The evening world. Newspaper, April 25, 1916, Page 17

\\ paddle, But Buck was far © UNDER T (Copyright, 1008, by Btreot & Smith.) GYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS, Tom, Hedrick (who telle the ators) ts ent by Major Holliday 10 rear for tie attoets danchter, jean, who, with her hiishaud, Carter How Aisappeare Into the trackless noreh count lowe 18 4 imorphia vieti g lee that Jean hae taken by fate un lock, & ewapalae omer, who hates the Major, seuda "Chub these, reporter, to fiud the timing palt, Hedrick to shake off Doyle's pursuit, CHAPTER IV. (Continved,) ANDY nodded and went on | | ]} with his breakfast. As I | ] finished mine L considered % the advisability of having a look at the bespectacied stranger who was #0 interested in our movements, But I aban- @oned tho idea, If he was a Globe fan I would know it easily enough @hould his trail cross mine in eny @ttempt to reach Howe, Time spent fm looking him up would only be wasted. Granted that I found him, Fecognized him and understood his object, the time wasn't ripe for a hos- le demonstration. I hoped to avold that, if possible. We'd clash soon enough if he followed the line Pollock bad laid down for me. Iron Fist's trusted lieutenants had @ habit of getting what they went after, regardless of all personal con- @iderations, and sometimes without @ue respect for the law; and Pollock, if he didn't openly sanction such Methods, privately lent his approval. With him the end justified the means, when he declared war. Therefore I Preferred to take a chance with his nchmen further back in the big woods, where it would be mostly a contest of wits, with the power of Pollock’s crafty brain and ready money minimized to the last degree. That was partly the reason I'd taken @o particular care to cover my tracks. 2 felt at the start that If Pollock de- termined to have me watched it would be useless effort on my part to try @n@ dodge the watchers. A bred-in- @e-bone newspaper man can gener- @ily be depended upon to do a pretty fair stunt in the detective line, and had some of the smartest men fm the West at his beck and call. I fmpew when I left Seattle that being Bis ‘was more than a possibility, i I didn’t worry, for I had the best It all the way through, Pollock's bad nothing stronger to go upon a m suspicion, They had to Howe before they could even have of the truth. I was con- jent that Sandy Cameron and my- could beat them, if it developed to a race for Howe's camp. And once on the ground, I intended to pre- ‘Fent at all hazards any agent of Pol- coming within speaking-dis- ce of Howe until he was in no er of betraying his pitiable con- lon. Go when our meal was atan end we Yoaded the camp-kit and the dogs and pushed our canoes out to where the cu’ rent ran full and strong. As we got well away from the Landing a aalld breeze favored us, and we hoisted @ makeshift #ail on each canoe—tick- sh business on that sort of craft, but it eased the strain of steady pad- dling and added greatly to the dis- tance behind our sterns when we beached the canoes for our noonday meal. Newspaper grind, while wearing enough, 1s haruly the sort of work to make a man pliysically fit; which one must nee: his feet in wilderne the Jead of men like Sundy Cameron. My unused muscles straightway began to pay the penalty for @ period of comparative neglect. Not that I was run down, Far from it. Por a htt ora blow 3 wasn't afraid to line up with the average man of my weight. But I was soft—lacked the staying power that one must have to cope with the long trail day after day. We could make sail only when the wind blew just right, and the wind rsisted in blowing wrong, ag it it ew that steady bending over a pad- die blistered my palms and sent sharp Fe y Ing gigzagging the length of mys ck and arms before the day was half done. I sighed for the hardened sinews the North had lent me on that unforgetable hunting trip two years pefor7, and wished Buck Harrison were at my elbow to relieve mo at the ug ’ robably ranging the wilder~ Mee himselt; and Sandy in the lead oe was sctting a pace that mado ry evening halt the most joyous moment of the day for me. It seemed tte be his natural gait, and a bit of pride in my own endurance » me from bidding him go »: hwy firat three or four days were of torture, pure and simpls. I began to gain my second 4, go to speak, My arms no r worked as though attached to each ePoulder blade by rusty hinges; the powfant ache left my back; In a Sook began to feel like a man in, @nd holding my own with ams not such a heart-breaking affair. About this time we mane an over- atop at I’lerre au Calume feb cirveny passed two Hudson's Bay that gave us no word of Howe's y But at Plerro au Calumet had pulled their boats high and and tarried a few they had talk 8, and I gat t Howe and Jean to the country where Uk and his Freneh A Sete Indian followers. h a burden to us on our pre would have chosen sou the woods, but Howe evide ferred a road that was a bit fon and I suppose he thought ther little danger of those strenuous vurt of days being repeated—sinee Buck Harrison nomaking his k beyond the ts had left the Frenehme last Kick ina snow ba lake, and the Ape was gone to long home by way of an wir ho j Slave River, assisied pill from a Savage rifle n We left Pe 1 Calumet morning, in a foe that cuddled the river bottoms like a ioving mother Aad it held, (vo, till ten by the clock. SOMONE HOE INEM ION Bg HE GREAT BEAR’ An Adventure Romance of the Frozen North By BERTRAND W. SINCLAIR or of ‘North ¢ ue ’hree, ee 3 6 Then a freshening breere tore it to mbbons, and sent It flying over the tree tops In gray, curling strips. Be- hind us the Athabasca lay arrow. straight for mile upon mile, all barred with tiny, shimmering wavelets, beautiful in the morning sun. As the fog broke and fell apart, Sandy, an oar length away and right abreast of me, backed water with bis paddle and motioned upstream, “EL guess w due to have com- pany,” he sald. "See them boats?” 1 stowed my paddle and stared ack, Sure enough, f made out two black objects on the rivet surface, but it took Sandy's keen eye to dis- linguish what manner of thing they were, In a roll of bedding close be- side me, however, I had a “first ald” to untrained eyee—a pair of the finest binoculars that money could alae and these I lost no time in bri to bear on the coming craft, There wasn't much need of pro- longed gazing. Through the power- ful lens the two boats magnified themselves till I could sean every feature of their occupants, Canoes double the size of ours they proved to be; two men, sundry dogs, and a foodly load of freight were the com. plement of each, and they were put- ng the river behind them @l @ won- ful clip, In the foremost canoe, P ing a paddle stroke for strote with is mate, I made out the unmistak- able form of Chub Doyle, the Globe's star Investigator, Verily, old Pollock had put a bloodhound on our track. That's rather a harsh term to ap- ply to a human being, but [ think it no misnomer for Doyle. There are some political big-wigs on the coast who have to invent words when they wish to express their opinion of Chul they find English altogether inad quate for their purpose. His apectalty was long-distance work, at such times as he wasn’t covering the Btate Legislature for the Globe, and noth- ing ever got away from Chub, Pol- lock trusted him as much as It was in his nature to trust any man, and as Chub had a natural dent for nosing in dirty messes he always delivered the goods when Pollock called for them, I'd met him only once or twice, just often enough to be sure of his face, but I was quite familiar with his style of operation. If Chub ever got wise to what Jean had dragged her husband into the heart of the North to conceal, he would make a story of It that would echo up and down the whole Pacific Coast, The canoes were rubbing gunwales when IT gave over my scrutiny, and I passed the glasses to Sandy, “Ry Jinks!" he exclaimed; “that's the four-eyed party that bought drinks so free at the Landin’—only he's shed his specs. An'—le's see, That there's Pete La Frombots tn the canoe with him, an'—lo's see again, I guess that's—yes, blamed if it ain't one uh old man Hopkins's boys, The other feller 1 don't know. They're knockin’ right along, ain't the; Sandy handed back the glasses and ed at me curfously, Well." he said, as he picked up his paddle, “if yuh want to keep ahead wh that layout, why, here's where she tightens,” “Let her tehten!® T answered reck- lessly, “We'll give Chub Doyle a run for his money yet." And Sandy laughed over his shoulder as he sent Vils canoe leaping forward with a deep thrust of the paddle blade, CHAPTER V. EN minutes later @ sharp bend in the river hid the f other boats from sight. The wind grew with the passing of the fog and struck us quartering from the southeast, Sandy brought his canoe alongside mine, lashed the two together, and braced them stoutly with crosspieces of light wood, It was a new arrangement in my boating expertence, but I could readily seo that it obviated the dan- capsizing; and when Sandy 4 rude mast and rigged it tarpaulin the Hight canoes 1 over the water at @ speed reater than our most earnest ng could give, his here's a scheme all my own,” ndy boasted a8 we scooted along, least | never seen anybody else try it, Yuh can’t tip over like yuh do when yuh go it single-handed with a sail up, and all yuh got to do 4s steer. Another feller an’ me beat a fur, " an’ two Hudson Bay runners from Dunvegan to the lake—beat ‘em three days on the trip. They ain't got over wonderin’ how we did tt yet. if the right kind uh wind hite us we'll sure drift, That gazabo behind has got some good men, but they'll cer- tainly have to lean hard on the pad- dies if they get sight of us again,” Sandy's contidence in his semt-cata- maran rig was not misplaced, Luckily the winds were with us, and we did drift-rather, we flew, T doubt ff a power launch could have beaten the time we made, Yet we falled to shake off the following canoes, ‘The devil of unseemly haste must have entered into Chub Doyle also. I im- agined we must have left them far ed the upper end ‘Then, after eat. ing our dinner on the north shore of the lake, at the point where Slave River heads for {ts long flow, Sandy took the glasses and from a high ridge scanned carefully the twenty miles of open He caught @ ‘ar out, mere dots a ue, and when I joined 1 also saw the two boats for a ief moment. We hadn't gained much of @ lead, That, however, was the last sight of them we were favored with for many ys. Down Slave River we pushed ery hour that we could spare from ep, The spring rains hit us, with the nethening days of June, in misty, penetrating downpour, Drab morn sand a hidden #un were our revulis fare. Betimes the wind blew lustily from the southern quarters, a we would lash our tiny eraft side by te and seud befor; again it was calm, sultry, and there was s for it but to shield our faces mosquito-netting against the hordes of files, and fall to 1 the paddle, The landscape took on a greener hue. In the open places flowers, gorgeous In coloring and lux- vant in growth, sprang up Hke All the hardy berry bushes 6 the North thetr home ymed rotously, The wilderness be- came transformed, decked tn gay colors, and odorous with blossom per- The Evening World Dally Magazine, Tuesday, Apti! 28) 1916 Such Is Life LET Me TAG You FOR A WORTHY By Maurice cetten| ot RR wast INTERESTED | Sandy remar \ THANK You VERY MUCH You ARE VERY CTENEROUS The afternoon of the day a finger into the earth beneath thetr the details later, but the m abrupily sheet-iron stove and muttered that no js to head off a representative of our n built #inee noon, fume; the woods reeked of the damp, earthy smell of growing things. Yet in all that vast territory there wae no atir, no sound of life, The wild things went stealthily abouttheirbusi- nese silently, unseen, wvlitude hung lke a fog over the broad river, its poplar-fringed banks and the thick-forested levels that lay beyond; @ loneliness that bore heavy on th a silence that sets its mark on men that follow the long trail, One be- comes soft of speech and soft tread in the little known byws the North—unconsaious tribute to the stillness of uninhabited leagues, to the eerle quiet of an untamed wilderness, Save for the soft dip of paddle blades or the faint creaking when the sail was up, we slipped along between the wooded banks as noiselessly as any ghost of a dead and gone voyager that ever troubled the brooding waters of sore in need o’ Just such medicine, I canna remember when I hae seen a Pasty colored an’ Thae doctor from a slow-moving fifty-foot to a gorged-up affair’ plunt meet us through @ rock-wall nel, studded With immense boulders —an effective bar to further ennoeln in that direction, was no portage, letting our craft float down at end of a line, with only the dogs for crew, while Sandy tramped one bank and I the other. trail was bound to reveal !tself, un~ less @ storm came their tracks in the next two in lookin’ worse. hairvous as A says tae me thae night thi ‘Lord, Mac, yon laddie’s a’ gone tae ae drug!’ I didna could see for ma'sel’ It's a great pecty.” straight camping on your trail in se Unchanging cut In with a clamorous barking, and “a good, old Anglo-Saxon cuss-word that I echoed with emphasis when I turned to see sand one of his men stalk- he open sward, CHAPTER VI. two were yet a yards from cabin they halted, and La Frombo!s swung around on his heel and started back. Doyle stood undecided. Frombote call over his shoulder with. 8, “He'll have buck up and break the habit or {t will But this other complica. tion is worrying me more rij had already given of what Pollock's than was up to: In this way washed out Doyle's outfit won't be far behind, and he's a de- termined beggar, and foxy.” Mack shook his head. well be done,’ ken hoo things get aboot tn this place whaur litle but company bu: I doot if there's a camp quite unexpect o'clock when we turne seven in the evening Sandy stopped and waved his hand to me. lere wo are!” he called across. They quit the ‘3 when I splashed throu shallow water to where he stood he “It couldna he demurred. I heard La Presently we beached our canoes at the head of Five Portages. weary lug, to bridge 4 series of im- passable rapid: wither yo're friends are gone—an canna close thae mouths o them a’. Doyle—did ye say thae man's name 1s?—wad easily find oot a’ he wishes, an’ his men will be fameeliar wi' the region hereabouts, grooves made by the boat-ker hauling out. “Chances are boats somewhere round here," “and packed thelr outfit in I don't sea why thay'd want to go very far from the crock. if they did, they can't pikin’ across country without makin’ a trail like a buneh uh stock.” A search of the brush, failed to bring any cache to light, hardly seemed reason You get plug, maybe fo.” still hesitated, Not for long, though. A volce Just beyond the cabin shout- ed loudly and angrily: you—queek! Or, by Gart stayed our progress What happy accident ub's outfit from making on our heels, learned. It may be that we had set a pace they couldn't stand; rig was beyond doubt a speed-accel- we loaded afresh and took to the river below without a sign of their unwelcome presence. From Five Portage lution, which sits close by the south ern border of Great Slave Lake, the river is unbarred by rapid or falla— clear eailing, with a powerful set to the current; and we pressed the limit in the way of speed. In two years Fort Resolution had not changed at all. little elevation a few rods back from high stockade with one wagon-wide gate, the saine Uttle clusters of Indian lodges out- side—a grim-looking place that belied the hospitality within, the faccor, met me with his old, dry grin and hard hand-grip. @ garrulous man; Henri Paleau and his red-whi kered running mate, MacRae, had bucked a deep snow trail to Edmonton and back tn the heart of @ hard winter, and others whom I remembered well. We did not tarry long. ough would have had me astay-—until I told him something of my errand, they cached “Hoet de trail, Vamose, move on, geet Ah geet yo’ scalp And Chub retreated in short Thae best I can be tae meet him wi" arms an’ prevail on him tae linger un’ thus gie ye thme tae inake Howe's put them on hae my sympathy. ‘Tis rotten busl- 1’ my opeenton, tae advertise a man's shame oot o' pure spite. With this understanding Sa I pulled away from Fort Resolution, Thad a fair rememb n of Charteris Creek when 1 told him of our destination, declared that he knew the place well. lay a little over a hundred miles cast of Resolution, three days* if MacDonough ded in his friendly attempt to delay Chub tt would give us plenty of to get In and explain the situ- to Fort Reso- ble that the nee of the loca- h to beach our own m out of ait ina ito the eabin, willow thicket, guns and the dogs, and Sandy man- aged to pick up thetr footprints tn the harder soll back from the creek It huddled on a The tracks led up a steep bank, wound through a close-ranked belt of spruce, and ten minutes of fol brought us out from the dusky was thruat in window as inged through the doorway, t conventional but the gentleman be- ned to think It ne we would have to use LacDonough, M ug je from getting our wits to keep D meadow, a natural park thre » with Howe, hundred yards in width and half @ mile long. gentle slope to the south a heavy growth green of it flecked would strain himself to ferret mrpeted with en?’ he de- nd wherefore of Howe's unheralded journey into the heart of a foregone conclu. out the why your damned bustnesst" @ far country stantly, his black eyes with the darksome f to look upon, But only @ subconscious My attention centr cabin and two tents t out against the backer near the farther side of cabin was yet in the mak mudded and the at one end s newly cltopped, lay seatte The tent flaps Were thrown Ww Close by a canv Jannot trathfully say of my- ya wun-fighter right ‘turbing, to say the ~w Howe would thor- at some sort d up—which would be ® direct was no’ use man's weakness, had known of it ever since troublous time when Dick Morton, Howe, Buck Harrison and myself had wandered into Fort Resolution near dead as men could be and keep Also he knew Jean—and uesta as they s able to give MacDonough course, for Chub was no unsophistt- cated youth; dope flends are no un- common finds in newspaper work, and he was probably familiar enough with the unmistakable symptoms of drug usage to know what was the matter with Howe !f he laid eyes upon him. 1 to the other: : to this oute {t dees outfoet, me having had thom passed that way he w: me information that stood Sandy and me {in good stead later in the game, “They were no ough told me. ‘Ww f dogs darted cabin and wake: ached, But of human. Sandy and I fort woe looked about, mouth of Charteris, beach where ft We came upon traces the dead ashes of @ fire, Lips and bits of unused wo » into tho eabin t dow innocent of # 8 fairly distinct wultable place tae mak’ a lang camp, an’ I bid them Charteris Creek—d'ye assed it ance upon a time” =-grinning roadly—‘‘an' it’s there ye'll be apt tae find them, Of course ‘tls possible went on, but I doot tt. Howe was a’ for sett! spoke o' buildin’ a pair place an’ livin’ 4’ the wilds till the thae mouth o’ dventure that we another sus- > . aren't in the one a camp-bed was ro! hablt of wearing high-heeled shoes, But though we were evidently olose m our quest soon developed “wo near and yet so rome few artic! feng man? queer" vitterly t'tef on dees the other was hare of a nenant abtdin' ly for alana of thetr niy did we locate that a braw gang such a gait man wha hasna backbone enough tas fight his ain faltin’s. for ab But Howe is a to the boats again, leave a camp unguarded, Sandy thrust My the eaten and ta: Denaeer nine. Do you remember “Me, Smith” and “The Lady Doe?” were among the moat popular stories THE BVEN- ING W Both were by the sam garded us as doubtful characters, but after @ prolonged scrutiny he decided to take us on trust, for he withdrew from the window and coming round the corner entered the cabin by way of the door, “Dem folk she's out een de brush he announced abruptly. “Hef yo' wan’ for see heem Ah let yo' satay een Dere's plenty grub, eef yo" t. But don’ yo’ go for pack off noassing, Ab'm watchin'—me- stalked out and disappeared [into the timber. Doyle and La From- bots had also vanished when we camo outside. “Kind of a warlike party, that,” , auite oblivious of the fact the ® himself had acted for & momont as If he had a strong notion to walk up and shake hands with trouble, “What next, I won- | der.” “We might as well take him at his word,” T said, “A bite to eat won't go badly. I'm for sticking here till I got a word with Howe. Our stuff will be all right, don't you think?” “Suro,” Sandy opined, ‘Them fol. lers ain't apt to monkey with it, An’ I'm a heap hungry, now you men- tion crub."* | We kindled a fire, rustled food of various kinds from the supply-pile, and ate. After that we stretched bo- side the blaze, for it was a cool eve- ning, and smoked and Ustened for sounds of the stragglers’ return, The long twilight faded, night shut down, and @ host of atars dotted the blue- black sky. Our — bearded — friend stepped nolselessly Into the circle of ght, fell ups he remains of our supper and devoured them silently. When he had finished he lit his pipe with a coal, took a whiff or two, ut- tered the word “damn” with much emphasis, and rose to his feet “Look here,” I challenged, “What the devil 1s going on in this camp. What's keeping those people out in the woods till this time of night?’ Don’ yo! geet excite, mah fre calmly told me, “Dem folk she'll there bimeby.” And with his gun tucked under his arm he left as quietly as he had come. A few minutes past midnight we caught a faint murmur of votces. It hushed at once, Then a slight crack. ling of brush, which ceased suddenly, After a few momenta of absolute sl- lence Jean herself stepped into the firelight. ymmy, Tommy, you're truly a angel to turn up In this lone- place,” she gasped, laughter nd tears In the ton jer, “But why-why? Not a mere pleasure trip, ‘surely ?” “Hard * T replied, “I'll give you object mutual friend, J. B, Pollock, who 1s reh of material to work up into @ sensation for readers of The Globe, Dibblo sent me. Forgive me It Espeak plain ly, Joan, but If Howe la tin bad shapo you'd better get him under cover at once, for Pollock's man followed me. He's camped within gunshot of w this moment, and Le 1s a shifty ous- You understand? with a sharp intake of breath, ‘The cowards—the unpri ied beasts that some men can be! Jean understood the altuation quite as woll as I did; she was familtar nough with the old feud to realize that Pollock was attempting to strike her father over her shoulder, She turned toward the dark line of trees. “Oh, Rex,” she called, “Yt Tommy Hedrick—come along! | “Philip was watching camp,” #he explained in an undertone, “and he inet us and sald there were atrang- ora here, So 1 came on ahead to eee, nover dreamed of it being you, But I'm glad you're here, Tommy. I'm 4 selfivh mortal, I know, to always fall baok on you when I'm In trouble, But 'm—I'm losing my nerve, 1 think, up here among these ghostly wood She dropped her face in ner hands for an inetant, [ @aid nothing, did belligerent words, arising nothing but sit there and anaw my in our immediate vietnity, Bandy and med to be taken with the samo notion at the same instant, We dived thinking that 1¢ the hostility in the fellow's tone was real rome sort of shelter would not come Ho had soon us, howevei frun-muagle, backed by @ oopper- under lip. That appeal wasn't good for my peace of mind, It drove home to me the faot that Dibble spoke truer than he knew when he said, “It tan't merely a matter of finding them; it's to helpaher.” It took more than any 4, ordinary trouble to stir her like that; sho warn't the sort of woman that lets her emotions get the upper hand with- out due and gufflotent reason, In the fire-glow I could see that her akirt was snagged in places from tearing throurh thiek-grown underbrush, and her linen waist soiled and stained by bruised leaves. Hut a@ felt hat, brim low, § all her face but the ed ine and1 could only guess at her expression, ‘The soft pad-pad of feet on the springy turf drew near, Presently I Nuid distinguish the forma of another and three men, They cane straight to the fire, and T got another shock at the sight of Howe—gaunt pasty-complexioned, a ghastly sem- blance of the athletic six-footer I had known, He shook bands with me In @ manner anything but cordial, told me stiffly to make myself at home, and walked immediately to one of the tents, Jean lingered only to bid the men make coffee and Cook some met, when followed him. ih a few minutes she called me « to the tent. A candle set upon ab f wood flung Its yellow glow 0} is and left the corners dim was stretched spruce bough slip away to some quiet p oeks without setting the wiol w 1 made {tt publio,” 1 ven tured? tnd 1, “that you were would have 1 in the least curlous About your motive, But you can't ex- face he re- pect well known people to vanish @!D has published uthor. She han terittena romance that in better than cither of them, It ta THE MAN FROM Bitter Roots By Caroline Lockhart It Will Be Next Week’s Complete Novel in The Evening World “THE MAN FROM BITTER ROOTS" Ie a love-and-adventure tale of the Big Outdoors A aplendid mental Spring Tonic, READ IT. without warning and no one ask per tinent questions.” I wrote to papa from Edmonton,” Jean declared, “outlining our route, and telling him that we might possl- bly be one a year, [ naturally sup- posed he would get the letter and see that the papers took notice of our whereabouts. “Well, he didn’t get it,” I assured her, “And he was in a pretty stew when I left Seattic, between his own anxiety and the insistent queries of your friends, That was the real rea- son of my setting forth to locate you. Pollock scented something and got busy at the same time.” As oon- cisely ag possible I gave them a 4 tailed account of events up to date, and when I finished Howe lay scowl- ing at the tent roof, Jean sat quite still, her hands lying inert in her lap. I got a fatr, square look at her face in the dim ght and @ question leaped hotly to my Ip: to die In the utterance, Under clear gray eye a blue-black sploteh showed darkly, and looking again [could see that the tender skin Was bruised and bloodshot ag tf from @ blow, and a red welt lay across the white forehead. She bore my scru- tiny without flinching—almost deft- antly, I thought. I forbore questions, though the Lord knows there was plenty tn that troubled camp to arouse the curiosity of a man less interested than I was, Presently Howe sat up and it a elgarette, That his nerves were sadly unstrung was patent; his fingers tremb! n with the ague. ns this man Doyle row 7” he asked sullenly, ‘Nothing that he can make capital of so far,” L answered bluntly. “But he'll know fast enough {f he lays eyes on you for five minutes, You can imagine how he could spread himself on a story like that, if you remember anything of that Packard abduction case, That was Chub,’ “Then tt appears that T must Ite low —like some dh criminal!” he muttered morosely, “Well, I suppose I'm in for it. I've forfeited consider- ation at the hands of any one, But for my people's sake this fellow mustn't go back with a tale that would, make them hide their heads tn shame Derhaps, after @ while, I'll be myself again; but whether I can break the habit or It breaks me, he mustn't know,” “He won't, barring unforeseen noct- dents,” 1 promised rashly, “I came up here to help you, and I feel equal to coping with Chub, But, for heaven's sake, brace up! Don't let the thing wet on your nerves. We beat a harder combination than thtv once upon a time, right here in this same country.” He threw down the cigarette stub, Mt another, and smoked Hike a man possessed by the demon of haste, “Go whead and take charge of the camp,” he finally said, “It's too much for Jean, and—and there are times when mM Not quite—not quite myself. 1 n't help it, and you mustn't mind If like @ sorehead now and then.” Jean's maid—sister to the warlike Philip, I learned—a _ bright-looking halfbreed girl, brought in their belat- ed meal just then, and while they ate I outlined a plan to head off should he attempt to pay us a visit, Howe made no suggestions beyond repeating hie wish that I should take charge, and run things to sult my. welf, Jean said little, but she seemed relieved, And so 1 left their cent, with my work out out for me. For the remainder of that short night I kept up @ fire and sat by it while the others slept. Not that I apprehended danger of any kind; I wasn't sleepy, that’s all, and I wanted to be on deck at the fret biink of dawn. The chances were that Obub would try e@talking boldly into our camp, under one pretext or another, next morning, and I intended to post @ man to head him off. After failti & second time to gain a word wi Howe, I felt sure that Chub would resort to strategy, and that @ con- Unuous watel woult be imperative, As I had surmised, Mr. Doyle put in an appearance shortly after break- fast—this time alone, Philip, whem I put on guard on the etrength of Is iity to shoot holes through a man's hat at a hundred yards with- out hitting the head beneath, flagged Chub, Sandy anl IT were about to start for the creek, anyway, so TI called him and we went out to where Mr. Doyle stood irresolutely, Ph: had called, in no uncertain tones, that he would “plug a-yo', by Gar!” {f he came another step. Phillp, hpwever. said nothing about backing up, and Chub was nervy enough to hold his ground. He greeted me with well. simulated astonishment when we came up to him “Hedrlek, by thunder!" he ex- elatmed, “Who the dickens would have expected to find you In this oor- ner of the earth?) But it's no more surprising than to be heid up lke this, I always heard that a Northern camp was the most hospitable place @ man ovould strike, Do you bar all comers at the point of a gun?” My dear fellow,’ I replied diandty, at ca > ia the summer residence of Mr. © Howe, ome time of California, Mr. Howe, as you doubt- less know, moves in‘ very exclusive {rcles. He has carried his exclusive- noss to the North; hence by the way, is a very handy ha gun But if there is any you would lke to deliver to lige you; I'm his nake any dif. amp tt ts," Chub grumt (a it pretty. smal atoes of Howe, or Anybody else away out in this ‘wil ress, ta man up when he the small favor of a few ‘A boat yesterday, He knew as well as | did that Chubd's » excuse Was pre'ty flimsy, "But T oan let you have quite a few, My outfit's etill on the creek-bank.” (To Be Continued.) wae