Newark leader. ([Newark, Ohio]) 1917-1946, 1925-02-20
SYNOPSIS


CHAPTER Lee Anderson. Royal
Canadian Mounted Police sergeant. is
sent to Stony range to arrest man
named Pelly for murder; He is also
reputed head of the Free Traders,
Illicit liquor runners. At Little Falls
he finds Pelly Is credited with having
found gold mine. and 10 missing.
CHAPTER II-At the hotel where
Anderson stops, girl, obviously out
of place in the rough surroundings,
appears. A halfbreed whom Anderson
hears called Pierre, and companion,
Shorty" annoy the girl. Anderson In
terferes. earning the enmity Of the two
men.
CHAPTER III.-The girl sets out for
Siston Lake. which Is also Anderson's
objective. He overtakes her and the
two men with whom he had trouble
the night before.
CHAPTER IV.-Pierre and Shorty"
ride on, Anderson and the girl follow
ing. In the hills the road Is blown up.
with his horse. is hurled down the
mountain side, senselsss.
CHAPTER v-Recovering conscious
ness, Anderson dnds the girl has dis
appeared, but the finding Of her hair.
evidently hurriedly cut from her head
where it had been caught by her fall
and Shorty" On foot he makes his
way to siston Lake. There he finds his
Pa1n RafhwaS. with Fl e girl % Esteils .la formep aG
sweetheart of Anderson's, who had
abused his confidence and practically
wrecked s1fs his life. Rathway strikes Es.
Estelle's help. escapes with the girl.
She must somehow nave become
pinned by the hair beneath her horse
after her fall; 1t had come near roll
ing on her, and her hair had been
cut off to effect her quick release.
She was not dead. She had been
carried off by the two ruffians.
It was nearly dark when Lee
crossed the pass a second time. And
he went on, under the light of the
moon, scanning the trail ahead Of him
and the river bank for the kidnapers'
encampment. But hours went by, and
he did not come upon 1t, and only the
dark river, with its twisted, desolate
banks, and the eternal forest dis
closed themselves.
In the small hours the wind veered,
bringing with it storm Of icy, pelting
rain, which changed to driving sleet.
The whistling pellets stung and
whipped his face, and all through the
storm Lee continued to struggle on
ward.
1t was q superb exhibition of the
force of will. Hour after hour he
went on, until, in the beginning Of that
hour before the dawn when everything
grows still, when the first faintness of
the dawn begins to mingle with the
darkness, he became conscious that
the river had widened into a lake, one
arm Of which, thrust out before him,
barred his course. On either side Of
this lake the forests had given place
to reedy swamp.
And, lifting up his eyes, he saw,
upon low elevation in front Of him,
the log huts Of the Free Traders
camp.
Then he knew that the long chase
had come to an end.
And with that the man shook the
fatigue from him, knowing that he
must hold on to all his strength and
wit for an hour or two longer, and
quickly, craftily, boldly.
He did not know how many men
were In the Free Traders headquar-
ters, but he must save the girl, get her
away.
The arm Of the lake that was thrust
out between the elevation and the end
of the trail was no more than two hun
dred yards, If as much, in width.
Satisfying himself that there was ne
way of approach except by water. un-
less there existed some trail across the
swamps, which there was no time to
find, Lee waded into the lake, then
swan.
The current ran strong; the shock
of the Icy water at first numbed. then
invigorated him. 1t cleared the doubts
and faars of ni0ht from his brain
swimming diagonaiiy against the cur
rent, in a few minutes Lee had reached
the fiat terrain at the base Of the
prOmontory.
He waded ashore, shaking himself
like dog. On the terrain were heaped
great mounds of waste and garbage
from the encampment above; piles OF
disintegrating cans, rotting cases. in
Vulnerable bottles partly covered with
the silt and protruding from 1t the
accumulation Of long period
Looking through the mist, Lee per-
ceived a small York boat. Of the kind
used universally between Hudson's bay
and the Mackenzie, riding moored
against the rocky edge of the promon-
tory some distance away.
The elevation. long, low, and fiat.
formed an ideal fortress ;, with the
only approach apparently by water, 1t
was evident that 1t would be formid-
able proposition for any body of the
police to attack, in the event OF de-
fense.
Lee began to make his way across
the terrain, keeping under the shelter
Of the cliff to escape observation from
the huts above. 1t was growing light
now. and he could see the surround