The Way of the Strong   By: Ridgwell Cullum (1867-1943)

THE WAY OF THE STRONG

By RIDGWELL CULLUM

Author of "The Twins of Suffering Creek," "The Night Riders," "The One Way Trail," Etc.

With Four Illustrations by

DOUGLAS DUER

A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS

114 120 East Twenty third Street New York

Published by Arrangement with George W. Jacobs & Company

Copyright, 1914, By

George W. Jacobs & Company

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

PRINTED IN U. S. A.

CONTENTS

PART I

CHAP.

I ON SIXTY MILE CREEK II THE ROOF OF THE NORTHERN WORLD III THE DRIVING FORCE IV LEO V THE SHADOW OF DEATH VI ALL MASTERING PASSION VII DEAD FIRES VIII SI WASH CHUCKLES IX IN SAN SABATANO X A PROMISE XI TWO STRANGERS IN SAN SABATANO

PART II

I AFTER EIGHTEEN YEARS II ALEXANDER HENDRIE III THE PENALTY IV THE BLINDING FIRES V IN THE SPRINGTIME VI LIFE THROUGH OTHER EYES VII HAPPY DAYS VIII ANGUS HEARS SOME TALK IX THE WHEAT TRUST X MONICA'S FALSE STEP XI WHICH DEALS WITH A CHANCE MEETING XII THE CLEAN SLATE XIII HENDRIE'S RETURN XIV A MAN'S HELL XV PROGRESS OF AFFAIRS XVI IN THE MOONLIGHT XVII PAYING THE PRICE XVIII A MAN'S HONOR XIX THE RETURN OF ALEXANDER HENDRIE XX THE VERDICT

PART III

I THE MARCH OF TIME II WHEN VOWS MUST YIELD III TWO LETTERS IV ON THE RAILROAD V A YOUNG GIRL'S PURPOSE VI IN TORONTO VII THE DECISION VIII THE SHADOW OF WAR IX CAPITAL AND LABOR X STRIKE TROUBLES SPREADING XI LEYBURN'S INSPIRATION XII HENDRIE SELLS XIII FRANK LEARNS HIS DUTY XIV THE STRIKE XV PHYLLIS GOES IN SEARCH OF FRANK XVI THE DAWN OF HOPE XVII A RAID XVIII HIS BACK TO THE WALL XIX TWO MEN XX THE STORY OF LEO XXI HENDRIE'S WAY

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE MUZZLE OF A REVOLVER WAS COVERING HIM . . . . . . Frontispiece

THEN CAME HER ARRIVAL AT DEEP WILLOWS

THE MAN LEAPED FROM HIS SEAT AND FACED ABOUT

PHYLLIS CAUGHT HIS HANDS AND HELD THEM TIGHTLY

THE WAY OF THE STRONG

PART I

CHAPTER I

ON SIXTY MILE CREEK

It was a grim, gray day; a day which plainly told of the passing of late fall across the border line of the fierce northern winter. Six inches of snow had fallen during the night, and the leaden overcast of the sky threatened many more inches yet to fall.

Five great sled dogs crouched in their harness, with quarters tucked under them and forelegs outspread. They were waiting the long familiar command to "mush"; an order they had not heard since the previous winter.

Their brief summer leisure had passed, lost beneath the white pall which told of weary toil awaiting them in the immediate future. Unlike the humans with whom they were associated, however, the coming winter held no terrors for them. It was the normal condition under which the sled dog performed its life's work.

The load on the sled was nearing completion. The tough looking, keen eyed man bestowed his chattels with a care and skill which told of long experience, and a profound knowledge of the country through which he had to travel. Silently he passed back and forth between the sled and the weather battered shelter which had been his home for more than three years. His moccasined feet gave out no sound; his voice was silent under the purpose which occupied all his thought. He was leaving the desert heart of the Yukon to face the perils of the winter trail. He was about to embark for the storm riven shores of the Alaskan coast.