Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-08-14

pan and pail were tied on the outside
and they stood ready for the run. They
stored carefully wrapped bundles Of
matches In pockets, packs and In the
lining Of their caps. The preparations
had not taken twenty minutes
"Too bad we amt got some cooked
grub. like chocolate or dog biscuits. :"
said Crowley. but. seeing as we've got
1--WE hours start over everybody. we
won't have to kill ourselves"
Maynard spoke hesitatingIy. Say. 1
told Sully about 1t as came along"
"What!" Crowley interrupted him
sharply.
Yes. told him to get ready. and |
promised to give him the location an
hour after you left You see. he did
me a good turn once, and had to get
back at him somehow. He and Knute
are getting fixed now. Why. what's
up?''
He caught queer. quick glance be.
tween his partners and noted hard.
ness settle into the lined face OF the
elder.
Nothing much" Buck took up II
guess You didn't know abou, rhe trou.
BILE. eh? Crowley knocked him down
day before yesterday. and Sully swears
he'll kill him on sight Il came up
over that fraction IN Buster creek
well, well" said Maynard. That's
had. isn't it? promised, though. so
I'll have to tell him.
Sure! That's all right" Crowley
agreed quietly. though his lip cnrled.
showing the strong. close shut ivory
teeth. His nostrils dilated also. giving
his face q passing woifish hint.
There's neither white man nor Swede
that can gain an hour on US. and If he
should happen to-he wouldn't pass"
Be 1T known that many great placer
fortunes have been won by those who
stepped in the warm tracks Of the dis
coyerers, while rarely does the goddess
smile on the tardy. In consequence no
frenzy approaches that of the gold
stampede
Passing sully's place. they found him
and his partner ready and waiting.
their packs on the sawbuck. Crowley
glared at his enemy in silence. while
the other sneered wickedly back, and
Big Knute laughed in his yellow beard
Bucks heart sank Could be out.
last these two2 He was boy; they
were reckless giants with thighs and
legs Of iron. Knute was a gaunt
framed viking. Sully violent ford
man with the quarters of an OK.
Through the quixotism of Maynard
this trip bid fair to combine the killing
grind of long. fierce stampede, with
the bitter struggle of man and man.
and too we'll he knew the temper of
his red headed partner to doubt that
before the last stake was driven either
he or Sully would be down. From the
glare in their eyes at passing It came
over him that either he or Knute
would recross the mountains partner
less. The trail was too narrow for
these other men. He shrank from the
toll and agony he felt was coming to
him through this. and then, with it,
there came the burning gold hunger
the lust that drives starving. broken
wrecks onward unremittingly, over
misty hills, across the beds of lava and
the forbidden tundra. on into the new
diggings.
1t neared O'clock, and. although
darkness was far distant, the chill
that follows the sun fell sharply.
AS they swung out onto the river
their fatigue had dropped away. and
they moved with the steady, loose gait
Of the hardened "musher." Buck look
ed at his watch. They had been gone
an hour.
"The race IL onr' said he.
Though unhurried, their progress was
likewise unhindered. and the miles
slipped backward as the darkness
thickened hour by hour. Straight up
the City mile stream to its source.
over the great backbone and into the
unmapped country, their course led
If they hurried they would have first
choice Of the good claims close about
the discovery. II they Jagged Sully
and his OK eyed partner would over
take them. and beyond that it was IN
pleasant to conjecture.
wen hit water pretty soonr' Crow
ley's voice broke hours Of silence, for
they were sparing Of language. They
neither whistled nor sang nor spoke.
for man is potential body from
which his store Of energy wastes
through tiny UNDECIDED ways
True to prophecy. in the darkness Of
midnight they walked out upon thin
skin of newly frozen ice
Look out for the overflow! She
froze since dark" Crowley cautioned.
We're liable to go through"
On all sides it cracked alarmingly.
while they ren 1t sag beneath their
feet. It is bad in the dark to ride the
ice Of an overflow, for one may crash
through ankle deep to the solid body
beneath or plunge to the armpits.
They skated over the yielding sur
face toward safety till. without warn
ing, Crowley smashed in halfway to
his hips. He fell forward bodily. and
the ice let him through till he rolled
in the water Buck skinned over
more lightly and, when they had reach
ed the solid footing, helped him wiring
out his garments. Straightway the
cloth whitened under the frost and
cracked when they resumed their
march, but there was no time for fires,
and by vigorous action Crowley could
keep the cold from striking in.
They had threaded up into the re-
gion where spring was further ad-