Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1920-12-17
&C ontinue d.

she was lost 10 Slgnt ut once III
the darkness. but for fully thirty yards
&c raced in her pursuit. If he had
stopped TO think. II would have been
one Of the really great surprises of
his life to hear the sudden. unmis-
taxable stir and movement of a large.
living creature not fifteen feet distant
In the thicket.
He didn't stop to think at all. He
didn't puzzle on the extreme unlikeli-
hood Of doe hating in her flight from
a cougar. 1t is doubtful whether, in
the thickets he had any perceptions
Of the creature other than its move
ments. He was running down wind,
so II Is certain that he didn't smell Ii.
IF he saw II at all, II was just as
shadow. sufficiently large to be that
of deer. 1t was moving, crawling as
Wool the bear sometimes crawled,
Tseemingly to get out of his path. And
Whisperfoot leaped straight at IT.
II was q perfect shot He landed
high on its shoulders. His head dashed
down. and the white teeth closed. All
the long life OF his race he had known
that pungent essence that flowed forth
His senses perceived it, message
shot along his nerves to his brain. And
then he opened his mouth in a high,
far-carrying squeal Of utter, abject
terror.
He sprang a full fifteen feet back
into the thickets: then crouched. The
hat or Ctf or
claws were barred he was prepared
TO fight to the death. He didn't under
stand. He only knew the worst single
terror of his life. II was not a doe
that he had attacked in the darkness
II was not Urson the porcupine, or
even Wool. 1t was that imperial mas
ter Of all things, man himself. Un-
knowing, he had attacked Landy Hill
dreth, lying wounded from Cranston's
bullet beside the trail. Word of the
arson ring, would never reach the set
Elements, after all.
And as for Whisperfoot-the terror
that chOked his heart with blood be-
gan to wear off In little while. The
man lay so still in the thickets. Be
sides. there was strange, Wild smell
in the air. Whisperfoot's stroke had
gone home so true there had not even
been a fight. The darkness began TO
lift around him, and a strange exulta-
ton, rapture unknown before in all
his hunting, began to creep into his
wild blood. Then, as shadow steals,
he went creeping back to his dead.
y
Dan Failing had been studying ma
ture on the high ridges; and he went
home by back trail that led to old
Bald mountain The trail was just
a narrow serpent In the brush; and
II had not been made by gangs of
labOrers. working with shovels and
picks. Possibly half dozen white
men, in all, had ever walked along H..
II was just the path Of the wild crea-
lures. worn down by hoof and paw
and cushion since the young days of
the world.
It was a roundabout trail home,
but yet II had its advantages. IT took
him within two miles Of SnOwbird's
lookout station. and at this hour Of
day he had been particularly fortunate
in finding her at certain spring >on
the mountain side. 1t was rather sin.
gular coincidence. Along about four
he would usually find himself wander
ing up that way. Strangely enough
at the same ..timep it was true thai
she had an irresistible impulse TO e
cit In, hn 4,
the same spring. They always seemed
to be surprised TO see one another. Ii
reality, either of them would hav.
been considerably more surprised hnd
the other failed to put in an appear
ance. And always they had long talks
as the afternoon drew to twilight.
"But don't think you ought TO wall
so late before starting home" the cir
would always say. you're not =
human hawk. and II is easier to get
lost than you think
And this solfcitude. Dan rightly fig
ured, was good sign. There was
only one objection 70 IL. II resulted
in an unmistakble inference that sh,
considered him enable TO take car,
of himself-and i'nt was tho as
thing OF earth that ne warted nc'
TO think. He understood he: vel
enough 10 know that her srpudsfd'
were the standards of the mountains
valuing strength and self-relianc'
above all things. He didn't stop Il
question why. every day. he trod 81
many weary miles to be with her.
She was as natural as fawn: AM
many times she had quite taken ava!
his breath. And once she did II liter
ally. He didn't think that so long a
death spared him he would ever b.
able to forget that experience. II wa
her birthday, and knowing of IL II
time he had arranged for the deliver
of certain package, dear to girlisl
heart, at her fathers house. In tn
trysting hour he had come trudgin
over the hills with II, and few expert
ences I'm his life had ever yielded sucl
unmitigated pleasure as the sight o
her. glowing white and red, as she too