The Elk Mountain pilot., 1920-12-02

pine needles They fought tl'er way
through thicket of buckhrnsh. Once
they saw the gray squirrels In the rrc.
tops. And before Irnnox had us mrc',
as supposed they were near the hannts
Of big game. yearing doe sprang up
from its he'd in the thickets.
For ap instant she stood motionIess
presenting perfect target. II was
evident thai she had heard the sound
of the approaching hunters. hui had
not as yet located or identified them
with her near-sighted eyes. I.ennax
whirled to find Dan standing very
still. neering along the barre, OF his
rifle. But he didn't shoot The deer
seeing Lennox move ieaped into her
terror-pnce-fhat astounding run thar
Is one of the fastest gaits in the whole
animal world. In the wink of an eve
she was out of sight.
"yvhy didn't yon shoot?" Lennox de-
manded.
"Shoot? 1t was a doe wasn't is?"
Good Lord. of course 1t was a doe
But there are no game laws that go
back this far. Besides-you aimed at
It."
II aimed just to see II 1 could catch
1t through my sights. And / could.
My glasses sort of made it blur--but
think-perhaps-th l could have
shot it. But I'm not going to kill does.
There must be some reason for the
game laws, or they wouldn't exist"
You're funny one. Come three
thousand miles to hunt and then pass
up the first deer you see. You could
almost have been your grandfather,
TO have done that. He thought killing
deer needlessly was almost as bad as
killing man. They are beautiful
things, aren't they?"
Dan answered him with startling
emphasis. But the look that he wore
said more than his words.
They trudged on, and Lennox grew
thoughtful. He was recalling the pic
cure that he had seen when he had
wb'rled to look at Dan. Immediately
after the deer had leaped from its
bed. 1t puzzled him a little. He had
turned to find the younger man in a
perfect posture to shoot. his feet
Ptattu III CAdttiy tht poSitioh u a.
years of experience had taught Len
nox was correct; and withal. absolute
ly motionless. What many hunters
take years TO learn. Dan had seemed
to know by instinct. Could 1t be, after
all. that this slender weakling, even
now bowed down with terrible
malady. had inherited the true from
tiersman's instincts of his ancestors?
The result of this thought was at
least to hover in the near vicinity of
n certain conclusion. That conclusion
was that at least few of the char
acteristics of his grandfather had
been passed down to Dan. 1t meant
that possibly. If time remained he
would not turn out such weakling,
after all. OF course his courage. his
nerve. had yet to be tested; but the
fact remained that long generations
of frontiersmen ancestors had left this
influence upon him. The wild was
calling to him. Weakening instincts
long smothered in cities. but sure and
true as ever. II was the beginning
of regeneration. Voices Of the long
past were speaking to him, and the
Failings once more had begun to run
true to form. Inherited tendencies
were in a moment changing this weak
diseased youth into frontiersman
and wilderness inhabitant such as his
ancestors had been before him.
They were slipping along over the
pine needles. their eyes intent on the
trail ahead. And then Lennox saw q
curious thing. he beheld Dan sud-
denly stop in the trail and turn his
eyes toward a heavy thicket that lay
perhaps one hundred yards to their
right. For an instant he looked al
most like a wild creature himself. His
head was lowered. as II he were lis
tening. Hls muscles were set and
ready.
Lennox had prided himself that he
had retained all the powers Of his i've
senses. and that few men in the noun
talns had keener ears than he. Yet
II was truth that at hrst he only knew
the silence. and the stir and pulse Of
his own blood. He assumed then that
Dan was watching something that
from his position. twenty feet behind.
he could not see. He tried to probe
the thickets with his eyes.
Then Dan whispered. Ever 80 soft