Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-06-20

planned. where mysterious plot
ters encompass him, whers ossos-
sins lie In, ,wait along the danger
trail. .-.,--
CHAPTER I.
TIE GIRL OF TEE SHOWS.
~ 1OR perhaps the first time IN
his life Rowland felt the
spirit Of romance. Of adven-
8X ture. of sympathy for the
picturesque and the unknown surging
through his veins. A billion stars
ylowed like yellow. passionless eyes
In the polar cold of the skies. Behind
him. white In its sinuOus twisting
through the snow smOthered wilder
ness. lay the icy Saskatchewan. with
few scattered lights visible where
Prince Albert. the last outpost Of civ,
Iization, came down to the river half
I mile away.
But It was into the north that How
land looked. From the top OF the
great ridge which he had climbed he
yazed steadily into the white gloom
which reached for a thousand miles
from where be stood to the Arctic sea.
Family In the grim silence Of the win
Ter night there came to his ears the
soft kissing sound Of the aurora bore
Ais as 1t played in its age old song
,yer the dome of the earth. and as be
watched the cold flashes shooting like
,ale arrows through the distant sky
md listened to It's whispering music
If unending loneliness aud mystery
i here came on him strange feeling
hat 1t was beckoning to him and call
.ng to him. telling him that up there
very near to the end Of the earth lay
Ill that he had dreamed Of and hoped
,or since he had grown old enough to
begin the shaping of destiny OF his
OWN.
He shivered as the cold nipped at
ais blood and lighted fresh cigar,
half turning to shield himself from q
wind that was growing out OF the
,ast. AS the match fared in the cup
IF his hands for an instant there came
rom the black gloom Of the balsam
ind spruce at his feet wailing. hun
.erful cry that brought a startled
breath from his lips. 1t was cry
,uch as Indian dogs make about the
,erees of masters who are newly dead.
He had never heard such cry BE-
.ore, and yet he knew that 1t was
VOLTS. II impressed him with an awe
which was new to him, and he STOOD
,s motionless as the trees about him
Until from out the gray night gloom
% the west there came an answering
ry and then from far to the nortn
,till another.
sounds as though I'd better 60 back
% town." he said to himself. speaking
loud. "By George. but it's lonelyP
Jack Rowland was Chicago man.
For fifteen Of his thirty one years ne
| had been hustling. Since he could
EASILY remember he had possessed to
large measure but one ambition and
,ne hope. With a persistence which
,ad left him peculiarly a stranger to
he more frivolous and human sides OF
lie he had worked toward the achieve
nent of this ambition, and tonight be-
.ause that achievement was very near
It hand he was happy. He had never
been happier. There flashed across his
mental vision swiftly moving picture
If the fight he had made for success
L had been magnificent fight With.
,ut vanity he was proud Of it. for fate
lad handicapped him at the beginning
ind still he had won out. BE saw him.
,elf again the homeless little farmer
boy setting out from his Illinois village
10 take up life In q great city. AS
though It had all happened but yester-
lay he remembered how for days and
weeks he had nearly starved. how he
had sold papers at first and then by
lucky chance became errand boy IN a
big drafting establishment. 1t was
here that the ambition was born In
uim. he saw great engineers come
ind go-men who were greater than
presidents to him and who sought out
,he ends of the earth In the following
,f their vocation. he made slave OF
,imself in the nurturing and strength
.ning of his ambition to become one
# them-to be a builder Of railroads
ind bridges, a tunneler Of mountains
creator of new things In new lands.
Voluntarily he had kept himself In
bondage. fighting ceaselessly the OBJ
,tacles In his way. triumphlng over bis
aandicaps as few other men had TIT.
,mphed. rising slowly. steadily, resist
essly, until now He 6ung back his
head and the pulse Of his heart quick
.ned as he heard again the words OF
Iran Horn. president of the greatest
engineering company on the continent
"Howland. we've decided to put you
n charge Of the building Of the Hud'
ION Bay railroad. It's one of the Wild
,st Jobs we've ever bad. and Gregson
lind Thorne don't seem to catch on
They're bridge builders and not wilder
hess men. We've got to lay single
line of steel through 800 miles OF the
widest country in North America. and
Iirom this hour your motto ts DO 1t o;
bustr You can report at LIE Pas al
,oon az you get your traps together"
Those words had broken the slave
dom for Howiand. he had been 1ght
lug for an opportunity. and now tha
the opportunity had come be was sur
that he would succeed. Swiftly. wit
his hands thrust deep In bis pockets
he walked down the one main stree
of Prince Albert. putting out odorou
clouds Of smoke nom his cigar. ever
aber in him tingling with the new jo
that had come into his life. Anothe
night would see him In LIE Pas. the III
| tie outpost sixty miles farther east o.
the Saskatchewan. Then hundre
miles BY dog sledge and be would b
In the big wilderness camp where 30
men were already at work clearing
way to the great bay to the north
What a glorious achievement that roa
would be. ltrwould remain for al
times as a cenotaph to bis ability, hi
} courage and indomitable persistence.
It was past 8 o'clock when Howlan'
. entered the little old Winsor hote
The big room. through the windows Q
(which he could look out on the stree