Gilpin observer. (Central City, Colo.) 1897-1921, 1918-01-31
James
Oliver
CurWOO1
wright by the Bobbs-Merrill Compar
CHAPTER Ix-continued.
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to move and speak. But she was very
still. He thrust his nose into her loose
hair. A whine rose in his throat, and
suddenly he raised his head and
shifted in the face of the wind. Some
thing came to him with that wind. He
muzzled Joan again, but she did not
stir. Then he went forward, and stood
IN his traces, ready for the pull, and
looked back at her. Still she did not
move or speak, and Kazan's whine
gave place to q sharp, excited bark.
The strange thing in the wind came
to him stronger for moment. He
began to pull. The sledge runners
had frozen to the snow, and it took
every ounce Of his strength to free
them. Twice during the next five min
utes he stopped and shifted tho air.
The third time that he halted, In
drift Of snow, he returned to Joan's
side again, and whined to awaken her.
Then he tugged again at the end of
his traces, and foot by foot he dragged
the sledge through the drift. Beyond
the drift theirs was a stretch of clear
Ice, and bore Kazan rested. During a
lull in tbs wind the scent came to him
stronger than before.
At tie end Of the clear ice was q
nGr-ow break in the shore, where
creek ran into the main stream. If
Joan had been conscious she would
have urged him straight ahead. But
Kazan turned into the break, and for
ten minutes he struggled through the
snow without a rest, whining more
and more frequently, until ut last the
whine broke into joyous bark. Ahead
Of him, close to the creek, was small
cabin. Smoke was rising out of the
chimney. 1t was the scent of smoke
that had come to him in the wind. A
hard, level slope reached to the cabin
door, and with the last strength that
was in him, Kazan dragged his bur-
den up that. Then he settled himself
back beside Joan, lifted his shaggy
bead to the dark sky and hQTled.
A moment later the door opened. A
man came out. Kazan's Redeemed,
snow-shot eyes followed him watch
fully as he ran to the sledge. He
heard his startled exclamation as he
bent over Joan. In another lull Of the
wind there came from out of the mass
Of furs on the sledge the wailing, half
smothered voice Of baby Joan.
A deep sigh of relief heaved up from
kaZan's chest. He was exhausted.
His strength was gone. His feet were
torn and bleeding. But the voice of
baby Joan filled him with strange
happiness, and he lay down in his
traces, while the man carried Joan and
the baby into the life and warmth of
the cabin.
A few minutes later the man reap
peared. He was not old, like Pierre
Radisson. He came close to Kazan,
and looked down ut him.
my God" he said. "And you did
that-alone"
He bent down fearlessly, unfastened
him from the traces, and led him
toward the cabin door. Kazan hest
tated but once-almost on the thresh-
old. He turned his head, swift and
alert. From out of the moaning and
wailing Of the storm 1t seemed to him
that for moment he had heard the
voice of Gray Wolf.
Then the cabin door closed behind
him.
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