The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-12-02


Then Lennox heard II. roo A. the
stood still. the sound became ever
clearer and more pronounced. Some
living creature was advancing to,vnrd
them; and twigs were cracking he
meath its feet. The sounds were rath
er subdued. and yet. as the animal ap-
preached. both of them instinctivery
knew that they were extremely lor,l
for the usual footsteps or any of the
wild creatures
"What lie TT" Dan asked quietly.
Lennox was so Intrigued by the
sounds that he was not even ohserv-
ant of the peculiar, subdued quality
in Dams voice. Otherwise. he would
have wondered at 1t. I'm free to
confess I don't know" he said. ITS
booming right toward us. like most
animals don't care to do. OF course
II may be a human being. You must
watch out FOR that"
They waited. The sound ended.
They stood straining for long mo-
ment without speech.
"That was the dumdest thingw
Lennox went on. "Of course 1t might
have been bear-you never know
what they're going to do. 1t might
have got sight of us and turned Off.
But I can't believe that 1t was just a
deer"
But then his words chopped square
ly Off In his throat. The plodding ad-
vance commenced again. And, the
next instant gray form revealed IT.
self at the edge of the thicket.
It was Graycoat the coyote. half
blind with his madness, and des-
perate in his agony.
There was no more deadly thing in
all the hills than he. Even the bite
of a rattlesnake would have been well
coined beside his. He stood long
fexes that would have ordinarily
made him flee in abject terror were
thwarted and twisted by the fever of
his madness. He stared a moment at
the two figures. and his red eyes could
not interpret them. They were simply
foes, for 1t was true that when this
racbing agony was upon him. even
lifeless trees seemed foes sometimes.
He seemed eerie and unreal as he
gazed at them out of his burning eyes !:
and the white foam gathered at his
fangs. And then. wholly without
warning he charged down at them.
He came with unbelievable speed.
The elder Lennox cried once in warn
ing and cursed himself for ventur.
ing forth on the ridge without a gun.
He was fully twenty feet distant from
Dan; vet he saw in an instant his
only course. This was no time to
trust their lives to the craftsmanship
of an amateur. He sprang toward
Dan, intending TO wrench the weapon
from his hand.
But he didn't achieve his purpose
At the first step his foot caught in a
projecting root. and he was shot to
his face on the trail. But a long life
In the wilderness had developed Len
n0x's reflexes to an abnormal degree !;
many crises had taught him muscle
and nerve control: and only for n
fraction Of an instant. period of
time that few instruments are fine
enough to measure. did he lie supinely
upon the ground. He rolled on, into
a position Of defense. But he knew
now he could not reach the younger
man before the mad coyote would be
upon them. The matter was out of
his hands. Everything depended on
the aim and self-control Of the tender
foot.
He looked up. and the whole weird
picture was thrown upon the retina Of
his eyes. The coyote was still racing
straight toward Dan. a gray demon
that In his madness was more terrible
than any charging bear or elk. Fey
there 10 an element of horror about
the insane. whether beasts or men.
that cannot be denied. Both men felt
II, with a chill that seemed to pene-
trste clear to their hearts. The eyes
famed. the white fangs Of Graycoat
caught the sunlight. And Dan stood
erect in his path. his rife half raised
to his shoulder; and even In that first
frenxied instant in which Lennox
looked at him. he saw there was a
strange impassiveness. singular i'm
perturbability on his face.
"Shoot, manw Lennox shouted.
"What are you waiting fort"