Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-11-11

forget the Fire, and his fights with
man and beast, and his long chases IN
the moonlight But two things were
always with him as If they had been
but Yesterday rising clear and untor
getable above all others, like the two
stars in the north that never lost their
brilliance. One was Woman. The 9TH
er was the terrible fight Of that night
on the top of the Sun Rock when the
lynx had blinded forever his wild mate
Gray Wolf. Certain events remain IN
delibly fixed in the minds of men; and
so, in a not very different way, they
remain in the minds of beasts. 1t takes
neither brain nor reason to measure
the depths of sorrow or of happiness.
And Kazan in his unreasoning way
knew that contentment and peace,
full stomach, and caresses and kind
words instead of blows had come to
him through Woman, and that com
radeship in the wilderness - faith.
loyalty and devotion - were a part OF
Gray Wolf. The third unforgetahle
thing was about to occur in the home
they had found for themselves under
the swamp windfall during the days OF
cold and famine.
They had left the swamp over
month before when it was smothered
deep in snow. On the day they return
ed to it the sun was shining warmly in
the first glorious days of spring
warmth. Everywhere, big and small,
there were the rushing torrents OF
melting SHOWS and the crackle Of
crumbling ice, the dying cries of thaw-
ing rock and earth and tree. and each
night for many nights past the cold
pale glow Of the aurora borealis had
crept farther and farther toward the
pole in fading glory So early as this
the popular buds had begun to swell
and the air was filled with the sweet
odor of balsam, spruce and cedar.
Where there had been famine and
death and stiffness six weeks before,
Kazan and Gray Wolf now stood at
the edge of the swamp and breathed
the earthly smells of spring and listen
ed to the sounds of life. Over their
heads pair Of newly mated moose
birds duttered and scolded at them. A
big jay sat pluming himself in the sun
shine. Farther in they heard the crat <
Of stick broken under heavy hoof.
From the ridge behind them they
caught the raw scent of mother bear
busy pulling down the tender poplar
buds for her six weeks old cubs, born
while she was still deep In her winter
sleep.
| In the warmth OF the sun and the
sweetness of the air there breathed to
Gray Wolf the mystery Of matehood
and Of motherhood. She whined softly
and rubbed her blind face against Ka-
zan For days, in her way, she tried
to tell him. More than ever she want
ed to curl herself up in that warm dry
nest under the windfall. She had no
desire to hunt. The crack Of the dry
stick under a cloven hoof and the
warm scent of the she-bear and her
cubs reused none Of the old instincts
in her. She wanted to curl herself up
in the windfall and wait. And she
tried hard to make Kazan understand
her desire.
! Now that the snow was gone they
found that narrow creek lay between
them and the knoll on which the wind
fall was situated. Gray Wolf pricked
up her ears at the tumult Of the little
torrent Since the day of the Fire,
when Kazan and she had saved them.
selves on the sand bar, she had ceased
, to have the inherent wolf horror OF
water She followed fearlessly, even
eagerly, behind Kazan as he sought a
place where they could ford the rush
ing little stream. On the other side
Kazan could see the big windfall Gray
Wolf could smell it and she whined
| ioyously. with her blind face turned to-.
ward it. A hundred yards up the
stream a big cedar had fallen over it
and Kazan began to cross For mo-
ment Gray Wolf hesitated, and then
followed. Side by side they trotted to
the windfall. With their heads and
shoulders in the dark opening to their
nest they scented the air long and
cautiously. Then they entered. Ka-
zan heard Gray Wolf as she flung her.
self down on the dry floor of the snug
cavern. She was painting, not from
exhaustion but because she was filed
with q sensation of contentment and
happiness. In the darkness Kazan's
own laws fell apart. He. too, was glad
to get back to their old home. He
went to Gray Wolf and, painting still
harder, she licked his face. 1t had but
one meaning. And Kazan understood
For a moment he lay down beside
her, listening, and cycling the opening
to their nest. Then he began to sniff
about the log walls. He was close to
the opening when a sudden fresh
scent came to him, and he grew rigid
and his bristles stood up. The scent