Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1936-02-06
CHAPTER v-Continued


Garth laid down his rifle and came
forward He ignored the wary hostile
look of the mining engineer, nodded to
Mr.. Ramill, and took off his battered
hat to bend low before Miss Ramill in
polite bow.
"You are too kind, my dear lady.
could not deprive any of you of your
sweets. Eat. drink and be merry, for
tomorrow You may recall the rest
Of the quotation"
Mr.. Ramill went red. What If
Lilith did happen to find these things
you were hogging for private use? We
need them as much as you"
Far more So" Garth amended the
statement. 81 don't need them at all.
Go right ahead and waste what's left.
You Of course are certain therell be
no emergencies on the way out-no oc-
casions when pinch of tea or sugar
may make the difference between life
and death for you"
"How frightful," said Huxby.
"Quite SO. While you're about 1t,
you may as we'll make clean sweep.
Here" Garth tossed the gold-mounted.
cigar case to it's owner.
"Oh, so that's how Dad lost his
smokes" exclaimed Miss Ramill.
'Who's the real sneak around here?
Steal all those cigars, and the gold
case, too. Then come whining be-
cause we've kept you from cheating us
out of our share of these things you
hid. Hand over the cigars, Dad. My
threats still rasped from the vile
smoke of that willow bark Vivian
dried for our cigarettes"
Ramill handed the case back TO
Garth.
"Wa-wait!" cried his daughter.
He waved her away. mo. The
| joke is on us. He knows what is
ahead We do not. We've emptied
the sugarbowl and half the teabag.
Tie up that bag and the salt, Vivian,
| and hand them to him."
Garth shook his head, and bowed
to the angry-eyed girl. !
"Thank you, no. Miss Ramill has
taken charge. AS l recall my Anglo
|
cutter. She was the one who rationed
out the food. figure upon at least
| five weeks before we reach the Mac
kenzie. Miss Ramill will keep charge
Of the salt and tea-do with them
whatever she thinks best"
She fared. II will not I'll do no
such thing"
LAS you please. It's a matter of
utter Indifference to me. More than
once I've gone for two months on
meat alone. You're quite welcome to
throw these pouches into the fire."
He glanced around, taking stock
of the camp.
Everything in keeping, l see. Nc
sewing done on the moccasins, muffle
all eaten, woodpile nearly used up
You'd better cook and eat all the meat
you can before the rest of the wood
is burnt. When the fire goes out, well
have plenty of four-footed visitors te
relieve us of those moose legs-wolves
foxes, wolverines. Also ravens anG
moosebirds. Even Mamma Grizzly ant
her children may turn up
There followed silence, broken al
last by Miss Ramill. She repeated hel
4 first question, but in very different
tone: "Mr. Garth, may pour you 6
cup of the tea?"
'TThank you, do not need it. TIL,
rest of you will. l suggest keepin.
it for breakfast. You'll have no othe
taste of sweets for over month, un
less we find bumblebee nest"
The girl silently covered the top O
the pot with the inverted tin cup. He
father heaved up his soft bulk. HI
beckoned to HuXby.
Come, Vivian. The agreement wa
that Garth should be skipper. Tha
wood pile will not last another hour
We can't permit any bear raids OF
our bull market"
The engineer met the Quip with
rather thin smile. However, he Sc