Argosy All-Story Weekly, June 27, 1925 — page 98: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ARGOSY-ALLSTORY wEEKLY. S93 reach, climbed aboard the toboggan. on was just enough hard snow over for se here to give the dogs good footing. a it was hard tespeiing @ the webs. 50 u1¢ e, on the toboggan. ~o making time, but he felt uneasy: Aheact lay the new country where men ha found gold. But behind Jay an injured man who had needed his help. And the man's partner who had cursed him for refus- +. pulled himself together. “A man must look out for his own,” thought Greg- son, his little pig-eyes shining with greed. Then he shouted to his dogs, urging them on faster. On his right the bank rose steeply. On his Jeft a few rods ahead a stream tumbled into the large river. The toboggan was g0- ing even easier now. The traces were scarcely tight. Far above him to the right a tiny figure appeared, a man on skis. Gregson would not have noticed him had not the man hailed him—a long wailing cry. The man on the toboggan winced as if struck. He recognized that small figure. He drew a rifle clear of the tarpaulin cover- ing that stretched from end to end of the toboggan and waited, his eyes on that figure above. If the fool started anything, Greg- son was ready. The dogs slowed down. The leader whined, hesitated, swerved. Gregson picked up his long-lashed whip. “ Mush on, ye varmints,” he cried, swing- ing it at them. The dogs leaped forward. The tiny black dot above slipped over the crest of the slope, was coming down with lightning speed. Gregson brought his rifle up to cover the approaching figure. No use taking chances. Ahead lay gold, riches. This man would stop him at any cost, even, he felt, at the cost of his, Gregson’s, life. He coukd hear the breathing of the dogs as they strained at their collars, could hear the scratch, scratch of their claws on the glare ice to which the snow had given place. And like an undertone through these other sounds came the tinkle of the little water- fall npon the left. He brought his sights into line. The man was halfway down the slope within e, Best not to take rm Best -» him before he got to close quarters, ice, formed since the thaw, crumpled. The heavy toboggan stopped, sank slowly. With a hoarse cry Gregson dropped his rifle, clung desperately to the lashings that held the tarpaulin in place, settling with the toboggan into the icy grip of the water. The lead dog and the two directly behind him, on firmer ice, clawed frantically for-a foothold. The other three dogs, half in the on skis easy ran ‘water, half out, were helpless. The toboggan as it sank turned sideways, was caught by the current, carried slowly along towards the firmer ice below the hole. Gregson, clinging to it, saw a ray of hope. If he could clutch that firmer ice, draw himself out, he might escape yet. He let go his grip and reached out frantically. The toboggan, as if it were a living thing bent on thwarting him, dropped from under his feet. -He never knew that Whitey’s long wailing cry had been a warning. Whitey knew the river, knew how thin the ice was near that small, spring-fed tributary. He had planned to drop silently down on skiis, getting to grips with Gregson before the big man noticed him. But what he had seen at the top of the hill altered his plan. Too late to fight, he’d be lucky if he came in time to save. Hence his cry of warning. And now Whitey, darting down from the hillside to the frozen bosom of the river, saw only two hands reaching up from the face of the still waters, saw them slowly sinking, two hands that clutched and clutched, yet found nothing within their grasp. Then Gregson was gone. Whitey had seen everything. He knew that river. The current was slow, but before he could reach that tragic hole in the ice Gregson would be beyond help. There remained—the dogs. The toboggan had been drawn under, was pulling at the traces. Only one dog behind the leader re- mained on firm footing now. The other four were in the icy waters. And the leader was slipping, fighting hard but losing against the steady pull of the slow, remorsefess current. COnniEaoo () SS Co