The daily Alaskan., 1920-10-19

namelesS. What 1T this, tOor ShonLu prove a blank?
 At last the Pearlhunter raised the Ild-sOme baby clothes, clean and neatly folded; q plain gold ring wrapped In a handkerchief of the finest Cambrlc; and, under all, n pic ture-what the Iron-Gray-WomaD must have been in her glrlhoOd. He snatched It up, carried 1t to the light of the door and looked long upon It. After a time he came back to the trunk. The satinwood box was the last article In 1t, and 1t had told him nothing. He laid the picture in 1t, re- placed the baby clothes and ring, closed the box and put it back. He even took sort of melancholy Sntis- faction in replacing, with studied ucotness, the glove, the dress and other articles, after which he closed the lid. locked 1t, pocketed the key, and turning to the window, stood star ing out over the river.
 He was still q man without q name.
 The Boss stepped back from the door.
 "The Blue Moon," he said. "HIt orta be putt away safe"
 As if the statement recalled thoughts that had strayed far, the young man reached in his pocket and drew forth the pearl, still rolled in the bit of cloth
 The two days of ripening and the chafc of the cloth had greatly en- hnnCcd its brllllauCe Quietly rolling the pearl up in the cloth again he left the cabin and, followed by the Boss, strodc down the slope through the trees to the boat. and together they rowed away toward the village. The fame of the Pearlhunter had preceded him. As he came up from the wharf Into the town, the Mud Hen, the one saloon of the place, dis gOrged a swaggering, swearing popu- IatIOn that gathered round him. The Boss crew, camped half mile below Fallen Rock. and the crew of Bull AIasterson. campcd three miles above, were both there Besides these, the ObenChain, a small steamer plying be- tween the ports of the Wabash, had
 come in that morning, bringing other river men.
 Caught in the swirl of the crowd, the PearIhunter and his companion
 were swept into the Mud Hen. A hun dred voices Clamored to have the pearl laid unOn the bar where all could file by and see it. There fell few min- utes of comparative quiet while the
 hungry eyes Of the river men were de-
 vouring it. Then followed drinks all round--at the expense of the finder; and-what followed Is not a pleasant taSl; tn dnSr-iha
 The Pearhunter, remembering that mound of fresh earth at Fallen Rock,
 kept his head and drank but little. The Boss. on the other hand, "Cut th' dog loose." as the river men say. By noon he was singing SnAtChes of half forgottcn songs and fighting the h. dian wars all over again. Coming up to where his young friend leaned against the bar in easy reach of the nearl, still lying upon its bit of cloth, he threw an arm about his neck and leant hard upon him, something he
 couldn't have been hired to do when sober.
 Come ere, you fellerS. Thls'n'SO on me, an it's to tn Pearlhuntcr, tn whitCst man along tn WabaSh-an' be d-d t tn man what says e uin'tr"
 The rnbDle Swarmed abodt the bar
 all that were able. Bottle necks gurgled; glasses clinked; red whisky
 sizzled down hot thrOatS; a few
 shouted; some swore; others merely
 laughed foolishly.
 That Inst drink was the Boss fln-
 Ish. He wilted down into the nearest | chair; lurched heavily over upon ta- ble and lay there mumbling, or laugh
 ing In high, shrill key; occasionally | shouting out note or two of a boat
 ing song that had been old on the riv- CT for a quarter of a century.
 It was early afternoon before the
 Pearlhunter dared to think seriously of deposlting the pearl-befOre river 1 etiquette permitted him to remove 1t
 from the bar. He tried to rally the
 Boss. All he got was a further in- stallment of the Indian wars. Half dlsgusreG with it ttii, ne tuned
 back to the bar and stood leaning his
 chin upon his hand. A door opened
 from another part of the building
 the Mud Hen being an inn, the only
 one in the place. A man entered. l Crossing the floor with as little atten- l ton to the crowd as If the place had
 been deserted. he swaggered up to the' bar. Perhaps he secretly wished that
 somebody would get in his way. He i had just that air about him.
 The Pearlhunter heard the door open: felt the hush that fell-the
 hush that always falls upon the rab-
 ble at the coming of a masterful pres
 euce, He turned his eyes slowly to-
 ward the newcomer. Ills nerves were as steady as the woods make them, but they were not quite proof against ] what he saw. It was the Man-in-the-