The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1936-12-24


the man obeyed, another Of the min
ers came running down the trail.
Huxby was looking at the tracks
that led on along the lake shore. The
man on the plane peered into the
three cockpits. Huxby sighted the
cabin plane across the corner Of the
lake He shouted and pointed to it,
but waited for the second miner to
come up before starting on along the
trail. The four man of the party ap-
peared up the stream bank.
Garth slipped back behind thick
cover and swung into a fast pace.
He struck the stream bank above the
ford. Trees cut off all view Of the
four crackers. Garth crossed the ice
in the open stream bed and found
cover again on the wet bank. But in
stead of heading up the gulch, he
kept straight on, parallel with the
lake shore.
He held to fast pace. There was
a chance that the trailers might lose
time trying to get aboard the cabin
plane But Hubby was no fool. He
would know that the plane would be
easy to reach after the Sludge had
| frozen. In all probability, he would
at once founder on along the snow
shoe trail with all his men.
The thought of Lilith amused him.
She had been seen only by the min
er who had fired down from timber
line. AT the distance she must have
been mistaken for man. Only a
degenerate criminal would knowing
| ly shoot at woman. But her short
snowshoe trail following his own
and Dillon's must have shown the
trailers that the third member of his
party was as helpless as the dead or
wounded constable.
They would be perplexed to guess
what had become of his two COM
panionS. No man could make off
with two persons on his back. Even
if Huxby had guessed the truth that
| Dillon was dead and his body aboard
the cabin plane, he would be mysti-
fled by the puzzle of the third per-
son who, with the snowshoe-runner,
had been kept from boarding the
| plane.
Still smiling, Garth came to the
placer camp. The big fire under the
gravel thawing kettles, had died
| down to a bed of Goals. Fhe forelegS
and headquarters of the,newly killed
moose lay in the snow beside the
brush leanto. On the floor mat OF
spruce sprays, along with the bed
ding, was a pile of food-bacon,
flour sugar, dried fruit, tea. Back of
the food were tight-lidded cans fill
ed with dynamite, coils of fuse, and
caps.
Garth jerked up the blankets. I'm
der one set lay the strong canvas
bag for which he was looking. He
had hoped to find the constable's
rifle. But one of the miners must
have come to the valley without a
gun. The carbine had not been left
in camp.
The failure to find the weapon did
not alter Garth's plans. Working fast,
he filled the three gallon teapot with
packages of tea, salt and sugar. The
pot went into an empty floursack,
along with little dried fruit, some
dynamite, and pair each of tin
cups, plates and spoons.
On the big stack of fuel beside the
leanto, he piled all the rest of the
food and dynamite, the blankets, and
the quarters of moose. With shovel
that was leaning against the rocker
cradle he tossed Goals from the fire
into the base of the stack. The wood
soon blazed up in several places.
With the floursack pack and the
bag of platinum alloy slung over his
shoulder, he went downslope.
Garth lugged the sack across the
open space and past the stunted
spruce beside which Constable Dill
| lon had been murdered. In drift on
the north side of the next tree, he
dug a hole, dropped in the sack OF
alloy, and covered it over.
A backward look at the camp
showed the bonfire flaming high. At
any moment the frozen dynamite
was apt to thaw enough to explode.
From off to the left came angry
shouts. The direction of Garth'S trail
had at last warned the pursuers OF
his raid on their camp. They were
heading for it as fast as they could
founder through the drifts.
Instead of circling to double past
them again, Garth slanted off down
slope towards the west side of the
lake. There was no need to warn them
about the dynamite. Before he had
taken dozen strides, the frosty air
crashed with laundering explosion.
He bent forward and went pound
ing downhill through the soft snow
as if breaking trail for fast driven
| dog team.
When he neared the border of the
muskeg he glimpsed gray shape in
the outer fringe of willows. No wolf
could bulk so large. The she-grizzly
had been first of the flesh eaters to
find what was left of the newly kill
ed moose.
Close looking and listening show
ed that the cubs of the great bear
were not with her. Garth went
straight towards the hoggishly feed
ing beast until she caught his scent.
She reared up to cape her bloody
jaws and roared as she had roared at