The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-12-09

him softly. "'rhe wolves lnve JUS,
Joined together for the fall ruttlng"
"Then this means the end of the
summer?" Dan asked.
''In way. but yet we don't count
the summer ended until the rains
break. Heavens wish they would
start I've never seen the hills 50
dry, and I'm afraid that either Bert
Cranston or some of his friends viii
decide it's time to make little mon
ey fighting forest fires Dan I'm s.s-
picious Of that gang. believe they've
got regular arson ring. maybe with
INSCRIPTIONS stockmen behind them.
and perhaps just a penny-winiing deal
of their own. suppose you know
about Landy. Hildreth-how he's prom
Ised to turn states evidence thai viii
send about dozen of these vipers to
the penitentiary
"Snowbird told me something ahout
it,"
Hes got cabin over toward the
marshes. and IT has come to me that
he's going TO start tomorrow. or maybe
has already started today. down into
the valley to give his evidence. OF
course, that is deeply confidential he
tween you and me- If the gang knew
about 1t. he'd never get through the
thickets alive"
But Dan was hardly listening. His
attention was caught by the hushed,
Intermittent sounds that are always to
- n-l fgctn
in the wilderness at eight. "I wish
the pack would sound again." he said.
~ suppose 1t was hunting"
"Of course And there is no living
thing in these woods that can stand
against wolf pack in its full
strength
Except man. of course"
"a strong man, with an accurate
rifle. of course. and except possibly
in the starving times in winter he'd
never have TO fight them. All the
beasts of prey are out tonight. You,
see, Dan. when the moon shines. the
deer feed at night instead of in the
twilights and the dawn. And OF
course the wolves and the cougars
hunt the deer. 1t may he that they
are running cattle. or even sheep"
But Dams Imagination was afire.
He wasn't content yet. "Thev couldn't
be-huntng MANI" he asked.
mo II II was midwinter and the
pack wns starving. we'd have TO lis
ten better 1t always looked to me as
If the wild creatures had n law
against killing men. just ms humans
have. They've learned 1t doesn't I;'tv
something the wolves and bears Of
Europe and Asia haven't found our.
The naturulists say that the reason is
rather smple-that the European
peasant his soul scared out of him by
the government he lived under. has
always fed from wild beasts. They
were tillers of the soil. and they car
ried hoes instead of guns. They never
put the fear of God into the animals
and as a result there are quite num-
her of true stories about tigers and
wolves that aren't pleasant to listen
TO. But our own frOntiersmen were
not men to stand any nonsense from
wolves or cougars. They had guns.
HDu IneN kDtW HOW W use tuCnf. ANU
they were preceded by as brave and
as warlIke race as ever lived on the
earth-armed with hows and arrows.
ANY animal that hunted men was i'm
mediateiy killed. and the rest found
out n didn't pay. .-'sf ''r'l-f
-"Just as human beings have found
out the same thing-that 1t doesn't
pay to hunt their fellow men. The
laws Of life as well as the laws Of ma
tions are against It." ~ ..7'
But the words sounded weak and
dim under the weight ofrthe throbbing
darkness: and Dan couldn't get away
from the idea that the codes of life by
which most men lived were forgotten
quickly in the shadows Of the pines.
Even as he spoke. man was hunting
man on the distant ridge where whis-
perfoot the cougar had howled.
s''s -
Bert Cranston. head Of the arson
ring that operated on the Umpqua di.
vide. was not only beyond the pale In
regard to the lawA Of the he'valleys. but
he could have learned valuable lessons
from the beasts in regard to keeping
the laws Of the hills. The moon looked
down to nnd him waiting on q certain
trail that wound down to the settle
ments. his rife loaded and ready for
another kind Of game than deer or
wolf. he was waiting for Landy Hi.
dreth; and the greeting he had for
him was to destroy all chances Of the
prosecuting attorney in The valley be-
low learning certain names that he
particularly wanted to know.
There was no breath of wind. The
great pines. tall and dark past belief.
stood absolutely motionless, like
strange pillars of ebony. Bert Gran
ston knelt in brush covert. his rifle
loaded and ready in his lean. dark