The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-05-29
CHATTER w

ii anu HHNEN ~
4 \ the previous night they heard
far below, the swollen torrent brawl
ing in its bowlder ridden bed. while
behind them the angry ocean spread
southwark 70 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 Strive, 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 f1oundered 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
Strive, more arrogant than ever be-
fore, more terrifyingly sure of him
self, was loudly garrulous. AS they
drew nearer and nearer. the dread
that possessed the girl became of para
lying intensity. If she should fail
M CHI CHI rxvO1IId arn11d
not, fail.
They rounded bend and saw the
Sign of the Sled Graded 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 flagpole topped by a spruce
bough stood in front of the tavern,
while over the door hung a sled sus-
pended 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. 1t
had been built by a homesick foreigner
of unknown nationality whom the ar
my of "mushers" who paid for his
clean and orderly hospitality had dub
bed duly and as matter of course a
"Swede." When travel had changed to
the river TRAIL leaving the house lone
some and high as though left by re-
ceding wave, Strive had taken 1t over |
on a debt and now ran it for the con
venience of a slender traffic, mainly |
stampeders, who chose the higher
route toward the interior. His hireling |
spent the idle hours in prospecting a
hungry quartz lead and in doing as
sessment work on nearby claims.
shortz took the horses and answered
his employers questions CURLY, fash
ing 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
held bar and gold scales, rude table
and a huge iron heater, while its
walls and ceiling were sheeted with
white cloth so cunningly stitched and
tackled that 1t seemed a cavern hol
lowed from chalk. 1t was filed with
trophies of the hills-stuffed birds and
skins and antlers-from which
depended in careless confusion dog
harness, snowshoes, 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,
10 the right a compartment which
Struve called the art gallery. Here |
rec reign had been allowed the origi- !
lal owners artistic fancies, and he ,
lad covered the place with pictures |
clipped from gazettes of questionable |
'epute till 1t was a bewildering ar Z
angement of pink ladies In tights, pu- I
;ilists in scanty trunks, prize bulldogs '
nd other less moral characters of the q
porting world (
This is probably the worst compa- g
y you were ever in," Strive observed ?
D Helen, with forced attempt at s
ghtness. 9
"Are there no guests hereT she ask n
him, her anxiety very near the sur
ace Y
Travel is light at this time of the s.
ear They'll come in later perhaps"
A fire was burning in this pink room O.
here the landlord had begun spread O
lg the table for two, and its warmth
'as grateful to the girl. Her compan- 81
IN, thoroughly at his ease, stretched y
Imself on a fur covered couch and %
noked. IL
LET me see the papers now, Mr.. p
truve," she began but he put her off. 81
mo, not now. Business must wait lie
! our dinner. Don't spoil our little "
,rty, for there's time enough and to Sc
,are." is
she arose and went to the window, T
lable to sit still Looking down the In
lrrow gulch she saw that the noun az
ms beyond were indistinct, for it
as growing dark rapidly. Dense hf
ouds had rolled up from the east dc
raindrOn struck tha glass hpfore her "a