Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1918-01-25

the sledge, the dogs feet and the snow
shoe prints Of his enemy.
Then he threw up his head to the
stars, and from his throat there rolled
out over the wide plains the hunt-cry
the wild and savage call for the
pack. Never had he put the savagery
in II that was there tonight. Again
and again he sent forth that call, and
then there came an answer and an
other and still another. until Gray Wolf
herself sat back on her launches and
added her voice to Kazan's, and far out
on the plain white and haggard-faced
man halted his exhausted dogs to lis
ten, while a voice said family from the
sledge:
1.-The wolves, father. Are they com
ing-after us7"
The man was silent. He was not
young. The moon shone in his long
white beard, and added grotesquely to
the height of his tall gaunt figure. A
girl had raised her head from a bear
skin pillow on the sleigh. Her dark
eyes were filled beautifully with the
starlight. She was pale. Her hair fell
In thick shining braid over her shout
der, and she was hugging something
tightly to her breast.
They're on the trail of something
probably deer" said the man, looking
at the breech of his rifle. Don't worry.
10. Wen stop ut the next bit Of scrub
and see IL we can't find enough dry
stuff for . IRE. Wee-ah-h-h-h, boysi
Koosh- ko0sh-" and he snapped his
whip over the backs Of his team.
From the bundle at the girls breast
there came a small wailing cry. And
far back In the plain there answered 1t
the scattered voice of the pack.
At last Kaxan was on the trail Of
vengeance. He ran slowly at first, with
Gray Wolf close beside him, pausing
every three or four hundred yards to
send forth the cry. A gray leaping form
joined them from behind. Another
followed. Two came In from the side,
and Kazan's solitary howl gave place
to the wild tongue of the pack. Num-
bers grew, and with increasing number
the pace became swifter. Four-six-
seven-ten-f0urteen, by the time the
more open and wind-swept part Of the
plain was reached.
It was a strong pack, filed with old
and fearless hunters. Gray Wolf was
the youngest, and she kept close to Ka-
zan's shoulders. She could see nothing
Of his red-shot eyes and dripping jaws,
and would not have understood II she
had seen. But she could feel and she
was thrilled by the spirit Of that
strange and mysterious savagery that
had made Kazan forget all things but
hurt and death.
The pack made no sound. There
was only the painting Of breath and the
soft fall of many feet. They ran swift
~ and close. And always Kazan was a
leap ahead, with Gray Wolf nosing his
shoulder. When at last he saw a NOV
Ing blOtch far out on the plain ahead Of
him, the cry that came out Of his
throat was one that Gray Wolf did not
understand.
Three hundred yards beyond that
moving blotch was the thin line of tim
her, and Kazan and his followers bore
down swiftly. Hallway to the timber
they were almost upon 1t, and suddenly
1t stopped and became a black and mo-
tionless shadow on the snow. From out
Of 1t there leaped that lightning tongue
Of flame that Kazan had always dread
ed, and he heard the kissing song Of
the death-bee over his head. He did
not mind 1t now. He yelped sharply,
and the wolves raced In until four Of
them were neck-and-neck with him.
A second nash-and the death-bee
drove from breast to tail Of huge
gray fighter close to Gray Wolf. A
third fourth-a nth squirt Of that
fire from the black shadow, and Kaxan
himself felt sudden swift passing of
red-hot thing along his shoulder,
where the mans last bullet shaved on
the hair and stung his flesh.
Three Of the pack had gone down I'M
der the fire of the rifle, and half Of
the others were swinging to the right
and the left. But Kazan drove straight
ahead. Faithfully Gray Wolf followed
him.
The sledge-dogs had been freed from
their traces, and before he could reach
the man, whom he saw with his rife
held like . club In his hands, Kasan
was met by the fighting mass Of them.
He fought ike . hend. and there was
the strength and the flerceness Of two
mates in the mad crashing Of Gray
VOLTS fangs. Kazan wanted to reach
the man who held the rife. and he
freed himself from the fighting mass Of
the dogs and sprang to the sledge. For
the FIRST time he saw that there was
something human on the sledge, and In
an instant he was upon 1t. He buried
his jaws deep. They sank In something
soft and hairy, and he opened them for
another lunge. And then he heard the
voice! It was her voice Every muscle
In his body stood still. He became sud-
denly like flesh turned to lifeless stone.
Her voice; the bear rug was thrown
back and what had been hidden under
1t he saw clearly now In the light Of
the moon and the stars. In him instinct