Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-10-14
CHAPTER v,

It was not new to kazAn. oo1en
times he had sat in rings like this,
waiting for the final movement. More
than once he had fought for his life
within the circle. It was the sledge dog
way Of fighting. Unless man interrupt
ed with q club or whip 1t always
ended in death. Only one fighter could
come out alive. Sometimes both died.
And there was no man here - only
that fatal Gordon of waiting white
fanged demons, ready to leap upon
and tear to pieces the first Of the fight
ers who was thrown upon his side or
back. Kazan was stranger, but he
did not fear those that hemmed him
in. The one great law Of the pack
would compel them to be fair.
He kept his eyes only on the big
gray leader who had challenged him.
Shoulder to shoulder they continued to
circle. Where few moments before
there had been the swapping of jaws
and the rending of flesh there was now
silence. Soft footed and soft throated
mongrel dogs from the south would
have snarled and growled, but Kazan
and the wolf were still, their ears laid
forward instead of back, their tails
free and bushy.
Suddenly the wolf struck in with the
swiftness Of lightning, and his jaws
came together with the sharpness OF
steel striking steel. They missed by
an inch. In that same instant Kazan
darted In to the side, and like knives
his teeth gashed the VOLTS flank.
They circled again, their eyes grow
Ing 1edder, their lips drawn back until
they seemed to have disappeared. And
then Kazan leaped for that death grip
at the throat - and missed. 1t was
only by an inch again. and the wolf
came back, as he had done, and laid
open Kazan's flank so that the blood
ran down his leg and Redeemed the
snow. The burn Of that flank wound
told Kazan that his enemy was old in
the game Of fighting. He crouched
low. his head straight out, and his
throat close to the snow. It was a
trick Kazan had learned in puppyhood
Ito shield his throat and wait
Twice the wolf circled about him,
and Kazan pivoted slowly, his eyes
half closed A second time the wolf
leaped. and Kazan>threw up his ter
riblo Jaws, sure of that fatal grip just
In front of the forelegs. His teeth
snapped on empty air. With the MIN
hleness Of cat the wolf had gone
completely over his back.
The trick had failed, and with a
rumble of the dog snarl in his throat,
Kazan reached the wolf in a single
hound They met breast to breast.
Their fangs clashed and with the
whole weight of his body. Kazan flung
himself against the VOLTS shoulders,
cleared his Jaws, and struck again for
the throat hold. It was another miss
= by hairs breadth - and before
he could recover the VOLTS teeth were
buried in the back of his neck.
For the first time in his life Kazan
felt the terror and the pain Of the
death grip. and with mighty effort he
flung his head a little forward and
snapped blindly. His powerful jaws
closed on the VOLTS foreleg, close to
the body. There was cracking Of
bone and a crunching of flesh, and the
circle of waiting wolves grew tense
and alert. One or the other of the
fighters was sure to go down before
awaited that fatal fall as a signal to
lean in to the death.
Only the thickness of hair and hide
on the back of Kazan's neck. and the
toughness of his muscles. saved him
from that terrible fate of the vanquish-
ed. The VOLTS teeth sank deep, but
not deep enough to reach the vital
spot. and suddenly Kazan put every
ounce of strength in his limbs to the
effort, and flung himself up bodily
from under his antagonist. The grip
on his neck relaxed, and with another
rearing leap he tore himself free.
As swift as whip lash he whirled