The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1917-02-14
Continued From Monday.)
Lon nodded.


Lon nodded. ,.,o,,.
but you'd better git a more likely
calibre Mine'll rip holes through you
the size of walnuts." o,,
"Niver fear; it's me own slugs smell mel,
their way with soft noses an the! II
spread like flapjacks against the com,
ing out beyand. An. whenl ! r H.
the pleasure of waitin' on ye? Inc
warer.hole's a strikin' locality
"'Tain't bad. Jest be there IN an
hour. and you won't set long on my
coming" De-,
Roth men mittened and left the POST,
their ears closed to the remons frances
of their comrades. 1t was sucf NJ
lie thing; yet with such men little
things, nourished by quick tempers
and stubborn natures, soon blossomea
into big things. Besides, the art OF
burning to bedrock still lay In the
womb Of the future, and the men OF
F0rtv-Mile. shut in by the long Arctic
winter. grew high.stomached with
oyer-eating and enforced idleness, and
hacame Il sirritable as do the bees IN
the fall of the year when the hives
are overstocked with honey: 49,
There was no law in the land: Inc
Mounted Police was also a thing OF
the future Each man measured an
offense and melted out the punishmen1t
in as much as it affected hlmsel'
Rarely had combined action been nee
essary, and never in all the dreary ms
tory of the camp had the elgnth article
Of the DecalOgue been Vlolateo.
Big Jim Belden called an impromptu
meetinc' Scruff Mackenzie was
nisced as temporary chairman, and a
messenger dispatched to solicit Fatn'
or Roubeau's good Offices. Their po
sition was paradoxical. and they knew
il By the right of might they could
interfere to prevent the duel; yet sucn
action, while in direct line with their
wishes, went counter to their opinions
While their rough-hewn, obsolete eth
les recognized the individual preroga
tive of wiping out blow with blow,
thew could not bear TO think OF two
GOOD comrades, such as Beetles and
McFane, meeting in deadly Dattie
Dceming the man who would not hgh'
on provocation bastard, when
brought to the test it seemed wrong
that he should fight.
But a scurry Of moccaslnS ana iouo
cries, rounded off with a pistol shot
interrupted the discussion; Then the
storm doors opened and Malemute
III
N ~ got him" He replaced the
empty shell, and added, Your dog,
Scruff.". -,
,~>"Yellow Fang?' Mackenzie asked.
mo. the lop-eared one
The devil Nothing the inatter
with him" d
Come out and take a look.
That's all right, after all. Guess
he's got EN-, too Yellow Fang came
hack this morning and took a chunk
out of him, and came near to making
a widower of me. Made a. rush Tor
Zarinska, but she whisked her skirts
i'm his face and escaped with the. loss
of the same and a good roll IN the
snow. Then he took 10 the woods
again. Hope he don't come back. Lost
any yourself?r - .,o n,,c,-
Shookum. Started amuck this morn.
ing, but didn't get very far. Ran foul
of Sitka Charley's team. and they
scattered him all over the street. And
now Two of them are loose and raging
mad. so YOU see he got his work iE.
The dog census will be small IN the
snring il we don't do something
And the man census, too.
"How's that Whose, in trouble
now?"
"Oh. BEETLES and Lon McFane had
an argument. and they'll. be down by
the water-hole in few minutes 70
settle It,"
The incident was repeated for bis
benefit. and Malemute Kid, accustom-
ed to an obedience which his fellow
men never failed to render, took
charge of the affair. His quickly
formulated plan was explained, and
they promised TO follow his lead i'm
$50 sou see,' he concluded, we do
not actually take away their privilege
of fighting; and yet I don't believe
they'll fight when they see the beauty