The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-09-19
CHAPTER TX.
The Fungus and Snow Blindness.


NJ rest was miserable. In a success
sion Of brief dreams l fed with Jacque-
line over a wilderness Of ice, while In
the distance, ever drawing nearer, fol-
lowed LerOux, Lacroix and Pere An
tome.
l must have fallen sound asleep at
last, for when l 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 l ran toward the
trees, shouting for her in fear.
"Jacqueline! Jacqueline |" / called.
She was coming toward me. She
took me by the arm. Paul" she be-
gan with quivering lips. paul !"
She led me into the recesses Of the
pines. There, in a 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 as though her heart
would break. / stood there watching,
my brain paralyzed by the shock Of
the discovery.
Then l went back to the sleigh, on
the rear Of which the frozen fish was
piled. l noticed that 1t had a faint,
slightly aromatic odor. l flung the
hard masses aside and scoOped up q
pOwdery substance with my hands.
Mythology had been q hobby Of
mine, and it was easy to recognize
what that substance was.
1t was the amanita, the deadliest
and most widely distributed Of the
fungi, and the direst of all vegetable
poiSOns to man and beast alike. The
alkalOid which 1t contains takes effect
only some hours after it's ingestion,
when it has entered the blood streams
and begun It's d~isintegrating action
upon the red ~corpuscles. The dogs
must have partaken of It on the pre-
ceding afternoon.
I knew this was Leroux's work. He
had tricked me again. l was mad with
anger. l meant to Kill the man now,
and without mercy. 1 would be as I'M
scrupulous as he. He would be in this
place by the afternoon; I would wait
for him outside the trail. My pistols
J%acqueline was looking up into my
face in terror. The sight Of her re-
called me to my senses. LerOux after
ward-frst my duty to her!
paul! What is the matter, Paul?"
she cried. Il 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, at is easier to
go on than to turn back now"
She watched me like a lip reader.
"Yes, Paul; let US go on" she an
swered.
was to be very different now. There
was no possibility Of taking much bag
gage with US. We took q few things
out Of our suitcases and disposed them
about us as best we could.
We must have covered at least a
uOLcu LulleS VI IuOTe, WHcu we SlOppcu
for a brief midday meal. I was a little
fatigued from carrying the pack and
my ankles ached from the snowshoes;
but Jacqueline, who had evidently been
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 a
breathing spell.
1 resolved to take my bearings accu-
rately, and telling JacQueline to wait
for me q few minutes at the base Of a
hill and setting down my pack, I began
the ascent alone. The climb was
longer than I had anticipated. My
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 / was only a mile or so