Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1918-01-29
KAzAN
James
Oliver
CurWOOd
by the Bobbs-Merrin Company.
CHAPTER XIV.
A Shot on the Sand Bar.

swamp home or haZan ana Gray WOl1, |
and the green valley between the two
ridges, had escaped the seas of devas-
tating flame; but now, as they set forth
on their wandering adventures again, 1t
was not long before their padded feet
came in contact with the scared and
blackened desolation. Kazan led his
blind mate first into the south. Twenty
miles beyond the ridge they struck the
fire-killed forests. Winds from Hud-
sons bay had driven the flames in an
unbroken sea into the west, and they
had left not a vestige of life or patch
of green. Blind Gray Wolf could not
see the blackened world, but she sensed
1t.
All of her wonderful instincts, sharp
ened and developed by her blindness,
told her that to the north-and not
south-lay the hunting grounds they
were seeking. The strain of dog that
was in Kazan still pulled him south. 1t
was not because he sought man. 1t was
simply dog instinct to travel south
ward; in the face of fire it was wolf
instinct to travel northward. At the
end of the third day Gray Wolf won.
They recrossed the little valley be-
tween the two ridges, and swung north
and west into the Athabasca country,
striking course that would ultimately
bring them to the headwaters of the
McFarlane river.
Late in the preceding autumn pros
pector had come up to Fort Smith, on
the Slave river, with a pickle bottle
filed with gold dust and nuggets. He
had made the find on the McFarlane.
The first mails had taken the news to
the outside world and by midwinter
the earliest members of treasure
hunting horde were rushing into the
country by snow-shoes and dog-sledge.
Other finds came thick and fast. The
McFarlane was rich in free gold, and
miners by the score staked out their
claims along 1t and began work. Late
Corners swung to new fields farther
north and east, and to Fort Smith came
rumors of finds" richer than those of
the Yukon. A score of men at first
then a hundred, five hundred, a thou
sand-rushed into the new country.
Most of these were from the prairie
countries to the south, and from the
placer beds of the Saskatchewan and
the Frazer. From the far North, trav-
cling by way of the Mackenzie and the
Lizard, came a smaller number of sea-
soned prospectors and Adventures
from the Yukon-men who knew what
it meant to starve and freeze and die
by inches.
One of these late Corners was Sandy
McTrigger There were several reasons
why Sandy had left the Yukon. He
was 'in bad" with the police who pa
trolled the country west of Dawson,
and he was "broke." In spite of these
facts he was one of the best prospec-
tors that had ever followed the shores
of the Klondike. He had made discov-
cries running up to million or two,
and had promptly lost them through
gambling and drink. He had no con-
science, and little fear. Brutality was
the chief thing written in his face. His
undershot jaw, his wide eyes, low fore
head and grizzly mop of red hair pro-
claimed him at once as man not to
be trusted beyond ones own vision or
the reach of bullet. 1t was suspected
that he had killed a couple of men, and
robbed others, but as yet the police had
failed to get anything ION" him. But
along with this bad side of him, Sandy
McTrigger possessed a GOODNESS and q
courage which even his worst enemies
could not but admire, and also certain
mental depths which his unpleasant
features did not proclaim.
Inside of six months Red Gold City
had sprung up on the McFarlane, q
hundred and fifty miles from Fort
Smith, and Fort Smith was five hun
bred miles from civilization. Wher
Sandy came he looked over the crude
collection of shacks, gambling houses
and saloons in the new town, and made
up his mind that the time was not ripe
for any of his '1nside" schemes just
yet. He gambled little, and won suf
ficient to buy himself grub and half al
outfit. A feature of this outfit was an
old muzzle-loading rifle. Sandy, who
always carried the latest Savage on the
market, laughed at it. But it was the
best his finances would allow of. He
started south-up the McFarlane. Be
yond a certain point on the river pros
pectors had found no gold. Sandy
pushed confidently beyond this point
Not until he was in new country did h'
begin his search. Slowly he worked
his way up a small tributary whose
headwaters were fifty or sixty miles [,
the south and east. Here and there h
found fairly good placer gold. HI
might have panned six or eight dollars
worth a day. With this much he wa
Disguised. Week after week he con
tinued to work his way upstream, ant
the farther he went the poorer his pan
became. At last only occasionally di
he find colors. After such disgustin
weeks as these Sandy was dangerous
when in the company of others. Alon
he was harmless.