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

open. 1t was quite warm, and so still
that the whole world seemed filled
with only the hutter and whisper of the
snowflakes. Through this day Kazan
and Gray Wolf travelled side by side
limo and again he turned his head
back to the ridge over which he had
come, and Gray Wolf could not under.
stand the strange note that trembled
in his throat
In the afternoon they returned to
what was left of the, caribou doe on
the lake. In the edge of the forest
Gray Wolf hung back. She did not yet
know the meaning of poison bats,
deadfalls and traps, but the instinct OF
numberless generations was in her
veins, and it told her there was dan
ger in visiting second time a thing
that had grown cold in death.
Kazan had seen masters work about
carcasses that the wolves had left. He
bad seer them conceal traps cleverly,
and roll little capsules Of strychnine In
the fat of the entrails, and once he had
r,1t fcre'cg in trap, and had ex-
rerierced its sting and pain and dead
T. rrir. But he did not have Gray
Wo'f's fear. He urged her to accom-
ranv him TO the white hummocks on
fho ice. and at last she went with him
and sank back rcstlessly on her
hauncNes, while he dug out the bones
and pieces Of flesh that the snow had
kent from freezing. But she would
rot eat. and at last Kazan went and
sat on his launches at her side, and
with her looked at what he had dug
out from under the snow. He shifted
the air. He could not smell danger,
but Gray Wolf told him that 1t might
be there.
She told him many other things in
the days and nights that followed. The
third night Kazan himself gathered
the hunt pack and led I'M the chase.
Three times that month, before the
moon left the Skies he led the chase,
and each time there was kill. But
as the SHOWS began to grow softer un-
der his feet he found a greater and
greater companionship in Gray Wolf,
and they hunted alone. living on the
big white rabbits. In all the world he
had loved but two things, the girl with
the shining hair and the hands that
had caressed him and Gray Wolf.
He did not leave the big plain, and
often he took his mate to the top of
the ridge, and he would try to tell her
what he had left back there. With the
dark nights the call Of the woman be-
came so strong upon him that he was
filled with longing to go back, and
take Gray Wolf with him.
Something happened very soon az
ter that. They were crossing the open
plain one day when up on the face of
the ridge Kazan saw something that
q dog sledge and team, was coming
down into their world. The wind had
not warned them, and suddenly Kazan
saw something glisten in the mans
hands. He knew what it was. It was
the thing that spat fire and thunder,
and killed.
He gave his warning to Gray Wolf,
and they were off like the wind, side
by side. And then came the sound -
and Kazan's hatred Of men burst forth
in snarl as he leaped. There was
queer humming over their heads. The
sound from behind came again, and
this time Gray Wolf gave yelp OF
pain, and rolled over and over in the
snow. She was on her feet again in
an instant, and Kazan dropped behind
her, and ran there until they reached
the shelter Of the timber Gray Wolf
lay down. and began licking the wound
in her shoulder. Kazan faced the
ridge. The man was taking up their
trail. He stopped where Gray Wolf
had fallen and examined the snow
Then he came on.
Kazan urged Gray Wolf to her feet,
and they made for the thick swamp
close to the lake. All that day they
kept in the face Of the wind, and when
Gray Wolf lay down Kazan stole hack
over their trail, watching and shifting
the air.
For days after that Gray Wolf ran
lame, and when once they came upon
the remains of an old camp, Kazan's
teeth were barred in snarling hatred Of
the man scent that had been left be-
hind. Growing in him there was de.
sire for vengeance - vengeance for
his own hurts and for Gray VOLTS.
He tried to nose out the man trail I'M
der the cover of fresh snow, and Gray
WOLF circled around him anxlously,
and tried to lure him deeper into the
forest. At last he followed her sui
Ienly. There was a savage redness in
his eyes.
Three days later the new moon
came. And on the fifth night Kazan
struck a trail 1t was fresh - so fresh
that he stopped as suddenly as though
struck by bullet when he ran upon