The Irish standard., 1905-11-11
CHAPTER VII.
GHOST OR WILD MAN

MdFllu looked long at those gro
tesQue footprints in speechless WON
der. For two weeks he had watched
Tor them in old log roads, along the
banks of streams, in the muddy spots
OF carries. and upon the sandy shores
OF lakes, in vain. He had found all
other kinds of tracks in plenty, hoof
prints of moose. deer, and caribou,
the oval ones of bear, and the rounder
but sharper clawed tracks Of lynx and
wildcat-but none like these. And
now, on bright moonlight night, the
nondescript creature had walked up
to within two rods of where he lay
sleeping!
The effect on Dr. Sol was almost
ludicrous. He gaZed at them, grew
pale. and with We've got to get out
of here, and quick, too,' started for
the tent.
"Here he comes; run, doctor, run, :"
shouted Martin, his sense of humor
rising above his astolMshment, as he
followed the doctor, who had covered
the distance with leaps Then each
grasping rifle, and followed by the
guides, returned to those tracks. And
now for the first time. so plainly out
lined were they in the deep sand. It
was possible to better guess what man
ner of creature made them
Its gigantic ape" asserted Mar
tin. bending over them; but Levi
kneeling, shook his head
"It's some one wnarin' noccusin;
with claws on 'em. kin see whar
the seam comes" he said.
1t was not reassuring. and both Mar,
tin and the doctor glanced furtivelY
into the forest near at hand, and then
up to the sravellcd point where the
stream entered Then following Levi
and avoiding the tracks, halting often
to listen and look at one more distinct
than the rest, they came to this point
and the end of the tracks Here n
faint furrow showed where a canoe
had grounded and been lifted out on the
beach.
cts a white man," asserted Levi
in positive tone; IAN Tnjun always
lands canoe sideways"
"And why?" qvsricd Martin. 10
whom this was news.
"Cause it don't strain 'em so much.
an leaves 10 sign"
"Thts chap wasn't fussy about the
signs" interjected the doctor, land
II It's the beast ! saw that night on
the Mo0sehorn, I've had enough of h lie
society,""
"fhe tracks are the ame beyond 1ncs-
uon," said Martin, land it lOohs like
a case Of follow, but how he has kert
along with us for ten days without
discovery is curious" And TIE thought,
OF such a savage man stealthily follow
ing one upstream, down stream,
across lake and carry good 100 miles
Of wilderness. made Martin nervous.
I'm not going to bach out just yet"
he added. as they retraccd their steps
to find their fire out and breakfas,
ruined. But that mattercd not; in
fact nothing was thought of or spoken
about all day except those hideou.
tracks and the likelihood that their
maker might be Lurking in the fores,
about. No attention was paid to the
lohC, liVplCu anu 6IllLllS Ill Luc sun
light, the birds. piping defiance to all
powers Of darkness. or aught else of
beauty. Both canoes made an entire
detour Of the lakes shore at least
three times. while their occupants,
obliyious even of the trout leaping
out here and there. scanned the shad-
ows. paused oft to listen at every tri-
fling sound. The entrances to two
long, unused log roads were examined,
the stream where they first entered
the lake followed back mile, and the
one where the tracks began and ended
explored little way. but no sign or
sound of this wild man found. Like
q thief at night he had come ashore,
stolen up to their camp, returned, en-
barked, and where he was hiding no
man could guess.
When nightfall drew near, the doc
tor became nervous. II shan't sleep a
wink tonight" he said plaintively, as
hD Vafcha,1 IAvf hui1dinO n AnA anA