The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-08-01
"tleIpl For Gods sakelr

fashioning, instead OF In that still
whisper which is his own, and the
sound OF which We fail to catch be-
cause of our own ignoble babble.
The answer to her prayer came
with roar in her nervous frightened
ear ikea clap Of thunder. Ere the
first echo OF It died away, It was sue.
ceeded by another and another and
another. echoing, rolling. reverberat.
ing among the rocks In ever diminish.
ing but long drawn out peals.
On the instant the bear rose to his
feet, swayed Slightly and struck as at
an imaginary enemy with his weighiy
paws. A hoarse. ftightfuli guttering
roar burst from his red slayering jaws,
then he lurched side ways and fell
forward. fighting the air madly for q
moment. and lay still. - r8ts
With staring eyes that, missed no
detail, she saw that the brute had
been shot in the head and shoulder
three times and that he was appar-
emily dead. The revulsion that came
over her was bewildering; sshe swayed
again, this time not from the thrust
Of the water, but with sick faintness.
The tension suddenly taken of; un,
strung, the loose bow other spirit
quivered 7helpiessly: the arrow Of her
life almost fell into the stream.
And then a new and more appalling
terror swept over her. Some man had
fired that stot. Actaeon had. spied
upon Diana. With this sudden rev'eIa.
ton Of her shame. the red blood beat
to the white surface in spite Of the
chill water. Tho anguish OF that mo,
ment was greater than before. She
could be killed, torn to pieces, do,
voured. that was small thing, but
that she should be SO outragedin her
modesty was uncomfortable. She wished
the hunter had not come. She. sunk
lower in the water for moment fain
to hide In Its crystal clarity and real
lied as she did how frightfully cold
she was. Yet, although she froze
where she was and persisted with cold
she could not go out on the bank to
dress, ard It would avail her little,
she saw swiftly. since the huge mon
ster had fallen a dead heap on her
clothes. I
Vow oil this, although 1t takes min.
utes to tell, had happened In but d
few seconds. Seconds sometimes In
clude hours, even a lifetime, In their
brief composition. She thought 1t
would be Just as we'll for her to sink
down and die in the water, when .
sudden splashing below her caused
her to look down the stream, &c :
She was so agttated that she could
make out little except that there was
man crossing below her and making
directly toward the body OF the bear.
He was tall black bearded man, she
saw he carried rife, he looked neIth.
er to tho right!nor TO the Sleft, 5he did
not bestow glance upon her. She
could have cried aloud In Thanksgiving
for his apparent obliyiousness to her
Ms she crouched now neck deep In the
benumbing cold. The man stepped on
the bank. shook himself like great
dog might have done and marched
over to the bear. He uprooted a small
nearby pine, with the ease of b Her
cules-and she had time to mark and
marvel at 1t In spite Of everything
and then with that as lever he IN.
concernedly and easily heaFed = the
body Of the monster from OF her
clothing. She was to learn later what
feat OF strength 1t was to move that
Inert carcass weighing much more
than half ton. y
Thereafter he dropped the pine tree
by the side Of the dead grizzly and
without backward look tramped
swiftly and steadily up the, canon
through the trees, turning at the point
Of It and was instantly lost to sight.
His gentle and generous purpose were
obvious even to the frightened, agi.
-tated, excited girl.
The woman watched him until he
Ito Be contlnued.)
q 2 . u y