The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-09-08
By Jack London

shred of win and strike out more
strongly.
Without movement he lay on his
back, and he could hear slowly draw
ing near and nearer the wheezing in
take and output of the sick VOLTS
breath. 1t grew closer ever closer,
through an infinitude Of time, and he
did not move. 1t was at his ear. The
harsh, dry tongue grated like sandpa-
per against his cheek. Is hands shot
out-or at least he willed them to shoot
out. The fingers were curved like tai
ons, but they closed on empty air.
Swiftness and certitude require
strength, and the man had not this
strength.
The patience of the wolf was terri
BILE. The mans patience was no less
terrible. For half a day he lay notion
less, fighting off Inconsistencies and
waiting for the thing that was to feed
upon him and upon which he wished to
feed. Sometimes the languid sea rose
over him and he dreamed long dreams;
but ever through it all, waking and
dreaming, he waited for the wheeling
breath and the harsh caress Of the
tongue.
He did not hear the breath, and he
slipped slowly from some dream to the
feel of the tongue along his hand He
waited. The fangs pressed softly; the
pressure increased; the wolf was exert
ing it's last strength in an effort to sink
teeth in the food for which il had wait
ed so long. But the man had waited
long, and the lacerated hand closed on
the jaw. Slowly, while the wolf strug-
gled feebly and the hand clutched fee
bly,, tint other hand crept across to a,
grip. Five minutes later the whole
weight Of the mans body was on top Of
the wolf. The hands had not sufficient
strength to choke the animal, but the
face Of the man was pressed close to
the throat of the wolf and the mouth
was full of hair. At the end Of half an
hour the man was aware OF a warm
trickle in his throat. 1t was not Pleas
ant 1t was like molted lead being
forced into his stomach, but IL was
forced by his will alone. Later the man
rolled over on his back and slept.
Three weeks aftsrward the man lay
| in a bunk on the whaleship Bedford,
and with tears streaming down his
wasted cheeks told who he was and
what he had undergone. He also bah
| bled incoherently of his mother, Of
sunny southern California, and homo,
among the orange groves and flowers.
The days were not many after that
I
men and ships officers. He gioated
over the spectacle of so much food,
watching it anxiOusly as it went into,
the mouths of others. With the dis
appearance Of each mouthful an eX-
preston of deep regret came into his
eyes. He was quite sane, yet he hated
those men at mealtime because they
ate so much food. He was haunted by
a fear that 1t would not last. He in
/ Il IL l.
| captain, concerning the food stores.
They treasured him countless times:
but he could not believe them, and
pried cunningly about the laZarette 10
see with his own eyes.
1t was noticed that the man was get
| ting fat. He grew stOuter each day.
The scientific men shook their heads
and theorized- They limited the man
at his meals, but still his girth in
| creased and his body swelled prOdig-
| iOusly under his shirt.
/ The sailors grinned. They knew.
! And when the scientific men set a
watch on the man they knew too. They
saw him SLOUGH fOr'aTd after break
fast. and like a mendiCant with out
stretched palm, accOst a sailor. The
sailor grinned and passed him a frag-
ment of sea biscuit. He clutChed it
avariciously, looked at it as a miser
! looks at gold, and thrust it into his
shirt bosom Similar were the dona-
lions from other grinning sailors.
The scientific men were discreet.
| They left him alone. But they privily
examined his bunk. It was lined with
bareback; the mattress was stuffed
with bareback; every nook and Granny
was filled with bareback Yet he was
sane. He was taking precautions
| against another possible famine-that
was all. He would recover from it, the
scientific men said; and he did, ere the
| Bedford's anchor rumbled down in San
! Francisco bay.