Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 2, Number 25, DeMotte, Jasper County, 12 January 1933 — The Everlasting Whisper [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Everlasting Whisper

By Jackson Gregory

CHAPTER Xl—Continued

She went ahead and began to clamber down the cliffs. Half-way down she wondered why he was not following. She looked up Just it time to see him, standing at the mouth of the cave, clutching a heavy bag; he had been tying the mouth of it. Now he cast it outward so that it fell, rolling and dropping to disappear at last in the snow-bank below. And them he began, though hesitantly, to follow her. “That’s one thing Mark King won’t get,” he announced with emphasis. At last he stood beside her in the snow. “That bagful is mine! There’s a fortune in it, and it’s mine.” -His avarice disgusted her. Just now the thought’ of gold sickened. “We are wasting time,” she reminded him. He followed her to the cave, casting a last look behind him. Gloria was trying to put out the fire; if ill fortune should lead Brodie’s crowd here, it would be just as well if they found no smoldering sticks to tell them that the fugitives could not be far off. She called to Gratton to help her. “Maybe,” he said thoughtfully, “I’d better bring that bag in here and hide it." “No,” she said. “Leave it where it Is. We must hurry back to the other cave.” But he grew stubborn oyer it. Heedless of her expostulations,, he left her extinguishing the fire and went back for the gold. He appeared, dragging the heavy sack after him, and disappeared swiftly, going into the deeper dark of . the further end of the cave. What a treacherous, thieving, petty animal he was— She started and whirled about. There was a new sound in the air, a low mumble, a vague murmur./~ Men’s voices. Her first thought was of King; then she knew that if was too soon for him to have gotten out of the mountains, found assistance, and returned. Gloria whirled again, this time toward the dark into which Gratton had gone. Blindly she hurried after him; clutched at his sleeve. “Listen!” she whispered. “They are outside. They have followed you!” The voices came nearer, rose higher. Gratton began to shake as with a terrible chill. “If they find me—oh, my G—d, if th^y find me —They killed a man they thought had the bacon —I had it all the time! My G —d, Gloria, if they find me—” “Sh!” she commanded. “Be still! Maybe they will go by-—” Two or three men out’ there were speaking at once; then all were silent. The silence lasted so long that Gloria began to breathe again. Surely, surely Brodie and his men had gone— Then again came Brodie's deep, sinister voice: “Back this way, boys,” he shouted. “He’s gone in here. We’ve trapped the dirty white rat.” Gratton, had he been left to his own devices, would have stood stock-still where he was, frozen to the ground in terror. Gloria tugged at him, whispering oyer and over: “They are combing! Don’t you hear them? Quick! We must try to hide.” At last he seemed to awaken from a trance; he started and began hurrying with her! crowding by her, stumbling on ahead in the darkness, seeking the cave’s unfathomed depths of darkness. Gloria,- looking back, saw Brodie’s great bulk outlined against the snow outside. He came in; she saw his rifle; his figure was absorbed in the shadows. She saw other men following him; how many she did not know. She had bumped into a wall of rock. They could go no further. This was the end. Brodie shouted: “Gratton ! Better step out lively like a man now. We got you anyway.” Then he began to gather the scattered firewood; a match flared in his hand; his face leaped out of the dark like a devil’s. Gloria’s heart sank in despair; she felt as though she were going to faint. But all the time her hands had been groping. At the moment when she felt that her knees were giving way under her, she found w’here an arm of the cave continued, narrow, slanting upward steeply, cluttered with blocks of stone. She tugged at Gratton’s sleeve; she crept into this place and felt him close behind her, crowding, trying to press by her. She gave way briefly, felt him scrape past, and began crawling, following. A few feet further on they came to the end of the tunnel. They were in a pocket with no outlet save the way they had come. She stood, turned toward the front of the cave, and waited. “Get a fire going, boys,” Brodie’s rumbling bass was calling. “The little skunk’s run to a hole; we’ll smoke him out” Brodie lighted his fire. The other men —dully she counted them now; there were five of them all told —were gathering wood, heaping it on. The light flawed higher, brighter. She could see the faces of the men now, their eyes reflecting the fire, looking like the eyes of wolves. Brodie carried his rifle as though he fully intended using it. At his side a man they called Benny fidgeted and blinked. By Benny stood a scarecrow of a man, BraiL Close by, were a squat Italian and the man who had brought’ the “judge” to marry her to Gratton, the leering Steve Jarrold. “More fire, boys,” called Brodie. “I think I see where he is.”

It appeared clear that immediate discovery was inevitable. Gloria thought of King with wild longing, while Gratton cringed and tried to screen his body with hers. “Here’s the grub he stole!” It was Benny’s cracked, nervous voice, full of wrath. The light of the fire flared higher, brighter. Suddenly the man Jarrold called sharply: “There’s some one with him. There’s two of ’em, Brodie. Go easy!” “I don’t care how many’s with him or who they are,” Brodie bellowed. “The grub-stealing thief has got his coming to him. Step out, you lily-liv-ered sneak, and take your medicine.” Gloria pressed back against the rock, her flesh quivering. She saw two men and then another two coming toward her. The first sound broke from Gratton’s lips now, a little gurgling moan. Then Gloria, with more shuddersome thought of rough hands upon her than of a rifle ball, broke away from her cowering companion and came hastily to meet’ them. “I’m comingxput,” she cried. It was all that she could do to hold herself erect and come back into the

more open cave. Tn the flickering halflight she looked a slim frightened boy. “All of a sudden the woods is gettin’ all cluttered up with folk,” grunted Benny. “Who in blazes are you, kid? An’ where’s your mamma?” . A shout broke from Jarrold. He clutched her shoulder and drew her closer to him, his face thrust down to hers. “Let me go!” she cried. “Easy does it,” said Jarrold. "Easy —kid! I’m of a notion I’ve seen that face of yours somewheres.” “Never mind the kid,” Brodie was growling savagely. “It’s Gratton first. Out with him, Benny.” The others bore down upon Gratton. He shrieked at them; he begged shrilly ; he battered them with his fists, striking weak, vain blows. Benny, though the smaller man, had him by the collar. “so,” said Brodie heavily. Gratton began an incoherent pleading, arrested impatiently by Brodie's great 'voice. “Shut up! You’ve had your Innings; it’s mine now. You. swiped grub when it’s the same thing as slitting a man’s gullet. Now you get yours!” He jerked up his rifle. Benny and the Italian let Gratton go and jumped nimbly aside. Gratton stumbled and sagged. “Stop!” Gloria shrilled. She broke away from Jarrold's grasp and ran toward Brodie. “You don’t know what you are doing. You —” “Close your trap, kid,” Brodie thundered at her. “Unless you want the second bullet.” “Easy dobs It, Brodie,” Jarrold shbuted. “She ain’t no kid, I tell you. She’s a girl. That’s Ben Gaynor’s girl, the one Gratton wanted to marry, the one King took away from him. Keep your eye peeled ; King would be around somewhere!”

Brodie said ponderously, “Ben Gaynor’s girl, you say? Then we’re red hot on the right trail, boys! You know what her and King would be after!” “The gold is here, Brodie!” Gratton cried out wildly. ‘King had got to it before us, but I’ve found it. I was coming back to tell you—” Brodie had small liking for a coward and now his bull’s voice cut Gratton’s chatter short. “No solid mountain of gold is going to save your hide —” Benny began to jig up and down in a frenzy of excitement. “Hold your hand, Brodie, you big fool,” he shouted. “If he does know where It is, give him a show to lead us to IL Before King gets back. If you popped him off now, how would we know where to look?” Brodie snarled at' Benny. But he saw wisdom in obeying the command to Jhold his hand. Gratton began a rapid, vehement talking, explaining, arguing, pleading; he had not’ meant to steal the food; he could lead them to the gold. “Shut up 1” Brodie cried disgustedly.

“So’s you keep your lying face closed I’ll give you one show. Step lively; where is it?” Gratton turned and sped toward the spot where he had hid the gold. Brodie, his rifle shifting in his hands, leaped after him. Gratton was down on his hands and knees, scratching among the loose stones like a dog digging for a buried bone. Brodie put a heavy hand on his shoulder and jerked him) back, hurling him to one side. Thus it was Brodie who found the bag and dragged it forward to the fire, dumping its contents on the ground. All rushed forward and snatched up bits of the ore that had rolled fronj^the sack; one of them shouted in woiioer; another seized the nugget from his hands; they all talked at once. Gloria had stood powerless to move. Now she saw that In their flush of excitement no one was looking toward her. She began slowly, silently, edging toward the side of the cave, toward the way our. Her one thought was to dart out and hurry up the cliff to come to the hiding place of which Mark King had told her. “I never see such gold, and me an old-timer in the mines.” It was Steve Jarrold muttering. “This was broke off the mother lode. Oh, my Gawd!” Gloria made another quiet step-Hand another. Still no one saw her. Another step; she went quicker; their backs were toward her. And still no one saw. Yes, Gratton alone had seen. He watched her with bulging eyes. She could read his thought so plainly: he was screwing up his courage to . make a dash for the open himself. His eyes followed her step by step. Oh, if only he would look in some other direction! If .any one of them saw Gratton’s telltale sac Then Gratton began a slow withdrawal from the others; he meabt to do as he saw her doing. Gloria tasted the clean fresh outside air; she was within three biices of the line of snow. Then there was a sudden noise; Gratton, inching off backward, had stumbled over a <}ead stick. The men by the fire were startled out of their oblivion. She made a dash for the exit. In two great strides Jarrold was upon her and had caught her by .the shoulders, dragging her back. And Gratton stood again, his feet glued to the ground. “Trying to make a sneak for It!” boomed Brodie. “I’ll show’ you— ’’ “Nbt yet, Brodie, you big fool!” yelled Benny. “This is only a sackfullie's got to show us where this come from.” Gratton pointed to V >ria with shakU Ing finger. “King found it first. She was with him. T made her show me the sack of gold. I was going to go back to your camp, to tell you—” ' “Cut it,” commanded Brodie. “Leave out the lies and talk straight and fast. Wherb is the rest of it? Where did this come from?” “I’m trying to tell you," said Gratton hurriedly. “There —-there's another cave; up above. That’s where King had his camp; that's where I got the sack. | It's up there —” “No wonder she wanted to skip out," jeered Ste^e Jarrold. “Where’s King all this time?” he demanded. “Up in the other cave, maybe?” “No,” Gloria said dismally, seeking to jerk away from his evil glancei and whisky-laden breath. “He has gone—” “That’s good; let him go. We don’t care, do we? Eh, girlie? But gone where?” “We were short of food—he is hunting—maybe he has gone for help—” “And you showed Gratton where he hid his gold? That’s a nice little shetrick, ain’t it? Well, w’hile the showing’s good, lead us to the rest of It.” Gratton, growm nimble, darted ahead with Brodie always close at his heels. Gloria, forced on by Jarrold, came, next, and after them the others. They made the climb safely and hastened into the upper cave eagerly. “It’s somewhere back there,” jsald Gratton. “More fire,” shouted Brodie. He tossed on an armful of dry wood; the flames caught and roared; shadows quivered and danced. Already Benny was at the far end of the cave; the others ran after him- Even Jarrold relinquished Gloria’s arm, eager to be in at the finding. But he called to her as he w’ent: “You stick where you are.. I’m not forgetting you this time.”

Fascinated, she watched them. They ran like blood-lusting dogs that had briefly lost their quarry, .that were seeking everywhere, in every cranny, with slavering jaws. They turned aside into side-pockets of the main cavern; they got torches and looked high and low; they went back and forth, up and down; they stumbled against one another and cursed angrily; they caught up bits of stone, rffn back to the fire to see if the fragments were shot with gold; cursed and hurled the useless things from them, and ran back again, to jostle and seek and be first; they were not so much like dogs now as human hogs, fighting to get first into the trough. But they did not forget Gratton, and they did not forget Gloria. No escape now was possible. For an hour they sought tirelessly. Their fagots burned out; the smoke choked them ; they coughed and cursed, came out for fresh air, dived into the dark again. The short day was passing; the entering light, where they had torn the canvas aside, grew dimmer. And still they searched. (TO BE CONTINUED.)

“Back This Way, Boys,” He Shouted. “He Has Gone in Here. We’ve Trapped the Dirty White Rat.”