Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1918-01-18

lees race, put he swung his weapon
and leaped forward. The ak bit deep
" at the base of the spine, and Percy
Cuthfert felt all consciousness Of his
lower limbs leave him. Then the clerk
fell heavily upon him, clutching him
by the throat with feeble fingers. The
sharp bite of the ak had caused Cuth-
fert to drop the pistol, and as his
lungs painted for release he fumbled
aimlessly for it among the blankets.
Then he remembered He slid hand
up the clerks belt to the sheath knife.
and they drew very close to each other
in that last clinch.
Percy Cuthfert felt his strength leave
him. The lower portion of his body
| was useless. The inert weight Of
Weatherbee crushed him-crushed him
and pinned him there like bear under
| a trap. The cabin became filed with
a familiar odor, and he knew the bread
to be burning. Yet what did it mat
| ter? He would never need it. And
| there were all of six cupfuls Of sugar!
in the cache. If he had foreseen this
he would not have been so saving the
last several days. Would the wind
! vane ever move? 1t might even be
| veering now. Why not? Had he not
! seen the sun today? He would go and
! see. No; it was impossible to move.
He had not thought the clerk so heavy
a man.
How quickly the cabin cooled! Tho
| fire must be out. The cold was fore
ing in. It must be below zero al
ready, and the ice creeping up the in.
| side Of the door. He could not see it,
| but his past experience enabled him
to gauge it's progress by the cabins
| temperature. The lower hinge must
be white ere now. Would the tale Of
this ever reach the world? How
would his friends take it? They would
read it over their coffee, most likely,
and talk it over at the clubs. He could
see them very clearly. "Poor old Cuth-
fertw they murmured. "NOt such a
bad sort Of chap, after ALL" He
smiled at their eulogies and passed on
in search of Turkish bath. 1t was
the same old crowd upon the streets.
Strange they did not notice his moose
| hide moccasins and tattered German
socks! He would take a cab. And
after the bath a shave would not be-
bad. No; he would eat first. Steak and
potatoes and green things-how fresh
| it all was! And what was that2
| Squares Of honey, streaming liquid am
| Der! But why did they bring SO much?
Ha, ha! He could never eat it ALL
| Shine? Why, certainly. He put his
! foot on the box. The bootblack looked
curiously up at him, and he remem-
bered his moose hide moccasfns and
, went away hastily.
| Harl! The wind vane must be sure
| ~ spinning. No; mere singing in his
ears; that was ala mere singing.
! The ice must have passed theClatch by
| now. More likely the upper hinge was
covered. Between the moss chinked
roof poles little points of frost began
| to appear. How slowly they grewt
! No, not so slowly. There was a new
| one, and there another-two-three
| four-they were coming too fast to-
count. There were two growing to,
gether, and there-a third had joined
them. Why, there were no more spots!
They had run together and formed
| sheet.
! Well, he would have company. If
| Gabriel ever broke the silence Of the
north they would stand together, hand
in hand, before the great white throne.
And God would Judge them, God would
! Judge them!
Then Percy Cuthfert closed his eyes
and dropped off to sleep.