San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-18
Begin Here Today.

Bess Gilbert. Ned Cornet and the
jotfer's fjancee. Lenore Harden
worth are shipwrccked and tb>~
fake refuge on an island inhabited
solely by a man and his Indian wife.
Doomsdorf. master of the island, is
brutal. He brags to Ned and the
girls that he means to make them
his slaves. =,
The prisoners build a cabin and
their master gives them an old
stove. Lenore is too weak to work
so the entire burden falls to Bess
and Ned. They are driven by Dooms-
dorf until they fall unconscious.
After the cabin is finished Dooms-
dorf announces that he means to
have his prisoners do all his winter
trapping. Ned protests that ,they
know nothing of the work but
Doomsdorf says they will have to
learn. Now go on with the story.
1.-TWO of 'em are four-day lines,
and one a fiye-day line-that is, they
take four and five days respectively
to get around. On each one I've built
series of huts, or shacks. all Of them
with a stove and supplies and food,
and you put up in them for the night.
They are days march apart, Civ
ing you time to pick up your skins,
reset, and so on, as you go.
you'll be away from me and this
cabin for days at time, but if you're
figuring on any, advantage from that,
Just put it out of your mind, the
sooner the better. Maybe you think
you can sneak enough time to make
a boat, smuggle it down to the wa
ter, and cast off. Let me assure you
you'll have no time to sneak. You'd
never get more than a few hours
start: and they wouldn't help you at
all on the ice fields! Il trust there's
no need to mention penalties. You
already know about that.
"And maybe you are thinking it
will be easy enough to slack-not
trying to catch much, so you won't
have many skins to flesh and stretch
maybe hiding what you do catch.
I'll just say this. l have a pretty
good idea how this country runs
just how many skins each line yields
with fair trapping. I'm going to in
crease that estimate by 20 per cent
and that's to be your minimum. i
won't say what that amount is now.
But if at the end of the season you're
shortly one skin-look out 1t
means that you'll have to be about
20 per cent smarter and more in
dustrOus than the average trapper."
"But man" Ned protested.
"We're not experienced"
you'll learn quick enough. Aren't
you the dominant race? And 1 warn
YOU again-you'd better drop bitter
tears every time you find where a
wolverine has been along and eaten
an ermine out of trap!"
The man was not jesting. They
knew him well enough by now; the
piercing glitter of his keen, gray
eyes, the odd fixation about his pupils
that was always manifest when he
was most in earnest, was plainly in
evidence now. Thus it was with the
most profound amazement that Le-
nOre's companions suddenly saw her
beautiful mouth curling in a smile.
For themselves they were lost in
despair. All too plainly Doomsdorf
had merely limited at the cruel rigors
of the traDper's trail. Yet Lenore
was smiling.
Then Ned saw, with a queer little
tug Of his heart. that the smile was
not meant for him.
Lenore was smiling at Doomsdorf.
She was looking straight into his
gray eyes. Her cheeks were flushed
lovely pink; her eyes were smiling
too she presented an image of in
effable beauty.
"I'm afraid I wouldn't be much
good TO you, as a trapper,' she be-
gan quietly, her voice of cloyins
sweetness. I'm afraid I'd only get
in the way and scare the little
ermines, you call them ?-out of the
country. Mr.. Doomsdorf, do you
know how well / can keep house,"
And the vile was not without re-
suits. The usual soothing refusal did
not come at once to the bearded lips
Perhaps the master was flattered
that Lenore was so tanned, perhaps
he wished to reward her attitude of
friendlirfess so that Bess might take
example.