WEALTH OF THE WILD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21450, 25 March 1933, Page 12 (Supplement)

WEALTH OF THE WILD

CHAPTER XlX.—(Continued

claims, followed by a high-speed run back to Cinnamon Creek to register. What do you say, Harry?" he demanded, turning to his fellow Canadian. " I'll say you've said somethih'," returned Harry, quietly. " Rest has always looked so good to me. I've never been known to want a sleepin' draught, but until I see the clear title to these claims my two middle names are Wakeful Willie!"

Hoy had just time in which to shout curt instructions to get back between her blankets and stay there before Tony darted off into the woods. A few strides, owing to the other's haste, causing him to over a concealed root, and Roy was with him.

. " Gome back, vou idiot! " he urged. K .Your're simply playing into their hands." The face that Tony turned to Roy bore ppon it the same fighting stamp that had be-sn so evident the night he fought Jake Brine in Tom Long's restaurant. There was no shyness there, or diffidence; only a white-hot urge to come to grips with the coward who, himself under cover, had shot at an unarmed man.

"No need!" The other's voice was emphatic. " Turn and turn about in four-hour spells. I'm takin' the last watch —to-night. '

And though they pleaded with him to permit the guard to be shared equally between the three of them, he was resolute to take his share. He was going to pull his weight in the team, he said, " an' there's no guy here big enough to stop me."

" Why, you fool, you're not even armed!" cried Roy.

" I'm armed enough to tackle a brute like that!" said Tony from between his Bet teeth. lie pointed. " There ho is beating it between those trees.' • Sure enough, dimly but unmistakably, n man's figure could be seen retreating as rapidly as the nature of the ground permitted and, a little to .his light, and again to his left, two others. ' " Hark for'ard!" yelled Tony, and burst into pursuit, Roy and Harry Pullen directly at his heels.

Which, though, said with a twinkle, was backed nevertheless by resolution unshakable.

The night passed quietly enough, so Mr. Murnan reported, when in the early hours of a perfect morning he aroused the others before turning in to sleep. Whilst Roy and Tony were bathing and dressing, and afterwards over breakfast, the former observed that Harry Pullen did not take his usual part in the preparations. Instead, he hovered about the outskirts of the camp, and no inducement of the meal could bring liim in.

In those thick trees, intertwined too closely for the moon to penetrate, the chase had not lasted fifty yards before all .■rt-ere hopelessly at fault.

"No good!" said Harry ]fullen. " Tlie trouble now is how to get back to camp!" For, even in the short distance they had traversed, by no means had a straight course been maintained, and in that dense growth and with the sky obscured by foliage, without a compass the difficulty of regaining a given point is considerable. " Guess we'd best holler," he suggested. ""If old man Murrian hears he'll give'us-a leadi"-They yelled in unison, and a moment later, and from the direction they least expected, came an answoring shout, which repeated at intervals on both sides enabled them at last to regain the camp.

When Tony, who was the first to finish, got up, Harry beckoned him over. "Seems to me," lie said quietly, when the other joined him, " that if those 'breeds want to rush the camp there's no partic'lar reason for 'em to choose night-time to do it. With the cover of these trees to protect 'em, an' with us in the open, daylight's the best for the job. Apart from that, they'll guess we'll keep a watch at night. What we've got to do, though, is' to watch all the time." Not being given to a superfluity of words, Tony thought for a moment before replying.

" How long do you think we'll bo before we're through with the work and so able to get away 1" ho inquired.

They found the Canadian, an ulster over his hectic sleeping suit, boiling water over a small fire he had kindled. Assisting, and clad adequately in a. raincoat, her hair & glorious confusion of spun gold about her shoulders, was Nell, who cast an anxious eye over Roy as they fame into view. " What in Sam Hill is it all about, anyway ?" demanded her father. His manner displayed no sign of nervousness, Only intense irritation and resentment.

" If it comes to a show-down, to-morrow at the latest," replied Harry quickly. "How do you mean, a show-down?" asked Tony.

"Gut all the strippin' work," said Harfy, his voice decisive and businesslike. " Once we've staked the claims all reg'lar and accordin' to law, there's the whole police force of the Dominion to see that nobody swipes 'em. To lay claim to property registered in another naine'd be like walkin' into the Bank of Montreal and sayin' it's yours. Onco we've the title wo can hire labour to do all the strippin' an' treachin* that's needed. The thing to do is to leave one of us back hero to look after tho camp, an' all the rest bo out for the stakin'. When that's done, beat it back to Cinnamon Creek to register."

" Your old friend Brine taking pot shots at tho camp, I guess," said Harry Pullen quietly. The old miner's mouth grew suddenly grim. ; " Then I'll say you're a bunch of fools, trailin' after a "pack of gunmen without bein' heeled yourself. S'posin' you'd caught up with 'em ? How did you figure you were goin' to cope with their guns ?" He turned to Harry Pullen, as the most experienced. "What do you think you are, anyway ?" he demanded sternly. " A bunch of kids jjlayin' Boy Scouts, or somethin* funny ? J[)on't you know there's a"—ho waved a large hand to indicate Nell—" a girl in your charge ?" Instantly Tony took the onus upon himpelf. ,f' It's,, entirely my fault," he said sent'me following, but I wouldn't listen. Then when I'd started I expect he followed to see that I did'nt make a bigger fool of myself still. Then Harry came to look after the pair of us." v The old man's face softened. This frank shouldering of blame appealed to him; besides, what genuine man of his country was ever known to censure courage ? He pushed a mug of steaming tea into PTony Viands, ; .• 1 . / -:' i)■ ■7" Look Jiere, now!" ho said shortly, but in a mollified tone. " In every organisation, of whatever kind, there's got to be a boss. In this outfit, except for Harry there who's hired by me, I'm the only man who knows one hoot about the mining game. Besides, I'm the oldest, so I'm in charge. From now on what I says goes. Get me ?" He looked from one to .the other of the younger men. Ashamed of their earlier precipitation, leach one of them acquiesced. "Good!" The Canadian nodder a grizzled head. " You can take your first prders here and now." He hesitated a moment, thinking, and then turned to Harry. ".I. suppose there's no doubt but ;what that bunch of gunmen were, Brine land company ?" he demanded. Harry nodded..

When Harry's suggestion was put to their leader he agreed at once. " Tile sooner we're out of hero the better," he said. "Furthermore, I'll have a gang of men at work within a week of registration to stop that bunch of 'breeds highgradin' on tho claim." By the late afternoon all the claims were staked, and tho party returned to the beach for supper, tired out, but entirely satisfied with tho day's work.

A close watch had been maintained throughout the day, but without sight or sign of the half-breeds. And if by no means lulled to false security by theit immunity, the adventurers had begun to speculate seriously if, rather than run the legal and bodily risks of an attempt to jump a claim already staked, the invaders had not thought it wiser to prospect the new territory for themselves, in the hope of finding a property to which they might lay legitimate claim. Thus, though the question of an immediate departure was mooted by Harry Pullen and supported by Tony Clarges, it was agreed, in view of the general fatigue, to defer the start to Cinnamon Creek until the following morning. A decision, incidentally, which was to have far-reaching consequences.

" But its no use failin' at the last fence," Mr. Murrian said decisively, " we'll take watches to-night same as we arranged. Roy"—at the moment on duty—" can quit at nine, an' Harry'll take over till one, when I'll go on till five. Tony, havin' been on watch all day, can sleep. When my own turn's ended I'll give you the call, an' we can be on the water by six."

In view of his employer's broken rest of the previous night, Tony protested almost to the point of mutiny, but the arrangement had to stand. As Harry Pullen said:

•" Sure/' he said confidently. " How do you know the} 7 weren't just [lndians tryin' to scare us off their preserves ?** the old irian asked.

Because in the woods there was never &n Indian yet who wore anything on his feet but moccassins," stated Harry, ?! and that bunch of crooks wore prospecjtors' boots."

" The boss has been tip in the Yukon, and when a man's been up there he generally likes to see what he says goes."

Mr. Murrian jerked a quick sideways glance at him. "How do yoa. know that?" he asked shortly, to which the other smiled a tightlipped smile.

Roy did not find the time of his vigil hang heavily. There is something in the atmosphere in the North which rules monotony out of the scheme of things.

He had not been on watch many minutes before there was a soft footfall behind him, and, turning, he saw Nell. She came up to him, and without speaking, rested her hand against his shoulder and gazed contemplatively into ' the tangled woods that faced him. As he slipped his arm about her he felt her slender body shiver slightly as though from cold.

. " Because in breakin' a trail through iwoods there's as much difference between the footsteps of them as wears boots an* them as wears moccasins as between the Bound of a bull moose an' a timber wolf," he asserted. " One's just a blind crunch, an' the other's a kind of muffled crackle. I've heard both kinds often, an' I know." Ihat sounds pretty good to me," agreed the old miner, after a moment's thought, and turned to include the others. ■" We'll take it, then," he continued, '"that Jake Brine's put one over us. Likely those Indians in the boat talked."

" It's time you were hitting the hay, young lady," he said solicitously. " We're starting" well before sun-up, and after that there won't be much rest until we get to Cinnamon Creek." Under her tan, the face she turned to him looked, he thought, a shfide paler than usual, and her eyes were slightly troubled.

" Sure," agreed Harry Pullen. " They're out to jump the claim, an' beat it back to Cinnamon Creek to register before we can Stop 'em," he added decisively. The other's jaws came together with a snap which left his lips' a thiri vicious streak across his face. His eyes, visible by the leaping fire, shone hard and pitiless. Thomas Murrian had not snatched fortune from the conscienceless area of the Yukon to be scared from the biggest clean-up of his life like a mongrel husky phivvied from a cabin door. " Well," lie said acidlv, " there's tiothin' to stop 'em doin' it! Except us, that is! An' if we stand for it we'll deserve all we get." Momentary anger at insolence of such aspiration and from such a .source overcame him. " Before we're through we'll teach those 'breeds where they get off," he said, and turned back to his tent. When he returned a moment later he carried three heavy-calibre Smith and Wesson revolvers. " I'd a hunch somethin' of this sort might happen," ho 6aid, distributing the weapons, "so I brought these to help out —bought 'em in Cinnamon Creek the day we started." Tony turned to him. " What about your own, sir?" ho in<qu ired anxiously The miner's right hand, resting with apparent carelessness in the pocket of his raincoat, made a rapid movement behind the cloth, where it formed an ominous projection. " You don't think I blew about the Yukon without somethin' on the hip that can't be contained in a bottle?" ho asked . mildly, and he produced a worn, but serviceable Colt. CHAPTER XX CRACKLING TWIGS The Canadian stared into the glow of the fire. There was some pretty deep planning going on behind those rugged, rather strained features. At last he broke the silence. "That Brine's a fool to put us wise to his game just for spite," he observed slowly. " Of course, lie threatened what he'd do when I turned Dacrc down, but I put that down- to hot- air. However, now he's-shown his hand, it's tip to tis to make a hurry-up job of stakin'- these

" There'll not be much sleep for me to night, anyway," she said quietly.

There was a note of repressed nervousness in her manner quite fore : gn to her usual light-heartedness, a suggestion of strain which in all their relationship he had never before observed.

"What's troubling you, Nell?" he asked, his voice quiet and even.

" My trouble," she said, " is that I don't know what my trouble is—but I've a hunch we're not going to get away from here without trouble. Trouble with a capital ' T.' "

Ilis hand closed upon hers and he drew her more closely to him.

" I hope you're wrong, old thing," he said. " Everything is so wonderful now' that—" She broke in.

" Perhaps we've had things our own way too much," she said quietly. " It may be there's a test coming to prove whether we're worth while." Her small teeth closed over her lips as if she found difficulty in keeping a grip on herself. " Anyway, it's something!" she said with deep conviction. " It's not the first time T've had this certain-sure feeling of something coming, that if I didn't put up the fight of my life against it, was going to knock me cold. Always trouble lias come—and brought a gun with it, too," she added ruefully. And here it was ttiat Roy made the one comment which could have brought comfort.

" What's a fight, anyway ?" ho said, " We're together, and that's all that matters." .

He felt her slim young body press closer to his own, and the face upturned to his, smiling with something of its owp whimsicality. "There's always that, of course!" she said with a lightness that covered real depth of feeling. " But why," lie said, " trouble trouble, till trouble troubles us ?" '■

Ho broke off, suddenly stiffening to alertness, his eyes fixed intently in an

By L. C. DOUTHWAITE ..... Author of "The L'nlcom." "Fourflush Island, etc.

A STORY OF LOVE AND ADVENTURE IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS

(COPyniGDT)

effort to penetrate the trees, which the night had transmitted to a solid wall of shadow.

" Listen !" he said under his breath

Roy and Nell stood silent and motionless. Faintly the sound of cautious footfalls came to their ears.

" Blip back to camp and warn the others," Roy instructed under his breath. The girl made no sound on the firm sand as she stole away to do his bidding. The first of the party she aroused was her father, and while he scrambled into some sort of clothing, she went across to warn Tony and llarry. It seemed only a few moments before all three were assembled under the lee of the tent. Then, the position made clear, her father turned to Nell.

" Cet between the blankets, and stay put until we come back," lie instructed shortly; and there was that in his manner which impelled obedience.

They found lioy where Nell had left him. As they came up lie motioned them to silence, and pointed to the right, from where, by listening intently, they were able to hear the sound of movement among the trees. But until some definite move was made by the raiders they themselves could take no active steps. For any possible knowledge they had of the contrary, the intruders might merely be wandering Indians. Again, even presuming the unknown to be Brine and his party, to open fire would prematurely expose their own position, and thus place themselves at a disadvantage. It would be better to wait for a lead from the enemy. Suddenly, stabbing the darkness with spear-points of crimson, two shots rang out. Came then four more shots in quick succession, and, judging from the flashes, from points slightly removed from the previous one, though whether from different guns or from tho original aggressors who had changed their position, it was impossible to determine

Almost simultaneously with these second shots, the fire was returned, by Mr. Murrian first, a fraction of a second later by Harry Pullen and then by Hoy and Tony. Each aimed for the flashes or where, in the deceiving darkness, they imagined the Hashes to have been. A moment later came the undisguised crashing nf heavyshod feet through the trees. j, "Attaboy!" yelled the old miner, and set off in sure-footed pursuit. Tho others followed, according to their capabilities. It was Harry Pullen who, though appearing to exert himself the least, yet made the most consistent progress. Indeed, as tho most experienced in night-travelling through those closely woven woods, it was he who took command of the party.

And in the condition which prevailed, the need for a directing mind was urgent. Underfoot was inches deep in tinder-dry twigs and smaller branches which drowned entirely tho progress of their quarry. Thus time after time was necessary to call a simultaneous halt, so that tho direction of the fugitives might be ascertained.

Roy found tho chase one of extraordinary excitement. No burst in the huntingfield had ever given him the exhilaration of this wild night chase through tho stark and brooding woods. And to the excitement of the chase was added tho inspiration of danger, tho pulsating romance of those snake-tonguo flashes, tho drono of speeding bullets.

All the conditions were against tho pursuit. While tho claim-jumpers could choose their course, the pursuing party, with an ever-shifting object, found themselves confronted by a succession of hindrances it was impossible to avoid. Thus both time and distance were lost.

As far as Roy could gather, they were making a wide semi-circle, a course which would • bring them eventually once more to the beach. Exactly at what point, however, he was unable to deteimine, though he realised that more than one of the short headlands which scalloped the shore into a succession of tiny bays would intervene to shut out any sight of their own camp.

The thought caused him an unaccountable twinge of uneasiness, and suddenly it came over him how rash and foolhardy they had been to leave Nell utterly without protection. He wondered what she was doing—if she was nervous. Hardly, he thought. Anxious, yes; but only for the safety of her part}'. The thought of what would be her fate if the chase turned to a stand-up exchange of shots in which the devil looked after his own caused the hot perspiration with which violent exertion had bathed him to be transformed suddenly _to the cold sweat of apprehension. Facing the issue clearly, he admitted frankly that the odds would be against his own side. Though both Mr. Murnan and Harry Pullen were handy with a gun, lony Clarges and himself would be little or no use in a scrap where the order was longrange shooting.

CHAPTER XXI

THE FIRST HOUND

If he had been given his choice at that moment, he would have gone straight back to the camp. Not on account of anv fear for himself —there was nothing he wanted more than to get to grips with the murderous brutes who, for the second time, were all out to rob. lnm. but he had an uneasy suspicion that in entering into this wild and one-sided chase his party had fallen into a carefully prepared trap. Then he noticed that, quite suddenly, the trees had begun to open out, and a moment later a glimmer of moonlight penetrated the foliage. Simultaneously the pursuit came to a halt, and in the mom entary silence they were aware of the faint pulsating throb of motor engines. " Keep your distance," advised Murrian, as instinctively they commenced to close in. "We've no proof it s them. Those 'breeds may just be layin' for us to break cover. Follow me, and watch your step." Cautiously the party moved forward, until the narrow stretch of beach emerged clear through the trees—a strip of shingle backed the wide sweep of lake across which the riding moon poured a pathway of iridescent silver. And speeding down this moon-bathed strip, cleat-cut and distinct, was a canoe. In that canoe were two figures. The beach itself was empty.'

"No good shootin'," the marked, noticing .Harry Pullen's instinctive fingering of his revolver. ( Ihe ve made their get-away- all right. Then they heard the sound of a second canoe, its ' engine stuttered across the water; muffled, but becoming every moment more distinct. As they watched, heading directly for the outlet to Grassy River, swung the second canoe, in the bow of which was a hunched-up figure, with a second man tending the engine in tho stern.

" There they go!" cried the Canadian He turned to glanco at each of his com panions in turn.

"Where's those two coine from?" he demanded sharply, with a sweep, of his hand toward the Ipke.

Roy followed the direction of the gesture, and a moment later understood the plural. For, in the wake of the first, attached to it by a tow-line, rode a third canoe—empty. , "

For a long moment Hnrry Pullen remained motionless, his eyes iixcd avidly. Then with a sudden decision he turned: " You can call me a liur," he said quietly if Ihcm canoes ain't ours. They've left us here high and dry, while they go back and register the claims;" (To be continued daily)