The Skyland post. [volume] (West Jefferson, N.C.) 193?-1988, 1936-12-10


the slight wind was abeam, instead
of sucking down from the glacier.
His one failure was to notice in time
the shrunken volume of the glacier
| stream.
The plane took to the water
smoothly, at almost the exact dis
lance offshore that he had planned.
The difficulty was that the outswirl-
| ing current lacked the force he ex-
pected. Instead of slowing down or
stopping short, the three-seater
drove in hard at the cabin plane.
The stream mouth lacked width
enough for the small plane to
squeeze past the large one. Nor was
there room to maneuVer between the
offshore rocks. Garth acted with in
slant decision. He swerved the three
scatter to clear the tail of the cabin
plane. AS he stripped off his cockpit
with the mooring line, the pontoon
stems smashed like eggshells on a
Waterworn rock, across the narrow
channel from the tail of the other
plane.
Before the current could float the
three-seater back into deep water,
Garth leaped ashore. Lilith had
opened the cowl of her cockpit and
was starting to climb out. Garth
glanced at the threatening sky.
"She has settled down hard and
fast, Miss Ramill. Better stay snug
aboard until we return"
The girls reply was to scramble
forward on the shoreward wing of
the plane. Garth waded out in the
icy water and had her hand down
his rifle, the three pairs of snow
shoes, and all the blankets. He toss
ed everything to Dillon, then took
the girl on his shoulder.
The policeman had started up
stream with the outfit. He walked
across the now shallow ford without
gettin a drop of water over the tops
of his heavily creased shoepacks.
Garth slung Lilith on his shoulder
like sack of meal and splashed
across after Dillon.
At the far bank Dillon stopped to
put on a pair of snoWShoeS. Garth
lowered the girl upon bare rock,
and ran down the left bank to swing
aboard the cabin plane. With him he
took the blankets. When he came
ashore, he had on dry socks and
moccaSinS-
He frowned at Lilith. She was
Hopping. aWkWardly along on snow
shoes behind the policeman.
'Take off those webs and get into
the cabin" he ordered.
Il will not" she refused. I'm go
ing with you'll came to see that beast
arrested"
Don't be a fool Well be there
and back before you've more than
got started There's no time to wait
for you. Blizzard may swoop down
any minute"
He had slipped on the third pair
of snowshoes. He took his rifle from
Dillon and started off as guide. The
constable followed at the same rapid
gait. He was an experienced snow
shoe runner. Liith tried to initiate
their def swinging stride with the
webs. She tripped and plunged face
down into drift.
Instead of turning back at the
girls cry of appeal, Garth quickened
his stride to run. A severe blizzard
would thicken the skim ice and close
the water lane out from the stream
mouth. That would mean wait un-
til the stream ran dry with the
freeze-up of the glacier. Not until
then would the lake ice become
thick enough for the cabin planes
pontoons to be chopped free and pri-
ed up on the surface.
Above the site of his old camp
Garth halted and signed for his COM
panion to listen. Down through the
snowy stiffness came a clear ring OF
metal on metal.
They're drilling below the frost
line to blast shaft" he said. "Rich-
er gravel on bedrock, at the foot of
the placer trough"
Dillon forged into the lead. you'll
trail me now, sir"
Without any protest, Garth fell in
behind. The Law was now in COM
mand. A few strides brought them
to the dyke of igneous rock that
walled the lower end of the placer
trough. From behind stunted
spruce, they peered across the tree
less width of rock to where large
fire was flaming at the edge of the
matted timberline scrub.
Over the fire hung three big iron
kettles. Beside it stood a small era
die for rocking gravel But there was
no one working the rocker, nor was
there anyone in sight. Even the ring
of sledge on drill in the newly dug
! pit, just beyond the fire, had ceased