White Bluffs spokesman. [volume] (White Bluffs, Wash.) 1907-1938, 1925-07-24

II knew you could help, some way"
he exclaimed. "What-where-ho
Meet me here at .seven-thirty to-
morrow night" told him, and such
was the rare understanding of the
man that he nodded agreement with
out further questioning.
1t was bunch, intuition, that made
made tell Mulvane that-yet there
was the girl.
AS newspaperman l had met her
soon after her arrival from the States.
Perhaps my vocation, and the few
gray hairs that l have collected, as
sured her that my interest was imper-
sonal, for it was not long before she
told me why she was there. What
Mulvane had said seemed to dovetail
with the information she had given
me.
He kept the appointment on the dot,
and although he affected a profess
sional Indifference, l knew him we'll
enough to see that he was pleasantly
astonished when he saw her sitting
with me. For the evening she had
banished Sedras, hulking but I'M
deniably cultured and wealthy Euras-
ian who had followed her like collie
ever since she came to Yokohama.
Yet it was impossible to- be utterly
rid of the fellow. He occupied a table
as close to us as he dared, and when
ever l looked up 1 saw his somber
eyes fixed on Jane.
Mulvane stammered at the intro
duction to Jane; most men did. Not
alone did she possess beauty; she had
personality, charm, style. had talked
with her following my meeting with
Mulvane, and she was prepared to
accept him at face value, which is say
ing enough. When dinner was over
l launched into the matter.
Miss Knowlton," | explained tc
Jimmy, lis looking for her brother
Herbert, who came to Siberia two
years ago in the schooner Ventura, OF
Seattle. The boat coasted along
Kamchatka; then went north to Ana
dir, where it finished loading a big
cargo of furs. She then left the
mouth Of the Anadir River, presum
ably for home, but has not been seen
since"
Jimmy looked his sympathy.
uT'un hnord Np he H.
said. Went down with all hands, the
report stated. Your brother was
aboard?" he asked the girl.
Her eyes clouded.
80 I had thought" she replied
until received this" From purse
bag she drew faded and wrinklec
sheet of paper, perhaps eight inches
long and six inches wide, and this she
handed to him. Though had seen il
before, leaned over his shoulder and
re-read the message it contained. The
writing was faint and apparently had
been done with a very blunt pencil.
bullet might have made such a mark
Somewhere on verkov River,
Siberia, Sept. 2, 1920.
Will the finder please mail this
to my sister, Jane knowlton, care
Hotel Washington, Seattle? am
we'll, and thinking of the spell of
the Yukon. Herbert knowlton.
why" exclaimed Jimmy, this is
dated nearly eight months ago; nearly
a year after the Ventura was lost!
how was it found?"
THAT l do not know" replied the
girl II received it through the mail,
in an envelope postmarked Yokohama.
There was nothing in the envelope
but that. Friends have suggested that
it might have been set adrift in a
bottle, and picked up by someone
who then mailed it.
Il waited for several months, but
heard nothing more. Then I came to
Yokohama, hoping to get further trace
of Herbert, possibly through trading
vessels from the north. None Of the
men on the ships that came to Seat
tie from Siberia could tell me any
thing"
Jimmy studied the letter again.
What does he mean by the Spell
of the Yukon'?'
The girl smiled.
Herb had prospected in Alaska for
although he's still in his early thirties,
there are few corners of the world he
has not seen. Like many Alaskans, he
was fond Of 'red-blooded' poetry;
saga stuff of the north he called II.
One such poem is The Spell of the
Yukon which begins:
81 wanted the gold, and got it.
ut was favorite with him, and he
knew that was familiar with 1t.
Knowing him as do, and knowing of
his boyish love for saying and doing
dramatic and mysterious things, / am