Gilpin observer., 1918-03-21
Lansos
Oliver
Cus'vv00d
Copyright by the Bobbs-Merrill Company,
CHAPTER XVI.
Professor McGiIl,

Red Gold City was ripe for night
II relaxation. There had been some
gambling, a few fights and enough
liquor to create excitement now and
then, but the presence of the mounted
usually tame compared with events a
few hundred miles farther north, in the
Dawson country. The entertainment
proposed by Sandy McTrigger and Jan
Harker met with excited favor. The
news spread for twenty miles about
Red Gold City and there had never
been greater excitement in the town
than on the afternoon and night of the
big fight. This was largely because
Kazan and the huge Dane had been
placed on exhibition, each dog in a
specially made cage Of his own, and a
fever of betting began. Three hundred
men, each of whom was paying five
dollars to see the battle. viewed the
gladiators through the bars Of their
cages. Harker's dog was combina-
ton Of Great Dane and mastiff, born in
the north, and bred to the traces. Bet
ting favored him by the odds of two to
one. Occasionally 1t ran three to one.
At these odds there was plenty of Ka-
zan money. Those who were risking
their money on him were the older
wilderness men-men who had spent
their lives among dogs, and who knew
what the red light in Kazan's eyes
meant. An old Kootenay miner spoke
low in another's ear:
NT1d hot nm i'm ovon rH o1vo odds,
II had to. He'll fight all around the
Dane. The Dane won't have no
method"
'But he's got the weight" said the
other dubiously. Look at his jaws,
an his shoulders"
"An' his big feet. an his soft throat,
an the clumsy thickness Of his belly"
interrupted the Kootenay man. "For
heavens sake, man take my word for
1t. an don't put your money on the
Dane!"
Others thrust themselves between
them. At first Kazan had snarled at
all these faces about him. But now
he lay back against the boarded side
OF the cage and eyed them sullenly
from between his forepaws.
T. The fight was to be pulled of in Har-
kef's place, a combination of saloon
and cafe. The benches and tables had
been cleared out and in the center of
the one big room a cage ten feet square
rested on a platform three and half
feet from the floor. Seats for the three
hundred spectators were drawn closely
around this. Suspended just above the
open top Of the cage were two big Oil
lamps with glass redectors.
It was eight o'clock when Harker,
McTrigger and two other men bore Ka-
san to the arena by means Of the wood
en- bars that projected from the bottom
Of his cage. The big Dane was already
In the fighting cage. He stood blinking
his eyes in the brilliant light Of the
rejecting lamps. He pricked up his
ears when he saw Kaxan. Kaxan did
not show his fangs. Neither revealed
the expected animosity. It was the first
they had seen Of each other, and mur-
muir Of disappointment swept the ranks
OF the three hundred men. The Dane
remained as motionless as q rock when
Kazan was prodded from his own cage
Into the fighting cage. He did not leap
or snarl. he regarded Kazan with a
dubious questioning poise to his splen-
did head, and then looked again to the
s1pectant and excited faces Of the wait
ing men. For few moments Kazan
stood stin-legged, facing the Dane.
Then his shoulders dropped, and he,
too. coolly faced the crowd that had ex-
pected tight to the death. A laugh of
derision swept through the closely seat
I'd rows. Catcalls, jeering. taunts flung
at McTrigger and Harker, and angry
voices demanding their money back
mingled with tumult Of growing dfs-
content. Sandy's face was red with
modification and rage. The blue veins
In Harker's forehead had swollen twice
their normal size. He shook his fist in
the face Of the crowd. and shouted:
"Waitl Give 'em a chance, you
foolsw
At his words every voice was stilled.
Kazap had turned. He was facing the
Dane. The Dane had turned his eyes
70 kaxan. Cautiously. prepared for q
lunge or sidestep. Kazan advanced
q little. The Danes shoulders bristled.
He, too, advanced upon Kazan. Four
feet apart they stood rigid. One could
have heard whisper In the room now.
Sandy and Harker, standing close to
the cage, scarcely breathed. Splendid
In every limb and muscle, warriors Of
q hundred fights. and fearless to the
point Of death, the two half-wolf vic
tins Of man stood facing each other.
None could see the questioning look in
their brute eyes. None knew that in
this thrilling. moment the unseen hand
Of the wonderful Spirit God Of the will
derness hovered between them, and
that one Of Its miracles was descending
upon them. 1t was understanding.
Meeting In the open-riyala In the