The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1910-11-11
The EVENING STORY
The Little NIoccaSin.
TBy M, ]. PhillipS.1

eat you
Dexter Morgan stared at the note
perplexedly. 1t was verify incongru-
Gus in this bowling wilderness. 1t was
written on fine paper, by a woman's
hand; and, if Morgan was any judge of
chirograph the woman was young re-
fined and intelligent.
He was camping in one of the
sparsely inhabited counties of the up
per peninsula of Michigan. He had not
seen human being for weeks, except
when he went to Fuller's, 15 miles away.
20 buy supplies. His neighbors were
bears, wolves and deer. He had come
back to camp at nightfall one day to
find this hooking little message pinned
to his sleeping bag.
While he built his fire and cooked
supper that night, he speculated over
the note, taking it occasionally from
the pocket of his flannel shirt to study
it again. When the meal had been dis
posed Of he sat down to pore over it
anew.
1t was not meant as warning; that
was sure. Whoever wrote it must haNa
known that there was no danger Of the
wolves eating him. The wolves had
more to fear than he. Morgan was
government expert, sent out from
Washington to test the value of a new
lure prepared by famous chemist. He
built ingenious traps, batting them with
fresh meat smeared with the tempting
| liquid. Day after day he trarnped over
| il1o lOLS GO0LOs AAAA16 oAAN ohAAAAAAA6 AA'
captives and making copious notes.
These notes, published under the i'm
print of the bureau of biological sur
| vey, presently, would add to his repu-
tation as clever young naturalist
He sat up until o'clock, which was
half an hour beyond his usual bedtime,
| trying to account for the presence of
a woman in this dreary waste. He was
up before the sun next morning. BY
the time it peeped lazily over the low
/ 7P 60 OF 19n "a Iii
died his fire and eaten breakfast. When
the first white frost of early autumn
began turning to drops Of crystal be-
meath the ardent rays, he was search
ing like a nuesting hound for the trail
of his. visitor of the day before.
Morgan was a good woodsman, de-
spite his college education and boy
hood spent only in cities. He picked
up the trail easily and followed it un-
erringly. The broken grass stalks and
misplaced twigs led him due west.
| Within half a mile he came to a
patch of open sand. The track led
across it, and he dropped to his knees
with a cry Of satisfaction. There, be-
fore him. was the imprint or little
| moccasins. A minutes study convinced
| him of several things: that his visitor
was possessed of a high-arched instep;
| that she was woman. since man
never possessed a foot so small and
SO beautifully formed. and that she
! 49,
/ not toe in
Furthermore, the tracks were those
| of a city dweller, accustomed to pave
ments, since the toes did not spread
! out and take hold as did the toes of
folk accustomed to the yielding sur
face of the wilderness. With these
points fully settled in his mind. N o.
gan arose, frightened his belt another
hole and strobe on.
The visitor seemed to know she
would be followed. for thereafter she
tantalizingly avoided bare sand. With
a considerable degree of woods lore
she made the trail as hard as possible
She followed a rocky ridge for mile
considerably out of her way. as 1T lat
er proved-so that no traces would be
left behind. It took four hours OF
hard work and the exercise of all his
skill before the trail again revealed it
self beyond the ridge.
1t was late afternoon before ne
finally reached his journeys end,
cabin eight miles from his own camp
1.-The cabin had been newly repaired and
recently occupied. Now it was empty
thorough search yielded torn en-
velope addressed to .'John K Drum
goole, Lake Shore Drive, Chicago,
and a tiny beaded moccasin, with q
high arched instep.
| Dexter Morgan broke camp nexi
4 day, He had been four months in the
II wilderness. The lure was success
and he had plenty of material for his
pamphlet. Besides, he was hungerine
for civilization.
There we're many things to do at
Washington-reports to be written and
specimens to be arranged. But at last
it was all DONE and Morgan was Off on
his vacation. He took the first fast
train to Chicago, because, as ne sa1o
to himself, he had brother there
whom he wanted to visit.
u 1t took time, persistence, and some
!. ingenuity to meet Alice Drumgoole
, daughter of the Chicago lumber baron
But Morgan had plenty of time and
, wolf-hunting had developed the other
| two qualities He met her finally, ano
| attached himself to her circle.
Miss Drumgoole was handsome AMI
more than little spoiled. Even wher
| they had become well acquainted she
evaded any discussion Of northern
Michigan. or wolves. or a certain mote
or lost moccasin. She refused to take
the young man seriously. She mocke6
Y him and flouted him.
Miss Drumgoole had many suitors
a but Morgan had one advantage over al
f the rest of then-he loved outdoor ex
ercise Tramping through the wilder
I ness had given him the habit of de
pending upon his own two legs to ge
r about while they were slaves to motor;
and street cars. And Alice Drumgooh
= had passion for walking. She HAD
= tired her friends out one by one, ex
ceptS Morgan. He was tireless and al
: ways ready for tramp.
n 1t was one of these tramps tina
finally brought their little drama i
2, a climax. They were returning at dusl
e one evening silent, lettering little
d when a huge dog rushed at them. teetl
e barred eyes cleaning savagely. He wa
the property of Ethan Huldrop. an &c
, ! centric neighhor of the Drumgooles
q who lived in his walled acre in constai
: fear of burglars. The dog rOamed tn
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