The Ely miner., 1907-02-08


submerged in a drift, and then, High cara
would anxiously question himself about their chance
Sometimes he gasped, the wind in his throat anu
wondered if they really had chances.
High Card Baldwin thought he had given the lamp
Freeze-out people the slip For several Gays nc nau
cautiously collected those things winch asoytev l0ps nee
essary to have. Matches and ammunition haa @ oeen
scarce in the camp and High Card dared not nt seem
himself with moderate supply of these things ~
man might fight wild beast suceess1uly w,.n M O"i
knife but ut he es might n not rd Gs e BALDWIN did not have
more than thirty loads e.,
High Gard Baldwin was woodsman ana % not iuG. 90;
He realized all the mprudence of attempting TINS
Journey so early in the but there were reasons.
His find common talk wait INTO .n'
favorable months would entail much undesirable com,
pany. High Card Baldwin wanted to get away and
make sure of his allotment discoverer.
To gain this decided advantage he must risk much
So he left Camp Freeze-out in the night. No one
saw him depart. He felt sure OF this In the hrst s
Wild region, sterile, naked and exhausted from its
long battle with the cold.
The air was thin and deserted of birds AS though
earth had died, it rigid in the iron clutch of this
remorseess Winter was not to be Haunted
lightly And bitterest of all would be lettering
storm He assured himself that man from Camp
Freeze-out would follow him in the face Of this stern
probability.
But after the first three days-something an in
descrbable something, akin to fear, told High Gard
Baldwin that he was being followed In the beginning
he put this feeling aside. s
"Why I'm reglar baby" he said.
But this strange premonition recurred again and
again with a. steadily increasing persistency.
After while this suspicion became fear, strong,
dominant fear. 1t possessed him.
When the matter grew insistent that it could no
longer be denied when it had fed sufficiently upon his
nerves, High Card Baldwin stopped and waited for
the second man to catch up A whole day he waited,
patiently expectant At the end of it he was disap-
pointed. The barren waste, with a faraway
line of pines like many vultures against sheeted
sky.
"1ll abolish the hound, whoever he is" :.
High Card Baldwin would heap up his fire until It
roared. tired sometimes almost exhausted he would
sit before it, his back to the windbreak and consider
Eireire" Hi High h. Card ard would Is say warming his
One night he met with an accident It had almost
terrible results. little tin box, in which were ali
his matches, slipped from his hands and umbled fairly
his hands in after it. The matches -<ere smoking
they had been ready to fare up. High Card Baldwin,
weakly sank down to the ground, then flushed as with
fever. His hands shook, but from pain He
breathed as though he might have covered miles
"My Gawd! he whispered, his lips quiverinp
moment and he would have faced the Wilder.
ness, barred icesheahed like Prometheus, blow
ing brand. When these foolish sensations were
past High Card Baldwin laughed in little high-ptched
tone. He wrapped the box in piece of blanket and
tucked it away in his m pack He took from it only one
painfully deliberate and precise. He revered the
matches, loving them when it possible not to fear
One night when the stars were calmly critical and
the whole world touched with an enchanted peace
High Card made his lone camp the sheltered side Of
a ridge and at great distance from the summit The
opposite ground dropped away into the valley which
he had that day crossed He contemplated his
the blankets when nearby crackle caused him to
start Some four or FIVE deer had slipped up through
at his fire. At his first movement they went over
the ridge, making little frightened leaps High Card
caught up his rifle quickly and scrambled after them
drawing back the hammer of the gum A few seconds
later he had parted the damp branches of the thcket
his lips, and if his hands had been relieved of all
power, he allowed the wet branches to wfip back
across his face. Venison was now gone from his mind
Caught, by Gawd" he said aloud, his mouth and
tongue becoming dry as bone. He stood for a long
time gazing across the valley where faint sparkle
pursuer had caught up with him.
In former years, years of plenty, when High Card
were high enough to bestow on him name he had
gambed desperately He knew the worth of gold only
BY the sensation it caused when big bet swung on
single turn He had sat upon both sides of the
table OF Fortune, beside her and facing her. He had
seen his pile disappear in single cycle of play the
gold, precious and beautiful deserting his side of the
board like false mistress and crossing the table to
mock him in the abyss On that last night, when he
had been beggared, certain look settled as though
it mask upon his face, rendering the features
hard, adamant, criminal That night decided the ut
most length to which he would go for gold Gold
tnOugn II ndQ trlCkeQ Dedten starved him.
deserted him, was, after ALL his goddess The falsity
of the deity proved only the fanatcism of the devotee
And such expression swept his features again
he stood, this nj ght upon the summit of the ridge
and looked the valley toward the second player
Once again the stakes high and the turn against
him.
An OLD, old dread caught him in its cruel taIons
He remembered man, certain old man. The guilty
mindful of their sins first and the chance Of
happening after in its turn The gambler grpped
his hands and fought back his momentary cowardice
"By the Living Gawdp he cried out TREMENDOUSLY
"I'll share my finds with It's my gold mine
mine. And you want your share? Well, follow me
I'll lead you dance, you meddler-you-"
For the three days, High Card Baldwin en-
deavored to lead this follower astray
High Card made off to the right into the wild, un-
trammeled hills He did not hesitate. He was willing
to tread the dangerous edge of precpice that an
other might slip it The thickets were now
deuser the defles more rugged the wax steen Il