Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-10-16

torn to pieces by the wolves, and !
saw them leaping upon you, when one
of them sprang to the sledge. At first
thought it was one of the dogs. But
it was a wolf He tore once at us, and
the bearskin saved us. He was almost
at my throat when baby cried, and
then he stood there, his red eyes a
foot from US, and could have sworn
again that he was dog. In an instant
he turned, and was fighting the wolves.
I saw him leap upon one that was al
most at your throat
HE was dog" said old Pierre,
holding out his hands to the warmth.
They often wander away from the
posts, and join the wolves. have had
dogs do that. Ma cheri dog is a
dog all his life. Kicks, abuse, even
the wolves can not change him - for
long He was one of the pack. He
came with them - to kill. But when
he found US -"
He fought for us" breathed the
girl. She gave him the bundle, and
stood up, straight and tall and slim in
the freight "He fought for us -
and he was terribly hurt" she said. Il
saw him drag himself away. Father,
If he Is out there - dying"
Pierre Radisson stood up He cough
ed In a shuddering way, trying to
stiflc the sound under his beard. The
heck of crimson that came to his lips
with the cough Joan did not see. She
had seen nothing Of it during the six
days they had been travelling up from
the edge of civilization. Because OF
that cough, and the stain that come
with, it, Pierre had made more than
ordinary haste.
II have been thinking Of that" he
said. "He was badly hurt, and 90
not think he went far. Here take little
Joan and sit close to the fre until l
come back"
The moon and the stars were bril-
liant in the sky when he went in the
plain. A short distance from the edge
of the timberline he stood for mo-
ment upon the spot where the wolves
had overtaken them an hour before.
Not one OF his four dogs had lived.
The snow was red with their blood and
their bodies lay stiff where they had
fallen under the pack. Pierre shud-
dered as he looked at them. II the
wolves had not turned their first mad
attack upon the dogs, what would nave
become of himself, Joan and the baby :?
He turned away, with another OF those
hollow coughs that brought the blood
to his lips.
A few yards to one side he found In
the snow the trail of the strange dos
that had come with the wolves, and
had turned against them in that mo-
ment when all seemed lost. It was not
a clean running trail It was more OF
furrow In the snow, and Pierre Rad
isson followed It, expecting to find the
dog dead at the end of It.
In the sheltered spot to which he
had dragged himself in the edge OF the
forest, Kazan lay for long time after
the fight, alert and watchful He felt
no very great pain. But he had lost
the power to stand upon his legs. His
TANKS seemed paralyzed. Gray Wolf
crouched close at his side, SHINING the
air. They could smell the camp, and
Kazan could detect the two things that
were there - man and woman. He
knew that the girl was there, where he
could see the glow Of the freight
through the spruce and the cedars. He
wanted to go to her. He wanted to
drag himself close in to the fire, and
take Gray Wolf with him, and listen to
her voice, and feel the touch of her
hand. But the man was there, and to
him man had always meant the club,
the whip, pain, death.
Gray Wolf crouched close to his
side, and whined softly as she urged
Kazan to fee deeper with her into the
forest. At last she understood that he
could not move, and she ran nervous
ly out into the plain, and back again,
until her footprints were thick in the
trail she made. The instincts of mate.
hood were strong in her. 1t was she
who first saw Pierre Radisson coming
over their trail, and she ran swiftly
bacl; to Kazan and gave the warning
Then Kazan caught the scent. and
he saw the shadowy figure coming
through the starlight. He tried to
drag himself back but he could move
only by inches. The man came rap
idly nearer. Kazan caught the glisten.
OF the rife in his hand. He heard his
hollow cough, and the tread of his feet
in the snow. Gray Wolf crouched
shoulder to shoulder with him, trem-
bling and showing her teeth. When
Pierre had approached within fifty
feet of them she skunk back into the
deeper shadows Of the spruce.
Kazan's fangs were barred menacing-
ly when Pierre stopped and looked
siown at him. With an effort he drag
ged himself to his feet, but fell back
into the snow again The man lean
ID his rifle against sapling and bent