The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1917-08-02

Leader Of the Pack.

$3.50 f1~t '@N 'N
preached II. This was fortunate fol
him. He still bore the scent Of traces
and of man. The pack would have tori
him 10 pieces. The first instinct OF the
wild lis that OF self-preservation. II
may have been this. a whisper back
through the years Of savage forebears.
that made Kazan roll in the snow now
and then where the feet Of the pack
had trod the thickest.
That night the pack killed a caribou
on the edge Of the lake, and Toasted
until nearly dawn. kazan hung in the
face OF the wind. The smell Of blood
and OF warm flesh tlckled his nostrils,
and his sharp ears could catch the
cracking Of bones. But the instinct
was stronger than the temptation.
Not until broad day, when the pack
had scattered far and wide over the
plain, did he go boldly TO the scene Of
the kill. He found nothing but an area
Of blood-reddened snow, covered with
bones, entrails and torn bits Of tough
hide. But ii was enough, and he rolled
In Ii, and buried his nose in what was
left, and remained all that day close 10
1t, saturating himself with the scent
Of II.
That night, when the moor and the
stars came out again, he sat back with
fear and hesitation no longer in him,
and announced himself to his new COM
rades of the great plain.
The pack hunted again hat night, or
else IL vas a new pack that started
miles TO the south, and came up with a
doe caribou to the big frozen lake. The
night was almost as clear as day, and
from the edge of the forest Kazan first
saw the caribou run out on the lake u
third of "A mile away The pack was
about a dozen strong, and had already
split into the fatal horseshoe fOrma-
ton. the two leaders running almost
abreast Of the kill, and slowly closing
In.
With a sharp yelp Kazan darted out
into the moonlight. He was directly in
the path of the fleeing doe, and bore
down upon her with lightning speed.
Two hundred yards away the doe saw
him, and swerved to the right, and the
leader on that side met her with open
jaws. KaZan was in with the second
leader, and leaped at the does soft
throat. In a snarling mass the pack
closed In from behind, and the doe
went down, with Kazan half under her
body, his fangs sunk deep in her jugu-
lar. She lay heavily on him, but he did
not lose his hold. 1t was his first big
kill. His blood ran like fire. He
snaried between his clamped teeth.
Not until the last culver had left
out from under her chest and forelegs.
He had killed a rabbit that day and
was not hungry. So he sat back in the
NOV and waited, while the
pack tore at the dead doe. After q lit.
tie he came nearer, nosed In between
two of them, and was nipped for his in
trusion.
AS Kazan drew back, still hesitating
to mix with his wild brothers, a big
gray form leaped out of the. pack and
drove straight for his throat. He had
just time to throw his shoulder to the
attack, and for a moment the two
rolled over and over In the snow. They
were up before the excitement Of sud
den battle had drawn the pack from
he feast. Slowly they circled about
each other, their white fangs bare,
their yellowish backs bristling like
brushes. The fatal ring of wolves
drew about the fighters.
1t was not new to Kazan. A dozen
times he had sat In rings like this,
waiting for the ina moment More
n once he had fought for his life
within the circle. 1t was the sledge-
dog way OF fighting. Unless man inter
rupted with a club or a whip 1t always
ended In death. Only one fighter could
come out alive. Sometimes both died.
And there was no man here-only that
fatal Gordon Of waiting white-fanged
demons, ready to leap upon and tear
to pieces the first of the fighters who
was thrown upon his side or back. Ka-
Fan was a stranger, but he did not fear
those that hemmed him In. The one
great law of the pack would compel
them to be fair.
He kept his eyes only on the big gray
leader who had challenged him. Shout
der to shoulder they continued to
circle. Where a few moments before
there had been the swapping of jaws
and the rending Of flesh there was now
silence. Soft-footed and soft-throated
mongrel dogs from the south would
have snarled and growled, but Kazan
and the wolf were still. their ears laid
forward instead of back, their tails
free and bushy.
Suddenly the wolf struck In with the
swiftness Of lightning, and his jaws
came together with the sharpness Of
steel striking steel. They missed by
an inch. In that same instant Kazan
darted In to the side, and like knives
his teeth gashed the VOLTS flank.
They circled again, their eyes grow
Ing redder, their lips drawn back until
they seemed to have disappeared. And
then Kazan leaped for that death-grip