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more. Nobody thought anything of it until my father went in to the store and
found they had sold out. Everything was gone. "John Fentrell, the
storekeeper, sent a man out for supplies. He did not return. "Then Logan
Sackett came along. He came down the river in a canoe and tried to buy
supplies at the store. Then he tried to buy from us, but we were down to
almost nothing. "He found out what had happened, and he offered to drive in a
herd of beef cattle for us. He collected money from us, all we had. We managed
to kill a little game, and we waited. "Apparently, he had known of a small
herd that had been driven part way here. Actually, I think the drover was
headed for Barkerville and got hung up somewhere inland. "Logan said he
bought the herd from him and started back here. His men deserted him, but he
kept on; then his cattle were stampeded, and his leg was broken." "We got word
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somebody wanted to hang him." "Some of us did. We thought he had taken our
money and tried to get away with it. Some of us did not believe there had ever
been any herd. Some of us thought he had lied. He promised us that if he could
get a message out, he'd get cattle here before snow fell. There wasn't much
else we could do, so we sent his message, and we've waited." "Did you believe
him?" "Sort of. We sent a man out for supplies, and he got back, traveling at
night with a canoe. He was going again, but his canoe was stolen. "All the
time those other men just loafed around, eating very well and just waiting.
They mined very little and cut just enough wood for themselves and waited for
us to starve. "The man they called Cougar taunted us. He said if we were
smart, we'd get out while we could, that Logan had lied and there was no herd.
He said even if there was, there was no way cattle could reach us. "They
brought in more supplies, but they would sell none of them, and every man we
sent out either failed to come back or had his supplies stolen. "They wanted
the gold for themselves, all of it, and they were trying to force us out. We
put some fish traps in the river, Indian style, and that helped until they
discovered what we were doing. They destroyed our traps as fast as we built
them." "How many of you are there?" "Eight. There are four men and three
women." She paused. "And there's a boy. Danny is about ten." "And them?"
"There was just five of them. Now there are at least a dozen. Two of them were
gone for quite a while, and when they came back, there were some other men
with them. The two who left were George and Perry Stamper." "We've met them."
He was listening. Several times he thought he heard faint sounds outside. He
glanced at her. How far could he trust her? Was she one of them? "Can you put
names to the others?" he asked. "Shanty's their leader, or he seems to
be. That's Shanty Gavin. Then there's Doug Molrone--" "He's one of them?"
"Yes, he is. He was one of the first ones. He came in with Shanty and the
Stampers and that man Cougar. Oh, it's simple enough! If we leave, they will
simply take over all the claims and have the gold to themselves! All they want
to do is starve us out so we have to leave. Then they can say we abandoned the
claims." "Mind sitting in the dark?" "What? Oh? No, not really. If you mean am
I afraid of you, I'm not. Not in the least. I'm not afraid of any man." "Put
the light out, will you? There'll be the glow from the fireplace." She glanced
at me, then blew out the light. "Did you hear something?" "I thought I did."
The fire had died to red coals. I liked the glow of it on her face. Her hair
was dark, as were her eyes, and her skin deeply tanned. "Where is your
father?" "He went away. He went overland to try to find supplies. He has not
returned." "You know who I am," I suggested. She hesitated, then turned her
eyes to me. "I am Laurie Gavin," she said.
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CHAPTER XXV "Gavin?" "Shanty is my stepbrother," she explained. "And Kyle?"
Surprised, she looked around at me. "What do you know of Kyle? But how could
you know him? He is in Toronto!" "He is on his way here, I believe." "Kyle is
my brother. My real brother." I drew my gun. "Someone is coming, I think. Are
you afraid?" "Of course. I know them. On the surface, they are very quiet,
very smooth, very soft-spoken, but do not trust them, William Tell Sackett,
for they lie, and they will kill." "Shanty, too?" "He is the worst of them.
Remember this. He is no blood brother of mine. My father married his mother,
and he took our name. He preferred it to Stamper." I returned the gun to its
holster. There was a tap on the door. She glanced at me, and I said, "Answer
it." She went to the door. "Yes?" she said. "Open the door, Laurie. You've a
man in there we want." She opened it, and Cougar and another, larger, more
powerful man with a shock of blond hair stepped in. "I am Tell Sackett," I
said. "Are you looking for me?" Cougar stepped aside. "Be careful, Shanty.
This one's tough." "Knowing that," I said, "might save us all some trouble."
Shanty had a nice smile. "But we've got you," he said. "There's no way you can
get away." I smiled back at him. "Then take me," I said. "I'm here." Shanty
hesitated. It worried him that I was not afraid, and he was a cautious man. I
did not doubt his courage, but there is a time to be brave and a time not to
be a damned fool. "We've got your brother," he said. "We can kill him
whenever we wish." "Logan? He's not my brother, just a sort of distant cousin,
but there are a lot of Sacketts, Shanty. If you step on the toes of one, they
all come running." "You came," he admitted. "I never thought you'd make it."
"There are two more up on the mountain, and by now they're beginning to miss
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