SYNOPSIS
Rodney Shaw, independent trader, arrives
In Mlchilimackinac In 1818, determined to
fight the trade monopoly established by the
John Jacob Astor company in the Northwest
territory. He is met by Conrad Rich, an
elderly clerk. Ramsay Crooks, Astor's domi
nant figure, and Annette Leclere, local
beauty and inspiration to all the traders,
especially to Burke Rlckman, a ruthless
trader who Is the instrument of destruc
tion to traders refusing to amalgamate with
the Astor company. Roussel, the town bully,
wearing the black feather, symbol of Invinci
bility. knocks down Shaw's head oarsman,
Basile, and Shaw in return throws Roussel
Into the water. Ramsay Crooks presents
the symbolic black feather to Shaw. Later,
at a conference. Shaw scorns Astor's pro
posal virtually to surrender his independ
ence. announces his readiness to fight the
amalgamation, and prepares to depart the
following day. At a ball that evening
Shaw recognizes Burke Rlckman as the
Astor agent who had previously robbed him
of his partner and his trade, and as a
dangerous rival for Annette, with whom he
is Infatuated. There is an exchange of
bitter words. Annette is chosen queen of
the dance, and after flirting with both Rick
man and Shaw, chooses Shaw as king for
the following evening. Basile warns Shaw
to hasten his departure and tells him an
old man awaits him at his tent. Shaw finds
Leslie, an old free-trader.
CHAPTER II ? Continued
"Ay! Who's not heard of them?
Far up the Mississippi; good hunt
ers and in rich country. But others
are there."
"Others was! Gone, now. Nor'
westers 're gone by law. Th' lone
independent who opposed 'em 's
gone . . . Sioux driven him out.
Rich country. Waitin' to be took.
By me. With you. I got . . . trade
goods. You got th' feet 'nd wind.
"Look!" he said. "Astor figures
to step in. He's sendin' Rickman.
We'll fix a su'prise for 'm!"
He fumbled in the buckskin pouch
which hung from his girdle.
"Here!" he said and drew out a
map, crudely etched on parch
ment, and pointed to the winding
course of the Mississippi and to a
lake indicated well towards its head
-waters. "Yon!" he said. --"Rich
country waitin' ... to be took!"
Again he fumbled in the pouch
and this* time produced an Indian
ceremonial stone of green, shaped
like a butterfly, polished to satiny
smoothness.
"More powerful nor Astor! More
valuable nor a ton o' trade goods!
Like a key to a lock . . . Key to
Pillager lock! Give to me by
Standin' Cloud. Pillager chief.
Saved his hide three year back.
Brothers! Me 'nd Standin' Cloud
brothers! He passed th' stone 'nd
tells me to send it, if ever I need
... a brother! No use, then. Two
forts a'ready amongst 'em. Trade
won't stand another split. But now
. . . it's different."
He choked and gasped then and
after a struggle gave up and once
more reverted to signs. Rodney had
strength and agility, he indicated.
Rodney could direct the march and
pass the credits and see that they
were collected.
"Just two of us . . . old free
traders left," he whispered. "Just
two as won't belly-crawl to . . .
Astor. Do we deal?"
Rodney, stirred though he was at
the prospect, demurred. It was not
fair, he declared.
"Gabble!" the other cut in. "I
got goods . . . Goods 're no use
lessen strong legs 'nd hearts go . . .
with 'em. You got legs 'nd heart
... Do we deal? . . . Don't we?"
he asked again and in his eyes was
pleading which warmed Shaw with
something else than the prospect of
being able to make good his boast
and satisfy his impulse to stand
against the great company.
They talked, then, until dawn sil
vered the east. Then Rodney half
led, half carried the old trader to
the camp he had made at the east
ern end of the island and left him
with word that he would return and
give his answer.
"They'll watch ye!" Leslie mut
tered as Rodney lowered him to his
couch of buffalo robes. "They'll
watch ye like a lynx watches prey
. . . Come late ... I don't sleep
nights ..."
Rodney slept until the sun was
full an hour high. He had gone to
sleep with his heart still fast at
thought of the opportunity to estab
lish himself again.
And he awakened with his heart
going fit to choke him; gasping to
himself a name. Over and over
he repeated it, sitting there in his
robes, blinking at the new day.
"Annette!" he said. "Annette . .
Annette . . . Annette Leclere!"
Basile cooked breakfast for him
and Shaw ate alone before his tent,
the old man eyeing him with ill con
cealed curiosity. Finally, he could
no longer restrain himself and put
the question in French:
"Do we put out with the old one?"
Shaw smiled. "Does one pass by
rare opportunity? Does one, Basile?
Of course we put out. But not too
hastily. Leslie is a sick man, Bas
ile,"? soberly. "Perhaps even with
a heavier sickness than one compre
hends. He is unfit for a march. To
day, we must make gestures at oc
cupying ourselves. Tonight, during
the dance at which I'm to be king,"
? with a reminiscent grin ? "I slip
away and go to him. In the mean
time . .
The sound of shod wheels rolling
on gravel checked him and he
looked up to see Annette in her
gig, careening down the narrow
street. But she could not help giv
ing him notice as he leaped out
ward, flinging up an arm to make
the leading black shy wide, grasp
ing the filly's rein.
"Impudence!" she cried, feigning
pique. "You will have me upset,
Rodney Shaw. Stay back!"
"I stay here. I defy you!" ? as
he vaulted the wheel to the seat be
side her.
"But you were to be gone from
Mackinac ! All have heard the brave
things you said to Mr. Astor. Did
you not mean them? That you'd be
gone in defiance to him?"
"Not until those ripe lips hunger
as mine hunger!"
"Nonsense, sire!"
So he drove with her that morn
ing and strolled with her that after
noon. He wooed roughly, madly un
til, late in the afternoon, Annette
fled his avid arms and hungry lips
and sought sanctuary from his de
termination in the house of the old
aunt which was her home.
He went back to his tent, walking
lightly, head high. Men turned to
watch him because, between sun
and sun, he had become famous. He
had defied Astor and he had flaunted
his trespassing in romance upon
grounds which, that spring, at least,
had been admittedly Burke Hick
"We'll Sting Astor and Claw Back
at Rickman."
man's. Others wondered what man
ifestation Rickman's resentment
might take. But Burke Rickman
was not to manifest his resentment.
Not openly. Donald Maclver, the
shrewd Scot and loyal servant, had
seen to that.
He and Rickman were together
when Annette drove past that bright
forenoon with the pugnacious young
Shaw on the gig seat beside her,
and Maclver had seen the chill of
threat show in the other's eye and
the heat of jealousy creep into his
cheek.
"Don't, lad," Maclver muttered
while his eyes twinkled. " 'Tis a
passing thing. No challenge to ye, is
yon upstart. Let him go on. Let
him spend, mayhap, hours wi' th'
lass. He'll gi' us what we need
quicker so thun by any ither means.
He's not Meester Astor'g mon. 'Nd
he must be so if we discharge our
juty. He made his boasts last nicht
thut he'd trade again, 'nd in th'
territory. It's our obligation to de
tairmine where, to follow, to crush
th' juice o' resistance from his very
bones, if need be. Would he gi' us
a hint as to where he'll trade? Nol
But will a lad tell th' innermost se
crets of his heart to a lass? Ayt
From her we'll learn."
Rodney gestured as king at the
dance in the company headquarters
that night and told himself that he
was only waiting for the hour to
grow late before slipping away to
join Leslie.
But when the hour grew late he
put it off. Multiple joy and achieve
ment were there. Annette, first of
all, was there, challenging and tan
talizing him. And Rickman was
there, his resentment badly under
control.
But depart at last he did, and
found Leslie waiting.
"Well? Do ye take my offer?" the
old trader asked.
"I do, pardner."
"Good! We'll sting 'im, th' two
on us! We'll sting Astor and claw
back at Rickman for what he done
to ye . . Look, pardner!"
He led Shaw to the stores of trade
goods, snug under their oilcloths,
and by the light of a blazing torch
Rodney beheld the valuables piled
neatly there.
"Ought to be spry," Leslie whis
pered. "My men tell on hearin'
Rickman puts out afore long. We'd
best be weeks . . . ahead on him."
"Can you travel?" Shaw asked
bluntly. ? .
"Few days . . . rest'll fix . . .
me." ?
So, for a week, while he waited
for Leslie to gain strength, Rodney
Shaw reveled in the pretense that
feminine charms held him at Mack
inac. Despite the truth that court
ship served as a blind to confound
the watch he knew must be kept on
him, he was enmeshed, as many
another had been caught in this half
decade since Annette Leclere, done
with Montreal schooling, had come
back to live with her old aunt.
A forbidding woman, this aunt, a
grim, forbidding woman, sprung
from metif stock, a fixture in the
place, midwife and seeress, speak
ing a jargon of Ojibway and patios
and seemed to take pride that so.
few understood her well.
Shaw disturbed the old lady and
she stormed at Annette for having
him about, but it did no good. The
girl laughed at her.
Then, from pan to fire, Rickman
was banished, tossed aside,
snubbed, it would seem, and now
it was Shaw who came hammering
on doors before dew was dry.
CHAPTER IU
Rodney Shaw changed his ap
proach to Annette, scarce knowing
that he changed. The light of
amused combat left his eyes for
minutes; his voice pleaded softly.
He lost poise, lost years; he would
boast to her of what he had done,
of what he could do; he would strut
before her . . . And he would plead,
almost seriously, as others had
pleaded. Almost seriously . . . not
quite, and not for long.
And at those times, the girl was
not so ready of tongue. She listened,
denying his half-reverent pleas by
her silence ? but still she listened.
Today, he was in such a mood,
stupefied by her intoxicating beau
ty, pleading with her to go inland
with him. And she put him off and
when he 1 wheedled for reasons she
listed his shortcomings. She was in
play, but he failed to realize her
words were not full-meant.
"Presumptuous, reckless, auda
cious, foolhardy ? "
"To desire one so lovely?"
"To risk further the ill will of the
company !
"Ho ! " he laughed. "Why should I
fear?"
"But they have stripped you of
your trade! They will crush you, if
you persist!"
"They will try, yes. But they do
not guess the card hidden in my
sleeve!"
"Card? You possess some secret?
Or is this only an idle boast?"
He had been toying with that
same black ostrich plume which had
reposed these days in his waistcoat
pocket and now he waved the sym
bol of superior strength in a dis
missing gesture.
"Listen!" he said, halting in their
walk and leaning close. "They think
me a pauper, and that is well. But
here under their nose I've acquired
a share in goods beyond my wild
est dream! And with these goods I
march to the richest ground un
tended, a ground they plan to
work!"
They were on a forest trail on
the heights of the island. Dappled
sulinght fell upon them, scents of
balsam and cedar were in their
nostrils.
"Ah, Annette!" he breathed, tak
ing her hands. "I never dreamed,
in the years I've lived, that such a
desirable person as you pressed
foot to earth-! ... . " She was in
his arms, then, yielding gently and
he felt her quick and irregular
breathing against him.
"Dear Annette! Sweet Annette!
And I've wasted years thinking of
trade, when it's love I want! I've
wasted my life, holding freedom as
a goal, when it's enslavement in
your heart I need!"
"Enslavement, Rodney?"
"Enslavement?" He repeated the
word aloud and looked away from
her and at his manner alarm swept
into the girl's face. "Of course, it's
what I want!" he cried, laughing
hungrily to cover his confusion.
"You're sweet! You set me on fire!"
he muttered, grasping her so rough
ly that, half frightened, she sought
escape.
They returned to the village,
Shaw's tongue losing its ease. He
tried to pass off that unguarded
moment, those impetuous words,
and conduct himself as he had at
other times, but fright persisted. Let
lips seduce him from that objective
which was the breath of his life?
Ah, no! He'd gone far enough along
this course.
At the gate he told her he could
not be with her this night. He had
affairs to attend, he said. He was
brusque and absorbed, having been
frightened by the strength of his
own emotions. He left her, impelled
to run in flight and she stared after
him with the mingled feelings of
one who has been rebuffed.
So that night the girl sat alone,
hurt and outraged. And Burke Rick
man, prowling the places of merri
ment in his role of spy, saw neither
her nor Shaw. But Shaw, he dis
covered, was at his tent. Annette,
then, might be alone and the time
he had awaited, and the mood
which had been so long in shaping,
might have arrived. So he rapped
on the aunt's door and found her
there, with signs of tears on her
cheeks and high temper in her eyes.
Sly, this Hickman, in playing on
tempers. He questioned adroitly and
probed and prodded to no avail. And
he kept on, belittling Rodney, scoff
ing at him, predicting his dire fu
ture until Annette went white again
with provoked loyalty and boasted
of Shaw's strength and courage and
possessions and plans; her thoughts
and impulses were all ajumble, hat
ing and loving Rodney in the same
moment, defending him while she
longed to hurt him.
She achieved both. Her boasts
were the things Rickman had wait
ed to hear; that was all he needed,
to know Shaw had a partnership
and planned to march to a rich
ground unclaimed by traders.
So, at midnight, when Rodney
slipped along the trail to Leslie's
tent another followed furtively and
when Shaw heard from his part
ner's lips the thing he had suspected
and feared, this other listened,
prone behind a boulder . . .
Leslie no longer deceived him
self. The hand of death lay heavily
upon him. Giles, his clerk, was
holding a cup of water to his lips
as Rodney appeared. The old man
smiled weakly.
"I've held ye . . . back . . . De
layed ye . . . thinkin' I . . , might
git . . . strength ... No good," he
whispered. "Jist one thing ... I
want. It's to . . . see th' Pillager
trade . . . out ot yon . . . hands.
You go," he said and weak though
he was, the order came imperious
ly
Rodney knelt beside him in the
entry to the tent. He could not hear
the light scruff-scruff of a body
worming closer, could not know that
alien ears heard those rasping
words, spoken at the cost of such
torture.
"You take th' . . . goods. Iff en
I . . . don't follow they're . . .
yourn . . ." he added and his suf
fering eyes gleamed with stalwart
friendliness. "No strings ... to
'em . . . Yourn," he said and looked
at Giles as if to adjure the man to
bear witness to the agreement.
He fumbled, then, in his pouch
and drew out the map and butterfly
ornament.
"Take 'em," he gasped. "Use 'em
. . . Standin' Cloud ... '11 treat
ye like . . . brother."
"I'll go," Rodney said. "I'll give
them such opposition they've never
dreamed of I I'll be gone before the
sun shows," he promised.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
Pumpkin, Squash Used to Produce Many
Fruits; Over 100 Cross Pollinations
The production of about a dozen
fruits from more than a hundred
cross pollinations between different
varieties of pumpkins and squash
made at the state experiment sta
tion at Geneva, N. Y., says the Sci
entific American, has thrown con
siderable light on the botanical rela
tionships of these groups and, inci
dentally, has given rise to several
new forms that seem to be either
'immune or highly resistant to
squash mosaic. Many unsuccessful
attempts to hybridize these two
vegetables have been made during
the last century, hence the success
attending the station trials is being
watched with considerable interest
because of ' the many possibilities
it holds for developing new and bet
ter varieties.
Cucurbita is the technical name
for pumpkins and squashes of which
three annual species are more or
less commonly grown, explains Pro
fessor Van Eseltine, station bota
nist. These species are known as
maxima which includes the winter
squashes, such as Hubbard, Boston
marrow and related types; moscha
ta, also koown as the grammas and
best illustrated by the Japanese pie,
winter crookneck, and the like, and
pepo, or the pumpkins, the fall
squashes and the summer squashes
or scallops, vegetable marrows, and
similar forms.
In each case the forms within
these groups crossed readily, but
the groups would not cross with
each other. This seemed to estab
lish the specific identity of the three
groups. In 1930 an attempt was
again made to cross these different
groups in a study of the origin of the
annual cucurbitas. About a dozen
fruits have been obtained from
these crosses and while they present
many interesting possibilities, in
cluding evidence of marked resist
ance to squash mosaic, much fur
ther study will be required before
any very definite conclusions can
come from these investigations.
Infantile Paralysis Wave May
Let Science Test Preventive
Nasal Sprays Save Laboratory Monkeys,
But Will They Work on Humans?
Hero monkey ? that's what science calls the tiny rhesus monkey, like the little fellow here, whose nose Is
being sprayed in an experiment to test a preventive for infantile paralysis; thousands of monkeys have die*
in the cause. If the sprays prove successful on humans it may mean the end of pitiful cases like that of tW
little girl above. The annual, nation-wide series of President's Birthday parties helps to raise funds for the re
search work; a scene from one is also shown.
By WILLIAM C. UTLEY
ITH a wave of infantile
paralysis assuming serious
proportions in the south cen
tral region of the United States,
science may find its long
awaited opportunity to make
mass tests of nose sprays as a
means of preventing the dread,
crippling disease.
Nasal sprays have proved nearly
100 per cent effective upon labora
tory monkeys, which respond to poli
omyelitis (infantile paralysis) in the
same way humans do. But until an
extensive oiilbreak of the disease
occurred there was no chance to
conduct experiment* upon humans,
for the lives of large numbers of
persons must not be endangered un
necessarily.
Now that outbreak may be at
hand, for the south central regions
are reporting an increase in "polio"
cases far over the normal increase
which comes with the summer
months. Between May 9 and July
24 there were, according to the
United States public health service,
486 cases reported from the west
south central region, as compared
with only 18 cases for the same pe
riod of 1936 and 65 cases for the
same period of 1935. During these
weeks the east south central region
reported 317 cases as compared
with 234 in 1936 and 57 in 1935. There
was some indication of the spread of
the disease eastward.
Doctors hope that the nose spray
will be proved definitely successful
in its application to human beings,
for it is more than a century since
the first written account of poliomye
litis was made by a trained physi
cian.
English Doctor Started Crusade.
Even so, progress has been phe
nomenally rapid in the light of the
age of the disease, for it is prob
ably as old as mankind.
But it was only 102 years ago that
Dr. John Badham, of Worksop, Eng
land, moved by the condition of four
tiny patients, pleaded through the
medium of medical journals for oth
er doctors to come to his aid with
suggestions for the cure of a dis
ease nobody knew anything about.
Dr. Badham's paper, telling of the
plight of the four crippled young
sters doomed to pathetically unhap
py lives, launched one of the great
est crusades in medical history.
Poorly equipped as they were, doc
tors of the Nineteenth century did
not hesitate in responding to the pio
neering Badham's call for assist
ance.
Get on Trail of Germ.
Only five years later, Jacob von
Heine, German orthopedic surgeon
of Cannstaat, made public an im
portant study of infantile paralysis.
His practice brought him in contact
with many cases of deformed limbs
in children. A shrewd observer, he
noticed something about young par
alytics which other medical men
had largely overlooked. He saw that
paralysis was the result of some
1 kind of acute disease which preced
j ed the appearance of muscular
weakness.
The discovery was epochal for, in
other words, Heine perceived that
paralysis in children didn't just hap
pen ? it had a definite antecedent
cause. He won for himself a place
of honor in ranks of those battling
against the spread of infantile paral
ysis. It was a battle that widened
to many more fronts as time wore
on, and by 1885 the infectious na
ture of the disease was pretty gen
erally accepted.
Yet it was not until 1908 that the
first real advance was made in the
search for a germ. Then Land
steiner and Popper, in Paris, inject
ed portions of the brain and spinal
chord, taken from a fatal human
case of infantile paralysis, into
some monkeys. They succeeded in
infecting the monkeys with the dis
ease, thus putting it on an experi
mental basis for the first time. Only
a short time later several doctors
almost simultaneously managed to
pass poliomyelitis from one monkey
to another. They were Flexner and
Lewis in New York, Leiner and Von
Weisner in Vienna, and Landsteiner
and Levaditi in Paris.
xne way was now Ciearea 10
studying the mechanism of the dis
ease. It was indicated how the
germ was spreading, but scientists
still had not banded in any united
effort. It took a national tragedy
to wake them up.
In the summer of 1916 the great
infantile paralysis epidemic hit the
United States. It began in a small
area in Brooklyn, then spread rap
idly over the rest of New York City
and Long Island, eventually cascad
ing over the entire country. It
touched every state, and struck
down more than 25,000 persons,
most of them children.
Health Officers at Loss.
Panic swept the nation. In the
mistaken belief that only those un
der sixteen were susceptible, rail
road officials refused to let children
ride on trains. Vigilante bands of
citizens established unofficial mar
tial law in many places, and health
certificates were required as "pass
ports' ' for children moving from one
community to another.
Health officers made every con
ceivable effort to check the disease,
but they still lacked a working
knowledge of ways and means to
combat its ravages. The epidemic
died of itself, finally, and so did
public terror. There have been less
epidemics since then; 1S.000 cases
were reported in 1931, and 10,000
each in the years 1927 and 1935.
Medical science recognized infan
tile paralysis as one of its most
challenging problems and redoubled
its efforts to find an answer. Foun
dations, research laboratories both
public and private, universities and
individual physicians and research
workers concentrated their atten
tion upon it.
But it remained for a layman,
Col. Henry L. Doherty, to begin the
most novel move in the battle, one
which popularized the fight among
all classes of Americans. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, himself a
victim of infantile paralysis, in
spired the move. President Roose
velt's previous interest in the cause
of fellow sufferers had been repeat
edly manifested by activities on be
half of the Warm Springs, Ga., foun
dation where victims are treated.
First President's Birthday Ball.
Visiting Warm Springs in 1933,
Colonel Doherty also became deep
ly interested, and acquired a first
hand knowledge of the research and
after-treatment work going forward
in this country. He saw the need'
for more widespread co-ordination
of effort. After discussing the mat
ter with the President, he conceived
the idea of a gigantic series at
parties which would enable millions
of Americans to do their share in
the war on polio.
Under Colonel Doherty's direction
the mammoth party-organizing task
was started. A national headquar
ters was established in New York
and civic-minded persons were
called upon to help. The first series
of parties was held on January 30,
1934, the President's birthday.
Fundi Aid Experiment.
So far more than $4,000,000 has
been raised by the annual parties.
Seventy per cent remains to light
infantile paralysis in the community
where it was raised, while 30 per
cent goes to the national fund, to b*
used for research or rehabilitation
work.
une important use to which the
receipts from the parties was put
was the development of the nasal
spray preventive for poliomyelitis.
How this spray came to be dis
covered is a dramatic episode in
medical history. The subvisible mi
crobes have ever defied scientists
to follow their meanderings. Yet,
after long and brilliant experimen
tation, scientists in laboratories in
New York, Chicago, Stanford uni
versity and London at last found out
that the nose was a doorway to the
polio virus.
In the laboratories of the United
States public health service, Charles
Armstrong, a "microbe hunter," de
cided that if he could find some
means of blocking that doorway,
there would be no way for the dead
ly germs to attack. For three years
he experimented with a whole drove
of rhesus monkeys. Finally he found
what he wanted. By washing the
insides of the monkeys' noses with
a weak solution of picric acid and
alum, he was able to save 24 out
of 25 monkeys exposed to a hot, ex
ceptionally dangerous infantile pa
ralysis virus!
Confusion Hampers Test.
Armstrong was confident that if
his solution worked with monkeys
it ought to be effective on humans.
But he was forced to wait for an
opportunity to make the test. It ap
parently arrived last summer, when
an epidemic broke out in Alabama,
Mississippi and Tennessee. Rush
ing to the scene, he won widespread
support to his plan of spraying the
solution into the children's noses.
He planned to have the doctors
supervise the spraying and keep
careful records. Unfortunately the
experiment got out of hand: the
doctors became swamped with de
mands upon their time and many
parents used the easily procurable
solution without bothering about sci
entific counsel on its use.
After salvaging what records be
could and making extensive rec
ords of his own, Armstrong decided
that a more powerful solution was
needed. Two California scientists,
working on funds supplied by the
President's Birthday Ball commis
sion, supplied it. They were E.
W. Schultz and L. P. Gebhardt of
Stanford university, and they of
fered a 1 per cent zinc sulphate so
lution. Zinc sulphate had been used
for years as an eyewash. They dis
covered it was virtually 100 per
cent effective in preventing infantile
paralysis when sprayed into the
noses of monkeys.
? Wcatero Newspaptr Untoe.