All day long, the blizzard sweeping down from the Arctic has howled across the flat, bleak country surrounding the little Alaskan village of Ruckland. Now, as the gloom of night closes in, Mrs. Nan Miller sits all alone in John Miller's log cabin trading post. She's mending a sweater near the old pot-bellied stove. Suddenly, the front door swings open, and man enters. Nan says "Well?" The man asks "Where's the trader? She says "You got something to trade?" The man says "I said, where is he?" Nan says "John ain't here". The man asks "When will he be back?" Nan says "He's up north. Be down about a week". He asks "Anybody else here?" She asks "Would that be bad?" He says "What do you mean?" Nan says "What could I mean?" After a few seconds, she asks "You put up your dogs?" The man says "I haven't got any". Nan says "You haven't got any snowshoes either". He says "I rode with an Eskimo sled this way. What's that thing on the counter behind you?" She says "What does it look like?" He says "A shortwave radio". She says "That's right. It works both ways". He says "What does it reach?" She says "Fairbanks". He asks "Has there been any news?" She says "About what?" He says "About anything?" She says "Why should you be so interested?" He says "Just answer my question. Okay?" Nan says "They signaled here about fifteen minutes ago. There was a report on some trouble in Fairbanks. The government assayer was shot and killed in his office earlier today. They asked me to be on the lookout for the guy that did it". He asks "Did they give a description?" She says "Yeah, they said he was a fellow about your size, wearing a red and black mackinaw. Just like the one you got on". He asks "Anything else?" She says "That's enough, ain't it?" He asks "What did they tell you to do if he showed here?" She says "Call them back". He says "That might make trouble for you". She says "I know". He says "Well, what are you going to do, sweetheart?" She says "It gets awful lonesome here. How about some tea?"