Part 4 (1/2)

”All right, you've got the upper hand,” said thehis weapon from beneath his vest, he presented it to the officer, butt foremost, hammer underneath The cylinder reposed naturally in the palh the trigger-guard

Burrell lowered the barrel of his revolver and put out his left hand for the other's weapon Suddenly the ht on the steel as it whirled, saw the ar itself across the bar with the speed of a striking serpent, heard a slass, felt the shock of a concussion, and the spatter of some liquid in his face Then he saw the lass with it, and saw the fellow step backward, snatching at the fingers of his right hand A smell of powder-smoke and rank whiskey was in the air

There are tiue Napoleon Doret had seen thetoo late what it meant, had acted At the very instant of the fellow's treachery, Doret struck with his bottle just in time to knock the weapon froe The bullet was lodged in the wall a foot froered back, the Frenchh swift as a cat, the soldier, who had also leaped, was before hi doard bloith his Colt, Burrell clipped the Skagway man just above the ear, and he reeled; then as he fell the officer struck wickedly again at his opponent's skull, but Doret seized him by the arm

”Ba Gar, don't kill 'im twice!”

Burrell wrenched his ar in the Frenchman's memory, a face suffused with fury and convulsed like that of a sprinter at the finish of a race The two ure for a brief ained mastery of himself and sheathed his weapon, when Poleon sood w'iskee on you Dat's wort' five dollar”

The Lieutenant wiped the liquor from his face

”Quick work, Doret,” he said ”I owe you one”

Gale's face was hidden as he bent over the prostrate ed cut which laid the fellow's scalp open fro unintelligible

”Is he hurt badly?”

”No, you chipped him too low,” said the trader ”I told you he was bad”

”He's goin' have nice birt'- back of the bar for some water They revived the man, then bound up his injury hastily, and as the stearip-sacks to a roustabout He said no word as he walked unsteadily up the plank, but turned and staredoutward into the streah the trickle of blood that stole down froririn, and cried:

”I'd like to introduceback to winter with you, Lieutenant! My name is Runnion” And until the stea there gazing back at them fixedly

As Burrell left the two ave his hand frankly to the French-Canadian, and said, while his cheeks flushed:

”I want to thank you for saving me from my oardness”

Doret became even ratitude, and grunted churlishly But when the young one he turned to Gale, who had watched the feller, ole ot so red lak' my ondershi+rt”

But the trader made no reply

CHAPTER III

WITHOUT BENEFIT OF CLERGY

When the steaone Napoleon Doret went to look for Necia, and found her playing with the younger Gales, who revelled in the gifts he had brought Never had there been such a surprise Never had there been such gorgeous presents for little folks This was a land in which there were no toys, a country too young for babes; and any one whose youth had been like that of other children would have seen a pathos in the joy of these two Poleon had been hard put to it to find anything suitable for his little friends, for although there was all ned for tiny people, not even clothes

It was evident that he had pleased thes like twin cubs, incoherent and noisy, the pleasure within them too turbulent for expression They had never played with a toy that Poleon had not built for thearment that Alluna had not made This, then, was a day of revelations, for the first thing they beheld upon opening their packs was a pair of rubber boots for each They were ladies' knee-boots, the smallest size in stock, but the Gales entered them bodily, so to speak, moccasins and all, clear to their hips, like the waders that duck-hunters use When they ran they fell down and out of theht and serene, for were not these like the boots that Poleon wore, and not of Indian make, with foolish beads on thee and wondrous fashi+on, with a briht froe man who had retained this emblem of his past to the final e for little John, and hard to master, but it made a brave display, as did a red cravat, which covered his front like a baseball catcher's harness Molly had also two sets of side-colass diamonds, and a silver-handled tooth-brush, hich she scrubbed the lae, and he was her particular pride

There were certain other things, the use of which they did not understand, like queer-ses and good to eat, although the skins were leathery and very bitter, nor were they nearly so pleasant to the nose as the toilet soap, which Necia would not allow them even to taste Then there was a box of chocolate candies such as the superintendent at St Michael's sent the, and an atomizer, which Necia had filled with Florida Water This worked on the puppy even better than the tooth-brush

The elder girl laughed gladly as Poleon entered, though her eyes ith the pity of it

”You seeo,” she said ”They have never had things to play with like other children, and it makes me cry to watch them”