Evening star., 1933-12-30


To sit around and watch the sky for
than Paul could bear. Wisely he kept
himself busy. While Tenn-Og went
down the shore TO a small stream
the cloudberry thickets. he drew out
the canoe and gummed it, freshened
Yp the musty cabin and chopped
dead jackpine into firewood. When
Tenn-Og came back with three ptarmi-
gan he cleaned and dressed the birds,
cooked them and prepared a meal.
Near 7 o'clock Curt woke up. Paul
had supper ready, but Curt could not
force himself to eat. The thought OF
Sonya drawing nearer and nearer that
headwaters lake sent him tramping the
landwash again in distraction.
Paul and Tenn-Og made two
pronged javelin. hardened the points
in the fire, and went down to a rock
jut to spear trout. AS Curt turned
once he saw they had stopped fishing
and were listening intently, looking
around the horizon.
A few moments later he caught a
faraway hum, faint as mosquitoes
where in particular; but it rapidly grew
louder, deeper and changed to throaty
drone. He located its direction, due
south, and whirled to look.
Out above a lofty range hove glis-
tening speck. shining in the slant eve
ming sun. Curt stood rooted in his
tracks, afraid that the growing speck
was a delusion and might vanish. But
it came on and on. till at last he dis
tinguished the lines OF his plane.
For him that glistening plane had
all the splendor of a delivering angel.
From its height of 10000 feet it glided
down and down, banked over the lake,
leveled off, touched and came taking
shoreward.
The three leaped into their canoe and
darted out to meet 1t.
AS they swung around the propeller
and clambered upon pontoon. Smash
opened a panel and tipped his cigarette
into the water
"Hullo! Didn't keep you waiting did
I, Curt? Darned sorry; but say, you
ought TO see the dance pavilion and the
whole layout down there at Lake Ma
ria-uh-why. what's the NATTER
Curt glared at him tigf1t-lirped.
sent the canoe spinning with a kick;
slammed open the door and CLIMBED
into the cabin
I'll take the controls. Get back in
the rear: I want Tenn-Og up front
with me-"
He lifted the tank flaps and glanced
at the gauges one-thiTd t1antad fult? For f6Toa
Smash eff on that wilderness shore
and let him get out to Russian Lake
afoot, If he could. 1t was like Smash'
with his mind on Lake Marianne, to
co,,,a off with horefv enough gas to re-
turn to Tellacet.
There was plenty to reach the Llluar
headWaters, but none to bring the ship
back south. When they reached the
lake they would have no gas to maneu-
yer with or get out to civilization.
Taking of, he cicled to 5000 feet
and started west, down the 1skitimWah.
Fifteen minutes later he sailed out
over the river widening and the island
Of black lilies he saw Tenn-Og look
down at the country below and blink
astonished eyes. Fifteen minutes-and
that same trip had taken six hard ca
noe hours that morning!
Intending to approach his goal from
the west in order to keep from HylnS
over the main band of Klosohees, he
headed on westward for 60 miles, then
swung north and started UP across the
IdIlBeS, eIdOOdAIy P4ChAAiS NP oAs-SA~N~
till the needle quivered on 10000.
Tenn-Og kept looking out Of the
panel windows on each side, trying des-
perately to guide the fight. In the
deep valleys under keel twilight was
already gathering; the visibility was
made still poorer by pearly-gray
haze that came drifting down from
some forest fire in the Yukon country.
But his job was to guide them. and
he came through with it. AS noun
tain nomad he was somewhat used to
heights. and by recognizing a familiar
range or lake system now and then, he
was able to keep his bearings.
AT last he touched Curtis arm and
pointed 20-odd miles east at two lordly
cloud-wrapped mountains.
"Sunali and DinaggWah," he said;
and he indicated thai on the other sloe
of them lay the headwaters lake.
Curt studied the giant twins care
fully. He had 10 get down on that
lake unheard and unseen, for at the
slightest hint of plane in that country
Karakhan would escape in his own
ship. and they had no gas to follow.
If the plane could climb high enough
he could cut off the engine and glide
those IS miles to the lake and so get
there unheard.
But to reach it without being seen
was harder problem. calling for all
the flying skill he had. There was a
flock of clouds swirling around the two
giants and filling the pass between
them. If he could keep behind some
big cloud on his approach and fly
through the pass by instruments he
would come out on the shadow side of
Sunali 1t would be twilight there and
the plane would hardly be visible a
mile away.
He put the plane into steep circling
climb At 1900 feet he geared in the
supercharge to aid the laboring motor.
The thermometer on the wing strut
showed l6 below, and at $4,000 feet 1t
dropped to 81. He noticed his COM
panions nodding drowsily and he kept
sharp watch over his own senses.
In the thin air he managed to get
another thousand cut of his plane
Twenty thousand feet high, he looked
through q rift Of cloud between the two
mountains and caught a glimpse of the
dark lake valley beyond. Cutting of
the engine, he pointed the ship at the
great cleft, and began the long silent
| glide.
Heading on and on toward the snowy
pass, he plunged at last into the clouds
that hovered around the giants. For a
through 1eecy woolpack. where the sky
above and earth below were blotted out
and only his instruments kept him
pointed true.
When he came out of the woolpack
he was through the pass and down in
the purple shadows of SunaH.
Dropping on down, with the dark
waters slowly coming up to meet him,
he veered in toward the south shore,
under Tenn-Og's guidance. Three
miles from Karakhan's cabin he leveled
off, plowed water and came to stop.
He was there, all right; he had made
it without being seen or heard; but
with less than six gallons OF gas LETT
he would never get out of that NOUN
tain-Cradle lake. No escape, no retreat
it was a locked fight now.
A light breeze blowing offshore be-
gan drifting the plane out into the lake.
Paul reached the two stubby paddles