The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-06-13
CHAPTER XIII.

tToIt FECcS S1io uhos
Macdonald whIried In his tracks.
Old Gid Holt was leaning on his el-
bow with his head out of the win
dow. "You better come and beat me
up first. Mac" he jeered. I'm all
stove up with busted laig, so you can
walIop me good. I'd come out there,
but I'm too crippled to move"
you're not too crippled to go back
to Xusiak with me. If you can't walk.
s,u'll ride. But back you CO."
"Flne. 1 been worrying about how
to get there. It's right good Of you to
bring one of these here taxis for me, as
the old sayin' Is"
"Where have you cached the gold
Sou stole7"
81 amt seen the latest papers, Mac.
and shootln' Milton7"
you're under arrest for robbery and
murder"
Am II Unload the particulars
when did do 1t allf"
"You know when. Just before You
Aeft town."
Holt shook his head slowly. "No.
cir. can't seem to remember 1t.
Sure It amt some one else you're
thinking aboutf Howcome you to nx
on me as one Of the bold, bad banditsr
because you had not sense enough
to cover your tracks. You might Just
az well have left note saying you did
1t. First, you come to town and buy
one Of the fastest dog teams In Alaska
Whyr'
AsrS.A,. - >>.- ana f,ouvh< that
team to win the Alaska sweepstakes
from you. And I'm goin' to do 1t. Tne
team wasn't handled right or 1t would
have won last time. I got to muliin' 1t
over and figured that old Gid Holt was
the dog puncher that could land those
huskies in front. See?"
SYou bought It to make your get
away after the robbery" retorted Mac
donald.
.Tt's q difference Of opinion makes
horse races. What else have you got
against usf'
"we found in your room one OF the
Hacks that had held the gold you took
from the bank"
'Thats right. took It from the
bank in the afternoon. where had had
It on deposit. to pay for the team l
bought. Milton's books will show that
But you didn't fnd my suck took
when your bank was robbed-if 1t was
robbed" added the old man signin-
cantly.
~Of course, I knew you would have
an alibi. Have you got one to explain
why you left town 20 suddenly the
oight the bank was robbedf Milton
was Killed aftey midnight. Before
morning you and your friend Elliot
routed out .Ackroyd and bought q lot
Of supplies from him for q hurry-up
trip. You slipped around to the corral
and hit the trail right into the blizzard.
VIII you tell me why you were In sucn
q hurry to get away. II 1t wasn't to e.
cape from the town where You had
murdered a decent old fellow who
aever had harmed q soulf'
"sure I'll tell you" The black eyes
of the u.yie man snapped eagerly. Il
came so p. d. q. because that side pard-
Ter Of mine Gordon Elliot wouldn't let
me walt till mOrnin'. He had q reason
for leayin' town that wouldn't walt a
minute, one big enough to drive him
eight into the heart Of the blizzard. Me.
I tagged along"
81 can guess his reason" jeered the
Scotsman. "But I'd like to hear you
out a name to It."
Holt grinned maliciously and waved
a hand toward the girl who was pillow
ing the head Of her lover. 1.-THE name
Of his reason is Sheba O'Neill, but It's
to be Sheba Elliot soon. looks like"
"You mean"
The little miner took the words tri.
umphantly out Of his mouth. He
teamed forward and threw them into
the face of the man he hated. II mean
that while you was dancin' and philan
derin' with other women. Gordon Elliot
was buckin' blizzard to save the life
of the girl you both claimed to love
he was mushin' into fifty miles OF
frozen hell while you was fllin' ny
with potted grouse and champagne
Simultaneous with the lame goose anC
the monkey singlestep you was doin'
this lad was windjammin' through
white drifts. He beat you at your
owr. game, man. You're a bear fol
the outdoor stun. they tell me. Yor
chew up a blizzard for breakfast and
throttle a pack Of wolves to work NJ
an appetite for dinner. It's your spe-
cialty. All right. Take your hat on
to that chechacko who has just whalet
you blind. He has outgamed you, Col
by Macdonald. You don't run in hii
class. I see he Is holding his haid NJ
again. Give him another half-hour and
heW be ready to 90 to the mat vitl
you again"
The big Alaskan pushed away feal
that had been lingering In his mind eve
since he had stumbled on that bod!
buried in the snow yesterday after
noon. Was his enemy going to escap'