i HT SERTTTTATSS RAT CHAPTER VII-—Continued — nn He smiled with cool irony, “Why so theatrical? Hysterles are not in your line, my dear Lilith.” That lowered her volce, but not the knife and ax. She began to edge towards him, with the blades raised ready to strike, Her volce came from her stiffened lips, low and hoarse and deathly calm: “If you do not go, I will kill you, un- less you first kill me.” The smile left his lips. His eyes barrowed. He replied no less quletly: “You are rtark crazy. I'm going. It may be two or three weeks before I can get back. That should be long enough for you to starve Into sanity. You'll be glad to welcome me then. Only, how about your father? Does it not sober you to realize it will be your fault if he dies?” For answer, she took a full step nearer. The look in her eyes daunted him. He slanted sideways, caught up Garth's rifle, and ran across to the bank above the canoe. When, more slowly, she came to the top of the bank, he had the canoe launched and was heaving in the wolfskin knapsack. He jumped aboard with the rifle and one paddle. As he backed offshore, she ran down to the water's edge and flung his engagement ring at his face. It struck his upjerked forearm and glanced outboard. The ash-cleansed diamond flashed like a bit of blue- white lightning that was instantly quenched in the water, The canoe swung around and went yawing out upon the mighty expanse of the Mackenzie, CHAPTER VIII Woodcraft. Out of the pit of blackness, Garth's fire: dimly consclous thoughts were of water. He was still in swimming. . . . No, the water was only on bis face. Not raln, nor poured water—some- thing wet sopping his forahead. He opened his eyes, blinked the daze trom them, and found himself gazing up into a pair of sunken blue eyea, They were clouded and dark with misery. Yet with strange suddenness they brightened. At that he realized they were the eyes of Lilith RamillL “What's—happened?” he murmured. Even as his lips moved, he remembered. “Huxby—his pistol. Must have—shot me.” “Yes. Dad also” Garth sought to tense his flaccid muscles, ready to bound up. She laid a restraining hand on his forehead. *Lie still. He went—" “Went? “Right after it. Be quiet, else you may go unconscious again, The bullet cut across the back of your head. All these two days you've lain there in that frightful stupor. I could not wake you up. I felt sure you'd die.” “Stupor—two days?” he muttered. *Concussion—brain.” He made deliberate trial, and found he could move his legs and arms. “Luck—no paralysis. Soon be all right. Bat—your father? You sald, ‘father also.’ Can't see why. Wolf was rabid only for my claim—not blood mad.” “Of course! The cowardly beast meant only to murder you. But when he fired again, Dad jumped up be- tween” “Bad? “Not if there was a doctor. It's through the shoulder. The coward— to run off with the canoe, instead of shooting himself like a man!” “Ran off, did he? Thought he had killed your father?” “No, he sald it wasn't serious. All we needed was to take Dad in the canoe and get that man Tobin's med- fecal kic” “Yet he ran off without you?” “I made him go. I drove him off, the beastly sneaking coward!” Garth stared, perplexed. “You did that? Yet he wanted to take your father where he could receive treat- ment.” She frowned. “He thought you dead. But after I nearly fainted, I pushed against you to get up. I felt you were still alive. I was afrald you'd come to wwould move. He would have—fin. ished you. So I—drove him off,” “leaving yourself and your father marooned here” The girl stiffened. Her mouth went hard. “Don’t fancy I did it for you! It was—it was because I was not go- ing to let him finish his sneak murder. It would have been the same If ra gone oft and let you dle, You can see that. You must!” He smiled up at her frown. “All the more sporting of you. Not half bad, I'd say” “Oh, but it 1s bad-—frighttully bad! No food—not a thing to give Dad all this time. No chance of getting any for either of you. And now his fever, too, No medicine for it!” A sudden thought jerked Garth wp to avditting position. He swayed from dizziness, Then his head cleared. He was only rather weak from blood-loss and sore about the back of his head. An exploring hand found a wad of moss, tied upon his wound with a band of plaited grass. He heard the girl murmue “I fixed Dad's the same way-—ashes and the moss to hold it on. Ashes or like that for cuts.” He poloted to the scattered ashes of the dead fires. “Be quick. Bulld a big blaze and throw on green wood. That southbound plane! Must signal it. Even if he's aboard, he can't keep the pilot from coming down.” Lilith Ramill's head dropped de- spondently. “I saw it this morning way out across the sky. First there was the drone of the motor. Then I saw {t—way off, Only, I could do nothing. Yesterday I used your last match, I wanted to boil for Dad the one pinch of tea that's left. A puff of wind blew out the flame. Now there's no hope. He took your rifle too. No fire or food or gun, or any chance of rescue!" Garth looked around and saw her father tossing in feverish sleep under ‘the shade of a slight brush canopy. He gave the overwrought girl a banter- ing smile. “What, merely a matter of fire, medi- cine, food, and escape? If only you were a boy scout! How about becom- ing a Campfire Girl? Fetch me a two- foot willow branch the ‘size of your forefinger, a thong, cne straight dry stick, and that chunk of dead birch trunk.” A little sand Increased the friction of the fire-drill point at the bottom of the shallow hole he made in the block of wood. The dry birch soon began to smoke, Lilith had gathered tinder of dead Inner bark, In wide-eyed won- derment, she watched the simple prim- itive method of fire making. When Garth stood up beside the crackling flames of the new fire, he found himself stronger than he ex- pected. All shock from his wound had passed during his two days’ uncon. sciousness, and his healthy tissues had already begun to heal. “Now we're under way,” he gald “Next comes medicine, 3y using the ashes, you gave our wounds sterile dressings. Your father was tuned up to the pink of condition. His wound will heal as rapidly as mine. What little fever he has means nothing. To cool It, crush In his drinking water some of the cranberries from over there along the edge of the muskeg. You might boll willow bark and add a little of the bitter decoction to the cranberry juice.” “Oh, it's good to know he's not sick. jut to starve to death!” Garth pointed to the wild fowl out in the swamp. They were beginning to flock together with the approach of autumn. “How would you like canvas. back or mallard for dinner?” Her eyea brightened, only to cloud again. “You have no gun.” After looping some thongs to his belt, he went to stack a hollow pile of brush on a forked stub that had broken off from a fallen beech tree. Out in the water, he bobbed under and came up with his head between the forks of the float. The leaves and twigs made a blind from which he eould see out without being seen, He waded, neck deep, up the mus keg stream so slowly that the stub and branches appeared to be an ordinary bunch of driftwood. He allowed a flock of teal to swim by, They were too small to bother with. When he stepped off over his depth, he began to tread water. By a qulet movement of his hands under the sur. face, he glided the blind into the midst of a mallard flock, The trick was to grasp a duck’s feet and jerk the bird under before it could squawk. He waded back to shore with five deaa mallards tied to hig belt, After the meal on roast duck, he set some rabbit snares, He then showed Lilith how to make cords by splitting off strands from peeled spruce roots, While she worked at this, he collected more ducks and hung them over a smudge for smoke curing. Next came the carving of Eskimo hooks from duck bones. With bait, a catgut leader and a spruce-root Hine, he began to catch Mackenzie white. fish. Lilith had never seen so beaut! ful a fresh-water fish, all mother-of. pearl below and frosted silver above. The newly caught fish proved far better eating than even the best of trout. Mr. Ramill's slight fever gave him a distaste for duck meat and the rabbits that were snared. But he ate his full share and more of the delicious fish, Besides the cranberries, Lilith gath- ered black currants and blueberries and mushrooms. More fish were caught than could be eaten fresh. A number were soon on the smoke rack, along with ducks and rabbits. For the pres ent and near future, the question of food had been met. But the subarctic summer had about reached fits end Still more rapidly than before, the nights were becoming longer and blacker, A cold sleety rainstorm drenched the camp. It brought only temporary dis. comfort, for Garth kept the fire alive under a slanted heap of spruce boughs, None the less, the storm spurred him to redoubled activity, He knew It to be the forerunner of the autumn bilz. zards that might now how! down the snowclad Selwyns at any time, While Mr. Ramill's slight fever Ee : i i —TTTY By ROBERT AMES BENNET WNU Service Copyright by Robert Ames Bennet mained, he sald liftle and seemed to take everything as a matter of course. He had fully recovered from the ef- fects of shock even before the fifth day, when the bullet wound through his upper chest began to heal. But with the passing of his feverish condl- tion, the {rritablility of convalescence Jabbed him out of his placid content. ment, “Why are you loafing around here, Garth?” he rasped. “Instead of wast. ing all this time piling up food, you could have made a cance and run us down across to that refueling post days ago.” Garth swept his right hand edgewlise out across his upturned empty left palm, “No gun—no hides. Dead birch -—no bark. No hides, no bark—no canoe.” : “Huh! Do you mean to say we'll have to stick here and freeze in your d—d Arctic winter?” “Growl away, sir,” Garth approved. “Sounds good. It means you'll soon be In shape for rafting. As for your question, perhaps you imagine Miss Ramill and I have been heaving that down timber over the bank just for sport.” The millionaire staggered to his feet unalded for the first time since Huxby had shot him down, “A raft! How the devil can you make one if you can't make a canoe? No rope or raw- hide thongs to tie the logs together.” Garth supported him over through the spruce thicket to the drop-off of the bank. The wobbly invalid squatted on the brink and stared In surprise. Down the beach, close beside the wa- ter, his daughter sat plaiting a great plle of willow withes Into a thick line. Before her floated a partly bullt raft of dead birch tree trunks. The short. er, smaller cross logs were lashed on with spruce root and plaited-willow tie- lines, Mr. Ramill's gaze passed over the raft, to peer out across the Immense lake-like expanse of the great river, “You'll Not Have Much Insult Me.” Longer to The water was covered with white caps, whipped up by the chill northerly wind, “Raft! Ugh! It's worse out there than the white water when we shot those rapids” “There'll be plenty of free bathing for us, but no danger of drowning" Garth replied. “Only trouble, this wind would blow us upstream. We'll have to walt for a shift. The only other change Is that one of the boats may be coming out” *Boats 1" “The supply steamers of the Hud son's Bay company and other traders, taking out the season's cargoes of furs.” The millionaire grunted his relief: “Ugh-—steamers! Almost good as a plane.” “If one comes along, and If we see it In time,” Garth qualified. “You are rather farsighted. You might watch for smoke downriver.” “I'll do that. D-n your diddling with any raft! Ten to one, you've al ready let every steamer slip past. All this time with your nose rubbing those dd logs!" Garth went down to tell Lilith that her father was by way of being a well man. He sent her to move the camp to a small opening In the thicket, close behind the grumbler. Fuel for a bon. fire had already been heaped up oa the beach, But Garth did not count strongly on sighting any steamer, The boats might have lingered at the faraway Arctic trading posts. Delay meant danger of an early blizzard. He rushed his work on the raft. When dusk came, Lilith went on watch, In place of her father, Garth relieved ber at midnight, But neither of them saw any light out on the vast expanse of ghostly gleaming whitecaps., By another sunset Garth had the raft completed to his satisfaction. He had bullt a superstructure that raised the footing well above the waterline, Ralls guarded against the risk of squall waves washing the still weak millionaire overboard. For sweeps, Garth lashed the paddies to poles made of spruce saplings. He rigged other saplings for mast and yardarm, ready to holst the blanket as a sail in case of a favorable change in the wind, “Shift or calm, we'll put off at sun- rise,” he announced. Though Mr. Ramil grumbled, he ate his fill of brotled whitefish, and rolled up for the night to fall into the healthy heavy sleep of a convalescent, Lilith again took the first watch, In the midst of his first sleep, Garth opened his eyes with the instant alert wakefulness of a hunter. The girl's hand was on his forehead. “Yes? he asked. “I—-I'm not sure,” she “The wind has gone down. « « « It locks like a star. But It's so low on the wa- ter, I thought I'd better call you" He rolled from the bed of spruce tips and dry moss. A single glance downriver was enough. He jumped to light the prepared bundle of brush at the smudge-fire and leap with it down the bank. As the heap of fuel on the beach burst flame he heard the girl's gasping murmur, close behind his shoulder: “It can't—be a—mistake? You're certaln—certain that it's really “A steamer,” he replied. “But what {f—if they don't—see us? It's night” “Darker the better, If no fog. They can't miss seeing this fire.” Assured of rescue, she sighed her relief, With that woman-like, her feminine vanity came suddenly to life. “Oh, but to go among people like this! such a sight!” Garth turned to eye her in the glare of the upflaring fire. He locked at her worn moccasing and lynxskin leggings, at the crude skirt of moose-calf skin and the tattered upper part of the sports dress. He looked at her dope- smeared face, and at the tight plg- talls of the seml-bobbed hair that had once been so frozen in that modish permanent wave, His gray eyes twink led in the firelight, “Well, I'd say you're less a sight than when I first met you "™ Her eyes did not twinkle. flashed. “You'll not have much to insult me!” (TO BE CONTINUED) murmured, nto They longer French Acadian Villages Live On in Nova Scotia Although the Acadiang were driven from the famous Land of Evangeline in 1745 their traditions gnd culture still live on In many a little French village in Nova Scotia that even now Is not unlike the Grand Pre of the days when France ruled the new land, Many of them found thelr way back to their beloved Acadia and others fled to settle In remote parts of what was then a wild country, Of these French villages one of the qQuaintest is the little town of Clare where words written a century ago by a traveler still hold true today. This foreign visitor to Clare In 1835 wrote, “The foment a traveler enters Clare the houses, the implements of husbandry, the foreign language, and uniform but peculiar dress of the in- habitants excite his surprise that any township In Nova Scotia should pos- Sess such a distinctive character.” of the earlier traveler, “stil preserve pectillar attachments snd though their ners or move into their villages. This does not arise from am aversion to the their system of education.” of the original French settlers of Acadia. Thelr more progressive Eng. lish or Scotch neighbors may use the tractor and automobile, but for them fice, Longfellow wrote about still hangs over thelr villages. Fuel Waste Cited For years owners of Industrial plants have known that an uncovered steam pipe or boiler in fuel bills, “IT CAN'T HAPPEN HERE” “Junior's three and a half and he hasn't sald anything worth repeating. He's ugly as a mud fence, too; he must get it from my side of the fam- iy.” “I'm sorry, sir, but I can't sell any more tickets now. The feature picture has been on ten minutes and there may not be any seats for some time.” “Well, I promised the wife I'd be home at midnight and it's just 11:45, Here's the $50 I lost. Good night, fel lows.” “How are you feeling today, George?” “You really want to know, Frank?” “No,"—Saturday Evening Post, TELLING HER “Pa always has the last word In an argument with me” “That so? What does he say?” “Yes, my dear, you're absolutely right” Losing No Time “Now, suppose,” sald the teacher. “a man working on the river bank dealy fell in. He could not swim and would be in danger of drowning. Pic- ture the scene. The man's sudden fall. the cry for help. His wife knows his peril and, bearing his sereams. rushes immediately to the bank. Why she rush to the bank?" Whereupon a boy exclaimed. “To draw his insurance money."--Santa Fe Magazine, ————————— Big Job, Too amateur yegg)—So caught you with this bundle verware. Whom did you plunder? Yegg—Two fraternity houses, your honor, Judge (to sergeant)—Call downtown hotels and stull.—~Montana Banker, sud- does Judge (to they of sil the this up distribute Home Budgeting Wife (at breakfast)—Could I have a little money for shopping today, dear? Husband—Certainly, Would you rather have an old five or a new one? Wife-—A pew one, of course Husband-—Here's the one--and I'm $4 to the good, ——————— How Long? Tommy was listening to some of his sallor uncle's adventures, “You see, sonny, 1 always believe in fighting an enemy with his own weapons,” sald his dncle. “Really?” gasped Tommy. “How long does It take you to sting a wasp?” She Pitied Him Cuthbert—Honey-bunch, when did you first realize that you loved me? Honey-Bunch—When 1 got annoyed because people sald you were an idiot GOING SOME! car; is he always polite?” “Very. He even says thapk you to a street car conductor.” It Always Happens “Do you think ‘It possible to meet “Certainly,” replied Dora. all,"—Northwestern Banker, A AAPA A Fall Gay welght 1 started.” Mary's Fancy Costume Little Mary was going to a fancy dress purty and could not decide what to wear, Then suddenly she had an iden, “May 1 go as a milkmaid?” “But you are too small, Mary" “Ob, but 1 ean go as a condensed milkmald, can't 1, mother?” Old Stuff “Well, Willle, your sister and 1 are going to be married. How's that for news?" : “Shucks! You just finding that oul now" § Week's Supply of Postum Free Read the offer made by the Postum per. They will send a full week's sup- ply of health giving Postum free to anyone who writes for it.-—Ady. The Machine Age How to permit the human race to enjoy the benefits of machinery with- out depriving men of their employ- ment is a hard nut to crack; and it HOW CARDUI HELPS MONTH AFTER MONTH Where there have been severe pains every month from functional disturbances resulting from poor nourishment, Cardui has helped thousands of women to obtain relief, “I suffered a great deal with pain in my side and a weakness in my back,” writes Mrs. Walter Page, of Evansville, Ind. “Each month I would suffer all over and would have to go to bed. One of my neigh. bors told me how Cardui helped her, so I took it and it helped me, After taking eight bottles, I was better. 1 surely can recommend Cardui for weakness and pain" Of course, if Cardui does mot benefit YOU, consult a physician, Public Speaking Good public speaking is a form of dramatic art—partly a gift and part- ly training. FOUND!" Myldeal Remedy for 4 PAIN | “Though I have tried all good remsdies Capudine suits me best. It is quick and gentle” Quickest because it is liguid— its ingredients are already dis. solved. For headache, neural. : A ; 0 Rie, or muscle sches, % 5 On Flirting who don't “like never flirt, Men quainted”™ KILLS INSECTS ON FLOWERS « FRUITS VEGETABLES & SHRUBS Demand original sealed bottles, from pour dealer Ms. IL. Washington bam, NN. C, said: “1 was very weak, suffered fromm annoying pains in the small of my back and would pet Mead- aches that ade miserable. I used Dr, Pierce's Favorite Pre- . scription and it helped me wonderfully — I enjoyed cating felt so much stronger and, best of all 1 was re lieved of the backache and headache ™ New size, taba 50. Liquid $1.00 and $1.35 V. Ellis of 88 Duar- St, Miserahle with backache ? WHEN kidneys function badly and you suffer & nagging backache with dizziness, urination and is caused by an ition. To avoid it, acid must be Why Physicians Recommend y Milnesia Wafers equal to a full adult meghosla. Chewed i i {
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers