The Adair County news. [volume], January 02, 1918, Page 2, Image 2

About The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987

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ADAIR COUNTY XS"VS
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HLIAMMacLEOD KAINE
Copyright. 1907. by
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I As a representative of
waVBto ATaTkTtoXveTti5ate coal claims.,
On tne boat he meets ana becomes in
terested in a fellow passenger whom he
learns Is Sheba O'Neill, also "going In."
Colby Macdonald, active head of the land
grabbing syndicate under Investigation,
comes aboard. Macdonald Is attacked by
mine laborers whom he had discharged,
and the active Intervention of Elliot prob-
- i
CHAPTER II Elliot and Macdonald
become in a measure friendly, though the '
latter does not know that Elliot is on a I
mission which threatens to spoil plans of ,
Macdonald to acquire millions of dollars
through the unlawful exploitation of im-
mensely valuable coal fields. Elliot also I
"gets a line" on the position occupied by i
Waly Selfridge, Macdonald's right-hand
man, who Is returning from a visit to
"rha utQraa " wharft Via hQ1 (nnA ,w OY,
effort to convince the authorities that
there was nothing wrong In Macdonald's'
methods.
CHAPTER III Elliot secures an Intro
duction to Miss O'Neill and while the
boat is taking on freight the pair set out
to climb a locally famous mountain. They
from which It is impossible for Miss j
CilkUlU tUU Jltil CL41U lUlUt SVr'WVtt
O'Neill to go forward or turn back.
CHAPTER TV Elliot leaves Sheba and
at Imminent tiprll of his Ufa ernes fnr ns-
Uome alarmsd for their safety, and they
return and rescue Sheba.
"Miss O'Neill, this is Mr. Macdon
ald," he said, as soon as he had freed
himself from the rope. "You are fel
low passengers on the Hannah."
Macdonald was looking at her
straight and hard. "Your father's
name was it Farrell O'Neill?" he
asked bluntly.
"Yes."
"I knew him."
The girl's eyes lit. "I'm glad, Mr.
Macdonald. That's one reason I want
ed to come to Alaska to hear about
my father's life here. Will you tell
me?"
"Some time. We must be going now
to catch the boat after I've had a
look at the cliff this young man
crawled across."
He turned away, abruptly, it struck
Elliot, and climbed down the natural
stairway up which the young man had
come. Presently he rejoined those
above. Macdonald looked at Elliot
with a new respect
"You're in luck, my friend, that
we're not carrying you from the foot
of the cliff," he said dryly. "I wouldn't
cross that rock wall for a hundred
thousand dollars in cold cash."
"Nor I again," admitted Gordon with
a laugh. "But we had either to home
stead that plateau or vacate it I pre
ferred the latter."
Miss O'Neill's deep eyes looked at
him. She was about to speak, then
changed her mind.
CHAPTER V.
Sheba Sings and Two Men Listen.
Elliot did not see Miss O'Neill next
morning until she appeared in the din
ing room for breakfast He timed him
self to get through so as to join her
when she left They strolled out to
the deck together.
ne came abruptly to what was on
his mind. "I have an apology to make,
Miss O'Neill. If I made light of your
danger yesterday, it was because I was
fcfraid you might break down. I had
to seem unsympathetic rather than
risk that."
She smiled forciveness. "All you
said was that I might have sprained
my wrist. It was true too. I might
have and I did." Sheba showed a j
white linen bandage tied tightly j
lround her wrist. j
"Your whole weight came on it with
n irrpnrVi 'n wnnilpr ir lmrf "
Sheba noticed that the Hannah was
drawing up to a wharf and the pas-
sensors were lining up with their be-1
longings. "Is this where we change?"
"Those of us going to Kuiak trans
fer here. But there's no hurry. We
tvait at this landing two hours."
Gordon helped Sheba move her bag
gage to the other boat and joined her
on deck. They were both strangers
in the land. Their only common ac-
quaintance was Macdonald and he was
letting Mrs. Mallory absorb his atten-
tlon just now. Left to their own re -
tources, the two young people natu-
rally drifted together a good deal.
This suited E41iot He found his
companion wholly delightful, not the
less because she was so different from
the girls he knew at home. She could
be frank, and even shyly audacious on
occasion, but she held a little note of
reserve he felt bound to respect
Macdonald left the boat twenty miles
below Kusiak with Mrs. Mallory and
the Selfridges. A chauffeur with a
motorcar was waiting on the wharf to
run them to town, but he gave the
wheel to Macdonald and took the seat
beside the driver.
"Are you going to the hotel or direct
o your cousin's?" Gordon asked Miss
O'Neill.
"To my cousin's. I fancy she's down
Ihere to meet me. It was arranged that
I come on this boat"
Elliot caught a glimpse of the only
people In Kusiak he had known before
coming in, but though he waved to
ifhpm rift favw thev did not recoenize
ihlm. After the nsual delay about get
'77V&7tf2 KMAJWW
Hllua MacLeod Ratne.
ting ashore he walked down the gang-
way carrying me suitcase or xne msn
girl. Sheba followed at his heels. On '
the wharf he came face to face with
a sienuer, wen-uresseu young woman.
"Diane!" he cried. I
She stared at him. "You ! What in J
heaven's name are you doing here, Gor-
don Elliot?" she demanded, and before
he could answer had seized both hands
and turned excitedly to call a stocky
mnn npir "Ppfpr Peter Guess
man , ., i.eier. vjuiso
who S here?
"Hello, Paget !" grinned Gordon, and
. . . , .., . , ,
he shook hands with the husband of
TVinp
"" " ,, x . .. i i i i
Elliot turned to introduce his friend,
hnt she nntlcinated him.
"Cousin Diane," she
said dryly,
"don't you know me?"
Mrs. Paget swooped down upon the
girl and smothered her in her em
brace. "This is Sheba little Sheba that I
- , T.i-. !
nave 101U you so oiien uuuui, iciei,
she cried. "Glory be, I'm glad to see
you, child." And Diane kissed her
again warmly. "You two met on the
same boat, of course, coming in,
I
hope you didn't let her get lonesome,
Gordon. Look after Sheba's suitcases. I
Peter. You'll come to dinner tonight,
Gordon at seven."
"I'm in the kind hands of my coun
trywoman," laughed Gordon. "I'll cer
tainly be on hand."
"But what in the world are you do
ing here? You're the last man I'd
have expected to see."
'Tm in the service of the govern
ment, and I've been sent in on busi
ness." "Well, I'm going to say something
original, dear people," Mrs. Paget re
plied. "It's a small world isn't It?"
While he was dressing for dinner
later in the day, Elliot recalled early
memories of the Pagets. He had
known Diane ever since they had been
youngsters together at school. He
remembered her as a restless, wiry
little thing, keen as a knife-blade. Al
ways popular socially, she had sur
prised everybody by refusing the catch
of the town to marry a young mining
engineer without a penny. Gordon was
In college at the time, but during the
next long vacation he had fraternized
a good deal with the Peter Pagets. The
young married people had been very
much in love with each other, but not
too preoccupied to take the college boy
into their happiness as a comrade.
Then the Arctic goldfields had claimed
Paget and his bride. That had been
more than ten years ago, and until
today Gordon had not seen them since.
While Elliot was brushing his dinner
coat before the open window of the
room assigned to him at the hotel,
somebody came out to the porch below.
The voice of a woman floated faintly
to him.
"Seen Diane's Irish beauty yet.
I Wn.1V
"Yes," a man answered.
The woman laughed softly. "Mrs.
Mallory came up on the same boat
with her." The inflection suggested
that the words were meant not to tell
a fact, but stJme less obvious infer
ence. "She's wonderfully pretty, and of
course Diane will make the most of
! her. But Mrs. Mallory is a woman
among ten thousand."
"I'd choose the girl if it were me,"
said the man.
"But it isn't you. We'll see what
we'll see."
They were moving up the street and
, Gordon heard no more. What he had
heard not clear to him. Why
ul "' importance attach to the
mt Mrs. Mallory and Sheba
1 eil ha come up the river on the
same boat? Yet he was vaguely dls
turbed by the insinuation that In some
way Diane was entering her cousin as
a rival of the older woman. He re
sented the idea that the fine, young
personality of the Irish girl was being
"r",-'i u ""l""'--"'- ".e i'""
' of Diane Paget
i E,liot was not the only dinner guest
' at tne PaSet nome that evening. He
foun(1 ColJT Macdonald sitting in the
IivInS room witn Sheba. She came
' quickly forward to meet the newly ar
rived guest
"Mr. Macdonald has been telling me
about my father. He knew him on
Frenchman creek where they both
worked claims," explained the girl.
The big mining man made no com
ment and added nothing to what she
said. There were times when his face
was about as expressive as a stone
wall.
The dinner went off very well. Diane
and Peter had a great many questions
to ask Gordon about old friends. By
the time these had been answered Mac
"donald was chatting easily with Sheba.
She listened with glowing eyes to the
strange tales this man of magnificent
horizons had to tell. Never before had
she come into contact with anyone like
him.
Page- was superintendent of the
Lucky Strike, a mine owned princl
I nnllv hv Mncdonnld. Th two .talked
- ' business for a few minutes over their
cigars, but Diane Interrupted" gayly" fo
bring them back Into the circle.
Adroitly she started Macdonald on the
account of a rescue of two men lost
in a blizzard the year before. He had
the gift of dramatizing his story, of
selecting only effective details. There
j was no suggestion of boasting. If he
happened to be the hero of any of his
stories the fact was of no importance
to him. It was merely a detail of the
picture he was sketching.
Gordon interrupted with a question
a story he was telling of a fight he had
seen between two bull moose.
"Did you say that was while you
were on the way over to insnect the
1 Kamatlah coal fields for the first
time?"
I The eyes of the young man were
quick with Interest.
"Yes."
I "Four years ago last spring?"
Macdonald looked at him with a
wary steadiness. Some doubt had
found lodgment in his mind. Before
he couid voice it, if, Indeed, he had
any such intention. Elliot broke in
swiftly
"Don't answer that question. I
aslQl it without proper thought. I am
a special agent of the general land
"Don't Answer That Question."
jffice sent up to investigate the Mac
jonald coal claims and kindred in
terests." Slowly the rigor of the big Scots
nan's steely eyes relaxed to a smile
that was genial and disarming. If this
news hit him hard he gave no sign
of It And that it was an unexpected
blow there could be no doubt
"Glad you've come, Mr. Elliot. We
ask nothing but fair play. The men
who own the Macdonald group of
claims have nothing to conceal. I'll
answer that question. I meant to say
two years ago last spring."
His voice was easy and his gaze un
wavering as he made the correction,
yet everybody in the room except Sheba
knew he was deliberately lying to
cover the slip. For the admission that
he had inspected the Kamatlah field
just before his dummies had filed upon
it would at least tend to aggravate sus
picion that the entries were not bona
fide.
It was rather an awkward moment.
Sheba unconsciously relieved the situ
ation. '
"But what about the big moose, Mr.
Macdonald? What did It do then?"
The Alaskan went back to his story.
He was talking for Sheba alone, for
the young girl, with eager, fascinated
eyes which flashed with sympathy as
they devoured selected glimpses of his
wild, turbulent career. She saw him
with other eyes than Elliot's. The gov
ernment official admired him tremen
dously. Macdonald was an empire
builder. He blazed trails for others
to follow in safety. But Gordon could
guess how callously his path was
strewn with brutality, with the effects
of an ethical color-blindness largely
selfish, though even he did not know
that the man's primitive jungle code
of wolf eat wolf had played havoc with
Sheba's young life many j'ears before.
Diane, satisfied that Macdonald had
scored, called upon Sheba.
"I want you to sing for us, dear, if
you will."
Sheba accompanied herself. The
voice of the girl had no unusual range,
but It was singularly sweet and full of
the poignant feeling that expresses
the haunting pathos of her race.
It's well I know ye, Sheve Cross,
Ye weary, stony hill.
An' I'm tired, och, I'm tired to be
looking on ye still. '
For here I live the near side
an' he is on the far,
An' all your heights and hollows are
between us, so tney are.
Och anee! ,
Gordon, as he listened, felt the
strange hunger of that homesick cry
steal through his blood. He saw his
own emotions reflected in the face of
the Scotch-Canadian, who was watch
ing with a tense interest the slim,
young figure at the piano, the girl
whose eyes were soft and dewy with
the mysticism of her people, were still
luminous with the poetry of the child
in spite of the years that heralded her
a woman.
Elliot Intercepted the triumphant
sweep of Diane's glance from Macdon
ald to her husband. In a flash it lit
up for him the words he had heard on
the hotel porch. Diane, an inveterate
matchmaker, intended her cousin to
marry Colby Macdonald. No doubt she
thought she was doing a fine thing for
the cirU He wasja millionaire, the
1 Ss" 5svie5-
bfggest figure in the Northwest. His
ron will ran the town and district
as though the people were chattels of
his. Back of him were some of the
biggest financial interests in the United
States.
But the gorge of Elliot rose. The
man, after all, was a lawbreaker, a
menace to civilization. He was a sur
vivor, by reason of his strength, from
the primitive wolf-pack. The very
look of his hard, gray eyes was domi
nant and masterful. He would win,
no matter how. It came to Gordon's
rebel heart that if Macdonald wanted
this lovely Irish girl and the young
man never doubted that the Scotsman
would want her he would reach out
and gather in Shoba just as if she
were a coal mine or a placer prospect. I
All this surged through the mind of J
the young man while the singer was
'on the first line of the second stanza.
But if 't was only Sheve Cross
To climb from foot to crown,
I'd soon be up an' over that,
I'd soon be runnln' down.
Then sure the great ould sea itself
Is there beyont the bar.
An' all the windy watliers are
Between us, so they are.
Och ance!
The rich, soft, young voice with its
Irish brogue died away. The little au
dience paid the singer the tribute of
silence. She herself was the first to
speak.
" 'Divided' is the name of it. A !
namesake of mine, Moira O'Neill, wrote
it," she explained. I
"It's a beautiful song, and I thank '
ye for singing it," Macdonald said sim-'
ply. "It minds me of my own barefoot
days by the Tay."
Later in the evening the two dinner
guests walked back to the hotel to
gether. They discussed carnally the
cost of living in the North, the raisins
of strawberries at Kusiak, and the best
way to treat the mosquito nuisance, i
but neither of them referred to the J
Macdonald coal claims or to Sheba
O'Neill.
CHAPTER VI.
Wally Gets Orders.
Macdonald, from his desk, looked up
at the man in the doorway. Selfridge
had come in jauntily, a cigar in his
mouth, but at sight of the grim face
of his chief the grin fled.
"Come in and shut the door," ordered
the Scotsman. "I sent for you to con
gratulate you, Wally. You did fine
work outside. You told me, didn't you,
that it was all settled at last that our
claims art clear-listed for patent?"
The tubby little man felt the edge
of Irony in the quiet voice. "Sure.
That's what Winton told me," he as
sented nervously.
"Then you'll be Interested to know
that a special agent of the land de
partment sat opposite me last night
and without batting an eye came
across with the glad news that he was
here to investigate our claims."
Selfridge bounced up like a rubber
ball from the chair into which he had
just settled. "What!"
"Pleasant surprise, Isn't It? I've
been wondering what you were doing
outside. Of course I know you had
to take in the shows and cabarets of
New York. But couldn't you edge In
an hour or two once a week to attend
to business?"
Wally's collar began to choke him.
The cool, hard words pelted like hail.
"Must be bluff, Mac. The muckrake
magazines have raised such a row
about the Guttenchild crowd putting
over a big steal on the public that the
party leaders are scared stiff."
"I understand that, Wally. What I
don't get is how you came to let them
slip this over on you without even
a guess that it was going to happen."
That phase of the subject Selfridge
did not want to discuss.
"Bet you a hat I've guessed it right
just a grand-stand play of the admin
istration to fool the dear people. This
fellow has got his orders to give us
a clean bill of health. Sure. That
must be it I suppose it's this man
Elliot that came up on the boat
with us."
"Yes."
"Well, that's easy. If he hasn't been
seen we can see him."
Macdonald looked his man Friday
over with a scarcely veiled contempt
"You've about as much vision as a
brood trader. Unless I miss my guess,
Elliot isn't that kind. He'll go through
to a finish. If he sees straight we're
all right, but if he is a narrow conser
vation fanatic he might go ahead and
queer the whole game."
"You wouldn't stand for that." The
quick glance of Selfridge asked a ques
tion. The lips of the Scotsman were like
steel traps and his eyes points of steel.
"We'll cross that bridge if we come to
it Our first move Is to try to win him
to see this thing our way. I'll have a
casual talk with him before he leaves,
for Kamatlah and feel him out."
"What's he doing here at all? If
he's Investigating the Kamatlah claims,
why does he go hundreds of miles out
of his way to come in to Kusiak?"
flaked Selfridge.
Macdonald smiled sardonically. "He's
doing this job'rlght Elliot as good as
told me that he's on the job to look up
my record thoroughly. So he comes to
Kusiak first. In a few.days he'll leave
for Kamatlah. That's where you come
in, Wally."
"How do you mean?"
"You're going to start for Kamatlah
tomorrow. You'll arrange the stage
before he gets there see all the men
and the foremen. Line them up so
they'll come through with the proper
talk. If you have any doubts about
whether you can trust someone, don't
take any chances. Fire him out of the
camp. Offer Elliot the company hos
pitality. Load him down with favors.
Take him everywhere. Show him ev
jsrythlng But don't, let him. get. any
proofs "that the claims
are ueing
worked under the same management"
But he 11 suspect it ,
"lou can't help his suspicions. Don t
let mm get prooi. uover.au tne tracKs
that show company control." j
"I can fix that," he said. "But what '
about Holt? You know how bitter he
is and crazy. He ought to be locked
away with the Hitter-mice."
"You mustn't let Elliot meet Holt."
"How the deuce can I help it? N
chance to keep them apart in tha
little hole. It can't be done."
"Can't It?"
Something in the quiet voice ranc
a bell of alarm in the timid heart
of Selfridge.
"You mean "
"A man who works for me as my
lieutenant must have nerve, Wally.
Have you got that? Will you take
orders and go through with them?"
Wally nodded. His lips were dry.
"Go to it. What am I to do?"
Get Holt out of the way while El-1
Hot is at Kamatlah. It isn't doing
Holt any good to sit tight clamped to i
that claim of his. He needs a change,
Besides, I want him away so that we
CTi
"Get Holt Out of the Way While El
liot Is at Kamatlah."
:m content his claim. Run him up
nto the hills. Or send him across to
Siberia on a whaler. Or, better still,
have him arrested for insanity and
send him to Nome. I'll get Judge Lan
dor to hold him awhile."
"Leave it to me. The old man is
going on a vacation, though he doesn't
know it yet"
"Good enough, Wally. I'll trust you.
But remember, this fight has reached
an acute stage. No more mistakes.
The devil of it is we never seem to
land the knockout punch. We've
beaten this bunch of reform idiots be
fore Winton, before the secretary of
the interior, before the president and
before congress. Now they're begin
ning all over again. Where Is it to
end?"
"This is their last kick. Probably
Guttenchild agreed to it so as to let
the party go before the people at the
next election without any apologies.
Entirely formal Investigation, I should
say."
This might be true, or it might not
Macdonald knew that just now the
American people, always impulsive in
Its thinking, was supporting strongly
the movement for conservation. A
searchlight had been turned upon the
Kamatlah coal fields.
The trouble bad originated in a de
partment row, but it had spread until
the Macdonald claims had become a
party issue. The officials of the land
office, as well as the national admin
istration, were friendly to the claim
ants. They had no desire to offend one
of the two largest money groups in the
country. But neither did they want to
come to wreck on account of the Gut
tenchilds. They found it impossible to
ignore the charge that the entries were
fraudulent and if consummated would
result in a wholesale robbery of the
public domain. Superficial investiga
tions had been made and the claimants
whitewashed. But the clamor had per
sisted. The facts were simple enough. Mac
donald was the original promoter of
the Kamatlah coal field. He had en
gaged dummy entrymen to take up
160 acres each under the homestead
act Later he intended to consolidate
the claims and turn them over to the
Guttenchilds under an agreement by
which he was to receive one-eighth of
the stock of the company formed to
work the mines. The entries had been
made, the fee accepted by the land of
fice and receipts issued. In course of
time Macdonald had applied for pat
ents. Before these were issued the maga-
zines began to pour In their broadsides.
and since then the papers had been
held up.
The conscience of Macdonald was
quite clear. The pioneers in Alaska
were building out of the Arctic waste
a new empire for the United States,
and he held that a fair government
could do no less than offer them liberal
treatment To lock up from present
use vast resources needed by Alaskans
would be a mistaken policy, a narrow
and perverted application of the doc
trine of conservation. The territory
should be thrown open to the world.
If capital were Invited in to do Its
share of the building, immigration
would flow rapidly northward. Within
the lives of the presentgeneratlon the
! mhfosmm'
:MV H;-&-XWl m.
(KOiarSB M
r put
, PTTinIrf TvnnliT fnke shnnp nnfl
wealth would pour inevitably Int0
Unlted states fr0m its frozen treasure
n01ise
The view held by Macdonald was
one common to the whole Pacific coast
Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, were
a unit in the belief that the govern
ment had no right to close the door
of Alaska and then put a padlock
upon it
Feminine voices drifted from the
outer office. Macdonald opened the
door to let in Mrs. Selfridge and Mrs.
Mallory.
The latter lady, Paris-shed and '
gloved, shook hands smilingly with the
Scotch-Canadian. "Of course we're
intruders in business hours, though
you'll tell us we're not," she suggested.
"I've just been reading the Transcon
tinental Magazine. A writer there says
that you are a highway robber and a
gambler. I know you're a robber be-
cause a11 the magazines say so. But
are u only a Dig garaoier:
He met her raillery without the least
embarrassment
"Sure I gamble. Every time I take
body else. We've got to take chances
to live."
"How true, and I never thought of
it," beamed Mrs. Selfridge. "What a
philosopher you are, Mr. Macdonald."
, The Scotsman went on without pay
1 lng any attention to her effervescence.
"I've gambled ever rfnee I was a kid.
' I bet I could cross Death valley and
i get out alive. That time I won. I
bet it would rain down in Arizona
before my cattle died. I lost An
other time I took a contract to run a
tunnel. In my bid I bet I wouldn't run
into rock. My bank went broke that
trip. When I joined the Klondike
rush I was backing my luck to stand
up. Same thing when I located the
' Kamatlab Ueld. The coal might be a
! poor quality. Maybe I couldn't inter
est big capital in the proposition. Per
haps the government would turn me
, down when I came to prove up. I was
I betting my last dollar against big
odds. When I quit gambling It will
I be because I've quit living."
"And I suppose I'm a gambler, too?"
j Mrs. Mallory demanded with a little
tilt of her handsome head.
"Of all the women I know yon are
the best, gambler. It's born In you."
Mrs. Mallory did not often indulge in
the luxury of a blush, but she changed
color now. This big, blunt man some
times had an uncanny divination. "Did
he," she asked herself, "know what
stake she was gambling for at Ku
siak?" "You are too wise," she laughed with
a touch of embarrassment very becom
ing. "But I suppose yea are right. J
like excitement."
"We all do. The only man who
doesn't gamble Is the convict in stripes,
and the only reason he doesn't Is that
his chips are all gone. It's true that
men on the frontier play for bigger
stakes. They back their bets with all
they have got and put their lives on
top for good measure. But kids in the
cradle all over the United States are
going to live easier because of the
gamblers at the dropplng-off place."
She moved with slow grace toward
the door, then over her shoulder
flashed a sudden invitation at him.
"Mrs. Selfridge and I are doing a little
betting today. Big Chief Gambler.
We're backing our luck that you two
men will eat lunch with us at the Blue
Bird inn. Do we win?"
Macdonald reached for
promptly. "You win."
his hat
CHAPTER VII.
The End cf the Passage.
Wally Selfridge was a reliable busi
ness subordinate, even though he had
slipped up in the matter of the ap
pointment of Elliot But when it came
to facing the physical hardships of the
North he was a malingerer. The Ka
matlah trip had to be taken because
his chief had ordered it, but the little
man shirked the journey in his heart
just as he knew his soft muscles would
shrink from the aches of the trail.
The part of the journey to be made
by water was not so bad. Left to his
own judgment, he would have gone to
St. Michael's by boat and chartered a
small steamer for the long trip along
the coast through Bering sea. But this
would take time, and Macdonald did
not mean to let him waste a day. He
was to leave the river boat at the big
bend and pack across country to Ka
matlah. It would be a rough, heavy
trail. The mosquitoes would be a con
tinual torment The cooking would
be poor. And at the end of the long
trek there awaited him monotonous
months in n wretched coal camri far
from all the comforts of civilization.
No wonder he grumbled.
But though he grumbled at home and
at the club and on the street about his
coming exile, Selfridge made no com
plaints to Macdonald. That man of
steel had no sympathy with the yearn
ings for the fleshpots. He was used
to driving himself through discom
fort to his end, and he expected lb
much of his deputies. Wherefore
Wally took the boat at the time sched
uled and waved a dismal farewell to
wife and friends assembled upon the
wharf.
Elliot said good-by to the Pagets
and Miss O'Neill ten days later. Diane
was very frank with him.
"I hear you've been sleuthing around,
Gordon, for facts about Colby Macdon
ald. I don't know what you have heard
about him, but I hope you've got the
sense to see how big a man he is and
how much this country here owes
him."
Gordon nodded agreement "Yes,
he's a big man."
Continued next week