The Snowflake herald., 1918-01-18

heavy-set foreigners. Elliot gathered
from their talk that they had lost their
jobs because they had tried to organ
ize an incipient strike in the Frozen
Gulch district.
"Roughnecks and booze fighters
that's ali they are. But they earn
their way. Not that blame MacdOn-
aid for firing them, mind you," con-
tinued the miner. "His superintendent
up there was too, soft. These here
Swedes got gay. Mac hit the trail for
! Frozen Gulch. He hammered his big
! fist into the bread basket of the ring
| leader and said, 'Gitr That fellows
running yet, I'll bet. Then Mac called
the men together and read the riot act
to them He fired this bunch on the
boat and was out of the camp before
you could bat an eye. 1t was the clean
est hurry-up job ever did see."
'From what I've heard about him,
he must be a remarkable man."
Hes the biggest man in Alaska,
bar none"
! This was a subject that interested
Gordon Elliot very much. Colby Mac
donald and his activities had brought
him to the country.
''Do you mean personally-or be-
cause he represents the big corpora
| tions?"
Both. His word comes pretty near
being law up here, not only because
he stands for the Consolidated, but
because he's one man from the ground
up"
'Do you mean that he's square
honestw
you've said two things, my friend"
answered Strong dryly. Hes square.
If he tells you anything, don't worry
because he amt put down his John
Hancock before a notary. Don't waste
any time looking for fat or yellow
streaks in Mac. They amt there. No
body ever heard him squeal yet and
what's more nobody ever WILL"
"No wonder men like him."
"But when you say honest No!
Not the way you define honesty down
in the States. He's grabber, Mac is. -
"What does he look likeY
"Oh, l don't know" Strong hesi-
tated, while he searched for words to
sh-w the picture in his mind. big as
p house-steps out like a buck in the
spring-blue-gray eyes that bore right
through you."
"How old?"
Search me. You never think of age
when you're looking at him. Forty
five, mebbe-or ffty-I don't know"
"MarriedW
"No-o." Hanford Strong nodded n
the direction of the Kusiak circle.
"They say he's going to marry Mrs.
Mallory. She's the one with the red
hair"
It struck young Elliot that the miner
was dismissing Mrs. Mallory in too
cavalier a fashion. She was the sort
of woman at whom men look twice,
and then continue to look while she
appears magnifcently unaware of it.
Her hair was not red, but of lustrous
bronze, amazingly abundant, and
dressed in waves with the careful skill
of a coiffeur. Slightest shades of
meaning she could convey with a lift
of the eyebrow or an intonation of the
musical voice. If she was already
fencing with the encroaching years
there was little evidence of it in her
opulent good looks.
The whistle of the Hannah blew for
the Tatlah Cache landing while Strong
and Elliot were talking. The gang
plank was thrown out
A man came to the end of the wharf
carrying a suitcase. He was well-set,
thick in the chest and broad-shoul-
dered. Looking down from above,
Gordon Elliot guessed him to be in the
early thirties.
Mrs. Mallory was the first to recog-
nize him, which she did with a drawl-
ing little shout of welcome. "Oh, you,
Mr.. Man. 1 knew you first. 1 speak
for you" she cried.
The man on the gangplank looked
up, smiled and lifted to her his broad
gray hat in a wave of greeting.
''How do you do, Mrs. Mallory? Glad
to see you.''
The miners from Frozen Gulch were
grouped together on the lower deck.
At sight of the man with the suitcase
sullen murmur rose among them.
Those in the rear pushed forward and
closed the lane leading to the cabins.
One of the miners was flung roughly
against the new passenger. With a
wide, powerful sweep of his arm the
man who had just come aboard hurled
the miner back among his companions.
"Gangwayv" he said brusQuely, and
as he strobe forward did not even
glance in the direction Of the angry
men pressing toward him.
J "Here. Keep back there, you fel-