The Purple Flame Part 24

"You-you-" Marian sank to a chair. The shock was too much.

"You see, the truth is," smiled the Major, as though there had been no interruption, "I believe I have agreed to purchase your herd."

"My herd!" exclaimed Marian, unable to believe her ears. "But how did you know of my herd-how did you know I was on the way? Who told you-"

"One question at a time, young lady," laughed the Major. "I think I have a number of surprises for you. As to your first question, I will say that I have never heard of your herd until two days ago. That day, two days after the great storm, a half famished Indian reached Fort Jarvis, driving a splendid team of white men's dogs. They had been hard driven.

"After we had fed him, he jerkily told us the story of your race against a man named Scarberry. He told us of the treatment you had given him; of your kindnesses to his people. Then he told of Scarberry. Told how Scarberry's herd had been delayed and held up along the trail, and how he had tried to be of help to you. Then he told of your battle against the storm, and how, once you were safely over the pa.s.s, he had driven night and day to reach here. His hope was to get here ahead of any other herd and intercede for you. Such loyalty is not to be denied. And I told him that should your herd reach here in good shape, that I would give it preference, even should Scarberry get here ahead of you. I believe that answers one of your questions."

"But how in the world did this Indian know that the Government had agreed to purchase a herd?" asked Marian.

"In the North," answered the Major, "rumor flies fast, even over seemingly uninhabited places. And you may depend upon it that the Indian will know what is going on; even if he does have but little to say. Now, to business. I understand you have brought the herd with you?"

"Yes," answered Marian, "they are at our camp about ten miles out."

"Then we may consider the deal closed. There remains but to count the deer; to weed out those that are too old or too weak for the final drive, then to make out your order on our Government. We have Lapland herders who will a.s.sist in the work. You may rest here with us until the count is completed. After that I will see that you have guides and dog-teams for the pa.s.sage south to the rail head."

"Oh! how wonderful!" exclaimed Patsy, impulsively leaping to her feet.

"But Bill Scarberry," she asked suddenly, "did he really win?"

"No," smiled the Major, "he has not yet been heard from. So you won the race after all."

"Good!" exclaimed Patsy, "I could never have been happy again if we had lost, even if Marian did sell her herd."

After a night's rest at the post, Marian and Patsy felt like they had come into a new life. They had lain awake long into the night, exchanging excited whispers over their good luck. The next morning, as Marian was pa.s.sing down the street, she noticed a dog team. There was something about the leader that looked familiar. One glance at the driver brought an exclamation of surprise to her lips. He was none other than the Indian she had saved from starvation, and who in turn had served as her guardian angel.

"That is the dog team that came to our rescue in the blizzard," was her mental comment.

While she had been told the rest of the story by the Major, she preferred to have the story from the man's own lips. She found him very reluctant to talk, but after his heart had been warmed by a splendid meal of boiled reindeer meat and coffee, he told his story from the time she had given him three of her reindeer until the present moment. Shortly after leaving her, he had come in with some of his own people who were well fed and prosperous. Knowing that the girls were headed straight for trouble, and feeling very grateful to them, he had persuaded one of these, his kinsmen, to go with him and to follow the reindeer herd with his team of white men's dogs. It had been they who had driven the wolf-pack away and had left a rifle and ammunition for the girls. It was their dog team that had been released from the sled and had a.s.sisted in driving the reindeer herd over the mountain.

"But why did you do all this?" Marian asked.

The man looked at her for a moment in silence, then he asked: "Why did you give reindeer?"

"Because you were in need."

"And you," a faint smile played across his face, "you too were in need.

Indian all same white man."

Then Marian understood, and her heart was filled with a new love for all those strange people who inhabit the White Wilderness.

The next day, Marian and Patsy, together with the Major and his Lapland herders, went out to Marian's camp and there began the business of sorting and counting the deer. This work continued for three days, and on the evening of the third day, leaving the herd in charge of the Lapland herders, Marian, Patsy and the Major, together with Terogloona and Attatak, started for Fort Jarvis by way of deer sled.

Topping a hill some two miles from Fort Jarvis, they suddenly came upon a tent. Just before they reached it, the interior became suddenly lighted with a strange purple flame. Marian halted her deer with an exclamation of surprise.

"The purple flame!" she gasped, and turning to the Major said: "I can stand this mystery no longer. Do you know who is in that tent?"

"Why yes, I think so," said the Major. "I think it is Mr. Montgomery, an old prospector. He is well known throughout the North. Why do you ask?"

"I want to meet him," said Marian. "Will you please come with me to his tent?"

A moment later a hearty old man came to the door of the tent in response to their call, and with a cheery smile acknowledged the Major's introduction of Marian and Patsy, at once inviting them in.

Imagine Marian's surprise, when upon entering the tent she saw a young girl of about her own age, seated at a radio sending set. And there, under the deft fingers of the girl operator, a crackling purple flash jumped back and forth across a wide spark gap.

"The girl of the purple flame," gasped Patsy.

At sound of her voice the girl turned around and smiled a welcome. Marian turned to Mr. Montgomery:

"So you are the people of the purple flame."

"Are we, indeed!" laughed the old Prospector.

"Yes," said Marian, "and I thought all the while, back there in Alaska, that you were d.o.g.g.i.ng our footsteps, and, to speak honestly, we feared you."

"Well, well," laughed the old gentleman. "So that was your reindeer camp.

We thought all the while that _you_ were d.o.g.g.i.ng _our_ footsteps."

Then the old prospector launched into a long story that cleared up the entire mystery of the purple flame.

It appeared that in his youth he had been a prospector in Alaska and had found a very rich vein of gold. Ill health had overtaken him and he had been forced to return to the States. Years pa.s.sed, and fortune and wealth had come to him, but the lure of searching for gold was still in his veins, and in the end he had come again to Alaska, thinking to find his mine. The years had somewhat dimmed his memory, and he had searched in vein for the lost mine. Moving from day to day, he had been just as surprised to note that Marian's camp moved with him as was Marian to discover that his camp moved with hers. In time he had become suspicious, fearing that they were d.o.g.g.i.ng his footsteps. He knew that he had been well known throughout the North in the past, and he feared that others knew of his lost mine.

"And that," concluded Mr. Montgomery, "is the reason I never called at your camp."

"And that radio set," said Marian, "with its flash of purple flame, is the reason that I never called at your camp. There was something so mysterious about it all."

The old prospector smiled. "I suppose," he said, "that my having a sending and receiving radio set is a bit strange and perhaps a little mysterious. Certainly the set is a bit strange, for to my knowledge there is not another set like it in the country. It is very compact and yet most powerful. You see, my interests in the outside are very extensive, and it is necessary for me to keep in touch with them. By the use of this set, I can keep in touch with my agent in Nome, and he, in turn, can keep in touch with the States by use of the cable.

"It was the spark of my set, while sending, that made the purple colored flash which kept you so mystified. You know, most mysterious things become quite simple when you find out all about them.

"This radio has made it possible for me to come back and look for my lost mine. It's the lure of the thing that draws me, not the desire for the gold."

And then it was that Marian, remembering the treasures that she had found in the cave on the enchanted mountain, and feeling that she had something in common with this old prospector, told him her story.

As she told of the carved ivory, the old man's eyes glowed with delight, and in the end he insisted that he go into Fort Jarvis with them that he might at least see the piece they had brought along and hear Terogloona's story.

At the post old Terogloona, in a halting way, read the pictured inscription on the four sides. Other bits of information furnished by Terogloona convinced the old prospector that Terogloona's great-uncle had been his guide in the days when he was first prospecting and had found the mine. Mr. Montgomery wanted to set out at once with Terogloona and Attatak for the cave on the mountain.

"Why," he exclaimed, "that's very near my lost mine, for I remember that my old guide, Terogloona's great-uncle, spoke of the cave as a place where we might winter in safety, should winter come down upon us before we expected it."

"How wonderful!" said Marian. "We have just completed the count and sale of our deer. Patsy and I are going back to the States, and I am sure Terogloona and Attatak will go with you. And you will be in good hands,"

she added, giving both of the faithful servants a glowing smile.

The sale of the deer was successfully completed. After a much needed rest, the girls began the long journey to the "Outside." So far were they from the strange cabin of the recluse musician, they were unable to return for the treasure they had taken from the mountain cave.

Many months pa.s.sed, and then one day as the two girls returned from an afternoon of shopping in Chicago, Marian found a registered package awaiting her. From its bulk, and from the many post-marks upon it, she knew at once that it contained the long awaited ancient treasure.

Her fingers trembled as she undid the many wrappings. When at last she came to the treasure she found each piece separately wrapped. The copper instruments and the old ivory pieces were just as she had found them, tarnished and blackened with age.