The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1908-03-14
THE GREATER
HATE
By RoYINoRToN

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(Copyright.)

The wilderness brought them to-,
gether. The wilderness compelled
them to cry Truce" and the wilder
ness glowered at them ever as they
| wandered through it seeking with des-
perate struggles the preservation of
! their self-valued lives.
One was tall and swart with the
manipulating of the sun reflected
from Arctic SHOWS. The other was
| short and stocky with the beetling
; brow and somber look of the man who
has trying heart history written
| In the deeps within him. And they,
fellow travellers for the time but
gether.
Hunger walked with them and lent
| staggers to their steps as the squeak
1ngs of their snow shoes blended to-
gether at their meeting place. Below
| them for indefinite miles stretched the
canyon up which they had come, it's
| only relief from snowy whiteness be-
| ing the darker copses of green where
pine boughs protruded.
The tall man stood questioningly for
| what seemed long time, and then, as
| II his every nerve had weakened, he
stumbled forward beseeching: Grub,
Tor Gods sake, grub! I have eaten
nothing for the last two days."
! There was pause, but no throb Of
weakness in the voice that YEARLY an
swered: Nor for three days"
It was like a blow to the tall man.
He squatted on his heels, twisted his
fingers and moaned, while tears
dripped unheeded down his bearded
face. Tom remained immovable and
brooding. Here before him was the
object of his years of search-the 9th
er man and his revenge.
! Through all those years he had
thought that when this man was found
the end would come without delay.
He had pictured to himself the savage
Joy and satisfaction of the kill God!
How he wanted to kill!
| 1t was this starved and weakened
and sobbing thing that in those far
away years had stepped in between
him and his betrothed-the only wom-
an who had commanded all his hearts
homage-and with cunning lies, clever
1nsfnuations and heartless malign-
ments had estranged her. Yes, worse
than that, had taken her for his own
and then instead of cherishing her
had made her life such a hell on earth
that she had been glad to pass from
this into the portals of another world
had been glad to rest-to sleep-to
find the great quiet.
And never until she lay dying in
his arms had he known all this And
never until then had he realized that
life could hold as it's sole object and
ambition desire to kill another man.
! The few minutes that had slipped
away since they met seemed ages
Suddenly the terrors of their position
smote upon them, and together they
| turned and faced that terrific and for
bidding wall that lowered above them,
plane Of snow whose crusted sur
face glistened coldly repellent.
mo other chance" said the stocky
one, more to the mountainside than to
his hearer. ..
NO." was admitted. ITO go around
any other way takes 20 days. That
! means" He shrugged in hopeless
! ness.
AS if by common thought and single
impulse, they loosened their packs of
blankets which must be abandoned
and dropped them upon the snow
their smaller camp impedimenta jang
ling as it fell. Eying each other to
| see whether the true was to be in fall,
they discarded their rifles. They
| frightened their belts around their
torn and worn garments. Their snow
shoes were unthonged and dashed fan
tastically across their backs. They
were ready.
And thus with but pick and shovel
they assaulted the mountain range,
cutting foothold in it's CLASSY face and
| climbing upward, like doggedly per-
sistent insects, toward the ridges high
| above them.
And so they reached the crest of the
| divide, wind-swept ridge where little
| swirls of cutting, binding, biting snow
smote them in their faces and drove
! chill teeth into their starved bodies.
They rested, lying on their arms
| and gathering strength for the tray
easement Of the ridge which stretched
away before the m like narrow path
| on the backbone of the world. Chilled
with their respite they arose to their
feet and staggeringly made their way
along this pathway to shelter and
food. The tall one took the lead. Be-
hind him, with steadier step, grim face
and clinched fingers, strobe the
smaller one.
With the shock of the unexpected
the feet of the man in front slipped.
| His ice-incrusted moccasins gave forth
a rasping sound as he vainly fought
for f1rmer footing; his arms, holding
the burden of the shovel, wrenched
wildly to and fro, and with strange
sprawlings of awkwardness he fell of