Nogales international., 1936-05-30

Speed merely nodded when told
of the failure of his quest:
What happened at Steiner's"
Maitland asked.
1t seemed that Frenchy and the
Jew had formed a partnership, to
start a hauling business from Skag-
way with the horses and boat for
capital
With a glance at the clouds Speed
suggested that it was going to rain,
and he would do sketch round"
for some blankets while his part
ner was drying out.
For an hour or SO after he had
gone, Maitland sat pondering over
the fire. From this abstraction he
was reused by a Slight crunching
sound in the gravel, and glanced
up almost absently at the shape of
a horse, linned in fiery lines against
the dark. An upward glow from
the fire lighted woman's face
which he seemed to remember.
Then a low. musical laugh gave
body to the vision.
He stood up. still half-dreaming,
dS SiIC BullCh ilCt lHpA OAAdOA IAAO
shadow of the wharf Her dark
eyes masked with vagrant humor
some caprice he could not fathom.
When she seated herself on a fallen
wharf timber, leaving a space be-
side her in wordless invitation, he
obeyed, without knowing that he
did SO.
Meet Lady Luck" she said, and
to his complete stupefaction, turned
his head toward her and kissed him
lightly on the mouth. You have
a funny, serious, wondering look
! like" she explained "Of tracing
something that keeps drifting away.
Luck's been passing you, too, so
! I've decided to give you. a break
il you want it, Do you?" she fnur-
INJURED, with q melting fall in her
voice that drained his blood. Her
lips lowered close to his; her hair
almost brushed his face with a ting
ling lure that took his breath.
Appalled, at what he had almost
done, he held her crushed fingers
between his hands till he could win
back some degree of sense. Il
think it would be safer" he pleaded,
TO be urilucky."
She looked at him with an oddly
shadowed, reflective smile, as if the
scruple intrigued her, or he had
brushed some chord of memory.
Suppose / were to offer you and
your partner an outfit, job and a
big stake in the Yukon, would you
trust your luck?"
Whether | would or not" he
he said, my partner wouldn't"
He doesn't know what the stake
is," Rose countered. You're going
North to look for gold. can put
it in your way in one throw. There's
a fool in camp who's due to lose a
gold mine-one that isn't his to
lose. can't tell you any more just
now, except that the game is worth
the risk. You're running some risks
anyway as drifters in a camp where
you've made an enemy of the range
boss"
He could make little of that, ex-
cept TO wonder if FalIon was in
volved in the mysterious gold secret
she spoke of. And while their
hands were tangled, she drew a ring
from one OF hers and slipped it mis-
chievOuSly on the tip of his little
finger
AT that moment a thud on the
wharf above them froze them both
A dark figure doomed with a bulky
menace in the dusk. Maitland
thought of Fallon, but a fare from
the fire revealed an apparition much
more disturbing to him just then
Speeds apparent size was due to a
roll of blankets on his shoulder.
The outlaw came down the sand
and dropped his burden near the
fire. still regarding the girl. After
a moment he walked over to the
horse and held the stirrup for her,
with a gesture that was polite but
implacable.
She waited before mounting, re-
turning his stare with look of in
terest. Lady" he said, pointing
north, "up there is All-A1aska and
big enough huntin' range for you
and me and my pardner to keep
untangled in, it's too damned bad.
But when | ask you to get the
He'll out of our camp, | mean stay
out"
Her laugh was ripple of spon-
taneous music She mounted easily,
and looking back at Maitland,
touched her fingers to her lips. The
horses hooves ground softly in the
sand, and she vanished
Speed threw a fresh log on the
fire, and after kicking it into fame,
he drew from his pocket new bag