Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1917-11-23

cred with the electric energy Of life
and action. He Travelled north aud
west. 1t was the call of early days
the days away up on the Mackenzie.
The Mackenzie was a thousand miles
away.
He came upon many trails in the
snow that day, and shifted the scents
and the fur-padded feet of lynx. He
followed a fox, and the trail led him to
a place shut in by tall spruce, where
the snow was beaten down and red
dened with blood. There was an owls
head, feathers, wings and entrails lying
here, and he knew that there were
other hunters abroad besides himself.
Toward evening he came upon tracks
in the snow that were very much like
his own. They were quite fresh, and
there was a warm scent about them
that made him whine, and filled him
again with that desire to fall back up
on his launches and send forth the
wolf-cry. This desire grew stronger
in him as the shadows of night deep
ened in the forest. He had Travelled
all day, but he was not tired. There
was something about night, now that
there were no men near, that exhilarat-
ed him strangely. The wolf blood in
him ran swifter and swifter. Tonight
it was clear. The sky was filed with
stars. The moon rose. And at last
he settled back in the snow and turned
his head straight up to the spruce tops,
and the wolf came out of him in long
mournful cry which quivered through
the still night for miles.
For q long time ne sat and listened
after that howl. He had found voice
a voice with u strange new note in it,
and 1t gave him still greater confidence.
He had expected an answer, but none
came. He had Travelled in the face of
the wind, and as he howled, bull
moose crashed through the scrub tim
Der ahead of him, his horns rafting
against the trees like the tattoo Of a
clear birch club as he put distance be.
tween himself and that cry.
Twice Kazan howled before he went
| Od, anu hC louhu Joy III tIC III uNtlSC vi
that new note. He came then to the
foot Of rough ridge, and turned uI
out Of the swamp to the top Of it. The
stars and the moon were nearer to hin
there, and on the other side Of the
ridge he looked down upon a great
sweeping plain, with frozen lake glis
tening in the moonlight, and white
river leading from it off into timber
that was neither so thick nor so blacl
as that in the swamp.
And then every muscle in his body
grew tense, and his blood leaped. From
far off in the plain there came a cry
It was his cry-the wolf-cry. His jaw:
snapped. His white fangs cleaned
and he growled deep in his throat. HI
wanted to reply, but some strange in
stinct urged him not to. That instinc
of the wild was already becoming mas
ter Of him. In the air, in the whisper
ing Of the spruce tops, in the moon ant
the stars themselves, there breathet
spirit which told him that what h
had heard was the wolf-cry, but that /
was not the wolf CALL
The other came an hour later, clea
and distinct, that same wailing howl a
the beginning-but ending in staccat,
of quick sharp yelps that stirred hi
blood at once into fiery excitemen
that it had never known before. Tn
same instinct told him that this wa
the call-the hunt-cry. 1t urged him t
come quickly. A few moments later
came again, and this time there was
reply from close down along the foo
Of the ridge, and another from SO ia
away that Kazan could scarcely hea
it. The hunt-pack was gathering 70
the night chase; but Kazan sat quite
and trembling.
He was not afraid, but he was nc
ready to go. The ridge seemed to spill
the world for him. Down there it wa
new, and strange. and without mer
From the other side something SCENE
pulling him back, and suddenly h
turned his head and gazed bac
through the moonlit space behind hin
and whined. It was the dog-whine nov
The woman was back there. He coul
hear her voice. He could feel tn
touch of her soft hand. He could sc
the laughter In her face and eyes, tn
laughter that had made him warm an
happy. She was calling to him throug
, the forests, and he was torn betwee
, desire to answer that call, and desir
: to 60 down into the plain. For
could also see many men waiting fo
him with clubs, and he could hear tn
cracking Of whips, and feel the sting Z
| their lashes.
. For long time he remained on tn
: top Of the ridge that divided his worl'
] And then, at last he turned and wer
} down into the plain.
CHAPTER v.
a L.