Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1911-06-03


Il want the 'elp of a man as as
the nerve to do an ugly job before
daylight" he whispered sententiously.
Murder" 1 tried to smile
"Mayhap." he quietly replied, to my
amazement-
THAT let's me out. Doc I'm OF
for my bunk
No it Doesn't he Missed, follow
ing my hesitant retreat What brings
me ere late at night in a storm is
more important to the company and
its hundred and sixty-tWo hands in
camp, than to you and me- This jobs
goin' for-ard tonight, come what may
And you who are handy with a gun
and l who have no talent for talk
afterward-wels, it's we two for the
perfawmence- I'm dead serious, 1 am,
and you'll stand by-Pm certain of
that Come, the tides just a-turnin'.
Well have to be movin' with It, Every
moment we're nearer stampede and
a panic In camp Get your gun and
sneak to my hut right away Not a
peep to them gents from Boston, nor
to any one else We're going for
bear, understan', plain brown bear
tomorrow
That Alaskan night was of the foul
est A retful kamook bayed dismal
ly on the opposite shore where Haida
Indians sometimes dwell ON their
canoe voyages among the Prince of
Wales Islands The Coplan Copper
company's smelter cast fitful patterns
of light and shadow upon the freezing
bay. The wild voice of the hills smote
the sea beyond with a hiss and roar.
January was in angry mood in the
wilderness as l kicked the snow from
my boots before the doctors cabin
and his hound uttered a long, low
grow1 within It seemed but a mo-
ment when our pipes were loaded, the
"whuskey" on the rude table beside US,
and the fire roaring in the doctors lit
tie rusty stove
Turning suddenly and bringing his
fist to the level of my face, the little
man unpacked himself brusquely:
Am 1 correctly informed that
you're leaving camp for the east on
the next boat?''
That's my intention unless this
storm detains me-
We'll, SIR" continued the doctor, as
he placed foot on the hounds thick
neck and recharged his glass, Il hope
nothing will interfere with your leay-
in; but l can't see the horizon of a
little mess down near the Indian quar-
tiers behind the mill You see, 1 can't
say anything to those timid city direc-
tors about 1t, fearin' of their indis-
erection and a tangle with the health
officer at the port O. entry. Them di-
rectors hate mel Now you've appealed
to me as a man of the woods. You've
been about some where a mans got
to be several times man. This
ID Indian must be handled
nightly rough tonight. At least we
can't weep over him. He sneaked in
night before last without permission.
and it'll explode any minute
When the doctor rummaged for two
black shroud-like gowns and careless
ly threw them across the bed, 1 sus-
pected that we were either to lynch
somebody, commit a corpse to the sea
or participate in some ghoulish cere-
mony of pagan belief amongst the
S1wash across the bay. Finally /
blurted- Doc, what are these black
kfmonas for? Looks like a hanging. $
TT might better be a hangin'," he
retorted. paving amongst his apothe-
cary stores, from which he occasion
ally set aside package. It's small
pOAi 1Adl what II lS"1n a CamD
of panicky miners ready to bolt on the
first Whit. Smallpox-fourteen-d
stage. and a pest house harboring the
ID case. Do you understand
Smallpox
Then with q toss of the head and
/ one of those sudden turns upon his
auditor which characterized all his in
tense utterances, he growled: Come
along now. we've got to move that
case out of camp before dawn or, well
you'll see the company's boat In the
hands of mutinOus miners and its
/ creditors dividin' its assets in bank
ruptcy. and me a-goin' to the coop for
vfolatin' the law"
We skulked along the beach as far
rs possible from the glare of the
snrlter. Black buzzards, sheltering in
| a wood pile, chartered raucously
The doctor whispered: Our plan
| remember. II the buck shows fight
| do your part: I'll do mine Wei
avoid a rough-and-tumble as long as
/ possible. Hear that sea racing past
| the inleti Gadi what a night fol
women and childrent This bread and
4 has>cn won't he headed I'm belfavfns