The Washington herald., 1912-07-14
By JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD
Author of THE DANGER TRAIL"
THE HONOR OF THE BIG SHOWS" &c.

from the clay chimney that descended
to the fireplace in their room
] He found Breed. the factor, porins
over one of the ledgers which he anc
Col. Becker had examined. He started
to his feet when he saw Philip.
| Where in the name of blazes havt
you been? were his first words, as hs
held out hand. '1've been hunting
the country over for you, and had
about come to the conclusion that yor
and Bucky Nome were dead"
Hunting for me-" said Philip. "Wha,
for?"
Breed shrugged his shoulders.
The colonel an'-Miss Isobel," he
said. They wanted to see you so bad
that | had men out for three days after
you'd gone looking for you. Couldn't
even find your trail. I'm curious to
know what was up"
Philip laughed He felt a tingling
Joy. running through every vein in his
body. 1t was difficult for him to repress
the trembling eagerness in his voice,
as he said: We'll, I'm here I won
der II they want to see me-now."
Suppose they do" replied Breed.
slowly lighting his pipe. But you've
hung off too long. they're gone"
Cone" Philip stared at the factor.
Gone" he demanded again.
Left this morning-for Churchill" !"
affirmed Breed. Two sledges, two In
dians. the. colonel, and Miss Isobel"
For few moments Philip stood in
silence. staring straight out through the
one window of the room with his back
to the factor.
Did they leave any word for me-"
he asked.
No"
"Then-I must follow themr' He
spoke the words more to himself than
to Breed. The factor regarded him in
undlsguised astonishment and Philip,
turning toward him, fastened to add:
i can't tell you why. Breed-but its
necessary that | overtake them as soon
as possible. don't want to lose a day
not an hour, Can you lend me team
and a driver"
I've got scrub team" said Breed,
but there isn't another man that can
spare from the post There's LeCroix.
ten miles to the west If you can wait
until tomorrow"
Il must follow this afternoon-now,"
interrupted Philip. They will have
left clean trail behind, and l can over
take them some time tomorrow. Will
you have the team made ready for me
a light sledgc, if you've got it"
BY 3 o'clock he was on the trail again
Breed had spoken truthfully when he
said that his dogs were scrubs. There
were four OF them, two mongrels, one
blind huskie. and mamelute that ran
lame. And besides this handicap,
Philip found that his own endurance
was fast reaching the ebbing point. He
had Travelled sixty miles in a day and
a half, and his legs and back began to
show signs of the strain In spite OF
this fact. his spirits rose with every
mile he placed behing him He knew
that II would be impossible for Isobei
and her father to stand the hardship OF
fast and continued travel At the mos,
they would not make more than twenty
miles in a day. and even with his scrub
team he could make thirty, and would
probably overtake them at the end of the
next day. And then it occurred to him.
with d plcasurable thrill. that 70 find
lsobel again on the trail, as he had
first seen her, would be a hundred
times better than finding her at Lac
Balm. He would accompany her and !
the colonel to Churchill They would |