Western White Spruce -

P. O. Box 450

GLACIER LUMBER Co. LTD.

Idaho White Pine

Fir and Cedar

NELSON, B. C,

P.O. Box 530 Telephone 977

P. P. HLOOKOFF & SONS LTD.

Wholesalers of

FOREST PRODUCTS

Lumber, Poles, Piling, Cedar Posts

NELSON B.C.

Visiting Members Cordially
Welcomed |

Canadian Legion, B.E.S.L., |
| No. 51

S. J. Newell, President

NELSON, B. C.

OCCIDENTAL HOTEL

H. WASSICK, Proprietor

A Comfortable, Medium-priced Hotel

LICENSED PREMISES
e
NELSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA

After you and your family have read THE

SHOULDER STRAP pass it along to your friends,

don't throw it away. They will enjoy reading it.

When in Nelson, it’s the

SAVOY HOTEL

GLENN HUXTABLE, Proprietor
Where the Guest Is King

Fully Licensed

Rooms with Bath or Shower at
Reasonable Rates

NELSON

B. C.

ASK FOR 4X
BREAD, CAKES, ROLLS
THE 4X BAKERY
CANADIAN BAKERIES LTD.
NELSON, B.C. TRAIL, B.C.

_— eee
Page Eighty-eight

—and—

the cutting edge was downwards, and
pulled back from the table. Holding it
steady in strong jaws, he forced his head
down to its utmost limit, then with an
up-and-down motion of his torso, rasped
the blade across the rope which encircled
him. The exertion sickened him and his
jaws ached, but the rope parted.

His arms unfettered, he lifted his
bound hands to the blade and sawed back
and forth until his wrist bonds were
severed. It took but a moment to cut the
cords on legs and ankles, and he was free.
He thought a moment, then knotted
Charlie’s rope together and thrust the
precious evidence inside his shirt. Then
he heard footsteps. He looked about him,
wrenched a leg from his wooden bunk
and waited with renewed hope surging
within him.

In the feeble light of the miner’s lights,
Jake looked like a strange figure from a
lost world. Clop—clop—clop, he came,
head down as if deep in conspiring
thought. Coffee pot in hand like an evil
genie with his lamp. Then he entered,
and Manfield dropped him with the heavy
bunk-leg. He lay very still.

Taking off Jake’s mackinaw coat, Man-
field quickly secured him with the remain-
der of the rope and searched him for a
gun, but did not find one. Then substi-
tuting coats, he slid quietly along the drift
and turned into the main tunnel. Pro-
ceeding cautiously, he saw a flickering
glow of light from a side entrance. Then
he heard voices. Approaching the en-
trance he dropped on his knees and
glanced around the corner.

Spears was sitting at a table where he
had finished eating. His coat lay on a
camp cot with Manfield’s gun alongside.
His voice was troubled. “.. . and still no
word from Mulsby. Damn his yellow
hide, we’ve got to get away tonight.”

“Yes, boss, no news—bad news. Best
get it over like you say,” Charlie urged
insistently. “Jake’s got the shots all ready
and fuse set. Let’s go.”

ABORTIVE EFForts

Spears took a long draw on his cigar
and nodded slowly as if in acquiescence.
Manfield knew that the time had come
for action. é

He rose, hunched down his shoulders
in the manner of Jake and strode past

Spears, reaching for his gun. Spears
jerked out, “What the hell, Jake.’ Char-

!
Poles and Posts |
|
|
i

lie yelled, “It’s Manfield,” and flashe
out his knife. Manfield fired, and Charly
dropped the knife from his bloody hand

Spears pulled an automatic from hi
hip pocket and fired wildly, and Manfiek
was conscious of a sharp stab of pain ir
his right thigh. He stumbled as he re
turned the fire and Spears fell heavily
with a groan, his gun flying out of his
hand towards the entrance.

Charlie dashed out, scooping up Spears’
gun as he went. Manfield snapped a shot
at him, but Charlie kept on going. He
hopped over to Spears and found him
unconscious, with a bullet through his
arm and a gash on his head from falling.
But if Charlie got Jake and freed him
the odds might prove too great, so, drag-
ging his wounded leg, he went back along
the tunnel. He must have hit Charlie with
that snap shot for he was stumbling
slightly, and here and there was a splotch
of blood. Manfield felt groggy. The knife
wound in his shoulder bothered him. The
thigh shot hampered his movements, but
the slim Eurasian was weaving ahead.

When he reached the short drift rising
to Jake’s room, Charlie was well on his
way. He raised his gun to shoot, taking
a bead on his back, but, after a moment's
hesitation, dropped it again. Then he
slumped to the ground exhausted and
watched.

Charlie in haste to make the entrance,
stumbled, sought to regain his balance,
then crashed into the kerosene stove. A
moment later a trickle of burning oil ran
down the drift. Something sputtered and
burned back. Manfield remembered the

Phone 7 Phone 7

SEVEN-SEVEN TAXI

R. P. J. Riesterer, Proprietor

“You ride free if we fail to smile”
Day and Night Service Heated Sedans
Stand at Gelinas

NELSON British Columbia

STANDARD CAFE

Nelson's Most Popular Restaurant

SPECIAL CHINESE DISHES
NELSON, BRITISH COLUMBIA

THE SHOULDER STRAP