Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-08-28
nave any qualms."

/ 4
day Of trail, Smoke and Shorty crawl
ed into their blankets.
T'm fairly sick with It" Smoke CON
fessed. ''The way they suffer is awful.
But exercise is the only remedy ] can
think Of, and 1t must be given a thor
ough trial wish we had a sack OF
raw potatoes"
"Sparkins. he can't wash no more
Dishes" Shorty said. ut hurts him so
be sweats his pain. seen him sweat
It. had to put him back In the bunk
be was that helpless"
"If only we had raw potatoes"
Smoke went on. "The vital, essential
something is missing from that prepar.
ed stuff. The life has been evap0rated
out Of IT.
"An' II that young fellow Jones in
the Brownlow cabin don't croak before
mornin' | miss my guess"
"FOr heavens sake be cheerful"
Smoke chlded.
In the morning not only was Jones
dead, but one of the stronger men who
had worked on the firewOod squad was
found to have hanged himself. A
nightmare procession Of days set in.
For a week, steeling himself to the
task, Smoke enforced the exercise and
the spruce tea, and one by one and In
twos and threes he was compelled to
knock off the workers. AS he was
learning, exercise was the last thing
In the world for scurVy patients, The
diminishing burial squad was kept
steadily at work, and a surplus half
dozen graves were always burned
down and waiting. One day Smoke
saw the seeress entering Amos Went
worth's cabin and followed after her
At the door he could hear her voice.
whlmpering and pleading.
"Just for me-" she was begging as
Smoke entered. II won't tell soul"
Both glanced guiltlly at the intruder,
and Smoke was certain that he was on
the edge of something, he knew not
what. and he cursed himself for not
having eavesdropped.
"Out with itp' be commanded harsh.
ly. What is III"
"What is what?" Amos Wentworth
asked sullenly. And Smoke could not
name what was what
Grimmer and grimmer grew the stu
atlon. In that dark hole of a canyon the
horrible death list mounted up. Each
day, in apprehension, Smoke and Shor-
ty examined each others mouth for the
whitening Of the gums and mucous
membranes-the invariable 1rst symp
tom Of the disease.
'T've quit" Shorty announced one
evening. "Fve been thlnldn' 1t over,
an l quit. l can make go at slave
drivin', but cripple drivin' 3 too much
for my stomach. They go from bad to
worse. They amt twenty men can
drive to work. told Jackson this
afternoon he could take to his bunk
He was gettin' ready to suicide. |
could see 1t stickln' out all over him
Exercise amt no good"
"lve made up my mind to the same
thing Smoke answered.
The everlasting miracle Of Went
worth's immunity perplexed Smoke.
Why should he alone not have de.
veloped scurvy2 Why did Laura slb
ley hate him and at the same time
whine and snivel and beg from him2
On several occasions Smoke made 1t
a point to drop into Wentworth's cabin
at mealtime. But one thing did he
note that was suspicious and that was
Wentworth's suspicion Of him. Next
he tried sounding out Laura Slbley.
Raw potatoes would cure everybody
here" he remarked to the seeress. ~
know It. I've seen 1t work before"
The fare Of conviction in her eyes,
followed by bitterness and hatred, told
him the scent was warm.
"Why didn't you bring In supply
Of fresh potatoes on the steamer2" he
asked.
1--WE did. But coming up the river
we sold them all out ut bargain at
Fort Yukon. We had plenty OF the
evaporated kinds, and we knew they'd
keep better. They wouldn't even
freeze"
Smoke groaned. "Now, mightn't
there have been couple OF odd sacks
left-accidentally, you know, mlslaid
on the steamer
She shook her head, as he thought,
a rlfe belatedly, then added, I'VE new.
or found any"
But mlghtn't thcrey" he persisted.
How do ! know" she rasped angrt
ly, 81 didn't have charge OF the CON.
mlssury."
And Amos Wentworth did" he
Jumped to the conclusion Every good
Now what ia your private opinion
Just between us two2 Do you think
wentworth has any raw potatoes stor
ed away somewhcreY
"No; certainly not Why should her
Struggle as he would with her
Smoke could not bring her to admit
the possibility.
That night, when the camp groaned
and slept or groaned and did not sleep
Smoke went to Wentworth's uulIghted
cabin.
Listen TO me, Wentworth" he said
rive got thousand dollars In dust
right hero In this sack l'm rich