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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spoilers, by Rex Beach
+(#3 in our series by Rex Beach)
+
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+**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971**
+
+*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!*****
+
+
+Title: The Spoilers
+
+Author: Rex Beach
+
+Release Date: February, 2004  [EBook #5076]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on April 16, 2002]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SPOILERS ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+THE SPOILERS
+
+By REX BEACH
+
+Author of "THE AUCTION BLOCK" "RAINBOW'S END" "THE IRON TRAIL"
+Etc.
+
+
+Illustrated
+
+
+
+
+       THIS BOOK
+IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED TO
+       MY MOTHER
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+CHAPTER
+
+    I. THE ENCOUNTER
+
+   II. THE STOWAWAY
+
+  III. IN WHICH GLENISTER ERRS
+
+   IV. THE KILLING
+
+    V. WHEREIN A MAN APPEARS
+
+   VI. AND A MINE IS JUMPED
+
+  VII. THE "BRONCO KID'S" EAVESDROPPING
+
+ VIII. DEXTRY MAKES A CALL
+
+   IX. SLUICE ROBBERS
+
+    X. THE WIT OF AN ADVENTURESS
+
+   XI. WHEREIN A WRIT AND A RIOT FAIL
+
+  XII. COUNTERPLOTS
+
+ XIII. IN WHICH A MAN IS POSSESSED OF A DEVIL
+
+  XIV. A MIDNIGHT MESSENGER
+
+   XV. VIGILANTES
+
+  XVI. IN WHICH THE TRUTH BEGINS TO BARE ITSELF
+
+ XVII. THE DRIP OF WATER IN THE DARK
+
+XVIII. WHEREIN A TRAP IS BAITED
+
+  XIX. DYNAMITE
+
+   XX. IN WHICH THREE GO TO THE SIGN OF THE SLED AND BUT TWO RETURN
+
+  XXI. THE HAMMER-LOCK
+
+ XXII. THE PROMISE OF DREAMS
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE ENCOUNTER
+
+
+Glenister gazed out over the harbor, agleam with the lights of
+anchored ships, then up at the crenelated mountains, black against
+the sky. He drank the cool air burdened with its taints of the
+sea, while the blood of his boyhood leaped within him.
+
+"Oh, it's fine--fine," he murmured, "and this is my country--my
+country, after all, Dex. It's in my veins, this hunger for the
+North. I grow. I expand."
+
+"Careful you don't bust," warned Dextry. "I've seen men get plumb
+drunk on mountain air. Don't expand too strong in one spot." He
+went back abruptly to his pipe, its villanous fumes promptly
+averting any danger of the air's too tonic quality.
+
+"Gad! What a smudge!" sniffed the younger man. "You ought to be in
+quarantine."
+
+"I'd ruther smell like a man than talk like a kid. You desecrate
+the hour of meditation with rhapsodies on nature when your
+aesthetics ain't honed up to the beauties of good tobacco."
+
+The other laughed, inflating his deep chest. In the gloom he
+stretched his muscles restlessly, as though an excess of vigor
+filled him.
+
+They were lounging upon the dock, while before them lay the Santa
+Maria ready for her midnight sailing. Behind slept Unalaska,
+quaint, antique, and Russian, rusting amid the fogs of Bering Sea.
+Where, a week before, mild-eyed natives had dried their cod among
+the old bronze cannon, now a frenzied horde of gold-seekers paused
+in their rush to the new El Dorado. They had come like a locust
+cloud, thousands strong, settling on the edge of the Smoky Sea,
+waiting the going of the ice that barred them from their Golden
+Fleece--from Nome the new, where men found fortune in a night.
+
+The mossy hills back of the village were ridged with graves of
+those who had died on the out-trip the fall before, when a plague
+had gripped the land--but what of that? Gold glittered in the
+sands, so said the survivors; therefore men came in armies.
+Glenister and Dextry had left Nome the autumn previous, the young
+man raving with fever. Now they returned to their own land.
+
+"This air whets every animal instinct in me," Glenister broke out
+again. "Away from the cities I turn savage. I feel the old
+primitive passions--the fret for fighting."
+
+"Mebbe you'll have a chance."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"Well, it's this way. I met Mexico Mullins this mornin'. You mind
+old Mexico, don't you? The feller that relocated Discovery Claim
+on Anvil Creek last summer?"
+
+"You don't mean that 'tin-horn' the boys were going to lynch for
+claim-jumping?"
+
+"Identical! Remember me tellin' you about a good turn I done him
+once down Guadalupe way?"
+
+"Greaser shooting-scrape, wasn't it?"
+
+"Yep! Well, I noticed first off that he's gettin fat; high-livin'
+fat, too, all in one spot, like he was playin' both ends ag'in the
+centre. Also he wore di'mon's fit to handle with ice-tongs.
+
+"Says I, lookin' at his side elevation, 'What's accented your
+middle syllable so strong, Mexico?'
+
+"'Prosperity, politics, an' the Waldorf-Astorier,' says he. It
+seems Mex hadn't forgot old days. He claws me into a corner an'
+says, 'Bill, I'm goin' to pay you back for that Moralez deal.'
+
+"'It ain't comin' to me,' says I. 'That's a bygone!'
+
+"'Listen here,' says he, an', seein' he was in earnest, I let him
+run on.
+
+"'How much do you value that claim o' yourn at?'
+
+'"Hard tellin',' says I. 'If she holds out like she run last fall,
+there'd ought to be a million clear in her."
+
+"'How much'll you clean up this summer?'
+
+"''Bout four hundred thousand, with luck.'
+
+"'Bill,' says he, 'there's hell a-poppin' an' you've got to watch
+that ground like you'd watch a rattle-snake. Don't never leave 'em
+get a grip on it or you're down an' out.'
+
+"He was so plumb in earnest it scared me up, 'cause Mexico ain't a
+gabby man.
+
+"'What do you mean?' says I.
+
+"'I can't tell you nothin' more. I'm puttin' a string on my own
+neck, sayin' THIS much. You're a square man, Bill, an' I'm a
+gambler, but you saved my life oncet, an' I wouldn't steer you
+wrong. For God's sake, don't let 'em jump your ground, that's
+all.'
+
+"'Let who jump it? Congress has give us judges an' courts an'
+marshals--' I begins.
+
+"'That's just it. How you goin' to buck that hand? Them's the best
+cards in the deck. There's a man comin' by the name of McNamara.
+Watch him clost. I can't tell you no more. But don't never let 'em
+get a grip on your ground.' That's all he'd say."
+
+"Bah! He's crazy! I wish somebody would try to jump the Midas;
+we'd enjoy the exercise."
+
+The siren of the Santa Maria interrupted, its hoarse warning
+throbbing up the mountain.
+
+"We'll have to get aboard," said Dextry.
+
+"Sh-h! What's that?" the other whispered.
+
+At first the only sound they heard was a stir from the deck of the
+steamer. Then from the water below them came the rattle of
+rowlocks and a voice cautiously muffled.
+
+"Stop! Stop there!"
+
+A skiff burst from the darkness, grounding on the beach beneath. A
+figure scrambled out and up the ladder leading to the wharf.
+Immediately a second boat, plainly in pursuit of the first one,
+struck on the beach behind it.
+
+As the escaping figure mounted to their level the watchers
+perceived with amazement that it was a young woman. Breath sobbed
+from her lungs, and, stumbling, she would have fallen but for
+Glenister, who ran forward and helped her to her feet.
+
+"Don't let them get me," she panted.
+
+He turned to his partner in puzzled inquiry, but found that the
+old man had crossed to the head of the landing ladder up which the
+pursuers were climbing.
+
+"Just a minute--you there! Back up or I'll kick your face in."
+Dextry's voice was sharp and unexpected, and in the darkness he
+loomed tall and menacing to those below.
+
+"Get out of the way. That woman's a runaway," came from the one
+highest on the ladder.
+
+"So I jedge."
+
+"She broke qu--"
+
+"Shut up!" broke in another. "Do you want to advertise it? Get out
+of the way, there, ye damn fool! Climb up, Thorsen." He spoke like
+a bucko mate, and his words stirred the bile of Dextry.
+
+Thorsen grasped the dock floor, trying to climb up, but the old
+miner stamped on his fingers and the sailor loosened his hold with
+a yell, carrying the under men with him to the beach in his fall.
+
+"This way! Follow me!" shouted the mate, making up the bank for
+the shore end of the wharf.
+
+"You'd better pull your freight, miss," Dextry remarked; "they'll
+be here in a minute."
+
+"Yes, yes! Let us go! I must get aboard the Santa Maria. She's
+leaving now. Come, come!"
+
+Glenister laughed, as though there were a humorous touch in her
+remark, but did not stir.
+
+"I'm gettin' awful old an' stiff to run," said Dextry, removing
+his mackinaw, "but I allow I ain't too old for a little diversion
+in the way of a rough-house when it comes nosin' around." He moved
+lightly, though the girl could see in the half-darkness that his
+hair was silvery.
+
+"What do you mean?" she questioned, sharply.
+
+"You hurry along, miss; we'll toy with 'em till you're aboard."
+They stepped across to the dockhouse, backing against it. The girl
+followed.
+
+Again came the warning blast from the steamer, and the voice of an
+officer:
+
+"Clear away that stern line!"
+
+"Oh, we'll be left!" she breathed, and somehow it struck Glenister
+that she feared this more than the men whose approaching feet he
+heard.
+
+"YOU can make it all right," he urged her, roughly. "You'll get
+hurt if you stay here. Run along and don't mind us. We've been
+thirty days on shipboard, and were praying for something to
+happen." His voice was boyishly glad, as if he exulted in the fray
+that was to come; and no sooner had he spoken than the sailors
+came out of the darkness upon them.
+
+During the space of a few heart-beats there was only a tangle of
+whirling forms with the sound of fist on flesh, then the blot
+split up and forms plunged outward, falling heavily. Again the
+sailors rushed, attempting to clinch. They massed upon Dextry only
+to grasp empty air, for he shifted with remarkable agility,
+striking bitterly, as an old wolf snaps. It was baffling work,
+however, for in the darkness his blows fell short or overreached.
+
+Glenister, on the other hand, stood carelessly, beating the men
+off as they came to him. He laughed gloatingly, deep in his
+throat, as though the encounter were merely some rough sport. The
+girl shuddered, for the desperate silence of the attacking men
+terrified her more than a din, and yet she stayed, crouched
+against the wall.
+
+Dextry swung at a dim target, and, missing it, was whirled off his
+balance. Instantly his antagonist grappled with him, and they fell
+to the floor, while a third man shuffled about them. The girl
+throttled a scream.
+
+"I'm goin' to kick 'im, Bill," the man panted hoarsely. "Le' me
+fix 'im." He swung his heavy shoe, and Bill cursed with stirring
+eloquence.
+
+"Ow! You're kickin' me! I've got 'im, safe enough. Tackle the big
+un."
+
+Bill's ally then started towards the others, his body bent, his
+arms flexed yet hanging loosely. He crouched beside the girl,
+ignoring her, while she heard the breath wheezing from his lungs;
+then silently he leaped. Glenister had hurled a man from him, then
+stepped back to avoid the others, when he was seized from behind
+and felt the man's arms wrapped about his neck, the sailor's legs
+locked about his thighs. Now came the girl's first knowledge of
+real fighting. The two spun back and forth so closely entwined as
+to be indistinguishable, the others holding off. For what seemed
+many minutes they struggled, the young man striving to reach his
+adversary, till they crashed against the wall near her and she
+heard her champion's breath coughing in his throat at the
+tightening grip of the sailor. Fright held her paralyzed, for she
+had never seen men thus. A moment and Glenister would be down
+beneath their stamping feet--they would kick his life out with
+their heavy shoes. At thought of it, the necessity of action smote
+her like a blow in the face. Her terror fell away, her shaking
+muscles stiffened, and before realizing what she did she had
+acted.
+
+The seaman's back was to her. She reached out and gripped him by
+the hair, while her fingers, tense as talons, sought his eyes.
+Then the first loud sound of the battle arose. The man yelled in
+sudden terror; and the others as suddenly fell back. The next
+instant she felt a hand upon her shoulder and heard Dextry's
+voice.
+
+"Are ye hurt? No? Come on, then, or we'll get left." He spoke
+quietly, though his breath was loud, and, glancing down, she saw
+the huddled form of the sailor whom he had fought.
+
+"That's all right--he ain't hurt. It's a Jap trick I learned.
+Hurry up!"
+
+They ran swiftly down the wharf, followed by Glenister and by the
+groans of the sailors in whom the lust for combat had been
+quenched. As they scrambled up the Santa Maria's gang-plank, a
+strip of water widened between the boat and the pier.
+
+"Close shave, that," panted Glenister, feeling his throat
+gingerly, "but I wouldn't have missed it for a spotted pup."
+
+"I've been through b'iler explosions and snowslides, not to
+mention a triflin' jail-delivery, but fer real sprightly
+diversions I don't recall nothin' more pleasin' than this."
+Dextry's enthusiasm was boylike.
+
+"What kind of men are you?" the girl laughed nervously, but got no
+answer.
+
+They led her to their deck cabin, where they switched on the
+electric light, blinking at each other and at their unknown guest.
+
+They saw a graceful and altogether attractive figure in a trim,
+short skirt and long, tan boots. But what Glenister first saw was
+her eyes; large and gray, almost brown under the electric light.
+They were active eyes, he thought, and they flashed swift,
+comprehensive glances at the two men. Her hair had fallen loose
+and crinkled to her waist, all agleam. Otherwise she showed no
+sign of her recent ordeal.
+
+Glenister had been prepared for the type of beauty that follows
+the frontier; beauty that may stun, but that has the polish and
+chill of a new-ground bowie. Instead, this girl with the calm,
+reposeful face struck a note almost painfully different from her
+surroundings, suggesting countless pleasant things that had been
+strange to him for the past few years.
+
+Pure admiration alone was patent in the older man's gaze.
+
+"I make oration," said he, "that you're the gamest little chap I
+ever fought over, Mexikin, Injun, or white. What's the trouble?"
+
+"I suppose you think I've done something dreadful, don't you?" she
+said. "But I haven't. I had to get away from the Ohio to-night
+for--certain reasons. I'll tell you all about it to-morrow. I
+haven't stolen anything, nor poisoned the crew--really I haven't."
+She smiled at them, and Glenister found it impossible not to smile
+with her, though dismayed by her feeble explanation.
+
+"Well, I'll wake up the steward and find a place for you to go,"
+he said at length. "You'll have to double up with some of the
+women, though; it's awfully crowded aboard."
+
+She laid a detaining hand on his arm. He thought he felt her
+tremble.
+
+"No, no! I don't want you to do that. They mustn't see me to-
+night. I know I'm acting strangely and all that, but it's happened
+so quickly I haven't found myself yet. I'll tell you to-morrow,
+though, really. Don't let any one see me or it will spoil
+everything. Wait till to-morrow, please."
+
+She was very white, and spoke with eager intensity.
+
+"Help you? Why, sure Mike!" assured the impulsive Dextry, "an',
+see here, Miss--you take your time on explanations. We don't care
+a cuss what you done. Morals ain't our long suit, 'cause 'there's
+never a law of God or man runs north of Fifty-three,' as the
+poetry man remarked, an' he couldn't have spoke truer if he'd
+knowed what he was sayin'. Everybody is privileged to 'look out'
+his own game up here. A square deal an' no questions asked."
+
+She looked somewhat doubtful at this till she caught the heat of
+Glenister's gaze. Some boldness of his look brought home to her
+the actual situation, and a stain rose in her cheek. She noted him
+more carefully; noted his heavy shoulders and ease of bearing, an
+ease and looseness begotten of perfect muscular control. Strength
+was equally suggested in his face, she thought, for he carried a
+marked young countenance, with thrusting chin, aggressive
+thatching brows, and mobile mouth that whispered all the changes
+from strength to abandon. Prominent was a look of reckless energy.
+She considered him handsome in a heavy, virile, perhaps too purely
+physical fashion.
+
+"You want to stowaway?" he asked.
+
+"I've had a right smart experience in that line," said Dextry,
+"but I never done it by proxy. What's your plan?"
+
+"She will stay here to-night," said Glenister quickly. "You and I
+will go below. Nobody will see her."
+
+"I can't let you do that," she objected. "Isn't there some place
+where I can hide?" But they reassured her and left.
+
+When they had gone, she crouched trembling upon her seat for a
+long time, gazing fixedly before her. "I'm afraid!" she whispered;
+"I'm afraid. What am I getting into? Why do men look so at me? I'm
+frightened. Oh, I'm sorry I undertook it." At last she rose
+wearily. The close cabin oppressed her; she felt the need of fresh
+air. So, turning out the lights, she stepped forth into the night.
+Figures loomed near the rail and she slipped astern, screening
+herself behind a life-boat, where the cool breeze fanned her face.
+
+The forms she had seen approached, speaking earnestly. Instead of
+passing, they stopped abreast of her hiding-place; then, as they
+began to talk, she saw that her retreat was cut off and that she
+must not stir.
+
+"What brings her here?" Glenister was echoing a question of
+Dextry's. "Bah! What brings them all? What brought 'the Duchess,'
+and Cherry Malotte, and all the rest?"
+
+"No, no," said the old man. "She ain't that kind--she's too fine,
+too delicate--too pretty."
+
+"That's just it--too pretty! Too pretty to be alone--or anything
+except what she is."
+
+Dextry growled sourly. "This country has plumb ruined you, boy.
+You think they're all alike--an' I don't know but they are--all
+but this girl. Seems like she's different, somehow--but I can't
+tell."
+
+Glenister spoke musingly:
+
+"I had an ancestor who buccaneered among the Indies, a long time
+ago--so I'm told. Sometimes I think I have his disposition. He
+comes and whispers things to me in the night. Oh, he was a devil,
+and I've got his blood in me--untamed and hot--I can hear him
+saying something now--something about the spoils of war. Ha, ha!
+Maybe he's right. I fought for her to-night--Dex--the way he used
+to fight for his sweethearts along the Mexicos. She's too
+beautiful to be good--and 'there's never a law of God or man runs
+north of Fifty-three.'"
+
+They moved on, his vibrant, cynical laughter stabbing the girl
+till she leaned against the yawl for support.
+
+She held herself together while the blood beat thickly in her
+ears, then fled to the cabin, hurling herself into her berth,
+where she writhed silently, beating the pillow with hands into
+which her nails had bitten, staring the while into the darkness
+with dry and aching eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+THE STOWAWAY
+
+
+She awoke to the throb of the engines, and, gazing cautiously
+through her stateroom window, saw a glassy, level sea, with the
+sun brightly agleam on it.
+
+So this was Bering? She had clothed it always with the mystery of
+her school-days, thinking of it as a weeping, fog-bound stretch of
+gray waters. Instead, she saw a flat, sunlit main, with occasional
+sea-parrots flapping their fat bodies out of the ship's course. A
+glistening head popped up from the waters abreast, and she heard
+the cry of "seal!"
+
+Dressing, the girl noted minutely the personal articles scattered
+about the cabin, striving to derive therefrom some fresh hint of
+the characteristics of the owners. First, there was an elaborate,
+copper-backed toilet-set, all richly ornamented and leather-bound.
+The metal was magnificently hand-worked and bore Glenister's
+initial. It spoke of elegant extravagance, and seemed oddly out of
+place in an Arctic miner's equipment, as did also a small set of
+De Maupassant.
+
+Next, she picked up Kipling's Seven Seas, marked liberally, and
+felt that she had struck a scent. The roughness and brutality of
+the poems had always chilled her, though she had felt vaguely
+their splendid pulse and swing. This was the girl's first venture
+from a sheltered life. She had not rubbed elbows with the world
+enough to find that Truth may be rough, unshaven, and garbed in
+homespun. The book confirmed her analysis of the junior partner.
+
+Pendent from a hook was a worn and blackened holster from which
+peeped the butt of a large Colt's revolver, showing evidence of
+many years' service. It spoke mutely of the white-haired Dextry,
+who, before her inspection was over, knocked at the door, and,
+when she admitted him, addressed her cautiously:
+
+"The boy's down forrad, teasin' grub out of a flunky. He'll be up
+in a minute. How'd ye sleep?"
+
+"Very well, thank you," she lied, "but I've been thinking that I
+ought to explain myself to you."
+
+"Now, see here," the old man interjected, "there ain't no
+explanations needed till you feel like givin' them up. You was in
+trouble--that's unfortunate; we help you--that's natural; no
+questions asked--that's Alaska."
+
+"Yes--but I know you must think--"
+
+"What bothers me," the other continued irrelevantly, "is how in
+blazes we're goin' to keep you hid. The steward's got to make up
+this room, and somebody's bound to see us packin' grub in."
+
+"I don't care who knows if they won't send me back. They wouldn't
+do that, would they?" She hung anxiously on his words.
+
+"Send you back? Why, don't you savvy that this boat is bound for
+Nome? There ain't no turnin' back on gold stampedes, and this is
+the wildest rush the world ever saw. The captain wouldn't turn
+back--he couldn't--his cargo's too precious and the company pays
+five thousand a day for this ship. No, we ain't puttin' back to
+unload no stowaways at five thousand per. Besides, we passengers
+wouldn't let him--time's too precious." They were interrupted by
+the rattle of dishes outside, and Dextry was about to open the
+door when his hand wavered uncertainly above the knob, for he
+heard the hearty greeting of the ship's captain.
+
+"Well, well, Glenister, where's all the breakfast going?"
+
+"Oo!" whispered the old man--"that's Cap' Stephens."
+
+"Dextry isn't feeling quite up to form this morning," replied
+Glenister easily.
+
+"Don't wonder! Why weren't you aboard sooner last night? I saw
+you--'most got left, eh? Served you right if you had." Then his
+voice dropped to the confidential: "I'd advise you to cut out
+those women. Don't misunderstand me, boy, but they're a bad lot on
+this boat. I saw you come aboard. Take my word for it--they're a
+bad lot. Cut 'em out. Guess I'll step inside and see what's up
+with Dextry."
+
+The girl shrank into her corner, gazing apprehensively at the
+other listener.
+
+"Well--er--he isn't up yet," they heard Glenister stammer; "better
+come around later."
+
+"Nonsense; it's time he was dressed." The master's voice was
+gruffly good-natured. "Hello, Dextry! Hey! Open up for
+inspection." He rattled the door.
+
+There was nothing to be done. The old miner darted an inquiring
+glance at his companion, then, at her nod, slipped the bolt, and
+the captain's blue bulk filled the room.
+
+His grizzled, close-bearded face was genially wrinkled till he
+spied the erect, gray figure in the corner, when his cap came off
+involuntarily. There his courtesy ended, however, and the smile
+died coldly from his face. His eyes narrowed, and the good-
+fellowship fell away, leaving him the stiff and formal officer.
+
+"Ah," he said, "not feeling well, eh? I thought I had met all of
+our lady passengers. Introduce me, Dextry."
+
+Dextry squirmed under his cynicism.
+
+"Well--I--ah--didn't catch the name myself."
+
+"What?"
+
+"Oh, there ain't much to say. This is the lady--we brought aboard
+last night--that's all."
+
+"Who gave you permission?"
+
+"Nobody. There wasn't time."
+
+"There wasn't TIME, eh? Which one of you conceived the novel
+scheme of stowing away ladies in your cabin? Whose is she? Quick!
+Answer me." Indignation was vibrant in his voice.
+
+"Oh!" the girl cried--her eyes widening darkly. She stood slim and
+pale and slightly trembling.
+
+His words had cut her bitterly, though through it all he had
+scrupulously avoided addressing her.
+
+The captain turned to Glenister, who had entered and closed the
+door.
+
+"Is this your work? Is she yours?"
+
+"No," he answered quietly, while Dextry chimed in:
+
+"Better hear details, captain, before you make breaks like that.
+We helped the lady side-step some sailors last night and we most
+got left doing it. It was up to her to make a quick get-away, so
+we helped her aboard."
+
+"A poor story! What was she running away from?" He still addressed
+the men, ignoring her completely, till, with hoarse voice, she
+broke in:
+
+"You mustn't talk about me that way--I can answer your questions.
+It's true--I ran away. I had to. The sailors came after me and
+fought with these men. I had to get away quickly, and your friends
+helped me on here from gentlemanly kindness, because they saw me
+unprotected. They are still protecting me. I can't explain how
+important it is for me to reach Nome on the first boat, because it
+isn't my secret. It was important enough to make me leave my uncle
+at Seattle at an hour's notice when we found there was no one else
+who could go. That's all I can say. I took my maid with me, but
+the sailors caught her just as she was following me down the
+ship's ladder. She had my bag of clothes when they seized her. I
+cast off the rope and rowed ashore as fast as I could, but they
+lowered another boat and followed me."
+
+The captain eyed her sharply, and his grim lines softened a bit,
+for she was clean-cut and womanly, and utterly out of place, He
+took her in, shrewdly, detail by detail, then spoke directly to
+her:
+
+"My dear young lady--the other ships will get there just as
+quickly as ours, maybe more quickly. To-morrow we strike the ice-
+pack and then it is all a matter of luck."
+
+"Yes, but the ship I left won't get there."
+
+At this the commander started, and, darting a great, thick-
+fingered hand at her, spoke savagely:
+
+"What's that? What ship? Which one did you come from? Answer me."
+
+"The Ohio," she replied, with the effect of a hand-grenade. The
+master glared at her.
+
+"The Ohio! Good God! You DARE to stand there and tell me that?" He
+turned and poured his rage upon the others.
+
+"She says the Ohio, d'ye hear? You've ruined me! I'll put you in
+irons--all of you. The Ohio!"
+
+"What d'ye mean? What's up?"
+
+"What's up? There's small-pox aboard the Ohio! This girl has
+broken quarantine. The health inspectors bottled up the boat at
+six o'clock last night! That's why I pulled out of Unalaska ahead
+of time, to avoid any possible delay. Now we'll all be held up
+when we get to Nome. Great Heavens! do you realize what this
+means--bringing this hussy aboard?"
+
+His eyes burned and his voice shook, while the two partners stared
+at each other in dismay. Too well they knew the result of a small-
+pox panic aboard this crowded troop-ship. Not only was every
+available cabin bulging with passengers, but the lower decks were
+jammed with both humanity and live stock all in the most
+unsanitary conditions. The craft, built for three hundred
+passengers, was carrying triple her capacity; men and women were
+stowed away like cattle. Order and a half-tolerable condition were
+maintained only by the efforts of the passengers themselves, who
+held to the thought that imprisonment and inconvenience would last
+but a few days longer. They had been aboard three weeks and every
+heart was aflame with the desire to reach Nome--to reach it ahead
+of the pressing horde behind.
+
+What would be the temper of this gold-frenzied army if thrown into
+quarantine within sight of their goal? The impatient hundreds
+would have to lie packed in their floating prison, submitting to
+the foul disease. Long they must lie thus, till a month should
+have passed after the disappearance of the last symptom. If the
+disease recurred sporadically, that might mean endless weeks of
+maddening idleness. It might even be impossible to impose the
+necessary restraint; there would be violence, perhaps mutiny.
+
+The fear of the sickness was nothing to Dextry and Glenister, but
+of their mine they thought with terror. What would happen in their
+absence, where conditions were as unsettled as in this new land;
+where titles were held only by physical possession of the
+premises? During the long winter of their absence, ice had held
+their treasure inviolate, but with the warming summer the jewel
+they had fought for so wearily would lie naked and exposed to the
+first comer. The Midas lay in the valley of the richest creek,
+where men had schemed and fought and slain for the right to
+inches. It was the fruit of cheerless, barren years of toil, and
+if they could not guard it--they knew the result.
+
+The girl interrupted their distressing reflections.
+
+"Don't blame these men, sir," she begged the captain. "I am the
+only one at fault. Oh! I HAD to get away. I have papers here that
+must be delivered quickly." She laid a hand upon her bosom. "They
+couldn't be trusted to the unsettled mail service. It's almost
+life and death. And I assure you there is no need of putting me in
+quarantine. I haven't the smallpox. I wasn't even exposed to it."
+
+"There's nothing else to do," said Stephens. "I'll isolate you in
+the deck smoking-cabin. God knows what these madmen on board will
+do when they hear about it, though. They're apt to tear you to
+shreds. They're crazy!"
+
+Glenister had been thinking rapidly.
+
+"If you do that, you'll have mutiny in an hour. This isn't the
+crowd to stand that sort of thing."
+
+"Bah! Let 'em try it. I'll put 'em down." The officer's square
+jaws clicked.
+
+"Maybe so; but what then? We reach Nome and the Health Inspector
+hears of small-pox suspects, then we're all quarantined for thirty
+days; eight hundred of us. We'll lie at Egg Island all summer
+while your company pays five thousand a day for this ship. That's
+not all. The firm is liable in damages for your carelessness in
+letting disease aboard."
+
+"MY CARELESSNESS!" The old man ground his teeth.
+
+"Yes; that's what it amounts to. You'll ruin your owners, all
+right. You'll tie up your ship and lose your job, that's a cinch!"
+
+Captain Stephens wiped the moisture from his brow angrily.
+
+"My carelessness! Curse you--you say it well. Don't you realize
+that I am criminally liable if I don't take every precaution?" He
+paused for a moment, considering. "I'll hand her over to the
+ship's doctor."
+
+"See here, now," Glenister urged. "We'll be in Nome in a week--
+before the young lady would have time to show symptoms of the
+disease, even if she were going to have it--and a thousand to one
+she hasn't been exposed, and will never show a trace of it. Nobody
+knows she's aboard but we three. Nobody will see her get off.
+She'll stay in this cabin, which will be just as effectual as
+though you isolated her in any other part of the boat. It will
+avoid a panic--you'll save your ship and your company--no one will
+be the wiser--then if the girl comes down with small-pox after she
+gets ashore, she can go to the pest-house and not jeopardize the
+health of all the people aboard this ship. You go up forrad to
+your bridge, sir, and forget that you stepped in to see old Bill
+Dextry this morning. Well take care of this matter all right. It
+means as much to us as it does to you. We've GOT to be on Anvil
+Creek before the ground thaws or we'll lose the Midas. If you make
+a fuss, you'll ruin us all."
+
+For some moments they watched him breathlessly as he frowned in
+indecision, then--
+
+"You'll have to look out for the steward," he said, and the girl
+sank to a stool while two great tears rolled down her cheeks. The
+captain's eyes softened and his voice was gentle as he laid his
+hand on her head.
+
+"Don't feel hurt over what I said, miss. You see, appearances
+don't tell much, hereabouts--most of the pretty ones are no good.
+They've fooled me many a time, and I made a mistake. These men
+will help you through; I can't. Then when you get to Nome, make
+your sweetheart marry you the day you land. You are too far north
+to be alone."
+
+He stepped out into the passage and closed the door carefully.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+IN WHICH GLENISTER ERRS
+
+
+"Well, bein' as me an' Glenister is gougin' into the bowels of
+Anvil Creek all last summer, we don't really get the fresh-grub
+habit fastened on us none. You see, the gamblers down-town cop out
+the few aigs an' green vegetables that stray off the ships, so
+they never get out as far as the Creek none; except, maybe, in the
+shape of anecdotes.
+
+"We don't get intimate with no nutriments except hog-boosum an'
+brown beans, of which luxuries we have unstinted measure, an'
+bein' as this is our third year in the country we hanker for bony
+fido grub, somethin' scan'lous. Yes, ma'am--three years without a
+taste of fresh fruit nor meat nor nuthin'--except pork an' beans.
+Why, I've et bacon till my immortal soul has growed a rind.
+
+"When it comes time to close down the claim, the boy is sick with
+the fever an' the only ship in port is a Point Barrow whaler,
+bound for Seattle. After I book our passage, I find they have
+nothin' aboard to eat except canned salmon, it bein' the end of a
+two years' cruise, so when I land in the States after seventeen
+days of a fish diet, I am what you might call sated with canned
+grub, and have added salmon to the list of things concernin' which
+I am goin' to economize.
+
+"Soon's ever I get the boy into a hospital, I gallop up to the
+best restarawnt in town an' prepare for the huge pot-latch. This
+here, I determine, is to be a gormandizin' jag which shall live in
+hist'ry, an' wharof in later years the natives of Puget Sound
+shall speak with bated breath.
+
+"First, I call for five dollars' worth of pork an' beans an' then
+a full-grown platter of canned salmon. When the waiter lays 'em
+out in front of me, I look them vittles coldly in their disgustin'
+visages, an' say in sarcastic accents:
+
+"'Set there, damn you! an' watch me eat REAL grub,' which I
+proceed to do, cleanin' the menu from soda to hock. When I have
+done my worst, I pile bones an' olive seeds an' peelin's all over
+them articles of nourishment, stick toothpicks into 'em, an'
+havin' offered 'em what other indignities occur to me, I leave the
+place."
+
+Dextry and the girl were leaning over the stern-rail, chatting
+idly in the darkness. It was the second night out and the ship lay
+dead in the ice-pack. All about them was a flat, floe-clogged sea,
+leprous and mottled in the deep twilight that midnight brought in
+this latitude. They had threaded into the ice-field as long as the
+light lasted, following the lanes of blue water till they closed,
+then drifting idly till others appeared; worming out into leagues
+of open sea, again creeping into the shifting labyrinth till
+darkness rendered progress perilous.
+
+Occasionally they had passed herds of walrus huddled sociably upon
+ice-pans, their wet hides glistening in the sunlight. The air had
+been clear and pleasant, while away on all quarters they had seen
+the smoke of other ships toiling through the barrier. The spring
+fleet was knocking at the door of the Golden North.
+
+Chafing at her imprisonment, the girl had asked the old man to
+take her out on deck under the shelter of darkness; then she had
+led him to speak of his own past experiences, and of Glenister's;
+which he had done freely. She was frankly curious about them, and
+she wondered at their apparent lack of interest in her own
+identity and her secret mission. She even construed their silence
+as indifference, not realizing that these Northmen were offering
+her the truest evidence of camaraderie.
+
+The frontier is capable of no finer compliment than this utter
+disregard of one's folded pages. It betokens that highest faith in
+one's fellow-man, the belief that he should be measured by his
+present deeds, not by his past. It says, translated: "This is
+God's free country where a man is a man, nothing more. Our land is
+new and pure, our faces are to the front. If you have been square,
+so much the better; if not, leave behind the taints of artificial
+things and start again on the level--that's all."
+
+It had happened, therefore, that since the men had asked her no
+questions, she had allowed the hours to pass and still hesitated
+to explain further than she had explained to Captain Stephens. It
+was much easier to let things continue as they were; and there
+was, after all, so little that she was at liberty to tell them.
+
+In the short time since meeting them, the girl had grown to like
+Dextry, with his blunt chivalry and boyish, whimsical philosophy,
+but she avoided Glenister, feeling a shrinking, hidden terror of
+him, ever since her eavesdropping of the previous night. At the
+memory of that scene she grew hot, then cold--hot with anger, icy
+at the sinister power and sureness which had vibrated in his
+voice. What kind of life was she entering where men spoke of
+strange women with this assurance and hinted thus of ownership?
+That he was handsome and unconscious of it, she acknowledged, and
+had she met him in her accustomed circle of friends, garbed in the
+conventionalities, she would perhaps have thought of him as a
+striking man, vigorous and intelligent; but here he seemed
+naturally to take on the attributes of his surroundings, acquiring
+a picturesque negligee of dress and morals, and suggesting rugged,
+elemental, chilling potentialities. While with him--and he had
+sought her repeatedly that day--she was uneasily aware of his
+strong personality tugging at her; aware of the unbridled
+passionate flood of a nature unbrooking of delay and heedless of
+denial. This it was that antagonized her and set her every mental
+sinew in rigid resistance.
+
+During Dextry's garrulous ramblings, Glenister emerged from the
+darkness and silently took his place beside her, against the rail.
+
+"What portent do you see that makes you stare into the night so
+anxiously?" he inquired.
+
+"I am wishing for a sight of the midnight sun or the aurora
+borealis," she replied.
+
+"Too late for one an' too fur south for the other," Dextry
+interposed. "We'll see the sun further north, though."
+
+"Have you ever heard the real origin of the Northern Lights?" the
+young man inquired.
+
+"Naturally, I never have," she answered.
+
+"Well, here it is. I have it from the lips of a great hunter of
+the Tananas. He told it to me when I was sick, once, in his cabin,
+and inasmuch as he is a wise Indian and has a reputation for
+truth, I have no doubt that it is scrupulously correct.
+
+"In the very old days, before the white man or corned beef had
+invaded this land, the greatest tribe in all the North was the
+Tananas. The bravest hunter of these was Itika, the second chief.
+He could follow a moose till it fell exhausted in the snow and he
+had many belts made from the claws of the brown bear which is
+deadly wicked and, as every one knows, inhabited by the spirits of
+'Yabla-men,' or devils.
+
+"One winter a terrible famine settled over the Tanana Valley. The
+moose departed from the gulches and the caribou melted from the
+hills like mist. The dogs grew gaunt and howled all night, the
+babies cried, the women became hollow-eyed and peevish.
+
+"Then it was that Itika decided to go hunting over the saw-tooth
+range which formed the edge of the world. They tried to dissuade
+him, saying it was certain death because a pack of monstrous white
+wolves, taller than the moose and swifter than the eagle, was
+known to range these mountains, running madly in chase. Always, on
+clear, cold nights, could be seen the flashing of the moonbeams
+from their gleaming hungry sides, and although many hunters had
+crossed the passes in other years, they never returned, for the
+pack slew them.
+
+"Nothing could deter Itika, however, so he threaded his way up
+through the range and, night coming, burrowed into a drift to
+sleep in his caribou-skin. Peering out into the darkness, he saw
+the flashing lights a thousand times brighter than ever before.
+The whole heavens were ablaze with shifting streamers that raced
+and writhed back and forth in wild revel. Listening, he heard the
+hiss and whine of dry snow under the feet of the pack, and a
+distant noise as of rushing winds, although the air was deathly
+still.
+
+"With daylight, he proceeded through the range, till he came out
+above a magnificent valley. Descending the slope, he entered a
+forest of towering spruce, while on all sides the snow was
+trampled with tracks as wide as a snow-shoe. There came to him a
+noise which, as he proceeded, increased till it filled the woods.
+It was a frightful din, as though a thousand wolves were howling
+with the madness of the kill. Cautiously creeping nearer, he found
+a monstrous white animal struggling beneath a spruce which had
+fallen upon it in such fashion as to pinion it securely.
+
+"All brave men are tender-hearted, so Itika set to work with his
+axe and cleared away the burden, regardless of the peril to
+himself. When he had released it, the beast arose and instead of
+running away addressed him in the most polite and polished Indian,
+without a trace of accent.
+
+"'You have saved my life. Now, what can I do for you?'
+
+"'I want to hunt in this valley. My people are starving,' said
+Itika, at which the wolf was greatly pleased and rounded up the
+rest of the pack to help in the kill.
+
+"Always thereafter when Itika came to the valley of the Yukon the
+giant drove hunted with him. To this day they run through the
+mountains on cold, clear nights, in a multitude, while the light
+of the moon flickers from their white sides, flashing up into the
+sky in weird, fantastic figures. Some people call it Northern
+Lights, but old Isaac assured me earnestly, toothlessly, and with
+the light of ancient truth, as I lay snow-blind in his lodge, that
+it is nothing more remarkable than the spirit of Itika and the
+great white wolves."
+
+"What a queer legend!" she said. "There must be many of them in
+this country. I feel that I am going to like the North."
+
+"Perhaps you will," Glenister replied, "although it is not a
+woman's land."
+
+"Tell me what led you out here in the first place. You are an
+Eastern man. You have had advantages, education--and yet you
+choose this. You must love the North."
+
+"Indeed I do! It calls to a fellow in some strange way that a
+gentler country never could. When once you've lived the long, lazy
+June days that never end, and heard geese honking under a warm,
+sunlit midnight; or when once you've hit the trail on a winter
+morning so sharp and clear that the air stings your lungs, and the
+whole white, silent world glistens like a jewel; yes--and when
+you've seen the dogs romping in harness till the sled runners
+ring; and the distant mountain-ranges come out like beautiful
+carvings, so close you can reach them--well, there's something in
+it that brings you back--that's all, no matter where you've lost
+yourself. It means health and equality and unrestraint. That's
+what I like best, I dare say--the utter unrestraint.
+
+"When I was a school-boy, I used to gaze at the map of Alaska for
+hours. I'd lose myself in it. It wasn't anything but a big, blank
+corner in the North then, with a name, and mountains, and mystery.
+The word 'Yukon' suggested to me everything unknown and weird--
+hairy mastodons, golden river bars, savage Indians with bone
+arrow-heads and seal-skin trousers. When I left college I came as
+fast as ever I could--the adventure, I suppose....
+
+"The law was considered my destiny. How the shades of old Choate
+and Webster and Patrick Henry must have wailed when I forswore it.
+I'll bet Blackstone tore his whiskers."
+
+"I think you would have made a success," said the girl, but he
+laughed.
+
+"Well, anyhow, I stepped out, leaving the way to the United States
+Supreme bench unobstructed, and came North. I found it was where I
+belonged. I fitted in. I'm not contented--don't think that. I'm
+ambitious, but I prefer these surroundings to the others--that's
+all. I'm realizing my desires. I've made a fortune--now I'll see
+what else the world has."
+
+He suddenly turned to her. "See here," he abruptly questioned,
+"what's your name?"
+
+She started, and glanced towards where Dextry had stood, only to
+find that the old frontiersman had slipped away during the tale.
+
+"Helen Chester," she replied.
+
+"Helen Chester," he repeated, musingly. "What a pretty name! It
+seems almost a pity to change it--to marry, as you will."
+
+"I am not going to Nome to get married."
+
+He glanced at her quickly.
+
+"Then you won't like this country. You are two years too early;
+you ought to wait till there are railroads and telephones, and
+tables d'hote, and chaperons. It's a man's country yet."
+
+"I don't see why it isn't a woman's country, too. Surely we can
+take a part in taming it. Yonder on the Oregon is a complete
+railroad, which will be running from the coast to the mines in a
+few weeks. Another ship back there has the wire and poles and
+fixings for a telephone system, which will go up in a night. As to
+tables d'hote, I saw a real French count in Seattle with a
+monocle. He's bringing in a restaurant outfit, imported snails,
+and pate de joies gras. All that's wanting is the chaperon. In my
+flight from the Ohio I left mine. The sailors caught her. You see
+I am not far ahead of schedule."
+
+"What part are you going to take in this taming process?" he
+asked.
+
+She paused long before replying, and when she did her answer
+sounded like a jest.
+
+"I herald the coming of the law," she said.
+
+"The law! Bah! Red tape, a dead language, and a horde of shysters!
+I'm afraid of law in this land; we're too new and too far away
+from things. It puts too much power in too few hands. Heretofore
+we men up here have had recourse to our courage and our Colts, but
+we'll have to unbuckle them both when the law comes. I like the
+court that hasn't any appeal." He laid hand upon his hip.
+
+"The Colts may go, but the courage never will," she broke in.
+
+"Perhaps. But I've heard rumors already of a plot to prostitute
+the law. In Unalaska a man warned Dextry, with terror in his eye,
+to beware of it; that beneath the cloak of Justice was a drawn
+dagger whetted for us fellows who own the rich diggings. I don't
+think there's any truth in it, but you can't tell."
+
+"The law is the foundation--there can't be any progress without
+it. There is nothing here now but disorder."
+
+"There isn't half the disorder you think there is. There weren't
+any crimes in this country till the tenderfeet arrived. We didn't
+know what a thief was. If you came to a cabin you walked in
+without knocking. The owner filled up the coffee-pot and sliced
+into the bacon; then when he'd started your meal, he shook hands
+and asked your name. It was just the same whether his cache was
+full or whether he'd packed his few pounds of food two hundred
+miles on his back. That was hospitality to make your Southern
+article look pretty small. If there was no one at home, you ate
+what you needed. There was but one unpardonable breach of
+etiquette--to fail to leave dry kindlings. I'm afraid of the
+transitory stage we're coming to--that epoch of chaos between the
+death of the old and the birth of the new. Frankly, I like the old
+way best. I love the license of it. I love to wrestle with nature;
+to snatch, and guard, and fight for what I have. I've been beyond
+the law for years and I want to stay there, where life is just
+what it was intended to be--a survival of the fittest."
+
+His large hands, as he gripped the bulwark, were tense and corded,
+while his rich voice issued softly from his chest with the hint of
+power unlimited behind it. He stood over her, tall, virile, and
+magnetic. She saw now why he had so joyously hailed the fight of
+the previous night; to one of his kind it was as salt air to the
+nostrils. Unconsciously she approached him, drawn by the spell of
+his strength.
+
+"My pleasures are violent and my hate is mighty bitter in my
+mouth. What I want, I take. That's been my way in the old life,
+and I'm too selfish to give it up."
+
+He was gazing out upon the dimly lucent miles of ice; but now he
+turned towards her, and, doing so, touched her warm hand next his
+on the rail.
+
+She was staring up at him unaffectedly, so close that the faint
+odor from her hair reached him. Her expression was simply one of
+wonder and curiosity at this type, so different from any she had
+known. But the man's eyes were hot and blinded with the sight of
+her, and he felt only her beauty heightened in the dim light, the
+brush of her garments, and the small, soft hand beneath his. The
+thrill from the touch of it surged over him--mastered him.
+
+"What I want--I take," he repeated, and then suddenly he reached
+forth and, taking her in his arms, crushed her to him, kissing her
+softly, fiercely, full upon the lips. For an instant she lay
+gasping and stunned against his breast, then she tore her fist
+free and, with all her force, struck him full in the face.
+
+It was as though she beat upon a stone. With one movement he
+forced her arm to her side, smiling into her terrified eyes; then,
+holding her like iron, he kissed her again and again upon the
+mouth, the eyes, the hair--and released her.
+
+"I am going to love you--Helen," said he.
+
+"And may God strike me dead if I ever stop HATING you!" she cried,
+her voice coming thick and hoarse with passion.
+
+Turning, she walked proudly forward towards her cabin, a trim,
+straight, haughty figure; and he did not know that her knees were
+shaking and weak.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE KILLING
+
+
+For four days the Santa Maria felt blindly through the white
+fields, drifting north with the spring tide that sets through
+Behring Strait, till, on the morning of the fifth, open water
+showed to the east. Creeping through, she broke out into the last
+stage of the long race, amid the cheers of her weary passengers;
+and the dull jar of her engines made welcome music to the girl in
+the deck state-room.
+
+Soon they picked up a mountainous coast which rose steadily into
+majestic, barren ranges, still white with the melting snows; and
+at ten in the evening under a golden sunset, amid screaming
+whistles, they anchored in the roadstead of Nome. Before the
+rumble of her chains had ceased or the echo from the fleet's
+salute had died from the shoreward hills, the ship was surrounded
+by a swarm of tiny craft clamoring about her iron sides, while an
+officer in cap and gilt climbed the bridge and greeted Captain
+Stephens. Tugs with trailing lighters circled discreetly about,
+awaiting the completion of certain formalities. These over, the
+uniformed gentleman dropped back into his skiff and rowed away.
+
+"A clean bill of health, captain," he shouted, saluting the
+commander.
+
+"Thank ye, sir," roared the sailor, and with that the row-boats
+swarmed inward pirate-like, boarding the steamer from all
+quarters.
+
+As the master turned, he looked down from his bridge to the deck
+below, full into the face of Dextry, who had been an intent
+witness of the meeting. With unbending dignity, Captain Stephens
+let his left eyelid droop slowly, while a boyish grin spread
+widely over his face. Simultaneously, orders rang sharp and fast
+from the bridge, the crew broke into feverish life, the creak of
+booms and the clank of donkey-hoists arose.
+
+"We're here, Miss Stowaway," said Glenister, entering the girl's
+cabin. "The inspector passed us and it's time for you to see the
+magic city. Come, it's a wonderful sight."
+
+This was the first time they had been alone since the scene on the
+after-deck, for, besides ignoring Glenister, she had managed that
+he should not even see her except in Dextry's presence. Although
+he had ever since been courteous and considerate, she felt the
+leaping emotions that were hidden within him and longed to leave
+the ship, to fly from the spell of his personality. Thoughts of
+him made her writhe, and yet when he was near she could not hate
+him as she willed--he overpowered her, he would not be hated, he
+paid no heed to her slights. This very quality reminded her how
+willingly and unquestioningly he had fought off the sailors from
+the Ohio at a word from her. She knew he would do so again, and
+more, and it is hard to be bitter to one who would lay down his
+life for you, even though he has offended--particularly when he
+has the magnetism that sweeps you away from your moorings.
+
+"There's no danger of being seen," he continued, "The crowd's
+crazy, and, besides, we'll go ashore right away. You must be mad
+with the confinement--it's on my nerves, too."
+
+As they stepped outside, the door of an adjacent cabin opened,
+framing an angular, sharp-featured woman, who, catching sight of
+the girl emerging from Glenister's state-room, paused with
+shrewdly narrowed eyes, flashing quick, malicious glances from one
+to the other. They came later to remember with regret this chance
+encounter, for it was fraught with grave results for them both.
+
+"Good evening, Mr. Glenister," the lady said with acid cordiality.
+
+"Howdy, Mrs. Champian?" He moved away.
+
+She followed a step, staring at Helen.
+
+"Are you going ashore to-night or wait for morning?"
+
+"Don't know yet, I'm sure." Then aside to the girl he muttered,
+"Shake her, she's spying on us."
+
+"Who is she?" asked Miss Chester, a moment later.
+
+"Her husband manages one of the big companies. She's an old cat."
+
+Gaining her first view of the land, the girl cried out, sharply.
+They rode on an oily sea, tinted like burnished copper, while on
+all sides, amid the faint rattle and rumble of machinery, scores
+of ships were belching cargoes out upon living swarms of scows,
+tugs, stern-wheelers, and dories. Here and there Eskimo oomiaks,
+fat, walrus-hide boats, slid about like huge, many-legged water-
+bugs. An endless, ant-like stream of tenders, piled high with
+freight, plied to and from the shore. A mile distant lay the city,
+stretched like a white ribbon between the gold of the ocean sand
+and the dun of the moss-covered tundra. It was like no other in
+the world. At first glance it seemed all made of new white canvas.
+In a week its population had swelled from three to thirty
+thousand. It now wandered in a slender, sinuous line along the
+coast for miles, because only the beach afforded dry camping
+ground. Mounting to the bank behind, one sank knee-deep in moss
+and water, and, treading twice in the same tracks, found a bog of
+oozing, icy mud. Therefore, as the town doubled daily in size, it
+grew endwise like a string of dominoes, till the shore from Cape
+Nome to Penny River was a long reach of white, glinting in the low
+rays of the arctic sunset like foamy breakers on a tropic island.
+
+"That's Anvil Creek up yonder," said Glenister. "There's where the
+Midas lies. See!" He indicated a gap in the buttress of mountains
+rolling back from the coast. "It's the greatest creek in the
+world. You'll see gold by the mule-load, and hillocks of nuggets.
+Oh, I'm glad to get back. THIS is life. That stretch of beach is
+full of gold. These hills are seamed with quartz. The bed-rock of
+that creek is yellow. There's gold, gold, gold, everywhere--more
+than ever was in old Solomon's mines--and there's mystery and
+peril and things unknown."
+
+"Let us make haste," said the girl. "I have something I must do
+to-night. After that, I can learn to know these things."
+
+Securing a small boat, they were rowed ashores the partners plying
+their ferryman with eager questions. Having arrived five days
+before, he was exploding with information and volunteered the
+fruits of his ripe experience till Dextry stated that they were
+"sourdoughs" themselves, and owned the Midas, whereupon Miss
+Chester marvelled at the awe which sat upon the man and the
+wondering stare with which he devoured the partners, to her own
+utter exclusion.
+
+"Sufferin' cats! Look at the freight!" ejaculated Dextry. "If a
+storm come up it would bust the community!"
+
+The beach they neared was walled and crowded to the high-tide mark
+with ramparts of merchandise, while every incoming craft deposited
+its quota upon whatever vacant foot was close at hand, till bales,
+boxes, boilers, and baggage of all kinds were confusedly
+intermixed in the narrow space. Singing longshoremen trundled
+burdens from the lighters and piled them on the heap, while
+yelling, cursing crowds fought over it all, selecting, sorting,
+loading.
+
+There was no room for more, yet hourly they added to the mass.
+Teams splashed through the lapping surf or stuck in the deep sand
+between hillocks of goods. All was noise, profanity, congestion,
+and feverish hurry. This burning haste rang in the voice of the
+multitude, showed in its violence of gesture and redness of face,
+permeated the atmosphere with a magnetic, electrifying energy.
+
+"It's somethin' fierce ashore," said the oarsman. "I been up fer
+three days an' nights steady--there ain't no room, nor time, nor
+darkness to sleep in. Ham an' eggs is a dollar an' a half, an'
+whiskey's four bits a throw." He wailed the last, sadly, as a
+complaint unspeakable.
+
+"Any trouble doin'?" inquired the old man.
+
+"You KNOW it!" the other cried, colloquially. "There was a
+massacree in the Northern last night."
+
+"Gamblin' row?"
+
+"Yep. Tin-horn called 'Missou' done it."
+
+"Sho!" said Dextry. "I know him. He's a bad actor." All three men
+nodded sagely, and the girl wished for further light, but they
+volunteered no explanation.
+
+Leaving the skiff, they plunged into turmoil. Dodging through the
+tangle, they came out into fenced lots where tents stood wall to
+wall and every inch was occupied. Here and there was a vacant spot
+guarded jealously by its owner, who gazed sourly upon all men with
+the forbidding eye of suspicion. Finding an eddy in the confusion,
+the men stopped.
+
+"Where do you want to go?" they asked Miss Chester.
+
+There was no longer in Glenister's glance that freedom with which
+he had come to regard the women of the North. He had come to
+realize dully that here was a girl driven by some strong purpose
+into a position repellent to her. In a man of his type, her
+independence awoke only admiration and her coldness served but to
+inflame him the more. Delicacy, in Glenister, was lost in a
+remarkable singleness of purpose. He could laugh at her loathing,
+smile under her abuse, and remain utterly ignorant that anything
+more than his action in seizing her that night lay at the bottom
+of her dislike. He did not dream that he possessed characteristics
+abhorrent to her; and he felt a keen reluctance at parting.
+
+She extended both hands.
+
+"I can never thank you enough for what you have done--you two; but
+I shall try. Good-bye!"
+
+Dextry gazed doubtfully at his own hand, rough and gnarly, then
+taking hers as he would have handled a robin's egg, waggled it
+limply.
+
+"We ain't goin' to turn you adrift this-a-way. Whatever your
+destination is, we'll see you to it."
+
+"I can find my friends," she assured him.
+
+"This is the wrong latitude in which to dispute a lady, but
+knowin' this camp from soup to nuts, as I do, I su'gests a male
+escort."
+
+"Very well! I wish to find Mr. Struve, of Dunham & Struve,
+lawyers."
+
+"I'll take you to their offices," said Glenister. "You see to the
+baggage, Dex. Meet me at the Second Class in half an hour and
+we'll run out to the Midas." They pushed through the tangle of
+tents, past piles of lumber, and emerged upon the main
+thoroughfare, which ran parallel to the shore.
+
+Nome consisted of one narrow street, twisted between solid rows of
+canvas and half-erected frame buildings, its every other door that
+of a saloon. There were fair-looking blocks which aspired to the
+dizzy height of three stories, some sheathed in corrugated iron,
+others gleaming and galvanized. Lawyers' signs, doctors',
+surveyors', were in the upper windows. The street was thronged
+with men from every land--Helen Chester heard more dialects than
+she could count. Laplanders in quaint, three-cornered, padded caps
+idled past. Men with the tan of the tropics rubbed elbows with
+yellow-haired Norsemen, and near her a carefully groomed Frenchman
+with riding-breeches and monocle was in pantomime with a skin-clad
+Eskimo. To her left was the sparkling sea, alive with ships of
+every class. To her right towered timberless mountains, unpeopled,
+unexplored, forbidding, and desolate--their hollows inlaid with
+snow. On one hand were the life and the world she knew; on the
+other, silence, mystery, possible adventure.
+
+The roadway where she stood was a crush of sundry vehicles from
+bicycles to dog-hauled water-carts, and on all sides men were
+laboring busily, the echo of hammers mingling with the cries of
+teamsters and the tinkle of music within the saloons.
+
+"And this is midnight!" exclaimed Helen, breathlessly. "Do they
+ever rest?"
+
+"There isn't time--this is a gold stampede. You haven't caught the
+spirit of it yet." They climbed the stairs in a huge, iron-sheeted
+building to the office of Dunham
+
+"Anybody else here besides you?" asked her escort of the lawyer.
+
+"No. I'm runnin' the law business unassisted. Don't need any help.
+Dunham's in Wash'n'ton, D. C., the lan' of the home, the free of
+the brave. What can I do for you?"
+
+He made to cross the threshold hospitably, but tripped, plunged
+forward, and would have rolled down the stairs had not Glenister
+gathered him up and borne him back into the office, where he
+tossed him upon a bed in a rear room.
+
+"Now what, Miss Chester?" asked the young man, returning.
+
+"Isn't that dreadful?" she shuddered. "Oh, and I must see him to-
+night!" She stamped impatiently. "I must see him alone."
+
+"No, you mustn't," said Glenister, with equal decision. "In the
+first place, he wouldn't know what you were talking about, and in
+the second place--I know Struve. He's too drunk to talk business
+and too sober to--well, to see you alone."
+
+"But I MUST see him," she insisted. "It's what brought me here.
+You don't understand."
+
+"I understand more than he could. He's in no condition to act on
+any important matter. You come around to-morrow when he's sober."
+
+"It means so much," breathed the girl. "The beast!"
+
+Glenister noted that she had not wrung her hands nor even hinted
+at tears, though plainly her disappointment and anxiety were
+consuming her.
+
+"Well, I suppose I'll have to wait, but I don't know where to go--
+some hotel, I suppose."
+
+"There aren't any. They're building two, but to-night you couldn't
+hire a room in Nome for money. I was about to say 'love or money.'
+Have you no other friends here--no women? Then you must let me
+find a place for you. I have a friend whose wife will take you
+in."
+
+She rebelled at this. Was she never to have done with this man's
+favors? She thought of returning to the ship, but dismissed that.
+She undertook to decline his aid, but he was half-way down the
+stairs and paid no attention to her beginning--so she followed
+him.
+
+It was then that Helen Chester witnessed her first tragedy of the
+frontier, and through it came to know better the man whom she
+disliked and with whom she had been thrown so fatefully. Already
+she had thrilled at the spell of this country, but she had not
+learned that strength and license carry blood and violence as
+corollaries.
+
+Emerging from the doorway at the foot of the stairs, they drifted
+slowly along the walk, watching the crowd. Besides the universal
+tension, there were laughter and hope and exhilaration in the
+faces. The enthusiasm of this boyish multitude warmed one. The
+girl wished to get into this spirit--to be one of them. Then
+suddenly from the babble at their elbows came a discordant note,
+not long nor loud, only a few words, penetrating and harsh with
+the metallic quality lent by passion.
+
+Helen glanced over her shoulder to find that the smiles of the
+throng were gone and that its eyes were bent on some scene in the
+street, with an eager interest she had never seen mirrored before.
+Simultaneously Glenister spoke:
+
+"Come away from here."
+
+With the quickened eye of experience he foresaw trouble and tried
+to drag her on, but she shook off his grasp impatiently, and,
+turning, gazed absorbed at the spectacle which unfolded itself
+before her. Although not comprehending the play of events, she
+felt vaguely the quick approach of some crisis, yet was unprepared
+for the swiftness with which it came.
+
+Her eyes had leaped to the figures of two men in the street from
+whom the rest had separated like oil from water. One was slim and
+well dressed; the other bulky, mackinawed, and lowering of
+feature. It was the smaller who spoke, and for a moment she
+misjudged his bloodshot eyes and swaying carriage to be the result
+of alcohol, until she saw that he was racked with fury.
+
+"Make good, I tell you, quick! Give me that bill of sale, you--."
+
+The unkempt man swung on his heel with a growl and walked away,
+his course leading him towards Glenister and the girl. With two
+strides he was abreast of them; then, detecting the flashing
+movement of the other, he whirled like a wild animal. His voice
+had the snarl of a beast in it.
+
+"Ye had to have it, didn't ye? Well, there!"
+
+The actions of both men were quick as light, yet to the girl's
+taut senses they seemed theatrical and deliberate. Into her mind
+was seared forever the memory of that second, as though the
+shutter of a camera had snapped, impressing upon her brain the
+scene, sharp, clear-cut, and vivid. The shaggy back of the large
+man almost brushing her, the rage-drunken, white shirted man in
+the derby hat, the crowd sweeping backward like rushes before a
+blast, men with arms flexed and feet raised in flight, the glaring
+yellow sign of the "Gold Belt Dance Hall" across the way--these
+were stamped upon her retina, and then she was jerked violently
+backward, two strong arms crushed her down upon her knees against
+the wall, and she was smothered in the arms of Roy Glenister.
+
+"My God! Don't move! We're in line!"
+
+He crouched over her, his cheek against her hair, his weight
+forcing her down into the smallest compass, his arms about her,
+his body forming a living shield against the flying bullets. Over
+them the big man stood, and the sustained roar of his gun was
+deafening. In an instant they heard the thud and felt the jar of
+lead in the thin boards against which they huddled. Again the
+report echoed above their heads, and they saw the slender man in
+the street drop his weapon and spin half round as though hit with
+some heavy hand. He uttered a cry and, stooping for his gun,
+plunged forward, burying his face in the sand.
+
+The man by Glenister's side shouted curses thickly, and walked
+towards his prostrate enemy, firing at every step. The wounded man
+rolled to his side, and, raising himself on his elbow, shot twice,
+so rapidly that the reports blended--but without checking his
+antagonist's approach. Four more times the relentless assailant
+fired deliberately, his last missile sent as he stood over the
+body which twitched and shuddered at his feet, its garments muddy
+and smeared. Then he turned and retraced his steps. Back within
+arm's-length of the two who pressed against the building he came,
+and as he went by they saw his coarse and sullen features drawn
+and working pallidly, while the breath whistled through his teeth.
+He held his course to the door they had just quitted, then as he
+turned he coughed bestially, spitting out a mouthful of blood. His
+knees wavered. He vanished within the portals and, in the sickly
+silence that fell, they heard his hob-nailed boots clumping slowly
+up the stairs.
+
+Noise awoke and rioted down the thoroughfare. Men rushed forth
+from every quarter, and the ghastly object in the dirt was hidden
+by a seething mass of miners.
+
+Glenister raised the girl, but her head rolled limply, and she
+would have slipped to her knees again had he not placed his arm
+about her waist. Her eyes were staring and horror-filled.
+
+"Don't be frightened," said he, smiling at her reassuringly; but
+his own lips shook and the sweat stood out like dew on him; for
+they had both been close to death. There came a surge and swirl
+through the crowd, and Dextry swooped upon them like a hawk.
+
+"Be ye hurt? Holy Mackinaw! When I see 'em blaze away I yells at
+ye fit to bust my throat. I shore thought you was gone. Although I
+can't say but this killin' was a sight for sore eyes--so neat an'
+genteel--still, as a rule, in these street brawls it's the
+innocuous bystander that has flowers sent around to his house
+afterwards."
+
+"Look at this," said Glenister. Breast-high in the wall against
+which they had crouched, not three feet apart, were bullet holes.
+
+"Them's the first two he unhitched," Dextry remarked, jerking his
+head towards the object in the street. "Must have been a new gun
+an' pulled hard--throwed him to the right. See!"
+
+Even to the girl it was patent that, had she not been snatched as
+she was, the bullet would have found her.
+
+"Come away quick," she panted, and they led her into a near-by
+store, where she sank upon a seat and trembled until Dextry
+brought her a glass of whiskey.
+
+"Here, Miss," he said. "Pretty tough go for a 'cheechako.' I'm
+afraid you ain't gettin' enamoured of this here country a whole
+lot."
+
+For half an hour he talked to her, in his whimsical way, of
+foreign things, till she was quieted. Then the partners arose to
+go. Although Glenister had arranged for her to stop with the wife
+of the merchant for the rest of the night, she would not.
+
+"I can't go to bed. Please don't leave me! I'm too nervous. I'll
+go MAD if you do. The strain of the last week has been too much
+for me. If I sleep I'll see the faces of those men again."
+
+Dextry talked with his companion, then made a purchase which he
+laid at the lady's feet.
+
+"Here's a pair of half-grown gum boots. You put 'em on an' come
+with us. We'll take your mind off of things complete. An' as fer
+sweet dreams, when you get back you'll make the slumbers of the
+just seem as restless as a riot, or the antics of a mountain-goat
+which nimbly leaps from crag to crag, and--well, that's restless
+enough. Come on!"
+
+As the sun slanted up out of Behring Sea, they marched back
+towards the hills, their feet ankle-deep in the soft fresh moss,
+while the air tasted like a cool draught and a myriad of earthy
+odors rose up and encircled them. Snipe and reed birds were noisy
+in the hollows and from the misty tundra lakes came the honking of
+brant. After their weary weeks on shipboard, the dewy freshness
+livened them magically, cleansing from their memories the recent
+tragedy, so that the girl became herself again.
+
+"Where are we going?" she asked, at the end of an hour, pausing
+for breath.
+
+"Why, to the Midas, of course," they said; and one of them vowed
+recklessly, as he drank in the beauty of her clear eyes and the
+grace of her slender, panting form, that he would gladly give his
+share of all its riches to undo what he had done one night on the
+Santa Maria.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+WHEREIN A MAN APPEARS
+
+
+In the lives of countries there are crises where, for a breath,
+destinies lie in the laps of the gods and are jumbled, heads or
+tails. Thus are marked distinctive cycles like the seven ages of a
+man, and though, perhaps, they are too subtle to be perceived at
+the time, yet, having swung past the shadowy milestones, the
+epochs disclose themselves.
+
+Such a period in the progress of the Far Northwest was the
+nineteenth day of July, although to those concerned in the
+building of this new empire the day appealed only as the date of
+the coming of the law. All Nome gathered on the sands as lighters
+brought ashore Judge Stillman and his following. It was held
+fitting that the Senator should be the ship to safeguard the
+dignity of the first court and to introduce Justice into this land
+of the wild.
+
+The interest awakened by His Honor was augmented by the fact that
+he was met on the beach by a charming girl, who flung herself upon
+him with evident delight.
+
+"That's his niece," said some one. "She came up on the first boat-
+-name's Chester--swell looker, eh?"
+
+Another new-comer attracted even more notice than the limb of the
+law; a gigantic, well-groomed man, with keen, close-set eyes, and
+that indefinable easy movement and polished bearing that come from
+confidence, health, and travel. Unlike the others, he did not
+dally on the beach nor display much interest in his surroundings;
+but, with purposeful frown strode through the press, up into the
+heart of the city. His companion was Struve's partner, Dunham, a
+middle-aged, pompous man. They went directly to the offices of
+Dunham & Struve, where they found the white-haired junior partner.
+
+"Mighty glad to meet you, Mr. McNamara," said Struve. "Your name
+is a household word in my part of the country. My people were
+mixed up in Dakota politics somewhat, so I've always had a great
+admiration for you and I'm glad you've come to Alaska. This is a
+big country and we need big men."
+
+"Did you have any trouble?" Dunham inquired when the three had
+adjourned to a private room.
+
+"Trouble," said Struve, ruefully; "well, I wonder if I did. Miss
+Chester brought me your instructions O.K. and I got busy right
+off. But, tell me this--how did you get the girl to act as
+messenger?"
+
+"There was no one else to send," answered McNamara. "Dunham
+intended sailing on the first boat, but he was detained in
+Washington with, me, and the Judge had to wait for us at Seattle.
+We were afraid to trust a stranger for fear he might get curious
+and examine the papers. That would have meant--" He moved his hand
+eloquently.
+
+Struve nodded. "I see. Does she know what was in the documents?"
+
+"Decidedly not. Women and business don't mix. I hope you didn't
+tell her anything."
+
+"No; I haven't had a chance. She seemed to take a dislike to me
+for some reason, I haven't seen her since the day after she got
+here."
+
+"The Judge told her it had something to do with preparing the way
+for his court," said Dunham, "and that if the papers were not
+delivered before he arrived it might cause a lot of trouble--
+litigation, riots, bloodshed, and all that. He filled her up on
+generalities till the girl was frightened to death and thought the
+safety of her uncle and the whole country depended on her."
+
+"Well," continued Struve, "it's dead easy to hire men to jump
+claims and it's dead easy to buy their rights afterwards,
+particularly when they know they haven't got any--but what course
+do you follow when owners go gunning for you?"
+
+McNamara laughed.
+
+"Who did that?"
+
+"A benevolent, silver-haired old Texan pirate by the name of
+Dextry. He's one half owner in the Midas and the other half
+mountain-lion; as peaceable, you'd imagine, as a benediction, but
+with the temperament of a Geronimo. I sent Galloway out to
+relocate the claim, and he got his notices up in the night when
+they were asleep, but at 6 A.M. he came flying back to my room and
+nearly hammered the door down. I've seen fright in varied forms
+and phases, but he had them all, with some added starters.
+
+"'Hide me out, quick!' he panted.
+
+"'What's up?' I asked.
+
+"'I've stirred up a breakfast of grizzly bear, smallpox, and
+sudden death and it don't set well on my stummick. Let me in.'
+
+"I had to keep him hidden three days, for this gentle-mannered old
+cannibal roamed the streets with a cannon in his hand, breathing
+fire and pestilence."
+
+"Anybody else act up?" queried Dunham.
+
+"No; all the rest are Swedes and they haven't got the nerve to
+fight. They couldn't lick a spoon if they tried. These other men
+are different, though. There are two of them, the old one and a
+young fellow. I'm a little afraid to mix it up with them, and if
+their claim wasn't the best in the district, I'd say let it
+alone."
+
+"I'll attend to that," said McNamara.
+
+Struve resumed:
+
+"Yes, gentlemen, I've been working pretty hard and also pretty
+much in the dark so far. I'm groping for light. When Miss Chester
+brought in the papers I got busy instanter. I clouded the title to
+the richest placers in the region, but I'm blamed if I quite see
+the use of it. We'd be thrown out of any court in the land if we
+took them to law. What's the game--blackmail?"
+
+"Humph!" ejaculated McNamara. "What do you take me for?"
+
+"Well, it does seem small for Alec McNamara, but I can't see what
+else you're up to."
+
+"Within a week I'll be running every good mine in the Nome
+district."
+
+McNamara's voice was calm but decisive, his glance keen and alert,
+while about him clung such a breath of power and confidence that
+it compelled belief even in the face of this astounding speech.
+
+In spite of himself, Wilton Struve, lawyer, rake, and gentlemanly
+adventurer, felt his heart leap at what the other's daring
+implied. The proposition was utterly past belief, and yet, looking
+into the man's purposeful eyes, he believed.
+
+"That's big--awful big--TOO big," the younger man murmured. "Why,
+man, it means you'll handle fifty thousand dollars a day!"
+
+Dunham shifted his feet in the silence and licked his dry lips.
+
+"Of course it's big, but Mr. McNamara's the biggest man that ever
+came to Alaska," he said.
+
+"And I've got the biggest scheme that ever came north, backed by
+the biggest men in Washington," continued the politician. "Look
+here!" He displayed a type-written sheet bearing parallel lists of
+names and figures. Struve gasped incredulously.
+
+"Those are my stockholders and that is their share in the venture.
+Oh, yes; we're incorporated--under the laws of Arizona--secret, of
+course; it would never do for the names to get out. I'm showing
+you this only because I want you to be satisfied who's behind me."
+
+"Lord! I'm satisfied," said Struve, laughing nervously. "Dunham
+was with you when you figured the scheme out and he met some of
+your friends in Washington and New York. If he says it's all
+right, that settles it. But say, suppose anything went wrong with
+the company and it leaked out who those stockholders are?"
+
+"There's no danger. I have the books where they will be burned at
+the first sign. We'd have had our own land laws passed but for
+Sturtevant of Nevada, damn him. He blocked us in the Senate.
+However, my plan is this." He rapidly outlined his proposition to
+the listeners, while a light of admiration grew and shone in the
+reckless face of Struve.
+
+"By heavens! you're a wonder!" he cried, at the close, "and I'm
+with you body and soul. It's dangerous--that's why I like it."
+
+"Dangerous?" McNamara shrugged his shoulders. "Bah! Where is the
+danger? We've got the law--or rather, we ARE the law. Now, let's
+get to work."
+
+It seemed that the Boss of North Dakota was no sluggard. He
+discarded coat and waistcoat and tackled the documents which
+Struve laid before him, going through them like a whirlwind.
+Gradually he infected the others with his energy, and soon behind
+the locked doors of Dunham & Struve there were only haste and
+fever and plot and intrigue.
+
+As Helen Chester led the Judge towards the flamboyant, three-
+storied hotel she prattled to him light-heartedly. The fascination
+of a new land already held her fast, and now she felt, in
+addition, security and relief. Glenister saw them from a distance
+and strode forward to greet them.
+
+He beheld a man of perhaps threescore years, benign of aspect save
+for the eyes, which were neither clear nor steady, but had the
+trick of looking past one. Glenister thought the mouth, too,
+rather weak and vacillating; but the clean-shaven face was
+dignified by learning a acumen and was wrinkled in pleasant
+fashion.
+
+"My niece has just told me of your service to her," the old
+gentleman began. "I am happy to know you, sir."
+
+"Besides being a brave knight and assisting ladies in distress,
+Mr. Glenister is a very great and wonderful man," Helen explained,
+lightly. "He owns the Midas."
+
+"Indeed!" said the old man, his shifting eyes now resting full on
+the other with a flash of unmistakable interest. "I hear that is a
+wonderful mine. Have you begun work yet?"
+
+"No. We'll commence sluicing day after to-morrow. It has been a
+late spring. The snow in the gulch was deep and the ground thaws
+slowly. We've been building houses and doing dead work, but we've
+got our men on the ground, waiting."
+
+"I am greatly interested. Won't you walk with us to the hotel? I
+want to hear more about these wonderful placers."
+
+"Well, they ARE great placers," said the miner, as the three
+walked on together; "nobody knows HOW great because we've only
+scratched at them yet. In the first place the ground is so shallow
+and the gold is so easy to get, that if nature didn't safeguard us
+in the winter we'd never dare leave our claims for fear of
+'snipers.' They'd run in and rob us."
+
+"How much will the Anvil Creek mines produce this summer?" asked
+the Judge.
+
+"It's hard to tell, sir; but we expect to average five thousand a
+day from the Midas alone, and there are other claims just as
+good."
+
+"Your title is all clear, I dare say, eh?"
+
+"Absolutely, except for one jumper, and we don't take him
+seriously. A fellow named Galloway relocated us one night last
+month, but he didn't allege any grounds for doing so, and we could
+never find trace of him. If we had, our title would be as clean as
+snow again." He said the last with a peculiar inflection.
+
+"You wouldn't use violence, I trust?"
+
+"Sure! Why not? It has worked all right heretofore."
+
+"But, my dear sir, those days are gone. The law is here and it is
+the duty of every one to abide by it."
+
+"Well, perhaps it is; but in this country we consider a man's mine
+as sacred as his family. We didn't know what a lock and key were
+in the early times and we didn't have any troubles except famine
+and hardship. It's different now, though. Why, there have been
+more claims jumped around here this spring than in the whole
+length and history of the Yukon."
+
+They had reached the hotel, and Glenister paused, turning to the
+girl as the Judge entered. When she started to follow, he detained
+her.
+
+"I came down from the hills on purpose to see you. It has been a
+long week--"
+
+"Don't talk that way," she interrupted, coldly. "I don't care to
+hear it."
+
+"See here--what makes you shut me out and wrap yourself up in your
+haughtiness? I'm sorry for what I did that night--I've told you so
+repeatedly. I've wrung my soul for that act till there's nothing
+left but repentance."
+
+"It is not that," she said, slowly. "I have been thinking it over
+during the past month, and now that I have gained an insight into
+this life I see that it wasn't an unnatural thing for you to do.
+It's terrible to think of, but it's true. I don't mean that it was
+pardonable," she continued, quickly, "for it wasn't, and I hate
+you when I think about it, but I suppose I put myself into a
+position to invite such actions. No; I'm sufficiently broad-minded
+not to blame you unreasonably, and I think I could like you in
+spite of it, just for what you have done for me; but that isn't
+all. There is something deeper. You saved my life and I'm
+grateful, but you frighten me, always. It is the cruelty in your
+strength, it is something away back in you--lustful, and
+ferocious, and wild, and crouching."
+
+He smiled wryly.
+
+"It is my local color, maybe--absorbed from this country. I'll try
+to change, though, if you want me to. I'll let them rope and throw
+and brand me. I'll take on the graces of civilization and put away
+revenge and ambition and all the rest of it, if it will make you
+like me any better. Why, I'll even promise not to violate the
+person of our claim-jumper if I catch him; and Heaven knows THAT
+means that Samson has parted with his locks."
+
+"I think I could like you if you did," she said, "but you can't do
+it. You are a savage."
+
+ There are no clubs nor marts where men foregather for business in
+the North--nothing but the saloon, and this is all and more than a
+club. Here men congregate to drink, to gamble, and to traffic.
+
+It was late in the evening when Glenister entered the Northern and
+passed idly down the row of games, pausing at the crap-table,
+where he rolled the dice when his turn came. Moving to the
+roulette-wheel, he lost a stack of whites, but at the faro "lay-
+out" his luck was better, and he won a gold coin on the "high-
+card." Whereupon he promptly ordered a round of drinks for the men
+grouped about him, a formality always precedent to overtures of
+general friendship.
+
+As he paused, glass in hand, his eyes were drawn to a man who
+stood close by, talking earnestly. The aspect of the stranger
+challenged notice, for he stood high above his companions with a
+peculiar grace of attitude in place of the awkwardness common in
+men of great stature. Among those who were listening intently to
+the man's carefully modulated tones, Glenister recognized Mexico
+Mullins, the ex-gambler who had given Dextry the warning at
+Unalaska. As he further studied the listening group, a drunken man
+staggered uncertainly through the wide doors of the saloon and,
+gaining sight of the tall stranger, blinked, then approached him,
+speaking with a loud voice:
+
+"Well, if 'tain't ole Alec McNamara! How do, ye ole pirate!"
+
+McNamara nodded and turned his back coolly upon the new-comer.
+
+"Don't turn your dorsal fin to me; I wan' to talk to ye."
+
+McNamara continued his calm discourse till he received a vicious
+whack on the shoulder; then he turned for a moment to interrupt
+his assailant's garrulous profanity:
+
+"Don't bother me. I am engaged."
+
+"Ye won' talk to me, eh? Well, I'm goin' to talk to YOU, see? I
+guess you'd listen if I told these people all I know about you.
+Turn around here."
+
+His voice was menacing and attracted general notice. Observing
+this, McNamara addressed him, his words dropping clear, concise,
+and cold:
+
+"Don't talk to me. You are a drunken nuisance. Go away before
+something happens to you."
+
+Again he turned away, but the drunken man seized and whirled him
+about, repeating his abuse, encouraged by this apparent patience.
+
+"Your pardon for an instant, gentlemen." McNamara laid a large
+white and manicured hand upon the flannel sleeve of the miner and
+gently escorted him through the entrance to the sidewalk, while
+the crowd smiled.
+
+As they cleared the threshold, however, he clenched his fist
+without a word and, raising it, struck the sot fully and cruelly
+upon the jaw. His victim fell silently, the back of his head
+striking the boards with a hollow thump; then, without even
+observing how he lay, McNamara re-entered the saloon and took up
+his conversation where he had been interrupted. His voice was as
+evenly regulated as his movements, betraying not a sign of anger,
+excitement, or bravado. He lit a cigarette, extracted a note-book,
+and jotted down certain memoranda supplied him by Mexico Mullins.
+
+All this time the body lay across the threshold without a sign of
+life. The buzz of the roulette-wheel was resumed and the crap-
+dealer began his monotonous routine. Every eye was fixed on the
+nonchalant man at the bar, but the unconscious creature outside
+the threshold lay unheeded, for in these men's code it behooves
+the most humane to practise a certain aloofness in the matter of
+private brawls.
+
+Having completed his notes, McNamara shook hands gravely with his
+companions and strode out through the door, past the bulk that
+sprawled across his path, and, without pause or glance,
+disappeared.
+
+A dozen willing, though unsympathetic, hands laid the drunkard on
+the roulette-table, where the bartender poured pitcher upon
+pitcher of water over him.
+
+"He ain't hurt none to speak of," said a bystander; then added,
+with enthusiasm:
+
+"But say! There's a MAN in this here camp!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+AND A MINE IS JUMPED
+
+
+"Who's your new shift boss?" Glenister inquired of his partner, a
+few days later, indicating a man in the cut below, busied in
+setting a line of sluices.
+
+"That's old 'Slapjack' Simms, friend of mine from up Dawson way."
+
+Glenister laughed immoderately, for the object was unusually tall
+and loose-jointed, and wore a soiled suit of yellow mackinaw. He
+had laid off his coat, and now the baggy, bilious trousers hung
+precariously from his angular shoulders by suspenders of alarming
+frailty. His legs were lost in gum boots, also loose and
+cavernous, and his entire costume looked relaxed and flapping, so
+that he gave the impression of being able to shake himself out of
+his raiment, and to rise like a burlesque Aphrodite. His face was
+overgrown with a grizzled tangle that looked as though it had been
+trimmed with button-hole scissors, while above the brush heap
+grandly soared a shiny, dome-like head.
+
+"Has he always been bald?"
+
+"Naw! He ain't bald at all. He shaves his nob. In the early days
+he wore a long flowin' mane which was inhabited by crickets, tree-
+toads, and such fauna. It got to be a hobby with him finally, so
+that he growed superstitious about goin' uncurried, and would back
+into a corner with both guns drawed if a barber came near him. But
+once Hank--that's his real name--undertook to fry some slapjacks,
+and in givin' the skillet a heave, the dough lit among his forest
+primeval, jest back of his ears, soft side down. Hank polluted the
+gulch with langwidge which no man had ought to keep in himself
+without it was fumigated. Disreppitableness oozed out through him
+like sweat through an ice-pitcher, an' since then he's been known
+as Slapjack Simms, an' has kept his head shingled smooth as a gun
+bar'l. He's a good miner, though; ain't none better--an' square as
+a die."
+
+Sluicing had begun on the Midas. Long sinuous lengths of canvas
+hose wound down the creek bottom from the dam, like gigantic
+serpents, while the roll of gravel through the flumes mingled
+musically with the rush of waters, the tinkle of tools, and the
+song of steel on rock. There were four "strings" of boxes abreast,
+and the heaving line of shovellers ate rapidly into the creek bed,
+while teams with scrapers splashed through the tail races in an
+atmosphere of softened profanity. In the big white tents which sat
+back from the bluffs, fifty men of the night shift were asleep;
+for there is no respite here--no night, no Sunday, no halt, during
+the hundred days in which the Northland lends herself to pillage.
+
+The mine lay cradled between wonderful, mossy, willow-mottled
+mountains, while above and below the gulch was dotted with tents
+and huts, and everywhere, from basin to hill crest, men dug and
+blasted, punily, patiently, while their tracks grew daily plainer
+over the face of this inscrutable wilderness.
+
+A great contentment filled the two partners as they looked on this
+scene. To wrest from reluctant earth her richest treasures, to add
+to the wealth of the world, to create--here was satisfaction.
+
+"We ain't robbin' no widders an' orphans doin' it, neither,"
+Dextry suddenly remarked, expressing his partner's feelings
+closely. They looked at each other and smiled with that rare
+understanding that exceeds words.
+
+Descending into the cut, the old man filled a gold-pan with dirt
+taken from under the feet of the workers, and washed it in a
+puddle, while the other watched his dexterous whirling motions.
+When he had finished, they poked the stream of yellow grains into
+a pile, then, with heads together, guessed its weight, laughing
+again delightedly, in perfect harmony and contentment.
+
+"I've been waitin' a turrible time fer this day," said the elder.
+"I've suffered the plagues of prospectin' from the Mexicos to the
+Circle, an' yet I don't begretch it none, now that I've struck
+pay."
+
+While they spoke, two miners struggled with a bowlder they had
+unearthed, and having scraped and washed it carefully, staggered
+back to place it on the cleaned bed-rock behind. One of them
+slipped, and it crashed against a brace which held the sluices in
+place. These boxes stand more than a man's height above the bed-
+rock, resting on supporting posts and running full of water.
+Should a sluice fall, the rushing stream carries out the gold
+which has lodged in the riffles and floods the bed-rock, raising
+havoc. Too late the partners saw the string of boxes sway and bend
+at the joint. Then, before they could reach the threatened spot to
+support it, Slapjack Simms, with a shriek, plunged flapping down
+into the cut and seized the flume. His great height stood him in
+good stead now, for where the joint had opened, water poured forth
+in a cataract, He dived under the breach unhesitatingly and,
+stooping, lifted the line as near to its former level as possible,
+holding the entire burden upon his naked pate. He gesticulated
+wildly for help, while over him poured the deluge of icy, muddy
+water. It entered his gaping waistband, bulging out his yellow
+trousers till they were fat and full and the seams were bursting,
+while his yawning boot-tops became as boiling springs. Meanwhile
+he chattered forth profanity in such volume that the ear ached
+under it as must have ached the heroic Slapjack under the chill of
+the melting snow. He was relieved quickly, however, and emerged
+triumphant, though blue and puckered, his wilderness of whiskers
+streaming like limber stalactites, his boots loosely "squishing,"
+while oaths still poured from him in such profusion that Dextry
+whispered:
+
+"Ain't he a ring-tailed wonder? It's plumb solemn an' reverent the
+way he makes them untamed cuss-words sit up an' beg. It's a
+privilege to be present. That's a GIFT, that is."
+
+"You'd better get some dry clothes," they suggested, and Slapjack
+proceeded a few paces towards the tents, hobbling as though
+treading on pounded glass.
+
+"Ow--w!" he yelled. "These blasted boots is full of gravel."
+
+He seated himself and tugged at his foot till the boot came away
+with a sucking sound, then, instead of emptying the accumulation
+at random, he poured the contents into Dextry's empty gold-pan,
+rinsing it out carefully. The other boot he emptied likewise. They
+held a surprising amount of sediment, because the stream that had
+emerged from the crack in the sluices had carried with it pebbles,
+sand, and all the concentration of the riffles at this point.
+Standing directly beneath the cataract, most of it had dived
+fairly into his inviting waistband, following down the lines of
+least resistance into his boot-legs and boiling out at the knees.
+
+"Wash that," he said. "You're apt to get a prospect."
+
+With artful passes Dextry settled it in the pan bottom and washed
+away the gravel, leaving a yellow, glittering pile which raised a
+yell from the men who had lingered curiously.
+
+"He pans forty dollars to the boot-leg," one shouted.
+
+"How much do you run to the foot, Slapjack?"
+
+"He's a reg'lar free-milling ledge."
+
+"No, he ain't--he's too thin. He's nothing but a stringer, but
+he'll pay to work."
+
+The old miner grinned toothlessly.
+
+"Gentlemen, there ain't no better way to save fine gold than with
+undercurrents an' blanket riffles. I'll have to wash these
+garments of mine an' clean up the soapsuds 'cause there's a
+hundred dollars in gold-dust clingin' to my person this minute."
+He went dripping up the bank, while the men returned to their work
+singing.
+
+After lunch Dextry saddled his bronco.
+
+"I'm goin' to town for a pair of gold-scales, but I'll be back by
+supper, then we'll clean up between shifts. She'd ought to give us
+a thousand ounces, the way that ground prospects." He loped down
+the gulch, while his partner returned to the pit, the flashing
+shovel blades, and the rumbling undertone of the big workings that
+so fascinated him. It was perhaps four o'clock when he was aroused
+from his labors by a shout from the bunk-tent, where a group of
+horsemen had clustered. As Glenister drew near, he saw among them
+Wilton Struve, the lawyer, and the big, well-dressed tenderfoot of
+the Northern--McNamara--the man of the heavy hand. Struve
+straightway engaged him.
+
+"Say, Glenister, we've come out to see about the title to this
+claim."
+
+"What about it?"
+
+"Well, it was relocated about a month ago." He paused.
+
+"Yes. What of that?"
+
+"Galloway has commenced suit."
+
+"The ground belongs to Dextry and me. We discovered it, we opened
+it up, we've complied with the law, and we're going to hold it."
+Glenister spoke with such conviction and heat as to nonplus
+Struve, but McNamara, who had sat his horse silently until now,
+answered:
+
+"Certainly, sir; if your title is good you will be protected, but
+the law has arrived in Alaska and we've got to let it take its
+course. There's no need of violence--none whatever--but, briefly,
+the situation is this: Mr. Galloway has commenced action against
+you; the court has enjoined you from working and has appointed me
+as receiver to operate the mine until the suit is settled. It's an
+extraordinary procedure, of course, but the conditions are
+extraordinary in this country. The season is so short that it
+would be unjust to the rightful owner if the claim lay idle all
+summer--so, to avoid that, I've been put in charge, with
+instructions to operate it and preserve the proceeds subject to
+the court's order. Mr. Voorhees here is the United States Marshal.
+He will serve the papers."
+
+Glenister threw up his hand in a gesture of restraint.
+
+"Hold on! Do you mean to tell me that any court would recognize
+such a claim as Galloway's?"
+
+"The law recognizes everything. If his grounds are no good, so
+much the better for you."
+
+"You can't put in a receiver without notice to us. Why, good Lord!
+we never heard of a suit being commenced. We've never even been
+served with a summons and we haven't had a chance to argue in our
+own defence."
+
+"I have just said that this is a remarkable state of affairs and
+unusual action had to be taken," McNamara replied, but the young
+miner grew excited.
+
+"Look here--this gold won't get away. It's safe in the ground.
+We'll knock off work and let the claim lie idle till the thing is
+settled. You can't really expect us to surrender possession of our
+mine on the mere allegation of some unknown man. That's
+ridiculous. We won't do it. Why, you'll have to let us argue our
+case, at least, before you try to put us off."
+
+Voorhees shook his head. "We'll have to follow instructions. The
+thing for you to do is to appear before the court to-morrow and
+have the receiver dismissed. If your title is as good as you say
+it is, you won't have any trouble."
+
+"You're not the only ones to suffer," added McNamara. "We've taken
+possession of all the mines below here." He nodded down the gulch.
+"I'm an officer of the court and under bond--"
+
+"How much?"
+
+"Five thousand dollars for each claim."
+
+"What! Why, heavens, man, the poorest of these mines is producing
+that much every day!"
+
+While he spoke, Glenister was rapidly debating what course to
+follow.
+
+"The place to argue this thing is before Judge Stillman," said
+Struve--but with little notion of the conflict going on within
+Glenister. The youth yearned to fight--not with words nor quibbles
+nor legal phrases, but with steel and blows. And he felt that the
+impulse was as righteous as it was natural, for he knew this
+process was unjust, an outrage. Mexico Mullins's warning recurred
+to him. And yet--. He shifted slowly as he talked till his back
+was to the door of the big tent. They were watching him carefully,
+for all their apparent languor and looseness in saddle; then as he
+started to leap within and rally his henchmen, his mind went back
+to the words of Judge Stillman and his niece. Surely that old man
+was on the square. He couldn't be otherwise with her beside him,
+believing in him; and a suspicion of deeper plots behind these
+actions was groundless. So far, all was legal, he supposed, with
+his scant knowledge of law; though the methods seemed
+unreasonable. The men might be doing what they thought to be
+right. Why be the first to resist? The men on the mines below had
+not done so. The title to this ground was capable of such easy
+proof that he and Dex need have no uneasiness. Courts do not rob
+honest people nowadays, he argued, and moreover, perhaps the
+girl's words were true, perhaps she WOULD think more of him if he
+gave up the old fighting ways for her sake. Certainly armed
+resistance to her uncle's first edict would not please her. She
+had said he was too violent, so he would show her he could lay his
+savagery aside. She might smile on him approvingly, and that was
+worth taking a chance for--anyway it would mean but a few days'
+delay in the mine's run. As he reasoned he heard a low voice
+speaking within the open door. It was Slapjack Simms.
+
+"Step aside, lad. I've got the big un covered."
+
+Glenister saw the men on horseback snatch at their holsters, and,
+just in time, leaped at his foreman, for the old man had moved out
+into the open, a Winchester at shoulder, his cheek cuddling the
+stock, his eyes cold and narrow. The young man flung the barrel up
+and wrenched the weapon from his hands.
+
+"None of that, Hank!" he cried, sharply. "I'll say when to shoot."
+He turned to look into the muzzles of guns held in the hands of
+every horseman--every horseman save one, for Alec McNamara sat
+unmoved, his handsome features, nonchalant and amused, nodding
+approval. It was at him that Hank's weapon had been levelled.
+
+"This is bad enough at the best. Don't let's make it any worse,"
+said he.
+
+Slapjack inhaled deeply, spat with disgust, and looked over his
+boss incredulously.
+
+"Well, of all the different kinds of damn fools," he snorted, "you
+are the kindest." He marched past the marshal and his deputies
+down to the cut, put on his coat, and vanished down the trail
+towards town, not deigning a backward glance either at the mine or
+at the man unfit to fight for.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+THE "BRONCO KID'S" EAVESDROPPING
+
+
+Late in July it grows dark as midnight approaches, so that the
+many lights from doorway and window seem less garish and strange
+than they do a month earlier. In the Northern there was good
+business doing. The new bar fixtures, which had cost a king's
+ransom, or represented the one night's losings of a Klondike
+millionaire, shone rich, dark, and enticing, while the cut glass
+sparkled with iridescent hues, reflecting, in a measure, the
+prismatic moods, the dancing spirits of the crowd that crushed
+past, halting at the gambling games, or patronizing the theatre in
+the rear. The old bar furniture, brought down by dog team from "Up
+River," was established at the rear extremity of the long
+building, just inside the entrance to the dancehall, where patrons
+of the drama might, with a modicum of delay and inconvenience,
+quaff as deeply of the beaker as of the ballet.
+
+Now, however, the show had closed, the hall had been cleared of
+chairs and canvas, exposing a glassy, tempting surface, and the
+orchestra had moved to the stage. They played a rollicking, blood-
+stirring two-step, while the floor swam with dancers.
+
+At certain intervals the musicians worked feverishly up to a
+crashing crescendo, supported by the voices of the dancers, until
+all joined at the top note in a yell, while the drummer fired a
+.44 Colt into a box of wet sawdust beside his chair--all in time,
+all in the swinging spirit of the tune.
+
+The men, who were mostly young, danced like college boys, while
+the women, who were all young and good dancers, floated through
+the measures with the ease of rose-leaves on a summer stream.
+Faces were flushed, eyes were bright, and but rarely a voice
+sounded that was not glad. Most of the noise came from the men,
+and although one caught, here and there, a hint of haggard lines
+about the girlish faces, and glimpsed occasional eyes that did not
+smile, yet as a whole the scene was one of genuine enjoyment.
+
+Suddenly the music ceased and the couples crowded to the bar. The
+women took harmless drinks, the men, mostly whiskey. Rarely was
+the choice of potations criticised, though occasionally some ruddy
+eschewer of sobriety insisted that his lady "take the same,"
+avowing that "hootch," having been demonstrated beneficial in his
+case, was good for her also. Invariably the lady accepted without
+dispute, and invariably the man failed to note her glance at the
+bartender, or the silent substitution by that capable person of
+ginger-ale for whiskey or of plain water for gin. In turn, the
+mixers collected one dollar from each man, flipping to the girl a
+metal percentage-check which she added to her store. In the
+curtained boxes overhead, men bought bottles with foil about the
+corks, and then subterfuge on the lady's part was idle, but, on
+the other hand, she was able to pocket for each bottle a check
+redeemable at five dollars.
+
+A stranger, straight from the East, would have remarked first upon
+the good music, next upon the good looks of the women, and then
+upon the shabby clothes of the men--for some of them were in
+"mukluk," others in sweaters with huge initials and winged
+emblems, and all were collarless.
+
+Outside in the main gambling-room there were but few women. Men
+crowded in dense masses about the faro lay-out, the wheel, craps,
+the Klondike game, pangingi, and the card-tables. They talked of
+business, of home, of women, bought and sold mines, and bartered
+all things from hams to honor. The groomed and clean, the unkempt
+and filthy jostled shoulder to shoulder, equally affected by the
+license of the goldfields and the exhilaration of the New. The
+mystery of the North had touched them all. The glad, bright wine
+of adventure filled their veins, and they spoke mightily of things
+they had resolved to do, or recounted with simple diffidence the
+strange stories of their accomplishment.
+
+The "Bronco Kid," familiar from Atlin to Nome as the best "bank"
+dealer on the Yukon, worked the shift from eight till two. He was
+a slender man of thirty, dexterous in movement, slow to smile,
+soft of voice, and known as a living flame among women. He had
+dealt the biggest games of the early days, and had no enemies.
+Yet, though many called him friend, they wondered inwardly.
+
+It was a strong play the Kid had to-night, for Swede Sam, of
+Dawson, ventured many stacks of yellow chips, and he was a quick,
+aggressive gambler. A Jew sat at the king end with ten neatly
+creased one-thousand-dollar bills before him, together with piles
+of smaller currency. He adventured viciously and without system,
+while outsiders to the number of four or five cut in sporadically
+with small bets. The game was difficult to follow; consequently
+the lookout, from his raised dais, was leaning forward, chin in
+hand, while the group was hedged about by eager on-lookers.
+
+Faro is a closed book to most people, for its intricacies are
+confusing. Lucky is he who has never persevered in solving its
+mysteries nor speculated upon the "systems" of beating it. From
+those who have learned it, the game demands practice, dexterity,
+and coolness. The dealer must run the cards, watch the many
+shifting bets, handle the neatly piled checks, figure, lightning-
+like, the profits and losses. It was his unerring, clock like
+regularity in this that had won the Kid his reputation. This night
+his powers were taxed. He dealt silently, scowlingly, his long
+white fingers nervously caressing the cards.
+
+This preoccupation prevented his noticing the rustle and stir of a
+new-comer who had crowded up behind him, until he caught the
+wondering glances of those in front and saw that the Israelite was
+staring past him, his money forgotten, his eyes beady and sharp,
+his rat-like teeth showing in a grin of admiration. Swede Sam
+glared from under his unkempt shock and felt uncertainly towards
+the open collar of his flannel shirt where a kerchief should have
+been. The men who were standing gazed at the new-comer, some with
+surprise, others with a half smile of recognition.
+
+Bronco glanced quickly over his shoulder, and as he did so the
+breath caught in his throat--but for only an instant. A girl stood
+so close beside him that the lace of her gown brushed his sleeve.
+He was shuffling at the moment and dropped a card, then nodded to
+her. speaking quietly, as he stooped to regain the pasteboard:
+
+"Howdy, Cherry?"
+
+She did not answer--only continued to look at the "lay-out." "What
+a woman!" he thought. She was not too tall, with smoothly rounded
+bust and hips, and long waist, all well displayed by her perfectly
+fitting garments. Her face was oval, the mouth rather large, the
+eyes of dark, dark-blue, prominently outlined under thin, silken
+lids. Her dull-gold hair was combed low over the ears, and her
+smile showed rows of sparkling teeth before it dived into twin
+dimples. Strangest of all, it was an innocent face, the face and
+smile of a school-girl.
+
+The Kid finished his shuffling awkwardly and slid the cards into
+the box. Then the woman spoke:
+
+"Let me have your place, Bronco."
+
+The men gasped, the Jew snickered, the lookout straightened in his
+chair.
+
+"Better not. It's a hard game," said the Kid, but her voice was
+imperious as she commanded him:
+
+"Hurry up. Give me your place."
+
+Bronco arose, whereupon she settled in his chair, tucked in her
+skirts, removed her gloves, and twisted into place the diamonds on
+her hands.
+
+"What the devil's this?" said the lookout, roughly. "Are you
+drunk, Bronco? Get out of that chair, miss."
+
+She turned to him slowly. The innocence had fled from her features
+and the big eyes flashed warningly. A change had coarsened her
+like a puff of air on a still pool. Then, while she stared at him,
+her lids drooped dangerously and her lip curled.
+
+"Throw him out, Bronco," she said, and her tones held the hardness
+of a mistress to her slave.
+
+"That's all right," the Kid reassured the lookout. "She's a better
+dealer than I am. This is Cherry Malotte."
+
+Without noticing the stares this evoked, the girl commenced. Her
+hands, beautifully soft and white, flashed over the board. She
+dealt rapidly, unfalteringly, with the finish of one bred to the
+cards, handling chips and coppers with the peculiar mannerisms
+that spring from long practice. It was seen that she never looked
+at her check-rack, but, when a bet required paying, picked up a
+stack without turning her head; and they saw further that she
+never reached twice, nor took a large pile and sized it up against
+its mate, removing the extra disks, as is the custom. When she
+stretched forth her hand she grasped the right number unerringly.
+This is considered the acme of professional finish, and the Bronco
+Kid smiled delightedly as he saw the wonder spread from the
+lookout to the spectators and heard the speech of the men who
+stood on chairs and tables for sight of the woman dealer.
+
+For twenty minutes she continued, until the place became
+congested, and never once did the lookout detect an error.
+
+While she was busy, Glenister entered the front-door and pushed
+his way back towards the theatre. He was worried and distrait, his
+manner perturbed and unnatural. Silently and without apparent
+notice he passed friends who greeted him.
+
+"What ails Glenister to-night?" asked a by-stander. "He acts
+funny,"
+
+"Ain't you heard? Why, the Midas has been jumped. He's in a bad
+way--all broke up."
+
+The girl suddenly ceased without finishing the deck, and arose.
+
+"Don't stop," said the Kid, while a murmur of dismay came from the
+spectators. She only shook her head and drew on her gloves with a
+show of ennui.
+
+Gliding through the crowd, she threaded about aimlessly, the
+recipient of many stares though but few greetings, speaking with
+no one, a certain dignity serving her as a barrier even here. She
+stopped a waiter and questioned him.
+
+"He's up-stairs in a gallery box."
+
+"Alone?"
+
+"Yes'm. Anyhow, he was a minute ago, unless some of the rustlers
+has broke in on him."
+
+A moment later Glenister, watching the scene below, was aroused
+from his gloomy absorption by the click of the box door and the
+rustle of silken skirts.
+
+"Go out, please," he said, without turning. "I don't want
+company." Hearing no answer, he began again, "I came here to be
+alone"--but there he ceased, for the girl had come forward and
+laid her two hot hands upon his cheeks.
+
+"Boy," she breathed--and he arose swiftly.
+
+"Cherry! When did you come?"
+
+"Oh, DAYS ago," she said, impatiently, "from Dawson. They told me
+you had struck it. I stood it as long as I could--then I came to
+you. Now, tell me about yourself. Let me see you first, quick!"
+
+She pulled him towards the light and gazed upward, devouring him
+hungrily with her great, languorous eyes. She held to his coat
+lapels, standing close beside him, her warm breath beating up into
+his face,
+
+"Well," she said, "kiss me!"
+
+He took her wrists in his and loosed her hold, then looked down on
+her gravely and said:
+
+"No--that's all over. I told you so when I left Dawson."
+
+"All over! Oh no, it isn't, boy. You think so, but it isn't--it
+can't be. I love you too much to let you go."
+
+"Hush!" said he. "There are people in the next box."
+
+"I don't care! Let them hear," she cried, with feminine
+recklessness. "I'm proud of my love for you. I'll tell it to them-
+-to the whole world."
+
+"Now, see here, little girl," he said, quietly, "we had a long
+talk in Dawson and agreed that it was best to divide our ways. I
+was mad over you once, as a good many other men have been, but I
+came to my senses. Nothing could ever result from it, and I told
+you so."
+
+"Yes, yes--I know. I thought I could give you up, but I didn't
+realize till you had gone how I wanted you. Oh, it's been a
+TORTURE to me every day for the past two years." There was no
+semblance now to the cold creature she had appeared upon entering
+the gambling-hall. She spoke rapidly, her whole body tense with
+emotion, her voice shaken with passion. "I've seen men and men and
+men, and they've loved me, but I never cared for anybody in the
+world till I saw you. They ran after me, but you were cold. You
+made me come to you. Perhaps that was it. Anyhow, I can't stand
+it. I'll give up everything--I'll do anything just to be where you
+are. What do you think of a woman who will beg? Oh, I've lost my
+pride--I'm a fool--a fool--but I can't help it."
+
+"I'm sorry you feel this way," said Glenister. "It isn't my fault,
+and it isn't of any use."
+
+For an instant she stood quivering, while the light died out of
+her face; then, with a characteristic change, she smiled till the
+dimples laughed in her cheeks. She sank upon a seat beside him and
+pulled together the curtains, shutting out the sight below.
+
+"Very well"--then she put his hand to her cheek and cuddled it.
+"I'm glad to see you just the same, and you can't keep me from
+loving you."
+
+With his other hand he smoothed her hair, while, unknown to him
+and beneath her lightness, she shrank and quivered at his touch
+like a Barbary steed under the whip.
+
+"Things are very bad with me," he said. "We've had our mine
+jumped."
+
+"Bah! You know what to do. You aren't a cripple--you've got five
+fingers on your gun hand."
+
+"That's it! They all tell me that--all the old-timers; but I don't
+know what to do. I thought I did--but I don't. The law has come
+into this country and I've tried to meet it half-way. They jumped
+us and put in a receiver--a big man--by the name of McNamara. Dex
+wasn't there and I let them do it. When the old man learned of it
+he nearly went crazy. We had our first quarrel. He thought I was
+afraid--"
+
+"Not he," said the girl. "I know him and he knows you."
+
+"That was a week ago. We've hired the best lawyer in Nome--Bill
+Wheaton--and we've tried to have the injunction removed. We've
+offered bond in any sum, but the Judge refuses to accept it. We've
+argued for leave to appeal, but he won't give us the right. The
+more I look into it the worse it seems, for the court wasn't
+convened in accordance with law, we weren't notified to appear in
+our own behalf, we weren't allowed a chance to argue our own case-
+-nothing. They simply slapped on a receiver, and now they refuse
+to allow us redress. From a legal stand-point, it's appalling, I'm
+told--but what's to be done? What's the game? That's the thing.
+What are they up to? I'm nearly out of my mind, for it's all my
+fault. I didn't think it meant anything like this or I'd have made
+a fight for possession and stood them off at least. As it is, my
+partner's sore and he's gone to drinking--first time in twelve
+years. He says I gave the claim away, and now it's up to me and
+the Almighty to get it back. If he gets full he'll drive a four-
+horse wagon into some church, or go up and pick the Judge to
+pieces with his fingers to see what makes him go round."
+
+"What've they got against you and Dextry--some grudge?" she
+questioned.
+
+"No, no! We're not the only ones in trouble; they've jumped the
+rest of the good mines and put this McNamara in as receiver on all
+of them, but that's small comfort. The Swedes are crazy; they've
+hired all the lawyers in town, and are murdering more good
+American language than would fill Bering Strait. Dex is in favor
+of getting our friends together and throwing the receiver off. He
+wants to kill somebody, but we can't do that. They've got the
+soldiers to fall back on. We've been warned that the troops are
+instructed to enforce the court's action. I don't know what the
+plot is, for I can't believe the old Judge is crooked--the girl
+wouldn't let him."
+
+"Girl?"
+
+Cherry Malotte leaned forward where the light shone on the young
+man's worried face.
+
+"The girl? What girl? Who is she?"
+
+Her voice had lost its lazy caress, her lips had thinned. Never
+was a woman's face more eloquent, mused Glenister as he noted her.
+Every thought fled to this window to peer forth, fearful, lustful,
+hateful, as the case might be. He had loved to play with her in
+the former days, to work upon her passions and watch the changes,
+to note her features mirror every varying emotion from tenderness
+to flippancy, from anger to delight, and, at his bidding, to see
+the pale cheeks glow with love's fire, the eyes grow heavy, the
+dainty lips invite kisses. Cherry was a perfect little spoiled
+animal, he reflected, and a very dangerous one.
+
+"What girl?" she questioned again, and he knew beforehand the look
+that went with it.
+
+"The girl I intend to marry," he said, slowly, looking her between
+the eyes.
+
+He knew he was cruel--he wanted to be--it satisfied the clamor and
+turmoil within him, while he also felt that the sooner she knew
+and the colder it left her the better. He could not note the
+effect of the remark on her, however, for, as he spoke, the door
+of the box opened and the head of the Bronco Kid appeared, then
+retired instantly with apologies.
+
+"Wrong stall," he said, in his slow voice. "Looking for another
+party." Nevertheless, his eyes had covered every inch of them--
+noted the drawn curtains and the breathless poise of the woman--
+while his ears had caught part of Glenister's speech.
+
+"You won't marry her," said Cherry, quietly. "I don't know who she
+is, but I won't let you marry her."
+
+She rose and smoothed her skirts.
+
+"It's time nice people were going now." She said it with a sneer
+at herself. "Take me out through this crowd. I'm living quietly
+and I don't want these beasts to follow me."
+
+As they emerged from the theatre the morning air was cool and
+quiet, while the sun was just rising. The Bronco Kid lighted a
+cigar as they passed, nodding silently at their greeting. His eyes
+followed them, while his hands were so still that the match burned
+through to his fingers--then when they had gone his teeth met and
+ground savagely through the tobacco so that the cigar fell, while
+he muttered:
+
+"So that's the girl you intend to marry? We'll see, by God!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+DEXTRY MAKES A CALL
+
+
+The water front had a strong attraction for Helen Chester, and
+rarely did a fair day pass without finding her in some quiet spot
+from which she could watch the shifting life along its edge, the
+ships at anchor, and the varied incidents of the surf.
+
+This morning she sat in a dory pulled high up on the beach, bathed
+in the bright sunshine, and staring at the rollers, while lines of
+concentration wrinkled her brow. The wind had blown for some days
+till the ocean beat heavily across the shallow bar, and now, as it
+became quieter, longshoremen were launching their craft, preparing
+to resume their traffic.
+
+Not until the previous day had the news of her friends' misfortune
+come to her, and although she had heard no hint of fraud, she
+began to realize that they were involved in a serious tangle. To
+the questions which she anxiously put to her uncle he had replied
+that their difficulty arose from a technicality in the mining laws
+which another man had been shrewd enough to profit by. It was a
+complicated question, he said, and one requiring time to thrash
+out to an equitable settlement. She had undertaken to remind him
+of the service these men had done her, but, with a smile, he
+interrupted; he could not allow such things to influence his
+judicial attitude, and she must not endeavor to prejudice him in
+the discharge of his duty. Recognizing the justice of this, she
+had desisted.
+
+For many days the girl had caught scattered talk between the Judge
+and McNamara, and between Struve and his associates, but it all
+seemed foreign and dry, and beyond the fact that it bore on the
+litigation over the Anvil Creek mines, she understood nothing and
+cared less, particularly as a new interest had but recently come
+into her life, an interest in the form of a man--McNamara.
+
+He had begun with quiet, half-concealed admiration of her, which
+had rapidly increased until his attentions had become of a
+singularly positive and resistless character.
+
+Judge Stillman was openly delighted, while the court of one like
+Alec McNamara could but flatter any girl. In his presence, Helen
+felt herself rebelling at his suit, yet as distance separated them
+she thought ever more kindly of it. This state of mind contrasted
+oddly with her feelings towards the other man she had met, for in
+this country there were but two. When Glenister was with her she
+saw his love lying nakedly in his eyes and it exercised some spell
+which drew her to him in spite of herself, but when he had gone,
+back came the distrust, the terror of the brute she felt was there
+behind it all. The one appealed to her while present, the other
+pled strongest while away. Now she was attempting to analyze her
+feelings and face the future squarely, for she realized that her
+affairs neared a crisis, and this, too, not a month after meeting
+the men. She wondered if she would come to love her uncle's
+friend. She did not know. Of the other she was sure--she never
+could.
+
+Busied with these reflections, she noticed the familiar figure of
+Dextry wandering aimlessly. He was not unkempt, and yet his air
+gave her the impression of prolonged sleeplessness. Spying her, he
+approached and seated himself in the sand against the boat, while
+at her greeting he broke into talk as if he was needful only of
+her friendly presence to stir his confidential chords into active
+vibration.
+
+"We're in turrible shape, miss," he said. "Our claim's jumped.
+Somebody run in and talked the boy out of it while I was gone, and
+now we can't get 'em off. He's been tryin' this here new law game
+that you-all brought in this summer. I've been drunk--that's what
+makes me look so ornery."
+
+He said the last, not in the spirit of apology, for rarely does
+your frontiersman consider that his self-indulgences require
+palliation, but rather after the manner of one purveying news of
+mild interest, as he would inform you that his surcingle had
+broken or that he had witnessed a lynching.
+
+"What made them jump your claim?"
+
+"I don't know. I don't know nothin' about it, because, as I
+remarked previous, I 'ain't follered the totterin' footsteps of
+the law none too close. Nor do I intend to. I simply draws out of
+the game fer a spell, and lets the youngster have his fling; then
+if he can't make good, I'll take the cards and finish it for him.
+
+"It's like the time I was ranchin' with an Englishman up in
+Montana. This here party claimed the misfortune of bein' a younger
+son, whatever that is, and is grubstaked to a ranch by his people
+back home. Havin' acquired an intimate knowledge of the West by
+readin' Bret Harte, and havin' assim'lated the secrets of ranchin'
+by correspondence school, he is fitted, ample, to teach us natives
+a thing or two--and he does it. I am workin' his outfit as
+foreman, and it don't take long to show me that he's a good-
+hearted feller, in spite of his ridin'-bloomers an' pinochle eye-
+glass. He ain't never had no actual experience, but he's got a
+Henry Thompson Seton book that tells him all about everything from
+field-mice to gorrillys.
+
+"We're troubled a heap with coyotes them days, and finally this
+party sends home for some Rooshian wolf-hounds. I'm fer pizenin' a
+sheep carcass, but he says:
+
+"'No, no, me deah man; that's not sportsman-like; we'll hunt 'em.
+Ay, hunt 'em! Only fawncy the sport we'll have, ridin' to hounds!'
+
+"'We will not,' says I. 'I ain't goin' to do no Simon Legree
+stunts. It ain't man's size. Bein' English, you don't count, but
+I'm growed up.'
+
+"Nothin' would do him but those Uncle Tom's Cabin dogs, however,
+and he had 'em imported clean from Berkshire or Sibeery or
+thereabouts, four of 'em, great, big, blue ones. They was as
+handsome and imposin' as a set of solid-gold teeth, but somehow
+they didn't seem to savvy our play none. One day the cook rolled a
+rain bar'l down-hill from the kitchen, and when them blooded
+critters saw it comin' they throwed down their tails and tore out
+like rabbits. After that I couldn't see no good in 'em with a spy-
+glass.
+
+"'They 'ain't got no grit. What makes you think they can fight?' I
+asked one day.
+
+"'Fight?' says H'Anglish. 'My deah man, they're full-blooded. Cost
+seventy pun each. They're dreadful creatures when they're roused--
+they'll tear a wolf to pieces like a rag--kill bears--anything.
+Oh! Rully, perfectly dreadful!'
+
+"Well, it wasn't a week later that he went over to the east line
+with me to mend a barb wire. I had my pliers and a hatchet and
+some staples. About a mile from the house we jumped up a little
+brown bear that scampered off when he seen us, but bein' agin' a
+bluff where he couldn't get away, he climbed a cotton-wood.
+H'Anglish was simply frothin' with excitement.
+
+"'What a misfortune! Neyther gun nor hounds.'
+
+"'I'll scratch his back and talk pretty to him,' says I, 'while
+you run back and get a Winchester and them ferocious bull-dogs.'
+
+"'Wolf-hounds,' says he, with dignity, 'full-blooded, seventy pun
+each. They'll rend the poor beast limb from limb. I hate to do it,
+but it 'll be good practice for them.'
+
+"'They may be good renders,' says I, 'but don't forgit the gun.'
+
+"Well, I throwed sticks at the critter when he tried to unclimb
+the tree, till finally the boss got back with his dogs. They set
+up an awful holler when they see the bear--first one they'd ever
+smelled, I reckon--and the little feller crawled up in some forks
+and watched things, cautious, while they leaped about, bayin' most
+fierce and blood-curdlin'.
+
+"'How you goin' to get him down?' says I.
+
+"'I'll shoot him in the lower jaw,' says the Britisher, 'so he
+cawn't bite the dogs. It 'll give 'em cawnfidence.'
+
+"He takes aim at Mr. Bear's chin and misses it three times
+runnin', he's that excited.
+
+"'Settle down, H'Anglish,' says I. 'He 'ain't got no double chins.
+How many shells left in your gun?' "When he looks he finds there's
+only one more, for he hadn't stopped to fill the magazine, so I
+cautions him.
+
+"'You're shootin' too low. Raise her.'
+
+"He raised her all right, and caught Mr. Bruin in the snout. What
+followed thereafter was most too quick to notice, for the poor
+bear let out a bawl, dropped off his limb into the midst of them
+ragin', tur'ble, seventy-pun hounds, an' hugged 'em to death, one
+after another, like he was doin' a system of health exercises. He
+took 'em to his boosum as if he'd just got back off a long trip,
+then, droppin' the last one, he made at that younger son an' put a
+gold fillin' in his leg. Yes, sir; most chewed it off. H'Anglish
+let out a Siberian-wolf holler hisself, an' I had to step in with
+the hatchet and kill the brute though I was most dead from
+laughin'.
+
+"That's how it is with me an' Glenister," the old man concluded.
+"When he gets tired experimentin' with this new law game of hisn,
+I'll step in an' do business on a common-sense basis."
+
+"You talk as if you wouldn't get fair play," said Helen.
+
+"We won't," said he, with conviction. "I look on all lawyers with
+suspicion, even to old bald-face--your uncle, askin' your pardon
+an' gettin' it, bein' as I'm a friend an' he ain't no real
+relation of yours, anyhow. No, sir; they're all crooked."
+
+Dextry held the Western distrust of the legal profession--
+comprehensive, unreasoning, deep.
+
+"Is the old man all the kin you've got?" he questioned, when she
+refused to discuss the matter.
+
+"He is--in a way. I have a brother, or I hope I have, somewhere.
+He ran away when we were both little tads and I haven't seen him
+since. I heard about him, indirectly, at Skagway--three years ago-
+-during the big rush to the Klondike, but he has never been home.
+When father died, I went to live with Uncle Arthur--some day,
+perhaps, I'll find my brother. He's cruel to hide from me this
+way, for there are only we two left and I've loved him always."
+
+She spoke sadly and her mood blended well with the gloom of her
+companion, so they stared silently out over the heaving green
+waters.
+
+"It's a good thing me an' the kid had a little piece of money
+ahead," Dextry resumed later, reverting to the thought that lay
+uppermost in his mind, "'cause we'd be up against it right if we
+hadn't. The boy couldn't have amused himself none with these court
+proceedings, because they come high. I call 'em luxuries, like
+brandied peaches an' silk undershirts.
+
+"I don't trust these Jim Crow banks no more than I do lawyers,
+neither. No, sirree! I bought a iron safe an' hauled it out to the
+mine. She weighs eighteen hundred, and we keep our money locked up
+there. We've got a feller named Johnson watchin' it now. Steal it?
+Well, hardly. They can't bust her open without a stick of 'giant'
+which would rouse everybody in five miles, an' they can't lug her
+off bodily--she's too heavy. No; it's safer there than any place I
+know of. There ain't no abscondin' cashiers an' all that. Tomorrer
+I'm goin' back to live on the claim an' watch this receiver man
+till the thing's settled."
+
+When the girl arose to go, he accompanied her up through the deep
+sand of the lane-like street to the main, muddy thoroughfare of
+the camp. As yet, the planked and gravelled pavements, which later
+threaded the town, were unknown, and the incessant traffic had
+worn the road into a quagmire of chocolate-colored slush, almost
+axle-deep, with which the store fronts, show-windows, and awnings
+were plentifully shot and spattered from passing teams. Whenever a
+wagon approached, pedestrians fled to the shelter of neighboring
+doorways, watching a chance to dodge out again. When vehicles
+passed from the comparative solidity of the main street out into
+the morasses that constituted the rest of the town, they
+adventured perilously, their horses plunging, snorting, terrified,
+amid an atmosphere of profanity. Discouraged animals were down
+constantly, and no foot-passenger, even with rubber boots,
+ventured off the planks that led from house to house.
+
+To avoid a splashing team, Dextry pulled his companion close in
+against the entrance to the Northern saloon, standing before her
+protectingly.
+
+Although it was late in the afternoon the Bronco Kid had just
+arisen and was now loafing preparatory to the active duties of his
+profession. He was speaking with the proprietor when Dextry and
+the girl sought shelter just without the open door, so he caught a
+fair though fleeting glimpse of her as she flashed a curious look
+inside. She had never been so close to a gambling-hall before, and
+would have liked to peer in more carefully had she dared, but her
+companion moved forward. At the first look the Bronco Kid had
+broken off in his speech and stared at her as though at an
+apparition. When she had vanished, he spoke to Reilly:
+
+"Who's that?"
+
+Reilly shrugged his shoulders, then without further question the
+Kid turned back towards the empty theatre and out of the back
+door.
+
+He moved nonchalantly till he was outside, then with the speed of
+a colt ran down the narrow planking between the buildings, turned
+parallel to the front street, leaped from board to board, splashed
+through puddles of water till he reached the next alley. Stamping
+the mud from his shoes and pulling down his sombrero, he sauntered
+out into the main thoroughfare.
+
+Dextry and his companion had crossed to the other side and were
+approaching, so the gambler gained a fair view of them. He
+searched every inch of the girl's face and figure, then, as she
+made to turn her eyes in his direction, he slouched away. He
+followed, however, at a distance, till he saw the man leave her,
+then on up to the big hotel he shadowed her. A half-hour later he
+was drinking in the Golden Gate bar-room with an acquaintance who
+ministered to the mechanical details behind the hotel counter.
+
+"Who's the girl I saw come in just now?" he inquired.
+
+"I guess you mean the Judge's niece."
+
+Both men spoke in the dead, restrained tones that go with their
+callings.
+
+"What's her name?"
+
+"Chester, I think. Why? Look good to you, Kid?"
+
+Although the other neither spoke nor made sign, the bartender
+construed his silence as acquiescence and continued, with a
+conscious glance at his own reflection while he adjusted his
+diamond scarf-pin: "Well, she can have ME! I've got it fixed to
+meet her."
+
+"BAH! I guess not," said the Kid, suddenly, with an inflection
+that startled the other from his preening. Then, as he went out,
+the man mused:
+
+"Gee! Bronco's got the worst eye in the camp! Makes me creep when
+he throws it on me with that muddy look. He acted like he was
+jealous."
+
+ At noon the next day, as he prepared to go to the claim, Dextry's
+partner burst in upon him. Glenister was dishevelled, and his eyes
+shone with intense excitement.
+
+"What d'you think they've done now?" he cried, as greeting.
+
+"I dunno. What is it?"
+
+"They've broken open the safe and taken our money."
+
+"What!"
+
+The old man in turn was on his feet, the grudge which he had felt
+against Glenister in the past few days forgotten in this common
+misfortune.
+
+"Yes, by Heaven, they've swiped our money--our tents, tools,
+teams, books, hose, and all of our personal property--everything!
+They threw Johnson off and took the whole works. I never heard of
+such a thing. I went out to the claim and they wouldn't let me go
+near the workings. They've got every mine on Anvil Creek guarded
+the same way, and they aren't going to let us come around even
+when they clean up. They told me so this morning."
+
+"But, look here," demanded Dextry, sharply, "the money in that
+safe belongs to us. That's money we brought in from the States.
+The court 'ain't got no right to it. What kind of a damn law is
+that?"
+
+"Oh, as to law, they don't pay any attention to it any more," said
+Glenister, bitterly. "I made a mistake in not killing the first
+man that set foot on the claim. I was a sucker, and now we're up
+against a stiff game. The Swedes are in the same fix, too. This
+last order has left them groggy." "I don't understand it yet,"
+said Dextry.
+
+"Why, it's this way. The Judge has issued what he calls an order
+enlarging the powers of the receiver, and it authorizes McNamara
+to take possession of everything on the claims--tents, tools,
+stores, and personal property of all kinds. It was issued last
+night without notice to our side, so Wheaton says, and they served
+it this morning early. I went out to see McNamara, and when I got
+there I found him in our private tent with the safe broken open."
+
+"'What does this mean?' I said. And then he showed me the new
+order.
+
+"'I'm responsible to the court for every penny of this money,'
+said he, 'and for every tool on the claim. In view of that I can't
+allow you to go near the workings.'
+
+"'Not go near the workings?' said I. 'Do you mean you won't let us
+see the clean-ups from our own mine? How do we know we're getting
+a square deal if we don't see the gold weighed?'
+
+"'I'm an officer of the court and under bond,' said he, and the
+smiling triumph in his eyes made me crazy.
+
+"'You're a lying thief,' I said, looking at him square. 'And
+you're going too far. You played me for a fool once and made it
+stick, but it won't work twice.'
+
+"He looked injured and aggrieved and called in Voorhees, the
+marshal. I can't grasp the thing at all; everybody seems to be
+against us, the Judge, the marshal, the prosecuting attorney--
+everybody. Yet they've done it all according to law, they claim,
+and have the soldiers to back them up."
+
+"It's just as Mexico Mullins said," Dextry stormed; "there's a
+deal on of some kind. I'm goin' up to the hotel an' call on the
+Judge myself. I 'ain't never seen him nor this McNamara, either. I
+allus want to look a man straight in the eyes once, then I know
+what course to foller in my dealings."
+
+"You'll find them both," said Glenister, "for McNamara rode into
+town behind me."
+
+The old prospector proceeded to the Golden Gate Hotel and inquired
+for Judge Stillman's room. A boy attempted to take his name, but
+he seized him by the scruff of the neck and sat him in his seat,
+proceeding unannounced to the suite to which he had been directed.
+Hearing voices, he knocked, and then, without awaiting a summons,
+walked in.
+
+The room was fitted like an office, with desk, table, type-writer,
+and law-books. Other rooms opened from it on both sides. Two men
+were talking earnestly--one gray-haired, smooth-shaven, and
+clerical, the other tall, picturesque, and masterful. With his
+first glance the miner knew that before him were the two he had
+come to see, and that in reality he had to deal with but one, the
+big man who shot at him the level glances.
+
+"We are engaged," said the Judge, "very busily engaged, sir. Will
+you call again in half an hour?"
+
+Dextry looked him over carefully from head to foot, then turned
+his back on him and regarded the other. Neither he nor McNamara
+spoke, but their eyes were busy and each instinctively knew that
+here was a foe.
+
+"What do you want?" McNamara inquired, finally.
+
+"I just dropped in to get acquainted. My name is Dextry--Joe
+Dextry--from everywhere west of the Missouri--an' your name is
+McNamara, ain't it? This here, I reckon, is your little French
+poodle--eh?" indicating Stillman.
+
+"What do you mean?" said McNamara, while the Judge murmured
+indignantly.
+
+"Just what I say. However, that ain't what I want to talk about. I
+don't take no stock in such truck as judges an' lawyers an' orders
+of court. They ain't intended to be took serious. They're all
+right for children an' Easterners an' non compos mentis people, I
+s'pose, but I've always been my own judge, jury, an' hangman, an'
+I aim to continue workin' my legislatif, executif, an' judicial
+duties to the end of the string. You look out! My pardner is young
+an' seems to like the idee of lettin' somebody else run his
+business, so I'm goin' to give him rein and let him amuse himself
+for a while with your dinky little writs an' receiverships. But
+don't go too far--you can rob the Swedes, 'cause Swedes ain't
+entitled to have no money, an' some other crook would get it if
+you didn't, but don't play me an' Glenister fer Scandinavians.
+It's a mistake. We're white men, an' I'm apt to come romancin' up
+here with one of these an' bust you so you won't hold together
+durin' the ceremonies."
+
+With his last words he made the slightest shifting movement, only
+a lifting shrug of the shoulder, yet in his palm lay a six-
+shooter. He had slipped it from his trousers band with the ease of
+long practice and absolute surety. Judge Stillman gasped and
+backed against the desk, but McNamara idly swung his leg as he sat
+sidewise on the table. His only sign of interest was a quickening
+of the eyes, a fact of which Dextry made mental note.
+
+"Yes," said the miner, disregarding the alarm of the lawyer, "you
+can wear this court in your vest-pocket like a Waterbury, if you
+want to, but if you don't let me alone, I'll uncoil its main-
+spring. That's all."
+
+He replaced his weapon and, turning, walked out the door.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+SLUICE ROBBERS
+
+
+"We must have money," said Glenister a few days later. "When
+McNamara jumped our safe he put us down and out. There's no use
+fighting in this court any longer, for the Judge won't let us work
+the ground ourselves, even if we give bond, and he won't grant an
+appeal. He says his orders aren't appealable. We ought to send
+Wheaton out to 'Frisco and have him take the case to the higher
+courts. Maybe he can get a writ of supersedeas."
+
+"I don't rec'nize the name, but if it's as bad as it sounds it's
+sure horrible. Ain't there no cure for it?"
+
+"It simply means that the upper court would take the case away
+from this one."
+
+"Well, let's send him out quick. Every day means ten thousand
+dollars to us. It 'll take him a month to make the round trip, so
+I s'pose he ought to leave tomorrow on the Roanoke."
+
+"Yes, but where's the money to do it with? McNamara has ours. My
+God! What a mess we're in! What fools we've been, Dex! There's a
+conspiracy here. I'm beginning to see it now that it's too late.
+This man is looting our country under color of law, and figures on
+gutting all the mines before we can throw him off. That's his
+game. He'll work them as hard and as long as he can, and Heaven
+only knows what will become of the money. He must have big men
+behind him in order to fix a United States judge this way. Maybe
+he has the 'Frisco courts corrupted, too."
+
+"If he has, I'm goin' to kill him," said Dextry. "I've worked like
+a dog all my life, and now that I've struck pay I don't aim to
+lose it. If Bill Wheaton can't win out accordin' to law, I'm goin'
+to proceed accordin' to justice."
+
+During the past two days the partners had haunted the court-room
+where their lawyer, together with the counsel for the
+Scandinavians, had argued and pleaded, trying every possible
+professional and unprofessional artifice in search of relief from
+the arbitrary rulings of the court, while hourly they had become
+more strongly suspicious of some sinister plot--some hidden,
+powerful understanding back of the Judge and the entire mechanism
+of justice. They had fought with the fury of men who battle for
+life, and had grown to hate the lines of Stillman's vacillating
+face, the bluster of the district-attorney, and the smirking
+confidence of the clerks, for it seemed that they all worked
+mechanically, like toys, at the dictates of Alec McNamara. At
+last, when they had ceased, beaten and exhausted, they were too
+confused with technical phrases to grasp anything except the fact
+that relief was denied them; that their claims were to be worked
+by the receiver; and, as a crowning defeat, they learned that the
+Judge would move his court to St. Michael's and hear no cases
+until he returned, a month later.
+
+Meanwhile, McNamara hired every idle man he could lay hand upon,
+and ripped the placers open with double shifts. Every day a stream
+of yellow dust poured into the bank and was locked in his vaults,
+while those mine-owners who attempted to witness the clean-ups
+were ejected from their claims. The politician had worked with
+incredible swiftness and system, and a fortnight after landing he
+had made good his boast to Struve, and was in charge of every good
+claim in the district, the owners were ousted, their appeals
+argued and denied, and the court gone for thirty days, leaving him
+a clear field for his operations. He felt a contempt for most of
+his victims, who were slow-witted Swedes, grasping neither the
+purport nor the magnitude of his operation, and as to those
+litigants who were discerning enough to see its enormity, he
+trusted to his organization to thwart them.
+
+The two partners had come to feel that they were beating against a
+wall, and had also come squarely to face the proposition that they
+were without funds wherewith to continue their battle. It was
+maddening for them to think of the daily robbery that they
+suffered, for the Midas turned out many ounces of gold at every
+shift; and more maddening to realize the receiver's shrewdness in
+crippling them by his theft of the gold in their safe. That had
+been his crowning stroke.
+
+"We MUST get money quick," said Glenister. "Do you think we can
+borrow?"
+
+"Borrow?" sniffed Dextry. "Folks don't lend money in Alaska."
+
+They relapsed into a moody silence.
+
+"I met a feller this mornin' that's workin' on the Midas," the old
+man resumed. "He came in town fer a pair of gum boots, an' he says
+they've run into awful rich ground--so rich that they have to
+clean up every morning when the night shift goes off 'cause the
+riffles clog with gold."
+
+"Think of it!" Glenister growled. "If we had even a part of one of
+those clean-ups we could send Wheaton outside."
+
+In the midst of his bitterness a thought struck him. He made as
+though to speak, then closed his mouth; but his partner's eyes
+were on him, filled with a suppressed but growing fire. Dextry
+lowered his voice cautiously:
+
+"There'll be twenty thousand dollars in them sluices to-night at
+midnight."
+
+Glenister stared back while his pulse pounded at something that
+lay in the other's words.
+
+"It belongs to us," the young man said. "There wouldn't be
+anything wrong about it, would there?"
+
+Dextry sneered. "Wrong! Right! Them is fine an' soundin' titles in
+a mess like this. What do they mean? I tell you, at midnight to-
+night Alec McNamara will have twenty thousand dollars of our
+money--"
+
+"God! What would happen if they caught us?" whispered the younger,
+following out his thought. "They'd never let us get off the claim
+alive. He couldn't find a better excuse to shoot us down and get
+rid of us. If we came up before this Judge for trial, we'd go to
+Sitka for twenty years."
+
+"Sure! But it's our only chance. I'd ruther die on the Midas in a
+fair fight than set here bitin' my hangnails. I'm growin' old and
+I won't never make another strike. As to bein' caught--them's our
+chances. I won't be took alive--I promise you that--and before I
+go I'll get my satisfy. Castin' things up, that's about all a man
+gets in this vale of tears, jest satisfaction of one kind or
+another. It'll be a fight in the open, under the stars, with the
+clean, wet moss to lie down on, and not a scrappin'-match of freak
+phrases and law-books inside of a stinkin' court-room. The cards
+is shuffled and in the box, pardner, and the game is started. If
+we're due to win, we'll win. If we're due to lose, we'll lose.
+These things is all figgered out a thousand years back. Come on,
+boy. Are you game?"
+
+"Am I game?" Glenister's nostrils dilated and his voice rose a
+tone. "Am I game? I'm with you till the big cash-in, and Lord have
+mercy on any man that blocks our game to-night."
+
+"We'll need another hand to help us," said Dextry. "Who can we
+get?"
+
+At that moment, as though in answer, the door opened with the
+scant ceremony that friends of the frontier are wont to observe,
+admitting the attenuated, flapping, dome-crowned figure of
+Slapjack Simms, and Dextry fell upon him with the hunger of a
+wolf.
+
+ It was midnight and over the dark walls of the valley peered a
+multitude of stars, while away on the southern horizon there
+glowed a subdued effulgence as though from hidden fires beneath
+the Gold God's caldron, or as though the phosphorescence of Bering
+had spread upward into the skies. Although each night grew longer,
+it was not yet necessary to light the men at work in the cuts.
+There were perhaps two hours in which it was difficult to see at a
+distance, but the dawn came early, hence no provision had been
+made for torches.
+
+Five minutes before the hour the night-shift boss lowered the
+gates in the dam, and, as the rush from the sluices subsided, his
+men quit work and climbed the bluff to the mess tent. The
+dwellings of the Midas, as has already been explained, sat back
+from the creek at a distance of a city block, the workings being
+thus partially hidden under the brow of the steep bank.
+
+It is customary to leave a watchman in the pit during the noon and
+midnight hours, not only to see that strangers preserve a neutral
+attitude, but also to watch the waste-gates and water supply. The
+night man of the Midas had been warned of his responsibility, and,
+knowing that much gold lay in his keeping, was disposed to gaze on
+the curious-minded with the sourness of suspicion. Therefore, as a
+man leading a pack-horse approached out of the gloom of the creek-
+trail, his eyes were on him from the moment he appeared. The road
+wound along the gravel of the bars and passed in proximity to the
+flumes. However, the wayfarer paid no attention to them, and the
+watchman detected an explanatory weariness in his slow gait.
+
+"Some prospector getting in from a trip," he thought.
+
+The stranger stopped, scratched a match, and, as he undertook to
+light his pipe, the observer caught the mahogany shine of a
+negro's face. The match sputtered out and then came impatient
+blasphemy as he searched for another.
+
+"Evenin', sah! You-all oblige me with a match?"
+
+He addressed the watcher on the bank above, and, without waiting a
+reply, began to climb upward.
+
+No smoker on the trail will deny the luxury of a light to the most
+humble, so as the negro gained his level the man reached forth to
+accommodate him. Without warning, the black man leaped forward
+with the ferocity of an animal and struck the other a fearful
+blow. The watchman sank with a faint, startled cry, and the
+African dragged him out of sight over the brow of the bank, where
+he rapidly tied him hand and foot, stuffing a gag into his mouth.
+At the same moment two other figures rounded the bend below and
+approached. They were mounted and leading a third saddle-horse, as
+well as other pack-animals. Reaching the workings, they
+dismounted. Then began a strange procedure, for one man clambered
+upon the sluices and, with a pick, ripped out the riffles. This
+was a matter of only a few seconds; then, seizing a shovel, he
+transferred the concentrates which lay in the bottom of the boxes
+into canvas sacks which his companion held. As each bag was
+filled, it was tied and dumped into the cut. They treated but four
+boxes in this way, leaving the lower two-thirds of the flume
+untouched, for Anvil Creek gold is coarse and the heart of the
+clean-up lies where it is thrown in. Gathering the sacks together,
+they lashed them upon the pack-animals, then mounted the second
+string of sluices and began as before. Throughout it all they
+worked with feverish haste and in unbroken silence, every moment
+flashing quick glances at the figure of the lookout who stood on
+the crest above, half dimmed in the shadow of a willow clump.
+Judging by their rapidity and sureness, they were expert miners.
+
+From the tent came the voices of the night shift at table, and the
+faint rattle of dishes, while the canvas walls glowed from the
+lights within like great fire-flies hidden in the grass. The
+foreman, finishing his meal, appeared at the door of the mess
+tent, and, pausing to accustom his eyes to the gloom, peered
+perfunctorily towards the creek. The watchman detached himself
+from the shadow, moving out into plain sight, and the boss turned
+back. The two men below were now working on the sluices which lay
+close under the bank and were thus hidden from the tent.
+
+ McNamara's description of Anvil Creek's riches had fired Helen
+Chester with the desire to witness a clean-up, so they had ridden
+out from town in time for supper at the claim. She had not known
+whither he led her, only understanding that provision for her
+entertainment would be made with the superintendent's wife. Upon
+recognizing the Midas, she had endeavored to question him as to
+why her friends had been dispossessed, and he had answered, as it
+seemed, straight and true.
+
+The ground was in dispute, he said--another man claimed it--and
+while the litigation pended he was in charge for the court, to see
+that neither party received injury. He spoke adroitly, and it
+satisfied her to have the proposition resolved into such
+simplicity.
+
+She had come prepared to spend the night and witness the early
+morning operation, so the receiver made the most of his
+opportunity. He showed her over the workings, explaining the many
+things that were strange to her. Not only was he in himself a
+fascinating figure to any woman, but wherever he went men regarded
+him deferentially, and nothing affects a woman's judgment more
+promptly than this obvious sign of power. He spent the evening
+with her, talking of his early days and the things he had done in
+the West, his story matching the picturesqueness of her canvas-
+walled quarters with their rough furnishings of skins and
+blankets. Being a keen observer as well as a finished raconteur,
+he had woven a spell of words about the girl, leaving her in a
+state of tumult and indecision when at last, towards midnight, he
+retired to his own tent. She knew to what end all this was
+working, and yet knew not what her answer would be when the
+question came which lay behind it all. At moments she felt the
+wonderful attraction of the man, and still there was some distrust
+of him which she could not fathom. Again her thoughts reverted to
+Glenister, the impetuous, and she compared the two, so similar in
+some ways, so utterly opposed in others.
+
+It was when she heard the night shift at their meal that she threw
+a silken shawl about her head, stepped into the cool night, and
+picked her way down towards the roar of the creek. "A breath of
+air and then to bed," she thought. She saw the tall figure of the
+watchman and made for him. He seemed oddly interested in her
+approach, watching her very closely, almost as though alarmed. It
+was doubtless because there were so few women out here, or
+possibly on account of the lateness of the hour. Away with
+conventions! This was the land of instinct and impulse. She would
+talk to him. The man drew his hat more closely about his face and
+moved off as she came up. Glenister had been in her thoughts a
+moment since, and she now noted that here was another with the
+same great, square shoulders and erect head. Then she saw with a
+start that this one was a negro. He carried a Winchester and
+seemed to watch her carefully, yet with indecision.
+
+To express her interest and to break the silence, she questioned
+him, but at the sound of her voice he stepped towards her and
+spoke roughly.
+
+"What!"
+
+Then he paused, and stammered in a strangely altered and unnatural
+voice:
+
+"Yass'm. I'm the watchman."
+
+She noted two other darkies at work below and was vaguely
+surprised, not so much at their presence, as at the manner in
+which they moved, for they seemed under stress of some great
+haste, running hither and yon. She saw horses standing in the
+trail and sensed something indefinably odd and alarming in the
+air. Turning to the man, she opened her mouth to speak, when from
+the rank grass under her feet came a noise which set her a-tingle,
+and at which her suspicions leaped full to the solution. It was
+the groan of a man. Again he gave voice to his pain, and she knew
+that she stood face to face with something sinister. Tales of
+sluice robbers had come to her, and rumors of the daring raids
+into which men were lured by the yellow sheen--and yet this was
+incredible. A hundred men lay within sound of her voice; she could
+hear their laughter; one was whistling a popular refrain. A
+quarter-mile away on every hand were other camps; a scream from
+her would bring them all. Nonsense, this was no sluice robbery--
+and then the man in the bushes below moaned for the third time.
+
+"What is that?" she said.
+
+Without reply the negro lowered the muzzle of his rifle till it
+covered her breast and at the same time she heard the double click
+of the hammer.
+
+"Keep still and don't move," he warned. "We're desperate and we
+can't take any chances, Miss."
+
+"Oh, you are stealing the gold--"
+
+She was wildly frightened, yet stood still while the lookout
+anxiously divided his attention between her and the tents above
+until his companions signalled him that they were through and the
+horses were loaded. Then he spoke:
+
+"I don't know what to do with you, but I guess I'll tie you up."
+
+"What!" she said.
+
+"I'm going to tie and gag you so you can't holler."
+
+"Oh, don't you DARE!" she cried, fiercely. "I'll stand right here
+till you've gone and I won't scream. I promise." She looked up at
+him appealingly, at which he dipped his head, so that she caught
+only a glimpse of his face, and then backed away.
+
+"All right! Don't try it, because I'll be hidden in those bushes
+yonder at the bend and I'll keep you covered till the others are
+gone." He leaped down the bank, ran to the cavalcade, mounted
+quickly, and the three lashed their horses into a run,
+disappearing up the trail around the sharp curve. She heard the
+blows of their quirts as they whipped the pack-horses.
+
+They were long out of sight before the girl moved or made sound,
+although she knew that none of the three had paused at the bend.
+She only stood and gazed, for as they galloped off she had heard
+the scrap of a broken sentence. It was but one excited word,
+sounding through the rattle of hoofs--her own name--"Helen"; and
+yet because of it she did not voice the alarm, but rather began to
+piece together, bit by bit, the strange points of this adventure.
+She recalled the outlines of her captor with a wrinkle of
+perplexity. Her fright disappeared entirely, giving place to
+intense excitement. "No, no--it can't be--and yet I wonder if it
+IS!" she cried. "Oh, I wonder if it could be!" She opened her lips
+to cry aloud, then hesitated. She started towards the tents, then
+paused, and for many moments after the hoof-beats had died out she
+stayed undecided. Surely she wished to give the signal, to force
+the fierce pursuit. What meant this robbery, this defiance of the
+law, of her uncle's edicts and of McNamara? They were common
+thieves, criminals, outlaws, these men, deserving punishment, and
+yet she recalled a darker night, when she herself had sobbed and
+quivered with the terrors of pursuit and two men had shielded her
+with their bodies.
+
+She turned and sped towards the tents, bursting in through the
+canvas door; instantly every man rose to his feet at sight of her
+pallid face, her flashing eyes, and rumpled hair.
+
+"Sluice robbers!" she cried, breathlessly. "Quick! A hold-up! The
+watchman is hurt!"
+
+A roar shook the night air, and the men poured out past her, while
+the day shift came tumbling forth from every quarter in various
+stages of undress.
+
+"Where? Who did it? Where did they go?"
+
+McNamara appeared among them, fierce and commanding, seeming to
+grasp the situation intuitively, without explanation from her.
+
+"Come on, men. We'll run 'em down. Get out the horses. Quick!"
+
+He was mounted even as he spoke, and others joined him. Then
+turning, he waved his long arm up the valley towards the
+mountains. "Divide into squads of five and cover the hills! Run
+down to Discovery, one of you, and telephone to town for Voorhees
+and a posse."
+
+As they made ready to ride away, the girl cried:
+
+"Stop! Not that way. They went DOWN the gulch--three negroes."
+
+She pointed out of the valley, towards the dim glow on the
+southern horizon, and the cavalcade rode away into the gloom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+THE WIT OF AN ADVENTURESS
+
+
+Up creek the three negroes fled, past other camps, to where the
+stream branched. Here they took to the right and urged their
+horses along a forsaken trail to the head-waters of the little
+tributary and over the low saddle. They had endeavored to reach
+unfrequented paths as soon as possible in order that they might
+pass unnoticed. Before quitting the valley they halted their
+heaving horses, and, selecting a stagnant pool, scoured the grease
+paint from their features as best they could. Their ears were
+strained for sounds of pursuit, but, as the moments passed and
+none came, the tension eased somewhat and they conversed
+guardedly. As the morning light spread they crossed the moss-
+capped summit of the range, but paused again, and, removing two
+saddles, hid them among the rocks. Slapjack left the others here
+and rode southward down the Dry Creek Trail towards town, while
+the partners shifted part of the weight from the overloaded pack-
+mules to the remaining saddle-animals and continued eastward along
+the barren comb of hills on foot, leading the five horses.
+
+"It don't seem like we'll get away this easy," said Dextry,
+scanning the back trail. "If we do, I'll be tempted to foller the
+business reg'lar. This grease paint on my face makes me smell like
+a minstrel man. I bet we'll get some bully press notices to-
+morrow."
+
+"I wonder what Helen was doing there," Glenister answered,
+irrelevantly, for he had been more shaken by his encounter with
+her than at his part in the rest or the enterprise, and his mind,
+which should have been busied with the flight, held nothing but
+pictures of her as she stood in the half darkness under the fear
+of his Winchester. "What if she ever learned who that black
+ruffian was!" He quailed at the thought.
+
+"Say, Dex, I am going to marry that girl."
+
+"I dunno if you be or not," said Dextry. "Better watch McNamara."
+
+"What!" The younger man stopped and stared. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Go on. Don't stop the horses. I ain't blind. I kin put two an'
+two together."
+
+"You'll never put those two together. Nonsense! Why, the man's a
+rascal. I wouldn't let him have her. Besides, it couldn't be.
+She'll find him out. I love her so much that--oh, my feelings are
+too big to talk about." He moved his hands eloquently. "You can't
+understand."
+
+"Um-m! I s'pose not," grunted Dextry, but his eyes were level and
+held the light of the past.
+
+"He may be a rascal," the old man continued, after a little; "I'll
+put in with you on that; but he's a handsome devil, and, as for
+manners, he makes you look like a logger. He's a brave man, too.
+Them three qualities are trump-cards and warranted to take most
+any queen in the human deck--red, white, or yellow."
+
+"If he dares," growled Glenister, while his thick brows came
+forward and ugly lines hardened in his face.
+
+In the gray of the early morning they descended the foot-hills
+into the wide valley of the Nome River and filed out across the
+rolling country to the river bluffs where, cleverly concealed
+among the willows, was a rocker. This they set up, then proceeded
+to wash the dirt from the sacks carefully, yet with the utmost
+speed, for there was serious danger of discovery. It was
+wonderful, this treasure of the richest ground since the days of
+'49, and the men worked with shining eyes and hands a-tremble. The
+gold was coarse, and many ragged, yellow lumps, too large to pass
+through the screen, rolled in the hopper, while the aprons bellied
+with its weight. In the pans which they had provided there grew a
+gleaming heap of wet, raw gold.
+
+Shortly, by divergent routes, the partners rode unnoticed into
+town, and into the excitement of the hold-up news, while the tardy
+still lingered over their breakfasts. Far out in the roadstead lay
+the Roanoke, black smoke pouring from her stack. A tug was
+returning from its last trip to her.
+
+Glenister forced his lathered horse down to the beach and
+questioned the longshoremen who hung about.
+
+"No; it's too late to get aboard--the last tender is on its way
+back," they informed him. "If you want to go to the 'outside'
+you'll have to wait for the fleet. That only means another week,
+and--there she blows now."
+
+A ribbon of white mingled with the velvet from the steamer's
+funnel and there came a slow, throbbing, farewell blast.
+
+Glenister's jaw clicked and squared.
+
+"Quick! You men!" he cried to the sailors. "I want the lightest
+dory on the beach and the strongest oarsmen in the crowd. I'll be
+back in five minutes. There's a hundred dollars in it for you if
+we catch that ship."
+
+He whirled and spurred up through the mud of the streets. Bill
+Wheaton was snoring luxuriously when wrenched from his bed by a
+dishevelled man who shook him into wakefulness and into a portion
+of his clothes, with a storm of excited instructions. The lawyer
+had neither time nor opportunity for expostulation, for Glenister
+snatched a valise and swept into it a litter of documents from the
+table.
+
+"Hurry up, man," he yelled, as the lawyer dived frantically about
+his office in a rabbit-like hunt for items. "My Heavens! Are you
+dead? Wake up! The ship's leaving." With sleep still in his eyes
+Wheaton was dragged down the street to the beach, where a knot had
+assembled to witness the race. As they tumbled into the skiff,
+willing hands ran it out into the surf on the crest of a roller. A
+few lifting heaves and they were over the bar with the men at the
+oars bending the white ash at every swing.
+
+"I guess I didn't forget anything," gasped Wheaton as he put on
+his coat. "I got ready yesterday, but I couldn't find you last
+night, so I thought the deal was off."
+
+Glenister stripped off his coat and, facing the bow, pushed upon
+the oars at every stroke, thus adding his strength to that of the
+oarsmen. They crept rapidly out from the beach, eating up the two
+miles that lay towards the ship. He urged the men with all his
+power till the sweat soaked through their clothes and, under their
+clinging shirts, the muscles stood out like iron. They had covered
+half the distance when Wheaton uttered a cry and Glenister
+desisted from his work with a curse. The Roanoke was moving
+slowly.
+
+The rowers rested, but the young man shouted at them to begin
+again, and, seizing a boat-hook, stuck it into the arms of his
+coat. He waved this on high while the men redoubled their efforts.
+For many moments they hung in suspense, watching the black hull as
+it gathered speed, and then, as they were about to cease their
+effort, a puff of steam burst from its whistle and the next moment
+a short toot of recognition reached them. Glenister wiped the
+moisture from his brow and grinned at Wheaton.
+
+A quarter of an hour later, as they lay heaving below the ship's
+steel sides, he thrust a heavy buckskin sack into the lawyer's
+hand.
+
+"There's money to win the fight, Bill. I don't know how much, but
+it's enough. God bless you. Hurry back!"
+
+A sailor cast them a whirling rope, up which Wheaton clambered;
+then, tying the gripsack to its end, they sent it after.
+
+"Important!" the young man yelled at the officer on the bridge.
+"Government business." He heard a muffled clang in the engine-
+room, the thrash of the propellers followed, and the big ship
+glided past.
+
+As Glenister dragged himself up the beach, upon landing, Helen
+Chester called to him, and made room for him beside her. It had
+never been necessary to call him to her side before; and equally
+unfamiliar was the abashment, or perhaps physical weariness, that
+led the young man to sink back in the warm sand with a sigh of
+relief. She noted that, for the first time, the audacity was gone
+from his eyes.
+
+"I watched your race," she began. "It was very exciting and I
+cheered for you."
+
+He smiled quietly.
+
+"What made you keep on after the ship started? I should have given
+up--and cried."
+
+"I never give up anything that I want," he said.
+
+"Have you never been forced to? Then it is because you are a man.
+Women have to sacrifice a great deal."
+
+Helen expected him to continue to the effect that he would never
+give her up--it was in accordance with his earlier presumption--
+but he was silent; and she was not sure that she liked him as well
+thus as when he overwhelmed her with the boldness of his suit. For
+Glenister it was delightful, after the perils of the night, to
+rest in the calm of her presence and to feel dumbly that she was
+near. She saw him secretly caress a fold of her dress.
+
+If only she had not the memory of that one night on the ship.
+"Still, he is trying to make amends in the best way he can," she
+thought. "Though, of course, no woman could care for a man who
+would do such a thing." Yet she thrilled at the thought of how he
+had thrust his body between her and danger; how, but for his
+quick, insistent action, she would have failed in escaping from
+the pest ship, failed in her mission, and met death on the night
+of her landing. She owed him much.
+
+"Did you hear what happened to the good ship Ohio?" she asked.
+
+"No; I've been too busy to inquire. I was told the health officers
+quarantined her when she arrived, that's all."
+
+"She was sent to Egg Island with every one aboard. She has been
+there more than a month now and may not get away this summer."
+
+"What a disappointment for the poor devils on her!"
+
+"Yes, and only for what you did, I should be one of them," Helen
+remarked.
+
+"I didn't do much," he said. "The fighting part is easy. It's not
+half so hard as to give up your property and lie still while--"
+
+"Did you do that because I asked you to--because I asked you to
+put aside the old ways?" A wave of compassion swept over her.
+
+"Certainly," he answered. "It didn't come easy, but--"
+
+"Oh, I thank you," said she. "I know it is all for the best. Uncle
+Arthur wouldn't do anything wrong, and Mr. McNamara is an
+honorable man."
+
+He turned towards her to speak, but refrained. He could not tell
+her what he felt certain of. She believed in her own blood and in
+her uncle's friends--and it was not for him to speak of McNamara.
+The rules of the game sealed his lips.
+
+She was thinking again, "If only you had not acted as you did."
+She longed to help him now in his trouble as he had helped her,
+but what could she do? The law was such a confusing, intricate,
+perplexing thing.
+
+"I spent last night at the Midas," she told him, "and rode back
+early this morning. That was a daring hold-up, wasn't it?"
+
+"What hold-up?"
+
+"Why, haven't you heard the news?"
+
+"No" he answered, steadily. "I just got up."
+
+"Your claim was robbed. Three men overcame the watchman at
+midnight and cleaned the boxes."
+
+His simulation of excited astonishment was perfect and he rained a
+shower of questions upon her. She noted with approval that he did
+not look her in the eye, however. He was not an accomplished liar.
+Now McNamara had a countenance of iron. Unconsciously she made
+comparison, and the young man at her side did not lose thereby.
+
+"Yes, I saw it all," she concluded, after recounting the details.
+"The negro wanted to bind me so that I couldn't give the alarm,
+but his chivalry prevented. He was a most gallant darky."
+
+"What did you do when they left?"
+
+"Why, I kept my word and waited until they were out of sight, then
+I roused the camp, and set Mr. McNamara and his men right after
+them down the gulch."
+
+"DOWN the gulch!" spoke Glenister, off his guard.
+
+"Yes, of course. Did you think they went UP-stream?" She was
+looking squarely at him now, and he dropped his eyes. "No, the
+posse started in that direction, but I put them right." There was
+an odd light in her glance, and he felt the blood drumming in his
+ears.
+
+She sent them down-stream! So that was why there had been no
+pursuit! Then she must suspect--she must know everything!
+Glenister was stunned. Again his love for the girl surged
+tumultuously within him and demanded expression. But Miss Chester,
+no longer feeling sure that she had the situation in hand, had
+already started to return to the hotel. "I saw the men
+distinctly," she told him, before they separated, "and I could
+identify them all."
+
+At his own house Glenister found Dextry removing the stains of the
+night's adventure.
+
+"Miss Chester recognized us last night," he announced.
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"She told me so just now, and, what's more, she sent McNamara and
+his crowd down the creek instead of up. That's why we got away so
+easily."
+
+"Well, well--ain't she a brick? She's even with us now. By-the-
+way, I wonder how much we cleaned up, anyhow--let's weigh it."
+Going to the bed, Dextry turned back the blankets, exposing four
+moose-skin sacks, wet and heavy, where he had thrown them.
+
+"There must have been twenty thousand dollars with what I gave
+Wheaton," said Glenister.
+
+At that moment, without warning, the door was flung open, and as
+the young man jerked the blankets into place he whirled, snatched
+the six-shooter that Dextry had discarded, and covered the
+entrance.
+
+"Don't shoot, boy!" cried the new-comer, breathlessly. "My, but
+you're nervous!"
+
+Glenister dropped his gun. It was Cherry Malotte; and, from her
+heaving breast and the flying colors in her cheeks, the men saw
+she had been running. She did not give them time to question, but
+closed and locked the door while the words came tumbling from her:
+
+"They're on to you, boys--you'd better duck out quick. They're on
+their way up here now."
+
+"What!"
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Quick! I heard McNamara and Voorhees, the marshal, talking.
+Somebody has spotted you for the hold-ups. They're on their way
+now, I tell you. I sneaked out by the back way and came here
+through the mud. Say, but I'm a sight!" She stamped her trimly
+booted feet and flirted her skirt.
+
+"I don't savvy what you mean," said Dextry, glancing at his
+partner warningly. "We ain't done nothin'."
+
+"Well, it's all right then. I took a long chance so you could make
+a get-away if you wanted to, because they've got warrants for you
+for that sluice robbery last night. Here they are now." She darted
+to the window, the men peering over her shoulder. Coming up the
+narrow walk they saw Voorhees, McNamara, and three others.
+
+The house stood somewhat isolated and well back on the tundra, so
+that any one approaching it by the planking had an unobstructed
+view of the premises. Escape was impossible, for the back door led
+out into the ankle-deep puddles of the open prairie; and it was
+now apparent that a sixth man had made a circuit and was
+approaching from the rear.
+
+"My God! They'll search the place," said Dextry, and the men
+looked grimly in each other's faces.
+
+Then in a flash Glenister stripped back the blankets and seized
+the "pokes," leaping into the back room. In another instant he
+returned with them and faced desperately the candid bareness of
+the little room that they lived and slept in. Nothing could be
+hidden; it was folly to think of it. There was a loft overhead, he
+remembered, hopefully, then realized that the pursuers would
+search there first of all.
+
+"I told you he was a hard fighter," said Dextry, as the quick
+footsteps grew louder. "He ain't no fool neither. 'Stead of our
+bein' caught in the mountains, I reckon we'll shoot it out here.
+We should have cached that gold somewhere."
+
+He spun the cylinder of his blackened Colt, while his face grew
+hard and vulture-like.
+
+Meanwhile, Cherry Malotte watched the hunted look in Glenister's
+face grow wilder and then stiffen into the stubbornness of a man
+at bay. The posse was at the door now, knocking. The three inside
+stood rigid and strained. Then Glenister tossed his burden on the
+bed.
+
+"Go into the back room, Cherry; there's going to be trouble."
+
+"Who's there?" inquired Dextry through the door, to gain time.
+Suddenly, without a word, the girl glided to the hot-blast heater,
+now cold and empty, which stood in a corner of the room. These
+stoves, used widely in the North, are vertical iron cylinders into
+which coal is poured from above. She lifted the lid and peered in
+to find it a quarter full of dead ashes, then turned with shining
+eyes and parted lips to Glenister. He caught the hint, and in an
+instant the four sacks were dropped softly into the feathery
+bottom and the ashes raked over. The daring manoeuvre was almost
+as quick as the flash of woman's wit that prompted it, and was
+carried through while the answer to Dextry's question was still
+unspoken.
+
+Then Glenister opened the door carelessly and admitted the group
+of men.
+
+"We've got a search-warrant to look through your house," said
+Voorhees.
+
+"What are you looking for?"
+
+"Gold-dust from Anvil Creek."
+
+"All right--search away."
+
+They rapidly scoured the premises, covering every inch, paying no
+heed to the girl, who watched them with indifferent eyes, nor to
+the old man, who glared at their every movement. Glenister was
+carelessly sarcastic, although he kept his right arm free, while
+beneath his sang-froid was a thoroughly trained alertness.
+
+McNamara directed the search with a manner wholly lacking in his
+former mock courtesy. It was as though he had been soured by the
+gall of defeat. The mask had fallen off now, and his character
+showed--insistent, overbearing, cruel. Towards the partners he
+preserved a contemptuous silence.
+
+The invaders ransacked thoroughly, while a dozen times the hearts
+of Cherry Malotte and her two companions stopped, then lunged
+onward, as McNamara or Voorhees approached, then passed the stove.
+At last Voorhees lifted the lid and peered into its dark interior.
+At the same instant the girl cried out, sharply, flinging herself
+from her position, while the marshal jerked his head back in time
+to see her dash upon Dextry.
+
+"Don't! Don't!" She cried her appeal to the old man. "Keep cool.
+You'll be sorry, Dex--they're almost through."
+
+The officer had not seen any movement on Dextry's part, but
+doubtless her quick eye had detected signs of violence. McNamara
+emerged, glowering, from the back room at that moment.
+
+"Let them hunt," the girl was saying, while Dextry stared dazedly
+over her head. "They won't find anything. Keep cool and don't act
+rash."
+
+Voorhees's duties sat uncomfortably upon him at the best, and,
+looking at the smouldering eyes of the two men, he became averse
+to further search in a powdery household whose members itched to
+shoot him in the back.
+
+"It isn't here," he reported; but the politician only scowled,
+then spoke for the first time directly to the partners:
+
+"I've got warrants for both of you and I'm tempted to take you in,
+but I won't. I'm not through yet--not by any means. I'll get you--
+get you both." He turned out of the door, followed by the marshal,
+who called off his guards, and the group filed back along the
+walk.
+
+"Say, you're a jewel, Cherry. You've saved us twice. You caught
+Voorhees just in time. My heart hit my palate when he looked into
+that stove, but the next instant I wanted to laugh at Dextry's
+expression."
+
+Impulsively Glenister laid his hands upon her shoulders. At his
+look and touch her throat swelled, her bosom heaved, and the
+silken lids fluttered until she seemed choked by a very flood of
+sweet womanliness. She blushed like a little maid and laughed a
+timid, broken laugh; then pulling herself together, the merry,
+careless tone came into her voice and her cheeks grew cool and
+clear.
+
+"You wouldn't trust me at first, eh? Some day you'll find that
+your old friends are the best, after all."
+
+And as she left them she added, mockingly:
+
+"Say, you're a pair of 'shine' desperadoes. You need a governess."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+WHEREIN A WRIT AND A RIOT FAIL
+
+
+A Raw, gray day with a driving drizzle from seaward and a leaden
+rack of clouds drifting low matched the sullen, fitful mood of
+Glenister.
+
+During the last month he had chafed and fretted like an animal in
+leash for word of Wheaton. This uncertainty, this impotent waiting
+with folded hands, was maddening to one of his spirit. He could
+apply himself to no fixed duty, for the sense of his wrong preyed
+on him fiercely, and he found himself haunting the vicinity of the
+Midas, gazing at it from afar, grasping hungrily for such scraps
+of news as chanced to reach him. McNamara allowed access to none
+but his minions, so the partners knew but vaguely of what happened
+on their property, even though, under fiction of law, it was being
+worked for their protection.
+
+No steps regarding a speedy hearing of the case were allowed, and
+the collusion between Judge Stillman and the receiver had become
+so generally recognized that there were uneasy mutterings and
+threats in many quarters. Yet, although the politician had by now
+virtually absorbed all the richest properties in the district and
+worked them through his hirelings, the people of Nome as a whole
+did not grasp the full turpitude of the scheme nor the system's
+perfect working.
+
+Strange to say, Dextry, the fire-eater, had assumed an Oriental
+patience quite foreign to his peppery disposition, and spent much
+of his time in the hills prospecting.
+
+On this day, as the clouds broke, about noon, close down on the
+angry horizon a drift of smoke appeared, shortly resolving itself
+into a steamer. She lay to in the offing, and through his glasses
+Glenister saw that it was the Roanoke. As the hours passed and no
+boat put off, he tried to hire a crew, but the longshoremen spat
+wisely and shook their heads as they watched the surf.
+
+"There's the devil of an undertow settin' along this beach," they
+told him, "and the water's too cold to drownd in comfortable." So
+he laid firm hands upon his impatience.
+
+Every day meant many dollars to the watcher, and yet it seemed
+that nature was resolute in thwarting him, for that night the wind
+freshened and daylight saw the ship hugging the lee of Sledge
+Island, miles to the westward, while the surf, white as boiling
+milk, boomed and thundered against the shore.
+
+Word had gone through the street that Bill Wheaton was aboard with
+a writ, or a subpoena, or an alibi, or whatever was necessary to
+put the "kibosh" on McNamara, so public excitement grew. McNamara
+hoarded his gold in the Alaska Bank, and it was taken for granted
+that there would lie the scene of the struggle. No one supposed
+for an instant that the usurper would part with the treasure
+peaceably.
+
+On the third morning the ship lay abreast of the town again and a
+life-boat was seen to make off from her, whereupon the idle
+population streamed towards the beach.
+
+"She'll make it to the surf all right, but then watch out."
+
+"We'd better make ready to haul 'em out," said another. "It's
+mighty dangerous." And sure enough, as the skiff came rushing in
+through the breakers she was caught.
+
+She had made it past the first line, soaring over the bar on a
+foamy roller-crest like a storm-driven gull winging in towards the
+land. The wiry figure of Bill Wheaton crouched in the stern while
+two sailors fought with their oars. As they gathered for their
+rush through the last zone of froth, a great comber rose out of
+the sea behind them, rearing high above their heads. The crowd at
+the surf's edge shouted. The boat wavered, sucked back into the
+ocean's angry maw, and with a crash the deluge engulfed them.
+There remained nothing but a swirling flood through which the
+life-boat emerged bottom up, amid a tangle of oars, gratings, and
+gear.
+
+Men rushed into the water, and the next roller pounded them back
+upon the marble-hard sand. There came the sound of splitting wood,
+and then a group swarmed in waist-deep and bore out a dripping
+figure. It was a hempen-headed seaman, who shook the water from
+his mane and grinned when his breath had come.
+
+A step farther down the beach the by-standers seized a limp form
+which the tide rolled to them. It was the second sailor, his scalp
+split from a blow of the gunwale. Nowhere was Wheaton.
+
+Glenister had plunged to the rescue first, a heaving-line about
+his middle, and although buffeted about he had reached the wreck,
+only to miss sight of the lawyer utterly. He had time for but a
+glance when he was drawn outward by the undertow till the line at
+his waist grew taut, then the water surged over him and he was
+hurled high up on the beach again. He staggered dizzily back to
+the struggle, when suddenly a wave lifted the capsized cutter and
+righted it, and out from beneath shot the form of Wheaton, grimly
+clutching the life-ropes. They brought him in choking and
+breathless.
+
+"I got it," he said, slapping his streaming breast. "It's all
+right, Glenister, I knew what delay meant so I took a long chance
+with the surf." The terrific ordeal he had undergone had blanched
+him to the lips, his legs wabbled uncertainly, and he would have
+fallen but for the young man, who thrust an arm about his waist
+and led him up into the town.
+
+"I went before the Circuit Court of Appeals in 'Frisco," he
+explained later, "and they issued orders allowing an appeal from
+this court and gave me a writ of supersedeas directed against old
+Judge Stillman. That takes the litigation out of his hands
+altogether, and directs McNamara to turn over the Midas and all
+the gold he's got. What do you think of that? I did better than I
+expected."
+
+Glenister wrung his hand silently while a great satisfaction came
+upon him. At last this waiting was over and his peaceful yielding
+to injustice had borne fruit; had proven the better course after
+all, as the girl had prophesied. He could go to her now with clean
+hands. The mine was his again. He would lay it at her feet,
+telling her once more of his love and the change it was working in
+him. He would make her see it, make her see that beneath the
+harshness his years in the wild had given him, his love for her
+was gentle and true and all absorbing. He would bid her be patient
+till she saw he had mastered himself, till he could come with his
+soul in harness,
+
+"I am glad I didn't fight when they jumped us," he said. "Now
+we'll get our property back and all the money they took out--that
+is, if McNamara hasn't salted it."
+
+"Yes; all that's necessary is to file the documents, then serve
+the Judge and McNamara. You'll be back on Anvil Creek to-morrow."
+
+Having placed their documents on record at the court-house, the
+two men continued to McNamara's office. He met them with courtesy.
+
+"I heard you had a narrow escape this morning, Mr. Wheaton. Too
+bad! What can I do for you?"
+
+The lawyer rapidly outlined his position and stated in conclusion:
+
+"I filed certified copies of these orders with the clerk of the
+court ten minutes ago, and now I make formal demand upon you to
+turn over the Midas to Messrs. Glenister and Dextry, and also to
+return all the gold-dust in your safe-deposit boxes in accordance
+with this writ." He handed his documents to McNamara, who tossed
+them on his desk without examination.
+
+"Well," said the politician, quietly, "I won't do it."
+
+Had he been slapped in the face the attorney would not have been
+more astonished.
+
+"Why--you--"
+
+"I won't do it, I said," McNamara repeated, sharply. "Don't think
+for a minute that I haven't gone into this fight armed for
+everything. Writs of supersedeas! Bah!" He snapped his fingers.
+
+"We'll see whether you'll obey or not," said Wheaton and when he
+and Glenister were outside he continued:
+
+"Let's get to the Judge quick."
+
+As they neared the Golden Gate Hotel they spied McNamara entering.
+It was evident that he had slipped from the rear door of his
+office and beaten them to the judicial ear.
+
+"I don't like that," said Glenister. "He's up to something."
+
+So it appeared, for they were fifteen minutes in gaining access to
+the magistrate and then found McNamara with him. Both men were
+astounded at the change in Stillman's appearance. During the last
+month his weak face had shrunk and altered until vacillation was
+betrayed in every line, and he had acquired the habit of furtively
+watching McNamara's slightest movement. It seemed that the part he
+played sat heavily upon him.
+
+The Judge examined the papers perfunctorily, and, although his air
+was deliberate, his fingers made clumsy work of it. At last he
+said:
+
+"I regret that I am forced to doubt the authenticity of these
+documents."
+
+"My Heavens, man!" Wheaton cried. "They're certified copies of
+orders from your superior court. They grant the appeal that you
+have denied us and take the case out of your hands altogether.
+Yes--and they order this man to surrender the mine and everything
+connected with it. Now, sir, we want you to enforce these orders."
+
+Stillman glanced at the silent man in the window and replied:
+
+"You will, of course, proceed regularly and make application in
+court in the proper way, but I tell you now that I won't do
+anything in the matter."
+
+Wheaton stared at him fixedly until the old man snapped out:
+
+"You say they are certified copies. How do I know they are? The
+signatures may all be false. Maybe you signed them yourself."
+
+The lawyer grew very white at this and stammered until Glenister
+drew him out of the room.
+
+"Come, come," he said, "we'll carry this thing through in open
+court. Maybe his nerve will go back on him then. McNamara has him
+hypnotized, but he won't dare refuse to obey the orders of the
+Circuit Court of Appeals."
+
+"He won't, eh? Well, what do you think he's doing right now?" said
+Wheaton. "I must think. This is the boldest game I ever played in.
+They told me things while I was in 'Frisco which I couldn't
+believe, but I guess they're true. Judges don't disobey the orders
+of their courts of appeal unless there is power back of them."
+
+They proceeded to the attorney's office, but had not been there
+long before Slapjack Simms burst in upon them.
+
+"Hell to pay!" he panted. "McNamara's taking your dust out of the
+bank."
+
+"What's that?" they cried.
+
+"I goes into the bank just now for an assay on some quartz
+samples. The assayer is busy, and I walk back into his room, and
+while I'm there in trots McNamara in a hurry. He don't see me, as
+I'm inside the private office, and I overhear him tell them to get
+his dust out of the vault quick."
+
+"We've got to stop that," said Glenister. "If he takes ours, he'll
+take the Swedes', too. Simms, you run up to the Pioneer Company
+and tell them about it. If he gets that gold out of there, nobody
+knows what'll become of it. Come on, Bill."
+
+He snatched his hat and ran out of the room, followed by the
+others. That the loose-jointed Slapjack did his work with
+expedition was evidenced by the fact that the Swedes were close
+upon their heels as the two entered the bank. Others had followed,
+sensing something unusual, and the space within the doors filled
+rapidly. At the disturbance the clerks suspended their work, the
+barred doors of the safe-deposit vault clanged to, and the cashier
+laid hand upon the navy Colt's at his elbow. "What's the matter?"
+he cried.
+
+"We want Alec McNamara," said Glenister.
+
+The manager of the bank appeared, and Glenister spoke to him
+through the heavy wire netting.
+
+"Is McNamara in there?"
+
+No one had ever known Morehouse to lie. "Yes, sir." He spoke
+hesitatingly, in a voice full of the slow music of Virginia. "He
+is in here. What of it?"
+
+"We hear he's trying to move that dust of ours and we won't stand
+for it. Tell him to come out and not hide in there like a dog."
+
+At these words the politician appeared beside the Southerner, and
+the two conversed softly an instant, while the impatience of the
+crowd grew to anger. Some one cried:
+
+"Let's go in and drag him out," and the rumble at this was not
+pleasant. Morehouse raised his hand.
+
+"Gentlemen, Mr. McNamara says he doesn't intend to take any of the
+gold away."
+
+"Then he's taken it already."
+
+"No, he hasn't."
+
+The receiver's course had been quickly chosen at the interruption.
+It was not wise to anger these men too much. Although he had
+planned to get the money into his own possession, he now thought
+it best to leave it here for the present. He could come back at
+any time when they were off guard and get it. Beyond the door
+against which he stood lay three hundred thousand dollars--
+weighed, sacked, sealed, and ready to move out of the custody of
+this Virginian whose confidence he had tried so fruitlessly to
+gain.
+
+As McNamara looked into the angry eyes of the lean-faced men
+beyond the grating, he felt that the game was growing close, and
+his blood tingled at the thought. He had not planned on a
+resistance so strong and swift, but he would meet it. He knew that
+they hungered for his destruction and that Glenister was their
+leader. He saw further that the man's hatred now stared at him
+openly for the first time. He knew that back of it was something
+more than love for the dull metal over which they wrangled, and
+then a thought came to him.
+
+"Some of your work, eh, Glenister?" he mocked. "Were you afraid to
+come alone, or did you wait till you saw me with a lady?"
+
+At the same instant he opened a door behind him, revealing Helen
+Chester. "You'd better not walk out with me, Miss Chester. This
+man might--well, you're safer here, you know. You'll pardon me for
+leaving you." He hoped he could incite the young man to some rash
+act or word in the presence of the girl, and counted on the
+conspicuous heroism of his own position, facing the mob single-
+handed, one against fifty.
+
+"Come out," said his enemy, hoarsely, upon whom the insult and the
+sight of the girl in the receiver's company had acted powerfully.
+
+"Of course I'll come out, but I don't want this young lady to
+suffer any violence from your friends," said McNamara. "I am not
+armed, but I have the right to leave here unmolested--the right of
+an American citizen." With that he raised his arms above his head.
+"Out of my way!" he cried. Morehouse opened the gate, and McNamara
+strode through the mob.
+
+It is a peculiar thing that although under fury of passion a man
+may fire even upon the back of a defenceless foe, yet no one can
+offer violence to a man whose arms are raised on high and in whose
+glance is the level light of fearlessness. Moreover, it is safer
+to face a crowd thus than a single adversary.
+
+McNamara had seen this psychological trick tried before and now
+took advantage of it to walk through the press slowly, eye to eye.
+He did it theatrically, for the benefit of the girl, and, as he
+foresaw, the men fell away before him--all but Glenister, who
+blocked him, gun in hand. It was plain that the persecuted miner
+was beside himself with passion. McNamara came within an arm's-
+length before pausing. Then he stopped and the two stared
+malignantly at each other, while the girl behind the railing heard
+her heart pounding in the stillness. Glenister raised his hand
+uncertainly, then let it fall. He shook his head, and stepped
+aside so that the other brushed past and out into the street.
+
+Wheaton addressed the banker:
+
+"Mr. Morehouse, we've got orders and writs of one kind or another
+from the Circuit Court of Appeals at 'Frisco directing that this
+money be turned over to us." He shoved the papers towards the
+other. "We're not in a mood to trifle. That gold belongs to us,
+and we want it."
+
+Morehouse looked carefully at the papers.
+
+"I can't help you," he said. "These documents are not directed to
+me. They're issued to Mr. McNamara and Judge Stillman. If the
+Circuit Court of Appeals commands me to deliver it to you I'll do
+it, but otherwise I'll have to keep this dust here till it's drawn
+out by order of the court that gave it to me. That's the way it
+was put in here, and that's the way it'll be taken out."
+
+"We want it now."
+
+"Well, I can't let my sympathies influence me"
+
+"Then we'll take it out, anyway," cried Glenister. "We've had the
+worst of it everywhere else and we're sick of it. Come on, men."
+
+"Stand back!--all of you!" cried Morehouse. "Don't lay a hand on
+that gate. Boys, pick your men."
+
+He called this last to his clerks, at the same instant whipping
+from behind the counter a carbine, which he cocked. The assayer
+brought into view a shot-gun, while the cashier and clerks armed
+themselves. It was evident that the deposits of the Alaska Bank
+were abundantly safeguarded.
+
+"I don't aim to have any trouble with you-all," continued the
+Southerner, "but that money stays here till it's drawn out right."
+
+The crowd paused at this show of resistance, but Glenister railed
+at them:
+
+"Come on--come on! What's the matter with you?" And from the light
+in his eye it was evident that he would not be balked.
+
+Helen felt that a crisis was come, and braced herself. These men
+were in deadly earnest: the white-haired banker, his pale helpers,
+and those grim, quiet ones outside. There stood brawny, sun-
+browned men, with set jaws and frowning faces, and yellow-haired
+Scandinavians in whose blue eyes danced the flame of battle. These
+had been baffled at every turn, goaded by repeated failure, and
+now stood shoulder to shoulder in their resistance to a cruel law.
+Suddenly Helen heard a command from the street and the quick tramp
+of men, while over the heads before her she saw the glint of rifle
+barrels. A file of soldiers with fixed bayonets thrust themselves
+roughly through the crowd at the entrance.
+
+"Clear the room!" commanded the officer.
+
+"What does this mean?" shouted Wheaton.
+
+"It means that Judge Stillman has called upon the military to
+guard this gold, that's all. Come, now, move quick." The men
+hesitated, then sullenly obeyed, for resistance to the blue of
+Uncle Sam comes only at the cost of much consideration.
+
+"They're robbing us with our own soldiers," said Wheaton, when
+they were outside.
+
+"Ay," said Glenister, darkly. "We've tried the law, but they're
+forcing us back to first principles. There's going to be murder
+here."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+COUNTERPLOTS
+
+
+Glenister had said that the Judge would not dare to disobey the
+mandates of the Circuit Court of Appeals, but he was wrong.
+Application was made for orders directing the enforcement of the
+writs--steps which would have restored possession of the Midas to
+its owners, as well as possession of the treasure in bank--but
+Stillman refused to grant them.
+
+Wheaton called a meeting of the Swedes and their attorneys,
+advising a junction of forces. Dextry, who had returned from the
+mountains, was present. When they had finished their discussion,
+he said:
+
+"It seems like I can always fight better when I know what the
+other feller's game is. I'm going to spy on that outfit."
+
+"We've had detectives at work for weeks," said the lawyer for the
+Scandinavians; "but they can't find out anything we don't know
+already."
+
+Dextry said no more, but that night found him busied in the
+building adjoining the one wherein McNamara had his office. He had
+rented a back room on the top floor, and with the help of his
+partner sawed through the ceiling into the loft and found his way
+thence to the roof through a hatchway. Fortunately, there was but
+little space between the two buildings, and, furthermore, each
+boasted the square fronts common in mining-camps, which projected
+high enough to prevent observation from across the way. Thus he
+was enabled, without discovery, to gain the roof adjoining and to
+cut through into the loft. He crept cautiously in through the
+opening, and out upon a floor of joists sealed on the lower side,
+then lit a candle, and, locating McNamara's office, cut a peep-
+hole so that by lying flat on the timbers he could command a
+considerable portion of the room beneath. Here, early the
+following morning, he camped with the patience of an Indian,
+emerging in the still of that night stiff, hungry, and atrociously
+cross. Meanwhile, there had been another meeting of the mine-
+owners, and it had been decided to send Wheaton, properly armed
+with affidavits and transcripts of certain court records, back to
+San Francisco on the return trip of the Santa Maria, which had
+arrived in port. He was to institute proceedings for contempt of
+court, and it was hoped that by extraordinary effort he could gain
+quick action.
+
+At daybreak Dextry returned to his post, and it was midnight
+before he crawled from his hiding-place to see the lawyer and
+Glenister.
+
+"They have had a spy on you all day, Wheaton," he began, "and they
+know you're going out to the States. You'll be arrested to-morrow
+morning before breakfast."
+
+"Arrested! What for?"
+
+"I don't just remember what the crime is--bigamy, or mayhem, or
+attainder of treason, or something--anyway, they'll get you in
+jail and that's all they want. They think you're the only lawyer
+that's wise enough to cause trouble and the only one they can't
+bribe."
+
+"Lord! What 'll I do? They'll watch every lighter that leaves the
+beach, and if they don't catch me that way, they'll search the
+ship."
+
+"I've thought it all out," said the old man, to whom obstruction
+acted as a stimulant.
+
+"Yes--but how?"
+
+"Leave it to me. Get your things together and be ready to duck in
+two hours."
+
+"I tell you they'll search the Santa Maria from stem to stern,"
+protested the lawyer, but Dextry had gone.
+
+"Better do as he says. His schemes are good ones," recommended
+Glenister, and accordingly the lawyer made preparation.
+
+In the mean time the old prospector had begun at the end of Front
+Street to make a systematic search of the gambling-houses.
+Although it was very late they were running noisily, and at last
+he found the man he wanted playing "Black Jack," the smell of tar
+in his clothes, the lilt of the sea in his boisterous laughter.
+Dextry drew him aside.
+
+"Mac, there's only two things about you that's any good--your
+silence and your seamanship. Otherwise, you're a disreppitable,
+drunken insect."
+
+The sailor grinned.
+
+"What is it you want now? If it's concerning money, or business,
+or the growed-up side of life, run along and don't disturb the
+carousals of a sailorman. If it's a fight, lemme get my hat."
+
+"I want you to wake up your fireman and have steam on the tug in
+an hour, then wait for me below the bridge. You're chartered for
+twenty-four hours, and--remember, not a word."
+
+"I'm on! Compared to me the Spinks of Egyp' is as talkative as a
+phonograph."
+
+The old man next turned his steps to the Northern Theatre. The
+performance was still in progress, and he located the man he was
+hunting without difficulty.
+
+Ascending the stairs, he knocked at the door of one of the boxes
+and called for Captain Stephens.
+
+"I'm glad I found you, Cap," said he. "It saved me a trip out to
+your ship in the dark."
+
+"What's the matter?"
+
+Dextry drew him to an isolated corner. "Me an' my partner want to
+send a man to the States with you."
+
+"All right."
+
+"Well--er--here's the point," hesitated the miner, who rebelled at
+asking favors. "He's our law sharp, an' the McNamara outfit is
+tryin' to put the steel on him."
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"Why, they've swore out a warrant an' aim to guard the shore to-
+morrow. We want you to--"
+
+"Mr. Dextry, I'm not looking for trouble. I get enough in my own
+business."
+
+"But, see here," argued the other, "we've GOT to send him out so
+he can make a pow-wow to the big legal smoke in 'Frisco. We've
+been cold-decked with a bum judge. They've got us into a corner
+an' over the ropes."
+
+"I'm sorry I can't help you, Dextry, but I got mixed up in one of
+your scrapes and that's plenty."
+
+"This ain't no stowaway. There's no danger to you," began Dextry,
+but the officer interrupted him:
+
+"There's no need of arguing. I won't do it."
+
+"Oh, you WON'T, eh?" said the old man, beginning to lose his
+temper. "Well, you listen to me for a minute. Everybody in camp
+knows that me an' the kid is on the square an' that we're gettin'
+the hunk passed to us. Now, this lawyer party must get away to-
+night or these grafters will hitch the horses to him on some phony
+charge so he can't get to the upper court. It 'll be him to the
+bird-cage for ninety days. He's goin' to the States, though, an'
+he's goin'--in--your--wagon! I'm talkin' to you--man to man. If
+you don't take him, I'll go to the health inspector--he's a friend
+of mine--an' I'll put a crimp in you an' your steamboat, I don't
+want to do that--it ain't my reg'lar graft by no means--but this
+bet goes through as she lays. I never belched up a secret before.
+No, sir; I am the human huntin'-case watch, an' I won't open my
+face unless you press me. But if I should, you'll see that it's
+time for you to hunt a new job. Now, here's my scheme." He
+outlined his directions to the sailor, who had fallen silent
+during the warning. When he had done, Stephens said:
+
+"I never had a man talk to me like that before, sir--never. You've
+taken advantage of me, and under the circumstances I can't refuse.
+I'll do this thing--not because of your threat, but because I
+heard about your trouble over the Midas--and because I can't help
+admiring your blamed insolence." He went back into his stall.
+
+Dextry returned to Wheaton's office. As he neared it, he passed a
+lounging figure in an adjacent doorway.
+
+"The place is watched," he announced as he entered. "Have you got
+a back door? Good! Leave your light burning and we'll go out that
+way." They slipped quietly into an inky, tortuous passage which
+led back towards Second Street. Floundering through alleys and
+over garbage heaps, by circuitous routes, they reached the bridge,
+where, in the swift stream beneath, they saw the lights from Mac's
+tug.
+
+Steam was up, and when the Captain had let them aboard Dextry gave
+him instructions, to which he nodded acquiescence. They bade the
+lawyer adieu, and the little craft slipped its moorings, danced
+down the current, across the bar, and was swallowed up in the
+darkness to seaward. "I'll put out Wheaton's light so they'll
+think he's gone to bed."
+
+"Yes, and at daylight I'll take your place in McNamara's loft,"
+said Glenister. "There will be doings to-morrow when they don't
+find him."
+
+They returned by the way they had come to the lawyer's room,
+extinguished his light, went to their own cabin and to bed. At
+dawn Glenister arose and sought his place above McNamara's office.
+
+To lie stretched at length on a single plank with eye glued to a
+crack is not a comfortable position, and the watcher thought the
+hours of the next day would never end. As they dragged wearily
+past, his bones began to ache beyond endurance, yet owing to the
+flimsy structure of the building he dared not move while the room
+below was tenanted. In fact, he would not have stirred had he
+dared, so intense was his interest in the scenes being enacted
+beneath him.
+
+First had come the marshal, who imported his failure to find
+Wheaton.
+
+"He left his room some time last night. My men followed him in and
+saw a light in his window until two o'clock this morning. At seven
+o'clock we broke in and he was gone."
+
+"He must have got wind of our plan. Send deputies aboard the Santa
+Maria; search her from keel to topmast, and have them watch the
+beach close or he'll put off in a small boat. You look over the
+passengers that go aboard yourself. Don't trust any of your men
+for that, because he may try to slip through disguised. He's
+liable to make up like a woman. You understand--there's only one
+ship in port, and--he mustn't get away."
+
+"He won't," said Voorhees, with conviction, and the listener
+overhead smiled grimly to himself, for at that moment, twenty
+miles offshore, lay Mac's little tug, hove to in the track of the
+outgoing steamship, and in her tiny cabin sat Bill Wheaton eating
+breakfast.
+
+As the morning wore by with no news of the lawyer, McNamara's
+uneasiness grew. At noon the marshal returned with a report that
+the passengers were all aboard and the ship about to clear.
+
+"By Heavens! He's slipped through you," stormed the politician.
+
+"No, he hasn't. He may be hidden aboard somewhere among the coal-
+bunkers, but I think he's still ashore and aiming to make a quick
+run just before she sails. He hasn't left the beach since
+daylight, that's sure. I'm going out to the ship now with four men
+and search her again. If we don't bring him off you can bet he's
+lying out somewhere in town and we'll get him later. I've
+stationed men along the shore for two miles."
+
+"I won't have him get away. If he should reach 'Frisco--Tell your
+men I'll give five hundred dollars to the one that finds him."
+
+Three hours later Voorhees returned.
+
+"She sailed without him."
+
+The politician cursed. "I don't believe it. He tricked you. I know
+he did."
+
+Glenister grinned into a half-eaten sandwich, then turned upon his
+back and lay thus on the plank, identifying the speakers below by
+their voices.
+
+He kept his post all day. Later in the evening he heard Struve
+enter. The man had been drinking.
+
+"So he got away, eh?" he began. "I was afraid he would. Smart
+fellow, that Wheaton."
+
+"He didn't get away," said McNamara. "He's in town yet. Just let
+me land him in jail on some excuse! I'll hold him till snow
+flies." Struve sank into a chair and lit a cigarette with wavering
+hand.
+
+"This's a hell of a game, ain't it, Mac? D'you s'pose we'll win?"
+
+The man overhead pricked up his ears.
+
+"Win? Aren't we winning? What do you call this? I only hope we can
+lay hands on Wheaton. He knows things. A little knowledge is a
+dangerous thing, but more is worse. Lord! If only I had a MAN for
+judge in place of Stillman! I don't know why I brought him."
+
+"That's right. Too weak. He hasn't got the backbone of an
+angleworm. He ain't half the man that his niece is. THERE'S a girl
+for you! Say! What'd we do without her, eh? She's a pippin!"
+Glenister felt a sudden tightening of every muscle. What right had
+that man's liquor-sodden lips to speak so of her?
+
+"She's a brave little woman all right. Just look how she worked
+Glenister and his fool partner. It took nerve to bring in those
+instructions of yours alone; and if it hadn't been for her we'd
+never have won like this. It makes me laugh to think of those two
+men stowing her away in their state-room while they slept between
+decks with the sheep, and her with the papers in her bosom all the
+time. Then, when we got ready to do business, why, she up and
+talks them into giving us possession of their mine without a
+fight. That's what I call reciprocating a man's affection."
+
+Glenister's nails cut into his flesh, while his face went livid at
+the words. He could not grasp it at once. It made him sick--
+physically sick--and for many moments he strove blindly to beat
+back the hideous suspicion, the horror that the lawyer had
+aroused. His was not a doubting disposition, and to him the girl
+had seemed as one pure, mysterious, apart, angelically incapable
+of deceit. He had loved her, feeling that some day she would
+return his affection without fail. In her great, unclouded eyes he
+had found no lurking-place for double-dealing. Now--God! It
+couldn't be that all the time she had KNOWN!
+
+He had lost a part of the lawyer's speech, but peered through his
+observation-hole again.
+
+McNamara was at the window gazing out into the dark street, his
+back towards the lawyer, who lolled in the chair, babbling
+garrulously of the girl. Glenister ground his teeth--a frenzy
+possessed him to loose his anger, to rip through the frail ceiling
+with naked hands and fall vindictively upon the two men.
+
+"She looked good to me the first time I saw her," continued
+Struve. He paused, and when he spoke again a change had coarsened
+his features, "Say, I'm crazy about her, Mac. I tell you, I'm
+crazy--and she likes me--I know she does--or, anyway, she would--"
+
+"Do you mean that you're in love with her?" asked the man at the
+window, without shifting his position. It seemed that utter
+indifference was in his question, although where the light shone
+on his hands, tight-clinched behind his back, they were bloodless.
+
+"Love her? Well--that depends--ha! You know how it is--" he
+chuckled, coarsely. His face was gross and bestial. "I've got the
+Judge where I want him, and I'll have her--"
+
+His miserable words died with a gurgle, for McNamara had silently
+leaped and throttled him where he sat, pinning him to the wall.
+Glenister saw the big politician shift his fingers slightly on
+Struve's throat and then drop his left hand to his side, holding
+his victim writhing and helpless with his right despite the man's
+frantic struggles. McNamara's head was thrust forward from his
+shoulders, peering into the lawyer's face. Strove tore
+ineffectually at the iron arm which was squeezing his life out,
+while for endless minutes the other leaned his weight against him,
+his idle hand behind his back, his legs braced like stone columns,
+as he watched his victim's struggles abate.
+
+Struve fought and wrenched while his breath caught in his throat
+with horrid, sickening sounds, but gradually his eyes rolled
+farther and farther back till they stared out of his blackened
+visage, straight up towards the ceiling, towards the hole through
+which Glenister peered. His struggles lessened, his chin sagged,
+and his tongue protruded, then he sat loose and still. The
+politician flung him out into the room so that he fell limply upon
+his face, then stood watching him. Finally, McNamara passed out of
+the watcher's vision, returning with a water-bucket. With his foot
+he rolled the unconscious wretch upon his back, then drenched him.
+Replacing the pail, he seated himself, lit a cigar, and watched
+the return of life into his victim. He made no move, even to drag
+him from the pool in which he lay.
+
+Struve groaned and shuddered, twisted to his side, and at last sat
+up weakly. In his eyes there was now a great terror, while in
+place of his drunkenness was only fear and faintness--abject fear
+of the great bulk that sat and smoked and stared at him so
+fishily. He felt uncertainly of his throat, and groaned again.
+
+"Why did you do that?" he whispered; but the other made no sign.
+He tried to rise, but his knees relaxed; he staggered and fell. At
+last he gained his feet and made for the door; then, when his hand
+was on the knob, McNamara spoke through his teeth, without
+removing his cigar.
+
+"Don't ever talk about her again. She is going to marry me."
+
+When he was alone he looked curiously up at the ceiling over his
+head. "The rats are thick in this shack," he mused. "Seems to me I
+heard a whole swarm of them."
+
+A few moments later a figure crept through the hole in the roof of
+the house next door and thence down into the street. A block ahead
+was the slow-moving form of Attorney Struve. Had a stranger met
+them both he would not have known which of the two had felt at his
+throat the clutch of a strangler, for each was drawn and haggard
+and swayed as he went.
+
+Glenister unconsciously turned towards his cabin, but at leaving
+the lighted streets the thought of its darkness and silence made
+him shudder. Not now! He could not bear that stillness and the
+company of his thoughts. He dared not be alone. Dextry would be
+down-town, undoubtedly, and he, too, must get into the light and
+turmoil. He licked his lips and found that they were cracked and
+dry.
+
+At rare intervals during the past years he had staggered in from a
+long march where, for hours, he had waged a bitter war with cold
+and hunger, his limbs clumsy with fatigue, his garments wet and
+stiff, his mind slack and sullen. At such extreme seasons he had
+felt a consuming thirst, a thirst which burned and scorched until
+his very bones cried out feverishly. Not a thirst for water, nor a
+thirst which eaten snow could quench, but a savage yearning of his
+whole exhausted system for some stimulant, for some coursing fiery
+fluid that would burn and strangle. A thirst for whiskey--for
+brandy! Remembering these occasional ferocious desires, he had
+become charitable to such unfortunates as were too weak to
+withstand similar temptations.
+
+Now with a shock he caught himself in the grip of a thirst as
+insistent as though the cold bore down and the weariness of
+endless heavy miles wrapped him about. It was no foolish wish to
+drown his thoughts nor to banish the grief that preyed upon him,
+but only thirst! Thirst!--a crying, trembling, physical lust to
+quench the fires that burned inside. He remembered that it had
+been more than a year since he had tasted whiskey. Now the fever
+of the past few hours had parched his every tissue.
+
+As he elbowed in through the crowd at the Northern, those next him
+made room at the bar for they recognized the hunger that peers
+thus from men's faces. Their manner recalled Glenister to his
+senses, and he wrenched himself away. This was not some solitary,
+snow-banked road-house. He would not stand and soak himself,
+shoulder to shoulder with stevedores and longshoremen. This was
+something to be done in secret. He had no pride in it. The man on
+his right raised a glass, and the young man strangled a madness to
+tear it from his hands. Instead, he hurried back to the theatre
+and up to a box, where he drew the curtains.
+
+"Whiskey!" he said, thickly, to the waiter. "Bring it to me fast.
+Don't you hear? Whiskey!"
+
+Across the theatre Cherry Malotte had seen him enter and jerk the
+curtains together. She arose and went to him, entering without
+ceremony.
+
+"What's the matter, boy?" she questioned.
+
+"Ah! I am glad you came. Talk to me."
+
+"Thank you for your few well-chosen remarks," she laughed. "Why
+don't you ask me to spring some good, original jokes? You look
+like the finish to a six-day go-as-you please. What's up?"
+
+She talked to him for a moment until the waiter entered, then,
+when she saw what he bore, she snatched the glass from the tray
+and poured the whiskey on the floor. Glenister was on his feet and
+had her by the wrist.
+
+"What do you mean?" he said, roughly.
+
+"It's whiskey, boy," she cried, "and you don't drink."
+
+"Of course it's whiskey. Bring me another," he shouted at the
+attendant.
+
+"What's the matter?" Cherry insisted. "I never saw you act so. You
+know you don't drink. I won't let you. It's booze--booze, I tell
+you, fit for fools and brawlers. Don't drink it, Roy. Are you in
+trouble?"
+
+"I say I'm thirsty--and I will have it! How do you know what it is
+to smoulder inside, and feel your veins burn dry?"
+
+"It's something about that girl," the woman said, with quiet
+conviction. "She's double-crossed you."
+
+"Well, so she has--but what of it? I'm thirsty. She's going to
+marry McNamara. I've been a fool." He ground his teeth and reached
+for the drink with which the boy had returned.
+
+"McNamara is a crook, but he's a man, and he never drank a drop in
+his life." The girl said it, casually, evenly, but the other
+stopped the glass half-way to his lips.
+
+"Well, what of it? Goon. You're good at W. C. T. U. talk. Virtue
+becomes you."
+
+She flushed, but continued, "It simply occurred to me that if you
+aren't strong enough to handle your own throat, you're not strong
+enough to beat a man who has mastered his."
+
+Glenister looked at the whiskey a moment, then set it back on the
+tray.
+
+"Bring two lemonades," he said, and with a laugh which was half a
+sob Cherry Malotte leaned forward and kissed him.
+
+"You're too good a man to drink. Now, tell me all about it."
+
+"Oh, it's too long! I've just learned that the girl is in, hand
+and glove, with the Judge and McNamara--that's all. She's an
+advance agent--their lookout. She brought in their instructions to
+Struve and persuaded Dex and me to let them jump our claim. She
+got us to trust in the law and in her uncle. Yes, she hypnotized
+my property out of me and gave it to her lover, this ward
+politician. Oh, she's smooth, with all her innocence! Why, when
+she smiles she makes you glad and good and warm, and her eyes are
+as honest and clear as a mountain pool, but she's wrong--she's
+wrong--and--great God! how I love her!" He dropped his face into
+his hands.
+
+When she had pled with him for himself a moment before Cherry
+Malotte was genuine and girlish but now as he spoke thus of the
+other woman a change came over her which he was too disturbed to
+note. She took on the subtleness that masked her as a rule, and
+her eyes were not pleasant.
+
+"I could have told you all that and more."
+
+"More! What more?" he questioned.
+
+"Do you remember when I warned you and Dextry that they were
+coming to search your cabin for the gold? Well, that girl put them
+on to you. I found it out afterwards. She keeps the keys to
+McNamara's safety vault where your dust lies, and she's the one
+who handles the Judge. It isn't McNamara at all." The woman lied
+easily, fluently, and the man believed her.
+
+"Do you remember when they broke into your safe and took that
+money?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, what made them think you had ten thousand in there?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"I do. Dextry told her."
+
+Glenister arose. "That's all I want to hear now. I'm going crazy.
+My mind aches, for I've never had a fight like this before and it
+hurts. You see, I've been an animal all these years. When I wanted
+to drink, I drank, and what I wanted, I got, because I've been
+strong enough to take it. This is new to me. I'm going down-stairs
+now and try to think of something else--then I'm going home."
+
+When he had gone she pulled back the curtains, and, leaning her
+chin in her hands, with elbows on the ledge, gazed down upon the
+crowd. The show was over and the dance had begun, but she did not
+see it, for she was thinking rapidly with the eagerness of one who
+sees the end of a long and weary search. She did not notice the
+Bronco Kid beckoning to her nor the man with him, so the gambler
+brought his friend along and invaded her box. He introduced the
+man as Mr. Champian.
+
+"Do you feel like dancing?" the new-comer inquired.
+
+"No; I'd rather look on. I feel sociable. You're a society man,
+Mr. Champian. Don't you know anything of interest? Scandal or the
+like?"
+
+"Can't say that I do. My wife attends to all that for the family.
+But I know there's lots of it. It's funny to me, the airs some of
+these people assume up here, just as though we weren't all equal,
+north of Fifty-three. I never heard the like."
+
+"Anything new and exciting?" inquired Bronco, mildly interested.
+
+"The last I heard was about the Judge's niece, Miss Chester."
+
+Cherry Malotte turned abruptly, while the Kid slowly lowered the
+front legs of his chair to the floor.
+
+"What was it?" she inquired.
+
+"Why, it seems she compromised herself pretty badly with this
+fellow Glenister coming up on the steamer last spring. Mighty
+brazen, according to my wife. Mrs. Champian was on the same ship
+and says she was horribly shocked."
+
+Ah! Glenister had told her only half the tale, thought the girl.
+The truth was baring itself. At that moment Champian thought she
+looked the typical creature of the dance-halls, the crafty,
+jealous, malevolent adventuress.
+
+"And the hussy masquerades as a lady," she sneered.
+
+"She IS a lady," said the Kid. He sat bolt upright and rigid, and
+the knuckles of his clinched hands were very white. In the shadow
+they did not note that his dark face was ghastly, nor did he say
+more except to bid Champian good-bye when he left, later on. After
+the door had closed, however, the Kid arose and stretched his
+muscles, not languidly, but as though to take out the cramp of
+long tension. He wet his lips, and his mouth was so dry that the
+sound caused the girl to look up.
+
+"What are you grinning at?" Then, as the light struck his face,
+she started. "My! How you look! What ails you? Are you sick?" No
+one, from Dawson down, had seen the Bronco Kid as he looked to-
+night.
+
+"No. I'm not sick," he answered, in a cracked voice.
+
+Then the girl laughed harshly.
+
+"Do YOU love that girl, too? Why, she's got every man in town
+crazy."
+
+She wrung her hands, which is a bad sign in a capable person, and
+as Glenister crossed the floor below in her sight she said, "Ah-h-
+-I could kill him for that!"
+
+"So could I," said the Kid, and left her without adieu.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+IN WHICH A MAN IS POSSESSED OF A DEVIL
+
+
+For a long time Cherry Malotte sat quietly thinking, removed by
+her mental stress to such an infinite distance from the music and
+turmoil beneath that she was conscious of it only as a formless
+clamor. She had tipped a chair back against the door, wedging it
+beneath the knob so that she might be saved from interruption,
+then flung herself into another seat and stared unseeingly. As she
+sat thus, and thought, and schemed, harsh and hateful lines seemed
+to eat into her face. Now and then she moaned impatiently, as
+though fearing lest the strategy she was plotting might prove
+futile; then she would rise and pace her narrow quarters. She was
+unconscious of time, and had spent perhaps two hours thus, when
+amid the buzz of talk in the next compartment she heard a name
+which caused her to start, listen, then drop her preoccupation
+like a mantle. A man was speaking of Glenister. Excitement
+thrilled his voice.
+
+"I never saw anything like it since McMaster's Night in Virginia
+City, thirteen years ago. He's RIGHT."
+
+"Well, perhaps so," the other replied, doubtfully, "but I don't
+care to back you. I never 'staked' a man in my life."
+
+"Then LEND me the money. I'll pay it back in an hour, but for
+Heaven's sake be quick. I tell you he's as right as a golden
+guinea. It's the lucky night of his life. Why, he turned over the
+Black Jack game in four bets. In fifteen minutes more we can't get
+close enough to a table to send in our money with a messenger-boy-
+-every sport in camp will be here."
+
+"I'll stake you to fifty," the second man replied, in a tone that
+showed a trace of his companion's excitement.
+
+So Glenister was gambling, the girl learned, and with such luck as
+to break the Black Jack game and excite the greed of every gambler
+in camp. News of his winnings had gone out into the street, and
+the sporting men were coming to share his fortune, to fatten like
+vultures on the adversity of their fellows. Those who had no money
+to stake were borrowing, like the man next door.
+
+She left her retreat, and, descending the stairs, was greeted by a
+strange sight. The dance-hall was empty of all but the musicians,
+who blew and fiddled lustily in vain endeavor to draw from the
+rapidly swelling crowd that thronged the gambling-room and
+stretched to the door. The press was thickest about a table midway
+down the hall. Cherry could see nothing of what went on there, for
+men and women stood ten deep about it and others perched on chairs
+and tables along the walls. A roar arose suddenly, followed by
+utter silence; then came the clink and rattle of silver. A moment,
+and the crowd resumed its laughter and talk.
+
+"All down, boys," sounded the level voice of the dealer. "The
+field or the favorite. He's made eighteen straight passes. Get
+your money on the line." There ensued another breathless instant
+wherein she heard the thud of dice, then followed the shout of
+triumph that told what the spots revealed. The dealer payed off.
+Glenister reared himself head and shoulders above the others and
+pushed out through the ring to the roulette-wheel. The rest
+followed. Behind the circular table they had quitted, the dealer
+was putting away his dice, and there was not a coin in his rack.
+Mexico Mullins approached Cherry, and she questioned him.
+
+"He just broke the crap game," Mullins told her; "nineteen passes
+without losing the bones."
+
+"How much did he win?"
+
+"Oh, he didn't win much himself, but it's the people betting with
+him that does the damage! They're gamblers, most of them, and they
+play the limit. He took out the Black Jack bank-roll first,
+$4,000, then cleaned the 'Tub.' By that time the tin horns began
+to come in. It's the greatest run I ever see."
+
+"Did you get in?"
+
+"Now, don't you know that I never play anything but 'bank'? If he
+lasts long enough to reach the faro lay-out, I'll get mine."
+
+The excitement of the crowd began to infect the girl, even though
+she looked on from the outside. The exultant voices, the sudden
+hush, the tensity of nerve it all betokened, set her a-thrill. A
+stranger left the throng and rushed to the spot where Cherry and
+Mexico stood talking. He was small and sandy, with shifting glance
+and chinless jaw. His eyes glittered, his teeth shone rat-like
+through his dry lips, and his voice was shrill. He darted towards
+them like some furtive, frightened little animal, unnaturally
+excited.
+
+"I guess that isn't so bad for three bets!" He shook a sheaf of
+bank-notes at them.
+
+"Why don't you stick?" inquired Mullins.
+
+"I am too wise. Ha! I know when to quit. He can't win steady--he
+don't play any system."
+
+"Then he has a good chance," said the girl.
+
+"There he goes now," the little man cried as the uproar arose. "I
+told you he'd lose." At the voice of the multitude he wavered as
+though affected by some powerful magnet.
+
+"But he won again," said Mexico.
+
+"No! Did he? Lord! I quit too soon!"
+
+He scampered back into the other room, only to return, hesitating,
+his money tightly clutched.
+
+"Do you s'pose it's safe? I never saw a man bet so reckless. I
+guess I'd better quit, eh?" He noted the sneer on the woman's
+face, and without waiting a reply dashed off again. They saw him
+clamorously fight his way in towards a post at the roulette-table.
+"Let me through! I've got money and I want to play it!"
+
+"Pah!" said Mullins, disgustedly. "He's one of them Vermont
+desperadoes that never laid a bet till he was thirty. If Glenister
+loses he'll hate him for life."
+
+"There are plenty of his sort here," the girl remarked; "his soul
+would fit in a flea-track." She spied the Bronco Kid sauntering
+back towards her and joined him. He leaned against the wall,
+watching the gossamer thread of smoke twist upward from his
+cigarette, seemingly oblivious to the surroundings, and showing no
+hint of the emotion he had displayed two hours before.
+
+"This is a big killing, isn't it?" said the girl. The gambler
+nodded, murmuring indifferently.
+
+"Why aren't you dealing bank? Isn't this your shift?"
+
+"I quit last night."
+
+"Just in time to miss this affair. Lucky for you."
+
+"Yes; I own the place now. Bought it yesterday."
+
+"Good Heavens! Then it's YOUR money he's winning."
+
+"Sure, at the rate of a thousand a minute."
+
+She glanced at the long trail of devastated tables behind
+Glenister and his followers. At that instant the sound told that
+the miner had won again, and it dawned upon Cherry that the
+gambler beside her stood too quietly, that his hand and voice were
+too steady, his glance too cold to be natural. The next moment
+approved her instinct.
+
+The musicians, grown tired of their endeavors to lure back the
+dancers, determined to join the excitement, and ceased playing.
+The leader laid down his violin, the pianist trailed up the key-
+board with a departing twitter and quit his stool. They all
+crossed the hall, headed for the crowd, some of them making ready
+to bet. As they approached the Bronco Kid, his lips thinned and
+slid apart slightly, while out of his heavy-lidded eyes there
+flared unreasoning rage. Stepping forward, he seized the foremost
+man and spun him about violently.
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"Why, nobody wants to dance, so we thought we'd go out front for a
+bit."
+
+"Get back, damn you!" It was his first chance to vent the passion
+within him. A glance at his maddened features was sufficient for
+the musicians, and they did not delay. By the time they had
+resumed their duties, however, the curtains of composure had
+closed upon the Kid, masking his emotion again; but from her brief
+glimpse Cherry Malotte knew that this man was not of ice, as some
+supposed. He turned to her and said, "Do you mean what you said
+up-stairs?"
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"You said you could kill Glenister."
+
+"I could."
+
+"Don't you love--"
+
+"I HATE him," she interrupted, hoarsely. He gave her a mirthless
+smile, and spying the crap-dealer leaving his bankrupt table,
+called him over and said:
+
+"Toby, I want you to 'drive the hearse' when Glenister begins to
+play faro. I'll deal. Understand?"
+
+"Sure! Going to give him a little 'work,' eh?"
+
+"I never dealt a crooked card in this camp," exclaimed the Kid,
+"but I'll 'lay' that man to-night or I'll kill him! I'll use a
+'sand-tell,' see! And I want to explain my signals to you. If you
+miss the signs you'll queer us both and put the house on the
+blink."
+
+He rapidly rehearsed his signals in a jargon which to a layman
+would have been unintelligible, illustrating them by certain
+almost imperceptible shiftings of the fingers or changes in the
+position of his hand, so slight as to thwart discovery. Through it
+all the girl stood by and followed his every word and motion with
+eager attention. She needed no explanation of the terms they used.
+She knew them all, knew that the "hearse-driver" was the man who
+kept the cases, knew all the code of the "inside life." To her it
+was all as an open page, and she memorized more quickly than did
+Toby the signs by which the Bronco Kid proposed to signal what
+card he had smuggled from the box or held back.
+
+In faro it is customary for the case-keeper to sit on the opposite
+side of the table from the dealer, with a device before him
+resembling an abacus, or Chinese adding-machine. When a card is
+removed from the faro-box by the dealer, the "hearse-driver" moves
+a button opposite a corresponding card on his little machine, in
+order that the players, at a glance, may tell what spots have been
+played or are still in the box. His duties, though simple, are
+important, for should he make an error, and should the position of
+his counters not tally with the cards in the box on the "last
+turn," all bets on the table are declared void. When honestly
+dealt, faro is the fairest of all gambling games, but it is
+intricate, and may hide much knavery. When the game is crooked, it
+is fatal, for out of the ingenuity of generations of card sharks
+there have been evolved a multitude of devices with which to
+fleece the unsuspecting. These are so carefully masked that none
+but the initiated may know them, while the freemasonry of the
+craft is strong and discovery unusual.
+
+Instead of using a familiar arrangement like the "needle-tell,"
+wherein an invisible needle pricks the dealer's thumb, thus
+signalling the presence of certain cards, the Bronco Kid had
+determined to use the "sand-tell." In other words, he would employ
+a "straight box," but a deck of cards, certain ones of which had
+been roughened or sand-papered slightly, so that, by pressing more
+heavily on the top or exposed card, the one beneath would stick to
+its neighbor above, and thus enable him to deal two with one
+motion if the occasion demanded. This roughness would likewise
+enable him to detect the hidden presence of a marked card by the
+faintest scratching sound when he dealt. In this manipulation it
+would be necessary, also, to shave the edges of some of the
+pasteboards a trifle, so that, when the deck was forced firmly
+against one side of the box, there would be exposed a fraction of
+the small figure in the left-hand corner of the concealed cards.
+Long practice in the art of jugglery lends such proficiency as to
+baffle discovery and rob the game of its uncertainty as surely as
+the player is robbed of his money. It is, of course, vital that
+the confederate case-keeper be able to interpret the dealer's
+signs perfectly in order to move the sliding ebony disks to
+correspond, else trouble will accrue at the completion of the hand
+when the cases come out wrong.
+
+Having completed his instructions, the proprietor went forward,
+and Cherry wormed her way towards the roulette-wheel. She wished
+to watch Glenister, but could not get near him because of the
+crowd. The men would not make room for her. Every eye was glued
+upon the table as though salvation lurked in its rows of red and
+black. They were packed behind it until the croupier had barely
+room to spin the ball, and although he forced them back, they
+pressed forward again inch by inch, drawn by the song of the
+ivory, drunk with its worship, maddened by the breath of Chance.
+
+Cherry gathered that Glenister was still winning, for a glimpse of
+the wheel-rack between the shoulders of those ahead showed that
+the checks were nearly out of it.
+
+Plainly it was but a question of minutes, so she backed out and
+took her station beside the faro-table where the Bronco Kid was
+dealing. His face wore its colorless mask of indifference; his
+long white hands moved slowly with the certainty that betokened
+absolute mastery of his art. He was waiting. The ex-crap dealer
+was keeping cases.
+
+The group left the roulette-table in a few moments and surrounded
+her, Glenister among the others. He was not the man she knew. In
+place of the dreary hopelessness with which he had left her, his
+face was flushed and reckless, his collar was open, showing the
+base of his great, corded neck, while the lust of the game had
+coarsened him till he was again the violent, untamed, primitive
+man of the frontier. His self-restraint and dignity were gone. He
+had tried the new ways, and they were not for him. He slipped
+back, and the past swallowed him.
+
+After leaving Cherry he had sought some mental relief by idly
+risking the silver in his pocket. He had let the coins lie and
+double, then double again and again. He had been indifferent
+whether he won or lost, so assumed a reckless disregard for the
+laws of probability, thinking that he would shortly lose the money
+he had won and then go home. He did not want it. When his luck
+remained the same, he raised the stakes, but it did not change--he
+could not lose. Before he realized it, other men were betting with
+him, animated purely by greed and craze of the sport. First one,
+then another joined till game after game was closed, and each
+moment the crowd had grown in size and enthusiasm so that its
+fever crept into him, imperceptibly at first, but ever increasing,
+till the mania mastered him.
+
+He paid no attention to Cherry as he took his seat. He had eyes
+for nothing but the "lay-out." She clenched her hands and prayed
+for his ruin.
+
+"What's your limit, Kid?" he inquired.
+
+"One hundred, and two," the Kid answered, which in the vernacular
+means that any sum up to $200 be laid on one card save only on the
+last turn, when the amount is lessened by half.
+
+Without more ado they commenced. The Kid handled his cards
+smoothly, surely, paying and taking bets with machine-like calm.
+The on-lookers ceased talking and prepared to watch, for now came
+the crucial test of the evening. Faro is to other games as war is
+to jackstraws.
+
+For a time Glenister won steadily till there came a moment when
+many stacks of chips lay on the deuce. Cherry saw the Kid "flash"
+to the case-keeper, and the next moment he had "pulled two." The
+deuce lost. It was his first substantial gain, and the players
+paid no attention. At the end of half an hour the winnings were
+slightly in favor of the "house." Then Glenister said, "This is
+too slow. I want action."
+
+"All right," smiled the proprietor. "We'll double the limit."
+
+Thus it became possible to wager $400 on a card, and the Kid began
+really to play. Glenister now lost steadily, not in large amounts,
+but with tantalizing regularity. Cherry had never seen cards
+played like this. The gambler was a revelation to her--his work
+was wonderful. Ill luck seemed to fan the crowd's eagerness,
+while, to add to its impatience, the cases came wrong twice in
+succession, so that those who would have bet heavily upon the last
+turn had their money given back. Cherry saw the confusion of the
+"hearse-driver" even quicker than did Bronco. Toby was growing
+rattled. The dealer's work was too fast for him, and yet he could
+offer no signal of distress for fear of annihilation at the hands
+of those crowded close to his shoulder. In the same way the owner
+of the game could make no objection to his helper's incompetence
+for fear that some by-stander would volunteer to fill the man's
+part--there were many present capable of the trick. He could only
+glare balefully across the table at his unfortunate confederate.
+
+They had not gone far on the next game before Cherry's quick eye
+detected a sign which the man misinterpreted. She addressed him,
+quietly, "You'd better brush up your plumes."
+
+In spite of his anger the Bronco Kid smiled. Humor in him was
+strangely withered and distorted, yet here was a thrust he would
+always remember and recount with glee in years to come. He feared
+there were other faro-dealers present who might understand the
+hint, but there was none save Mexico Mullins, whose face was a
+study--mirth seemed to be strangling him. A moment later the girl
+spoke to the case-keeper again.
+
+"Let me take your place; your reins are unbuckled."
+
+Toby glanced inquiringly at the Kid, who caught Cherry's
+reassuring look and nodded, so he arose and the girl slid into the
+vacant chair. This woman would make no errors--the dealer knew
+that; her keen wits were sharpened by hate--it showed in her face.
+If Glenister escaped destruction to-night it would be because
+human means could not accomplish his downfall.
+
+In the mind of the new case-keeper there was but one thought--Roy
+must be broken. Humiliation, disgrace, ruin, ridicule were to be
+his. If he should be downed, discredited, and discouraged, then,
+perhaps, he would turn to her as he had in the by-gone days. He
+was slipping away from her--this was her last chance. She began
+her duties easily, and her alertness stimulated Bronco till his
+senses, too, grew sharper, his observation more acute and
+lightning-like. Glenister swore beneath his breath that the cards
+were bewitched. He was like a drunken man, now as truly
+intoxicated as though the fumes of wine had befogged his brain. He
+swayed in his seat, the veins of his neck thickened and throbbed,
+his features were congested. After a while he spoke.
+
+"I want a bigger limit. Is this some boy's game? Throw her open."
+
+The gambler shot a triumphant glance at the girl and acquiesced.
+"All right, the limit is the blue sky. Pile your checks to the
+roof-pole." He began to shuffle.
+
+Within the crowded circle the air was hot and fetid with the
+breath of men. The sweat trickled down Glenister's brown skin,
+dripping from his jaw unnoticed. He arose and ripped off his coat,
+while those standing behind shifted and scuffed their feet
+impatiently. Besides Roy, there were but three men playing. They
+were the ones who had won heaviest at first. Now that luck was
+against them they were loath to quit.
+
+Cherry was annoyed by stertorous breathing at her shoulder, and
+glanced back to find the little man who had been so excited
+earlier in the evening. His mouth was agape, his eyes wide, the
+muscles about his lips twitching. He had lost back, long since,
+the hundreds he had won and more besides. She searched the figures
+walling her about and saw no women. They had been crowded out long
+since. It seemed as though the table formed the bottom of a
+sloping pit of human faces--eager, tense, staring. It was well she
+was here, she thought, else this task might fail. She would help
+to blast Glenister, desolate him, humiliate him. Ah, but wouldn't
+she!
+
+Roy bet $100 on the "popular" card. On the third turn he lost. He
+bet $200 next and lost. He set out a stack of $400 and lost for
+the third time. Fortune had turned her face. He ground his teeth
+and doubled until the stakes grew enormous, while the dealer dealt
+monotonously. The spots flashed and disappeared, taking with them
+wager after wager. Glenister became conscious of a raging, red
+fury which he had hard shift to master. It was not his money--what
+if he did lose? He would stay until he won. He would win. This
+luck would not, could not, last--and yet with diabolic persistence
+he continued to choose the losing cards. The other men fared
+better till be yielded to their judgment, when the dealer took
+their money also.
+
+Strange to say, the fickle goddess had really shifted her banner
+at last, and the Bronco Kid was dealing straight faro now. He was
+too good a player to force a winning hand, and Glenister's ill-
+fortune became as phenomenal as his winning had been. The girl who
+figured in this drama was keyed to the highest tension, her eyes
+now on her counters, now searching the profile of her victim.
+Glenister continued to lose and lose and lose, while the girl
+gloated over his swift-coming ruin. When at long intervals he won
+a bet she shrank and shivered for fear he might escape. If only he
+would risk it all--everything he had. He would have to come to her
+then!
+
+The end was closer than she realized. The throng hung breathless
+upon each move of the players, while there was no sound but the
+noise of shifting chips and the distant jangle of the orchestra.
+The lookout sat far forward upon his perch, his hands upon his
+knees, his eyes frozen to the board, a dead cigar clenched between
+his teeth. Crowded upon his platform were miners tense and
+motionless as statues. When a man spoke or coughed, a score of
+eyes stared at him accusingly, then dropped to the table again.
+
+Glenister took from his clothes a bundle of bank-notes, so thick
+that it required his two hands to compass it. On-lookers saw that
+the bills were mainly yellow. No one spoke while he counted them
+rapidly, glanced at the dealer, who nodded, then slid them forward
+till they rested on the king. He placed a "copper" on the pile. A
+great sigh of indrawn breaths swept through the crowd. The North
+had never known a bet like this--it meant a fortune. Here was a
+tale for one's grandchildren--that a man should win opulence in an
+evening, then lose it in one deal. This final bet represented more
+than many of them had ever seen a one time before. Its fate lay on
+a single card.
+
+Cherry Malotte's fingers were like ice and shook till the buttons
+of her case-keeper rattled, her heart raced till she could not
+breathe, while something rose up and choked her. If Glenister won
+this bet he would quit; she felt it. If he lost, ah! what could
+the Kid there feel, the man who was playing for a paltry
+vengeance, compared to her whose hope of happiness, of love, of
+life hinged on this wager?
+
+Evidently the Bronco Kid knew what card lay next below, for he
+offered her no sign, and as Glenister leaned back he slowly and
+firmly pushed the top card out of the box. Although this was the
+biggest turn of his life, he betrayed no tremor. His gesture
+displayed the nine of diamonds, and the crowd breathed heavily.
+The king had not won. Would it lose? Every gaze was welded to the
+tiny nickelled box. If the face-card lay next beneath the nine-
+spot, the heaviest wager in Alaska would have been lost; if it
+still remained hidden on the next turn, the money would be safe
+for a moment.
+
+Slowly the white hand of the dealer moved back; his middle finger
+touched the nine of diamonds; it slid smoothly out of the box, and
+there in its place frowned the king of clubs. At last the silence
+was broken.
+
+Men spoke, some laughed, but in their laughter was no mirth. It
+was more like the sound of choking. They stamped their feet to
+relieve the grip of strained muscles. The dealer reached forth and
+slid the stack of bills into the drawer at his waist without
+counting. The case-keeper passed a shaking hand over her face, and
+when it came away she saw blood on her fingers where she had sunk
+her teeth into her lower lip. Glenister did not rise. He sat,
+heavy-browed and sullen, his jaw thrust forward, his hair low upon
+his forehead, his eyes bloodshot and dead.
+
+"I'll sit the hand out if you'll let me bet the 'finger,'" said
+he.
+
+"Certainly," replied the dealer.
+
+When a man requests this privilege it means that he will call the
+amount of his wager without producing the visible stakes, and the
+dealer may accept or refuse according to his judgment of the
+bettor's responsibility. It is safe, for no man shirks a gambling
+debt in the North, and thousands may go with a nod of the head
+though never a cent be on the board.
+
+There were still a few cards in the box, and the dealer turned
+them, paying the three men who played. Glenister took no part, but
+sat bulked over his end of the table glowering from beneath his
+shock of hair.
+
+Cherry was deathly tired. The strain of the last hour had been so
+intense that she could barely sit in her seat, yet she was
+determined to finish the hand. As Bronco paused before the last
+turn, many of the by-standers made bets. They were the "case-
+players" who risked money only on the final pair, thus avoiding
+the chance of two cards of like denomination coming together, in
+which event ("splits" it is called) the dealer takes half the
+money. The stakes were laid at last and the deal about to start
+when Glenister spoke. "Wait! What's this place worth, Bronco?"
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"You own this outfit?" He waved his hand about the room. "Well,
+what does it stand you?"
+
+The gambler hesitated an instant while the crowd pricked up its
+ears, and the girl turned wondering, troubled eyes upon the miner.
+What would he do now?
+
+"Counting bank rolls, fixtures, and all, about a hundred and
+twenty thousand dollars. Why?"
+
+"I'll pick the ace to lose, my one-half interest in the Midas
+against your whole damned lay-out!"
+
+There was an absolute hush while the realization of this offer
+smote the on-lookers. It took time to realize it. This man was
+insane. There were three cards to choose from--one would win, one
+would lose, and one would have no action.
+
+Of all those present only Cherry Malotte divined even vaguely the
+real reason which prompted the man to do this. It was not
+"gameness," nor altogether a brutish stubbornness which would not
+let him quit, It was something deeper. He was desolate and his
+heart was gone. Helen was lost to him--worse yet, was unworthy,
+and she was all he cared for. What did he want of the Midas with
+its lawsuits, its intrigues, and its trickery? He was sick of it
+all--of the whole game--and wanted to get away. If he won, very
+well. If he lost, the land of the Aurora would know him no more.
+
+When he put his proposition, the Bronco Kid dropped his eyes as
+though debating. The girl saw that he studied the cards in his box
+intently and that his fingers caressed the top one ever so softly
+during the instant the eyes of the rest were on Glenister. The
+dealer looked up at last, and Cherry saw the gleam of triumph in
+his eye; he could not mask it from her, though his answering words
+were hesitating. She knew by the look that Glenister was a pauper.
+
+"Come on," insisted Roy, hoarsely. "Turn the cards."
+
+"You're on!"
+
+The girl felt that she was fainting. She wanted to scream. The
+triumph of this moment stifled her--or was it triumph, after all?
+She heard the breath of the little man behind her rattle as though
+he were being throttled, and saw the lookout pass a shaking hand
+to his chin, then wet his parched lips. She saw the man she had
+helped to ruin bend forward, his lean face strained and hard, an
+odd look of pain and weariness in his eyes. She never forgot that
+look. The crowd was frozen in various attitudes of eagerness,
+although it had not yet recovered from the suspense of the last
+great wager. It knew the Midas and what it meant. Here lay half of
+it, hidden beneath a tawdry square of pasteboard. With maddening
+deliberation the Kid dealt the top card. Beneath it was the trey
+of spades. Glenister said no word nor made a move. Some one
+coughed, and it sounded like a gunshot. Slowly the dealer's
+fingers retraced their way. He hesitated purposely and leered at
+the girl, then the three-spot disappeared and beneath it lay the
+ace as the king had lain on that other wager. It spelled utter
+ruin to Glenister. He raised his eyes blindly, and then the
+deathlike silence of the room was shattered by a sudden crash.
+Cherry Malotte had closed her check-rack violently, at the same
+instant crying shrill and clear: "That bet is off! The cases are
+wrong!"
+
+Glenister half rose, overturning his chair; the Kid lunged forward
+across the table, and his wonderful hands, tense and talon-like,
+thrust themselves forward as though reaching for the riches she
+had snatched away. They worked and writhed and trembled as though
+in dumb fury, the nails sinking into the oil-cloth table-cover.
+His face grew livid and cruel, while his eyes blazed at her till
+she shrank from him affrightedly, bracing herself away from the
+table with rigid arms.
+
+Reason came slowly back to Glenister, and understanding with it.
+He seemed to awake from a nightmare. He could read all too plainly
+the gambler's look of baffled hate as the man sprawled on the
+table, his arms spread wide, his eyes glaring at the cowering
+woman, who shrank before him like a rabbit before a snake. She
+tried to speak, but choked. Then the dealer came to himself, and
+cried harshly through his teeth one word:
+
+"Christ!"
+
+He raised his fist and struck the table so violently that chips
+and coppers leaped and rolled, and Cherry closed her eyes to lose
+sight of his awful grimace. Glenister looked down on him and said:
+
+"I think I understand; but the money was yours, anyhow, so I don't
+mind." His meaning was plain. The Kid suddenly jerked open the
+drawer before him, but Glenister clenched his right hand and
+leaned forward. The miner could have killed him with a blow, for
+the gambler was seated and at his mercy. The Kid checked himself,
+while his face began to twitch as though the nerves underlying it
+had broken bondage and were dancing in a wild, ungovernable orgy.
+
+"You have taught me a lesson," was all that Glenister said, and
+with that he pushed through the crowd and out into the cool night
+air. Overhead the arctic stars winked at him, and the sea smells
+struck him, clean and fresh. As he went homeward he heard the
+distant, full-throated plaint of a wolf-dog. It held the mystery
+and sadness of the North. He paused, arid, baring his thick,
+matted head, stood for a long time gathering himself together.
+Standing so, he made certain covenants with himself, and vowed
+solemnly never to touch another card.
+
+At the same moment Cherry Malotte came hurrying to her cottage
+door, fleeing as though from pursuit or from some hateful, haunted
+spot. She paused before entering and flung her arms outward into
+the dark in a wide gesture of despair.
+
+"Why did I do it? Oh! WHY did I do it? I can't understand myself."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A MIDNIGHT MESSENGER
+
+
+"My dear Helen, don't you realize that my official position
+carries with it a certain social obligation which it is our duty
+to discharge?"
+
+"I suppose so, Uncle Arthur; but I would much rather stay at
+home."
+
+"Tut, tut! Go and have a good time."
+
+"Dancing doesn't appeal to me any more. I left that sort of thing
+back home. Now, if you would only come along--"
+
+"No--I'm too busy. I must work to-night, and I'm not in a mood for
+such things, anyhow."
+
+"You're not well," his niece said. "I have noticed it for weeks.
+Is it hard work or are you truly ill? You're nervous; you don't
+eat; you're growing positively gaunt. Why--you're getting wrinkles
+like an old man." She rose from her seat at the breakfast-table
+and went to him, smoothing his silvered head with affection.
+
+He took her cool hand and pressed it to his cheek, while the worry
+that haunted him habitually of late gave way to a smile.
+
+"It's work, little girl--hard and thankless work, that's all. This
+country is intended for young men, and I'm too far along." His
+eyes grew grave again, and he squeezed her fingers nervously as
+though at the thought. "It's a terrible country--this--I--I--wish
+we had never seen it."
+
+"Don't say that," Helen cried, spiritedly. "Why, it's glorious.
+Think of the honor. You're a United States judge and the first one
+to come here. You're making history--you're building a State--
+people will read about you." She stooped and kissed him; but he
+seemed to flinch beneath her caress.
+
+"Of course I'll go if you think I'd better," she said, "though I'm
+not fond of Alaskan society. Some of the women are nice, but the
+others--" She shrugged her dainty shoulders. "They talk scandal
+all the time. One would think that a great, clean, fresh, vigorous
+country like this would broaden the women as it broadens the men--
+but it doesn't."
+
+"I'll tell McNamara to call for you at nine o'clock," said the
+Judge as he arose. So, later in the day she prepared her long
+unused finery to such good purpose that when her escort called for
+her that evening he believed her the loveliest of women.
+
+Upon their arrival at the hotel he regarded her with a fresh
+access of pride, for the function proved to bear little
+resemblance to a mining-camp party. The women wore handsome gowns,
+and every man was in evening dress. The wide hall ran the length
+of the hotel and was flanked with boxes, while its floor was like
+polished glass and its walls effectively decorated.
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed Helen as she first caught sight of it.
+"It's just like home."
+
+"I've seen quick-rising cities before," he said, "but nothing like
+this. Still, if these Northerners can build a railroad in a month
+and a city in a summer, why shouldn't they have symphony
+orchestras and Louis Quinze ballrooms?"
+
+"I know you're a splendid dancer," she said.
+
+"You shall be my judge and jury. I'll sign this card as often as I
+dare without the certainty of violence at the hands of these young
+men, and the rest of the time I'll smoke in the lobby. I don't
+care to dance with any one but you."
+
+After the first waltz he left her surrounded by partners and made
+his way out of the ballroom. This was his first relaxation since
+landing in the North. It was well not to become a dull boy, he
+mused, and as he chewed his cigar he pictured with an odd thrill,
+quite unusual with him, that slender, gray-eyed girl, with her
+coiled mass of hair, her ivory shoulders, and merry smile. He saw
+her float past to the measure of a two-step, and caught himself
+resenting the thought of another man's enjoyment of the girl's
+charms even for an instant.
+
+"Hold on, Alec," he muttered. "You're too old a bird to lose your
+head." However, he was waiting for her before the time for their
+next dance. She seemed to have lost a part of her gayety.
+
+"What's the matter? Aren't you enjoying yourself?"
+
+"Oh, yes!" she returned, brightly. "I'm having a delightful time."
+
+When he came for his third dance, she was more distraite than
+ever. As he led her to a seat they passed a group of women, among
+whom were Mrs. Champian and others whom he knew to be wives of men
+prominent in the town. He had seen some of them at tea in Judge
+Stillman's house, and therefore was astonished when they returned
+his greeting but ignored Helen. She shrank slightly, and he
+realized that there was something wrong; he could not guess what.
+Affairs of men he could cope with, but the subtleties of women
+were out of his realm.
+
+"What ails those people? Have they offended you?"
+
+"I don't know what it is. I have spoken to them, but they cut me."
+
+"Cut YOU?" he exclaimed.
+
+"Yes." Her voice trembled, but she held her head high. "It seems
+as though all the women in Nome were here and in league to ignore
+me. It dazes me--I do not understand."
+
+"Has anybody said anything to you?" he inquired, fiercely. "Any
+man, I mean?"
+
+"No, no! The men are kind. It's the women."
+
+"Come--we'll go home."
+
+"Indeed, we will not," she said, proudly. "I shall stay and face
+it out. I have done nothing to run away from, and I intend to find
+out what is the matter."
+
+When he had surrendered her, at the beginning of the next dance,
+McNamara sought for some acquaintance whom he might question. Most
+of the men in Nome either hated or feared him, but he espied one
+that he thought suited his purpose, and led him into a corner.
+
+"I want you to answer a question. No beating about the bush.
+Understand? I'm blunt, and I want you to be."
+
+"All right."
+
+"Your wife has been entertained at Miss Chester's house. I've seen
+her there. To-night she refuses to speak to the girl. She cut her
+dead, and I want to know what it's about."
+
+"How should I know?"
+
+"If you don't know, I'll ask you to find out."
+
+The other shook his head amusedly, at which McNamara flared up.
+
+"I say you will, and you'll make your wife apologize before she
+leaves this hall, too, or you'll answer to me, man to man. I won't
+stand to have a girl like Miss Chester cold-decked by a bunch of
+mining-camp swells, and that goes as it lies." In his excitement,
+McNamara reverted to his Western idiom.
+
+The other did not reply at once, for it is embarrassing to deal
+with a person who disregards the conventions utterly, and at the
+same time has the inclination and force to compel obedience. The
+boss's reputation had gone abroad.
+
+"Well--er--I know about it in a general way, but of course I don't
+go much on such things. You'd better let it drop."
+
+"Go on."
+
+"There has been a lot of talk among the ladies about--well, er--
+the fact is, it's that young Glenister. Mrs. Champian had the next
+state-room to them--er--him--I should say--on the way up from the
+States, and she saw things. Now, as far as I'm concerned, a girl
+can do what she pleases, but Mrs. Champian has her own ideas of
+propriety. From what my wife could learn, there's some truth in
+the story, too, so you can't blame her."
+
+With a word McNamara could have explained the gossip and made this
+man put his wife right, forcing through her an elucidation of the
+silly affair in such a way as to spare Helen's feelings and cover
+the busy-tongued magpies with confusion. Yet he hesitated. It is a
+wise skipper who trims his sails to every breeze. He thanked his
+informant and left him. Entering the lobby, he saw the girl
+hurrying towards him.
+
+"Take me away, quick! I want to go home."
+
+"You've changed your mind?"'
+
+"Yes, let us go," she panted, and when they were outside she
+walked so rapidly that he had difficulty in keeping pace with her.
+She was silent, and he knew better than to question, but when they
+arrived at her house he entered, took off his overcoat, and turned
+up the light in the tiny parlor. She flung her wraps over a chair,
+storming back and forth like a little fury. Her eyes were starry
+with tears of anger, her face was flushed, her hands worked
+nervously. He leaned against the mantel, watching her through his
+cigar smoke.
+
+"You needn't tell me," he said, at length. "I know all about it."
+
+"I am glad you do. I never could repeat what they said. Oh, it was
+brutal!" Her voice caught and she bit her lip. "What made me ask
+them? Why didn't I keep still? After you left, I went to those
+women and faced them. Oh, but they were brutal? Yet, why should I
+care?" She stamped her slippered foot.
+
+"I shall have to kill that man some day," he said, flecking his
+cigar ashes into the grate.
+
+"What man?" She stood still and looked at him.
+
+"Glenister, of course. If I had thought the story would ever reach
+you, I'd have shut him up long ago."
+
+"It didn't come from him," she cried, hot with indignation. "He's
+a gentleman. It's that cat, Mrs. Champian."
+
+He shrugged his shoulders the slightest bit, but it was eloquent,
+and she noted it. "Oh, I don't mean that he did it intentionally--
+he's too decent a chap for that--but anybody's tongue will wag to
+a beautiful girl! My lady Malotte is a jealous trick."
+
+"Malotte! Who is she?" Helen questioned, curiously.
+
+He seemed surprised. "I thought every one knew who she is. It's
+just as well that you don't."
+
+"I am sure Mr. Glenister would not talk of me." There was a pause.
+"Who is Miss Malotte?"
+
+He studied for a moment, while she watched him. What a splendid
+figure he made in his evening clothes! The cosey room with its
+shaded lights enhanced his size and strength and rugged outlines.
+In his eyes was that admiration which women live for. He lifted
+his bold, handsome face and met her gaze.
+
+"I had rather leave that for you to find out, for I'm not much at
+scandal. I have something more important to tell you. It's the
+most important thing I have ever said to you, Helen." It was the
+first time he had used that name, and she began to tremble, while
+her eyes sought the door in a panic. She had expected this moment,
+and yet was not ready.
+
+"Not to-night--don't say it now," she managed to articulate.
+
+"Yes, this is a good time. If you can't answer, I'll come back to-
+morrow. I want you to be my wife. I want to give you everything
+the world offers, and I want to make you happy, girl. There'll be
+no gossip hereafter--I'll shield you from everything unpleasant,
+and if there is anything you want in life, I'll lay it at your
+feet. I can do it." He lifted his massive arms, and in the set of
+his strong, square face was the promise that she should have
+whatever she craved if mortal man could give it to her--love,
+protection, position, adoration.
+
+She stammered uncertainly till the humiliation and chagrin she had
+suffered this night swept over her again. This town--this crude,
+half-born mining-camp--had turned against her, misjudged her
+cruelly. The women were envious, clacking scandal-mongers, all of
+them, who would ostracize her and make her life in the Northland a
+misery, make her an outcast with nothing to sustain her but her
+own solitary pride. She could picture her future clearly,
+pitilessly, and see herself standing alone, vilified, harassed in
+a thousand cutting ways, yet unable to run away, or to explain.
+She would have to stay and face it, for her life was bound up here
+during the next few years or so, or as long as her uncle remained
+a judge. This man would free her. He loved her; he offered her
+everything. He was bigger than all the rest combined. They were
+his playthings, and they knew it. She was not sure that she loved
+him, but his magnetism was overpowering, and her admiration
+intense. No other man she had ever known compared with him, except
+Glenister--Bah! The beast! He had insulted her at first; he
+wronged her now.
+
+"Will you be my wife, Helen?" the man repeated, softly.
+
+She dropped her head, and he strode forward to take her in his
+arms, then stopped, listening. Some one ran up on the porch and
+hammered loudly at the door. McNamara scowled, walked into the
+hall, and flung the portal open, disclosing Struve.
+
+"Hello, McNamara! Been looking all over for you. There's the deuce
+to pay!" Helen sighed with relief and gathered up her cloak, while
+the hum of their voices reached her indistinctly. She was given
+plenty of time to regain her composure before they appeared. When
+they did, the politician spoke, sourly:
+
+"I've been called to the mines, and I must go at once."
+
+"You bet! It may be too late now. The news came an hour ago, but I
+couldn't find you," said Struve. "Your horse is saddled at the
+office. Better not wait to change your clothes."
+
+"You say Voorhees has gone with twenty deputies, eh? That's good.
+You stay here and find out all you can."
+
+"I telephoned out to the Creek for the boys to arm themselves and
+throw out pickets. If you hurry you can get there in time. It's
+only midnight now."
+
+"What is the trouble?" Miss Chester inquired, anxiously.
+
+"There's a plot on to attack the mines to-night," answered the
+lawyer. "The other side are trying to seize them, and there's apt
+to be a fight."
+
+"You mustn't go out there," she cried, aghast. "There will be
+bloodshed."
+
+"That's just why I MUST go," said McNamara. "I'll come back in the
+morning, though, and I'd like to see you alone. Good-night!" There
+was a strange, new light in his eyes as he left her. For one
+unversed in woman's ways he played the game surprisingly well, and
+as he hurried towards his office he smiled grimly into the
+darkness.
+
+"She'll answer me to-morrow. Thank you, Mr. Glenister," he said to
+himself.
+
+Helen questioned Struve at length, but gained nothing more than
+that secret-service men had been at work for weeks and had to-day
+unearthed the fact that Vigilantes had been formed. They had heard
+enough to make them think the mines would be jumped again to-
+night, and so had given the alarm.
+
+"Have you hired spies?" she asked, incredulously.
+
+"Sure. We had to. The other people shadowed us, and it's come to a
+point where it's life or death to one side or the other. I told
+McNamara we'd have bloodshed before we were through, when he first
+outlined the scheme--I mean when the trouble began."
+
+She wrung her hands. "That's what uncle feared before we left
+Seattle. That's why I took the risks I did in bringing you those
+papers. I thought you got them in time to avoid all this."
+
+Struve laughed a bit, eying her curiously.
+
+"Does Uncle Arthur know about this?" she continued.
+
+"No, we don't let him know anything more than necessary; he's not
+a strong man."
+
+"Yes, yes. He's not well." Again the lawyer smiled. "Who is behind
+this Vigilante movement?"
+
+"We think it is Glenister and his New Mexican bandit partner. At
+least they got the crowd together." She was silent for a time.
+
+"I suppose they really think they own those mines."
+
+"Undoubtedly."
+
+"But they don't, do they?" Somehow this question had recurred to
+her insistently of late, for things were constantly happening
+which showed there was more back of this great, fierce struggle
+than she knew. It was impossible that injustice had been done the
+mine-owners, and yet scattered talk reached her which was
+puzzling. When she strove to follow it up, her acquaintances
+adroitly changed the subject. She was baffled on every side. The
+three local newspapers upheld the court. She read them carefully,
+and was more at sea than ever. There was a disturbing undercurrent
+of alarm and unrest that caused her to feel insecure, as though
+standing on hollow ground.
+
+"Yes, this whole disturbance is caused by those two. Only for them
+we'd be all right."
+
+"Who is Miss Malotte?"
+
+He answered, promptly: "The handsomest woman in the North, and the
+most dangerous."
+
+"In what way? Who is she?"
+
+"It's hard to say who or what she is--she's different from other
+women. She came to Dawson in the early days--just came--we didn't
+know how, whence, or why, and we never found out. We woke up one
+morning and there she was. By night we were all jealous, and in a
+week we were most of us drivelling idiots. It might have been the
+mystery or, perhaps, the competition. That was the day when a
+dance-hall girl could make a homestake in a winter or marry a
+millionaire in a month, but she never bothered. She toiled not,
+neither did she spin on the waxed floors, yet Solomon in all his
+glory would have looked like a tramp beside her."
+
+"You say she is dangerous?"
+
+"Well, there was the young nobleman, in the winter of '98, Dane, I
+think--fine family and all that--big, yellow-haired boy. He wanted
+to marry her, but a faro-dealer shot him. Then there was Rock, of
+the mounted police, the finest officer in the service. He was
+cashiered. She knew he was going to pot for her, but she didn't
+seem to care--and there were others. Yet, with it all, she is the
+most generous person and the most tender-hearted. Why, she has fed
+every 'stew bum' on the Yukon, and there isn't a busted prospector
+in the country who wouldn't swear by her, for she has grubstaked
+dozens of them. I was horribly in love with her myself. Yes, she's
+dangerous, all right--to everybody but Glenister."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"She had been across the Yukon to nurse a man with scurvy, and
+coming back she was caught in the spring break-up. I wasn't there,
+but it seems this Glenister got her ashore somehow when nobody
+else would tackle the job. They were carried five miles down-
+stream in the ice-pack before he succeeded."
+
+"What happened then?"
+
+"She fell in love with him, of course."
+
+"And he worshipped her as madly as all the rest of you, I
+suppose," she said, scornfully.
+
+"That's the peculiar part. She hypnotized him at first, but he ran
+away, and I didn't hear of him again till I came to Nome. She
+followed him, finally, and last week evened up her score. She paid
+him back for saving her."
+
+"I haven't heard about it."
+
+He detailed the story of the gambling episode at the Northern
+saloon, and concluded: "I'd like to have seen that 'turn,' for
+they say the excitement was terrific. She was keeping cases, and
+at the finish slammed her case-keeper shut and declared the bet
+off because she had made a mistake. Of course they couldn't
+dispute her, and she stuck to it. One of the by-standers told me
+she lied, though."
+
+"So, in addition to his other vices, Mr. Glenister is a reckless
+gambler, is he?" said Helen, with heat. "I am proud to be indebted
+to such a character. Truly this country breeds wonderful species."
+
+"There's where you're wrong," Struve chuckled. "He's never been
+known to bet before."
+
+"Oh, I'm tired of these contradictions!" she cried, angrily.
+"Saloons, gambling-halls, scandals, adventuresses! Ugh! I hate it!
+I HATE it! Why did I ever come here?"
+
+"Those things are a part of every new country. They were about all
+we had till this year. But it is women like you that we fellows
+need, Miss Helen. You can help us a lot." She did not like the way
+he was looking at her, and remembered that her uncle was up-stairs
+and asleep.
+
+"I must ask you to excuse me now, for it's late and I am very
+tired."
+
+The clock showed half-past twelve, so, after letting him out, she
+extinguished the light and dragged herself wearily up to her room.
+She removed her outer garments and threw over her bare shoulders a
+negligee of many flounces and bewildering, clinging looseness. As
+she took down her heavy braids, the story of Cherry Malotte
+returned to her tormentingly. So Glenister had saved HER life also
+at risk of his own. What a very gallant cavalier he was, to be
+sure! He should bear a coat of arms--a dragon, an armed knight,
+and a fainting maiden. "I succor ladies in distress--handsome
+ones," should be the motto on his shield. "The handsomest woman in
+the North," Struve had said. She raised her eyes to the glass and
+made a mouth at the petulant, tired reflection there. She pictured
+Glenister leaping from floe to floe with the hungry river surging
+and snapping at his feet, while the cheers of the crowd on shore
+gave heart to the girl crouching out there. She could see him
+snatch her up and fight his way back to safety over the plunging
+ice-cakes with death dragging at his heels. What a strong embrace
+he had! At this she blushed and realized with a shock that while
+she was mooning that very man might be fighting hand to hand in
+the darkness of a mountain-gorge with the man she was going to
+marry.
+
+A moment later some one mounted the front steps below and knocked
+sharply. Truly this was a night of alarms. Would people never
+cease coming? She was worn out, but at the thought of the tragedy
+abroad and the sick old man sleeping near by, she lit a candle and
+slipped down-stairs to avoid disturbing him. Doubtless it was some
+message from McNamara, she thought, as she unchained the door.
+
+As she opened it, she fell back amazed while it swung wide and the
+candle flame flickered and sputtered in the night air. Roy
+Glenister stood there, grim and determined, his soft, white
+Stetson pulled low, his trousers tucked into tan half-boots, in
+his hand a Winchester rifle. Beneath his corduroy coat she saw a
+loose cartridge-belt, yellow with shells, and the nickelled flash
+of a revolver. Without invitation he strode across the threshold,
+closing the door behind him.
+
+"Miss Chester, you and the Judge must dress quickly and come with
+me."
+
+"I don't understand."
+
+"The Vigilantes are on their way here to hang him. Come with me to
+my house where I can protect you."
+
+She laid a trembling hand on her bosom and the color died out of
+her face, then at a slight noise above they both looked up to see
+Judge Stillman leaning far over the banister. He had wrapped
+himself in a dressing-gown and now gripped the rail convulsively,
+while his features were blanched to the color of putty and his
+eyes were wide with terror, though puffed and swollen from sleep.
+His lips moved in a vain endeavor to speak.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+VIGILANTES
+
+
+On the morning after the episode in the Northern, Glenister awoke
+under a weight of discouragement and desolation. The past twenty-
+four hours with their manifold experiences seemed distant and
+unreal. At breakfast he was ashamed to tell Dextry of the gambling
+debauch, for he had dealt treacherously with the old man in
+risking half of the mine, even though they had agreed that either
+might do as he chose with his interest, regardless of the other.
+It all seemed like a nightmare, those tense moments when he lay
+above the receiver's office and felt his belief in the one woman
+slipping away, the frenzied thirst which Cherry Malotte had
+checked, the senseless, unreasoning lust for play that possessed
+him later. This lapse was the last stand of his old, untamed
+instincts. The embers of revolt in him were dead. He felt that he
+would never again lose mastery of himself, that his passions would
+never best him hereafter.
+
+Dextry spoke. "We had a meeting of the 'Stranglers' last night."
+He always spoke of the Vigilantes in that way, because of his
+early Western training.
+
+"What was done?"
+
+"They decided to act quick and do any odd jobs of lynchin', claim-
+jumpin', or such as needs doin'. There's a lot of law sharps and
+storekeepers in the bunch who figure McNamara's gang will wipe
+them off the map next."
+
+"It was bound to come to this."
+
+"They talked of ejectin' the receiver's men and puttin' all us
+fellers back on our mines."
+
+"Good. How many can we count on to help us?"
+
+"About sixty. We've kept the number down, and only taken men with
+so much property that they'll have to keep their mouths shut."
+
+"I wish we might engineer some kind of an encounter with the court
+crowd and create such an uproar that it would reach Washington.
+Everything else has failed, and our last chance seems to be for
+the government to step in; that is, unless Bill Wheaton can do
+something with the California courts."
+
+"I don't count on him. McNamara don't care for California courts
+no more 'n he would for a boy with a pea-shooter--he's got too
+much pull at headquarters. If the 'Stranglers' don't do no good,
+we'd better go in an' clean out the bunch like we was killin'
+snakes. If that fails, I'm goin' out to the States an' be a
+doctor."
+
+"A doctor? What for?"
+
+"I read somewhere that in the United States every year there is
+forty million gallons of whiskey used for medical purposes."
+
+Glenister laughed. "Speaking of whiskey, Dex--I notice that you've
+been drinking pretty hard of late--that is, hard for you."
+
+The old man shook his head. "You're mistaken. It ain't hard for
+me."
+
+"Well, hard or easy, you'd better cut it out."
+
+It was some time later that one of the detectives employed by the
+Swedes met Glenister on Front Street, and by an almost
+imperceptible sign signified his desire to speak with him. When
+they were alone he said:
+
+"You're being shadowed."
+
+"I've known that for a long time."
+
+"The district-attorney has put on some new men. I've fixed the
+woman who rooms next to him, and through her I've got a line on
+some of them, but I haven't spotted them all. They're bad ones--
+'up-river' men mostly--remnants of Soapy Smith's Skagway gang.
+They won't stop at anything."
+
+"Thank you--I'll keep my eyes open."
+
+A few nights after, Glenister had reason to recall the words of
+the sleuth and to realize that the game was growing close and
+desperate. To reach his cabin, which sat on the outskirts of the
+town, he ordinarily followed one of the plank walks which wound
+through the confusion of tents, warehouses, and cottages lying
+back of the two principal streets along the water front. This part
+of the city was not laid out in rectangular blocks, for in the
+early rush the first-comers had seized whatever pieces of ground
+they found vacant and erected thereon some kind of buildings to
+make good their titles. There resulted a formless jumble of huts,
+cabins, and sheds, penetrated by no cross streets and quite
+unlighted. At night, one leaving the illuminated portion of the
+town found this darkness intensified.
+
+Glenister knew his course so well that he could have walked it
+blindfolded. Nearing a corner of the warehouse this evening he
+remembered that the planking at this point was torn up, so, to
+avoid the mud, he leaped lightly across. Simultaneously with his
+jump he detected a movement in the shadows that banked the wall at
+his elbow and saw the flaming spurt of a revolver-shot. The man
+had crouched behind the building and was so close that it seemed
+impossible to miss. Glenister fell heavily upon his side and the
+thought flashed over him, "McNamara's thugs have shot me."
+
+His assailant leaped out from his hiding-place and ran down the
+walk, the sound of his quick, soft footfalls thudding faintly out
+into the silence. The young man felt no pain, however, so
+scrambled to his feet, felt himself over with care, and then swore
+roundly. He was untouched; the other had missed him cleanly. The
+report, coming while he was in the act of leaping, had startled
+him so that he had lost his balance, slipped upon the wet boards,
+and fallen. His assailant was lost in the darkness before he could
+rise. Pursuit was out of the question, so he continued homeward,
+considerably shaken, and related the incident to Dextry.
+
+"You think it was some of McNamara's work, eh?" Dextry inquired
+when he had finished.
+
+"Of course. Didn't the detective warn me to-day?"
+
+Dextry shook his head. "It don't seem like the game is that far
+along yet. The time is coming when we'll go to the mat with them
+people, but they've got the aige on us now, so what could they
+gain by putting you away? I don't believe it's them, but whoever
+it is, you'd better be careful or you'll be got."
+
+"Suppose we come home together after this," Roy suggested, and
+they arranged to do so, realizing that danger lurked in the dark
+corners and that it was in some such lonely spot that the deed
+would be tried again. They experienced no trouble for a time,
+though on nearing their cabin one night the younger man fancied
+that he saw a shadow glide away from its vicinity and out into the
+blackness of the tundra, as though some one had stood at his very
+door waiting for him, then became frightened at the two figures
+approaching. Dextry had not observed it, however, and Glenister
+was not positive himself, but it served to give him the uncanny
+feeling that some determined, unscrupulous force was bent on his
+destruction. He determined to go nowhere unarmed.
+
+A few evenings later he went home early and was busied in writing
+when Dextry came in about ten o'clock. The old miner hung up his
+coat before speaking, lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, then, amid
+mouthfuls of smoke, began:
+
+"I had my own toes over the edge to-night. I was mistook for you,
+which compliment I don't aim to have repeated."
+
+Glenister questioned him eagerly.
+
+"We're about the same height an' these hats of ours are alike.
+Just as I come by that lumber-pile down yonder, a man hopped out
+an throwed a 'gat' under my nose. He was quicker than light, and
+near blowed my skelp into the next block before he saw who I was;
+then he dropped his weepon and said:
+
+"'My mistake. Go on.' I accepted his apology."
+
+"Could you see who he was?"
+
+"Sure. Guess."
+
+"I can't."
+
+"It was the Bronco Kid."
+
+"Lord!" ejaculated Glenister. "Do you think he's after me?"
+
+"He ain't after nobody else, an', take my word for it, it's got
+nothin' to do with McNamara nor that gamblin' row. He's too game
+for that. There's some other reason."
+
+This was the first mention Dextry had made of the night at the
+Northern.
+
+"I don't know why he should have it in for me--I never did him any
+favors," Glenister remarked, cynically.
+
+"Well, you watch out, anyhow. I'd sooner face McNamara an' all the
+crooks he can hire than that gambler."
+
+During the next few days Roy undertook to meet the proprietor of
+the Northern face to face, but the Kid had vanished completely
+from his haunts. He was not in his gambling-hall at night nor on
+the street by day. The young man was still looking for him on the
+evening of the dance at the hotel, when he chanced to meet one of
+the Vigilantes, who inquired of him:
+
+"Aren't you late for the meeting?"
+
+"What meeting?"
+
+After seeing that they were alone, the other stated:
+
+"There's an assembly to-night at eleven o'clock. Something
+important, I think. I supposed, of course, you knew about it."
+
+"It's strange I wasn't notified," said Roy. "It's probably an
+oversight. Ill go along with you."
+
+Together they crossed the river to the less frequented part of
+town and knocked at the door of a large, unlighted warehouse,
+flanked by a high board fence. The building faced the street, but
+was enclosed on the other three sides by this ten-foot wall,
+inside of which were stored large quantities of coal and lumber.
+After some delay they were admitted, and, passing down through the
+dim-lit, high-banked lanes of merchandise, came to the rear room,
+where they were admitted again. This compartment had been fitted
+up for the warm storage of perishable goods during the cold
+weather, and, being without windows, made an ideal place for
+clandestine gatherings.
+
+Glenister was astonished to find every man of the organization
+present, including Dextry, whom he supposed to have gone home an
+hour since. Evidently a discussion had been in progress, for a
+chairman was presiding, and the boxes, kegs, and bales of goods
+had been shoved back against the walls for seats. On these were
+ranged the threescore men of the "Stranglers," their serious faces
+lighted imperfectly by scattered lanterns. A certain constraint
+seized them upon Glenister's entrance; the chairman was
+embarrassed. It was but momentary, however. Glenister himself felt
+that tragedy was in the air, for it showed in the men's attitudes
+and spoke eloquently from their strained faces. He was about to
+question the man next to him when the presiding officer continued:
+
+"We will assemble here quietly with our arms at one o'clock. And
+let me caution you again not to talk or do anything to scare the
+birds away."
+
+Glenister arose. "I came late, Mr. Chairman, so I missed hearing
+your plan. I gather that you're out for business, however, and I
+want to be in it. May I ask what is on foot?"
+
+"Certainly. Things have reached such a pass that moderate means
+are useless. We have decided to act, and act quickly. We have
+exhausted every legal resource and now we're going to stamp out
+this gang of robbers in our own way. We will get together in an
+hour, divide into three groups of twenty men, each with a leader,
+then go to the houses of McNamara, Stillman, and Voorhees, take
+them prisoners, and--" He waved his hand in a large gesture.
+
+Glenister made no answer for a moment, while the crowd watched him
+intently.
+
+"You have discussed this fully?" he asked.
+
+"We have. It has been voted on, and we're unanimous."
+
+"My friends, when I stepped into this room just now I felt that I
+wasn't wanted. Why, I don't know, because I have had more to do
+with organizing this movement than any of you, and because I have
+suffered just as much as the rest. I want to know if I was omitted
+from this meeting intentionally."
+
+"This is an embarrassing position to put me in," said the
+chairman, gravely. "But I shall answer as spokesman for these men
+if they wish."
+
+"Yes. Go ahead," said those around the room.
+
+"We don't question your loyalty, Mr. Glenister, but we didn't ask
+you to this meeting because we know your attitude--perhaps I'd
+better say sentiment--regarding Judge Stillman's niece--er--
+family. It has come to us from various sources that you have been
+affected to the prejudice of your own and your partner's interest.
+Now, there isn't going to be any sentiment in the affairs of the
+Vigilantes. We are going to do justice, and we thought the
+simplest way was to ignore you in this matter and spare all
+discussion and hard feeling in every quarter."
+
+"It's a lie!" shouted the young man, hoarsely. "A damned lie! You
+wouldn't let me in for fear I'd kick, eh? Well, you were right. I
+will kick. You've hinted about my feelings for Miss Chester. Let
+me tell you that she is engaged to marry McNamara, and that she's
+nothing to me. Now, then, let me tell you, further, that you won't
+break into her house and hang her uncle, even if he is a
+reprobate. No, sir! This isn't the time for violence of that sort-
+-we'll win without it. If we can't, let's fight like men, and not
+hunt in a pack like wolves. If you want to do something, put us
+back on our mines and help us hold them, but, for God's sake,
+don't descend to assassination and the tactics of the Mafia!"
+
+"We knew you would make that kind of a talk," said the speaker,
+while the rest murmured grudgingly. One of them spoke up.
+
+"We've talked this over in cold blood, Glenister, and it's a
+question of their lives or our liberty. The law don't enter into
+it."
+
+"That's right," echoed another at his elbow. "We can't seize the
+claims, because McNamara's got soldiers to back him up. They'd
+shoot us down. You ought to be the last one to object."
+
+He saw that dispute was futile. Determination was stamped on their
+faces too plainly for mistake, and his argument had no more effect
+on them than had the pale rays of the lantern beside him, yet he
+continued:
+
+"I don't deny that McNamara deserves lynching, but Stillman
+doesn't. He's a weak old man"--some one laughed derisively--"and
+there's a woman in the house. He's all she has in the world to
+depend upon, and you would have to kill her to get at him. If you
+MUST follow this course, take the others, but leave him alone."
+
+They only shook their heads, while several pushed by him even as
+he spoke. "We're going to distribute our favors equal," said a man
+as he left. They were actuated by what they called justice, and he
+could not sway them. The life and welfare of the North were in
+their hands, as they thought, and there was not one to hesitate.
+Glenister implored the chairman, but the man answered him:
+
+"It's too late for further discussion, and let me remind you of
+your promise. You're bound by every obligation that exists for an
+honorable man--"
+
+"Oh, don't think that I'll give the snap away!" said the other;
+"but I warn you again not to enter Stillman's house."
+
+He followed out into the night to find that Dextry had
+disappeared, evidently wishing to avoid argument. Roy had seen
+signs of unrest beneath the prospector's restraint during the past
+few days, and indications of a fierce hunger to vent his spleen on
+the men who had robbed him of his most sacred rights. He was of an
+intolerant, vindictive nature that would go to any length for
+vengeance. Retribution was part of his creed.
+
+On his way home, the young man looked at his watch, to find that
+he had but an hour to determine his course. Instinct prompted him
+to join his friends and to even the score with the men who had
+injured him so bitterly, for, measured by standards of the
+frontier, they were pirates with their lives forfeit. Yet, he
+could not countenance this step. If only the Vigilantes would be
+content with making an example--but he knew they would not. The
+blood hunger of a mob is easy to whet and hard to hold. McNamara
+would resist, as would Voorhees and the district-attorney, then
+there would be bloodshed, riot, chaos. The soldiers would be
+called out and martial law declared, the streets would become
+skirmish-grounds. The Vigilantes would rout them without question,
+for every citizen of the North would rally to their aid, and such
+men could not be stopped. The Judge would go down with the rest of
+the ring, and what would happen to--her?
+
+He took down his Winchester, oiled and cleaned it, then buckled on
+a belt of cartridges. Still he wrestled with himself. He felt that
+he was being ground between his loyalty to the Vigilantes and his
+own conscience. The girl was one of the gang, he reasoned--she had
+schemed with them to betray him through his love, and she was
+pledged to the one man in the world whom he hated with fanatical
+fury. Why should he think of her in this hour? Six months back he
+would have looked with jealous eyes upon the right to lead the
+Vigilantes, but this change that had mastered him--what was it?
+Not cowardice, nor caution. No. Yet, being intangible, it was none
+the less marked, as his friends had shown him an hour since.
+
+He slipped out into the night. The mob might do as it pleased
+elsewhere, but no man should enter her house. He found a light
+shining from her parlor window, and, noting the shade up a few
+inches, stole close. Peering through, he discovered Struve and
+Helen talking. He slunk back into the shadows and remained hidden
+for a considerable time after the lawyer left, for the dancers
+were returning from the hotel and passed close by. When the last
+group had chattered away down the street, he returned to the front
+of the house and, mounting the steps, knocked sharply. As Helen
+appeared at the door, he stepped inside and closed it after him.
+
+The girl's hair lay upon her neck and shoulders in tumbled brown
+masses, while her breast heaved tumultuously at the sudden, grim
+sight of him. She stepped back against the wall, her wondrous,
+deep, gray eyes wide and troubled, the blush of modesty struggling
+with the pallor of dismay.
+
+The picture pained him like a knife-thrust. This girl was for his
+bitterest enemy--no hope of her was for him. He forgot for a
+moment that she was false and plotting, then, recalling it, spoke
+as roughly as he might and stated his errand. Then the old man had
+appeared on the stairs above, speechless with fright at what he
+overheard. It was evident that his nerves, so sorely strained by
+the events of the past week, were now snapped utterly. A human
+soul naked and panic-stricken is no pleasant sight, so Glenister
+dropped his eyes and addressed the girl again:
+
+"Don't take anything with you. Just dress and come with me."
+
+The creature on the stairs above stammered and stuttered,
+inquiringly:
+
+"What outrage is this, Mr. Glenister?"
+
+"The people of Nome are up in arms, and I've come to save you.
+Don't stop to argue." He spoke impatiently.
+
+"Is this some r-ruse to get me into your power?"
+
+"Uncle Arthur!" exclaimed the girl, sharply. Her eyes met
+Glenister's and begged him to take no offence.
+
+"I don't understand this atrocity. They must be mad!" wailed the
+Judge. "You run over to the jail, Mr. Glenister, and tell Voorhees
+to hurry guards here to protect me. Helen, 'phone to the military
+post and give the alarm. Tell them the soldiers must come at
+once."
+
+"Hold on!" said Glenister. "There's no use of doing that--the
+wires are cut; and I won't notify Voorhees--he can take care of
+himself. I came to help you, and if you want to escape you'll stop
+talking and hurry up."
+
+"I don't know what to do," said Stillman, torn by terror and
+indecision. "You wouldn't hurt an old man, would you? Wait! I'll
+be down in a minute."
+
+He scrambled up the stairs, tripping on his robe, seemingly
+forgetting his niece till she called up to him, sharply:
+
+"Stop, Uncle Arthur! You mustn't RUN AWAY." She stood erect and
+determined, "You wouldn't do THAT, would you? This is our house.
+You represent the law and the dignity of the government. You
+mustn't fear a mob of ruffians. We will stay here and meet them,
+of course."
+
+"Good Lord!" said Glenister. "That's madness. These men aren't
+ruffians; they are the best citizens of Nome. You don't realize
+that this is Alaska and that they have sworn to wipe out
+McNamara's gang. Come along."
+
+"Thank you for your good intentions," she said, "but we have done
+nothing to run away from. We will get ready to meet these cowards.
+You had better go or they will find you here."
+
+She moved up the stairs, and, taking the Judge by the arm, led him
+with her. Of a sudden she had assumed control of the situation
+unfalteringly, and both men felt the impossibility of thwarting
+her. Pausing at the top, she turned and looked down.
+
+"We are grateful for your efforts just the same. Good-night."
+
+"Oh, I'm not going," said the young man. "If you stick I'll do the
+same." He made the rounds of the first-floor rooms, locking doors
+and windows. As a place of defence it was hopeless, and he saw
+that he would have to make his stand up-stairs. When sufficient
+time had elapsed he called up to Helen:
+
+"May I come?"
+
+"Yes," she replied. So he ascended, to find Stillman in the hall,
+half clothed and cowering, while by the light from the front
+chamber he saw her finishing her toilet.
+
+"Won't you come with me--it's our last chance?" She only shook her
+head. "Well, then, put out the light. I'll stand at that front
+window, and when my eyes get used to the darkness I'll be able to
+see them before they reach the gate."
+
+She did as directed, taking her place beside him at the opening,
+while the Judge crept in and sat upon the bed, his heavy breathing
+the only sound in the room. The two young people stood so close
+beside each other that the sweet scent of her person awoke in him
+an almost irresistible longing. He forgot her treachery again,
+forgot that she was another's, forgot all save that he loved her
+truly and purely, with a love which was like an agony to him. Her
+shoulder brushed his arm; he heard the soft rustling of her
+garment at her breast as she breathed. Some one passed in the
+street, and she laid a hand upon him fearfully. It was very cold,
+very tiny, and very soft, but he made no move to take it. The
+moments dragged along, still, tense, interminable. Occasionally
+she leaned towards him, and he stooped to catch her whispered
+words. At such times her breath beat warm against his cheek, and
+he closed his teeth stubbornly. Out in the night a wolfdog
+saddened the air, then came the sound of others wrangling and
+snarling in a near-by corral. This is a chickless land and no
+cock-crow breaks the midnight peace. The suspense enhanced the
+Judge's perturbation till his chattering teeth sounded like
+castanets. Now and then he groaned.
+
+The watchers had lost track of time when their strained eyes
+detected dark blots materializing out of the shadows.
+
+"There they come," whispered Glenister, forcing her back from the
+aperture; but she would not be denied, and returned to his side.
+
+As the foremost figures reached the gate, Roy leaned forth and
+spoke, not loudly, but in tones that sliced through the silence,
+sharp, clean, and without warning.
+
+"Halt! Don't come inside the fence." There was an instant's
+confusion; then, before the men beneath had time to answer or take
+action, he continued: "This is Roy Glenister talking. I told you
+not to molest these people and I warn you again. We're ready for
+you."
+
+The leader spoke. "You're a traitor, Glenister."
+
+He winced. "Perhaps I am. You betrayed me first, though; and,
+traitor or not, you can't come into this house."
+
+There was a murmur at this, and some one said:
+
+"Miss Chester is safe. All we want is the Judge. We won't hang
+him, not if he'll wear this suit we brought along. He needn't be
+afraid. Tar is good for the skin."
+
+"Oh, my God!" groaned the limb of the law.
+
+Suddenly a man came running down the planked pavement and into the
+group.
+
+"McNamara's gone, and so's the marshal and the rest," he panted.
+There was a moment's silence, and then the leader growled to his
+men, "Scatter out and rush the house, boys." He raised his voice
+to the man in the window. "This is your work--you damned
+turncoat." His followers melted away to right and left, vaulted
+the fence, and dodged into the shelter of the walls. The click,
+click of Glenister's Winchester sounded through the room while the
+sweat stood out on him. He wondered if he could do this deed, if
+he could really fire on these people. He wondered if his muscles
+would not wither and paralyze before they obeyed his command.
+
+Helen crowded past him and, leaning half out of the opening,
+called loudly, her voice ringing clear and true:
+
+"Wait! Wait a moment. I have something to say. Mr. Glenister
+didn't warn them. They thought you were going to attack the mines
+and so they rode out there before midnight. I am telling you the
+truth, really. They left hours ago." It was the first sign she had
+made, and they recognized her to a man.
+
+There were uncertain mutterings below till a new man raised his
+voice. Both Roy and Helen recognised Dextry.
+
+"Boys, we've overplayed. We don't want THESE people--McNamara's
+our meat. Old bald-face up yonder has to do what he's told, and
+I'm ag'in' this twenty-to-one midnight work. I'm goin' home."
+There were some whisperings, then the original spokesman called
+for Judge Stillman. The old man tottered to the window, a palsied,
+terror-stricken object. The girl was glad he could not be seen
+from below.
+
+"We won't hurt you this time, Judge, but you've gone far enough.
+We'll give you another chance, then, if you don't make good, we'll
+stretch you to a lamp-post. Take this as a warning."
+
+"I--s-shall do my d-d-duty," said the Judge.
+
+The men disappeared into the darkness, and when they had gone
+Glenister closed the window, pulled down the shades, and lighted a
+lamp. He knew by how narrow a margin a tragedy had been averted.
+If he had fired on these men his shot would have kindled a feud
+which would have consumed every vestige of the court crowd and
+himself among them. He would have fallen under a false banner, and
+his life would not have reached to the next sunset. Perhaps it was
+forfeit now--he could not tell. The Vigilantes would probably look
+upon his part as traitorous; and, at the very least, he had cut
+himself off from their support, the only support the Northland
+offered him. Henceforth he was a renegade, a pariah, hated alike
+by both factions. He purposely avoided sight of Stillman and
+turned his back when the Judge extended his hand with expressions
+of gratitude. His work was done and he wished to leave this house.
+Helen followed him down to the door and, as he opened it, laid her
+hand upon his sleeve.
+
+"Words are feeble things, and I can never make amends for all
+you've done for us."
+
+"For US!" cried Roy, with a break in his voice. "Do you think I
+sacrificed my honor, betrayed my friends, killed my last hope,
+ostracized myself, for 'US'? This is the last time I'll trouble
+you. Perhaps the last time I'll see you. No matter what else
+you've done, however, you've taught me a lesson, and I thank you
+for it. I have found myself at last. I'm not an Eskimo any longer-
+-I'm a man!"
+
+"You've always been that," she said. "I don't understand as much
+about this affair as I want to, and it seems to me that no one
+will explain it. I'm very stupid, I guess; but won't you come back
+to-morrow and tell it to me?"
+
+"No," he said, roughly. "You're not of my people. McNamara and his
+are no friends of mine, and I'm no friend of theirs." He was half
+down the steps before she said, softly:
+
+"Good-night, and God bless you--friend."
+
+She returned to the Judge, who was in a pitiable state, and for a
+long time she labored to soothe him as though he were a child. She
+undertook to question him about the things which lay uppermost in
+her mind and which this night had half revealed, but he became
+fretful and irritated at the mention of mines and mining. She sat
+beside his bed till he dozed off, puzzling to discover what lay
+behind the hints she had heard, till her brain and body matched in
+absolute weariness. The reflex of the day's excitement sapped her
+strength till she could barely creep to her own couch, where she
+rolled and sighed--too tired to sleep at once. She awoke finally,
+with one last nervous flicker, before complete oblivion took her.
+A sentence was on her mind--it almost seemed as though she had
+spoken it aloud:
+
+"The handsomest woman in the North...but Glenister ran away."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+IN WHICH THE TRUTH BEGINS TO BARE ITSELF
+
+
+It was nearly noon of the next day when Helen awoke to find that
+McNamara had ridden in from the Creek and stopped for breakfast
+with the Judge. He had asked for her, but on hearing the tale of
+the night's adventure would not allow her to be disturbed. Later,
+he and the Judge had gone away together.
+
+Although her judgment approved the step she had contemplated the
+night before, still the girl now felt a strange reluctance to meet
+McNamara. It is true that she knew no ill of him, except that
+implied in the accusations of certain embittered men; and she was
+aware that every strong and aggressive character makes enemies in
+direct proportionate the qualities which lend him greatness.
+Nevertheless, she was aware of an inner conflict that she had not
+foreseen. This man who so confidently believed that she would
+marry him did not dominate her consciousness.
+
+She had ridden much of late, taking long, solitary gallops beside
+the shimmering sea that she loved so well, or up the winding
+valleys into the foot-hills where echoed the roar of swift waters
+or glinted the flash of shovel blades. This morning her horse was
+lame, so she determined to walk. In her early rambles she had
+looked timidly askance at the rough men she met till she
+discovered their genuine respect and courtesy. The most unkempt
+among them were often college-bred, although, for that matter, the
+roughest of the miners showed abundant consideration for a woman.
+So she was glad to allow the men to talk to her with the fine
+freedom inspired by the new country and its wide spaces. The
+wilderness breeds a chivalry all its own.
+
+Thus there seemed to be no danger abroad, though they had told the
+girl of mad dogs which roamed the city, explaining that the hot
+weather affects powerfully the thick-coated, shaggy "malamoots."
+This is the land of the dog, and whereas in winter his lot is to
+labor and shiver and starve, in summer he loafs, fights, grows
+fat, and runs mad with the heat.
+
+Helen walked far and, returning, chose an unfamiliar course
+through the outskirts of the town to avoid meeting any of the
+women she knew, because of that vivid memory of the night before.
+As she walked swiftly along she thought that she heard faint cries
+far behind her. Looking up, she noted that it was a lonely, barren
+quarter and that the only figure in sight was a woman some
+distance away. A few paces farther on the shouts recurred--more
+plainly this time, and a gunshot sounded. Glancing back, she saw
+several men running, one bearing a smoking revolver, and heard,
+nearer still, the snarling hubbub of fighting dogs. In a flash the
+girl's curiosity became horror, for, as she watched, one of the
+dogs made a sudden dash through the now subdued group of animals
+and ran swiftly along the planking on which she stood. It was a
+handsome specimen of the Eskimo malamoot--tall, gray, and coated
+like a wolf, with the speed, strength, and cunning of its cousin.
+Its head hung low and swung from side to side as it trotted, the
+motion flecking foam and slaver. The creature had scattered the
+pack, and now, swift, menacing, relentless, was coming towards
+Helen. There was no shelter near, no fence, no house, save the
+distant one towards which the other woman was making her way. The
+men, too far away to protect her, shouted hoarse warnings.
+
+Helen did not scream nor hesitate--she turned and ran, terror-
+stricken, towards the distant cottage. She was blind with fright
+and felt an utter certainty that the dog would attack her before
+she could reach safety. Yes--there was the quick patter of his
+pads close up behind her; her knees weakened; the sheltering door
+was yet some yards away. But a horse, tethered near the walk,
+reared and snorted as the flying pair drew near. The mad creature
+swerved, leaped at the horse's legs, and snapped in fury. Badly
+frightened at this attack, the horse lunged at his halter, broke
+it, and galloped away; but the delay had served for Helen, weak
+and faint, to reach the door. She wrenched at the knob. It was
+locked. As she turned hopelessly away, she saw that the other
+woman was directly behind her, and was, in her turn, awaiting the
+mad animal's onslaught, but calmly, a tiny revolver in her hand.
+
+"Shoot!" screamed Helen. "Why don't you shoot?" The little gun
+spoke, and the dog spun around, snarling and yelping. The woman
+fired several times more before it lay still, and then remarked,
+calmly, as she "broke" the weapon and ejected the shells:
+
+"The calibre is too small to be good for much."
+
+Helen sank down upon the steps.
+
+"How well you shoot!" she gasped. Her eyes were on the gray bundle
+whose death agonies had thrust it almost to her feet. The men had
+run up and were talking excitedly, but after a word with them the
+woman turned to Helen.
+
+"You must come in for a moment and recover yourself," she said,
+and led her inside.
+
+It was a cosey room in which the girl found herself--more than
+that--luxurious. There was a piano with scattered music, and many
+of the pretty, feminine things that Helen had not seen since
+leaving home. The hostess had stepped behind some curtains for an
+instant and was talking to her from the next room.
+
+"That is the third mad dog I have seen this month. Hydrophobia is
+becoming a habit in this neighborhood." She returned, bearing a
+tiny silver tray with decanter and glasses.
+
+"You're all unstrung, but this brandy will help you--if you don't
+object to a swallow of it. Then come right in here and lie down
+for a moment and you'll be all right." She spoke with such genuine
+kindness and sympathy that Helen flashed a grateful glance at her.
+She was tall, slender, and with a peculiar undulating suggestion
+in her movements, as though she had been bred to the clinging
+folds of silken garments. Helen watched the charm of her smile,
+the friendly solicitude of her expression, and felt her heart warm
+towards this one kind woman in Nome.
+
+"You're very good," she answered; "but I'm all right now. I was
+badly frightened. It was wonderful, your saving me." She followed
+the other's graceful motion as she placed her burden on the table,
+and in doing so gazed squarely at a photograph of Roy Glenister.
+
+"Oh--!" Helen exclaimed, then paused as it flashed over her who
+this girl was. She looked at her quickly. Yes, probably men would
+consider the woman beautiful, with that smile. The revelation came
+with a shock, and she arose, trying to mask her confusion.
+
+"Thank you so much for your kindness. I'm quite myself now and I
+must go."
+
+Her change of face could not escape the quick perceptions of one
+schooled by experience in the slights of her sex. Times without
+number Cherry Malotte had marked that subtle, scornful change in
+other women, and reviled herself for heeding it. But in some way
+this girl's manner hurt her worst of all. She betrayed no sign,
+however, save a widening of the eyes and a certain fixity of smile
+as she answered:
+
+"I wish you would stay until you are rested, Miss--" She paused
+with out-stretched hand.
+
+"Chester. My name is Helen Chester. I'm Judge Stillman's niece,"
+hurried the other, in embarrassment.
+
+Cherry Malotte withdrew her proffered hand and her face grew hard
+and hateful.
+
+"Oh! So you are Miss Chester--and I--saved you!" She laughed
+harshly.
+
+Helen strove for calmness. "I'm sorry you feel that way," she
+said, coolly. "I appreciate your service to me." She moved towards
+the door.
+
+"Wait a moment. I want to talk to you." Then, as Helen paid no
+heed, the woman burst out, bitterly: "Oh, don't be afraid! I know
+you are committing an unpardonable sin by talking to me, but no
+one will see you, and in your code the crime lies in being
+discovered. Therefore, you're quite safe. That's what makes me an
+outcast--I was found out. I want you to know, however, that, bad
+as I am, I'm better than you, for I'm loyal to those that like me,
+and I don't betray my friends."
+
+"I don't pretend to understand you," said Helen, coldly.
+
+"Oh yes, you do! Don't assume such innocence. Of course it's your
+role, but you can't play it with me." She stepped in front of her
+visitor, placing her back against the door, while her face was
+bitter and mocking. "The little service I did you just now
+entitles me to a privilege, I suppose, and I'm going to take
+advantage of it to tell you how badly your mask fits. Dreadfully
+rude of me, isn't it? You're in with a fine lot of crooks, and I
+admire the way you've done your share of the dirty work, but when
+you assume these scandalized, supervirtuous airs it offends me."
+
+"Let me out!"
+
+"I've done bad things," Cherry continued, unheedingly, "but I was
+forced into them, usually, and I never, deliberately, tried to
+wreck a man's life just for his money."
+
+"What do you mean by saying that I have betrayed my friends and
+wrecked anybody's life?" Helen demanded, hotly.
+
+"Bah! I had you sized up at the start, but Roy couldn't see it.
+Then Struve told me what I hadn't guessed. A bottle of wine, a
+woman, and that fool will tell all he knows. It's a great game
+McNamara's playing and he did well to get you in on it, for you're
+clever, your nerve is good, and your make-up is great for the
+part. I ought to know, for I've turned a few tricks myself. You'll
+pardon this little burst of feeling--professional pique. I'm
+jealous of your ability, that's all. However, now that you realize
+we're in the same class, don't look down on me hereafter." She
+opened the door and bowed her guest out with elaborate mockery.
+
+Helen was too bewildered and humiliated to make much out of this
+vicious and incoherent attack except the fact that Cherry Malotte
+accused her of a part in this conspiracy which every one seemed to
+believe existed. Here again was that hint of corruption which she
+encountered on all sides. This might be merely a woman's jealousy-
+-and yet she said Struve had told her all about it--that a bottle
+of wine and a pretty face would make the lawyer disclose
+everything. She could believe it from what she knew and had heard
+of him. The feeling that she was groping in the dark, that she was
+wrapped in a mysterious woof of secrecy, came over her again as it
+had so often of late. If Struve talked to that other woman, why
+wouldn't he talk to her? She paused, changing her direction
+towards Front Street, revolving rapidly in her mind as she went
+her course of action. Cherry Malotte believed her to be an
+actress. Very well--she would prove her judgment right.
+
+She found Struve busy in his private office, but he leaped to his
+feet on her entrance and came forward, offering her a chair.
+
+"Good-morning, Miss Helen. You have a fine color, considering the
+night you passed. The Judge told me all about the affair; and let
+me state that you're the pluckiest girl I know."
+
+She smiled grimly at the thought of what made her cheeks glow, and
+languidly loosened the buttons of her jacket.
+
+"I suppose you're very busy, you lawyer man?" she inquired.
+
+"Yes--but not too busy to attend to anything you want."
+
+"Oh, I didn't come on business," she said, lightly. "I was out
+walking and merely sauntered in."
+
+"Well, I appreciate that all the more," he said, in an altered
+tone, twisting his chair about. "I'm more than delighted." She
+judged she was getting on well from the way his professionalism
+had dropped off.
+
+"Yes, I get tired of talking to uncle and Mr. McNamara. They treat
+me as though I were a little girl."
+
+"When do you take the fatal step?"
+
+"What step do you mean?"
+
+"Your marriage. When does it occur? You needn't hesitate," he
+added. "McNamara told we about it a month ago."
+
+He felt his throat gingerly at the thought, but his eyes
+brightened when she answered, lightly:
+
+"I think you are mistaken. He must have been joking."
+
+For some time she led him on adroitly, talking of many things, in
+a way to make him wonder at her new and flippant humor. He had
+never dreamed she could be like this, so tantalizingly close to
+familiarity, and yet so maddeningly aloof and distant. He grew
+bolder in his speech.
+
+"How are things going with us?" she questioned, as his warmth grew
+pronounced. "Uncle won't talk and Mr. McNamara is as close-mouthed
+as can be, lately."
+
+He looked at her quickly. "In what respect?"
+
+She summoned up her courage and walked past the ragged edge of
+uncertainty.
+
+"Now, don't you try to keep me in short dresses, too. It's getting
+wearisome. I've done my part and I want to know what the rest of
+you are doing." She was prepared for any answer.
+
+"What do you want to know?" he asked, cautiously.
+
+"Everything. Don't you think I can hear what people are saying?"
+
+"Oh, that's it! Well, don't you pay any attention to what people
+say."
+
+She recognized her mistake and continued, hurriedly:
+
+"Why shouldn't I? Aren't we all in this together? I object to
+being used and then discarded. I think I'm entitled to know how
+the scheme is working. Don't you think I can keep my mouth shut?"
+
+"Of course," he laughed, trying to change the subject of their
+talk; but she arose and leaned against the desk near him, vowing
+that she would not leave the office without piercing some part of
+this mystery. His manner strengthened her suspicion that there WAS
+something behind it all. This dissipated, brilliant creature knew
+the situation thoroughly; and yet, though swayed by her efforts,
+he remained chained by caution. She leaned forward and smiled at
+him.
+
+"You're just like the others, aren't you? You won't give me any
+satisfaction at all."
+
+"Give, give, give," said Struve, cynically. "That's always the
+woman's cry. Give me this--give me that. Selfish sex! Why don't
+you offer something in return? Men are traders, women usurers. You
+are curious, hence miserable. I can help you, therefore I should,
+do it for a smile. You ask me to break my promises and risk my
+honor on your caprice. Well, that's woman-like, and I'll do it.
+I'll put myself in your power, but I won't do it gratis. No, we'll
+trade."
+
+"It isn't curiosity," she denied, indignantly. "It is my due."
+
+"No; you've heard the common talk and grown suspicious, that's
+all. You think I know something that will throw a new light or a
+new shadow on everything you have in the world, and you're worked
+up to such a condition that you can't take your own people's word;
+and, on the other hand, you can't go to strangers, so you come to
+me. Suppose I told you I had the papers you brought to me last
+spring in that safe and that they told the whole story--whether
+your uncle is unimpeachable or whether he deserved hanging by that
+mob. What would you do, eh? What would you give to see them? Well,
+they're there and ready to speak for themselves. If you're a woman
+you won't rest till you've seen them. Will you trade?"
+
+"Yes, yes! Give them to me," she cried, eagerly, at which a wave
+of crimson rushed up to his eyes and he rose abruptly from his
+chair. He made towards her, but she retreated to the wall, pale
+and wide-eyed.
+
+"Can't you see," she flung at him, "that I MUST know?"
+
+He paused. "Of course I can, but I want a kiss to bind the
+bargain--to apply on account." He reached for her hand with his
+own hot one, but she pushed him away and slipped past him towards
+the door.
+
+"Suit yourself," said he, "but if I'm not mistaken, you'll never
+rest till you've seen those papers. I've studied you, and I'll
+place a bet that you can't marry McNamara nor look your uncle in
+the eye till you know the truth. You might do either if you KNEW
+them to be crooks, but you couldn't if you only suspected it--
+that's the woman. When you get ready, come back; I'll show you
+proof, because I don't claim to be anything but what I am--Wilton
+Struve, bargainer of some mean ability. When they come to inscribe
+my headstone I hope they can carve thereon with truth, 'He got
+value received.'"
+
+"You're a panther," she said, loathingly.
+
+"Graceful and elegant brute, that," he laughed. "Affectionate and
+full of play, but with sharp teeth and sharper claws. To follow
+out the idea, which pleases me, I believe the creature owes no
+loyalty to its fellows and hunts alone. Now, when you've followed
+this conspiracy out and placed the blame where it belongs, won't
+you come and tell me about it? That door leads into an outer hall
+which opens into the street. No one will see you come or go."
+
+As she hurried away she wondered dazedly why she had stayed to
+listen so long. What a monster he was! His meaning was plain, had
+always been so from the first day he laid eyes upon her, and he
+was utterly conscienceless. She had known all this; and yet, in
+her proud, youthful confidence, and in her need, every hour more
+desperate and urgent, to know the truth, she had dared risk
+herself with him. Withal, the man was shrewd and observant and had
+divined her mental condition with remarkable sagacity. She had
+failed with him; but the girl now knew that she could never rest
+till she found an answer to her questions. She MUST kill this
+suspicion that ate into her so. She thought tenderly of her
+uncle's goodness to her, clung with despairing faith to the last
+of her kin. The blood ties of the Chesters were close and she felt
+in dire need of that lost brother who was somewhere in this
+mysterious land--need of some one in whom ran the strain that
+bound her to the weak old man up yonder. There was McNamara; but
+how could he help her, how much did she know of him, this man who
+was now within the darkest shadow of her new suspicions?
+
+Feeling almost intolerably friendless and alone, weakened both by
+her recent fright and by her encounter with Struve, Helen
+considered as calmly as her emotions would allow and decided that
+this was no day in which pride should figure. There were facts
+which it was imperative she should know, and immediately;
+therefore, a few minutes later, she knocked at the door of Cherry
+Malotte. When the girl appeared, Helen was astonished to see that
+she had been crying. Tears burn hottest and leave plainest trace
+in eyes where they come most seldom. The younger girl could not
+guess the tumult of emotion the other had undergone during her
+absence, the utter depths of self-abasement she had fathomed, for
+the sight of Helen and her fresh young beauty had roused in the
+adventuress a very tempest of bitterness and jealousy. Whether
+Helen Chester were guilty or innocent, how could Glenister
+hesitate between them? Cherry had asked herself. Now she stared at
+her visitor inhospitably and without sign.
+
+"Will you let me come in?" Helen asked her. "I have something to
+say to you."
+
+When they were inside, Cherry Malotte stood and gazed at her
+visitor with inscrutable eyes and stony face.
+
+"It isn't easy for me to come back," Helen began, "but I felt that
+I had to. If you can help me, I hope you will. You said that you
+knew a great wrong was being done. I have suspected it, but I
+didn't know, and I've been afraid to doubt my own people. You said
+I had a part in it--that I'd betrayed my friends. Wait a moment,"
+she hurried on, at the other's cynical smile. "Won't you tell me
+what you know and what you think my part has been? I've heard and
+seen things that make me think--oh, they make me afraid to think,
+and yet I can't find the TRUTH! You see, in a struggle like this,
+people will make all sorts of allegations, but do they KNOW, have
+they any proof, that my uncle has done wrong?"
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+"No. You said Struve told you the whole scheme. I went to him and
+tried to cajole the story out of him, but--" She shivered at the
+memory.
+
+"What success did you have?" inquired the listener, oddly curious
+for all her cold dislike.
+
+"Don't ask me. I hate to think of it."
+
+Cherry laughed cruelly. "So, failing there, you came back to me,
+back for another favor from the waif. Well, Miss Helen Chester, I
+don't believe a word you've said and I'll tell you nothing. Go
+back to the uncle and the rawboned lover who sent you, and inform
+them that I'll speak when the time comes. They think I know too
+much, do they?--so they've sent you to spy? Well, I'll make a
+compact. You play your game and I'll play mine. Leave Glenister
+alone and I'll not tell on McNamara. Is it a bargain?"
+
+"No, no, no! Can't you SEE? That's not it. All I want is the truth
+of this thing."
+
+"Then go back to Struve and get it. He'll tell you; I won't. Drive
+your bargain with him--you're able. You've fooled better men--now,
+see what you can do with him."
+
+Helen left, realizing the futility of further effort, though she
+felt that this woman did not really doubt her, but was scourged by
+jealousy till she deliberately chose this attitude.
+
+Reaching her own house, she wrote two brief notes and called in
+her Jap boy from the kitchen.
+
+"Fred, I want you to hunt up Mr. Glenister and give him this note.
+If you can't find him, then look for his partner and give the
+other to him." Fred vanished, to return in an hour with the letter
+for Dextry still in his hand.
+
+"I don' catch dis feller," he explained. "Young mans say he gone,
+come back mebbe one, two, 'leven days."
+
+"Did you deliver the one to Mr. Glenister?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am."
+
+"Was there an answer?"
+
+"Yes, ma'am."
+
+"Well, give it to me."
+
+The note read:
+
+"DEAR MISS CHESTER,--A discussion of a matter so familiar to us
+both as the Anvil Creek controversy would be useless. If your
+inclination is due to the incidents of last night, pray don't
+trouble yourself. We don't want your pity. I am,
+
+ "Your servant,
+
+  "ROY GLENISTER."
+
+As she read the note, Judge Stillman entered, and it seemed to the
+girl that he had aged a year for every hour in the last twelve, or
+else the yellow afternoon light limned the sagging hollows and
+haggard lines of his face most pitilessly. He showed in voice and
+manner the nervous burden under which he labored.
+
+"Alec has told me about your engagement, and it lifts a terrible
+load from me. I'm mighty glad you're going to marry him. He's a
+wonderful man, and he's the only one who can save us."
+
+"What do you mean by that? What are we in danger of?" she
+inquired, avoiding discussion of McNamara's announcement.
+
+"Why, that mob, of course. They'll come back. They said so. But
+Alec can handle the commanding officer at the post, and, thanks to
+him, we'll have soldiers guarding the house hereafter."
+
+"Why--they won't hurt us--"
+
+"Tut, tut! I know what I'm talking about. We're in worse danger
+now than ever, and if we don't break up those Vigilantes there'll
+be bloodshed--that's what. They're a menace, and they're trying to
+force me off the bench so they can take the law into their own
+hands again. That's what I want to see you about. They're planning
+to kill Alec and me--so he says--and we've got to act quick to
+prevent murder. Now, this young Glenister is one of them, and he
+knows who the rest are. Do you think you could get him to talk?"
+
+"I don't think I quite understand you," said the girl, through
+whitening lips.
+
+"Oh yes, you do. I want the names of the ring-leaders, so that I
+can jail them. You can worm it out of that fellow if you try."
+
+Helen looked at the old man in a horror that at first was dumb.
+"You ask this of me?" she demanded, hoarsely, at last.
+
+"Nonsense," he said, irritably. "This isn't any time for silly
+scruples. It's life or death for me, maybe, and for Alec, too." He
+said the last craftily, but she stormed at him:
+
+"It's infamous! You're asking me to betray the very man who saved
+us not twelve hours ago. He risked his life for us."
+
+"It isn't treachery at all, it's protection. If we don't get them,
+they'll get us. I wouldn't punish that young fellow, but I want
+the others. Come, now, you've got to do it."
+
+But she said "No" firmly, and quietly went to her own room, where,
+behind the locked door, she sat for a long time staring with
+unseeing eyes, her hands tight clenched in her lap. At last she
+whispered:
+
+"I'm afraid it's true. I'm afraid it's true."
+
+She remained hidden during the dinner-hour, and pleaded a headache
+when McNamara called in the early evening. Although she had not
+seen him since he left her the night before, bearing her tacit
+promise to wed him, yet how could she meet him now with the
+conviction growing on her hourly that he was a master-rogue? She
+wrestled with the thought that he and her uncle, her own uncle who
+stood in the place of a father, were conspirators. And yet, at
+memory of the Judge's cold-blooded request that she should turn
+traitress, her whole being was revolted. If he could ask a thing
+like that, what other heartless, selfish act might he not be
+capable of? All the long, solitary evening she kept her room, but
+at last, feeling faint, slipped down-stairs in search of Fred, for
+she had eaten nothing since her late breakfast.
+
+Voices reached her from the parlor, and as she came to the last
+step she froze there in an attitude of listening. The first
+sentence she heard through the close-drawn curtains banished all
+qualms at eavesdropping. She stood for many breathless minutes
+drinking in the plot that came to her plainly from within, then
+turned, gathered up her skirts, and tiptoed back to her room. Here
+she made haste madly, tearing off her house clothes and donning
+others.
+
+She pressed her face to the window and noted that the night was
+like a close-hung velvet pall, without a star in sight.
+Nevertheless, she wound a heavy veil about her hat and face before
+she extinguished the light and stepped into the hall. Hearing
+McNamara's "Good-night" at the front-door, she retreated again
+while her uncle slowly mounted the stairs and paused before her
+chamber. He called her name softly, but when she did not answer
+continued on to his own room. When he was safely within she
+descended quietly, went out, and locked the front-door behind her,
+placing the key in her bosom. She hurried now, feeling her way
+through the thick gloom in a panic, while in her mind was but one
+frightened thought: "I'll be too late. I'll be too late."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+THE DRIP OF WATER IN THE DARK
+
+
+Even after Helen had been out for some time she could barely see
+sufficiently to avoid collisions. The air, weighted by a low-hung
+roof of clouds, was surcharged with the electric suspense of an
+impending storm, and seemed to sigh and tremble at the hint of
+power in leash. It was that pause before the conflict wherein the
+night laid finger upon its lips.
+
+As the girl neared Glenister's cabin she was disappointed at
+seeing no light there. She stumbled towards the door, only to
+utter a half-strangled cry as two men stepped out of the gloom and
+seized her roughly. Something cold and hard was thrust violently
+against her cheek, forcing her head back and bruising her. She
+struggled and cried out.
+
+"Hold on--it's a woman!" ejaculated the man who had pinioned her
+arms, loosing his hold till only a hand remained on her shoulder.
+The other lowered the weapon he had jammed to her face and peered
+closely.
+
+"Why, Miss Chester," he said. "What are you doing here? You came
+near getting hurt."
+
+"I am bound for the Wilsons', but I must have lost my way in the
+darkness. I think you have cut my face." She controlled her fright
+firmly.
+
+"That's too bad," one said. "We mistook you for--" And the other
+broke in, sharply, "You'd better run along. We're waiting for some
+one."
+
+Helen hastened back by the route she had come, knowing that there
+was still time, and that as yet her uncle's emissaries had not
+laid hands upon Glenister. She had overheard the Judge and
+McNamara plotting to drag the town with a force of deputies,
+seizing not only her two friends, but every man suspected of being
+a Vigilante. The victims were to be jailed without bond, without
+reason, without justice, while the mechanism of the court was to
+be juggled in order to hold them until fall, if necessary. They
+had said that the officers were already busy, so haste was a
+crying thing. She sped down the dark streets towards the house of
+Cherry Malotte, but found no light nor answer to her knock. She
+was distracted now, and knew not where to seek next among the
+thousand spots which might hide the man she wanted. What chance
+had she against the posse sweeping the town from end to end? There
+was only one; he might be at the Northern Theatre. Even so, she
+could not reach him, for she dared not go there herself. She
+thought of Fred, her Jap boy, but there was no time. Wasted
+moments meant failure.
+
+Roy had once told her that he never gave up what he undertook.
+Very well, she would show that even a girl may possess
+determination. This was no time for modesty or shrinking
+indecision, so she pulled the veil more closely about her face and
+took her good name into her hands. She made rapidly towards the
+lighted streets which cast a skyward glare, and from which,
+through the breathless calm, arose the sound of carousal. Swiftly
+she threaded the narrow alleys in search of the theatre's rear
+entrance, for she dared not approach from the front. In this way
+she came into a part of the camp which had lain hidden from her
+until now, and of the existence of which she had never dreamed.
+
+The vices of a city, however horrible, are at least draped
+scantily by the mantle of convention, but in a great mining-camp
+they stand naked and without concealment. Here there were rows
+upon rows of crib-like houses clustered over tortuous, ill-lighted
+lanes, like blow-flies swarming to an unclean feast. From within
+came the noise of ribaldry and debauch. Shrill laughter mingled
+with coarse, maudlin songs, till the clinging night reeked with
+abominable revelry. The girl saw painted creatures of every
+nationality leaning from windows or beckoning from doorways, while
+drunken men collided with her, barred her course, challenged her,
+and again and again she was forced to slip from their embraces. At
+last the high bulk of the theatre building loomed a short distance
+ahead. Panting and frightened, she tried the door with weak hands,
+to find it locked. From behind it rose the blare of brass and the
+sound of singing. She accosted a man who approached her through
+the narrow alley, but he had cruised from the charted course in
+search of adventure and was not minded to go in quest of doormen;
+rather, he chose to sing a chantey, to the bibulous measures of
+which he invited her to dance with him, so she slipped away till
+he had teetered past. He was some longshoreman in that particular
+epoch of his inebriety where life had no burden save the
+dissipation of wages.
+
+Returning, she pounded on the door, possessed of the sense that
+the man she sought was here, till at last it was flung open,
+framing the silhouette of a shirt-sleeved, thick-set youth, who
+shouted:
+
+"What 'n 'ell do you want to butt in for while the show's on? Go
+round front." She caught a glimpse of disordered scenery, and
+before he could slam the door in her face thrust a silver dollar
+into his hand, at the same time wedging herself into the opening.
+He pocketed the coin and the door clicked to behind her.
+
+"Well, speak up. The act's closin'." Evidently he was the
+directing genius of the performance, for at that moment the chorus
+broke into full cry, and he said, hurriedly:
+
+"Wait a minute. There goes the finally," and dashed away to tend
+his drops and switches. When the curtain was down and the
+principals had sought their dressing-rooms he returned.
+
+"Do you know Mr. Glenister?" she asked.
+
+"Sure. I seen him to-night. Come here." He led her towards the
+footlights, and, pulling back the edge of the curtain, allowed her
+to peep past him out into the dance-hall. She had never pictured a
+place like this, and in spite of her agitation was astonished at
+its gaudy elegance. The gallery was formed of a continuous row of
+compartments with curtained fronts, in which men and women were
+talking, drinking, singing. The seats on the lower floor were
+disappearing, and the canvas cover was rolling back, showing the
+polished hardwood underneath, while out through the wide folding-
+doors that led to the main gambling-room she heard a brass-lunged
+man calling the commencement of the dance. Couples glided into
+motion while she watched.
+
+"I don't see him," said her guide. "You better walk out front and
+help yourself." He indicated the stairs which led up to the
+galleried boxes and the steps leading down on to the main floor,
+but she handed him another coin, begging him to find Glenister and
+bring him to her. "Hurry; hurry!" she implored.
+
+The stage-manager gazed at her curiously, remarking, "My! You
+spend your money like it had been left to you. You're a regular
+pie-check for me. Come around any time."
+
+She withdrew to a dark corner and waited interminably till her
+messenger appeared at the head of the gallery stairs and beckoned
+to her. As she drew near he said, "I told him there was a
+thousand-dollar filly flaggin' him from the stage door, but he's
+got a grouch an' won't stir. He's in number seven." She hesitated,
+at which he said, "Go on--you're in right;" then continued,
+reassuringly: "Say, pal, if he's your white-haired lad, you
+needn't start no roughhouse, 'cause he don't flirt wit' these
+dames none whatever. Naw! Take it from me."
+
+She entered the door her counsellor indicated to find Roy lounging
+back watching the dancers. He turned inquiringly--then, as she
+raised her veil, leaped to his feet and jerked the curtains to.
+
+"Helen! What are you doing here?"
+
+"You must go away quickly," she gasped. "They're trying to arrest
+you."
+
+"They! Who? Arrest me for what?"
+
+"Voorhees and his men--for riot, or something about last night."
+
+"Nonsense," he said. "I had no part in it. You know that."
+
+"Yes, yes--but you're a Vigilante, and they're after you and all
+your friends. Your house is guarded and the town is alive with
+deputies. They've planned to jail you on some pretext or other and
+hold you indefinitely. Please go before it's too late."
+
+"How do you know this?" he asked, gravely.
+
+"I overheard them plotting."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Uncle Arthur and Mr. McNamara." She faced him squarely as she
+said it, and therefore saw the light flame up in his eyes as he
+cried:
+
+"And you came here to save me--came HERE at the risk of your good
+name?"
+
+"Of course. I would have done the same for Dextry." The gladness
+died away, leaving him listless.
+
+"Well, let them come. I'm done, I guess. I heard from Wheaton to-
+night. He's down and out, too--some trouble with the 'Frisco
+courts about jurisdiction over these cases. I don't know that it's
+worth while to fight any longer."
+
+"Listen," she said. "You must go. I am sure there is a terrible
+wrong being done, and you and I must stop it. I have seen the
+truth at last, and you're in the right. Please hide for a time at
+least."
+
+"Very well. If you have taken sides with us there's some hope
+left. Thank you for the risk you ran in warning me."
+
+She had moved to the front of the compartment and was peering
+forth between the draperies when she stifled a cry.
+
+"Too late! Too late! There they are. Don't part the curtains.
+They'll see you."
+
+Pushing through the gambling-hall were Voorhees and four others,
+seemingly in quest of some one.
+
+"Run down the back stairs," she breathed, and pushed him through
+the door. He caught and held her hand with a last word of
+gratitude. Then he was gone. She drew down her veil and was about
+to follow when the door opened and he reappeared.
+
+"No use," he remarked, quietly. "There are three more waiting at
+the foot." He looked out to find that the officers had searched
+the crowd and were turning towards the front stairs, thus cutting
+off his retreat. There were but two ways down from the gallery and
+no outside windows from which to leap. As they had made no armed
+display, the presence of the officers had not interrupted the
+dance.
+
+Glenister drew his revolver, while into his eyes came the dancing
+glitter that Helen had seen before, cold as the glint of winter
+sunlight.
+
+"No, not that--for God's sake!" she shuddered, clasping his arm.
+
+"I must for your sake, or they'll find you here, and that's worse
+than ruin. I'll fight it out in the corridors so that you can
+escape in the confusion. Wait till the firing stops and the crowd
+gathers." His hand was on the knob when she tore it loose,
+whispering hoarsely:
+
+"They'll kill you. Wait! There's a better way. Jump." She dragged
+him to the front of the box and pulled aside the curtains. "It
+isn't high and they won't see you till it's too late. Then you can
+run through the crowd." He grasped her idea, and, slipping his
+weapon back into its holster, laid hold of the ledge before him
+and lowered himself down over the dancers. He swung out
+unhesitatingly, and almost before he had been observed had dropped
+into their midst. The gallery was but twice the height of a man's
+head from the floor, so he landed on his feet and had drawn his
+Colts even while the men at the stairs were shouting at him to
+halt.
+
+At sight of the naked weapons there was confusion, wherein the
+commands of the deputies mingled with the shrieks of the women,
+the crash of overturned chairs, and the sound of tramping feet, as
+the crowd divided before Glenister and swept back against the wall
+in the same ominous way that a crowd in the street had once
+divided on the morning of Helen's arrival. The trombone player,
+who had sunk low in his chair with closed eyes, looked out
+suddenly at the disturbance, and his alarm was blown through the
+horn in a startled squawk. A large woman whimpered, "Don't shoot,"
+and thrust her palms to her ears, closing her eyes tightly.
+
+Glenister covered the deputies, from whose vicinity the by-
+standers surged as though from the presence of lepers.
+
+"Hands up!" he cried, sharply, and they froze into motionless
+attitudes, one poised on the lowest step of the stairs, the other
+a pace forward. Voorhees appeared at the head of the flight and
+rushed down a few steps only to come abruptly into range and to
+assume a like rigidity, for the young man's aim shifted to him.
+
+"I have a warrant for you," the officer cried, his voice loud in
+the hush.
+
+"Keep it," said Glenister, showing his teeth in a smile in which
+there was no mirth. He backed diagonally across the hall, his
+boot-heels clicking in the silence, his eyes shifting rapidly up
+and down the stairs where the danger lay.
+
+From her station Helen could see the whole tableau, all but the
+men on the stairs, where her vision was cut off. She saw the dance
+girls crouched behind their partners or leaning far out from the
+wall with parted lips, the men eager yet fearful, the bartender
+with a half-polished glass poised high. Then a quick movement
+across the hall suddenly diverted her absorbed attention. She saw
+a man rip aside the drapery of the box opposite and lean so far
+out that he seemed in peril of falling. He undertook to sight a
+weapon at Glenister, who was just passing from his view. At her
+first glance Helen gasped--her heart gave one fierce lunge, and
+she cried out.
+
+The distance across the pit was so short that she saw his every
+line and lineament clearly; it was the brother she had sought
+these years and years. Before she knew or could check it the blood
+call leaped forth.
+
+"Drury!" she cried, aloud, at which he whipped his head about,
+while amazement and some other emotion she could not gauge spread
+slowly over his features. For a long moment he stared at her
+without movement or sign while the drama beneath went on, then he
+drew back into his retreat with the dazed look of one doubting his
+senses, yet fearful of putting them to the test. For her part, she
+saw nothing except her brother vanishing slowly into the shadows
+as though stricken at her glance, the curtains closing before his
+livid face--and then pandemonium broke loose at her feet.
+
+Glenister, holding his enemies at bay, had retreated to the double
+doors leading to the theatre. His coup had been executed so
+quickly and with such lack of turmoil that the throng outside knew
+nothing of it till they saw a man walk backward through the door.
+As he did so he reached forth and slammed the wide wings shut
+before his face, then turned and dashed into the press. Inside the
+dance-hall loud sounds arose as the officers clattered down the
+stairs and made after their quarry. They tore the barrier apart in
+time to see, far down the saloon, an eddying swirl as though some
+great fish were lashing through the lily-pads of a pond, and then
+the swinging doors closed behind Glenister.
+
+Helen made her way from the theatre as she had come, unobserved
+and unobserving, but she walked in a dream. Emotions had chased
+each other too closely to-night to be distinguishable, so she went
+mechanically through the narrow alley to Front Street and thence
+to her home.
+
+Glenister, meanwhile, had been swallowed up by the darkness, the
+night enfolding him without sign or trace. As he ran he considered
+what course to follow--whether to carry the call to his comrades
+in town or to make for the Creek and Dextry. The Vigilantes might
+still distrust him, and yet he owed them warning. McNamara's men
+were moving so swiftly that action must be speedy to forestall
+them. Another hour and the net would be closed, while it seemed
+that whichever course he chose they would snare one or the other--
+either the friends who remained in town, or Dex and Slapjack out
+in the hills. With daylight those two would return and walk
+unheeding into the trap, while if he bore the word to them first,
+then the Vigilantes would be jailed before dawn. As he drew near
+Cherry Malotte's house he saw a light through the drawn curtains.
+A heavy raindrop plashed upon his face, another followed, and then
+he heard the patter of falling water increasing swiftly. Before he
+could gain the door the storm had broken. It swept up the street
+with tropical violence, while a breath sighed out of the night,
+lifting the litter from underfoot and pelting him with flying
+particles. Over the roofs the wind rushed with the rising moan of
+a hurricane while the night grew suddenly noisy ahead of the
+tempest.
+
+He entered the door without knocking, to find the girl removing
+her coat. Her face gladdened at sight of him, but he checked her
+with quick and cautious words, his speech almost drowned by the
+roar outside.
+
+"Are you alone?" She nodded, and he slipped the bolt behind him,
+saying:
+
+"The marshals are after me. We just had a 'run in' at the
+Northern, and I'm on the go. No--nothing serious yet, but they
+want the Vigilantes, and I must get them word. Will you help me?"
+He rapidly recounted the row of the last ten minutes while she
+nodded her quick understanding.
+
+"You're safe here for a little while," she told him, "for the
+storm will check them. If they should come, there's a back door
+leading out from the kitchen and a side entrance yonder. In my
+room you'll find a French window. They can't corner you very
+well."
+
+"Slapjack and Dex are out at the shaft house--you know--that
+quartz claim on the mountain above the Midas." He hesitated. "Will
+you lend me your saddle-horse? It's a black night and I may kill
+him."
+
+"What about these men in town?"
+
+"I'll warn them first, then hit for the hills."
+
+She shook her head. "You can't do it. You can't get out there
+before daylight if you wait to rouse these people, and McNamara
+has probably telephoned the mines to send a party up to the quartz
+claim after Dex. He knows where the old man is as well as you do,
+and they'll raid him before dawn."
+
+"I'm afraid so, but it's all I can offer. Will you give me the
+horse?"
+
+"No! He's only a pony, and you'd founder him in the tundra. The
+mud is knee-deep. I'll go myself."
+
+"Good Heavens, girl, in such a night! Why, it's worth your life!
+Listen to it! The creeks will be up and you'll have to swim. No, I
+can't let you."
+
+"He's a good little horse, and he'll take me through." Then,
+coming close, she continued: "Oh, boy! Can't you see that I want
+to help? Can't you see that I--I'd DIE for you if it would do any
+good?" He gazed gravely into her wide blue eyes and said,
+awkwardly: "Yes, I know. I'm sorry things are--as they are--but
+you wouldn't have me lie to you, little woman?"
+
+"No. You're the only true man I ever knew. I guess that's why I
+love you. And I do love you, oh, so much! I want to be good and
+worthy to love you, too."
+
+She laid her face against his arm and caressed him with clinging
+tenderness, while the wind yelled loudly about the eaves and the
+windows drummed beneath the rain. His heavy brows knit themselves
+together as she whispered:
+
+"I love you! I love you! I love you!" with such an agony of
+longing in her voice that her soft accents were sharply
+distinguishable above the turmoil. The growing wildness seemed a
+part of the woman's passion, which whipped and harried her like a
+willow in a blast.
+
+"Things are fearfully jumbled," he said, finally. "And this is a
+bad time to talk about them. I wish they might be different. No
+other girl would do what you have offered to-night."
+
+"Then why do you think of that woman?" she broke in, fiercely.
+"She's bad and false. She betrayed you once; she's in the play
+now; you've told me so yourself. Why don't you be a man and forget
+her?"
+
+"I can't," he said, simply. "You're wrong, though, when you think
+she's bad. I found to-night that she's good and brave and honest.
+The part she played was played innocently, I'm sure of that, in
+spite of the fact that she'll marry McNamara. It was she who
+overheard them plotting and risked her reputation to warn me."
+
+Cherry's face whitened, while the shadowy eagerness that had
+rested there died utterly. "She came into that dive alone? She did
+that?" He nodded, at which she stood thinking for some time, then
+continued: "You're honest with me, Roy, and I'll be the same with
+you. I'm tired of deceit, tired of everything. I tried to make you
+think she was bad, but in my own heart I knew differently all the
+time. She came here to-day and humbled herself to get the truth,
+humbled herself to me, and I sent her away. She suspected, but she
+didn't know, and when she asked for information I insulted her.
+That's the kind of a creature I am. I sent her back to Struve, who
+offered to tell her the whole story."
+
+"What does that renegade want?"
+
+"Can't you guess?"
+
+"Why, I'd rather--" The young man ground his teeth, but Cherry
+hastened.
+
+"You needn't worry; she won't see him again. She loathes the
+ground he walks on."
+
+"And yet he's no worse than that other scoundrel. Come, girl, we
+have work to do; we must act, and act quickly." He gave her his
+message to Dextry, then she went to her room and slipped into a
+riding-habit. When she came out he asked: "Where is your raincoat?
+You'll be drenched in no time."
+
+"I can't ride with it. I'll be thrown, anyway, and I don't want to
+be all bound up. Water won't hurt me."
+
+She thrust her tiny revolver into her dress, but he took it and
+upon examination shook his head.
+
+"If you need a gun you'll need a good one." He removed the belt
+from his own waist and buckled his Colts about her.
+
+"But you!" she objected.
+
+"I'll get another in ten minutes." Then, as they were leaving, he
+said: "One other request, Cherry. I'll be in hiding for a time,
+and I must get word to Miss Chester to keep watch of her uncle,
+for the big fight is on at last and the boys will hang him sure if
+they catch him. I owe her this last warning. Will you send it to
+her?"
+
+"I'll do it for your sake, not for her--no, no; I don't mean that.
+I'll do the right thing all round. Leave it here and I'll see that
+she gets it to-morrow. And--Roy--be careful of yourself." Her eyes
+were starry and in their depths lurked neither selfishness nor
+jealousy now, only that mysterious glory of a woman who makes
+sacrifice.
+
+Together they scurried back to the stable, and yet, in that short
+distance, she would have been swept from her feet had he not
+seized her. They blew in through the barn door, streaming and
+soaked by the blinding sheets that drove scythe-like ahead of the
+wind. He struck a light, and the pony whinnied at recognition of
+his mistress. She stroked the little fellow's muzzle while
+Glenister cinched on her saddle. Then, when she was at last
+mounted, she leaned forward:
+
+"Will you kiss me once, Roy, for the last time?"
+
+He took her rain-wet face between his hands and kissed her upon
+the lips as he would have saluted a little maid. As he did so,
+unseen by both of them, a face was pressed for an instant against
+the pane of glass in the stable wall.
+
+"You're a brave girl and may God bless you," he said,
+extinguishing the light. He flung the door wide and she rode out
+into the storm. Locking the portal, he plunged back towards the
+house to write his hurried note, for there was much to do and
+scant time for its accomplishment, despite the helping hand of the
+hurricane. He heard the voice of Bering as it thundered on the
+Golden Sands, and knew that the first great storm of the fall had
+come. Henceforth he saw that the violence of men would rival the
+rising elements, for the deeds of this night would stir their
+passions as AEolus was rousing the hate of the sea.
+
+He neglected to bolt the house door as he entered, but flung off
+his dripping coat and, seizing pad and pencil, scrawled his
+message. The wind screamed about the cabin, the lamp flared
+smokily, and Glenister felt a draught suck past him as though from
+an open door at his back as he wrote:
+
+"I can't do anything more. The end has come and it has brought the
+hatred and bloodshed that I have been trying to prevent. I played
+the game according to your rules, but they forced me back to first
+principles in spite of myself, and now I don't know what the
+finish will be. To-morrow will tell. Take care of your uncle, and
+if you should wish to communicate with me, go to Cherry Malotte.
+She is a friend to both of us.
+
+ "Always your servant, ROY GLENISTER."
+
+As he sealed this he paused, while he felt the hair on his neck
+rise and bristle and a chill race up his spine. His heart
+fluttered, then pounded onward till the blood thumped audibly at
+his ear-drums and he found himself swaying in rhythm to its beat.
+The muscles of his back cringed and rippled at the proximity of
+some hovering peril, and yet an irresistible feeling forbade him
+to turn. A sound came from close behind his chair--the drip, drip,
+drip of water. It was not from the eaves, nor yet from a faulty
+shingle. His back was to the kitchen door, through which he had
+come, and, although there were no mirrors before him, he felt a
+menacing presence as surely as though it had touched him. His ears
+were tuned to the finest pin-pricks of sound, so that he heard the
+faint, sighing "squish" of a sodden shoe upon which a weight had
+shifted. Still something chained him to his seat. It was as though
+his soul laid a restraining hand upon his body, waiting for the
+instant.
+
+He let his hand seek his hip carelessly, but remembered where his
+gun was. Mechanically, he addressed the note in shaking
+characters, while behind him sounded the constant drip, drip, drip
+that he knew came from saturated garments. For a long moment he
+sat, till he heard the stealthy click of a gun-lock muffled by
+finger pressure. Then he set his face and slowly turned to find
+the Bronco Kid standing behind him as though risen from the sea,
+his light clothes wet and clinging, his feet centred in a
+spreading puddle. The dim light showed the convulsive fury of his
+features above the levelled weapon, whose hammer was curled back
+like the head of a striking adder, his eyes gleaming with frenzy.
+Glenister's mouth was powder dry, but his mind was leaping
+riotously like dust before a gale, for he divined himself to be in
+the deadliest peril of his life. When he spoke the calmness of his
+voice surprised himself.
+
+"What's the matter, Bronco?" The Kid made no reply, and Roy
+repeated, "What do you want?"
+
+"That's a hell of a question," the gambler said, hoarsely. "I want
+you, of course, and I've got you."
+
+"Hold up! I am unarmed. This is your third try, and I want to know
+what's back of it."
+
+"DAMN the talk!" cried the faro-dealer, moving closer till the
+light shone on his features, which commenced to twitch. He raised
+the revolver he had half lowered. "There's reason enough, and you
+know it."
+
+Glenister looked him fairly between the eyes, gripping himself
+with firm hands to stop the tremor he felt in his bones. "You
+can't kill me," he said. "I am too good a man to murder. You might
+shoot a crook, but you can't kill a brave man when he's unarmed.
+You're no assassin." He remained rigid in his chair, however,
+moving nothing but his lips, meeting the other's look
+unflinchingly. The Kid hesitated an instant, while his eyes, which
+had been fixed with the glare of hatred, wavered a moment,
+betraying the faintest sign of indecision. Glenister cried out,
+exultantly:
+
+"Ha! I knew it. Your neck cords quiver."
+
+The gambler grimaced. "I can't do it. If I could, I'd have shot
+you before you turned. But you'll have to fight, you dog. Get up
+and draw."
+
+Roy refused. "I gave Cherry my gun."
+
+"Yes, and more too," the man gritted. "I saw it all."
+
+Even yet Glenister had made no slightest move, realizing that a
+feather's weight might snap the gambler's nervous tension and
+bring the involuntary twitch that would put him out swifter than a
+whip is cracked,
+
+"I have tried it before, but murder isn't my game." The Kid's eye
+caught the glint of Cherry's revolver where she had discarded it.
+"There's a gun--get it."
+
+"It's no good. You'd carry the six bullets and never feel them. I
+don't know what this is all about, but I'll fight you whenever I'm
+heeled right."
+
+"Oh, you black-hearted hound," snarled the Kid. "I want to shoot,
+but I'm afraid. I used to be a gentleman and I haven't lost it
+all, I guess. But I won't wait the next time. I'll down you on
+sight, so you'd better get ironed in a hurry." He backed out of
+the room into the semi-darkness of the kitchen, watching with
+lynx-like closeness the man who sat so quietly under the shaded
+light. He felt behind him for the outer door-knob and turned it to
+let in a white sheet of rain, then vanished like a storm wraith,
+leaving a parched-lipped man and a zigzag trail of water, which
+gleamed in the lamplight like a pool of blood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+WHEREIN A TRAP IS BAITED
+
+
+Glenister did not wait long after his visitor's departure, but
+extinguished the light, locked the door, and began the further
+adventures of this night. The storm welcomed him with suffocating
+violence, sucking the very breath from his lips, while the rain
+beat through till his flesh was cold and aching. He thought with a
+pang of the girl facing this tempest, going out to meet the
+thousand perils of the night. And it remained for him to bear his
+part as she bore hers, smilingly.
+
+The last hour had added another and mysterious danger to his full
+measure. Could the Kid be jealous of Cherry? Surely not. Then what
+else?
+
+The tornado had driven his trailers to cover, evidently, for the
+streets were given over to its violence, and Roy encountered no
+hostile sign as he was buffeted from house to house. He adventured
+cautiously and yet with haste, finding certain homes where the
+marshals had been before him peopled now only by frightened wives
+and children. A scattered few of the Vigilantes had been taken
+thus, while the warring elements had prevented their families from
+spreading the alarm or venturing out for succor. Those whom he was
+able to warn dressed hurriedly, took their rifles, and went out
+into the drifting night, leaving empty cabins and weeping women.
+The great fight was on.
+
+Towards daylight the remnants of the Vigilantes straggled into the
+big blank warehouse on the sand-spit, and there beneath the
+smoking glare of lanterns cursed the name of McNamara. As dawn
+grayed the ragged eastern sky-line, Dextry and Slapjack blew in
+through the spindrift, bringing word from Cherry and lifting a
+load from Glenister's mind.
+
+"There's a game girl," said the old miner, as he wrung out his
+clothes. "She was half gone when she got to us, and now she's
+waiting for the storm to break so that she can come back."
+
+"It's clearing up to the east," Slapjack chattered. "D'you know,
+I'm gettin' so rheumatic that ice-water don't feel comfortable to
+me no more."
+
+"Uriatic acid in the blood," said Dextry. "What's our next move?"
+he asked of his partner. "When do we hang this politician? Seems
+like we've got enough able-bodied piano-movers here to tie a can
+onto the whole outfit, push the town site of Nome off the map, and
+start afresh."
+
+"I think we had better lie low and watch developments," the other
+cautioned. "There's no telling what may turn up during the day."
+
+"That's right. Stranglers is like spirits--they work best in the
+dark."
+
+ As the day grew, the storm died, leaving ramparts of clouds
+hanging sullenly above the ocean's rim, while those skilled in
+weather prophecy foretold the coming of the equinoctial. In
+McNamara's office there was great stir and the coming of many men.
+The boss sat in his chair smoking countless cigars, his big face
+set in grim lines, his hard eyes peering through the pall of blue
+at those he questioned. He worked the wires of his machine until
+his dolls doubled and danced and twisted at his touch. After a
+gusty interview he had dismissed Voorhees with a merciless tongue-
+lashing, raging bitterly at the man's failure.
+
+"You're not fit to herd sheep. Thirty men out all night and what
+do you get? A dozen mullet-headed miners. You bag the mud-hens and
+the big game runs to cover. I wanted Glenister, but you let him
+slip through your fingers--now it's war. What a mess you've made!
+If I had even ONE helper with a brain the size of a flaxseed, this
+game would be a gift, but you've bungled every move from the
+start. Bah! Put a spy in the bull-pen with those prisoners and
+make them talk. Offer them anything for information. Now get out!"
+
+He called for a certain deputy and questioned him regarding the
+night's quest, remarking, finally:
+
+"There's treachery somewhere. Those men were warned."
+
+"Nobody came near Glenister's house except Miss Chester," the man
+replied.
+
+"What?"
+
+"The Judge's niece. We caught her by mistake in the dark."
+
+Later, one of the men who had been with Voorhees at the Northern
+asked to see the receiver and told him:
+
+"The chief won't believe that I saw Miss Chester in the dance-hall
+last night, but she was there with Glenister. She must have put
+him wise to our game or he wouldn't have known we were after him."
+
+His hearer made no comment, but, when alone, rose and paced the
+floor with heavy tread while his face grew savage and brutal.
+
+"So that's the game, eh? It's man to man from now on. Very well,
+Glenister, I'll have your life for that, and then--you'll pay,
+Miss Helen." He considered carefully. A plot for a plot. If he
+could not swap intrigue with these miners and beat them badly, he
+deserved to lose. Now that the girl gave herself to their cause he
+would use her again and see how well she answered. Public opinion
+would not stand too great a strain, and, although he had acted
+within his rights last night, he dared not go much further.
+Diplomacy, therefore, must serve. He must force his enemies beyond
+the law and into his trap. She had passed the word once; she would
+do so again.
+
+He hurried to Stillman's house and stormed into the presence of
+the Judge. He told the story so artfully that the Judge's
+astonished unbelief yielded to rage and cowardice, and he sent for
+his niece. She came down, white and silent, having heard the loud
+voices. The old man berated her with shrewish fury, while McNamara
+stood silent. The girl listened with entire self-control until her
+uncle made a reference to Glenister that she found intolerable.
+
+"Hush! I will not listen!" she cried, passionately. "I warned him
+because you would have sacrificed him after he had saved our
+lives. That is all. He is an honest man, and I am grateful to him.
+That is the only foundation for your insult."
+
+McNamara, with apparent candor, broke in:
+
+"You thought you were doing right, of course, but your action will
+have terrible consequences. Now we'll have riot, bloodshed, and
+Heaven knows what. It was to save all this that I wanted to break
+up their organization. A week's imprisonment would have done it,
+but now they're armed and belligerent and we'll have a battle to-
+night."
+
+"No, no!" she cried. "There mustn't be any violence."
+
+"There is no use trying to check them. They are rushing to their
+own destruction. I have learned that they plan to attack the Midas
+to-night, and I'll have fifty soldiers waiting for them there. It
+is a shame, for they are decent fellows, blinded by ignorance and
+misled by that young miner. This will be the blackest night the
+North has ever seen."
+
+With this McNamara left the house and went in search of Voorhees,
+remarking to himself: "Now, Miss Helen--send your warning--the
+sooner the better. If I know those Vigilantes, it will set them
+crazy, and yet not crazy enough to attack the Midas. They will
+strike for me, and when they hit my poor, unguarded office,
+they'll think hell has moved North."
+
+"Mr. Marshal," said he to his tool, "I want you to gather forty
+men quietly and to arm them with Winchesters. They must be fellows
+who won't faint at blood--you know the kind. Assemble them at my
+office after dark, one at a time, by the back way. It must be done
+with absolute secrecy. Now, see if you can do this one thing and
+not get balled up. If you fail, I'll make you answer to me."
+
+"Why don't you get the troops?" ventured Voorhees.
+
+"If there's one thing I want to avoid, it's soldiers, either here
+or at the mines. When they step in, we step out, and I'm not ready
+for that just yet." The receiver smiled sinisterly.
+
+Helen meanwhile had fled to her room, and there received
+Glenister's note through Cherry Malotte's messenger. It rekindled
+her worst fears and bore out McNamara's prophecy. The more she
+read of it the more certain she grew that the crisis was only a
+question of hours, and that with darkness, Tragedy would walk the
+streets of Nome. The thought of the wrong already done was lost in
+the lonely girl's terror of the crime about to happen, for it
+seemed to her she had been the instrument to set these forces in
+motion, that she had loosed this swift-speeding avalanche of
+greed, hatred, and brutality. And when the crash should come--the
+girl shuddered. It must not be. She would shriek a warning from
+the house-tops even at cost of her uncle, of McNamara, and of
+herself. And yet she had no proof that a crime existed. Although
+it all lay clear in her own mind, the certainty of it arose only
+from her intuition. If only she were able to take a hand--if only
+she were not a woman. Then Cherry Malotte's words anent Struve
+recurred to her, "A bottle of wine and a woman's face." They
+brought back the lawyer's assurance that those documents she had
+safeguarded all through the long spring-time journey really
+contained the proof. If they did, then they held the power to
+check this impending conflict. Her uncle and the boss would not
+dare continue if threatened with exposure and prosecution. The
+more she thought of it, the more urgent seemed the necessity to
+prevent the battle of to-night. There was a chance here, at least,
+and the only one.
+
+Adding to her mental torment was the constant vision of that face
+in the curtains at the Northern. It was her brother, yet what
+mystery shrouded this affair, also? What kept him from her? What
+caused him to slink away like a thief discovered? She grew dizzy
+and hysterical.
+
+ Struve turned in his chair as the door to his private office
+opened, then leaped to his feet at sight of the gray-eyed girl
+standing there.
+
+"I came for the papers," she said.
+
+"I knew you would." The blood went out of his cheeks, then surged
+back up to his eyes. "It's a bargain, then?"
+
+She nodded. "Give them to me first."
+
+He laughed unpleasantly. "What do you take me for? I'll keep my
+part of the bargain if you'll keep yours. But this is no place,
+nor time. There's riot in the air, and I'm busy preparing for to-
+night. Come back to-morrow when it's all over."
+
+But it was the terror of to-night's doings that led her into his
+power.
+
+"I'll never come back," she said. "It is my whim to know to-day--
+yes, at once."
+
+He meditated for a time. "Then to-day it shall be. I'll shirk the
+fight, I'll sacrifice what shreds of duty have clung to me,
+because the fever for you is in my bones, and it seems to me I'd
+do murder for it. That's the kind of a man I am, and I have no
+pride in myself because of it. But I've always been that way We'll
+ride to the Sign of the Sled. It's a romantic little road-house
+ten miles from here, perched high above the Snake River trail.
+We'll take dinner there together."
+
+"But the papers?"
+
+"I'll have them with me. We'll start in an hour."
+
+"In an hour," she echoed, lifelessly, and left him.
+
+He chuckled grimly and seized the telephone. "Central--call the
+Sled road-house--seven rings on the Snake River branch. Hello!
+That you, Shortz? This is Struve. Anybody at the house? Good. Turn
+them away if they come and say that you're closed. None of your
+business. I'll be out about dark, so have dinner for two. Spread
+yourself and keep the place clear. Good-bye."
+
+Strengthened by Glenister's note, Helen went straight to the other
+woman and this time was not kept waiting nor greeted with sneers,
+but found Cherry cloaked in a shy dignity, which she clasped
+tightly about herself. Under her visitor's incoherence she lost
+her diffidence, however, and, when Helen had finished, remarked,
+with decision: "Don't go with him. He's a bad man."
+
+"But I MUST. The blood of those men will be on me if I don't stop
+this tragedy. If those papers tell the tale I think they do, I can
+call off my uncle and make McNamara give back the mines. You said
+Struve told you the whole scheme. Did you see the PROOF?"
+
+"No, I have only his word, but he spoke of those documents
+repeatedly, saying they contained his instructions to tie up the
+mines in order to give a foothold for the lawsuits. He bragged
+that the rest of the gang were in his power and that he could land
+them in the penitentiary for conspiracy. That's all."
+
+"It's the only chance," said Helen. "They are sending soldiers to
+the Midas to lie in ambush, and you must warn the Vigilantes."
+Cherry paled at this and ejaculated:
+
+"Good Lord! Roy said he'd lead an attack to-night." The two stared
+at each other.
+
+"If I succeed with Struve I can stop it all--all of this injustice
+and crime--everything."
+
+"Do you realize what you're risking?" Cherry demanded. "That man
+is an animal. You'll have to kill him to save yourself, and he'll
+never give up those proofs."
+
+"Yes, he will," said Helen, fiercely, "and I defy him to harm me.
+The Sign of the Sled is a public roadhouse with a landlord, a
+telephone, and other guests. Will you warn Mr. Glenister about the
+troops?"
+
+"I will, and bless you for a brave girl. Wait a moment." Cherry
+took from the dresser her tiny revolver. "Don't hesitate to use
+this. I want you to know also that I'm sorry for what I said
+yesterday."
+
+As she hurried away, Helen realized with a shock the change that
+the past few months had wrought in her. In truth, it was as
+Glenister had said, his Northland worked strangely with its
+denizens. What of that shrinking girl who had stepped out of the
+sheltered life, strong only in her untried honesty, to become a
+hunted, harried thing, juggling with honor and reputation, in her
+heart a half-formed fear that she might kill a man this night to
+gain her end? The elements were moulding her with irresistible
+hands. Roy's contact with the primitive had not roughened him more
+quickly than had hers.
+
+She met her appointment with Struve, and they rode away together,
+he talkative and elated, she silent and icy.
+
+Late in the afternoon the cloud banks to the eastward assumed
+alarming proportions. They brought with them an early nightfall,
+and when they broke let forth a tempest which rivalled that of the
+previous night. During the first of it armed men came sifting into
+McNamara's office from the rear and were hidden throughout the
+building. Whenever he descried a peculiarly desperate ruffian the
+boss called him aside for private instruction and gave minute
+description of a wide-shouldered, erect, youth in white hat and
+half-boots. Gradually he set his trap with the men Voorhees had
+raked from the slums, and when it was done smiled to himself. As
+he thought it over he ceased to regret the miscarriage of last
+night's plan, for it had served to goad his enemies to the point
+he desired, to the point where they would rush to their own
+undoing. He thought with satisfaction of the role he would play in
+the United States press when the sensational news of this night's
+adventure came out. A court official who dared to do his duty
+despite a lawless mob. A receiver who turned a midnight attack
+into a rout and shambles. That is what they would say. What if he
+did exceed his authority thereafter? What if there were a scandal?
+Who would question? As to soldiers--no, decidedly no. He wished no
+help of soldiers at this time.
+
+The sight of a ship in the offing towards dark caused him some
+uneasiness, for, notwithstanding the assurance that the course of
+justice in the San Francisco courts had been clogged, he knew Bill
+Wheaton to be a resourceful lawyer and a determined man.
+Therefore, it relieved him to note the rising gale, which
+precluded the possibility of interference from that source. Let
+them come to-morrow if they would. By that time some of the mines
+would be ownerless and his position strengthened a hundredfold.
+
+He telephoned the mines to throw out guards, although he reasoned
+that none but madmen would think of striking there in the face of
+the warning which he knew must have been transmitted through
+Helen. Putting on his rain-coat he sought Stillman.
+
+"Bring your niece over to my place to-night. There's trouble in
+the air and I'm prepared for it."
+
+"She hasn't returned from her ride yet. I'm afraid she's caught in
+the storm." The Judge gazed anxiously into the darkness.
+
+ During all the long day the Vigilantes lay in hiding, impatient
+at their idleness and wondering at the lack of effort made towards
+their discovery, not dreaming that McNamara had more cleverly
+hidden plans behind. When Cherry's note of warning came they
+gathered in the back room and gave voice to their opinions.
+
+"There's only one way to clear the atmosphere," said the chairman.
+
+"You bet," chorussed the others. "They've garrisoned the mines, so
+let's go through the town and make a clean job of it. Let's hang
+the whole outfit to one post."
+
+This met with general approval, Glenister alone demurring. Said
+he: "I have reasoned it out differently, and I want you to hear me
+through before deciding. Last night I got word from Wheaton that
+the California courts are against us. He attributes it to
+influence, but, whatever the reason, we are cut off from all legal
+help either in this court or on appeal. Now, suppose we lynch
+these officials to-night--what do we gain? Martial law in two
+hours, our mines tied up for another year, and who knows what
+else? Maybe a corrupter court next season. Suppose, on the other
+hand, we fail--and somehow I feel that we will, for that boss is
+no fool. What then? Those of us who don't find the morgue will end
+in jail. You say we can't meet the soldiers. I say we can and
+must. We must carry this row to them. We must jump it past the
+courts of Alaska, past the courts of California, and up to the
+White House, where there's one honest man, at least. We must do
+something to wake up the men in Washington. We must get out of
+politics, for McNamara can beat us there. Although he's a strong
+man he can't corrupt the President. We have one shot left, and it
+must reach the Potomac. When Uncle Sam takes a hand we'll get a
+square deal, so I say let us strike at the Midas to-night and take
+her if we can. Some of us will go down, but what of it?"
+
+Following this harangue, he outlined a plan which in its unique
+daring took away their breaths, and as he filled in detail after
+detail they brightened with excitement and that love of the long
+chance which makes gamblers of those who thread the silent valleys
+or tread the edge of things. His boldness stirred them and
+enthusiasm did the rest.
+
+"All I want for myself," he said, "is the chance to run the big
+risk. It's mine by right."
+
+Dextry spoke, breathlessly, to Slapjack in the pause which ensued:
+
+"Ain't he a heller?"
+
+"We'll go you," the miners chimed to a man. And the chairman
+added: "Let's have Glenister lead this forlorn hope. I am willing
+to stand or fall on his judgment." They acquiesced without a
+dissenting voice and with the firm hands of a natural leader the
+young man took control.
+
+"Let's hurry up," said one. "It's a long 'mush' and the mud is
+knee-deep."
+
+"No walking for us," said Roy. "We'll go by train."
+
+"By train? How can we get a train?"
+
+"Steal it," he answered, at which Dextry grinned delightedly at
+his loose-jointed companion, and Slapjack showed his toothless
+gums in answer, saying:
+
+"He sure is."
+
+A few more words and Glenister, accompanied by these two, slipped
+out into the whirling storm, and a half-hour later the rest
+followed. One by one the Vigilantes left, the blackness blotting
+them up an arm's-length from the door, till at last the big, bleak
+warehouse echoed hollowly to the voice of the wind and water.
+
+Over in the eastern end of town, behind dark windows upon which
+the sheeted rain beat furiously, other armed men lay patiently
+waiting--waiting some word from the bulky shadow which stood with
+folded arms close against a square of gray, while over their heads
+a wretched old man paced back and forth, wringing his hands,
+pausing at every turn to peer out into the night and to mumble the
+name of his sister's child.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+DYNAMITE
+
+
+Early in the evening Cherry Malotte opened her door to find the
+Bronco Kid on her step. He entered and threw off his rubber coat.
+Knowing him well, she waited for his disclosure of his errand. His
+sallow skin was without trace of color, his eyes were strangely
+tired, deep lines had gathered about his lips, while his hands
+kept up constant little nervous explorations as though for days
+and nights he had not slept and now hovered on the verge of some
+hysteria. He gave her the impression of a smouldering mine with
+the fire eating close up to the powder. She judged that his body
+had been racked by every passion till now it hung jaded and weary,
+yielding only to the spur of his restless, revengeful spirit.
+
+After a few objectless remarks, he began, abruptly:
+
+"Do you love Roy Glenister?" His voice, like his manner, was
+jealously eager, and he watched her carefully as she replied,
+without quibble or deceit:
+
+"Yes, Kid; and I always shall. He is the only true man I have ever
+known, and I'm not ashamed of my feelings."
+
+For a long time he studied her, and then broke into rapid speech,
+allowing her no time for interruption.
+
+"I've held back and held back because I'm no talker. I can't be,
+in my business; but this is my last chance, and I want to put
+myself right with you. I've loved you ever since the Dawson days,
+not in the way you'd expect from a man of my sort, perhaps, but
+with the kind of love that a woman wants. I never showed my hand,
+for what was the use? That man outheld me. I'd have quit faro
+years back only I wouldn't leave this country as long as you were
+a part of it, and up here I'm only a gambler, fit for nothing
+else. I'd made up my mind to let you have him till something
+happened a couple of months ago, but now it can't go through. I'll
+have to down him. It isn't concerning you--I'm not a welcher. No,
+it's a thing I can't talk about, a thing that's made me into a
+wolf, made me skulk and walk the alleys like a dago. It's put
+murder into my heart. I've tried to assassinate him. I tried it
+here last night--but--I was a gentleman once--till the cards came.
+He knows the answer now, though, and he's ready for me--so one of
+us will go out like a candle when we meet. I felt that I had to
+tell you before I cut him down or before he got me."
+
+"You're talking like a madman, Kid," she replied, "and you mustn't
+turn against him now. He has troubles enough. I never knew you
+cared for me. What a tangle it is, to be sure. You love me, I love
+him, he loves that girl, and she loves a crook. Isn't that tragedy
+enough without your adding to it? You come at a bad time, too, for
+I'm half insane. There's something dreadful in the air to-night--"
+
+"I'll have to kill him," the man muttered, doggedly, and, plead or
+reason as she would, she could get nothing from him except those
+words, till at last she turned upon him fiercely.
+
+"You say you love me. Very well--let's see if you do. I know the
+kind of a man you are and I know what this feud will mean to him,
+coming just at this time. Put it aside and I'll marry you."
+
+The gambler rose slowly to his feet. "You do love him, don't you?"
+She bowed her face, and he winced, but continued: "I wouldn't make
+you my wife that way. I didn't mean it that way."
+
+At this she laughed bitterly, "Oh, I see. Of course not. How
+foolish of me to expect it of a man like you. I understand what
+you mean now, and the bargain will stand just the same, if that is
+what you came for. I wanted to leave this life and be good, to go
+away and start over and play the game square, but I see it's no
+use. I'll pay. I know how relentless you are, and the price is low
+enough. You can have me--and that--marriage talk--I'll not speak
+of again. I'll stay what I am for his sake."
+
+"Stop!" cried the Kid. "You're wrong. I'm not that kind of a
+sport." His voice broke suddenly, its vehemence shaking his slim
+body. "Oh, Cherry, I love you the way a man ought to love a woman.
+It's one of the two good things left in me, and I want to take you
+away from here where we can both hide from the past, where we can
+start new, as you say."
+
+"You would marry me?" she asked.
+
+"In an hour, and give my heart's blood for the privilege; but I
+can't stop this thing, not even if your own dear life hung upon
+it. I MUST kill that man."
+
+She approached him and laid her arms about his neck, every line of
+her body pleading, but he refused steadfastly, while the sweat
+stood out upon his brow.
+
+She begged: "They're all against him, Kid. He's fighting a
+hopeless fight. He laid all he had at that girl's feet, and I'll
+do the same for you."
+
+The man growled savagely. "He got his reward. He took all she had-
+-"
+
+"Don't be a fool. I guess I know. You're a faro-dealer, but you
+haven't any right to talk like that about a good woman, even to a
+bad one like me."
+
+Into his dark eyes slowly crept a hungry look, and she felt him
+begin to tremble the least bit. He undertook to speak, paused, wet
+his lips, then carefully chose these words:
+
+"Do you mean--that he did not--that she is--a good girl?"
+
+"Absolutely."
+
+He sat down weakly and passed a shaking hand over his face, which
+had begun to twitch and jerk again as it had on that night when
+his vengeance was thwarted.
+
+"I may as well tell you that I know she's more than that. She's
+honest and high-principled. I don't know why I'm saying this, but
+it was on my mind and I was half distracted when you came. She's
+in danger to-night, though--at this minute. I don't dare to think
+of what may have happened, for she's risked everything to make
+reparation to Roy and his friends."
+
+"What?"
+
+"She's gone to the Sign of the Sled alone with Struve."
+
+"Struve!" shouted the gambler, leaping to his feet. "Alone with
+Struve on a night like this?" He shook her fiercely, crying: "What
+for? Tell me quick!"
+
+She recounted the reasons for Helen's adventure, while the man's
+face became terrible.
+
+"Oh, Kid, I am to blame for letting her go. Why did I do it? I'm
+afraid--afraid."
+
+"The Sign of the Sled belongs to Struve, and the fellow who runs
+it is a rogue." The Bronco looked at the clock, his eyes bloodshot
+and dull like those of a goaded, fly-maddened bull. "It's eight
+o'clock now--ten miles--two hours. Too late!"
+
+"What ails you?" she questioned, baffled by his strange demeanor.
+"You called ME the one woman just now, and yet--"
+
+He swung towards her heavily. "She's my sister."
+
+"Your--sister? Oh, I--I'm glad. I'm glad--but don't stand there
+like a wooden man, for you've work to do. Wake up. Can't you hear?
+She's in peril!" Her words whipped him out of his stupor so that
+he drew himself somewhat under control. "Get into your coat.
+Hurry! Hurry! My pony will take you there." She snatched his
+garment from the chair and held it for him while the life ran back
+into his veins. Together they dashed out into the storm as she and
+Roy had done, and as he flung the saddle on the buckskin, she
+said:
+
+"I understand it all now. You heard the talk about her and
+Glenister; but it's wrong. I lied and schemed and intrigued
+against her, but it's over now. I guess there's a little streak of
+good in me somewhere, after all."
+
+He spoke to her from the saddle. "It's more than a streak, Cherry,
+and you're my kind of people." She smiled wanly back at him under
+the lantern-light.
+
+"That's left-handed, Kid. I don't want to be your kind. I want to
+be his kind--or your sister's kind."
+
+Upon leaving the rendezvous, Glenister and his two friends slunk
+through the night, avoiding the life and lights of the town, while
+the wind surged out of the voids to seaward, driving its wet
+burden through their flapping slickers, pelting their faces as
+though enraged at its failure to wash away the purposes written
+there. Their course brought them to a cabin at the western
+outskirts of the city, where they paused long enough to adjust
+something beneath the brims of their hats.
+
+Past them ran the iron rails of the narrow-gauged road which led
+out across the quaking tundra to the mountains and the mines. Upon
+this slender trail of steel there rolled one small, ungainly
+teapot of an engine which daily creaked and clanked back and forth
+at a snail's pace, screaming and wailing its complaint of the two
+high-loaded flat-cars behind. The ties beneath it were spiked to
+planks laid lengthwise over the semi-liquid road-bed, in places
+sagging beneath the surface till the humpbacked, short-waisted
+locomotive yawed and reeled and squealed like a drunken fish-wife.
+At night it panted wearily into the board station and there sighed
+and coughed and hissed away its fatigue as the coals died and the
+breath relaxed in its lungs.
+
+Early to bed and early to rise was perforce the motto of its grimy
+crew, who lived near by. To-night they were just retiring when
+stayed by a summons at their door. The engineer opened it to admit
+what appeared to his astonished eyes to be a Krupp cannon
+propelled by a man in yellow-oiled clothes and white cotton mask.
+This weapon assumed the proportions of a great, one-eyed monster,
+which stared with baleful fixity at his vitals, giving him a cold
+and empty feeling. Away back beyond this Cyclops of the Sightless
+Orb were two other strangers likewise equipped.
+
+The fireman arose from his chair, dropping an empty shoe with a
+thump, but, being of the West, without cavil or waste of wind, he
+stretched his hands above his head, balancing on one foot to keep
+his unshod member from the damp floor. He had unbuckled his belt,
+and now, loosened by the movement, his overalls seemed bent on
+sinking floorward in an ecstasy of abashment at the intrusion,
+whereupon with convulsive grip he hugged them to their duty, one
+hand and foot still elevated as though in the grand hailing-sign
+of some secret order. The other man was new to the ways of the
+North, so backed to the limit of his quarters, laid both hands
+protectingly upon his middle, and doubled up, remarking, fervidly:
+
+"Don't point that damn thing at my stomach."
+
+"Ha, ha!" laughed the fireman, with unnatural loudness. "Have your
+joke boys."
+
+"This ain't no joke," said the foremost figure, its breath
+bellying out the mask at its mouth.
+
+"Sure it is," insisted the shoeless one. "Must be--we ain't got
+anything worth stealing."
+
+"Get into your clothes and come along. We won't hurt you." The two
+obeyed and were taken to the sleeping engine and there instructed
+to produce a full head of steam in thirty minutes or suffer a
+premature taking off and a prompt elision from the realms of
+applied mechanics. As stimulus to their efforts two of the men
+stood over them till the engine began to sob and sigh reluctantly.
+Through the gloom that curtained the cab they saw other dim forms
+materializing and climbing silently on to the cars behind; then,
+as the steam-gauge touched the mark, the word was given and the
+train rumbled out from its shelter, its shrill plaint at curb and
+crossing whipped away and drowned in the storm.
+
+Slapjack remained in the cab, gun in lap, while Dextry climbed
+back to Glenister. He found the young man in good spirits, despite
+the discomfort of his exposed position, and striving to light his
+pipe behind the shelter of his coat.
+
+"Is the dynamite aboard?" the old man questioned.
+
+"Sure. Enough to ballast a battle-ship."
+
+As the train crept out of the camp and across the river bridge,
+its only light or glimmer the sparks that were snatched and
+harried by the blast, the partners seated themselves on the powder
+cases and conversed guardedly, while about them sounded the low
+murmur of the men who risked their all upon this cry to duty, who
+staked their lives and futures upon this hazard of the hills,
+because they thought it right.
+
+"We've made a good fight, whether we win or lose to-night," said
+Dextry.
+
+Roy replied, "MY fight is made and won."
+
+"What does that mean?"
+
+"My hardest battle had nothing to do with the Midas or the mines
+of Anvil. I fought and conquered myself."
+
+"Awful wet night for philosophy," the first remarked. "It's apt to
+sour on you like milk in a thunder-storm. S'pose you put overalls
+an' gum boots on some of them Boston ideas an' lead 'em out where
+I can look 'em over an' find out what they're up to."
+
+"I mean that I was a savage till I met Helen Chester and she made
+a man of me. It took sixty days, but I think she did a good job. I
+love the wild things just as much as ever, but I've learned that
+there are duties a fellow owes to himself, and to other people, if
+he'll only stop and think them out. I've found out, too, that the
+right thing is usually the hardest to do. Oh, I've improved a
+lot."
+
+"Gee! but you're popular with yourself. I don't see as it helps
+your looks any. You're as homely as ever--an' what good does it do
+you after all? She'll marry that big guy."
+
+"I know. That's what rankles, for he's no more worthy of her than
+I am. She'll do what's right, however, you may depend upon that,
+and perhaps she'll change him the way she did me. Why, she worked
+a miracle in my attitude towards life--my manner--"
+
+"Oh, your manners are good enough as they lay," interrupted the
+other. "You never did eat with your knife."
+
+"I don't believe in hara-kiri," Glenister laughed.
+
+"No, when it comes to intimacies with decorum, you're right on the
+job along with any of them Easterners. I watched you close at them
+'Frisco hotels last winter, and, say--you know as much as a horse.
+Why, you was wise to them tablewares and pickle-forks equal to a
+head-waiter, and it give me confidence just to be with you. I
+remember putting milk and sugar in my consomme the first time. It
+was pale and in a cup and looked like tea--but not you. No, sir!
+You savvied plenty and squeezed a lemon into yours--to clean your
+fingers, I reckon."
+
+Roy slapped his partner's wet back, for he was buoyant and elated.
+The sense of nearing danger pulsed through him like wine. "That
+wasn't just what I meant, but it goes. Say, if we win back our
+mine, we'll hit for New York next--eh?"
+
+"No, I don't aim to mingle with no higher civilization than I got
+in 'Frisco. I use that word 'higher' like it was applied to meat.
+Not that I wouldn't seem apropos, I'm stylish enough for Fifth
+Avenue or anywheres, but I like the West. Speakin' of modes an'
+styles, when I get all lit up in that gray woosted suit of mine, I
+guess I make the jaded sight-seers set up an' take notice--eh?
+Somethin' doin' every minute in the cranin' of necks--what?
+Nothin' gaudy, but the acme of neatness an' form, as the feller
+said who sold it to me."
+
+Their common peril brought the friends together again, into that
+close bond which had been theirs without interruption until this
+recent change in the younger had led him to choose paths at
+variance with the old man's ideas; and now they spoke, heart to
+heart, in the half-serious, half-jesting ways of old, while
+beneath each whimsical irony was that mutual love and
+understanding which had consecrated their partnership.
+
+Arriving at the end of the road, the Vigilantes debouched and went
+into the darkness of the canon behind their leader, to whom the
+trails were familiar. He bade them pause finally, and gave his
+last instructions.
+
+"They are on the alert, so you want to be careful. Divide into two
+parties and close in from both sides, creeping as near to the
+pickets as possible without discovery. Remember to wait for the
+last blast. When it comes, cut loose and charge like Sioux. Don't
+shoot to kill at first, for they're only soldiers and under
+orders, but if they stand--well, every man must do his work."
+
+Dextry appealed to the dim figures forming the circle.
+
+"I leave it to you, gents, if it ain't better for me to go inside
+than for the boy. I've had more experience with giant powder, an'
+I'm so blamed used up an' near gone it wouldn't hurt if they did
+get me, while he's right in his prime--"
+
+Glenister stopped him. "I won't yield the privilege. Come now--to
+your places, men."
+
+They melted away to each side while the old prospector paused to
+wring his partner's hand.
+
+"I'd ruther it was me, lad, but if they get you--God help 'em!" He
+stumbled after the departing shadows, leaving Roy alone. With his
+naked fingers, Glenister ripped open the powder cases and secreted
+the contents upon his person. Each cartridge held dynamite enough
+to devastate a village, and he loaded them inside his pockets,
+inside his shirt, and everywhere that he had room, till he was
+burdened and cased in an armor one-hundredth part of which could
+have blown him from the face of the earth so utterly as to leave
+no trace except, perhaps, a pit ripped out of the mountain-side.
+He looked to his fuses and saw that they were wrapped in oiled
+paper, then placed them in his hat. Having finished, he set out,
+walking with difficulty under the weight he carried.
+
+That his choice of location had been well made was evidenced by
+the fact that the ground beneath his feet sloped away to a basin
+out of which bubbled a spring. It furnished the drinking supply of
+the Midas, and he knew every inch of the crevice it had worn down
+the mountain, so felt his way cautiously along. At the bottom of
+the hill where it ran out upon the level it had worn a
+considerable ditch through the soil, and into this he crawled on
+hands and knees. His bulging clothes handicapped him so that his
+gait was slow and awkward, while the rain had swelled the
+streamlet till it trickled over his calves and up to his wrists,
+chilling him so that his muscles cramped and his very bones cried
+out with it. The sharp schist cut into his palms till they were
+shredded and bleeding, while his knees found every jagged bit of
+bed-rock over which he dragged himself. He could not see an arm's-
+length ahead without rising, and, having removed his slicker for
+greater freedom of movement, the rain beat upon his back till he
+was soaked and sodden and felt streamlets cleaving downward
+between his ribs. Now and again he squatted upon his haunches,
+straining his eyes to either side. The banks were barely high
+enough to shield him. At last he came to a bridge of planks
+spanning the ditch and was about to rear himself for another look
+when he suddenly flattened into the stream bed, half damming the
+waters with his body. It was for this he had so carefully wrapped
+his fuses. A man passed over him so close above that he might have
+touched him. The sentry paused a few paces beyond and accosted
+another, then retraced his steps over the bridge. Evidently this
+was the picket-line, so Roy wormed his way forward till he saw the
+blacker blackness of the mine buildings, then drew himself
+dripping out from the bank. He had run the gauntlet safely.
+
+Since evicting the owners, the receiver had erected substantial
+houses in place of the tents he had found on the mine. They were
+of frame and corrugated-iron, sheathed within and suited to
+withstand a moderate exposure. The partners had witnessed the
+operation from a distance, but knew nothing about the buildings
+from close examination.
+
+A thrill of affection for this place wanned the young man. He
+loved this old mine. It had realized the dream of his boyhood, and
+had answered the hope he had clung to during his long fight
+against the Northland. It had come to him when he was
+disheartened, bringing cheer and happiness, and had yielded itself
+like a bride. Now it seemed a crime to ravage it.
+
+He crept towards the nearest wall and listened. Within was the
+sound of voices, though the windows were dark, showing that the
+inhabitants were on the alert. Beneath the foundations he made
+mysterious preparations, then sought out the office building and
+cook-house, doing likewise. He found that back of the seeming
+repose of the Midas there was a strained expectancy.
+
+Although suspense had lengthened the time out of all calculation,
+he judged he had been gone from his companions at least an hour
+and that they must be in place by now. If they were not--if
+anything failed at this eleventh hour--well, those were the
+fortunes of war. In every enterprise, however carefully planned,
+there comes a time when chance must take its turn.
+
+He made his way inside the blacksmith-shop and fumbled for a
+match. Just as he was about to strike it he heard the swish of
+oiled clothes passing, and waited for some time. Then, igniting
+his punk and hiding it under his coat, he opened the door to
+listen. The wind had died down now and the rain sang musically
+upon the metal roofs.
+
+He ran swiftly from house to house, and, when he had done, at the
+apices of the triangle he had traced three glowing coals were
+sputtering.
+
+The final bolt was launched at last. He stepped down into the
+ditch and drew his .45, while to his tautened senses it seemed
+that the very hills leaned forth in breathless pause, that the
+rain had ceased, and the whole night hushed its thousand voices.
+He found his lower jaw set so stiffly that the muscles ached.
+Levelling his weapon at the eaves of the bunk-house, he pulled
+trigger rapidly--the bang, bang, bang, six times repeated,
+sounding dull and dead beneath the blanket of mist that overhung.
+A shout sounded behind him, and then the shriek of a Winchester
+ball close over his head. He turned in time to see another shot
+stream out of the darkness, where a sentry was firing at the flash
+of his gun, then bent himself double and plunged down the ditch.
+
+With the first impact overhead the men poured forth from their
+quarters armed and bristling, to be greeted by a volley of
+gunshots, the thud of bullets, and the dwindling whine of spent
+lead. They leaped from shelter to find themselves girt with a
+fitful hoop of fire, for the "Stranglers" had spread in the arc of
+a circle and now emptied their rifles towards the centre. The
+defenders, however, maintained surprising order considering the
+suddenness of their attack, and ran to join the sentries, whose
+positions could be determined by the nearer flashes. The voice of
+a man in authority shouted loud commands. No demonstration came
+from the outer voids, nothing but the wicked streaks that stabbed
+the darkness. Then suddenly, behind McNamara's men, the night
+glared luridly as though a great furnace-door had opened and then
+clanged shut, while with it came a hoarse thudding roar that
+silenced the rifle play. They saw the cook-house disrupt itself
+and disintegrate into a thousand flying timbers and twisted sheets
+of tin which soared upward and outward over their heads and into
+the night. As the rocking hills ceased echoing, the sound of the
+Vigilantes' rifles recurred like the cracking of dry sticks, then
+everywhere about the defenders the earth was lashed by falling
+debris while the iron roofs rang at the fusillade.
+
+The blast had come at their very elbows, and they were too dazed
+and shaken by it to grasp its significance. Then, before they
+could realize what it boded, the depths lit up again till the
+raindrops were outlined distinct and glistening like a gossamer
+veil of silver, while the office building to their left was ripped
+and rended and the adjoining walls leaped out into sudden relief,
+their shattered windows looking like ghostly, sightless eyes. The
+curtain of darkness closed heavier than velvet, and the men
+cowered in their tracks, shielding themselves behind the nearest
+objects or behind one another's bodies, waiting for the sky to
+vomit over them its rain of missiles. Their backs were to the
+Vigilantes now, their faces to the centre. Many had dropped their
+rifles. The thunder of hoofs and the scream of terrified horses
+came from the stables. The cry of a maddened beast is weird and
+calculated to curdle the blood at best, but with it arose a human
+voice, shrieking from pain and fear of death. A wrenched and
+doubled mass of zinc had hurtled out of the heavens and struck
+some one down. The choking hoarseness of the man's appeal told the
+story, and those about him broke into flight to escape what might
+follow, to escape this danger they could not see but which swooped
+out of the blackness above and against which there was no defence.
+They fled only to witness another and greater light behind them by
+which they saw themselves running, falling, grovelling. This time
+they were hurled from their balance by a concussion which dwarfed
+the two preceding ones. Some few stood still, staring at the
+rolling smoke-bank as it was revealed by the explosion, their eyes
+gleaming white, while others buried their faces in their hollowed
+arms as if to shut out the hellish glare, or to shield themselves
+from a blow.
+
+Out in the heart of the chaos rang a voice loud and clear:
+
+"Beware the next blast!"
+
+At the same instant the girdle of sharp-shooters rose up smiting
+the air with their cries and charged in like madmen through the
+rain of detritus. They fired as they came, but it was unnecessary,
+for there was no longer a fight. It was a rout. The defenders,
+feeling they had escaped destruction only by a happy chance in
+leaving the bunk-house the instant they did, were not minded to
+tarry here where the heavens fell upon their heads. To augment
+their consternation, the horses had broken from their stalls and
+were plunging through the confusion. Fear swept over the men--
+blind, unreasoning, contagious--and they rushed out into the
+night, colliding with their enemies, overrunning them in the panic
+to quit this spot. Some dashed off the bluff and fell among the
+pits and sluices. Others ran up the mountain-side, and cowered in
+the brush like quail.
+
+As the "Stranglers" assembled their prisoners near the ruins, they
+heard wounded men moaning in the darkness, so lit torches and
+searched out the stricken ones. Glenister came running through the
+smoke pall, revolver in hand, crying: "Has any one seen McNamara?"
+No one had, and when they were later assembled to take stock of
+their injuries he was greeted by Dextry's gleeful announcement:
+
+"That's the deuce of a fight. We 'ain't got so much as a cold sore
+among us."
+
+"We have captured fourteen," another announced, "and there may be
+more out yonder in the brush."
+
+Glenister noted with growing surprise that not one of the
+prisoners lined up beneath the glaring torches wore the army blue.
+They were miners all, or thugs and ruffians gathered from the
+camp. Where, he wondered, were the soldiers.
+
+"Didn't you have troops from the barracks to help you?" he asked.
+
+"Not a troop. We haven't seen a soldier since we went to work."
+
+At this the young leader became alarmed. Had this whole attack
+miscarried? Had this been no clash with the United States forces,
+after all? If so, the news would never reach Washington, and
+instead of accomplishing his end, he and his friends had thrust
+themselves into the realms of outlawry, where the soldiers could
+be employed against them with impunity, where prices would rest
+upon their heads. Innocent blood had been shed, court property
+destroyed. McNamara had them where he wanted them at last. They
+were at bay.
+
+The unwounded prisoners were taken to the boundaries of the Midas
+and released with such warnings as the imagination of Dextry could
+conjure up; then Glenister assembled his men, speaking to them
+plainly.
+
+"Boys, this is no victory. In fact, we're worse off than we were
+before, and our biggest fight is coming. There's a chance to get
+away now before daylight and before we're recognized, but if we're
+seen here at sun-up we'll have to stay and fight. Soldiers will be
+sent against us, but if we hold out, and the struggle is fierce
+enough, it may reach to Washington. This will be a different kind
+of fighting now, though. It will be warfare pure and simple. How
+many of you will stick?"
+
+"All of us," said they, in unison, and, accordingly, preparations
+for a siege were begun. Barricades were built, ruins removed,
+buildings transformed into blockhouses, and all through the
+turbulent night the tired men labored till ready to drop, led
+always by the young giant, who seemed without fatigue.
+
+It was perhaps four hours after midnight when a man sought him
+out.
+
+"Somebody's callin' you on the Assay Office telephone--says it's
+life or death."
+
+Glenister hurried to the building, which had escaped the shock of
+the explosions, and, taking down the receiver, was answered by
+Cherry Malotte.
+
+"Thank God, you're safe," she began. "The men have just come in
+and the whole town is awake over the riot. They say you've killed
+ten people in the fight--is it true?"
+
+He explained to her briefly that all was well, but she broke in:
+
+"Wait, wait! McNamara has called for troops and you'll all be
+shot. Oh, what a terrible night it has been! I haven't been to
+bed. I'm going mad. Now, listen, carefully--yesterday Helen went
+with Struve to the Sign of the Sled and she hasn't come back."
+
+The man at the end of the wire cried out at this, then choked back
+his words to hear what followed. His free hand began making
+strange, futile motions as though he traced patterns in the air.
+
+"I can't raise the road-house on the wire and--something dreadful
+has happened, I know."
+
+"What made her go?" he shouted.
+
+"To save you," came Cherry's faint reply. "If you love her, ride
+fast to the Sign of the Sled or you'll be too late. The Bronco Kid
+has gone there--"
+
+At that name Roy crashed the instrument to its hook and burst out
+of the shanty, calling loudly to his men.
+
+"What's up?"
+
+"Where are you going?"
+
+"To the Sign of the Sled," he panted.
+
+"We've stood by you, Glenister, and you can't quit us like this,"
+said one, angrily. "The trail to town is good, and we'll take it
+if you do." Roy saw they feared he was deserting, feared that he
+had heard some alarming rumor of which they did not know.
+
+"We'll let the mine go, boys, for I can't ask you to do what I
+refuse to do myself, and yet it's not fear that's sending me.
+There's a woman in danger and I MUST go. She courted ruin to save
+us all, risked her honor to try and right a wrong--and--I'm afraid
+of what has happened while we were fighting here. I don't ask you
+to stay till I come back--it wouldn't be square, and you'd better
+go while you have a chance. As for me--I gave up the old claim
+once--I can do it again." He swung himself to the horse's back,
+settled into the saddle, and rode out through the lane of belted
+men.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+IN WHICH THREE GO TO THE SIGN OF THE SLED AND BUT TWO RETURN
+
+
+As Helen and her companion ascended the mountain, scarred and
+swept by the tempest of the previous night, they heard, far below,
+the swollen torrent brawling in its bowlder-ridden bed, while
+behind them the angry ocean spread southward to a blood-red
+horizon. Ahead, the bleak mountains brooded over forbidding
+valleys; to the west a suffused sun glared sullenly, painting the
+high-piled clouds with the gorgeous hues of a stormy sunset. To
+Helen the wild scene seemed dyed with the colors of flame and
+blood and steel.
+
+"That rain raised the deuce with the trails," said Struve, as they
+picked their way past an unsightly "slip" whence a part of the
+overhanging mountain, loosened by the deluge, had slid into the
+gulch. "Another storm like that would wash out these roads
+completely."
+
+Even in the daylight it was no easy task to avoid these danger
+spots, for the horses floundered on the muddy soil. Vaguely the
+girl wondered how she would find her way back in the darkness, as
+she had planned. She said little as they approached the road-
+house, for the thoughts within her brain had begun to clamor too
+wildly; but Struve, more arrogant than ever before, more
+terrifyingly sure of himself, was loudly garrulous. As they drew
+nearer and nearer, the dread that possessed the girl became of
+paralyzing intensity. If she should fail--but she vowed she would
+not, could not, fail.
+
+They rounded a bend and saw the Sign of the Sled cradled below
+them where the trail dipped to a stream which tumbled from the
+comb above into the river twisting like a silver thread through
+the distant valley. A peeled flag-pole topped by a spruce bough
+stood in front of the tavern, while over the door hung a sled
+suspended from a beam. The house itself was a quaint structure,
+rambling and amorphous, from whose sod roof sprang blooming
+flowers, and whose high-banked walls were pierced here and there
+with sleepy windows. It had been built by a homesick foreigner of
+unknown nationality whom the army of "mushers" who paid for his
+clean and orderly hospitality had dubbed duly and as a matter of
+course a "Swede." When travel had changed to the river trail,
+leaving the house lonesome and high as though left by a receding
+wave, Struve had taken it over on a debt, and now ran it for the
+convenience of a slender traffic, mainly stampeders, who chose the
+higher route towards the interior. His hireling spent the idle
+hours in prospecting a hungry quartz lead and in doing assessment
+work on near-by claims.
+
+Shortz took the horses and answered his employer's questions
+curtly, flashing a curious look at Helen. Under other conditions
+the girl would have been delighted with the place, for this was
+the quaintest spot she had found in the north country. The main
+room held bar and gold-scales, a rude table, and a huge iron
+heater, while its walls and ceiling were sheeted with white cloth
+so cunningly stitched and tacked that it seemed a cavern hollowed
+from chalk. It was filled with trophies of the hills, stuffed
+birds and animals, skins and antlers, from which depended, in
+careless confusion, dog harness, snow-shoes, guns, and articles of
+clothing. A door to the left led into the bunk-room where
+travellers had been wont to sleep in tiers three deep. To the rear
+was a kitchen and cache, to the right a compartment which Struve
+called the art gallery. Here, free reign had been allowed the
+original owner's artistic fancies, and he had covered the place
+with pictures clipped from gazettes of questionable repute till it
+was a bewildering arrangement of pink ladies in tights, pugilists
+in scanty trunks, prize bulldogs, and other less moral characters
+of the sporting world.
+
+"This is probably the worst company you were ever in," Struve
+observed to Helen, with a forced attempt at lightness.
+
+"Are there no guests here?" she asked him, her anxiety very near
+the surface.
+
+"Travel is light at this time of the year. They'll come in later,
+perhaps."
+
+A fire was burning in this pink room where the landlord had begun
+spreading the table for two, and its warmth was grateful to the
+girl. Her companion, thoroughly at his ease, stretched himself on
+a fur-covered couch and smoked.
+
+"Let me see the papers, now, Mr. Struve," she began, but he put
+her off.
+
+"No, not now. Business must wait on our dinner. Don't spoil our
+little party, for there's time enough and to spare."
+
+She arose and went to the window, unable to sit still. Looking
+down the narrow gulch she saw that the mountains beyond were
+indistinct for it was growing dark rapidly. Dense clouds had
+rolled up from the east. A rain-drop struck the glass before her
+eyes, then another and another, and the hills grew misty behind
+the coming shower. A traveller with a pack on his back hurried
+around the corner of the building and past her to the door. At his
+knock, Struve, who had been watching Helen through half-shut eyes,
+arose and went into the other room.
+
+"Thank Heaven, some one has come," she thought. The voices were
+deadened to a hum by the sod walls, till that of the stranger
+raised itself in such indignant protest that she distinguished his
+words.
+
+"Oh, I've got money to pay my way. I'm no dead-head."
+
+Shortz mumbled something back.
+
+"I don't care if you are closed. I'm tired and there's a storm
+coming."
+
+This time she heard the landlord's refusal and the miner's angry
+profanity. A moment later she saw the traveller plodding up the
+trail towards town.
+
+"What does that mean?" she inquired, as the lawyer re-entered.
+
+"Oh, that fellow is a tough, and Shortz wouldn't let him in. He's
+careful whom he entertains--there are so many bad men roaming the
+hills."
+
+The German came in shortly to light the lamp, and, although she
+asked no further questions, Helen's uneasiness increased. She half
+listened to the stories with which Struve tried to entertain her
+and ate little of the excellent meal that was shortly served to
+them. Struve, meanwhile, ate and drank almost greedily, and the
+shadowy, sinister evening crept along. A strange cowardice had
+suddenly overtaken the girl; and if, at this late hour, she could
+have withdrawn, she would have done so gladly and gone forth to
+meet the violence of the tempest. But she had gone too far for
+retreat; and realizing that, for the present, apparent compliance
+was her wisest resource, she sat quiet, answering the man with
+cool words while his eyes grew brighter, his skin more flushed,
+his speech more rapid. He talked incessantly and with feverish
+gayety, smoking numberless cigarettes and apparently unconscious
+of the flight of time. At last he broke off suddenly and consulted
+his watch, while Helen remembered that she had not heard Shortz in
+the kitchen for a long time. Suddenly Struve smiled on her
+peculiarly, with confident cunning. As he leered at her over the
+disorder between them he took from his pocket a flat bundle which
+he tossed to her.
+
+"Now for the bargain, eh?"
+
+"Ask the man to remove these dishes," she said, as she undid the
+parcel with clumsy fingers.
+
+"I sent him away two hours ago," said Struve, arising as if to
+come to her. She shrank back, but he only leaned across, gathered
+up the four corners of the tablecloth, and, twisting them
+together, carried the whole thing out, the dishes crashing and
+jangling as he threw his burden recklessly into the kitchen. Then
+he returned and stood with his back to the stove, staring at her
+while she perused the contents of the papers, which were more
+voluminous than she had supposed.
+
+For a long time the girl pored over the documents. The purport of
+the papers was only too obvious; and, as she read, the proof of
+her uncle's guilt stood out clear and damning. There was no
+possibility of mistake; the whole wretched plot stood out plain,
+its darkest infamies revealed.
+
+In spite of the cruelty of her disillusionment, Helen was
+nevertheless exalted with the fierce ecstasy of power, with the
+knowledge that justice would at last be rendered. It would be her
+triumph and her expiation that she, who had been the unwitting
+tool of this miserable clique, would be the one through whom
+restitution was made. She arose with her eyes gleaming and her
+lips set.
+
+"It is here."
+
+"Of course it is. Enough to convict us all. It means the
+penitentiary for your precious uncle and your lover." He stretched
+his chin upward at the mention as though to free his throat from
+an invisible clutch. "Yes, your lover particularly, for he's the
+real one. That's why I brought you here. He'll marry you, but I'll
+be the best man." The timbre of his voice was unpleasant.
+
+"Come, let us go," she said.
+
+"Go," he chuckled, mirthlessly. "That's a fine example of
+unconscious humor."
+
+"What do you mean?"
+
+"Well, first, no human being could find his way down to the coast
+in this tempest; second--but, by-the-way, let me explain something
+in those papers while I think of it." He spoke casually and
+stepped forward, reaching for the package, which she was about to
+give up, when something prompted her to snatch it behind her back;
+and it was well she did, for his hand was but a few inches away.
+He was no match for her quickness, however, and she glided around
+the table, thrusting the papers into the front of her dress. The
+sudden contact with Cherry's revolver gave her a certain comfort.
+She spoke now with determination.
+
+"I intend to leave here at once. Will you bring my horse? Very
+well, I shall do it myself."
+
+She turned, but his indolence vanished like a flash, and springing
+in front of the door he barred her way.
+
+"Hold on, my lady. You ought to understand without my saying any
+more. Why did I bring you here? Why did I plan this little party?
+Why did I send that man away? Just to give you the proof of my
+complicity in a crime, I suppose. Well, hardly. You won't leave
+here to-night. And when you do, you won't carry those papers--my
+own safety depends on that and I am selfish, so don't get me
+started. Listen!" They caught the wail of the night crying as
+though hungry for sacrifice. "No, you'll stay here and--"
+
+He broke off abruptly, for Helen had stepped to the telephone and
+taken down the receiver. He leaped, snatched it from her, and
+then, tearing the instrument loose from the wall, raised it above
+his head, dashed it upon the floor, and sprang towards her, but
+she wrenched herself free and fled across the room. The man's
+white hair was wildly tumbled, his face was purple, and his neck
+and throat showed swollen, throbbing veins. He stood still,
+however, and his lips cracked into his ever-present, cautious
+smile.
+
+"Now, don't let's fight about this. It's no use, for I've played
+to win. You have your proof--now I'll have my price--or else I'll
+take it. Think over which it will be, while I lock up."
+
+Far down the mountain-side a man was urging a broken pony
+recklessly along the trail. The beast was blown and spent, its
+knees weak and bending, yet the rider forced it as though behind
+him yelled a thousand devils, spurring headlong through gully and
+ford, up steep slopes and down invisible ravines. Sometimes the
+animal stumbled and fell with its master, sometimes they arose
+together, but the man was heedless of all except his haste,
+insensible to the rain which smote him blindingly, and to the wind
+which seized him savagely upon the ridges, or gasped at him in the
+gullies with exhausted malice. At last he gained the plateau and
+saw the road-house light beneath, so drove his heels into the
+flanks of the wind-broken creature, which lunged forward gamely.
+He felt the pony rear and drop away beneath him, pawing and
+scrambling, and instinctively kicked his feet free from the
+stirrups, striving to throw himself out of the saddle and clear of
+the thrashing hoofs. It seemed that he turned over in the air
+before something smote him and he lay still, his gaunt, dark face
+upturned to the rain, while about him the storm screamed
+exultantly.
+
+The moment Struve disappeared into the outer room Helen darted to
+the window. It was merely a single sash, nailed fast and
+immovable, but seizing one of the little stools beside the stove
+she thrust it through the glass, letting in a smother of wind and
+water. Before she could escape, Struve bounded into the room, his
+face livid with anger, his voice hoarse and furious.
+
+But as he began to denounce her he paused in amazement, for the
+girl had drawn Cherry's weapon and levelled it at him. She was
+very pale and her breast heaved as from a swift run, while her
+wondrous gray eyes were lit with a light no man had ever seen
+there before, glowing like two jewels whose hearts contained the
+pent-up passion of centuries. She had altered as though under the
+deft hand of a master-sculptor, her nostrils growing thin and
+arched, her lips tight pressed and pitiless, her head poised
+proudly. The rain drove in through the shattered window, over and
+past her, while the cheap red curtain lashed and whipped her as
+though in gleeful applause. Her bitter abhorrence of the man made
+her voice sound strangely unnatural as she commanded:
+
+"Don't dare to stop me." She moved towards the door, motioning him
+to retreat before her, and he obeyed, recognizing the danger of
+her coolness. She did not note the calculating treachery of his
+glance, however, nor fathom the purposes he had in mind.
+
+ Out on the rain-swept mountain the prostrate rider had regained
+his senses and now was crawling painfully towards the road-house.
+Seen through the dark he would have resembled some misshapen,
+creeping monster, for he dragged himself, reptile-like, close to
+the ground. But as he came closer the man heard a cry which the
+wind seemed guarding from his ear, and, hearing it, he rose and
+rushed blindly forward, staggering like a wounded beast.
+
+Helen watched her captive closely as he backed through the door
+before her, for she dared not lose sight of him until free. The
+middle room was lighted by a glass lamp on the bar and its rays
+showed that the front-door was secured by a large iron bolt. She
+thanked Heaven there was no lock and key.
+
+Struve had retreated until his back was to the counter, offering
+no word, making no move, but the darting brightness of his eyes
+showed that he was alert and planning. But when the door behind
+Helen, urged by the wind through the broken casement, banged to,
+the man made his first lightning-like sign. He dashed the lamp to
+the floor, where it burst like an eggshell, and darkness leaped
+into the room as an animal pounces. Had she been calmer or had
+time for an instant's thought Helen would have hastened back to
+the light, but she was midway to her liberty and actuated by the
+sole desire to break out into the open air, so plunged forward.
+Without warning, she was hurled from her feet by a body which came
+out of the darkness upon her. She fired the little gun, but
+Struve's arms closed about her, the weapon was wrenched from her
+hand, and she found herself fighting against him, breast to
+breast, with the fury of desperation. His wine-burdened breath
+beat into her face and she felt herself bound to him as though by
+hoops, while the touch of his cheek against hers turned her into a
+terrified, insensate animal, which fought with every ounce of its
+strength and every nerve of its body. She screamed once, but it
+was not like the cry of a woman. Then the struggle went on in
+silence and utter blackness, Strove holding her like a gorilla
+till she grew faint and her head began to whirl, while darting
+lights drove past her eyes and there was the roar of a cataract in
+her ears. She was a strong girl, and her ripe young body, untried
+until this moment, answered in every fibre, so that she wrestled
+with almost a man's strength and he had hard shift to hold her.
+But so violent an encounter could not last. Helen felt herself
+drifting free from the earth and losing grip of all things
+tangible, when at last they tripped and fell against the inner
+door. This gave way, and at the same moment the man's strength
+departed as though it were a thing of darkness and dared not face
+the light that streamed over them. She tore herself from his
+clutch and staggered into the supper-room, her loosened hair
+falling in a gleaming torrent about her shoulders, while he arose
+from his knees and came towards her again, gasping:
+
+"I'll show you who's master here--"
+
+Then he ceased abruptly, cringingly, and threw up an arm before
+his face as if to ward off a blow. Framed in the window was the
+pallid visage of a man. The air rocked, the lamp flared, and
+Struve whirled completely around, falling back against the wall.
+His eyes filled with horror and shifted down where his hand had
+clutched at his breast, plucking at one spot as if tearing a barb
+from his bosom. He jerked his head towards the door at his elbow
+in quest of a retreat a shudder ran over him, his knees buckled
+and he plunged forward upon his face, his arm still doubled under
+him.
+
+It had happened like a flash of light, and although Helen felt,
+rather than heard, the shot and saw her assailant fall, she did
+not realize the meaning of it till a drift of powder smoke
+assailed her nostrils. Even so, she experienced no shock nor
+horror of the sight. On the contrary, a savage joy at the
+spectacle seized her and she stood still, leaning slightly
+forward, staring at it almost gloatingly, stood so till she heard
+her name called, "Helen, little sister!" and, turning, saw her
+brother in the window.
+
+That which he witnessed in her face he had seen before in the
+faces of men locked close with a hateful death and from whom all
+but the most elemental passions had departed--but he had never
+seen a woman bear the marks till now. No artifice nor falsity was
+there, nothing but the crudest, intensest feeling, which many
+people live and die without knowing. There are few who come to
+know the great primitive, passionate longings. But in this black
+night, fighting in defence of her most sacred self, this girl's
+nature had been stripped to its purely savage elements. As
+Glenister had predicted, Helen at last had felt and yielded to
+irresistibly powerful impulse.
+
+Glancing backward at the creature sprawled by the door, Helen went
+to her brother, put her arms about his neck, and kissed him.
+
+"He's dead?" the Kid asked her.
+
+She nodded and tried to speak, but began to shiver and sob
+instead.
+
+"Unlock the door," he begged her. "I'm hurt, and I must get in."
+
+When the Kid had hobbled into the room, she pressed him to her and
+stroked his matted head, regardless of his muddy, soaking
+garments.
+
+"I must look at him. He may not be badly hurt," said the Kid.
+
+"Don't touch him!" She followed, nevertheless, and stood near by
+while her brother examined his victim. Struve was breathing, and,
+discovering this, the others lifted him with difficulty to the
+couch.
+
+"Something cracked in here--ribs, I guess," the Kid remarked,
+gasping and feeling his own side. He was weak and pale, and the
+girl led him into the bunk-room, where he could lie down. Only his
+wonderful determination had sustained him thus far, and now the
+knowledge of his helplessness served to prevent Helen's collapse.
+
+The Kid would not hear of her going for help till the storm abated
+or daylight came, insisting that the trails were too treacherous
+and that no time could be saved by doing so. Thus they waited for
+the dawn. At last they heard the wounded man faintly calling. He
+spoke to Helen hoarsely. There was no malice, only fear, in his
+tones:
+
+"I said this was my madness--and I got what I deserved, but I'm
+going to die. O God--I'm going to die and I'm afraid." He moaned
+till the Bronco Kid hobbled in, glaring with unquenched hatred.
+
+"Yes, you're going to die and I did it. Be game, can't you? I
+sha'n't let her go for help until daylight."
+
+Helen forced her brother back to his couch, and returned to help
+the wounded man, who grew incoherent and began to babble.
+
+A little later, when the Kid seemed stronger and his head clearer,
+Helen ventured to tell him of their uncle's villany and of the
+proof she held, with her hope of restoring justice. She told him
+of the attack planned that very night and of the danger which
+threatened the miners. He questioned her closely and, realizing
+the bearing of her story, crept to the door, casting the wind like
+a hound.
+
+"We'll have to risk it," said he. "The wind is almost gone and
+it's not long till daylight."
+
+She pleaded to go alone, but he was firm. "I'll never leave you
+again, and, moreover, I know the lower trail quite well. We'll go
+down the gulch to the valley and reach town that way. It's farther
+but it's not so dangerous."
+
+"You can't ride," she insisted.
+
+"I can if you'll tie me into the saddle. Come, get the horses."
+
+It was still pitchy dark and the rain was pouring, but the wind
+only sighed weakly as though tired by its violence when she helped
+the Bronco into his saddle. The effort wrenched a groan from him,
+but he insisted upon her tying his feet beneath the horse's belly,
+saying that the trail was rough and he could take no chance of
+falling again; so, having performed the last services she might
+for Struve, she mounted her own animal and allowed it to pick its
+way down the steep descent behind her brother, who swayed and
+lurched drunkenly in his seat, gripping the horn before him with
+both hands.
+
+ They had been gone perhaps a half-hour when another horse plunged
+furiously out of the darkness and halted before the road-house
+door. Its rider, mud-stained and dishevelled, flung himself in mad
+haste to the ground and bolted in through the door. He saw the
+signs of confusion in the outer room, chairs upset and broken, the
+table wedged against the stove, and before the counter a shattered
+lamp in a pool of oil. He called loudly, but, receiving no answer,
+snatched a light which, he found burning and ran to the door at
+his left. Nothing greeted him but the empty tiers of bunks.
+Turning, he crossed to the other side and burst through. Another
+lamp was lighted beside the couch where Struve lay, breathing
+heavily, his lids half closed over his staring eyes. Roy noted the
+pool of blood at his feet and the broken window; then, setting
+down his lamp, he leaned over the man and spoke to him.
+
+When he received no answer he spoke again loudly. Then, in a
+frenzy, Glenister shook the wounded man cruelly, so that he cried
+out in terror:
+
+"I'm dying--oh, I'm dying." Roy raised the sick man up and thrust
+his own face before his eyes.
+
+"This is Glenister. I've come for Helen--where is she?" A spark of
+recognition flickered into the dull stare.
+
+"You're too late--I'm dying--and I'm afraid."
+
+His questioner shook Struve again. "Where is she?" he repeated,
+time after time, till by very force of his own insistence he
+compelled realization in the sufferer.
+
+"The Kid took her away. The Kid shot me," and then his voice rose
+till it flooded the room with terror. "The Kid shot me and I'm
+dying." He coughed blood to his lips, at which Roy laid him back
+and stood up. So there was no mistake, after all, and he had
+arrived too late. This was the Kid's revenge. This was how he
+struck. Lacking courage to face a man's level eyes, he possessed
+the foulness to prey upon a woman. Roy felt a weakening physical
+sickness sweep over him till his eye fell upon a sodden garment
+which Helen had removed from her brother's shoulders and replaced
+with a dry one. He snatched it from the floor and in a sudden fury
+felt it come apart in his hands like wet tissue-paper.
+
+He found himself out in the rain, scanning the trampled soil by
+light of his lamp, and discerned tracks which the drizzle had not
+yet erased. He reasoned mechanically that the two riders could
+have no great start of him, so strode out beyond the house to see
+if they had gone farther into the hills. There were no tracks
+here, therefore they must have doubled back towards town. It did
+not occur to him that they might have left the beaten path and
+followed down the little creek to the river; but, replacing the
+light where he had found it, he remounted and lashed his horse
+into a stiff canter up towards the divide that lay between him and
+the city. The story was growing plainer to him, though as yet he
+could not piece it all together. Its possibilities stabbed him
+with such horror that he cried out aloud and beat his steed into
+faster time with both hands and feet. To think of those two
+ruffians fighting over this girl as though she were the spoils of
+pillage! He must overtake the Kid--he WOULD! The possibility that
+he might not threw him into such ungovernable mental chaos that he
+was forced to calm himself. Men went mad that way. He could not
+think of it. That gasping creature in the road-house spoke all too
+well of the Bronco's determination. And yet, who of those who had
+known the Kid in the past would dream that his vileness was so
+utter as this?
+
+Away to the right, hidden among the shadowed hills, his friends
+rested themselves for the coming battle, waiting impatiently his
+return, and timing it to the rising sun. Down in the valley to his
+left were the two he followed, while he, obsessed and unreasoning,
+now cursing like a madman, now grim and silent, spurred southward
+towards town and into the ranks of his enemies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+THE HAMMER-LOCK
+
+
+Day was breaking as Glenister came down the mountain. With the
+first light he halted to scan the trail, and having no means of
+knowing that the fresh tracks he found were not those of the two
+riders he followed, he urged his lathered horse ahead till he
+became suddenly conscious that he was very tired and had not slept
+for two days and nights. The recollection did not reassure the
+young man, for his body was a weapon which must not fail in the
+slightest measure now that there was work to do. Even the
+unwelcome speculation upon his physical handicap offered relief,
+however, from the agony which fed upon him whenever he thought of
+Helen in the gambler's hands. Meanwhile, the horse, groaning at
+his master's violence, plunged onward towards the roofs of Nome,
+now growing gray in the first dawn.
+
+It seemed years since Roy had seen the sunlight, for this night,
+burdened with suspense, had been endlessly long. His body was
+faint beneath the strain, and yet he rode on and on, tired,
+dogged, stony, his eyes set towards the sea, his mind a storm of
+formless, whirling thoughts, beneath which was an undeviating,
+implacable determination.
+
+He knew now that he had sacrificed all hope of the Midas, and
+likewise the hope of Helen was gone; in fact, he began to realize
+dimly that from the beginning he had never had the possibility of
+winning her, that she had never been destined for him, and that
+his love for her had been sent as a light by which he was to find
+himself. He had failed everywhere, he had become an outlaw, he had
+fought and gone down, certain only of his rectitude and the
+mastery of his unruly spirit. Now the hour had come when he would
+perform his last mission, deriving therefrom that satisfaction
+which the gods could not deny. He would have his vengeance.
+
+The scheme took form without conscious effort on his part and
+embraced two things--the death of the gambler and a meeting with
+McNamara. Of the former, he had no more doubt than that the sun
+rising there would sink in the west. So well confirmed was this
+belief that the details did not engage his thought; but on the
+result of the other encounter he speculated with some interest.
+From the first McNamara had been a riddle to him, and mystery
+breeds curiosity. His blind, instinctive hatred of the man had
+assumed the proportions of a mania; but as to what the outcome
+would be when they met face to face, fate alone could tell.
+Anyway, McNamara should never have Helen--Roy believed his mission
+covered that point as well as her deliverance from the Bronco Kid.
+When he had finished--he would pay the price. If he had the luck
+to escape, he would go back to his hills and his solitude; if he
+did not, his future would be in the hands of his enemies.
+
+He entered the silent streets unobserved, for the mists were heavy
+and low. Smoke columns arose vertically in the still air. The rain
+had ceased, having beaten down the waves which rumbled against the
+beach, filling the streets with their subdued thunder. A ship,
+anchored in the offing, had run in from the lee of Sledge Island
+with the first lull, while midway to the shore a tender was rising
+and falling, its oars flashing like the silvered feelers of a sea
+insect crawling upon the surface of the ocean.
+
+He rode down Front Street heedless of danger, heedless of the
+comment his appearance might create, and, unseen, entered his
+enemy's stronghold. He passed a gambling-hall, through the windows
+of which came a sickly yellow gleam. A man came out unsteadily and
+stared at the horseman, then passed on.
+
+Glenister's plan was to go straight to the Northern and from there
+to track down its owner relentlessly, but in order to reach the
+place his course led him past the office of Dunham & Struve. This
+brought back to his mind the man dying out there ten miles at his
+back. The scantiest humanity demanded that assistance be sent at
+once. Yet he dared not give word openly, thus betraying his
+presence, for it was necessary that he maintain his liberty during
+the next hour at all hazards. He suddenly thought of an expedient
+and reined in his horse, which stopped with wide-spread legs and
+dejected head while he dismounted and climbed the stairs to leave
+a note upon the door. Some one would see the message shortly and
+recognize its urgency.
+
+In dressing for the battle at the Midas on the previous night he
+had replaced his leather boots with "mukluks," which are
+waterproof, light, and pliable footgear made from the skin of seal
+and walrus. He was thus able to move as noiselessly as though in
+moccasins. Finding neither pencil nor paper in his pocket, he
+tried the outer door of the office, to find it unlocked. He
+stepped inside and listened, then moved towards a table on which
+were writing materials, but in doing so heard a rustle in Struve's
+private office. Evidently his soft soles had not disturbed the man
+inside. Roy was about to tiptoe out as he had come when the hidden
+man cleared his throat. It is in these involuntary sounds that the
+voice retains its natural quality more distinctly even than in
+speaking, A strange eagerness grew in Glenister's face and he
+approached the partition stealthily. It was of wood and glass, the
+panes clouded and opaque to a height of some six feet; but
+stepping upon a chair he peered into the room beyond. A man knelt
+in a litter of papers before the open safe, its drawers and
+compartments removed and their contents scattered. The watcher
+lowered himself, drew his gun, and laid soft hand upon the door-
+knob, turning the latch with firm fingers. His vengeance had come
+to meet him.
+
+ After lying in wait during the long night, certain that the
+Vigilantes would spring his trap, McNamara was astounded at news
+of the battle at the Midas and of Glenister's success. He stormed
+and cursed his men as cowards. The Judge became greatly exercised
+over this new development, which, coupled with his night of long
+anxiety, reduced him to a pitiful hysteria.
+
+"They'll blow us up next. Great Heavens! Dynamite! Oh, that is
+barbarous. For Heaven's sake, get the soldiers out, Alec."
+
+"Ay, we can use them now." Thereupon McNamara roused the
+commanding officer at the post and requested him to accoutre a
+troop and have them ready to march at daylight, then bestirred the
+Judge to start the wheels of his court and invoke this military
+aid in regular fashion.
+
+"Make it all a matter of record," he said. "We want to keep our
+skirts clear from now on."
+
+"But the towns-people are against us," quavered Stillman. "They'll
+tear us to pieces."
+
+"Let 'em try. Once I get my hand on the ringleader, the rest may
+riot and be damned."
+
+Although he had made less display than had the Judge, the receiver
+was no less deeply worried about Helen, of whom no news came. His
+jealousy, fanned to red heat by the discovery of her earlier
+defection, was enhanced fourfold by the thought of this last
+adventure. Something told him there was treachery afoot, and when
+she did not return at dawn he began to fear that she had cast in
+her lot with the rioters. This aroused a perfect delirium of doubt
+and anger till he reasoned further that Struve, having gone with
+her, must also be a traitor. He recognized the menace in this
+fact, knowing the man's venality, so began to reckon carefully its
+significance. What could Struve do? What proof had he? McNamara
+started, and, seizing his hat, hurried straight to the lawyer's
+office and let himself in with the key he carried. It was light
+enough for him to decipher the characters on the safe lock as he
+turned the combination, so he set to work scanning the endless
+bundles within, hoping that after all the man had taken with him
+no incriminating evidence. Once the searcher paused at some
+fancied sound, but when nothing came of it drew his revolver and
+laid it before him just inside the safe door and close beneath his
+hand, continuing to run through the documents while his uneasiness
+increased. He had been engaged so for some time when he heard the
+faintest creak at his back, too slight to alarm and just
+sufficient to break his tension and cause him to jerk his head
+about. Framed in the open door stood Roy Glenister watching him.
+
+McNamara's astonishment was so genuine that he leaped to his feet,
+faced about, and prompted by a secretive instinct swung to the
+safe door as though to guard its contents. He had acted upon the
+impulse before realizing that his weapon was inside and that now,
+although the door was not locked, it would require that one
+dangerous, yes, fatal, second to open it.
+
+The two men stared at each other for a time, silent and malignant,
+their glances meeting like blades; in the older man's face a look
+of defiance, in the younger's a dogged and grim-purposed enmity.
+McNamara's first perturbation left him calm, alert, dangerous;
+whereas the continued contemplation of his enemy worked in
+Glenister to destroy his composure, and his purpose blazed forth
+unhidden.
+
+He stood there unkempt and soiled, the clean sweep of jaw and
+throat overgrown with a three days' black stubble, his hair wet
+and matted, his whole left side foul with clay where he had fallen
+in the darkness. A muddy red streak spread downward from a cut
+above his temple, beneath his eyes were sagging folds, while the
+flicker at his mouth corners betrayed the high nervous pitch to
+which he was keyed.
+
+"I have come for the last act, McNamara; now we'll have it out,
+man to man."
+
+The politician shrugged his shoulders. "You have the drop on me. I
+am unarmed." At which the miner's face lighted fiercely and he
+chuckled.
+
+"Ah, that's almost too good to be true. I have dreamed about such
+a thing and I have been hungry to feel your throat since the first
+time I saw you. It's grown on me till shooting wouldn't satisfy
+me. Ever had the feeling? Well, I'm going to choke the life out of
+you with my bare hands."
+
+McNamara squared himself.
+
+"I wouldn't advise you to try it. I have lived longer than you and
+I was never beaten, but I know the feeling you speak about. I have
+it now."
+
+His eyes roved rapidly up and down the other's form, noting the
+lean thighs and close-drawn belt which lent the appearance of
+spareness, belied only by the neck and shoulders. He had beaten
+better men, and he reasoned that if it came to a physical test in
+these cramped quarters his own great weight would more than offset
+any superior agility the miner might possess. The longer he looked
+the more he yielded to his hatred of the man before him, and the
+more cruelly he longed to satisfy it.
+
+"Take off your coat," said Glenister. "Now turn around. All right!
+I just wanted to see if you were lying about your gun."
+
+"I'll kill you," cried McNamara.
+
+Glenister laid his six-shooter upon the safe and slipped off his
+own wet garment. The difference was more marked now and the
+advantage more strongly with the receiver. Though they had avoided
+allusion to it, each knew that this fight had nothing to do with
+the Midas and each realized whence sprang their fierce enmity. And
+it was meet that they should come together thus. It had been the
+one certain and logical event which they had felt inevitably
+approaching from long back. And it was fitting, moreover, that
+they should fight alone and unwitnessed, armed only with the
+weapons of the wilderness, for they were both of the far, free
+lands, were both of the fighter's type, and had both warred for
+the first, great prize.
+
+They met ferociously. McNamara aimed a fearful blow, but Glenister
+met him squarely, beating him off cleverly, stepping in and out,
+his arms swinging loosely from his shoulders like whalebone withes
+tipped with lead. He moved lightly, his footing made doubly secure
+by reason of his soft-soled mukluks. Recognizing his opponent's
+greater weight, he undertook merely to stop the headlong rushes
+and remain out of reach as long as possible. He struck the
+politician fairly in the mouth so that the man's head snapped back
+and his fists went wild, then, before the arms could grasp him,
+the miner had broken ground and whipped another blow across; but
+McNamara was a boxer himself, so covered and blocked it. The
+politician spat through his mashed lips and rushed again, sweeping
+his opponent from his feet. Again Glenister's fist shot forward
+like a lump of granite, but the other came on head down and the
+blow finished too high, landing on the big man's brow. A sudden
+darting agony paralyzed Roy's hand, and he realized that he had
+broken the metacarpal bones and that henceforth it would be
+useless. Before he could recover, McNamara had passed under his
+extended arm and seized him by the middle, then, thrusting his
+left leg back of Roy's, he whirled him from his balance, flinging
+him clear and with resistless force. It seemed that a fatal fall
+must follow, but the youth squirmed catlike in the air, landing
+with set muscles which rebounded like rubber. Even so, the
+receiver was upon him before he could rise, reaching for the young
+man's throat with his heavy hands. Roy recognized the fatal
+"strangle hold," and, seizing his enemy's wrists, endeavored to
+tear them apart, but his left hand was useless, so with a mighty
+wrench he freed himself, and, locked in each other's arms, the men
+strained and swayed about the office till their neck veins were
+bursting, their muscles paralyzed.
+
+Men may fight duels calmly, may shoot or parry or thrust with cold
+deliberation; but when there comes the jar of body to body, the
+sweaty contact of skin to skin, the play of iron muscles, the
+painful gasp of exhaustion--then the mind goes skittering back
+into its dark recesses while every venomous passion leaps forth
+from its hiding-place and joins in the horrid war.
+
+They tripped across the floor, crashing into the partition, which
+split, showering them with glass. They fell and rolled in it;
+then, by consent, wrenched themselves apart and rose, eye to eye,
+their jaws hanging, their lungs wheezing, their faces trickling
+blood and sweat. Roy's left hand pained him excruciatingly, while
+McNamara's macerated lips had turned outward in a hideous pout.
+They crouched so for an instant, cruel, bestial--then clinched
+again. The office-fittings were wrecked utterly and the room
+became a litter of ruins. The men's garments fell away till their
+breasts were bare and their arms swelled white and knotted through
+the rags. They knew no pain, their bodies were insensate
+mechanisms.
+
+Gradually the older man's face was beaten into a shapeless mass by
+the other's cunning blows, while Glenister's every bone was
+wrenched and twisted under his enemy's terrible onslaughts. The
+miner's chief effort, it is true, was to keep his feet and to
+break the man's embraces. Never had he encountered one whom he
+could not beat by sheer strength till he met this great, snarling
+creature who worried him hither and yon as though he were a child.
+Time and again Roy beat upon the man's face with the blows of a
+sledge. No rules governed this solitary combat; the men were deaf
+to all but the roaring in their ears, blinded to all but hate,
+insensible to everything but the blood mania. Their trampling feet
+caused the building to rumble and shake as though some monster
+were running amuck.
+
+Meanwhile a bareheaded man rushed out of the store beneath,
+bumping into a pedestrian who had paused on the sidewalk, and
+together they scurried up the stairs. The dory which Roy had seen
+at sea had shot the breakers, and now its three passengers were
+tracking through the wet sand towards Front Street, Bill Wheaton
+in the lead. He was followed by two rawboned men who travelled
+without baggage. The city was awakening with the sun which reared
+a copper rim out of the sea--Judge Stillman and Voorhees came down
+from the hotel and paused to gaze through the mists at a caravan
+of mule teams which trotted into the other end of the street with
+jingle and clank. The wagons were blue with soldiers, the early
+golden rays slanting from their Krags, and they were bound for the
+Midas.
+
+Out of the fogs which clung so thickly to the tundra there came
+two other horses, distorted and unreal, on one a girl, on the
+other a figure of pain and tragedy, a grotesque creature that
+swayed stiffly to the motion of its steed, its face writhed into
+lines of suffering, its hands clutching cantle and horn.
+
+It was as though Fate, with invisible touch, were setting her
+stage for the last act of this play, assembling the principals
+close to the Golden Sands where first they had made entrance.
+
+The man and the girl came face to face with the Judge and marshal,
+who cried out upon seeing them, but as they reined in, out from
+the stairs beside them a man shot amid clatter and uproar.
+
+"Give me a hand--quick!" he shouted to them.
+
+"What's up?" inquired the marshal.
+
+"It's murder! McNamara and Glenister!" He dashed back up the steps
+behind Voorhees, the Judge following, while muffled cries came
+from above.
+
+The gambler turned towards the three men who were hurrying from
+the beach, and, recognizing Wheaton, called to him: "Untie my
+feet! Cut the ropes! Quick!"
+
+"What's the trouble?" the lawyer asked, but on hearing Glenister's
+name bounded after the Judge, leaving one of his companions to
+free the rider. They could hear the fight now, and all crowded
+towards the door, Helen with her brother, in spite of his warning
+to stay behind.
+
+She never remembered how she climbed those stairs, for she was
+borne along by that hypnotic power which drags one to behold a
+catastrophe in spite of his will. Reaching the room, she stood
+appalled; for the group she had joined watched two raging things
+that rushed at each other with inhuman cries, ragged, bleeding,
+fighting on a carpet of debris. Every loose and breakable thing
+had been ground to splinters as though by iron slugs in a whirling
+cylinder.
+
+To this day, from Dawson to the Straits, from Unga to the Arctics,
+men tell of the combat wherever they foregather at flaring camp-
+fires or in dingy bunkhouses; and although some scout the tale,
+there are others who saw it and can swear to its truth. These say
+that the encounter was like the battle of bull moose in the
+rutting season, though more terrible, averring that two men like
+these had never been known in the land since the days of Vitus
+Bering and his crew; for their rancor had swollen till at feel of
+each other's flesh they ran mad and felt superhuman strength. It
+is true, at any rate, that neither was conscious of the filling
+room, nor the cries of the crowd, even when the marshal forced
+himself through the wedged door and fell upon the nearest, which
+was Glenister. He came at an instant when the two had paused at
+arm's-length, glaring with rage-drunken eyes, gasping the labored
+breath back into their lungs.
+
+With a fling of his long arms the young man hurled the intruder
+aside so violently that his head struck the iron safe and he
+collapsed insensible. Then, without apparent notice of the
+interruption, the fight went on. It was seen during this respite
+that McNamara's mouth was running water as though he were deathly
+sick, while every retch brought forth a groan. Helen heard herself
+crying: "Stop them! Stop them!" But no one seemed capable of
+interference. She heard her brother muttering and his breath
+coming heavily like that of the fighters, his body swaying in.
+time to theirs. The Judge was ashy, imbecile, helpless.
+
+McNamara's distress was patent to his antagonist, who advanced
+upon him with the hunger of promised victory; but the young man's
+muscles obeyed his commands sluggishly, his ribs seemed broken,
+his back was weak, and on the inner side of his legs the flesh was
+quivering. As they came together the boss reached up his right
+hand and caught the miner by the face, burying thumb and fingers
+crab like into his cheeks, forcing his slack jaws apart, thrusting
+his head backward, while he centred every ounce of his strength in
+the effort to maim. Roy felt the flesh giving way and flung
+himself backward to break the hold, whereupon the other summoned
+his wasting energy and plunged towards the safe, where lay the
+revolver. Instinct warned Glenister of treachery, told him that
+the man had sought this last resource to save himself, and as he
+saw him turn his back and reach for the weapon, the youth leaped
+like a panther, seizing him about the waist, grasping McNamara's
+wrist with his right hand. For the first time during the combat
+they were not face to face, and on the instant Roy realized the
+advantage given him through the other's perfidy, realized the
+wrestler's hold that was his, and knew that the moment of victory
+was come.
+
+The telling takes much time, but so quickly had these things
+happened that the footsteps of the soldiers had not yet reached
+the door when the men were locked beside the safe.
+
+Of what happened next many garbled accounts have gone forth, for
+of all those present, none but the Bronco Kid knew its
+significance and ever recounted the truth concerning it. Some
+claim that the younger man was seized with a fear of death which
+multiplied his enormous strength, others that the power died in
+his adversary as reward for his treason; but it was not so.
+
+No sooner had Roy encompassed McNamara's waist from the rear than
+he slid his damaged hand up past the other's chest and around the
+back of his neck, thus bringing his own left arm close under his
+enemy's left armpit, wedging the receiver's head forward, while
+with his other hand he grasped the politician's right wrist close
+to the revolver, thus holding him in a grasp which could not be
+broken. Now came the test. The two bodies set themselves rocklike
+and rigid. There was no lunging about. Calling up the final atom
+of his strength, Glenister bore backward with his right arm and it
+became a contest for the weapon which, clutched in the two hands,
+swayed back and forth or darted up and down, the fury of
+resistance causing it to trace formless patterns in the air with
+its muzzle. McNamara shook himself, but he was close against the
+safe and could not escape, his head bowed forward by the lock of
+the miner's left arm, and so he strained till the breath clogged
+in his throat. Despite the grievous toil his right hand moved back
+slightly. His feet shifted a bit, while the blood seemed bursting
+from his eyes, but he found that the long fingers encircling his
+wrist were like gyves weighted with the strength of the hills and
+the irresistible vigor of youth which knew no defeat. Slowly, inch
+by inch, the great man's arm was dragged back, down past his side,
+while the strangling labor of his breath showed at what awful
+cost. The muzzle of the gun described a semicircle and the knotted
+hands began to travel towards the left, more rapidly now, across
+his broad back. Still he struggled and wrenched, but uselessly. He
+strove to fire the weapon, but his fingers were woven about it so
+that the hammer would not work. Then the miner began forcing
+upward.
+
+The white skin beneath the men's strips of clothing was stretched
+over great knots and ridges which sunk and swelled and quivered.
+Helen, watching in silent terror, felt her brother sinking his
+fingers into her shoulder and heard him panting, his face ablaze
+with excitement, while she became conscious that he had. repeated
+time and again:
+
+"It's the hammer-lock--the hammer-lock."
+
+By now McNamara's arm was bent and cramped upon his back, and then
+they saw Glenister's shoulder dip, his elbow come closer to his
+side, and his body heave in one final terrific effort as though
+pushing a heavy weight. In the silence something snapped like a
+stick. There came a deafening report and the scream of a strong
+man overcome with agony. McNamara went to his knees and sagged
+forward on to his face as though every bone in his huge bulk had
+turned to water, while his master reeled back against the opposite
+wall, his heels dragging in the litter, bringing up with outflung
+arms as though fearful of falling, swaying, blind, exhausted, his
+face blackened by the explosion of the revolver, yet grim with the
+light of victory.
+
+Judge Stillman shouted, hysterically:
+
+"Arrest that man, quick! Don't let him go!"
+
+It was the miner's first realization that others were there.
+Raising his head he stared at the faces close against the
+partition, then groaned the words:
+
+"I beat the traitor and--and--I broke him with--my hands!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+THE PROMISE OF DREAMS
+
+
+Soldiers seized the young man, who made no offer at resistance,
+and the room became a noisy riot. Crowds surged up from below,
+clamoring, questioning, till some one at the head of the stairs
+shouted down:
+
+"They've got Roy Glenister. He's killed McNamara," at which a
+murmur arose that threatened to become a cheer.
+
+Then one of the receiver's faction called: "Let's hang him. He
+killed ten of our men last night." Helen winced, but Stillman,
+roused to a sort of malevolent courage, quieted the angry voices.
+
+"Officer, hold these people back. I'll attend to this man. The
+law's in my hands and I'll make him answer."
+
+McNamara reared himself groaning from the floor, his right arm
+swinging from the shoulder strangely loose and distorted, with
+palm twisted outward, while his battered face was hideous with
+pain and defeat. He growled broken maledictions at his enemy.
+
+Roy, meanwhile, said nothing, for as the savage lust died in him
+he realized that the whirling faces before him were the faces of
+his enemies, that the Bronco Kid was still at large, and that his
+vengeance was but half completed. His knees were bending, his
+limbs were like leaden bars, his chest a furnace of coals. As he
+reeled down the lane of human forms, supported by his guards, he
+came abreast of the girl and her companion and paused, clearing
+his vision slowly.
+
+"Ah, there you are!" he said, thickly, to the gambler, and began
+to wrestle with his captors, baring his teeth in a grimace of
+painful effort; but they held him as easily as though he were a
+child and drew him forward, his body sagging limply, his face
+turned back over his shoulder.
+
+They had him near the door when Wheaton barred their way, crying:
+"Hold up a minute--it's all right, Roy--"
+
+"Ay, Bill--it's all right. We did our--best, but we were done by a
+damned blackguard. Now he'll send me up--but I don't care. I broke
+him--with my naked hands. Didn't I, McNamara?" He mocked
+unsteadily at the boss, who cursed aloud in return, glowering like
+an evil mask, while Stillman ran up dishevelled and shrilly
+irascible.
+
+"Take him away, I tell you! Take him to jail."
+
+But Wheaton held his place while the room centred its eyes upon
+him, scenting some unexpected denouement. He saw it, and in
+concession to a natural vanity and dramatic instinct, he threw
+back his head and stuffed his hands into his coat-pockets while
+the crowd waited. He grinned insolently at the Judge and the
+receiver.
+
+"This will be a day of defeats and disappointments to you, my
+friends. That boy won't go to jail because you will wear the
+shackles yourselves. Oh, you played a shrewd game, you two, with
+your senators, your politics, and your pulls; but it's our turn
+now, and we'll make you dance for the mines you gutted and the
+robberies you've done and the men you've ruined. Thank Heaven
+there's ONE honest court and I happened to find it." He turned to
+the strangers who had accompanied him from the ship, crying,
+"Serve those warrants," and they stepped forward.
+
+The uproar of the past few minutes had brought men running from
+every direction till, finding no room on the stairs, they had
+massed in the street below while the word flew from lip to lip
+concerning this closing scene of their drama, the battle at the
+Midas, the great fight up-stairs, and the arrest by the 'Frisco
+deputies. Like Sindbad's genie, a wondrous tale took shape from
+the rumors. Men shouldered one another eagerly for a glimpse of
+the actors, and when the press streamed out, greeted it with
+volleys of questions. They saw the unconscious marshal borne
+forth, followed by the old Judge, now a palsied wretch, slinking
+beside his captor, a very shell of a man at whom they jeered. When
+McNamara lurched into view, an image of defeat and chagrin, their
+voices rose menacingly. The pack was turning and he knew it, but,
+though racked and crippled, he bent upon them a visage so full of
+defiance and contemptuous malignity that they hushed themselves,
+and their final picture of him was that of a big man downed, but
+unbeaten to the last. They began to cry for Glenister, so that
+when he loomed in the doorway, a ragged, heroic figure, his heavy
+shock low over his eyes, his unshaven face aggressive even in its
+weariness, his corded arms and chest bare beneath the fluttering
+streamers, the street broke into wild cheering. Here was a man of
+their own, a son of the Northland who labored and loved and fought
+in a way they understood, and he had come into his due.
+
+But Roy, dumb and listless, staggered up the street, refusing the
+help of every man except Wheaton. He heard his companion talking,
+but grasped only that the attorney gloated and gloried.
+
+"We have whipped them, boy. We have whipped them at their own
+game. Arrested in their very door-yards--cited for contempt of
+court--that's what they are. They disobeyed those other writs, and
+so I got them."
+
+"I broke his arm," muttered the miner.
+
+"Yes, I saw you do it! Ugh! it was an awful thing. I couldn't
+prove conspiracy, but they'll go to jail for a little while just
+the same, and we have broken the ring."
+
+"It snapped at the shoulder," the other continued, dully, "just
+like a shovel handle. I felt it--but he tried to kill me and I had
+to do it."
+
+The attorney took Roy to his cabin and dressed his wounds, talking
+incessantly the while, but the boy was like a sleep-walker,
+displaying no elation, no excitement, no joy of victory. At last
+Wheaton broke out:
+
+"Cheer up! Why, man, you act like a loser. Don't you realize that
+we've won? Don't you understand that the Midas is yours? And the
+whole world with it?"
+
+"Won?" echoed the miner. "What do you know about it, Bill? The
+Midas--the world--what good are they? You're wrong. I've lost--
+yes--I've lost everything she taught me, and by some damned trick
+of Fate she was there to see me do it. Now, go away; I want to
+sleep."
+
+He sank upon the bed with its tangle of blankets and was
+unconscious before the lawyer had covered him over.
+
+There he lay like a dead man till late in the afternoon, when
+Dextry and Slapjack came in from the hills, answering Wheaton's
+call, and fell upon him hungrily. They shook Roy into
+consciousness with joyous riot, pommelling him with affectionate
+roughness till he rose and joined with them stiffly. He bathed and
+rubbed the soreness from his muscles, emerging physically fit.
+They made him recount his adventures to the tiniest detail,
+following his description of the fight with absorbed interest till
+Dextry broke into mournful complaint:
+
+"I'd have give my half of the Midas to see you bust him. Lord, I'd
+have screeched with soopreme delight at that."
+
+"Why didn't you gouge his eyes out when you had him crippled?"
+questioned Slapjack, vindictively. "I'd 'a' done it."
+
+Dextry continued: "They tell me that when he was arrested he swore
+in eighteen different languages, each one more refreshin'ly
+repulsive an' vig'rous than the precedin'. Oh, I have sure missed
+a-plenty to-day, partic'lar because my own diction is gettin' run
+down an' skim-milky of late, showin' sad lack of new idees. Which
+I might have assim'lated somethin' robustly original an'
+expressive if I'd been here. No, sir; a nose-bag full of nuggets
+wouldn't have kept me away."
+
+"How did it sound when she busted?" insisted the morbid Simms, but
+Glenister refused to discuss his combat,
+
+"Come on, Slap," said the old prospector, "let's go down-town. I'm
+so het up I can't set still, an' besides, mebbe we can get the
+story the way it really happened, from somebody who ain't bound
+an' gagged an' chloroformed by such unbecomin' modesties. Roy,
+don't never go into vawdyville with them personal episodes,
+because they read about as thrillin' as a cook-book. Why, say,
+I've had the story of that fight from four different fellers
+already, none of which was within four blocks of the scrimmage,
+an.' they're all diff'rent an' all better 'n your account."
+
+Now that Glenister's mind had recovered some of its poise he
+realized what he had done.
+
+"I was a beast, an animal," he groaned, "and that after all my
+striving. I wanted to leave that part behind, I wanted to be
+worthy of her love and trust even though I never won it, but at
+the first test I am found lacking. I have lost her confidence,
+yes--and what is worse, infinitely worse, I have lost my own.
+She's always seen me at my worst," he went on, "but I'm not that
+kind at bottom, not that kind. I want to do what's right, and if I
+have another chance I will, I know I will. I've been tried too
+hard, that's all."
+
+Some one knocked, and he opened the door to admit the Bronco Kid
+and Helen.
+
+"Wait a minute, old man," said the Kid. "I'm here as a friend."
+The gambler handled himself with difficulty, offering in
+explanation:
+
+"I'm all sewed up in bandages of one kind or another."
+
+"He ought to be in bed now, but he wouldn't let me come alone, and
+I could not wait," the girl supplemented, while her eyes avoided
+Glenister's in strange hesitation.
+
+"He wouldn't let you. I don't understand."
+
+"I'm her brother," announced the Bronco Kid. "I've known it for a
+long time, but I--I--well, you understand I couldn't let her know.
+All I can say is, I've gambled square till the night I played you,
+and I was as mad as a dervish then, blaming you for the talk I'd
+heard. Last night I learned by chance about Struve and Helen and
+got to the road-house in time to save her. I'm sorry I didn't kill
+him." His long white fingers writhed about the arm of his chair at
+the memory.
+
+"Isn't he dead?" Glenister inquired.
+
+"No. The doctors have brought him in and he'll get well. He's like
+half the men in Alaska--here because the sheriffs back home
+couldn't shoot straight. There's something else. I'm not a good
+talker, but give me time and I'll manage it so you'll understand.
+I tried to keep Helen from coming on this errand, but she said it
+was the square thing and she knows better than I. It's about those
+papers she brought in last spring. She was afraid you might
+consider her a party to the deal, but you don't, do you?" He
+glared belligerently, and Roy replied, with fervor:
+
+"Certainly not. Go on."
+
+"Well, she learned the other day that those documents told the
+whole story and contained enough proof to break up this conspiracy
+and convict the Judge and McNamara and all the rest, but Struve
+kept the bundle in his safe and wouldn't give it up without a
+price. That's why she went away with him--She thought it was
+right, and--that's all. But it seems Wheaton had succeeded in
+another way. Now, I'm coming to the point. The Judge and McNamara
+are arrested for contempt of court and they're as good as
+convicted; you have recovered your mine, and these men are
+disgraced. They will go to jail--"
+
+"Yes, for six months, perhaps," broke in the other, hotly, "but
+what does that amount to? There never was a bolder crime
+consummated nor one more cruelly unjust. They robbed a realm and
+pillaged its people, they defiled a court and made Justice a
+wanton, they jailed good men and sent others to ruin; and for this
+they are to suffer--how? By a paltry fine or a short imprisonment,
+perhaps, by an ephemeral disgrace and the loss of their stolen
+goods. Contempt of court is the accusation, but you might as well
+convict a murderer for breach of the peace. We've thrown them off,
+it's true, and they won't trouble us again, but they'll never have
+to answer for their real infamy. That will go unpunished while
+their lawyers quibble over technicalities and rules of court. I
+guess it's true that there isn't any law of God or man north of
+Fifty-three; but if there is justice south of that mark, those
+people will answer for conspiracy and go to the penitentiary."
+
+"You make it hard for me to say what I want to. I am almost sorry
+we came, for I am not cunning with words, and I don't know that
+you'll understand," said the Bronco Kid, gravely, "We looked at it
+this way: you have had your victory, you have beaten your enemies
+against odds, you have recovered your mine, and they are
+disgraced. To men like them that last will outlive and outweigh
+all the rest; but the Judge is our uncle and our blood runs in his
+veins. He took Helen when she was a baby and was a father to her
+in his selfish way, loving her as best he knew how. And she loves
+him."
+
+"I don't quite understand you," said Roy.
+
+And then Helen spoke for the first time eagerly, taking a packet
+from her bosom as she began:
+
+"This will tell the whole wretched story, Mr. Glenister, and show
+the plot in all its vileness. It's hard for me to betray my uncle,
+but this proof is yours by right to use as you see fit, and I
+can't keep it."
+
+"Do you mean that this evidence will show all that? And you're
+going to give it to me because you think it is your duty?"
+
+"It belongs to you. I have no choice. But what I came for was to
+plead and to ask a little mercy for my uncle, who is an old, old
+man, and very weak. This will kill him."
+
+He saw that her eyes were swimming while the little chin quivered
+ever so slightly and her pale cheeks were flushed. There rose in
+him the old wild desire to take her in his arms, a yearning to
+pillow her head on his shoulder and kiss away the tears, to smooth
+with tender caress the wavy hair, and bury his face deep in it
+till he grew drunk with the madness of her. But he knew at last
+for whom she really pleaded.
+
+So he was to forswear this vengeance, which was no vengeance after
+all, but in verity a just punishment. They asked him--a man--a
+man's man--a Northman--to do this, and for what? For no reward,
+but on the contrary to insure himself lasting bitterness. He
+strove to look at the proposition calmly, clearly, but it was
+difficult. If only by freeing this other villain as well as her
+uncle he would do a good to her, then he would not hesitate. Love
+was not the only thing. He marvelled at his own attitude; this
+could not be his old self debating thus. He had asked for another
+chance to show that he was not the old Roy Glenister; well, it had
+come, and he was ready.
+
+Roy dared not look at Helen any more, for this was the hardest
+moment he had ever lived.
+
+"You ask this for your uncle, but what of--of the other fellow?
+You must know that if one goes free so will they both; they can't
+be separated."
+
+"It's almost too much to ask," the Kid took up, uncertainly. "But
+don't you think the work is done? I can't help but admire
+McNamara, and neither can you--he's been too good an enemy to you
+for that--and--and--he loves Helen."
+
+"I know--I know," said Glenister, hastily, at the same time
+stopping an unintelligible protest from the girl. "You've said
+enough." He straightened his slightly stooping shoulders and
+looked at the unopened package wearily, then slipped the rubber
+band from it, and, separating the contents, tore them up--one by
+one--tore them into fine bits without hurry or ostentation, and
+tossed the fragments away, while the woman began to sob softly,
+the sound of her relief alone disturbing the silence. And so he
+gave her his enemy, making his offer gamely, according to his
+code.
+
+"You're right--the work is done. And now, I'm very tired."
+
+They left him standing there, the glory of the dying day
+illumining his lean, brown features, the vision of a great
+loneliness in his weary eyes.
+
+He did not rouse himself till the sky before him was only a
+curtain of steel, pencilled with streaks of soot that lay close
+down above the darker sea. Then he sighed and said, aloud:
+
+"So this is the end, and I gave him to her with these hands"--he
+held them out before him curiously, becoming conscious for the
+first time that the left one was swollen and discolored and
+fearfully painful. He noted it with impersonal interest, realizing
+its need of medical attention--so left the cabin and walked down
+into the city. He encountered Dextry and Simms on the way, and
+they went with him, both flowing with the gossip of the camp.
+
+"Lord, but you're the talk of the town," they began. "The curio
+hunters have commenced to pull Struve's office apart for
+souvenirs, and the Swedes want to run you for Congress as soon as
+ever we get admitted as a State. They say that at collar-an'-elbow
+holts you could lick any of them Eastern senators and thereby
+rastle out a lot of good legislation for us cripples up here."
+
+"Speakin' of laws goes to show me that this here country is
+gettin' too blamed civilized for a white man," said Simms,
+pessimistically, "and now that this fight is ended up it don't
+look like there would be anything doin' fit to claim the interest
+of a growed-up person for a long while. I'm goin' west."
+
+"West! Why, you can throw a stone into Bering Strait from here,"
+said Roy, smiling.
+
+"Oh, well, the world's round. There's a schooner outfittin' for
+Sibeery--two years' cruise. Me an' Dex is figgerin' on gettin' out
+towards the frontier fer a spell."
+
+"Sure!" said Dextry. "I'm beginnin' to feel all cramped up
+hereabouts owin' to these fillymonarch orchestras an' French
+restarawnts and such discrepancies of scenery. They're puttin' a
+pavement on Front Street and there's a shoe-shinin' parlor opened
+up. Why, I'd like to get where I could stretch an' holler without
+disturbin' the pensiveness of some dude in a dress suit. Better
+come along, Roy; we can sell out the Midas."
+
+"I'll think it over," said the young man.
+
+The night was bright with a full moon when they left the doctor's
+office. Roy, in no mood for the exuberance of his companions,
+parted from them, but had not gone far before he met Cherry
+Malotte. His head was low and he did not see her till she spoke.
+
+"Well, boy, so it's over at last!"
+
+Her words chimed so perfectly with his thoughts that he replied:
+"Yes, it's all over, little girl."
+
+"You don't need my congratulations--you know me too well for that.
+How does it feel to be a winner?"
+
+"I don't know. I've lost."
+
+"Lost what?"
+
+"Everything--except the gold-mine."
+
+"Everything except--I see. You mean that she--that you have asked
+her and she won't?" He never knew the cost at which she held her
+voice so steady.
+
+"More than that. It's so new that it hurts yet, and it will
+continue to hurt for a long time, I suppose--but to-morrow I am
+going back to my hills and my valleys, back to the Midas and my
+work, and try to begin all over. For a time I've wandered in
+strange paths, seeking new gods, as it were, but the dazzle has
+died out of my eyes and I can see true again. She isn't for me,
+although I shall always love her. I'm sorry I can't forget easily,
+as some do. It's hard to look ahead and take an interest in
+things. But what about you? Where shall you go?"
+
+"I don't know. It doesn't really matter--now." The dusk hid her
+white, set face and she spoke monotonously. "I am going to see the
+Bronco Kid. He sent for me. He's ill."
+
+"He's not a bad sort," said Roy. "And I suppose he'll make a new
+start, too."
+
+"Perhaps," said she, gazing far out over the gloomy ocean. "It all
+depends." After a moment, she added, "What a pity that we can't
+all sponge off the slate and begin afresh and--forget."
+
+"It's part of the game," said he. "I don't know why it's so, but
+it is. I'll see you sometimes, won't I?"
+
+"No, boy--I think not."
+
+"I believe I understand," he murmured; "and perhaps it's better
+so." He took her two soft hands in his one good right and kissed
+them. "God bless you and keep you, dear, brave little Cherry."
+
+She stood straight and still as he melted into the shadows, and
+only the moonlight heard her pitiful sob and her hopeless whisper:
+
+"Good-bye, my boy, my boy."
+
+He wandered down beside the sea, for his battle was not yet won,
+and until he was surer of himself he could not endure the ribaldry
+and rejoicing of his fellows. A welcome lay waiting for him in
+every public place, but no one there could know the mockery of it,
+no one could gauge the desolation that was his.
+
+The sand, wet, packed, and hard as a pavement, gave no sound to
+his careless steps; and thus it was that he came silently upon the
+one woman as she stood beside the silver surf. Had he seen her
+first he would have slunk past in the landward shadows; but,
+recognizing his tall form, she called and he came, while it seemed
+that his lungs grew suddenly constricted, as though bound about
+with steel hoops. The very pleasure of her sight pained him. He
+advanced eagerly, and yet with hesitation, standing stiffly aloof
+while his heart fluttered and his tongue grew dumb. At last she
+saw his bandages and her manner changed abruptly. Coming closer
+she touched them with caressing fingers.
+
+"It's nothing--nothing at all," he said, while his voice jumped
+out of all control. "When are you--going away?"
+
+"I do not know--not for some time."
+
+He had supposed she would go to-morrow with her uncle and--the
+other, to be with them through their travail.
+
+With warm impetuosity she began: "It was a noble thing you did to-
+day. Oh, I am glad and proud."
+
+"I prefer you to think of me in that way, rather than as the wild
+beast you saw this morning, for I was mad, perfectly mad with
+hatred and revenge, and every wild impulse that comes to a
+defeated man. You see, I had played and lost, played and lost,
+again and again, till there was nothing left. What mischance
+brought you there? It was a terribly brutal thing, but you can't
+understand."
+
+"But I can understand. I do. I know all about it now. I know the
+wild rage of desperation; I know the exultation of victory; I know
+what hate and fear are now. You told me once that the wilderness
+had made you a savage, and I laughed at it just as I did when you
+said that my contact with big things would teach me the truth,
+that we're all alike, and that those motives are in us all. I see
+now that you were right and I was very simple. I learned a great
+deal last night."
+
+"I have learned much also," said he. "I wish you might teach me
+more."
+
+"I--I--don't think I could teach you any more," she hesitated.
+
+He moved as though to speak, but held back and tore his eyes away
+from her.
+
+"Well," she inquired, gazing at him covertly.
+
+"Once, a long time ago, I read a Lover's Petition, and ever since
+knowing you I have made the constant prayer that I might be given
+the purity to be worthy the good in you, and that you might be
+granted the patience to reach the good in me--but it's no use. But
+at least I'm glad we have met on common ground, as it were, and
+that you understand, in a measure. The prayer could not be
+answered; but through it I have found myself and--I have known
+you. That last is worth more than a king's ransom to me. It is a
+holy thing which I shall reverence always, and when you go you
+will leave me lonely except for its remembrance."
+
+"But I am not going," she said. "That is--unless--"
+
+Something in her voice swept his gaze back from the shimmering
+causeway that rippled seaward to the rising moon. It brought the
+breath into his throat, and he shook as though seized by a great
+fear.
+
+"Unless--what?"
+
+"Unless you want me to."
+
+"Oh, God! don't play with me!" He flung out his hand as though to
+stop her while his voice died out to a supplicating hoarseness. "I
+can't stand that."
+
+"Don't you see? Won't you see?" she asked. "I was waiting here for
+the courage to go to you since you have made it so very hard for
+me--my pagan." With which she came close to him, looking upward
+into his face, smiling a little, shrinking a little, yielding yet
+withholding, while the moonlight made of her eyes two bottomless,
+boundless pools, dark with love, and brimming with the promise of
+his dreams.
+
+THE END
+
+
+
+
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