Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-07
u.,.prrn v11-tcont:nuedl

ruApTER V1I-tCont,nued)
,rppn l2ADtsSON lay on his balsam
pa win nothing over him now but the
.ry and spruce tops. Kazan stood
r@ ,sayad and shifted the air. His spine
tl,i.S whom loan went back slowly and
plls,eS beside the blanket-wrappcd OBJ
~. when she returned to him her race
~. ,,b,te and tense, and now there was n
I.sarso and terrible look I'm her eyes as
- stared out across the barren She
s., Mn, in the traces and fastened about
pv. ~" ,an5or waist the strap that Pierre
4 Ma used Thus they struch out lor tne
.a,'.- laundering knee-deep in the fresh
y taiian and drifted snow. Halfway Joan
...nnhied In drift and fell, her loose
ssIr eving in a shimmering veil over the
snow with a mighty pull kazan was at
her side. and his cold muz2le touched her
fsco az she drew herself to her feet. For
A moment Joan TOOK ms shassS he"u
betyoe her two hands
pho went on, her breath coming pant
,rglv now. even from her brief eNerton.
m, snow was not so deep on the ice oil
,he river. But wind was rising 1t came
sron the north and east, straight in her
,aee and Joan bowed her head as she
pulled with Kazan. Half mile down
,he river she stopped and no longer could
rpDrpSS W
K her llps in a sobbing, choking cry. Forty
miles!
she clutched her hands at her breast
and stood breathing like one who had
heen beaten. her back to the wind. The
baby was quiet Joan went back and
peered down under the furs, and what she
saw there spurred her on again almost
fercely Twice she stumbled to her
knees in the drifts during the next quarter
Of a mile.
After that there was a stretch of wind
swept ice, and Kazan pulled the sledge
alone Joan walked at his side. There
was pain in her chest. a thousand
needles seemed pricking her face, and
suddenly she remembered the thcrmom-
eter She exposed 1t for a time on the
TOP Of the tent When she looked at 1t
few minutes later 1t was 30 degrees below
zero. Forty miles! And her father had
told her that she could make it-and could
not lose herself But she did not know
that even her father would have been
afraid TO face the north that day, with
the temperature at 30 below, and a
moaning wind bringing the first warning
Of q blizzard.
The timber was far behind her now.
Ahead there was nothing but the pitiless
barren, and the timber beyond that was
hidden by the gray gloom of the day. If
there had been trees, Joan's heart would
not have choked so with terror. But
there was nothing-nothins but that gray
ghosty gloom, with the rim of the sky
touching the earth a mile away.
The snow grew heavy under her feet
again. Always she was watching for
those treacherous frost-coated traps In
the ice her father had spoken of. But she
found now that all the ice and snow
looked alike to her, and that there was
growing pain back of her eyes. 1t was
the intense cold.
The river widened into small lake, and
here the wind struck her in the face
with such force that her weight was
taken from the strap, and Kazan dragged
the sedge alone. a few inches of snow
impeded her as much as foot had done
before. Little by little she dropped back.
kazan forged to her side, every ounce
OF his magnificent strength in the traces.
Hy the time they were on the river chan
mel again. Joan was at the back of the
Aedge following In the trail made by
kazan. She was powerless to help him.
one felt more and more the leaden weight
81 her legs. There was but one hope
ana that was the forest. If they did not
reach It soon, within half an hour. she
would be able to go no farther.
over and over again she moaned
PRAYER Tor her baby as she struggled on.
enc fell In the snowdrifts. KaZan and
.ne sledge becams only dark blotch to
ner' And then. all at once, she saw that
'hey were leaving her They were not
more than 20 feet ahead of her-but the
nioteh seemed TO be vast distance away.
livery Dit Of llf and strength I'm her
pouy was now bent upon reaching the
sledge-and baby Joan.
y seemed an interminable time before
INC gained With the sledge only six
isel anead OF her she struggled for what
SEEMED 10 her to be an hour before she
eouiu reach out and touch t.. With a
uloAn she flung herself forward and fell
spoh Il. She no longer heard the wall
ns OF the storm. She no longer felt
s.ssomIort. With her face In the furs
ulluef which baby Joan was buried, there
sAme @ 10 her with swiftness and joy a
s.lon OF warmth and home And then
h sns vision faded away. and was followed
py deep night
hszah stopped in the trail He came
sSA s1SA then and sat down upon his
nsunenes beside her waiting for her to
~ ssS's ana speak. But she was very still.
.ie tnrust his nose into her loose hair
a whine rose in his throat, and suddenly
- raised his head and shifted in the
~ oI the wind Something came to him
r..A mat wind He muzzled Joan again,
- she dld not stir. Then he went for
'us and stood in his traces, ready for
~ ~ pun and looked bs-ck at her. Still
~ - hot move or speak, ana kdzan's 5
MS Tl gave place to a sharp. excited bark.
"a s strange thing in the wind came
- MN stronger for a moment. He be-
49, 70 pull. The sledge-runners had
s.y@en a,,s 70 the snow, and It took every
s,,s, 49, OF MS strength to free them. Twice
sea me next five minutes he stopped
- ~ smiled the air. The third time that
~ nailed In a drift of snow. he re-
- se'nso 10 Joan's side again, nd whined
- SNaAen her. Then he tugged again
- ne end OF his traces, and lOot by foot
- ~ oIassed the sledge through the drift
lssoha slss the drift there was stretch Of
irs ice, and here Kazan rested. Dur
NJ lul In the wind the scent came to
stronger than before.
lne end Of the clear ice was a
- preak in the shore. where a creek
n .l.o the main stream.
hss seah had been conscious she would
~ 80 urged him straight ahead. But Ka-
-. -. 'eIhea sea into the break, and for 10 min
y, - As struggled through the snow with
ss.s- = fssti whining more and more fire.
Is-Snus until at last the whine broke
y 1oyeas bark Ahead of him. close
,Hs creek, was a small cabin Smoke
- LAsing out OF the chimney II was
- sesnt Of smoke that had come to
~ "a The wind. A hard level slope
- st''eo % the cabin door and with the
~ Strength that was IN him Kazan
= ~ pls burden up that Then he set
hs1assn back 5eside Joan, lifted MS