The Snowflake herald., 1918-05-03
M Macleod RAIN
Copyright 1907, by william Macleod Raine
Chapter XIX Continued

the edge of town. II can tell you one
man who mushed out before five o'clock
this mOrning-and that's Gid Holt"
The eyes Of Macdonald, cold and
hard as jade, fastened to the man.
'How do you known
''That dog team he bought from Tim
Ryan Well, he's been keeping 1t in
my corral. When / got there this
morning it was gone. The snow hadn't
wiped out the tracks of the runners
yet, so he couldn't have left more than
fifteen minutes before"
"You don't know that Holt took the
team himselfT
"Come to that, / don't. But he had
a key to the barn where the sled was.
Holt has been putting up at the hotel.
l reckon 1t is easy to find out If he's
still there"
Macdonald's keen brain followed the
facts as the nose of a bloodhound does
a trail. Holt, an open enemy of his,
had reached town only two days be-
fore. He had bought one of the best
and swiftest dog teams in the North
and had let slip before witnesses the
remark that Macdonald would soon
find out what he wanted with the out
fit. The bank had been robbed after
midnight. To file open the grill and to
blow up the safe must have taken sew
eral hours. Before morning the dogs
of Holt had taken the trail. If their
owner were with them, 1t was safe
bet that the sled carried forty thou
sand dollars in Alaska gold dust.
So far the mind of the Scotsman fol-
lowed the probabilities logically, but
at this point 1t made jump. There
were at least two robbers. He was
morally sure Of that, for this was not
q one-man job. Now, if Holt had with
him companion, who of all those in
Kusiak was the most likely man? He
was a friendless, grabbed old fellow.
Since coming to Kusiak old Gideon had
been seen constantly with one man.
They had been with each other at din
ner and had later left the hotel to-
gether. The name of the man who had
been so friendly with old Holt was
Gordon EIliot-and Elliot not only was
another enemy of Macdonald, but had
very good reasons for getting out of
the country just now.
The strong jaw of the mine-owner
stood out saliently as he gave short,
sharp orders to men in the crowd. One
was to get the coroner, a second Wally
Selfridge, another the United States
district attorney. He divided the rest
into squads to guard the roads leading
out Of town and to see that nobody
passed for the present.
The coroner took charge Of the body
and Wally of the bank. The mine
owner and the district attorney walked
up to the hotel together. AS soon as
they had explained what they wanted,
the landlord got a passkey and took
them to the room Holt had used.
Apparently the bed had been slept
IN. In the waste-paper basket the dis
trict attorney found something which
he held up In significant silence.
Macdonald stepped forward and took
from him small cloth sack.
zone of those we keep our gold in
at the bank" said the Scotsman after
a close examination. 'This definitely
ties up Holt with the robbery. Now
for Elliot"
HE left the hotel with Holt about
five this morning, the porter says"
This was the contribution of the land
lord.
The room of Gordon Elliot was In
great disorder. Garments had been
tossed on the bed and on every chair
and had been left to lie wherever they
had chanced to fall. Plainly their
owner had been in great haste.
Macdonald looked through the closet |
where clothes hung. "His new fur
coat Is not here-nor his trail boots. |
Looks to me as though Mr.. Gordon had
hit the trail with his friend Holt"
All doubt Of this was removed when
a prOspectOr reached town with the
news that he had met Holt and Elliot
travelling toward the divide as fast as
they could drive the dogs.
The big Scotsman ordered his team
Of Siberian wolf-hounds made ready
for the trail. AS he donned his heavy
furs, Colby Macdonald smiled with
deep satisfaction. He had Elliot on
the run at last.
Just as he closed the door Of his
room, Macdonald heard the telephone
bell ring. He hesitated, then shrugged
his shoulders and strobe out into the
storm. If he had answered the call
he would have learned from Diane,
who was at the other end Of the line,
that the stage upon which Sheba had |
started for Katma had not reached the
roadhouse at Smiths Crossing.
Five minutes later the winners of I
the great Alaska sweepstakes were
Tying down the street In the teeth Of
the storm. Armed with a rifle and q
revolver, their owner was mushing into |
the hills to bring back the men who |
had robbed his bank and killed the
cashier. He travelled alone because he