"One of those we keep our gold in at the bank," said the Scotchman after
a close examination. "This definitely ties up Holt with the robbery. Now
for Elliot."

"He left the hotel with Holt about five this morning the porter says."
This was the contribution of the landlord.

The room of Gordon Elliot was in great disorder. Garments had been
tossed on the bed and on every chair and had been left to lie wherever
they had chanced to fall. Plainly their owner had been in great haste.

Macdonald looked through the closet where clothes hung. "His new fur
coat is not here--nor his trail boots. Looks to me as though Mr. Gordon
had hit the trail with his friend Holt."

This opinion was strengthened when it was learned from a store-owner in
town that Holt and Elliot had routed him out of bed in the early morning
to sell them two weeks' supplies. These they had packed upon the sled
outside the store.

"It's a cinch bet that Elliot took the trail with him," the lawyer
conceded.

All doubt of this was removed when a prospector reached town with the
news that he had met Holt and Elliot traveling toward the divide as fast
as they could drive the dogs.

The big Scotchman ordered his team of Siberian wolf-hounds made ready
for the trail. As he donned his heavy furs, Colby Macdonald smiled with
deep satisfaction. He had Elliot on the run at last.

Just as he closed the door of his room, Macdonald heard the telephone
bell ring. He hesitated, then shrugged his shoulders and strode out into
the storm. If he had answered the call he would have learned from Diane,
who was at the other end of the line, that the stage upon which Sheba
had started for Katma had not reached the roadhouse at Smith's Crossing.

Five minutes later the winners of the great Alaska Sweepstakes were
flying down the street in the teeth of the storm. Armed with a rifle
and a revolver, their owner was mushing into the hills to bring back
the men who had robbed his bank and killed the cashier. He traveled
alone because he could go faster without a companion. It never occurred
to him that he was not a match for any two men he might face.

CHAPTER XXV

IN THE BLIZZARD

"Swiftwater" Pete, the driver of the stage between Kusiak and Katma,
did not like the look of the sky as his ponies breasted the long uphill
climb that ended at the pass. It was his habit to grumble. He had been
complaining ever since they had started. But as he studied the heavy
billows o