The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1917-07-19

In time, and as Kazan reached the end
Of his chain he was jerked back so
hat his body struck sidewise against
the girl. Thorpe had turned In time
TO see the end OF the leap. He be-
Iieved that Kazan had sprung at $50
bel, and In his horror no word or cry
escaped his lips as he dragged her
from where she had half fallen over
the sledge. He saw that she was not
hurt, and he reached for his revolver.
II was In his holster In the tent. At
MS feet was McCready's whip, and in
the passion Of the moment he seized IL
and sprang upon KhZan. The dog
crouched In the snow. He made no
move to escape or to attack. Only once
In his life could he remember having
received a beating like that which
Thorpe inflicted upon him now. But
not n whimper or a growl escaped him.
And then, suddenly. his mistress ran
forward and caught the whip poised
above Thorpe's head.
"Not another blow 2" she cried, and
something In her voice held him from
striking. McCready did not hear what
she said then, but II strange look came
into ThOrpe's eyes, and without a word
he followed his wife into their tent.
"kaZan did not leap at me-" she
whispered, and she was trembling with
a sudden excitement. Her face was
deathly white. THAT man was be-
hind me-" she went on, clutching her
husband by the arm. Il felt him touch
me-and then Kazan sprang. He
wouldn't bite me. It's the man!
There's something-wrong-'
She was almost sobbing, and Thorpe
drew her close in his arms.
g" hadn't thought before-but it's
strange" he said. Didn't McCready
say something about knowing the dog?
It's possible. Perhaps he's had kazan
before and abused him in Il way that
the dog has not forgotten. Tomorrow
I'll find out. But until | know-will
you promise to keep away from ka-
zan?"
Isobel gave the promise. When they
came out from the tent KnZan lifted
his great head. The singing lash had
closed ONE of his eyes and his mouth
was dripping blood. IsobcI gave n low
sob, but did not go neal him. Half
blinded. he knew that his mistress had
stopped his punishment, and he whined
softly, and wagGed his thick tail in the
snow.
Nn,.N, l,,: h. c.It GO ,,;.,ravln nc
through the long hard hours of the day
that followed. when he broke the trail
for his teammates into the North. one
of his eyes was closed and filled with
singing fire, and his body was sore
from the blows of the caribou lash.
But 1t was not physical pain that gave
the sullen droop to his head and robbed
his body of that keen quick alertness
OF the l~ead-dog-the commander of his
mates. 1t was his spirit. For the first
time In his life, It was broken. Nc
Cready had beaten him-long ago; his
master had beaten him and during all
this day their voices were fierce and
vengeful in his ears. But it was his
mistress who hurt him most. She held
aloof from him, always beyond the
reach Of his leash; and when they
stopped TO rest, and again In camp, she
looked at him with strange and
dering eyes, and did not speak. She,
too. was ready to beat him. He believed
that, and that night he lurked in one
Of the deepest shadows about the camp
fire and grieved alone. None knew that
IT was ~grlef-unless 1t was the girl.
She did not move toward him. She
did not speak to him. But she watched
him c~lOsely-and studied him hardest
when he was looking at McCready.
Later, after Thorpe and his wife
had gone into their tent, 1t began to
snow, and the effect Of the snow upon
McCready puzzled Kazan. The man
was restless, and he drank frequently
from the flask that he had used the
night before. In the freight his face
grew redder and redder, and Kazan
could see the strange CLEAN OF his
teeth as he gaZed ut the tent in which
his mistress was sleeping. Again and
again he went close to that tent, and
listened. Twice he heard movement.
The last time, 1t was the sound Of
Thorpe's deep breathing. McCready
hurried back to the fire and turned his
face straight up to the sky. The 10Y
was falling so thickly that when he
lowered his face he blinked and wiped
his eyes. Then he went into the gloom
and bent low over the trail they had
made a few hours before. 1t was al
most obliterated by the falling snow.
Another hour and there would be no
trail-nothing the next day to tell who
ever might pass that they had come
this way. BY morning 1t would cover
everything, even the fire, If he allowed
1t to die down. McCready drank again.
out In the darkness. Low words of an
insane Joy burst from his lips. His
head was hot with a drunken fire. His
heart beat madly, but scarcely more
furiously than did Kazan's when the
dog saw that McCready was returning
with a club! The club he placed on