THE TRAIL OF ADVENTURE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18577, 8 December 1923, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE TRAIL OF ADVENTURE.

lit? BY OTTWELL BINNS. .

i - ■ (Copyright.) I}! ♦ • SYNOPSIS." SYNOPSIS. |Pl! CHAPTER IV.—(Continued.) i " Arc you suggesting that the prisoner V'ITW here when Stefanson did that? " • !' •. "X ain't suggesting nofchin , retorted |j Stockman; I'm jest stating facts." f- «Then suppose you tell us which way ;>} t }) o prisoner; was travelling—up or down v tbo trail ? " '!*- " Wot's thet got ter do with el? " de-'-]s•. manded Slackman. if,' " Well, if lie was travelling up the trail ' an d he met Jvefanson going down, , the i: fnferenco is obvious. He couldn t—— : "1 reckon ho was goin down, jnter»nnted Slackmar. coolly. "it is a lie," broke in rurnell himself. ' «'l was coming up the trail, as rnv Indian nickers will testify, and T saw the whole tragedy of Stefanson's killing. 1 was a • little way behind my lino .of packers, hen I taw ' l man creeping through tho willows towards another man who was rest;«<r on bin pack. 1 had no idea what was n the foil 'v s. mind, but I fell out of the trail to watch, and I saw the man who •was creeping forward shoot the man upon the pack, ' 10 was Stefanson "

■ i "You did. did yer?" interrupted • Slackman sarcastically: "an' I supposo ver folded yer arms an' —whilst <• Xo !" The thing was so sudden that I was startled, but. as quickly as 1 could I ! .drew my pistol and fired at the murjerer. "An' it the Chilkoot. I suppose." commented Slackman with a contemptuous ' a ?- S ] missed, and the murderer ran away. , . . , _ "He would! icr rai alter him, 1 reckon. '* I starred to : but. Stefanson called out to me. and I ran to him instead. He was badlv hurt, and not. long for this •vradd as'he-Jcnew. and he told me his ' name, told me of the gold in his pack— that ' gold theretold mo where— ■where " l'urncll visibly hesitated, and the president leaned forward, a tense eager look open his rough face. "Yep?" he prompted, a little touch of excitement in his voice. " Yep? He told yer where the gold came from, d guess." Ptimell did not answer immediately. He measured his questioner with calm, searching sraze, then in an odd tone he replied quietly: He told me. where to find the address of his sister, and asked me to see that she got. his gold and— thirds. " "He did. did he?" snorted the president. " An' wot else? " M " He gave me some papers, the papers that were taken from me by the sea 11 yrravs that brought me here," answered Pnrneil sharpy. "We cot ther dory merits right- enough," will the prosecutor, suddenly taking a hand once more. " But ther question es, did we get all? " "You did ! " / Slackman shook his head. " I Reckon Tre didn't. I bin through them papers, an' ther's somethin' missin', an' I reckon yer knows where et e.s, prisoner at ther bar." He looked round the room. ."Is there a gent here, hevin' made a big ' strike in an unknown country, as wouldn't afore he left it hev made a plan of ther place? I reckon yer ain't, none of yer »ich fools; an I'll lay Sverdrup Stefanton wasn't- that, particular kind of bughouse ijiut neither. But, gents, in Stef'snsoti's pepers there ain't- nothin of the sort, an' I reckon ther prisoner could tell ther meaivin' of thet absence ef he would. If Stefanson wasn't the ■ starkest, liar thet fver tried his hand at a fairy-tale, there's half a hill of gold lying somewhere up there!'* He waved a hand northward, and then pointed dramatically to the little moosehide sack on the table. " Thet little sack proves that Sverdrup wasn't no liar. Ther gold's there, an', j boys, Purnell there has ther secret of if. 'Twas for that tie plugged the Norseman .' "

A rustle of excitement ran through the room as he made this statement. Every man there was on the gold-trail, and as they looked on the moosehide sack that was evidence of the existence •;of that which had se* their feet to far and. bitter trails, dull eyes gleamed with sudden eager light, and stolid faces grew intense " Haif a hill! " a voice blurted gloatinzly. " Make the murdering blighter tell before you stretch him, Pete." "Hear! hear! " chimed in other voices, whilst, one growled savagely: "Give him a taste of Indian medicine. Firesticks between the fingers an' " Slackman broke in on the brutal suggestion. His hand shot out again, with the index finger pointing straight at the girl Listette. "This yere young Portia asks for a motive. Ain't half a bill of gold motive enough for the killing of a whole township, an' es there, a man here who wouldn't *' He • checked himself , sharply as he saw whither the surge of his own argument was carrying him; and as some man in the room laughed Holdsworth gripped Ranleigh's arm, and whispered : " Slackman and the president are after that gold. They want the secret, and they think your partner has it. They mean to get. it by hook or crooK." " Yes, and then they'll hang him! " Unless the talk of hanging is a bluff to make him speak." " It's no bluff," was the rßply. " Those "two ruffians are in dead earnest and there are ethers with them. We've just got to get I'crnell out of this somehow."

CHAPTER V. A GET-AWAY. As. Roy Ranleigh made his ■whispered declaration there was an almost desperate nots in his voice, and a look of determination on his face that convinced the sergeant of his resolve to attempt the impossible. " How is it. to he done?" Holdsforth whispered back. " You can't hold up a crowd like this! " Listen,"' replied Rajileigh. I'm going to chip in, and as soon as I begin, step outside and "watch, the windows. When the room goes dark, as it will, empty your pistol as ( fast as you can at the back of the hotel, then run round to the window on the chairman's right." " You're going to get I'urnell out in the Utampede? " " I'm going to try," answered Ilan•siii grimly. ' It will be a desperate chance." '"Yes, T know; hut " He broke off, shrugged bis shoulders. a nd quite suddenly ho spoke in a loud voice. " Mr. President, I have some evidence to lav before the Court." There was a sharp rustle of surprise. s[pn turned swiftly to look at him. The president rose to his feet to get a better view, while for the second time Ranleigh saw a, light of ferocious menace glef.m in Shiikmari eyes. In the hubbub, Sergeant Holdswortli pushed his way through the crowd that blocked the doorTray. for a moment the president did not •Peak. Hi' flashed a rather uneasy look ®t his lieutenant, who .still glared at. the Englishman: then he began tentatively: . Well, if the court ain't, made up it* Blind to the -verdict —" Let the man speak,'' broke in an English voice. ••.'Hint's but fair play." "He.ir! Hear!'' he. presidejii nodded. " That sight.! J here rio Jeddai-t .Justice about this court: Wo* II hear exidence first an' hang .*fi'Srwards. Jes stop up to tlier witnessStand, re,v friend." That was precisely what Ranleigh Wanted, and he thrust his way forward he .vas standing almost directly tinpr (lie lamp, and closc. beside Lisette. "Go outside," he whispered, "at fince. ! ' Hie -;,] caught the warning flash of tils ey.\s, a.!,d ainderstood that he had •pine desperate sclx-nie in mind. She nodded, and l»egan to make her way to the *wor; and as she did so, the man in the Chairspnke. Name, witness."' Rajile.igh I" blame Britisher, I guess 2*2

■!; " You guess right,", retorted Ranleigh, 1 a licfctle heatedly. "No sass 1" said the president tartly. " What yer got to say against this lawfully constituted miners' meeting stretching that ruddy murderer there ?" " Well, "' first, that he isn't a murderer" Ranleigh broke off and looked towards the door. Tho girl was just disappearing, and as he noted the fact lie continued drawlingly, as if in no hurry: " And, secondly—" *' An' secondly," mimicked Slackman. " And, secondly," repeated Ranleigh, even more drawlingly than before, " this court is no court to try an honest man." There was a sharp murmur at this, and one or two angy shouts. % "Why not?" demanded the president. " What yer get tin* at?" '"Just'what I say. A court of which the president and the prosecutor are partners in a crooked three-shell game, and—" " "Almighty God!" The oath came from Pete Slackman. Ho leaped to his feet and stood upon the table, his eyes blazing,, whilst his hand went like lightning to his pistol-holster, and. as he dragged out the weapon lie shouted: " Yofi lying whelp!" j The crowd in the restaurant swayed suddenly, and as Slackman flung the pistol forward there was a surge backward, the throng striving to. carry itself out of harm's way. Slackman sighted deliberately, almost leisurely, a gleam of triumphant malice in his eves. But .in the second before the other man pulled the trigger Ranleigh's arm shot forward, and his clenched fist shivered the porcelain shade of the lamp, and the chimney and crashed down on the wick, extinguishing it completely. He ducked to avoid the falling ■ fragments of glass-, and that probably saved his life, for in I the same second Slackman's pistol barked, j stabbing the darkness with flame, and on tho heels of the shot there sounded a sud- { den fusillade outside. Panic fell on the assembly. Shouts and curses, the .stamping of feet and the gasping grunts of struggling men thrusting their way towards the door filled the restaurant .with babel sounds, and as the president began to bellow for order Ranleigh gripped his friend's arm. " Duck under the table," he shouted in his ears; and, holding each other, they ducked together between the trestles and out on the further side. ( " Strike a match, you doggone—" As Ranleigh recognised Slackman s voice over his head he paused. Heave," he said to his friend. Purnell understood him, and as the two heaved together the table tilted, and shot both the president and the prosecutor to the floor. Following the crash of the table, the noise of panic trembled. Some man, badly rattled, began to empty his pistol at random, and between the flashes the partners reached the window which Ranleigh had indicated to the sergeant. The latter had already broken all the glass out with the butt of his pistol, and in a twinkling the pair had scrambled through. " This way," laughed Holdsworth, and at a quick pace led them away from the frame-built hotel, and through the devious ways of the canvas town. Presently he stopped. "Tho trail's ahead, but I don't think 'there's a man in Alaska could make it. in the dark, 101 111 have to make the best of it in the open. Keep straight on till v6u come to the tall rocks on the right of the trail,„ and wait for me there. You U be able to shelter from the wind, and I 11 bo along ! with blankets presently. There's going to be a fluffy time down in Sheep Camp to-night." He turned to go back, and then remembered something. " Where our outfit?"' he asked. " It's stacked at the nor'-west corner of the camp. We were taking the last packs up when those blackguards gathered me. I expect the packers will collar it and sell it in the morning." j "I think not," laughed the sergeant; and without another word turnip and marched off toward the lights of Sheep Camp. v - The partners made no -delay. _ Setting their faces to the icv drizzle blowing from the Chilkoot, they 'began to make their wav up the now deserted trail, They did not talk, all their breath being required for. the task before them: but when they reached the rocks which Holdsworth imtl named, and crouching in the lee of them were able fo breathe easily, the American spoke abruptly. " You were in the nick of time, Ranleigh How did you hear? You weren't in" Sheep Camp when > those toughs brought me in. were you? '• No!" Ranleigh answered, and rapidly explained how the news of his friend s arrest had reached him. " And vou started at once — ' . I " Yes ! * Tell me what happened, Purnell!" . . , , v. "How much did you hear down there: asked the other. "All that Slackman said, and all that you fold." " Then you've got most of the story, and the little bit you didn't get is what that precious pair of scoundrels and their backers were after." " The plan" , ' " There isn't any plan. Just a dying man's description of a piece of country hundreds of miles north of Dawson. "He told von, then?" "Yes! Rather vaguely. The gold he had with him had come from a small lake up in the Porcupine country—" "The Porcupine country!" exclaimed his friend in surprise. "Yes! What is the matter?" " Nothing! Just an odd coincidence, that's all!" " The trail is first to the head waters of the river, then up the fourth big creek after passing a chain of lakes which Stefanson didn't know the name of, but which the map will probably show. "Die creek winds into some big mountains, and in the heart of them the lake is set as in a cup." " Probably an old crater!" "Likely enough! Anyway, on one side that lake there is a hill with a cliff, in which there is a broad vein of gold—if Stefanson's tale is true!" " You don't doubt it?" "No! Neither do those blackguards down there." He nodded his head toward Sheep Camp as he spoke. " Stefanson must have talked when he bunked there last'night, and the gold in that moose-hide poke was testimony to his yarn. Those scoundrels must have got wind of his story, and shot him like a dog in the hope 'of getting possession of his secret. It all happened just as I told the meeting, and those wolves were sold; for though they collared me and charged me with murder, they didn't get what they wore after.'' ""They were sure there was a plan?" "Yes! You saw how that scoundrel Slackman played on the cupidity of men crazy for gold. They'd have gone to the length of torture to make me own up, if you hadn't happened along." " Was there nothing at all in Stefanson's papers to indicate the district he'd been in?" " f don't know ! I never had time to examine them ; I'd scarcely shoved them in my pocket, and Stefanson's eyes had only just closed, when the bunch ol scoundrels .that took me showed up. Bin apparently there wasn't much that was any use to them." "It looks that way." Ranleigh was silent for a moment, then he asked suddenly : " How did that girl whom we met in Skagway come into the business?" " She was on the trail when those* blackguards gathered me. We'd gone round to Dvea together on that clanging old kettle they call a steamboat, and we'd talked a hit. She told me 'how you'd got clear the . night before last, ana asked a lot of questions about you, the most of which I had to answer with a blank. I suppose she butted in at the meeting to Ho what she could; though heaven knows 'twas little enough in a packed meeting like that." " I thought she was going up the White Pass Trail !" ""('hanged her mind when she heard of a landslide on that trail and took the Dvea route as being Ihe quicker, she being in a mortal hurrv to get to Dawson before the freeze-ill)." "Then we may see her again.'" " Maybe ! Rut she's a thruster, and she isn't, toting a ton of grub up th? trail. In a day she'll gain miles on us, and she'll be running the White Horse before we hit Lake Bennett,"

Again. Ranleigh fell silent, and in the silence once more he visioned the ; girl in the moonlight, baling the ice-cold water from the boat, and added to it the later vision of her standing in the restaurant bearding the- blackguardly Slackman and his partner; a girl all alone, but unafraid of that rough assembly of men. His eyes turned down the trail to the cup in the hills where the lights of Sheep Camp showed dimly through the rain, and a swift surge of anxiety for her welfare shook him. / "I hope no harm will come to her I down there," he said hoarsely, bis voice I shaking a little. " Those wolves—" " Daren't touch a hair of her head, I'll swear," broke in Purnell. "If they did there'd be a - clean-up in that camp such as it badly needs. Don't worry about her. There's "chivalry even in gold-seek-ers, and a whole lot of those fellows down there would stick up for a woman. Slackman and the crowd who stand in with him know their limits, I'll wager. Ranleigh made no reply, but safe there in the dark recalling the girl's face and wondering what was the nature of the mystery at which Cavannagh had hinted at the Aurora Hotel. He could not make even the wildest guess; but presently ho remembered what the Irishman had hinted about her destination, and he turned quickly towards his friend. " You'll go after Stefanson's gold, I suppose, Purnell?" "Yes!" answered the American. "You see, it's a sort of $ust from the dead. There's his sister down at Seattle —" 4 "You know her address " No, nothing beyond Seattle. The full address is in the papers which those blackguards took from 1 me. But it will be possible to get her through an advertisement in the Seattle papers—after we've proved the truth of her brother's story." "You say we?" "I hope you'll stand. in, Ranleigh," said the American hastily. "We were to be partners, and if half what poor Stefanson said is true, . this. Porcupine business is a big thing." _ " Well, if you think you would like me to—" # " " Like! It is a necessity that I should have some one. Who knows what may happen to a lonely man up in that country ? It's just got to be you or some one else." " Then I stand in to help you to get Stefansn's fortune," answered Ranleigh, without saying anything of the other reason that made the distant Porcupine country attractive to him. " Eight!" said the American cheer ,- " but before we pass the Chilkoot I must send a letter out to that girl." "I thought you didn't know her address." "I don't; but I know the address of the. Seattle paper; and I can send the letter care of the editor, with an advertisement. asking the girl to 6all for it. I shall enclose a swinging fee; and it will be all right; there never yet was an American news-sheet that refused good business." He laughed as lie made this statvmenV then as an <*3dy bf witucf brought a drizzle of rain into their shelter he crouched closer to the wet rock. " I" hope your friend will hurry up with the blankets. If we crouch her© very long in this we shall be stiff with rheumatism. I'm chilled to the bone already." Ranleigh laughed as he shifted his own position. _ ■ ' \ •; "Th© Chilcoot is certainly no place in which to spend a night in the rain!"

They fell silent, crouching lower in the rocks as the wind veered a little, and almost an hour had passed with leaden feet, when Purnell started suddenly. '• Hear anything, Ranleigh ?" " No," answered the Englishman. "I did! There's some one coming up the trail, I'll swear. I hope it isn't any of those precious scoundrels from Sheep Camp." "Scarcely likely, I should think. If they're trying to get you again they can scarcely* have gone through the camp yet. It will take, a few hours to search all the tents there are down there, and—" "Ah, you are right!" interjected Ranleigh. " There's a body of men coming up the trail. I heard voices in the wind. If it is Holdsworth,, there are others with him. Those Indian packers—" "No! broke in Purnell whisperingly. "Giant powder wouldn't move them in the darkness. I kno.w them.". «. They waited in silence for .the men on the trail to appear, Pnrnell peering over the edge' of rock into the nijsit,- then on the wet trail he glimpsed a i,number. of burdened figures and suddenly cut of the blackness came a hail. "Ahoy, Ranleigh!" " Holdsworth!'' said the baronet with a sudden relief of tension, and then shouted back: Ahoy! Ahoy!" "By Jupiter! He's got the packers J with him!" cried Purnell. in .wonder.] " How the dickens he has Imaged that beats me.'" The mystery was cleared up a few minutes later by the sergeant himself., " /' J happen to know this lot, and they've reason to be grateful to the mounted.-! Only last week they'd packed a party over r the pass to Lunderman, and with their goods ready for shipment ("he party tried to bounce them, offering them half the agreed price in settlement. But the scallywags, hadn't realised thaC on ona side the line things aren't conducted quite as fhey are on this; and that even the heathen in his blindness gets a square deal, and as I was there the headman, whom they were trying to fliddle, appealed to me. I put an embargo on the crowd, getting into their boat until they'd paid up, and it didn't take them long to find the dollars. So when I asked those chaps to bring your outfit this far to-night they agreed; and they're going back for the rest, so that you will be able to start on time at dawn. You'li have to pay them a few dollars more, as I promised —'' . ? "We shan't mind that!" broke in Ranleigh, with a laugh, "It will be worth that to get out blankets. This drizzle is infernally cold.". "Nothing to the cold you'll know yet, when winder overtakes you on the 'inside'!" said the sergeant cheerfully. "When it's forty below zero and there's & wind lifting the snow, you'll think of to-night as midsummer mild. But here are the blankets;aud if you'll just wrap yourselves up, I'll go with these fellows back to the camp and bring up Che rest of your stores." "It's awfully good of you, Holdsworth —" began Ranleigh. "Oh, lot," interrupted the other brusquely. -"It isn't safe for either of you two fellows to go down there now. The scoundrels are combing the camp for you, and if they found you.—",. Ho. broke off significantly, and then added : "They're a lawless lot." "Did you sec anything of that girl who interferred on Purnell's behalf?" asked Ranleigh. "No! But she'll be safe enough! No need to worry over' fier. Just make yourself as snug as you can, so that you'll be tit for the trial at the first glimpse of daylight. The sooner you're the other side of the line the better." After a rest, and a smoke the packers started on the return journey to Sheep Camp, and Ranleigh and his friend, snug in their blankets, soon passed into sleep, from which they did not awaken until the sergeant, roused them for breakfast. "Eat," he said, "as fast as you can, and swallow the coffee hot. You'll need it, for there's a blistering wind coming down from the snowfield." Whilst they breakfasted he gave advice. "When you start, push on as fast as you can. One or two lots of men have already gone on up the trail, and they may belong to the gang who run the camp down there; I don't know. But 'ware ambushes as you go, and if there's trouble don't hesitate to shoot. Remember, there's no law on this side of the* Chilkoot, and you won't be really safe till you're past the police-post at the summit. The only law that runs on this side is that of the gun and the quickest draw, so be prepared." "Right!" laughed Purnell cheerfully; and quarter of an hour later they were clambering up the trail with their heads bent low to shield them from Chilkoofs icy breath. (To be continued oil Saturday next.)