Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1936-02-20
CHAPTER vI-Continued


"You'll have two more days for It,"
Garth told him. "Only don't forget
that an alloy of platinum and gold
weighs more than lead. You'll be tot
ing my GO per cent, along with the 40
for yourself and Mr.. Ramill If you
hide the loot in your pockets, you'll
go down like shot, first time you slip
into muskeg pool or quagmire. Think
of the all-around calamity that would
mean. You'd lose your life, Mr.. Ramill
would lose his Man Friday, Miss Lilith
her fiance, and I'D lose my 60 per
cent"
Mr.. Ramll interposed: "1t's no joke,
Vivian. I've seen strong swimmer
sunk by the gold in his money-belt A
sbag can be thrown off the shoulders.
Another thing, Garth is to receive his
threefifths of whatever you have
PANIED out. That is understood"
1T was his bargain" Huxby replied.
He went to gorge on the leg of carl
bou that Garth had roasted over the
fire on twist-thong of rawhide When
he could eat no more, he FASTENED
back to the placer trough to resume
his panning.
The others had already Toasted upon
the tender venson, that was self-bast-
ed in its delicious fat. Lilith and her
father had helped Garth pack it, with
more meat and the skins, down the
long slope from the glacier.
Before shutdown, Garth set several
rawhide snares, each attached to a
pair of downbent saplings. For bait,
he used raw pieces of caribou flesh.
The beasts of the valley had never
been trapped. When, at sunrise, he
went the rounds of his snares, he col
lected lynx, two red foxes wclver-
inc, and wolf.
Garth did not reset the snares. He
had more skins than he needed. From
the wolf-hide he made knapsack for
Huxby. The fox skins furnished small
err bags for Mr.. Ramil and Lilith.
AT the second sunrise, Garth bun
died the lynx and wolverine pelts and
quantity of catgut with the carl
bou skins.
Huxby eyed the bundle ironically
"Mr. Ramill told me about your carl
bou parka talk. / take it, you aim
to go back and live among the Eski-
mos,
II might do worse" Garth replied
Here's your wolf packbag. Load our
metal, and slant up from the placer.
Wen meet you at the glacier"
AT Mr.. Ramill's nod, the engineer
took the knapsack and started eff
Garth put the small aluminium pot and
the tin cup in the millionaire's bag.
He drew his blanket from the leanto
to strap it on his pack board with the
bundle of skins.
Lilith Ran7lll crept into the leanto
for the last time. She came out with
the pouches of salt and tea. Neither
had been opened since Garth put them
in her care, after the wasteful eating
up OF all the sugar.
Her worn boots lay at the foot of
the leapto She had on her moose
hide moccasins and lynX-skin leggings
AS she backed from under the low roof
she picked up the boots and eyed them
with amused contempt. They had been
fit only for show, not for use. But
when she flung them down, Garth
added them to his pack, along with the
last small pieces of the moose hides.
I'VE might sew on rawhide soles,"
he said. "Now-all set. How about
you, mates? Ready to hit the trail?"
The girl showed the whisky flask
that he had left in her fathers care
1t was fill of fly dope-spruce pitch
mixed with caribou tallow. She put
the flask into her foxskin bag, along
with the pouches Of tea and salt.
MIR. TAMIL was already walking off.