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Scot from one merchant after another,
whispering of unsurious exchange and
tampered gold-scales.

It was inevitable that the miner
would eventually reach “Jeff's Place,”
where he was plied with drinks and
congratulated on his good fortune.
Caution momentarily laid aside by
the heady fumes of red-rye whiskey,
he pulled out his poke and showed it.
But his Scotch canniness re-asserted
itself as the crowd pressed just a little
too close about him. He shouldered
to the door only to be jockeyed out-
side. Rough hands suddenly clutched
him, a blackjack descended and all
became darkness.

When Stewart arose groggily to his
feet his poke was gone. Grim-faced
and angry, he staggered back into the
saloon. Nobody knew a thing about it.
“Forget it,” “Soapy” advised him, dis-
missing the incensed Scot with a
casual wave of the hand.

But Stewart was not the for-
getting kind. Stepping into the
office of The Alaskan, he poured
the story of the robbery into the
receptive ears of the editor. By
nightfall he’d aroused the wrath
of half the populace of Skagway.
Indignation meeting followed in-
dignation meeting.

“The time’s come to put a stop to
this,” swore Major Strong.

McKINLEY’S
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BURNS LAKE

Sawmill at Pendelton Bay
on BABINE LAKE, B.C.

Page Eighteen

SPRUCE and PINE
SAWMILLS ON BABINE LAKE, B.C.

REPAIR WORK OF ALL KINDS

“Soapy’ Smith and his hoodlums
must be given the bum’s rush out of
Skagway,” shouted Engineer Frank H.
Reid to an angry crowd of citizens.
“Murder stalks the streets. Even in
broad daylight a man’s not safe.
Now’s the time or never !”

Rebellion

All night the growing flames of re-
bellion against the gangsters, fanned
by one fiery speaker after another,
swept with the roar of a forest fire
through Skagway.

Muttering mobs raced here and
there. Cold-eyed men stalked apprais-
ingly through dives and dance halls.

The revitalized Committee of One
Hundred and One swung into action.
While firebrands advocated a con-
certed attack upon the criminal ele-
ment, to be followed by a hanging
bee, others of more mature judgment
decided to call on “Soapy” Smith and
demand the immediate return of the
stolen poke.

But “Soapy,” carried away by the
success of his Independence Day Cele-
bration, was strangely headstrong.
“He lost his wad at cards,” he snapped
ageressively, “It was an up and open
game. He’s just a piker !”

“All right,” Reid warned him coldly.
“You call yourself the boss of Skag-
way. We'll give you till 6 o’clock to
find that poke and return it.”

Stalking angrily out of “Jeff's
Place” the representative of the Vigi-
lance Committee found the town a
seething mass of wrathful men, many
of them displaying unmistakable signs
of inebriation and an alarming will-
ingness to put any wild plan into
execution.

S & S SAWMILLS LTD.

Manufacturers of

WESTERN WHITE SPRUCE

Decker Lake Lumber Co., Lid.

Manufacturers of

ROUGH and DRESSED
MILL AND OFFICE—DECKER LAKE, B.C.

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BRITISH COLUMBIA

Hurriedly word was sent to United
States Judge Shelbrede at Dyea, re-
questing him to come at once as there
was danger of a riot. An hour later
he was in conference with the Com-
mittee.

Unaware of the dangerous under-
current of feeling, relying on his glib
tongue and the friendly terms on
which he and the Judge had parted
only four short days before, “Soapy”
did not hesitate when he received
orders to come over. “That’s O.K.,” he
assured his cronies. “The Judge and I
are friends.”

Entering with an air of injured in-
nocence, “Soapy” commenced to voice
his protests. Summarily Judge Shel-
brede halted the incipient flow of
oratory.

“Stewart was robbed of his poke in
your saloon,” he interrupted crisply.
“He was deliberately lured there,
knocked on the head and flagrantly
robbed in broad daylight. You’re re-
sponsible for whatever takes place on
your premises. That gold must be re-
turned !”

Startled by the ominous attitude of
the Judge, “Soapy” faltered for a mo-
ment, then reiterated his assertion
that Stewart had lost his money at
poker.

Burns Lake Co-Operative
Association
J. A. WOODE, Mer. J. WILD, Sec'y.

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BURNS LAKE British Columbia

Head Office at
DECKER LAKE, B.C.

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