The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1906-07-18
crawl into . drift, there to lIe until h.

crawl into drift, there to lie until he
should either recover strength or die.
In this one desperate expedient lay
his only chance Of life. That he might
increase that slender chance he kept
to the bottom of the coulee, where no
air was stirring and where the drifts
were deep. For many miles the coulee
led toward Mimi Wakan LAX.
TO check the action of frost he used
his rough skin cap, chatting his body
as he ran. At first it seemed that he
must freeze tn ough ard through at
once.
But as he exerted himself reaction
came, and he felt a strange tingling
exhilaration, an airy lightness of body
| which enabled him to speed over the
snow crust, going in long, 1.-the jumps
like jack raj bit.
As he bounded forward at the dis.
tance of mile or more from the AS.
siniboin village, he saw over his shoul.
der creature running at his heels.
The black wolf again! He believed
the animal was about to leap upon him
| and drew his one weapon which the
Assiniboins had overlooked "a razor
| edged pocket dirk.
AS he turned TO fight, however, the
trapper found himself facing brin-
died dog of ordinary size and certainly
meek appearance. The animal fell
| upon the snow at few yards distance
! and whined pitifully, wrlggling toward
him as bashful puppy does toward a
visitor.
Greatly rejoiced the trapper called
the dog to him and took it in his arms.
The creature was scrawny enough, but
there was warmth in its body and in
its thick, shaggy coat. 1t would Ger.
He actually carried the animal as he
ran, deriving grateful warmth from
its body. This he did until several deer
jumped from their beds among corn.
stalk grass the dog leaped suddenly
away to give chase.
Bad Coulee, with its shelter of bush
and tall grass, was the night resort of
numerous bands of deer and elk.
Lame Charlie stopped to call back
the dog, but finding himself freezing
to the marrow presently sped ON. AT
ter time the dog overlook him, and
again loped at his heels, but the man
was now too much exhausted to carry
a burden.
Again band of deer jumped in front
of him, this time out Of thicket of
low willows. There were dozen or
more, and they scampered in all direc-
tions. A buck and large, fat doe, in
attempting to leap the creek channel,
broke through the crust of deep drift,
and before the doe could extricate her.
self the dog was upon her, with its
teeth in her throat.
With stroke from his knife Lame
Charlie killed her. Then with chat
tering teeth, cracking skin and freez-
ing fingers he fell to work.
He peeled the deer's skin from its
| shoulders, skinned the hind legs whole,
turned the pelt inside out, drew on his
improvised coat and belted it tightly
about the waist. Then he sat down to
laugh at recent peril and to make a
meal of leaf suet, while the dog also
helped itself.
Lame Charlie did not laugh long,
however, for the pain of frost bites set
ting in nearly drove him to distraction,
until he had rubbed his hurts thorough.
ly with deer's tallow.
With his dog companion he reached
his cabin late in the morning. His
wrongs were quickly told in Black Ket-
ties village, and that chief, delighted
to know the arch enemy was so near,
Immediately set out to surprise the
camp. But the willy AssinibOns were
on the march, and being only a hunt
ing party, without squaws or children,
easily made their escape.
To this day Lame Charlie is not
wholly convinced that the black wolf
and dark, brindled dog were one and
the same creature. He admits, how
ever, that this might have been the
case; that a dog might have been sto-
| len from one of the Red River posts,
might have been driven out of the In
! dian village by their freakish ours, and
might have been hunting new mas
ter. Such dog would have run from
him and toward the Indian village so
long as he carried gun and continued
to shoot at it.
And the fact that Lame Charlie ad-
mits this IS a possible olution of his
perilous adventure is really proof that
it is so.-Youth's Companion.