mention but its a pity about injuries and his singing voice the younger man agreed with a gravity back of which his amusement was apparent the share of selfridge la in the battle had been limited to leg work only but this had not been good enough to keep him from being overhauled and having his throat squeezed elliot finished breakfast and left macdonald looking over a long typewritten document the paper was a report selfridge had brought in to him from a clerk in the general land office the big canadian and the men he represented were dealing directly with the heads of the government departments part ments but they thought it the part ot of wisdom to keep in their employ subordinates in the capacity of secret service agents to spy upon the tha higher ups CHAPTER ill the crevasse for an hour before the hannah reached fatma miss oneill was busy getting her little brood ready her heart was as tender as a madonna to these lambs so ill fitted to face a frigid waste their mother had been a good woman she could tell that fiut she had no way of knowing what kind of man their father might be when they said their sniffling good bys at fatma she was suspiciously bright and merry soon the children were laughing again with her one glance at their father who introduced trod himself to miss oneill as john husted relieved her mind greatly his spontaneous delight at seeing them again and his choking cho iring gratitude to her tor for having looked after them were evidence enough that this kind eyed man meant to be both father and mother to his recovered little folks her temporary family stood oo on the end of the wharf and called good bys to the girl when they turned away she went directly to her room elliot was passing forward when miss oneill opened her stateroom door to go in the eyes of the young woman were blinded with tears and she was biting her lip to keep back the emotion that welled up he knew she was very fond of the motherless children but he be guessed at an additional reason for her sobs she too was a untaught as a child in the life if frontier land whatever she found here herc bow much of hardship or happiness or grief or woe she knew that she had bad left behind forever the sate safe harborage of quiet waters voters in which her life craft had always floated it came on to rain in the afternoon heavy clouds swept across from the mountains and the sodden sky shy opened like a sluice box the kuslak cof contingent itla driven indoors resorted to bridge miss oneill read gordon elliott wrote letters dawdled over magazines and lounged alternately in the ladles ladies parlor and the smoking room where macdonald strong a hardware merchant from fairbanks and a pair of sourdough sour dough miners bad had settled themselves to a poker game that was to last nil all night and well into the next day ot of the two bridge tables all the players were old timers except mrs mallory she had come in over th the fee for the first time last winter the other women felt that she was a bird of passage that the frozen arctic could be no more than a whim to her they deterred deferred a little to her because she knew the great world new york vienna london parts paris great names fell from her lips casually and carelessly she was full ot of spicy little anecdotes about german royalty and the british aristocracy it was no wonder gordon elliot thought that sho she had find rather stunned the little social set of kuslak through northrup and trelawney a new slant on macdonald was given to gordon he had fallen into casual talk with them after dinner on the fore deck to his surprise the young man descove discovered ed that they bore him no grudge at all for his bis interference the night before but we aint through with colby macdonald yet trelawney explained mind I 1 dont say were going to get him nothing like that heres the point we stand for labor ile he stands for capital see things aint what they used to be in alaska and its because of colby macdonald and his friends grabbers what they are they want the whole works understand its up to us to fight aint it later elliot put this viewpoint before strong theres something in it the miner agreed wages have gone down and its partly because the big fellows are consolidating interests alaska aint a poor mans country the way it was but mae mac aint to blame for that ile he has to play the game the way the cards are dealt out the sky was clear again when the hannah drew in to the at moose head to unload freight but the mud in the unpaved streets leading to the business section of the little frontier town was instep deep many of the passengers hurried ashore to make the most of the five hour stop elliot put on a pair of heavy boots and started uptown at the end of the wharf he be passed miss oneill ONel ll she wore no rubbers and she had come to a halt at the beginning of the mud after a momentary indecision she returned slowly to the boat the young man walked up into the town but ten minutes later he crossed the gangplank of the hannah again with a package under his arm miss oneill oneall was sitting on the forward deck making a pretense to herself of reading ile he moved over to where she sat and lifted his hat bat 1 I hope you yoi wont wont think it a liberty miss oneill ONel ll but ive brought you some rubbers from a store uptown I 1 noticed you get ashore without them the girl was visibly embarrassed she was not at all certain of the right thing to do where she had been brought up young men did not offer courtesies of this sort so informally 1 I I 1 think I 1 wont need them thank you ive decided not to leave the boat boa t she answered shyly elliot had never been accused of being a quitter having begun this he proposed to see it out ile he caught sight of the purser superintending super intending the hie discharge of cargo and called to him by name the officer joined them a pad of paper and a pencil in his hand im trying to persuade miss oneill oneall that she ought to go ashore while were lying here what was it you told me about the waterfall back or of tile the town finest thing of its kind in alaska everyone takes jt it in we wont get away till night youve plenty of time if you want to see it now will you please introduce me to miss oneill formally the purser went through the usual formula of presentation adding that elliot was a government official on his way to kuslak having done his bia duty by the young man the busy supercargo per cargo retired im sure it would do you good to walk up to the waterfall with me miss oneill ONel ll urged elliot she met a little dubiously the smile that would not stay quite extinguished on his good looking boyish face why she go with him since it was the american way tor for youth to enjoy itself naturally if fit the girl answered eying the rubbers gordon dropped to his knees and demonstrated that they would As they walked along the muddy street she gave him a friendly little nod of thanks good of you to take the trouble to look out for me he laughed it was myself I 1 was looking out tor for I 1 am a stranger in the country and was awfully lonesome Is it that this Is your first time in too she asked shyly youre going to kuslak arent you do you know anybody there replied elliot my cousin lives there but I 1 seen her since I 1 was ten ashes an american eleven years ago she via visited us in ireland rm im glad you know someone he said not be so lonesome with some of your people living there are you going to live at 3 no ru ill be ba stationed irk in mhd terri tory for several months mont h 9 ill be in and out of the town a good deal I 1 hope let me see something of you the fine irish coloring deepened in her cheeks he had a way of taking in his stride the barriers between them but it was impossible for her to feel offended at this cheery vigorous young fellow with the winning smile and the firm set jaw she liked the warmth in his honest brown eyes she liked the play of muscular grace beneath his well fitting clothes sheba did not know as her resilient muscles carried her forward joyfully that she was answering the call of youth to youth gordon respected her shyness and moved warily to establish his bis contact ire he let the talk drift to impersonal topics as they picked their way out from the town along the mossy trail they were ascending steadily now along a pathway almost too indistinct to follow the air was aromatic with I 1 P the girl swung out into space pine from a grove that came straggling down the side of a gulch to the brook do you know I 1 have a queer feeling that seen all this before the irish girl said of course I 1 unless it was in my dreams naturally ive thought about alaska a great deal because my father lived here 1 I know that yes ile he came in with the klon like stam peders 11 she added quietly ile he died on bonanza creek two years later was he a miner not until he came north he had an interest in a claim it later turned out worthless wort liless 11 A bit of stiff climbing brought them to a boulder field back of which rose a mountain ridge beyond the boulder field the ridge rose sharply gordon looked look ed a little dubiously at sheba are you a good climber im W sure lure I 1 must be she answered W with th n smile adorable 1 I believe I 1 could do tile the Matt erhorn today well up on the shoulder of the ridge they stopped to breathe the distant noise of tailing falling water came faintly to them were too far to the left must have followed the wrong spur elliot explained probably we can cut across the face of the mountain presently they came caine to an impasse the gulch between the two spurs terminated in a rock wall that fell almost sheer for two hundred teet feet the color in the cheeks beneath the eager eyes of the girl was warm lets try it she begged the young man had noticed that she was as sure tooted footed as a mountain goat and that she could stand on the edge of a precipice without dizziness tile the surface of the wall was broken what ahat it might be beyond he could not tell but the first fifty feet was a bit of attractive and not too difficult rock traverse they had been following a ledge that narrowed till tt it ran out jutting knobs of feldspar and stunted shrubs growing from crevices offered toe grips instead of the even foothold of the rock itself As gordon looked down at the dizzy fall beneath them his judgment told him they had better go back he said as aa much to his companion the smile she flashed at him was delightfully light fully provocative so you think im a farald cat mr elliot ills his inclination marched with hers hera it was their first adventure together and he did not want to spoil it by undue en caution ution there really was not much danger yet so long as they were careful gordon abandoned the traverse and followed an a ascending se ending crack in the th wall the going was hard bard lie he looked down at the girl wedged between the slopes of the g granite canite trough she read his thought the old guard never surrenders sir sar 11 was her quick answer as she brushed in salute with the tips of her fingers a stray lock ot of hair the trough was worse than ellot eliot had bad expected it bad in it a good deal of loose rubble that started in small slides at the least pressure be very careful of your footing he called back anxiously A small grassy platform lay above the upper end of the trough but the last dozen feet of the approach was a very difficult bit gordon fought his way up with his back against one wall and his knees pressed to the other three feet short ot of the platform the rock walls became absolutely smooth the climber could reach within a foot of the top are you stopped asked sheba looks that way A small pine projected f from rom the edge of the shelf out over the precipice it might be strong enough to bear his weight it might not gordon un buckled his belt and threw one end over the trunk of the dwarf tree gingerly he tested it with his bis weight then went up hand band over hand and worked himself over the edge of the little plateau all right the girl called up all right but you cant make it down id like to try it ru ill stop if its too hard bard she promised the strength of her slender wrists surprised him she struggled up the ve vertical crevasse inch by inch hla his heart was full of fear for a misstep now |