Dick Kent with the Malemute Mail

ng there in the bottom of the frying pan. Unsupported by as much as a single pinch of baking powder, this culinary effort of Rand's wore an appearance of deep and utter deje

n acrobatic flip-flop of happy anticipa

several days now he had subsisted chiefly on the dry and withered berries of saskatoon, with an occasional small morsel of bird meat. For hundreds of miles he had

attempting to ford a difficult river. Three days later, while he slept, there had come in the night a soft-footed In

of nearly twenty miles before luck favored him to the extent of directing him to an Indian encampment, where he ate his first full me

o his previous condition of want and suffering. Then the tables had turne

he had crossed a low ravine, then scrambled up in the mellow afternoon sunlight to the edge of a small natural clearing. His incurious gaze swept the view before him. For

stump of a tree-an ancient, weather-beaten stump, probably not more than eight or ten inches in diameter. As Rand looked at it, a half-hearted wonderment stole over him, t

ax. And looking farther he had found other stumps, upon which trees had once rested-about thirty of them in all

urance, he went forward at a run, racing over the thick dry grass. The trees had been cut down for a purpose, as he had su

He could see plainly that no one lived there. The door, partially open, hung loosely on broken hinges, while acr

tenanted, dilapidated state it had very little to offer to a man whose stomach gnawed with th

to what he would find within. In the dim light of the single room, he moved cautiously forward, peering about him with half-frightened eyes. His fe

tained nothing of interest: a few black, dirty pots, covered with rust. On the second shelf there was a miscellaneous assortment of

d shelf at all; but after a good deal of fumbling and groping about, his hand

n the top with an air-tight cover. Rand's face became damp with moisture as he turned the vessel slowly around in his hands. He shook it several tim

ght with the joy of his discovery. He laughed loudly, gleefully-a hint of madness in his laugh. He stooped f

" he gloated.

d used very little of the flour. With careful rationing, it wou

ys. Things looked brighter somehow-after that bannock. In the morning he would build a raft and cross the Wapiti. After that there would be fairly smooth a

er before turning in. They were in terrible condition and required immediate attention. If only he could get the pain

as chilly sitting there on the rock with a north wind whipping across his face and the water, like ice, around his ankles. Much as he hated to admit it, the

nd heard a splashing out in mid-stream. A moose or caribou, was his first thought. Too bad

his eyes until they hurt in the hope that he might be able to see something. He was all atremble. It was dark out there, dark as black midnight

oo close tuh shore," warned

elf completely. Like one daft, he sprang from the rock and raced wildly along the shore, cutting his already bruise

outed Rand, wa

r that?"-fro

lagued fool. Look out! Now

ks of two men in mortal terror. Experienced in such matters, he sensed immediately what had occurred. Sweeping down the swift, treacherous current,

o the stream and, without a moment's hesitation, dove forw