University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1915-08-17
SYNOPSIS

civilization. when Thorpe returns 10 ciaih
his wife Isobel KaZan. who has suffered
no man TO touch him with naked hands
surprises Thorpe by displaying a grea
affection and loyalty for Isobei.
Having returned to the North. Thorp
and Isobel prepare for cross-conntr.
work, taking KaZan with them as tn
| leader of their team. McCready. the guide
joins them for the trip and. with hatred
recognizes kaZan, who In return nereel!
! Cready. Mistaking Kazan's leap at Me
/ Cready as an attack on lsobel, Thorp'
beats the dog numerically. Isobel inter
/ feres and explains.
/ That night McCready murderousiy as
sauts Thorpe. Responding TO the crie'
! of his mistress. kaZan breaks the rop'
that holds him and kills McCready. Fear
ing a beating. he disappears into thu
woods.
Having definitely abandoned life will
about joining the packs Of wolves tina
| roam the country nightly, hunting. Final
! ly he attempts to join pack, makes d
"kill' in hunting expedition and il
challenged by the leader of the pack. They
engage In fight to the death.
As swift as a whip-lash he whirled
on the broken-legged leader of the
pack and with the full rush and weight
of his shoulders struck him fairly in
the side. More deadly than the throat
grip had Kazan sometimes found the
lunge when delivered at the right mo-
ment. 1t was deadly now. The big
gray wolf lost his feet. rolled upon his
back for an instant, and the pack
rushed in, eager to rend the last of
life from the leader whose power had
ceased to exist.
From out of that gray. snarling,
bloody-lipped mass, Kazan drew back,
painting and bleeding. He was weak.
There was a curious sickness in his
head. He wanted to lie down in the
snow But the old and infallible in
stinct warned him not to betray that
weakness. From out of the pack a
slim, 1.-the, gray she-wolf came up to
him, and lay down in the snow before
him, and then rose swiftly and
shifted at his wounds.
She was young and strong and beau
tiful, but KaZan did not look at her.
Where the fight had been he was look
ing, at what little remained of the old
leader. The pack had returned to the
feast. He heard again the cracking
of bones and the rending of flesh, and
something told him that hereafter all
the wilderness would hear and recog-
nize his voice, and that when he sat
back on his launches and called to the
moon and the stars, those swift-footed
hunters of the big plain would re-
spOnd to it. He circled twice about the
caribou and the pack, and then trotted
off to the edge of the black spruce
forest.
When he reached the shadows he
looked back. Gray Wolf was following
him. She was only few yards be-
hind. And now she came up to him,
a little timidly, and she. too, looked
back to the dark blotch of life out on
the lake. And as she stood there close
beside him, Kazan shifted at some
thing in the air that was not the scent
of blood, nor the perfume of the
balsam and spruce 1t was a thing
that seemed to come to him from the
clear stars, the cloudless moon. the
strange and beautiful quiet of the
night itself. And its presence seemed
to be a part of Gray Wolf
He looked at her, and he found
Gray VOLTS eyes alert and question
ing. She was young-so young that |
she seemed scarcely to have passed |
out of puppyhood. Her body was
strong and slim and beautiful shaped. |
In the moonlight the hair under her |
throat and along her back shone sleek
and soft. She whined at the red
staring light in Kazan's eyes, and it |
was not a puppy's whimper. Kazan
moved toward her, and stood with
iiS hSou O'Cl DoSh, ldClIS Tile
pack. He felt her trembling against
his chest. He looked at the, moon and
he stars again, the mystery of Gray
Wolf and of the night throbbing in
lis blood.
Not much of his life had been spent
It the posts. Most of it had been on
he trail-in the traces-and the spir-
Of the mating season had only
stirred him from afar. But it was
'ery near now. Gray Wolf lifted her
lead. Her soft muzzle touched the
vound'on his neck. and in the gentle
less of that touch. in the low sound
n her throat, Kazan felt and heard
gain that wonderful something that
lad come with the caress of the wo-
mans hand and the sound of her
oice. L
He turned, whining, his back brist-
Ing, his head high and defiant of the {
wilderness which he faced. GRAY I
Volt trotted close at his side as they |
ntpred inf0 tho oloop, of H. &c.,.