Evening star., 1933-11-26
Al 1,,.FORBIDDEN VALLEY
A1e- BY lilaa"m BYnom now0W

shoulders between two of the dead
pines.
IN fash she understood his tnten-
ton; understood why he had followed
her from the post and sneaked ashore
SO steaIthily and cut her off from her
canoe. Fanic seized her, and the fish
ing rod dropped from her hands.
For a moment she was overwhelmed
by her desperate plight-the post SO
far away, those thunderheads drawing
the curtain of night across the sky,
that man yonder
With great effort she fought down
her panic and made herself think. Il
wouldn't do any good to plead with
him; he was one of those drunken,
shameless camp hangers-on. She had
no weapon to fight him with, and In
physical struggle he could crush her
one-handed. Her only chance was to
outwit him somehow and get to her
boat.
She let her creel and net lie, but
picked up her rod again and stepped
back of the narrow tongue of rock
where he had almost cornered her.
The man moved away from the pines
and came nearer. He was lurching un-
steadily, Sonya noticed. She believed
she stood good chance to elude him,
rush to her canoe and get it ahoat be-
fore he could catch her. In order to
have a strip Of open sand for her dash
she moved toward the landWash.
You t'ink you run way, heinz" the
man taunted in a drunken chuckle.
Huh, dat canoe of your, she all cut op
to de debbil! l slash her so you no
get away. Me, l wise-no? You and
me. we stay here on dis leetle ISLAM"
S0nyaS heart stopped beating, Her
canoe. down the landwash-he'd found
it, wrecked it! She was caught, as
helpless as a creature in q trap.
On beyond the pines two shadowy
figures Unexpectedly appeared out of
the daTkNeS OF the sPTuces, sonya
thought they we're confederates OF the
breed Without a seconds hesitation
she whirled toward the water edge she
could hardly swim a stroke, but rather
than remain there with those three she
meant to strike out for the nearest is
land, 200 yards away.
A sharp voice called to the breed
Il say. fellow, what the devil d'you
think you're doing here?"
The voice stopped Sonya in her
tracks. "Oh-oo." II was a wordless
cry of thankfulneSs. She peered at the
two figures as they came on. Strangers
they were. And that sharp, command
ing voice was strange, too. They must
! be the two prospectors who had come
to Russian Lake that evening
The breed jerked around and stared
blankly at the pair. With his brain all
muddled by liquor, he did not under
stand at first this sudden turn to
things. But it did dawn on him
finally. Caught dead to rights, he
crouched like a cornered animal, his
hands f1exing and unfexing.
And then. as those two figures stalked
nearer and nearer he went suddenly
berserk. His hand dropped to his belt,
whipped out glittering hunting knife,
and with yell he lunged at the two.
The younger stranger drew an auto
matte and leveled it at the breed.
Stop" he snapped. Put down that
knife, you!"
Put up your gun. Paul" the older
stranger ordered. III handle him and
his frog-Sticker"
without a gun or knife or any wea-
pom at all, he tensed himself to meet
the vicious rush. SOnya trembled with
fear for him. The breed was taller
than he and much heavier, and that
flashing knife was a wicked thing in
/ hand-to-hand battle.
| But in the next few seconds some
! thing ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS so swiftly
/ that Sonya could hardly follow it As
I the breeds knife swished down a hand
shot out and seized his wrist and
wrenched it till the weapon dropped.
/ The stranger bent a little lower and
turned his shoulder TO receive the
charge. There was moment OF i'm
pact.
In the next instant the breed was
lifted bodily and went somersaulting
over his eneny'S shoulder. Fairly fly
ing through the air. he hit the ground
thump on his back, with all the breath
and fight knocked out of him.
! At the commOtion below the cloud OF
swallows exploded, with a burst Of ex-
cited twittering, and vanished in the
! twilight.
Curt picked up the knife, flung it out
/ into the water and looked at the at
| tacker, who had managed TO sit up. He
was one of the men at the fish scaf-
! folding that afternoon, a powerfully
| built man, with bushy black hair, a
/ stubble of coarse beard and the high
| cheekbones of an Indian. He looked
/ like an intelligent fellow, well dressed
and neat and much above the average
/ half-breed.
where's your canoe?" Curt de-
manded.
The man gestured at the lower END
| of the islet. Down dere in de BUSH
| go get his boat, Paul, Curt ordered.
well take II across 10 tne malnlaho'
! Curt meets, tomorrow, most impor-
! tant person