Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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-Ji ; * ' u * V.jf . ' ' f ■ ■ -H-H-t-M-H-H CThe Free Traders j WNU SKHVICB \ _> Bij U1CTOR ROUSSEAU (Copyrlcht by W. O. Chapman.) taaeieMB HPCOIVt aaMaBtiyiTaiaPii aaejanac DELIRIUM SYNOPSIS. — I,«•« Andcrwon. Roy al Canadian Mouiu«d Police nt*r- Keant, in aerR to Stony l<anK« to arrest a man named Pelly for murder. He Is also Instructed to look after Jim Kathway, rejiuted head of the "Frea Traders,” Illicit liquor runners. At Little Falls he finds Felly Is credited with having found >n gold mine, and is missing. At the hotel appears a girl, obviously out of place In the rough surroundings. A half- breed, Flerre, and a companion, “Shorty," annoy the girl. An derson Interferes In her behalf. The girl sets out for Slaton Lake, which Is also Anderson's ohtec- tive. He overtakes her and the two men wlih whom he had trou ble the night before. She Is sus picious of him and the two men are hostile. Flerre and Shorty ride on, Anderson and the girl following. In the hills the road Is blown up, before and behind the two. Anderson, with his horse, Is hurled down the moun tain side, senseless Recovering consciousness. Anderson finds the glil has disappeared, but he concludes she Is alive and prob ably In the power of Flerre and Shorty. On -Px+t—fce make* his way to Slston Lake. There ho finds his companion- of the .day before, and Rathwny. with a girl, Kstelle,, a former sweetheart of Anderson's, who had abused his confidence and almost wrecked his life. Rathway strikes Kstelle, and after a fight Anderson, with Kstelle's help, escapes with the girl. Anderson's companion's mind Is clouded and she Is suf fering with a dislocated knee. Anderson sets the knee. CHAPTER VI—Continued —5— The Joint slipped into position, the tortured body ceased its protest, and Lee rose, the perspiration streaming down ills face. Trembling In the nervous reaction from the struggle, Lee listened to the increasing noise of the motor boat again. It rose to a roar as It passed again along the channel Immediately Ifl front of his hilling place, and gradually dwindled away. ' * tfc Leaving the girl whore she had fallen hack into unconsciousness. Lee ascended one of the, rfprure frees and scanned the channel The motor boat was moving up the shore of the Island along the edge of the reeds. It con tained Kathway and two other men. Another York boat was coming from tlie direction of the promontory, 'This contained three men also. Six on the trail; and Lee guessed that they would leave no nook un- searched In their determination lo lo cate himself and the girl. The island appeared to be about a mile in length by a third wide. Lee, seeing that discovery was only a mat ter of time, decided that It would be better to abandon the boat and take refuge somewhere in the underbrush. If the York boat had not been found by nightfall, lie could return with the girl and try to escape to the mainland. If it were discovered, their situation would he no worse. He strapped one of the packs aboui his hack, picked up ihu girl, and, thus encumbered, proceeded through the thick brush, making for the opposite shore, where he put the girl down in r small declivity where the growth was thickest. Hemming the tin pannikin from the outside of the pack, be ob tained water and poured some down ThP gtrt V rbrnrtt:■ Ho meed rb:rf The swallowing reflex was present, a fa vorable sign in unconsciousness, as be bad learned at the front. Toward ibe middle of the afternoon the sun. which had shone brilliantly throughout the morning, went perma nently behind the clouds. Another snowstorm was beating up. A few soft tlakes began to fall. , Suddenly a distant hubbub broke out and continued. There was no mis taking what was meant. The York board bad been discovered. -> The Free Traders began to heat across the island, calling to one an other. Their voices-gradually sounded nearer. Crouching beside the girl In the thick of the brush, Lee waited. At a distance he saw two of Them pass through lhe trees and disappear. The shouting died away. As soon as they bad passed him, leaving the girl where she lay, Lee slipped softly through the under growth, making ids way back to the sandy spit.“ His: expectations were confirmed.) The York boat had dis appeared. . Keoscendlng the spruce tree, he saw the two York boats moored to the motor boat In mid-channel, a, man with a rifle seated in it on guard. They were trapped on the Miami. Lee made his way hack, and waited while the afternoon wore away. The .snow fell thicker. He took off his unacklnaw and placed it over the girl. She was no longer in a coma, hut semi-conscious, and unaware of her surroundings. She muttered and tossed; sometimes it was all Lee could do to quiet her. And the disjointed fragments of speech that fell from her lips Indicated the same mental an guish that she had revealed to him daring their ride through the range. He shuddered to think of her mental agony If she had awakened to And i herself a prisoner in Rntliway’s power at the promontory; And even in the darkness of their desperate situation, he drew new Hope from his resolution. And gradually ids plans formed In ids mind. Then night begun to fall, and Lee breathed a vast sigh of relief. I’n less his plans miscarried, they should he safe upon the mainland well before midnight. These depended, of course, upon his being able to capture one of the boats. The best plan for the Free Traders would have been to have withdrawn them to the promontory, knowing that Lee could not swim with the girl across that stretch of Ice-cold water. Lee-felt sure that, in their eagerness.^ feeling secure in their numbers, they would encamp upon the shore, either benching the boats or leaving them anchored under the single guard in the middle channel. About half an hour after dark he set out on his investigations, g-tie moved through the brush as MofWy as any Indian, and. hooted though he was. hardly a twig crackled under Ids feet. Making ids way Toward the contraI portion, where the trees were sparser and the gro/und undulating) he soon discovered what he was looking for, -the distant glow of a camp tire. Four men were seated ar'oinnLfhe fire, drinking apd conversing londl.V. It was impossible to make out their faces in the'darkness, but Lee waited patiently until the light- of the fire fell upon each, and ascertained that none of them was bearded. Kathway, then, was eitiier in charge of the motor boat, with the sixth man, or had been forced to return to his headquarters,-owing to his condition. Lee circled the camp, and dis covered, to his Joy, the York boat, beached on the shore about twenty- five yards distant. The men had not troubled to draw* it up on birch rollers, where it would have been a matter of time and labor to float it again; It lay with Its keel in the mud, careening to the lap of the little waves. Lee cogitated. If the men got drunk that night, il might he possible to make off with the boat without arousing them. On the other hand the prob abilities were that through fear of Kathway they would stay sober enough to guard it effectively. And the delay was telling upon Ids nerves. He decided that nt all cost it was necessary to make the attempt as quickly as possible. —- He made Ids way hack to the.girl, strapped the pack on ids hack, and. taking her in Ids arms, began to ap proach the encampment by a circuitous route through the trees. in tlie darkness, staggering over the uneven ground, and loaded as he was, the task was an all but Impossible one. But, added to this, the girl awakened and began talking disjointedly, some times crying out in fyur. It was al most impossible to qftiet her. She clung to him, moaning. 'For a whole hour he tried to assuage tier terrors, until at last she dropped asleep again from weakness and weari ness. Once more Lee took up his task. Now the campfire came into view. The four men were still visible about it. shouting and quarreling; they were drunk, hut not drunk enough to rem der escape without a tight possible. Creeping, almost inch by inch, to the extension of raspberry brambles, Lee ..fiillnuiT il down lo lbe waters edge But there was no time to he lost, for tiie tall ruffian wtio hud fled was howling somewhere along the shore, and u+i depended upon the nearness of the motor boat. Lee. covering Pierre, hacked quietly to tlie place where he had laid the girl. He picked her up and ran toward the boat with her. Instantly Pierre's figure was blotted out in the darkness. , Lee had set down the rifle when he picked up the girl ; he placed her in the bottom of the boat, ran hack and found It and threw It'inside, together with the pack from Ids shoulders. He raised the heavy anchor. He threw all his weight against the boat, which re ceded in a trail of viscous mud until it was a float. Lee b»a[*ed in. seized the oars, fired another shot in warn ing. All the while the wounded man was howling along the shore. Lee pushed desperately with the mars till he was in deeper water. He /pulled furiously for mid-channel. As he did so there came a sound that for one instant almost unnerved him. what with the psychological effect of that all-day listening to it—the chugging of tlie engine. Then, as lie reached open water, tie saw by the light of the pallid moon that issued for a moment through the storm-clouds, the black speck of the motor boat trailing the second York boat dimly. But suddenly tlie rattling of tlie en gine died in a splutter. Tlie motor boat was about a hundred yards dis tant, Tlie next Instant tlie bang of a rifle confirmed Lea’s hopes. The en gine had either run out of gasoline or had become out of order. Instantly Lee was pulling as he had never pulled before. Again the rifle sounded. Twice more. Now the motor boat was almost invisible in the darkness. Then, simultaneously with another discharge, something struck Lee n vio lent blow in tlie side fliat knocked him on his hack. He was up in a moment, and pulling with ail ids might, though he knew he four- and laid tlie girl down. He looked at her apprehensively for a moment, but her eyes were closed in sleep and her breathing was soft and regular. Then coolly Lee stepped out into the open space and made his way toward I he group. He was within five and twenty yards of them before they perceived him. and then they seemed to take liitn for one of their party. Lee’s Impressions were of confused shouting and challenging His coolness disconcerted and hewild- ered them; lie was almost upon them before Pierre recognized him. “By gar, it's dat d—n (lusher !” lie shouted. And on the instant Lee was into the thick of them. A tall ruttlan grasped a rifle and rushed at him. Ivce tired. The man. sfroi—through, .the hand, dropped th,e rifle, and, utjering a howl of pain, look to Ids heels In the under growth. i A second man was uffnlh'; at him. Lee brought tlie butt of Ids pistol down upon Ids Head, and the titan, collapsing In a mumbling heap, lay face upward upon the ground. Shorty was pulling desperately at a gun. Lee swung at him, missed his skull, hut knocked him sidewise- with a blow i ( that laid his cheek open .to tlie hone. Shorty dropped and lay still. Flerre, who had made no movement of aggression, was staring at Lee stupidly. “Hands up, d—n you!’’ Lee shouted. Fletre’s arms went up to their full height. Lee h-Isked him, took his gun, took Shorty’s'ahd the third man’s, ahd tossed them into the undergrowth as far as he could fling thetn. He stooped and picked up the rifle that the first man had dropped. A^d, within a few seconds of the opening melee, Lee found himself, by virtue of the surprise, master of the situation. Lee Had Set Down the Rifle When He — tip n..i-i H/»r a sudden stub of agonizing pain, and something grated beneath his heart. He realized then that the rifle bullet had split one of ills ribs, probably glancing off again, and that the hone had given way under tlie strain of the girl’s vveignt. Injq way this reassured him, for a glancing 'wound of that kind was not likely to l»e a serious one. On the other hand, the agony was growing unendurable. Every step was now torture. Three or four times, when it seemed impossible to proceed, Lee was forced to set the girl down and, lean ing against a tree, to gasp for breath. Eternities seemed to lie passing. All his left side was now a flaming hell of pain, which radiated from the wound throughout ids body, and this was be coming an automaton, driven by the will. He was no longer conscious of muscular control over it. A hundred times he felt that the next step must he ids last. And yet some monitor in the hack of his consciousness kept in sisting that he must complete the nflle he had set himself, and would not let him drdp in Ids tracks. And as he staggered on. he was sur prised to hear himself talking to him- self, and tie listened with mild inter , est. ns If lie were overhearing tlieje^- niarks of a third person. He heard himself solemnly address ing Estelle, thanking her for having relieved him of tlie last vestige of the love that he had once felt toward her. He had thought, he loved tier once, and that jove, although unworthily bestowed, had not been wholly folly. Estelle had had many good qualities of heart; she'was reckless and pas sionate. but there was nothing petty or mean about her. She was the daugh ter of a well-to-do lumberman, and she hail been well educated; but there was some taint in her blood some atavistic tendency that drove her upon wild and erratic courses. For a while she had been on the stage, and had earned some reputa tion as a clever mimic. For h long time Lee had known nothing of the stories that were being circulated by all tlie gossips of the town, nor that her name was asso ciated with that of n man named Kean, whom he had n<»ver met. Kean was one of a gang sefHng * liquor to the Indians, and. he tiad a wife in Chicago. When, burning with anger, tie went to confront Estelle, it was to find that she had been warned of Ids discovery, and ha<l fled from the place—to Kean, the gossips said. Lee never made any inquiries. As soon as possible lie secured trans fer to another post; then he was sent to France, and his life had no room for feminine interests. About ten months previously, how ever, while in the trenches, he had had a letter from Mrs. Kean, enclos ing a copy of a marriage certificate. She was thinking of it. divorce, and wanted to know w hether he could gi\e her any information about tlie couple. Lee knew nothing of cither. But the letter had shaken him a good deal, as had the meeting with Estelle that day as well. What an end for tier! It was a queer personality that talked, tlie fragments of tlie man whom he had once been, and Lee discovered that Hiis lost portion of Ins personality was recalling to mind all sorts of queer things, quite trivial and uniuij, portant episodes of that unhappy en tanglement. and tlie knowledge that lie must re tain intact the thread of consciousness If lie Xvar to save the girl from the alternative between death In the for est and recapture. At earliest dawn he must retrieve the pack, In case - RatWwJiy’s men should decide to beat ahoat the shore and so, perhaps, might find It. Be yond that point he would not let his anticipations carry him. It was some time before the dawn when Lee heard the girl cry out sud denly, a moan of pain and of surprise as the body, heavy with Its coma, ^struggled to convey the sense of dis tress to the dazed mind. That,cry drove tlie phantoms of deli rium from Lee’s mind, pulling him hack to conscloysness, and in an in stant Lee was at the girl’s side, per fectly muster of himself, and, as she stirred and murmured, lie raised iW. put his arms about her, and took her head upon his shoulder, as tenderly as if she were some boy comrade, wounded upon patrol. But as he listened to her broken ut terances Lee realized that it was more than physical pain that was torment ing her. t “I cannot go on. It was too heavy a price. I must go hack. If you won’t kill him, gave me and take me away. It Is not that I didn't trust you, only you didn't understand. “No, I'm not sure that I trust him. He lonrjks honest, hut who knows that lie is? He isn't a prospector, he hasn't a pick or a pan. What should he he doing in tlie range? Yes, I’ll go through with it. I’ll go with you when lie’s asleep, only don’t harm him. You must promise me not to harm him. “Yes. he means well and wants to help me.. He doesn't know who you are. You must swear that no harm , *Now I Am Well and the Mother of Two Children” V Just * Another Story About the Goodness of PE-RU-M i H in the Boat, Ran Back and Found It and Threw It Inside, Together With the Pack From His Shoulders, t was wounded. But at all cost lie Must reach that nearing, welcome shore. He felt the wet blood trickling dowp him. His breath was coming in short gasps. He bent to the oars with all his reso lution set upon the completion of that Journey. At last the shore seemed to reach out to him, the forests parted, the distant shouts died away. He ran the boat aground. Leo’s brain seemed preternqturally acute. 'In that moment he did not for get the pack. huK snatching it from the boa., leaped ashore, and. running some fifty yards, placed it carefully In the brush nt the base oT'm.Rill pine. IB* ran hack, picked 'up the girl, and, carrying her In his arms, began- to make ^his ,way into the thick of the forest. ' * And all the while lie ran, lie was weighing everything. The Free Tra ti ers would not know that lie was woundfdrMthey would certainly aban- <lpn the pursuit as hopeless; he must carrE the girl ji mile into the forest, where the light i)f their fire Would not htMray TbomT^rettinvui^ fttj- the pack in the morning, lie suffered no pain, and seemed momentarily endowed with some extraordinary vitality, but there was a numbness in big bUW which seemed to be spreading upward. 1 He had no idea how serious the wound was;jeveryttylng that was him. self was set upon the completion of the last phase of his task, so that. If he died, the girl should at least come back to consciousness in-the forest and not in Rathway's hands. He struggled on, felt himself weak ening, fel^t himself choking, and set down the girl In order to draw breath. But as he raised her again, he felt And so one port or nltn field ddllnfluy with tlie shade of tlie woman who was now nothing,.to him, while the other hold the unconscious girl, .and drove the lagging body onward; •- And to ids horror, in that .dim light the girl lie clasped seemed to take on the aspect of Estelle, and he found it was to her that he was talking. But then he trenitd her moan slightly, and polled himself together. This was not Estelle, it was his comrade of the range whom he was carrying. The phantom disappeared into the past, anil once more Lee was aware of that odd sense of tender companionship. He rested tier head more gently against, shoulder. ^ ■ —' At last, when he was satisfied that lie had gone the mile hV'xtad set him self, he laid tlie girl dovrh gently on the ground, and, breaking off some spruce branches, lie made a bed for her and wrapped her it) his mackinaw again. _ And with that it was all he could do to hold himself together while he exjjmjned ids own wound ns best he could. *-•' He saw that, it was a mere flesh wound. Tlie bone had taken the force of tlie bullet, which had glanced off, and one broken end was working Into the flesh. He tore some strips from his shirt, and having brought the ends Into po sition, bound them tightly. And then he dropped to the ground at thq girl’s feet and lapsed Immediately Into a delirious slumber. shall come to him-— She was living over again tlie events of tlie past. Her utterances became more broken, she moaned—suddenly she lay quiet, relapsing into the sleep of profound exhaustion. And ..Lee staggered to' his feet and lay down once more. But tills time it was neither to sleep nor to fall back Into the nether depths «>f delirium. He saw that a titanic conflict had been going on within the girl, and it seemed to him now that she had been going up to Rathway. Something In the conversation be tween Rathway and Estelle—whal had it been? He pondered over it all in a dls connected way ns he lay there, still aware that another part of him was living over those days of long ago. Then at last the first light of dawn came creeping through tlie trees, and slowly this pain-racked, thirst-tor mented being settled down into him self agalh. ' r As soon ns it was 1 pal Might he was on his feet. After looking aft tlie girl, and convincing himself that she was not likely to awake for several hours, he set off, aching in every limb, toward the shore of tlie lake, in order to re trieve the pack. In less than half an hour he emerged out of the forest, and, after a careful survey of tlie lake had con vinced him that neither the Free Traders nor their boats were in evi dence lie struggled down to the river, and bathed In the ice-cold waters, Inje ning them up and feeling new life flow into his veins. He adjusted and tightened tlie hand- ages. Tlie broken rib was snugly held, and Lee felt that he had gone through the worst of It. He found the pack. It contained a blanket and waterproof sheet, tea. sugar, bacon, flour, cream of tartar, salt, corn meal, some dried apricots, mutches, and nails; there were a pot, a pannikin, plate, knife, fork, and spoon, an axe and a small saw. His wound made it impossible t« carry this on his back, but with thf axe in one hand Lee sliced off a num ber of pine branches, out of whi'-h h* constructed a rough framework on which to haul the pack. An hour’s work nnd an hour’s struggle through the woods brought him buck to the girl. She was sleeping naturally, and there was a faint tinge of color In her cheeks. After a short rest Lee set ijhout tlie task of making camp. He gathered brushwood and imilt a fire, lie put on to boil the pot which lie had brought hack full of water. And, hav ing on tlie return journey discovered a small, clear stream near by, he derided that that would he a safe camping place until they could proceed, and accordingly bent down some saplings and proceeded to thatch them with branches, to make a shelter'for them. He had Just begun when he heard a Jow call behind him,' The girl was awake and conscious at last. Site was looking at him in wonder, hut not In fear. I • • Mrs. Anna Linder, R. F. D. No. 1, Box 44, Dassel, Meeker County, Minn., writes: “For two years I Buffered with that terrible disease, chikmic catarrh. ^Fortunately I saw your advertisement and took Pe-ru-na. Now I am well and the mother of two children. I owe it all to Pe-ru-na. I would not be without that great remedy for twic£ its cost, for I am well and strong now. I cannot speak in too high terms of its value as a medi cine.”-— For more than half a century Dr. • Hartman’s Pe-ru-na has been per forming just such wonderwork as this. Pe-ru-na is sold everywhere in both tablet and liquid form. In sist upon having genuine Pe-ru-na. Guard Against “Flu” With Musterole Influenza, Grippe and Pneumonia / usually start with a cold. The moment you get those warning aches, get busy with good old Musterole. Musterole is a counter-irritant that relieves congestion (which is what a cold really is) and stimulates circulation. It has all the good qualities of the old-fashioned mustard plaster without the blister. Just mb it on with your finger-tips. First you will feel a warm tingle'as the healing ointment penetrates the pores, then a soothing, cooling sensation and quick relief. Have Musterole handy for emergency use. It may prevent serious illness. To Mothor*: M usterol* la alto mad* in milder form for babies and small children* Ask for Children's Musterole* 35c and 65c, in jars and tubes. <.— X Hotter than m muitard platter Hetv/o you RHEUMATISM Lumbago or Gout? Ttk* RH BUM ACIDK to rtmox* tbectnta and drive the poison from the tyuem. -RUK Hll lDI OS THI IIBIPB rm BHIUtTISB OH THI 0IT*IBB At All Drufjrlatfl Jar Bailjr & Sob, Wbolestla Diitribatars Boltimora, Md. Itl-.MMIK OIK AITUOKJ/KD KKFKK- hKNTATIVK, avlllng *»->«*ar entabllahed line. iloiiHehold Kemedten, Flavoring Ev- trart*. Perfume*, Powder*. Cream*. Superior qualltien assuring repeat order*. Write for catalogue, free sample case offer ELSI NORE, 21 Bergen St, BROOKLYN, N Y Take Picture*? Camera enthueliiatH and col-’ lectors Join internafl exchange club, land scapes, marine, farm, aviation, figure studies. XVrite W Johnson. Box 1I4J, Lakewood, N. J. Surely Paid Jim Harry Tate is a well-known English humorist who has a peculiar brand of fun all bis own. The irrepressible Harry tells tlie story how, at a meeting of a smalholders’ club, a somewhat dejected-looking member wits asked: ' T keeping' -payr'" “Well, no, I can’t say that I do; but I think it pays my son, Jim,’' VIlow’s that?" “Well, you see, I bought him the fowls; I have to pay for their keep. I buy the eggs from him, and he eats them." c Of course the girl’s delirious i utterances mean nothing. What will the forlorn couple do next? Hi’ ’ (TO BE CONI 1NUKD.) J9 CHAPTER VII The Girl Awakens And all that night It waii the will that sustained the worn-out bodj_ln, that fight up through the darkness, Inconvenient “Currency* Economists tell learnedly why money makes the commercial world go round, but a Parisian opera singer of a decade ago learned the lesson in one elasslt experience. She was determined tc tour the world thoroughly and she stopped over In the Society Islands, where her manager contracted to have her sing for one-third the receipts. Her share of “the box office” was 3 pigs, 22 turkeys, 44 chickens, 5,000 coco nuts and an uncomputed quantity of bananas and oranges. She couldn't convert her proceeds; the natives bad no money. She fed the fruit to th« animals fipd donated her barnyarl^to the community when aim sailed away. rl is none too good tor your cake. So why not uee Snow King Bak ing Powder. land have the best? Highest quality —and only 25 cents for 2 5 ounces. iz J. -1 King