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The Spoilers.
By REX E. BEACH.
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a F. NEWHOUSE
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Copyright, 1 005, by Rex E. Dench.
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CONTINfEIhl '
T'hen you get back yo!!';i make the
siumlirtw of Hit- Jusi seem ns restless
;ik a riot or llit antics of a mountain
goat wlilcli nimbly leaps from crag lo
tag. ami -well, that's restless enough.
Coiii on!"
As the sun slanted tip out of I'.erlng
xea they marched hack toward the
"hills, their feet ankle deep in the sort
fresh moss, while the air tasted like a
iiiol draft ami a myriad of earthy
odors rose up and enchvled them.
Hnipe and reed birds were noisy In
the hollows, and from the misty tun
Jlra lakes came the honking of brant.
After their weary weeks on shipboard
Hie dewy freshness livened them mag
Irally, cleansing from their memories
the recent tragedy, so that the girl be
came herself again.
"Where are we going?" she asked at
(he end of an hour, pausing for breath.
"Why. to the Midas, of course." they
wild, and one of them vowed reckless
ly as lie drank in the beauty of her
clear eyes and the grace of. her slen
der, panting form that he would triad
ly give his share of all its riches to
undo what he had done one night on
.the Santa .Maria.
CMIArTKU V.
N the lives of countries there are
crNes where for :i breath destinies
lie in the laps of the gods and are
jumbled, heads or talis. Thus are
marked distinctive cycles like the sev
en ages of c, man, and, though perhaps
they are too subtle to be perceived at
1he time, yet, having swung past the
Hliadowy milestones, the epochs dis
close themselves.
Such a period la the progress of the
far northwest was the UKh day of
1 ily, although to those concerned hi
Hie building of this new empire the
ilay appealed only as the date of the
coming uf the law. All Nome gath
ered on the sands as lighters brought
ashore Judge Stillniau and his follow
ing. It was held titling that the Sen
ator should be the ship to safeguard
the dignity of the first court and to
introduce Justice Into this land of the
-wild.
The Interest awakened by his honor
was augmented by the fact that he
was met on the beach by a charming
.girl, wlio Hung herself upon him with
.evident delight.
"That's his niece," said some one.
"She came up on the first boat. Name's
Chester. Swell looker, eh 7"
Another newcomer attracted even
more notice than the limb of the law;
a gigantic, well groomed man, with
keen, close set eyes and that Indefin
able easy movement and polished bear
ing that come. from confidence, health
and travel. Unlike the others, he did
not dally on the beach or display much
Interest In his surroundings, but with
purposeful frown strode through the
jiress up Into the heart of the city,
ills companion was Struve's partner,
I lauham, u middle aged, pompous man.
They went directly to the olllces of
Dunham & Struve, where they found
the white haired Junior partner.
"Mighty glad to meet yon, Mr. Mc
'Namara." said Struve. "Your name Is
u household word In my part of the
country. My people were mixed up In
Ijnkota iMilltlcs somewhat, so I've al
ways had a great admiration for you,
and I'm glad you've come to Alaska.
Tills h a big country, and we need
big men." f
"Did you have any trouble?" Dun
ham inquired when the three had ad
journed to a private room.
"Trouble," said Struve ruefully.
"Well, I wonder If I did. Miss Ches
ter brought me your instructions O. K.
and I got busy right ofT. But tell me
t Ids how did you get the girl to net
as messenger'"
"There was no one else to send," an
fTvvercd MeNamara. "Dunham Intend
ed sailing on the first boat, but he was
detained In Washington with mo, and
the judge had to wait for us at Seat
tle. We wore afraid to trust a stran
ger for fear ho might get curious and
examine the papers. That would have
meant" lie moved his hand elo
quently. Struve nodded. "I see. Does she
know what was In the documents?"
"Decidedly not. Women and busi
ness don't mix. I hope you didn't tell
her anything."
-No; I haven't had a chance. She
seemed to take a dislike to me for
some reason. I haven't seen her since
the day after she got hero."
"The Judge told her It had something
to do with preparing the way for his
court," said Dunham, "and that If the
papers were not delivered before he
arrived It might cause a lot of trouble
litigation, riots, bloodshed and. all
that. lie Tilled her up on"genoralltles
tilt the girl was frightened to death
and thought the safety of her uncle and
the whole country depended on her."
"Well," continued Struve, "It's dead
easy'to hire men to Jump claims, and
It's dead easy to buy their rights after
ward, particularly when they know
they haven't got any. Hut what course
do you follow when owners go gunning
for you?"
MeNamara laughed.
"Who jlld that?"
"A benevolent, silver haired old Tev
an pirate by the name of Dextry He's
one-half owner In the Midas and the
other half mountain Hon, as peaceable,
you'd Imagine, as a benediction, but
with the temperament of a Ceronimo.
I sent linlloway out to relocate the
claim, and he got his notices up in the
night when they were asleep, but at !
a. m. he came Hying back to my room
and nearly hammered the door down.
I've seen frigid in varied forms and
phases, but he had them all, with some
added starters.
"Hide me out. quick!' he panted.
'"What's up?' I asked.
" 'I've stirred up a breakfast Of griz
zly bear, smallpox and sudden death,
and It don't set well uu my stuuimkk.
Let me In.'
"I had lo keep lilm hidden throe days,
for tills gentle mannered old cannibal
roamed the streets with a cannon In
his hand, breathing lire and pestilence."
"Anybody else act up?" queried Dun
ham. "No; all the rest are Swedes, and
they haven't got the nerve to light.
They couldn't lick a spoon If they
tried. Their- other men are different,
though. There are two of them the
old one and a young fellow. I'm a lit
tie afraid lo mix It up with them, and
If their claim wasn't the best In the
district I'd say let It alone."
"I'll attend to that," said MeNamara
Struve resumed;
"Yes, gentlemen, I've been working
pretty hard and also pretty much In
the dark ho far. I'm groping for light.
When Miss Chester brought in the pa
pers I got busy lustanter. I clouded
the title to the richest placers In the
region, but I'm blanled if 1 quite see
the use of it. We'd be thrown out of
any court In the land If we took them
to law. What's the game-blackmail?"
"Humph!" ejaculated MeNamara.
"What do you take me for?"
"Well, It does seem mnll for Alee
MeNamara, but I can't see what el.se
you're up to."
"Within a week I'll be running every
gooil mine hi the Nome district."
McNamara's voice was calm, but de
cisive, his glance keen and alert, while
about him clung such a breath of
power and confidence that It compelled
belief even In the face of this astound
ing speech.
In spite of himself Wilton Struve,
"lawyer, rake nnd gentlemanly adven
turer, felt his heifrt leap at what tho
other's daring implied. The proposl
tlou was utterly past belief, and yet,
looking Into the man's purposeful eyes,
he believed.
"That's big-awful blg-too big," the
younger man murmm-cd. "Why, man,
It means you'll handle $50,000 a day!"
Dunham shifted his feet In the si
lence and licked his dry lips.
"Of course It's big, but 'Mr. MeNa
mara's the biggest man that ever came
to Alaska," he said.
"And I've got the biggest scheme
that ever came north, backed by the
biggest men In "Washington," continued
the politician. "Look hero!" He dis
played a typewritten sheet bearing
parallel lists of names and figures.
Struve gasped incredulously.
"Those are my stockholders, and
thnt Is their share In the venture. Oh,
yes, we're Incorporated under the
laws of Arizona; secret, of course. It
would never do for the names to get
out. I'm showing you this only be
cause I want you to be satisfied who's
behind mo."
"Lord, I'm satisfied," said Struve,
laughing nervously. "Dunham was
with you when you figured the scheme
out, and he met some of your friends
in Washington and New York. If he
says It's all right, that settles it. But,
say, suppose anything went wrong
with the company nnd It leaked out
who those stockholders are?"
"There's no dnnger. I have tho
books where they will he burned at the
first sign. We'd have had our own
land laws passed but for Sturtevant of
Nevada, curse him. Ho blocked us
lu the senate. However, my plan Is
this." He rapidly outlined his proposl
tlou to the listeners, while a light of
admiration grow and shone In the
reckless face of Struve.
(Continued on Pajjo tiix.)
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