The Parma herald. (Parma, Idaho) 1903-1917, 1917-08-16
CHAPTER V-continued.

5
For the first time in his life KaZal
felt the terror and the pain Of tn
death-grip, and with a mighty effort h
flung his head a little forward ant
snapped blindly. His powerful jaw
closed on the VOLTS foreIeg. close t,
the body. There was a cracking o
bone and a crunching of flesh, and tho
circle Of waiting wolves grew tense anC
alert. One or the other of the fighters
was sure to 20 down before the hold,
were broken, and they but awaited
that fatal fall as a signal to leap il
TO the death.
Only the thickness of hair and hide
on the back Of Kazan's neck, and the
toughness of his muscles. saved him
| from that terrible fate of the van
pushed. 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-Iash he whirIed
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-grtp
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 a 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
She was young and strong and beau
tiful, but Kazan did not look at her. !
Where the fight had been he was look |
ing, at what little remained of the old /
leader. The pack had returned to the /
feast. He heard again the cracking of |
Bones and the rending of flesh, and |
something told him that thereafter all 4
he wilderness would hear and recog-
lize his voice, and that when he sat
)ack on his launches and called to the
noon and the stars, those swift-footed
hunters of the big plain would respond
o it. He circled twice about the carl
,ou and the pack, and then trotted off
o the edge of the black spruce forest.
When he reached the shadows he
ooked back. Gray Wolf was following
i'm. She was only a few yards be-
ind. And now she came up to him, !
title timidly, and she. too, looked back '
0 the dark blOtch of life out on the {
Ike. And as she stood there close be
ide him, Kazan shifted at something {
l the air that was not the scent of |
loOd, nor the perfume of the balsam s
LIZ SPA GNO. IL " as q IAAAAAes mat SCCL4Gh 1
, come to him from the clear stars, Q
lie cloudless moon, the strange and s
eautiful quiet of the night itself. And t
S presence seemed TO be a part of 2
ray Wolf. v
He looked at her, and he found Gray a
offs eyes alert and questioning. She r
as young-so young that she seemed Il
arcely to have passed out of puppy a
,od. Her body was strong and slim s
Id beautifully shaped. In the moon II
ght the hair under her throat and s.
Ong her back Shone sleek and soft. a
lie whined at the red staring light in o.
lzan's eyes, and it was not a puppy's
limper. Kazan moved toward her Al
ID stood with his head over her back. cl
cling the pack. He felt her trembling k
ainSt his chest. He looked at the G
ION and the stars again. the mystery oN
Gray Wolf and Of the night throb- tn
lg in his blood
Not much Of his life had been spent IL
the posts. Most of it had been on IN
, trail in the traces - and the te
rit of the mating season had only IN
rred him from afar. But it was very III
IT now. Gray Wolf lifted her head 81
r soft muzzle touched the wound on VW
neck. and in the gentleneSS Of that III
ich, in the low sound in her throat. III
ian felt and heard again that won clt
full something that had come with Tie
caress of the wOman's hand and Sa
sound of her voice.
lie turned. whining. his back briS- An
e. his head high and defiant of the ira
lerness which he faced. Gray Wolf ste
tied close at his side as they en- by
ed into the gloom of the forest. stO
uul