Bonners Ferry herald. [volume] (Bonners Ferry, Idaho) 1904-current, 1917-11-27
CHAPTER V-Continued.

For the first time in his life Kazan
felt the terror and the pain of the
death-grip, and with a mighty effort he
flung his head a little forward and
snapped blindly. His powerful Jaws
closed on the VOLTS foreleg, close to
the body. There was a cracking Of
bone and a crunching of flesh, and the
circle of waiting wolves grew tense and
alert. One or the other Of the fighters
was sure to 60 down before the holds
were broken, and they but awaited
that fatal fall as q signal to leap In
to the death.
Only the thickness of hair and hide
on the back of Kazan's neck, and the
ltoughness of his muscles, saved him
from that terrible fate of the van
lQuished. The VOLTS teeth sank deep,
but not deep enough to reach the vital
spot, and suddenly Kazan put every
ounce of strength In his limbs to the
effort, and flung himself up bodily from
under his antagonist. The grip on his
neck relaxed, and with another rearing
leap he tore himself free.
AS swift as a whip-lash he whirled
on the broken-legged leader of the pack
and with the full rush and weight of
his shoulders struck him fairly in the
side. More deadly than the throat-grip
had Kazan sometimes found the lunge
when delivered at the right moment. 1t
was deadly now. The big gray wolf
lost his feet, rolled upon his back for
an instant, and the pack rushed In,
eager to rend the last of life from the
leader whose power had ceased to
exist.
From out Of that gray, snarling,
bloody-lipped mass, Kazan drew back,
painting and bleeding. He was weak.
There was a curious sickness In his
head. He wanted to lie down in the
snow. But the old and infallible in
stinct warned him not to betray that
weakness. From out of the pack slim,
1.-THE. gray she-wolf came up to him,
and lay down in the snow before him,
and then rose swiftly and shifted at his
wounds.
She was young and strong and beau
tiful, but Kazan did not look at her.
Where the fight had been he was look
ang, at what little remained of the old
leader. The pack had returned to the
feast. He heard again the cracking of
bones and the rendlng of flesh, and
Bomething told him that thereafter all
the wilderness would hear and recog-
nize his voice. and that when he sat
back on his launches and called to the
moon and the stars, those swift-footed
of ha y 1lotx
TO II. He circled twice about the carl
bou and the pack. and then trotted of
20 the edge Of the black spruce forest.
When he reached the shadows he
looked back. Gray Wolf was following
him. She was only few yards be-
hind. And now she came up to him, a
little timidly. and she, too, looked back
to the dark blotch of life out on the
lake. And as she stood there close be-
side him, Kazan shifted at something
In the air that was not the scent of
blood, nor the perfume of the balsam
and spruce. 1t was thing that seemed
TO come to him from the clear stars
the cloudless moon, the strange and
beautiful quiet Of the night itself. And
its presence seemed to be a part OF
Gray Wolf.
He looked at her, and he found Gray
Wolf's eyes alert and questioning. She
was young-so young that she seemed
scarcely to have passed out of puppy.
hood Her body was strong and slim
and beautifully shaped. In the moon
light the hair under her throat and
along her back shone sleek and soft
She whined at the red staring light In
Kazan's eyes. and II was not puppy's
whimper. Kazan moved toward her
and stood with his head over her back
facing the pack. He felt her trembling
against his chest. He looked at the
moon and the stars again, the mystery
of Gray Wolf and Of the night throb
bing IN his blood.
Not much of his life had been spen
at the posts. Most of it had been OF
the trail in the traces - and tn,
spirit of the mating season had onl,
stirred him from afar. But 1t was yer,
near now. Gray Wolf lifted her head
Her soft muzzle touched the wound OF
his neck, and In the gentleness Of tina
touch, In the low sound In her throat
Kazan felt and heard again that won
derful something that had come witt
the caress of the woman's hand an,
the sound of her voice.
He turned, whining, his back bris
Ting. his head high and defiant OF tn
Wilderness which he faced. Gray VOL