Waterbury evening Democrat., 1903-12-15

| was. endDl6Q ILLUS, 10 aVOlu 8LQ3IH -enllEG-s 1 1iy. He simply transferred his estimat < ing to the forest by the stream. Once 1 he met one of the men, but was fortu- I nateiy in a country that lent itself to
 his pose of hunter. The other he did l not see at all.
 But one day he heard him. The two l up river men were following carefully 1 but noisily the bed of a little creek. l Thorpe happened to be on the side hill,
 so he seated himself quietly until they l should have moved on down. One of ! them shouted to the other, who, crash | ing through a thicket, did not hear.
 "Ho-o-o, Dyerw the first repeated.
 Here's that internal conner over herew l "Yop."' the other, coming" | Thorpe-recognized the voice instantly | as that of Railways scaler. His hand | crisped in q gesture of disgust. The l man had always been obnoxious to | him.
 Two days later he stumbled on their l camp. He paused in wonder at what
 he saw.
 The packs lay open, their contents
 scattered in every direction. The fire
 had been hastily extinguished with a
 bucket of water, and frying pan lay | where it had been overturned. If the 1 thing had been possible, Thorpe would l have guessed at d hasty and unpre-
 meditated flight.
 l He was about to withdraw carefully l lest he be discovered when he was I startled by touch on his elbow. It
 was Injun Charley.
 "Dey go up river," he said. T come l see what de row.''
 l The Indian examined rapidly the con- dition of the little camp. l "Dey look for somethin'," said he, l making his hand revolve as though
 rummaging and indicating the packs.
 T link dey see you in de woods" he
 concluded. "Dey go camp get 'um l boss. Boss he gone on river trail two tree hour"
 You're right, Charley replied 1 Thorpe, who had been drawing his own
 conclusions. tOne of them knows me. ! They've been looking in their packs for their notebooks with the descriptions | of these sections in them. Then they I piled out for the boss. If know any l thing at all, the boss Il make tracks for 1 Detroit
 '.Wot you doy' asked Injun Charley
 curiously.
 T got to get to Detroit before they
 do; that's all"
 Instantly the Indian became all ac- | tion
 "You come,", he ordered and set out at rapid pace for camp. There, with incredible deftness, he l packed together about twelve pounds I of the jerked venison and pair of l blankets, thrust Thorpe's waterproof l match safe in his pocket and turned 1 eagerly to the young man.
 stYou come,' he repeated. ! Thorpe hastily unearthed his "de-
 scriptions'' and wrapped them up. The Indian in silence rearranged the mis- l placed articles in such a manner as to l relieve the camp of it's abandoned air. I It was nearly sundown Without word the two men struck off into the l forest, the Indian in the lead. Their l course was southeast, but Thorpe ask
 ed no questions. He followed blindly.
 Soon he found that if, he did even that l adequately he would have little atten- l ton left for anything else. The In dian walked with long, swift strides, l his knees always slightly bent, even | at the finish Of the step, his back hol- l lowed his shoulders and head thrust | forward His gait had queer sag in l it, up and down in long curve from one rise to the other. After time
 Thorpe became fascinated in watching l before him this easy, untiring lope, hour after hour, without the variation 1 of a seconds fraction in speed or an 1 inch in length.
 l At first Thorpe followed him with comparative ease, but at the end of | three hours he was compelled to put l forth decided efforts to keep pace. His l walking was no longer mechanical, but l conscious. When it becomes so man l soon tires. Thorpe resented the in 1 equalities, the stones, the roots, the I patches of soft ground which lay in | his way He felt duly that they were l not fair. He could negotiate the dis 1 tance, but anything else was gratui- l tous insult.
 Then suddenly he gained his second wind He felt better and stronger and moved freer.
 | At midnight Injun Charley called a I halt He spread his. blanket. leaned
 on one elbow long enough to eat strip l of dried meat and fell asleep. Thorpe 1 initiated his example. Three hours l later the Indian reused his companion, l and the two set out again. l From 3 o'clock until 8 they walked
 continually without pause, without an instantfs breathing spell. Then 1 they rested half an hour, ate little
 venison and smoked a pipe. 1 An hour after noon they repeated the
 rest. Thorpe rose with a certain phys
 ical reluctance. The Indian seemed as l fresh as when he started, At sunset
 they took an hour, then forward again l by the dim intermittent light of the I moon and stars through the ghostly haunts of forest until Thorpe thought
 he would drop with weariness and
 was mentally incapable of contemplat- | iDr mora fkap h1Indrad cfppc in a5-