Show R LORN L 0 R N I 1 sled A by edison marshall copyright by edl kalton n service SYNOPSIS with this his yacht the intrepid Int pr practically felix c abandoned abando red by its crow crew felix I 1 II orton millionaire with his mother b ills Zd daughter aughter nan and roy hoy stuart puts into squaw harbor alaska to recruit falling to secure matter Bai lors 0 horton engages a bunch of 0 nondes c ripen stranded there A gigantic role poli called san d domar omar deaf but not dumb to Is their leader eader captain the intrepid a ki p per to la an old friend ulerid of eric erics ben en unemployed but holding masters mastera ropers papers and he engages to mail gall as a chief officer horton la Is becking uncharted islands of which he has heard nan and eric indulge to lo a moonlight flirtation which brings them both to the threshold of interest in each other if not of love the intrepid la Is deliberately wrecked by one of San Sando domaI niara crowd eric takes ca command and of a email a I 1 boat in in v which aich are horton II orton hla mother and daughter nans maid marle tarle li and roy hoy stuart unable to help they watch San bandomir domar kill captain and leave the ship with his crowd has thrown eric a revolver aleut indians indiana help the party ashore from an one 0 of f them speaking s a little english erac erie learns there Is no communication with the outside world CHAPTER IV continued 5 name title lie aleut word mean alace ace where everything everi thing gone away 1 che chanuo no iio baym forlorn island eric spoke quietly fits it pretty well I 1 should say bay ROY koy said chechar Chech haq tie how do nearly bearly sixty people manage to live here we catch salmon sea lion sometimes roots berries birds in sea we catch feals halibut codfish but we no dare go out very far from harbor bad currents take into rocks so fish ball halibut but codfish mighty scarce sixty people get along more than sixty everybody go hungry so we no have more than sixty lie ile spoke calmly casually and erie eric watched him with steely narrowed eyes how do you manage it not to have more than sixty we keep count when one baby more than sixty born he die mother she cry sometime but she know do no good other women they put baby out on bench beach wind she blow baby no live long rather like an exclusive club roy salil said grimly someone has to die oft off before another can get in but dont look so shocked Er edlessen lessen plenty of primitive people practice infanticide some of the eskimos for instance but its usually haphazard this Is very new and interesting keeping an count its bor riblet when the population gets too large why cant some of the men defy the danger and strike out for new lands the way real men do and get themselves drowned romanticism in contrast with good horse sense the only thing that ls Is troubling me Is that now the population la Is seventy sn presently Chech led them to the church of the light that some far salling sailing russian zealot had brought to forlorn island nearly two centuries century es before only a dim glimmer remained in the front halt of a two room turf house was a crude stone altar a silver mon in the rep ousse work of old moscow and one gold candlestick here the aleuts aleuns came to chant the prayers they did not understand to the white mans god on whom they had bad grafted their own animal gods and their devils of sea and storm in the rear room lived Fir eheart direct descendant of the priest and custodian of the magle he passed down she came out at once a slender blender girl with slanted black eyes her tawny skin scarcely darker than nans nana golden tan only a drop drel of white blood flowed in her veins but it had refined her features fen turea and quickened her mind she gazed tit at the two white men half in awe half in exultation make prayer for you to come she told them in soft throaty tones prayer him answered nn bod he big strong god give F Ir eheart what the she want 11 cut but why roy asked what did you wa t of white people Firc heart she hear stories pass down from priest pries she think dream wonder about white mans country think pray maybe sometime white people come hew here so she make che chanuo talk white mans talk so she ready when they come she heap lonely tired of little island think maybe white man come take her away turning fron frola roy she caressed erics bare arm Fir eheart think your skin heap pretty heap smooth too like otter fur what might be a jealous gleam came into her slanted black eyes Fir eheart see two white girls come in boat with old woman maybe one your wife roy boy broke in quickly neither la his wife but the girl with the curly darl dark hair will bo bev my wife soon soom no eare about you I 1 no see ece you come in dream I 1 see tall full man with eyes like sea with skin like abow 11 she reached a brown hand find and stroked eries erics cheek check you no marry other girl hamby maybe you marry me FIr eheart priestess of lost people and we tave baby with skin like snow too Fire hearts mail blink e eyes cs were brim man alny and erie eric must ansbe atheni straight A roan man does not marry until lie he la Is in love he tier her kindly lovo jove cornea coines to him when whan it wines comes lie ho lias has no power to seize it or to make in ala t go aker then you ni n see Firc heart ln in dream like I 1 see you but you see her now maybe you catch love soon tier her arms they strong they hold you tight she young and she white girl like you and she no say this to any man before when eric and roy hoy were out of hearing each got the first real glimpse of 0 the others soul they respected each other deeply they could work together toward certain ends yet they were its as remote as pine and palm eric had inherited the idealism of the I 1 orth north the basis of his strength wa was 8 character hut but roys gulding guiding light was logic lie ile was ruled and guided by hla his brain never his heart ills superior intellect ran cold as an electric dynamo lie ile could be kindly brave where whee bravery was something more than a tradition but he took life as he found it ninde made the best of it and never gazed beyond which of these two types have contributed tri buted most to civilization the intellectual tel or the emotional the realist or the dreamer which Is most important in the ultimate destiny of mankind which would triumph in this island adventure a reenactment enactment re on a small scale of mans long war with savagery find and the raw powers of nature only time could tell Eirl ericssen essen this girl Is our one hope roy hoy said if play your part we can be free in two months she ashes fallen in love with you at first sight whatever that means and ns its priestess she controls tile the island if the young men of the tribe would go with us we could reach civilization you know that as well na as I 1 they could feel their way in a dozen covered kayaks kajaks a good many would be lost but some would be sure to find the strait throw their lives away to save our own skins shins what it amounts rits to what of ita it an inbred hopeless handful of savages eric we must look after ourselves first and our women the first law of life nut but rd fd have to play square with art ashes no common squaw to these people ashes a deml sacred being whose virginity Is closely guarded and the only way I 1 could induce her to raise the taboo won would be to marry her in her own church and take her with me to the outside world oh have to pretend it was the real thing but for you the ceremony would be an empty form when we reached the lie first settled island we could buy her n lot of new dresses a phonograph if she wanted it and leave her happy andrealla and really ashes not a n hall had looking girl shed make your stay here very pleasant erics blue eyes had bad a cold shine you can drop that stuart I 1 I 1 break trust with F fr eheart even it if we dont leave here for the rest re st of our natural lives if I 1 married her here in her church id stand by it but im not going to cross my blood with aleuts aleuns to save you or anyone else A cynical gleam mine came into roys cold eyes its plain that horton and I 1 will have to take matters into our own hands decant we cant rely on you yon youre too d dl gallant and I 1 warn you that our methods may be a lot tougher on your aleut friends than a little romance with a squaw they returned to the barabara to find their comrades rolled in blankets asleep San domars gang were roaming about the island fraternizing with the natives saving their strength for trials certain to come erie eric and roy lung flung themselves down on the fur robes and rested too it was waa mid afternoon before they had all wakened rubbed their eyes and definitely crossed the border between lifelike life ilfe like dreams and fantastic reality nan now demanded that she know the worst im grown up tip and able to stand it are we going to spend a week at this charming winter resort roy hesitated but mother horton thrust her lean can elbows into his ribs tell herl the clear old voice urged it if shed use her head bead shed figure it out for herself A week from now our salmon fish ing should he be well under tinder way eric said gravely in three months the summer will be gone and the fur for seal herd heading south A little more bad luck carelessness or dence ond and well be gone cone too not rescued but dead the most we can hope for this winter Is just to live to hang on then if we can keep up our strength and our numbers to plan some way to freedom the girl looked at him straight and it if we survive at all we may be here three years Is that it 1 I should guess that well either win or definitely lose within one year she gazed a long time into the hissing ore fire 1 I suppose wed all he be lucky to have gone down with the ship you might suppose so sol soi l dont erics tone was deep and rough 1 I thank god im here still able to light im going to make the best of it and as soon as aa you get your hearings bearings I 1 know you will too and theres IL a way out it if we can just find it and well get along mother horton chirped thank heaven ive still got two good teeth to chew those tough little birds 0 0 S 0 marle put two leather hand lings tings saved from the wreck in the middle of 0 the floor here are our earthly possessions nan wild fald gravely 11 1 think wed better see what we have now and divide up tip she dumped the contents contenta ot of tile bugs bags on tho floor on top more precious than rubles lay half a dozen cakes of soup soap which tile old house housa keeper had bad put to in with her own skinny hands bands when gone in about two weeks well have to make soft soap with fat at and ashes mother her ton explained and by crackle fifty years of luxury basalt made me forget howl how I 1 there were two identical safety razors two packages of blades and a stropping device sharing these each of the four men could make some sort of a decent toilet a considerable factor in their morale th thare re were three brushes plenty of combs and scissors a pound of tobacco when it was wag gone the pipe smokers could use tile the little willow bark and again mother hortons holtons Hor tons contribution some needles and thread tt carton of cigarettes and a bible there was simple jewelry the host b es t had bad been left behind in it a bank vault articles of apparel and for toilet use peculiarly pecullar ly feminine towels a carton of matches this was roys roy a inspiration a wicked looking hunting knife that wilcox had be bought aught in seattle e roys hoys ethnological notes some mens sleeping and under garments and approximately at n thousand dollars in currency the division of the spoil passed gaily what might have been a dark hour now they could understand the joy of an eskimo squaw at the gift of a yard of cloth or a butcher knife roy called horton aside to advise an ain immediate truce with gring it would be hard to ignore and ant forget the shame in the dawn but policy demanded no less combined they made a formidable party of thirteen men they could dominate the timid aleuts aleuns possibly force them to break their taboo moreover it if the whites must make the journey alone granted an almost impossible feat the bloodstained hands would be needed to work the boat 1 and it soon may be a question of life end and death roy koy said the food supplies on this island are decidedly limited eric thinks think hard work and more eff efficient lelent methods will feed the whole population but I 1 doubt it we have no rifles find and we cant do much more with native gear than they themselves you think we may have to ration the natives horton asked possibly for a few months and we cant do it without Sand San omara domars support I 1 admit its a bit raw to corn come e to their island and then half starve them hut but the fittest must survive after all just a handful of inbred savages of not the slightest value to the world but could san domars numan human be controlled it looked reasonable to roy koy their pack probably lacked cohesion three of them had no hand in the killings and would want pence peace As for women they could have their pick of the squaws squads this would keep them satisfied and san domar himself could take FIr eheart now that eric had rejected her the grim faced crew still when erics crowd sought the comfort of the bench beach fire only when the seal ment meat was boiled the birds sizzling and the root bread baked on the rocks did they push sullenly near horton spoke to them casually and made room in the circle hut but only garge barge the little cockney showed any sociability nan would never forget this picture the low red ire fire in the fading light a fretful sea under blowing gray clouds and the island populace gathered here in the truce of the bread and meat it was hard to know whether she was sleeping in her own canopied cano pied bed in ft a glittering city and this was no more than a dream in the night or whether she had died and was born again on this hopeless isle and the distant lights beauty and warmth were no more than a vision in a white squads squaws soul lets come to an understanding all of us from the intrepid horton began with every show of confidence were in a bad predicament to say the least but it wont last long and I 1 think we should operate cooperate co just as though we wore were still on the he ship and since ill pay all the bills in the end I 1 think I 1 may as well remain in charge lie ile glanced toward Sandon San domar tar but the deaf mans eyes were on the winking fingers of his cockney interpreter and he be did not glance up the rest of the pack stood silent in odd fixed postures you must all stand and work together and ill lead you yon tile the best T can horton went on now for tonight myself my daughter and her maid ant and sirs mrs horton will occupy one room of our two room turf house roy eric wilcox and devalera the other room the tha aleut couple who own the house have kindly agree agreed to move in with their neighbors you other fellows seem to like one an others company so sup suppose poe you take the large meeting house at the end of the village row Checha qun tolls tells me that he be can furnish you with plenty of extra robes there was a tense silence then I 1 game stepped forward ills his little weasel face was drawn in an add grimace half balf anger half scorn corn who you speaking to us he asked in his high rasping voice why yes im lust just suggesting we dont need necil you to tell us where to sleep well sleep where we please pleasa and with loo 00 oo we please and we dont want no lip from you you ear me dont you horton changed color but kept his hend head eric and his friends watched and waited in dead silence 1 I 1 dont think you not nei J thai flint tone horton replied aneres 1 I heres neres no reason we should ho he enemies were all going out together ore oco of these days and therell be plenty |