Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-10-30
CHAPTER XII (Continued.)

Weyman saw where tne ~.
had waited on its launches, Whlle us
companion had killed the lynx. ne ala
not tell Henri all he thought But tue
DAYS that followed convinced MN
moro and more that he had found the
most dramatic exemplificatlon OF MS
theory. Back Of this mysterious trag.
edv of the trap line there was
reason.
WHY did the two wolves not destroy
the fisher cat, the ermine and the mar
ten? Why was their feud with the
lynx alone? -,
Weyman was strangely thrilled. He
uar a lover of wild things, and for that
reason he never carried gun. Ana
when he saw Henri placing poison
haits for the two marauders, he shuo-
dered. and when, day after day. ne
-aw that these poison baits were IN
touched he rejoiced. Something III
his own nature went out in sympathy
to.the heroic outlaw of the trap hne
who never failed to give battle TO the
ivnx NIGHTS in the cabin he wrote
down his thoughts and discoveries Oh
the day. One night he turned SUDDEN
" on Henri. -,
"Henri doesn't it ever make you sor'
- Vii 90, many wild things?" he
asked.
Henri stared and shook his head.
q kill t'ousand an t'ousand, ne
said II kill t'ousand more
mAnd there are twenty thousand otn'
crs inst like you in this northern quar-
-. ~ Tho continent - all killing, kill
mo for hundreds of years back, ana
VAT Won can't kill out wild life. me
war Of Man and the Beast, you mlgnt
call it. And, if you could return nss
hundred years from now, henri, you
still find wild life here. Nearly al the
rest OF the world is changing, put you
can't change these almost 1mpene',
rable thousands of square miles OF
ridges and swamps and forests. Inc
railroads won't come here, and l 'tol
one. thank God for that. Take al tne
treat prairies to the west for lnstah 9. Z
why the old buffalo trails are SUI
,here. plain as day and yet, towns
and cities are growing up everywhere
Did you ever hear of North Battle
ford?' .,
rs she near Montreal or Quebec
Henri asked.
Weyman smiled, and drew photo
graph from his pocket. 1t was the pic
i ture OF q girl.
mo, It's far to the west, in sas
4 katchewan. Seven years ago l usee
to 20 up there every year, to shf2o'
prairie chickens, coyotes and elk
There wasn't any North Battleforf
then - lust the glorious prairie. nun
dreds and hundreds of square miles O
4 it. There was single. shack on the
Saskatchewan river, where North Bat
4 tleford now stands, and l used to stay
there. In that shack there was little
n girl. twelve years oldS We used to e
out hunting together = for ] used t.
kill things in those days. And the
little girl would cry sometimes when
killed and I'd'laugh at her.
"Then railroad came, and then an
Their. and they joined near the shack
and all at once a town sprang up
Seven. wears ago there was only the
shack there, Henri Two years ago
there were eighteen hundred people
This year, when ! came through. there
were five thousand and two years IRON
now there'll be ten thousand
"On the ground where the shacl
stood IRE three banks, with a capita
of forty million dollars; you can see
the glow Of the electric lights of the
city twenty miles away. It has hun
bred thousand dollar college, higf
school. the provincial asylum. a fire
department, two clubs, board of trade
and It's going to have street car line
within two years.. Think of that al
where the coyotes howled few years
ago!
people are coming In so fast thai
they can't keen o census, Five years
from now therell be city of twenty