Peabody High School - Peabody Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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' 'l' ll li l'l2.Xl1UDY 17 MARGARET BROOKS, 'Editor IOSEPH HARRlSON, Editor Room 120 Room l09 RETRIBUTION Carol Savage l'll get to lfort Silver in three days if l have to kill every d-- dog in doing it. cursed l'nited States Blakinson as he strode toward the door of the trading house. llis heavy voice rolled and boomed through the noisy room attracting everyone's attention to the conversation. l'nited States whirled again with his hand on the door knob. llis little red rimmed eyes shot sparks at -loe lilk, the owner of the trading post. l'll get there in three days, -loe lilk, and be back here in eight for the nioney-mor you Y 'l'he door banged vieiously blowing a wave of icy wind over the staring inmates of the room. .X momentary hush followed and then the elinkinig of glasses and jingle of coins was resumed with increasing hilarity. .loe lilk sat motionless staring at the table before him. llis shaggy brows were knit over a pair of cruel gray eyes, shadowing their depths to an almosot inky blackness. 'loe was known throughout the North for his cold blooded cruelty to everything that breathed. l.iving in a land of desperate men he was the most desperate and hardest of all. lt was whispered his revolver butt carried nicks for eight lives and there was not a hand of the law that was not aching to grasp him. lle controlled the trading of Alaskan seal at a most important post: a position he had won bv a mroffram of murderinv 1 l 5 bl' stealing, lying and bullying such as had never been equaled in that country.

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16 11112 I' IL A I3 U IJ X FH E PE.-XBODY STAFF

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4' ', 18 THE PEABODY But there was always a time when wolf and grey wolf meet. If Elk was the lord of the trading post, U, Sf, Mack, as he was called for short, was master of the trading. That is, he was powerful to make or break Skag- ginac trading post, It depended on him alone whether or not the weekly supply of pelts poured into the rude wooden building controlled by Joe Elk. If Joe held power of life and death over the men of the post, U, S.'s word was law to the half-breeds and natives on whom the post depended for skins. U, S. Mack was a gigantic brute who had left the United States for reasons of his own. Hence came the name by which he was known. There were few as bad and none worse than he in Alaska, He and Elk were friendsg the kind of friends men are when it is indispensible to the other for a livelihood. But under the skin there smouldered a firce hate which threatened to burst out continually. Tonight Joe and U, S, had been discussing the business projects of the coming month during which Mackin- son would be up North. Elk remarked U, S. could have made a sale at Fort Silver if only he had gone on before. Several buyers from the States were to be there for three or four more days. The sum he mentioned that these buyers paid interested U, S. he said he'd go. .Elk laughed and bet him a sack of dust he couldn't make it. U, S. took the bet in a rage and Elk sneered. The hate between them burst out in a moment and it was then Mackinson's voice had first attracted attention, Outside with his men UU. S. brieHy stated his enterprise. It was char- acteristic of his discipline that no one thought of remarking on it. A light sled was swiftly hitched to the six strongest dogs and a sack of skins was strapped on it. The question of provisions arose. U, S, was out of food, He would have to ask Elk for more supplies or risk the trip on what he couldgather from his men. Mackinson grinned and then swore. He would not ask Elk for provisions, curse him. He'd show him! Hastily some scant supplies were gotten together and then U, S, clad in fur from top to toe stepped onto the sled and was off with a crack of the whip, He was well under way before Elk got up from the table and sauntered out of the saloon. His nonchalance fooled no one. They all knew. Dirty work without a doubt! Elk entered his private office and came out a moment later loading a revolver, He was dressed for sledding. A group of men through the saloon door saw him pass out into the night. What's up? said one, If yer askin' me grinned another evilly, I'll say Mack's up to dirty work and Elk's plannin' ter go him one better. Them two sure do hate hard. All I hope's they'll kill each other some day. The speaker was right. Mackinson knew Elk had sent men on with skins anyhow. He'd never told him about it if he hadn't. By doing so saved Elk the discount otherwise due U, S. He also knew the sled were heavy and loaded well. Moreover, his own dogs were superior to any man's at the post and he felt it would