The Silver Horde

Silver Horde, The

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Silver Horde, by Rex Beach (#8 in our series by Rex Beach)
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Title: The Silver Horde
Author: Rex Beach
Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6017] [Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on October 17, 2002]
Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE SILVER HORDE ***

Carel Lyn Miske, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

THE SILVER HORDE
BY REX BEACH
Author of "The Auction Block" "The Spoilers" "The Iron Trail" etc.

BOOKS BY REX BEACH
TOO FAT TO FIGHT THE WINDS OF CHANCE LAUGHING BILL HYDE RAINBOW'S END THE CRIMSON GARDENIA AND OTHER TALES OF ADVENTURE HEART OF THE SUNSET THE AUCTION BLOCK THE IRON TRAIL THE NET THE NE'ER-DO-WELL THE SPOILERS THE BARRIER THE SILVER HORDE GOING SOME

CONTENTS

I. WHEREIN A SPIRITLESS MAN AND A ROGUE APPEAR II. IN WHICH THEY BREAK BREAD WITH A LONELY WOMAN III. IN WHICH CHERRY MALOTTE DISPLAYS A TEMPER IV. IN WHICH SHE GIVES HEART TO A HOPELESS MAN V. IN WHICH A COMPACT IS FORMED VI. WHEREIN BOREAS TAKES A HAND VII. AND NEPTUNE TAKES ANOTHER VIII. WHEREIN BOYD ADMITS HIS FAILURE IX. AND IS GRANTED A YEAR OF GRACE X. IN WHICH BIG GEORGE MEETS HIS ENEMY XI. WHEREIN BOYD EMERSON IS TWICE AMAZED XII. IN WHICH MISS WAYLAND IS OF TWO MINDS XIII. IN WHICH CHERRY MALOTTE BECOMES SUSPICIOUS XIV. IN WHICH THEY RECOGNIZE THE ENEMY XV. THE DOORS OF THE VAULT SWING SHUT XVI. WILLIS MARSH COMES OUT FROM COVER XVII. A NEW ENEMY APPEARS XVIII. WILLIS MARSH SPRINGS A TRAP XIX. IN WHICH A MUTINY IS THREATENED XX. WHEREIN "FINGERLESS" FRASER RETURNS XXI. A HAND IN THE DARK XXII. THE SILVER HORDE XXIII. IN WHICH MORE PLANS ARE LAID XXIV. WHEREIN "THE GRANDE DAME" ARRIVES, LADEN WITH DISAPPOINTMENTS XXV. THE CHASE XXVI. IN WHICH A SCORE IS SETTLED XXVII. AND A DREAM COMES TRUE

ILLUSTRATIONS

THE GIRL STOOD BAREHEADED UNDER THE WINTRY SKY OUT ACROSS THE LONESOME WASTE THEY JOURNEYED MILDRED CEASED PLAYING AND SWUNG ABOUT--"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

[Illustration: THE GIRL STOOD BAREHEADED UNDER THE WINTRY SKY]

THE SILVER HORDE
CHAPTER I
WHEREIN A SPIRITLESS MAN AND A ROGUE APPEAR

The trail to Kalvik leads down from the northward mountains over the tundra which flanks the tide flats, then creeps out upon the salt ice of the river and across to the village. It boasts no travel in summer, but by winter an occasional toil-worn traveller may be seen issuing forth from the Great Country beyond, bound for the open water; while once in thirty days the mail-team whirls out of the forest to the south, pauses one night to leave word of the world, and then is swallowed up in the silent hills. Kalvik, to be sure, is not much of a place, being hidden away from the main-travelled routes to the interior and wholly unknown except to those interested in the fisheries.
A Greek church, a Russian school with a cassocked priest presiding, and, about a hundred houses, beside the cannery buildings, make up the village. At first glance these canneries might convey the impression of a considerable city, for there are ten plants, in all, scattered along several miles of the river-bank; but in winter they stand empty and still, their great roofs drummed upon by the fierce Arctic storms, their high stacks pointing skyward like long, frozen fingers black with frost. There are the natives, of course, but they do not count, concealed as they are in burrows. No one knows their number, not even the priest who gathers toll from them.
Early one December afternoon there entered upon this trail from the timberless hills far away to the northward a weary team of six dogs, driven by two men. It had been snowing since dawn, and the dim sled-tracks were hidden beneath a six-inch fluff which rendered progress difficult and called the whip into cruel service. A gray smother sifted down sluggishly, shutting out hill and horizon, blending sky and