Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-06-01
VII.

Inc BOSS StOOO IN lne caDln ,QOOr
smoking, Once he glanced around at
the trees upon the slope. He dimly
sensed the cause hat narrowed his
eyes; frightened his lips; but verAured
no word; asked no questions. Among
the river men a mans past is his
own.
The cabin became SO still that the
splash of the waterfall grew LOUD. A
squirrel leaped from an o~verhanging
limb upon the roof. The clatter OF
his claws, ripping across the dry
clapboards. seemed to rouse the
Pearlhunter. He turned away from
the window.
The Boss stepped back from the
door.
The Blue Moon" he said. Hit
orta be putt away safe"
tho as if that ahe bad Staa tpaye fa fs'al tsa
young man reached in his pocket
and drew forth the pearl, still rolled
in the bit of white cloth. and laid it
in the others hand. :
The two days of ripening n the
chafe of the cloth had greatly en-
HANGED its b%rfiliance. The eyes of
the Boss were drawn to it as the
needle to the pole: To the quest of
such a pearl he had given the ac-
tive years Of az lifetime-years that
had craven his face, that had slowed
his step. He stood stirring it about
in the cloth and muttering over It as
la mother to a child. To him the
thing was a child-the child of his
dreams; wife and child and cheerful
hearth. The mre. of 1t had cost him
Ithat-that; and more. And now the
that cheated him-had crept up be-
hind him to twit him with his bar
gain. Among the river men there is
ia saying that if a maj hasn't found
his pearl at forty, he'll never find it,
And he was fifty. The sudden reali-
zation Of the fact brought a queer
sort of emptiness to his heart.
There lay the pearl in his hRnd-
the pearl-at last: Only a life stood
between? What of it! He had Al
ready given his life for tor such as
it. A flame came alive in his breast:
mounted to his face and drove off the
frankness. A heat kindled in his
eyes, until they shone like the glare
of freight apo copper.
Clutching up the pearl in his hand,
with a bound he sprang to- where his
1t up and stood glowering toward his
companionA his breath short and
quick, his leyes ,fxed-a man start
lingly transformed, suddenly over.
come by the strange mania known
among river men as "gem lust!"
The Pearlhunter whirled. For the
instant he thought the Boss joking,
but one glance into the flaming face
and he knew better. The lust Of the
freebooter was on him. Men think
fast at a time like that-if they think
at all. Generally the act comes first
and the thinking afterward. The
P%earlhunter stood still, subconscious-
,ly calculated the distance between
him nj The. two black holes rpf the
shotgun mdzzle, and watched Tor the
slightest move Of the Boss's hands.
"A tense half minute followed, when
back against the wall. Like a mar
the 'wiry oubble OF his face; threw
up his head and laughed. The PEARL
hunter was actually startled at that
Ilaugh-a groan would have been
more h~eartening. But mirthful or
not, it appeared to relieve the ten
sion to which the old river man was
strung. to vent the nnholy flame that
had well-night swept him away.
We'll, I'll be damned! Wusn't that
Ia devil OF a fix for a man T. git I'M
Hell! ere, take it; an don't let me
ever clap eyes on 1t ag'in."
The PeArlhunter suffered him to
stun the Jewel back into his pain,
marveling at the shaking ingers-
something no mar had ever seen the
lold BOSS fingers do before.
Its yours he said holding It
forth. "An Of It, Or any part 81 II.
II told you that night before last
But \ 3 drew back his hand 81.