Putnam patriot., 1916-08-04
CHAPTER xl.
A Place of bIauy Wonders.

"A FtAaH SF Many " 0FtNGfds ~TRT1b G0EDON.S men broke { camp upon his return from N.vI omar. aad by taking the east
 bank IT iAe Sumeu river press ed through to the upper valley. Here they reerossed ta the west side and completed fheir saNet. with the eX- ceptioH of the three mile gap which Dan Appleton held.
 Gordon con .maed to smart under the sting of his deieat. however. 0'Neil had get the better of him in argument. and Natalie's simplicity had proved more than match for his powers of persuasion At no time had he serious lv considered making Mrs. Gerard his wife. but he had thought to eHtiee the two women back under his oWn roof in order to humble both them and their self appointed protector. He felt sure that Natalics return to Hope and her residence there would injure her SC riousy in the eyes of the community. and this would be stab to O.Neil. Al though he had failed for the moment he did not abandon the idea.
 Gordons business career had con sisted of series of brilliant manipu- lations whereby, with little to go upon, he had forced financial recognition for himself No one knew better than he the unstable foundation beneath his Alaskan enterprises, yet more than once he had turned as desperate ven lures into the semblance of success By his present operations he sought not only to hamper O'Nen but to ere ate an appearance of opposition to both him and the trust that could be coined into dollars and cents. There are in the commercial world money wolves who prey upon the weak and depend upon the spirit of compromise in their adversaries. Gordon was one of these
 By purchasing for song the MeDer- mott rights at Kyak he had placed himself In position to share in the benefits of the Heidlemann breakwa- ter and by rapidly pushing his tracks ahead he made his rivalry seem for midable As n means of attack upon O'Neil he adopted a procedure common in railroad building. He amended his original survey so that it crossed that of the s. R and \. midway between the lower bridge over the Salmon river and the glaciers and at that point be- gan the hasfy erection of q grade
 It was at the cost of no little ineon- venience that he rushed forward large body of men and supplies and began to lay track across the s. R. and N right of way. If Appleton could hold fl hillside. he reasoned. he himself could hold a crossing. if not perma- nently at least for a sufficient length of time to serve his purpose. His action came as disagreeable surprise to Omar. These battles for crossings have been common in the history of railroadng. and they have not infre- duently resulted fin sangninary affrays.
 Toward Gordon's stronghold Murray ONeirs men worked. laying his road bed as straieht as an arrow, and as the intervening distance decreased anxiety and speculation at Omar in- creased.
 Among those who hung upon the ru- mors of the approaching clash with greatest interest was Eliza Appleton. Since Dan's departure for the front she had done her modest best to act the part he had forced upon her, and in furtherance of their conspiracy she had urged ONeil to fulfill his promise of taking her over the work.
 She was greatly excited when O'Neil announced one evening.
 I'm ready to make that trip to the front if you are. l have business at Kyak. 50 after we've seen the glaciers we will go down there. and you can take ii fhe coal fields
 "Im ready 10 leave at moments notice.
 Then perhaps you'd better help Natalie"
 ~Nataller' exclaimed Eliza, seeing all her well laid plans tottering. ''Is she goingT
 "Oh. yes. It's an opportunity she shouldn't miss. and I thought il would be pleasanter for you if she went with