The evening world., 1915-03-18
IEN wars tO0NEIi IDVl = lx HtNS NIL
NJ A r Il
By Il. RIDER HAGG Ard

any ether old thing a. ~ 20 oe0oe
here. Defue0 he hnoW youfd Qogo14
pay dirtf Because 4 yeu ~ M
never come back agAiA"
rnink cor aryiy.
ever come 70 leave sephy hsrsf
Hazard told him with roooSvaDo0o.
"Ah." oommsnted Atha'soa o1AsD.
". then you did have trooboA -
Mas what ! waD woo1oytn0 oooUe~
He followed up Ne Mne Ia ~
been mafking Itself oct IN hts hoaA
what sort Of men stayed Whsa ~
rest cleared outf"
'-rhe best OF the bunch. Whyr
Nothing. except dsa't go ~
you got any Of them 70 Say. I eea't
know what's wrong with thee place.
unless, ~ they say, It's hauntoA, bat
] know l had . devil OF q time horo
last winter and Id hard work to gst
my chaps to como now. Il wac that
turned me back the day Of the big
storm. Lord knows didn't zee any-
slp Sc, but avn al the ,s name wSc: :s
absolutely true II he had said "up"
and not down" They've bean maxi
Ing any old excuse not to come here
ever since: swore the dogs were SICK
and all the rest Of u. But I knew
they were scared Of the haunt
what hauntf" Hasaro was not a.
interested ~ he might have bssa TIVE
months ago.
"'Couldn.s get tina, out q tssm."
blandly. some kind Of wolf-dsvu or
something. know had to kick 'sa
my men don't care" said Has.
ard easily. they're salted."
Then you've seen II toof Tho
question flew out Of Atherton.
mot II Some Of the fools who SPLIT
OFT from us said they did, but the
gold steadisd the rest Of thsm."
You mean 10 tell me you've had ~
trouble--that It's all rotf'
Every, Bit" casually.
casin and hide his stark amassmoas.
He had had good reason to knew
some sort Of devil was q reality
here the winter before; Il Was fear
Of II and no thought Of Ridgoway
that had brought him here OBVIOUSLY.
And here was his bogy exploded
and Hazard getting out what should
have been his gold! Atherton's teeth
gritted before he stood up smiling.
ANY claims ieftf" he asked. quietly.
81 haven't looked"
well. I guess I will. rm abOut
cleaned out, Hazard: broks.s
- :" w. WV
"Whatf The dos-trainf Z had
EN-. and I had to lug psusmican a.
potatoes and other trash. ! proposed
to do some work this winter u you
hadn't got ahead Of me on my claAm."
Look here. that's enough Ahost
your claim" snapped HAZARD. II yoa
did stake one, you didn't stalno ours
well. I'm not aghtng you on n
I suppose I can work another with
ont going back to record. rhink re-
mot II they've heard Of LAssiuek
At Rupert: House.. dry!y:
msmSsrsd himself s.0'S IT. = Too q a..
guen ri stay for my aeosssmeAk
work: you seem to b. psss,ns aSsas
"oh, weri pull through" II vas
mono of Atherton's business how.
SAY" Jsriesd Anterior. suddsnlys
what made Sophy stayr
"She had to-" grun1y.
"You forget knew her before" He
had no intention. yet. Of airing his
connection with Sophy. but he saw the
innuend0 sting.
II shouldn't say It was particularly
well. then.' retorted Hazard. TT was
lucky for us sne did stay; she found
the first color" t
HE'LL" And Anterior meant II
well, I suppose she doesn't live IN,
the bunk-house." significantly.
House &c herself, whore she lived
with her father" Mixed With q groW'-
Ing desire q kick Anterior came the
remembrance that no one had ever
called the man honest, and that under
the floor he stood ON lay Sophy's. and
the mems. and Hasard's own golN..
youth have to bunk In nay shack" he
added invoiuntsrily. II sleep In hers.
but there's no room for two"
Atherton's smile made HasaNA
clench his teeth. but he said nothing.
Anterior was prowling round the Of
nee. and suddenly pointed to . nugget
that lay on the useless assaying table
Hazard was not assAying these days:
Lastluck gold was no matter OF coo-
centrates.
That your stuRr' he shouted.
Then. by the Lord. rll-stayi" The
last word came out with queer drops
~ II no had hastily substituted u foe
another one. His case gloatsd on the
nugget, till Hazard knew his pre-dis-
covery Of the claim was q lie: II he
had ever stuck one pick into u -
would have known the sort Of gold u
nolo. but ookOTo ~ COo1o ~ - H.
man moved alertiy to the doos. and
stood looking out on something.
II thought you said thsre wasn't
any hauntr he asked softly and
pointed. Look there"
Hazard glanced up eomethiAg Ike
Q gray shadow might have rua paSt
6ophys house; be could not be SURE.
One Of your dogs." he saa1 seesa.
fully.
Il don't know Athertou's vs4ss
about that!"
A soon a. he had swallowed has
dinner he disappeared. II vas close
on bedtime when he came back again
and II he had made discovery about
the haunt of Lastluck that suited his
book to the ground. he said nothing
about II.
Been hunting your aogr ssksd
Hazard. yawning.
Anterior smiled. II guess I I'M
sgined It; wasn't anything there"
Curiously enough Hazard was GER
tain he was lying. Perhaps Il was
that which gave him . vivid dream
toward morning: . dream q more
dog sleds and more men eoing By hls
door. silently except for the creaking
OF the snow. tan the faint sound of
their paSsinG died away In thu Pivor