The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-08-14
CHAPTER *.

Ny rest was miserable. In 4 success
sion Of brief dreams I ned with JacQue-
line over a wilderness Of Ice, while In
the distance. ever drawing nearer. fol-
lowed Leroux. Lacroix and Pere An
tome.
must have fallen sound asleep at
last. for when I opened my eyes the
sun was shining brightly low down
over the Riviere dor. The door Of
the tent stood open and Jacqueline
was not inside.
With the remembrance Of my dream
still confusing reality ran toward the
trees, shouting for her In fear.
"JacQueline! JacQuelinsi" called.
She was coming toward me. She
took me BY the arm. "Paulr she be-
gan with quivering lips. "Pauli"
She led me into the recesses Of the
pines. There. in Q little open place.
clustered together upon the ground,
were the bodies Of our dogs. All were
dead.
Jacqueline sank down upon the
ground and sobbed rs though her heart
would break. stood there watching.
my brain paralyxsd BY the shock Of
the discovery.
Then I went baek to the slsigh. on
the rear o. which the frozen 6sh was
piled. I noticed that It had faint
slightly aromatic odof. aung the
hard masses aside and scooped up .
powdesy substance With my hands.
Mycolosy had been . hobby q
mine. and It was easy to recognize
what that substance was.
It was the amanita. the dsadliest
and most widely distributed Of The
fungi. and the direst of IN vegetable
poisons to man and beast alike. The
alkaloid which II contains takes s0sce
only some hours after its ingsstion.
when 1t has entered the blood streams
and begun its disintsgrating action
upon the red eorpusclss. The dogs
must have partakea Of 1t On the pre-
ceding afternoon.
knew this was Lsroux's work. He
had tricked me again. was mad With
anger. meant to XIII the man now.
and without mercy. I would be - I'M
scrupulous a. he. He would be In this
place BY the afternoon: would wait
for him outside the trail. Ny pistols
JacQusline was looking up into my
face In terror. The sight Of her re-
called me to my senses. Lsroux after
ward-nrst my duty to heFi
paul! What u the matter. Paulf'
she cried. II never saw you look like
that before"
I Gained myself and led her away.
and presently We were standing before
the fire again.
"Jacqueline," I said. "it il easter 10
20 ON than to turn back now"
She watched me like 4 lip reader.
Eyes, Paul: let NJ 90 on" she an.
swered.
was to be very different now. There
was no possibility Of taking much bag
gage with us. We took a few things
out Of our suitcases and disposed them
about us as best we could.
We must have covered at least Q
dozen miles or more, when we stopped
for brief midday meal was a little
fatigued from carrying the pack and
my ankles ached from the snowshoes !;
Uut JdC4uCuACs WIN ndO CVIOCully DCCu
accustomed to their use. was as fresh
as when she started.
Suddenly we emerged from among
the trees upon an almost barren pla-
teau, and there again we halted for q
breathing spell.
resolved to take my bearings accu-
rately. and telling Jacqueline to wait
for mo n few minutes nt the base of a
hill and setting down my pack. began
the ascent alone. The climb was
longer than I had anticipated. Ny
eyes were aching from the glare Of the
snow. I had left my colored glasses
behind me in the tent and gone on,
saying nothing. though had realized
my loss when I was only Q mile or 20
away.