Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-04-09

sS~
Po1eon Doret; Of Lteutenan,
BuyreW the gallant Kentuckian
who carries zdw and Justice into
the Yukon wilds and forces des-
psrafe men to recognize him as
thelr master.
CHAPTER I.
@ fHr LAST FRONTIER. .
AKAW men were in debt to the
trader at F1ambeau, and
~. many counted him as q
friend. The latter never res.
soned why, except that he had done
them favors. and In the north that
counts for much. Perhaps they built
likewise upon the fact that he was ever
the same to all and that IN days Of
plenty or In times of. famine his store
was open to every man, and all receiv-
I'd the same measure. Nor did he raise
his prices when the boats were late.
They recalled one bleak and blustery
autumn when the steamer sank at the
Lower Ratnparts, taking with her all
their winters food, how he eked out
hts scanty stock, dealing to each and
every one his portion month by month.
They Remembered well the bitter win.
ter that followed, when the specter Of
famine haunted their cabins and when
for endless periods they cinched their
belts and cursed and went hungry to
sleep. accepting day by day the ra-
tons dolsd out to them by the grim,
gray nan at the log store. Some OF
them had money belts, weighted low
with gold washed from the bars at
Forty Mile, and there were others who
had wandered. In from the. Koynkuk
with the frst frosts, footsore and drag.
ging. the 1e&S Of their skin boots eaten
to the ankle and the taste Of dog meat
still In their mouths. Broken and dis.
pirfted, these had Jared as well through
that desperate winter as their brothers
from up river and received pound for
pound Of musty -four, strip for strip Of
rusty bacon, lump for lump Of precious
sugar. Moreover, the price of no single
thing had risentthroughout the famine.
He mixed in nj mans business. He
took and paid his dues u~nfalteringly.
He spoke In . level voice, and he smil-
ed but rarely. He gazed at a stranger
once and weighed him carefully; there
after his eyes sought the distances
again. as II in search Of some visitor
whom he knew or hoped or feared
would come.
This day he stood In the door OF his
post staring up the sunlit river, alb
sorbing the warmth Of the arctic after
noon. The Yukon swept down around
the great bend beneath the high, cut
banks and past the little town, disap-
Fearing behind the wooded point be-
low, which masked the upcoming
steamers till a heard the signing la
Dor Of their stacks before he saw their
smoke.
The sound Of shouting caused him
70 turn his head. Downstream, q thou
sand yards away, men were raising q
0agsta6 made from the trunk Of q
slender 6r, from which the bark had
been stripped, heaving on their tackle
q they sang In unison. They stood
well out upon the rivers bank before
. group Of well made houses, the peel
"a tmbefs Of which shone yellow in
the sun. He noted the symmetrical
arrangement Of the buildings, noted
the space about them that had been
smoothed for a drill ground and from
which the stumps had been removed,
noted that the men wore suits of blue
and noted in particular the figure Of
IN Officer commanding them.
The lines about the traders mouth
deepened, and his heavy brows con
tracted.
'sThat means the law" he murmured
half aloud.
HS stood 10, meditating somberly,
GIL the fragment Of a song hummed
lightly by a girl fell pleasantly on his
earn, wheteupon the shadows vanished
from his face, and he turned expect
antly, the edges Of his teeth showing
bsnsath his mustache. the corners Of
his eyes wrtnkling with pleasure.
/ The sight was good to him, for the
giri approaching down the trail was
IKE some wood sprite. light footed,
slender and dark, with twin braids Of
hair to her waist framing an oval,
face colored by the wind and sun. She
wassvery beautiful, and a great fever
rurred up through the old mans veins
I'm he gripped the boards at his side
Ind BIT sharply at the pipe between
his teeth.
..The salmon berries are ripe" she
announced, land the hills back Of the
'villaSs are pink with them. I took
Constantine's sQuaw with me, and we
picked quarts and quarts. I ate them.
allY'
Her laughter was likesthe tinkle of
sily1t bells. Every move Of her grace
1ul body 49, uprestrained and flow-
Nc. With ! hint d Indian freedom
aboutfit Beaded and trimmed like a
nSttvs princes, her garzpsnts mani