Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-11
KA IAN

French and English until he was purple
in the face.
The lynx had been torn until It's pelt
was practically worthless.
Weyman saw where the smaller wolf
had waited on its launches, while its
companion had killed the lynx. He did
not tell Henri all he thought. But the
days that followed convinced him more
and more that he had found the most
dramatic eXemplfcaton OF his theory
Back Of this mysterious tragedy of the
trap-line there was n reason.
Why did tho two wolves not destroy
the hsher-cat, the ermne and the
marten? Why was their feud with the
lynx alone?
Weyman was strangely thrilled. He
was a lover OF wild things, and for that
reason he never carried a gun. And when
he saw Henri placing poison baits for the
two marauders, he shuddcred, and when,
day after day, he saw that these poison
bats were untouched, he rejoiced Some
thing In his own nature went out in
sympathy to the heroic outlaw of the
trap line who never failed to give battle
to the lynx. Nights in the cabin he wrote
down his thoughts and discoveries of the
day One night he turned suddenly on
Henri
Henri, doesn't It ever make you sorry
to kill so many wild thlngs?" he asked.
Henri stared and shook his head.
81 XIII tousand an tousand," he said.
IT kill tousand more"
And there are 10000 others just like
you in this northern quarter of the con-
tinent-all killing, killing for hundreds of
years back, and yet you cant Kill out
wild life. The war of Man and the Beast,
you might call It, And, IL you could re-
turn 800 years from now, Henri, you'd
still find wild life here. Nearly all the
rest of the world is changing, but you
can't change these almost impcnetrable
thousands of square miles of ridges and
swamps and forests. The railroads won't
come here, and I, for one, thank God for
that. Take all the great prairies to the
West for instance. Why, the old buffalo
trails are still there, plain as day-and
yet, towns and cities are growing up
everywhere. Did you ever hear of North
Battleford?"
"Is she near Montreal or Quebec?"
Henri asked
Weyman smiled. and drew a photo
graph from his pocket. It was the picture
of girl.
mo. It's far to the west, in saskatche-
wan. Seven years ago | used to go up
there every year to shoot prairie chickens,
coyotes and elk. There wasn't any North
Bnttlcford thcn-iust the glorious prairie,
hundreds and hundreds of square miles
of II. There was n single shack on the
Saskatchewan River where North Bat
tleford now stands. and | used to stay
girl 12 years old. We used to go out
hunting together-for 1 used to kill things
in those days And the little girl would
cry sometimes when / killed and I'd laugh
at her.
Then a railroad came. and then an
other, and they Joined near the shack,
and all at once a town sprang up. Seven
years ago there was only the shack there,
Henri. Two years ago there were 1900
people. This year, when | came through
there were 5000 and two years from now
thercll be 10000.
ION the ground where that shack stood
are three banks. with a capital of $4,000
600: you can see the glow of the electric
lights of the city 20 miles away. 1t has
a 100000 college, a high school, the pro-
vincial asylum, fire department, two
clubs. board of trade. and it's going
to have a street car line within two years.
Think of that-all where the coyotes howl
ed n few years ago
People are coming in so fast that they
can't keep census Five years from now
therell be n city of 10000 where the old
shack stood. And the little girl in that
shack, Henri-shes young lady now, and
her people are-wel, rich. | don't care
about that. The chief thing is that she
Is going to marry me in the spring. Be-
cause of her / stopped killing things
when she was only l6. The last thing 1
killed was n prairie wolf and 1t had
young. Eileen kept the little puppy. She's
got it now-tamed. That's why, above all
other wild things. l love tho wolves. And
| hope these two leave your trap-lne
safe"
Henri was staring at him. Weyman
gave him the picture. 1t was of sweet