Charlevoix county herald., 1920-12-31

And II was Dan could scarcely
make out the outline Of the somber
ridges against the sky,
They talked on. and their subject
was whether Dan should remain to
take care Of Lennox. or whether he
should attempt to overtake Snowbird
with the horse. OF course the girl
had ordered him TO stay. Lennox. on
the other hand. said that Dan could
not help him In the least. and desired
him to follow the girl.
"T'm not often anxious about her."
he said slowly. "But II Is long walk
through the widest part of the d.
vide. Some way-I can't bar accidents
tonight. don't like to think of her
on those mountains alone"
And remembering what had lain be-
side the trail. Dan felt the same. He
had heard. long ago. that any animal
that once tasted human flesh loses it's
fear of men and Is never to be trusted
again. Some wild animal that still
hunted the ridges had, In the last
month. done just that thing. He left
the room and walked softly to the
door.
The night lay silent and mysterious
over the Divide. He stood listening.
The girl had started only an hour be-
fore, and II was unlikely that she
could have traversed more than two
miles Of the steep trail In that time.
Although the horse ordinarily did not
climb q hill more swiftly than a hu-
man being. he didn't doubt but that
he could overtake her before she
went three miles farther. But where
lay his duty-wth the injured man
In the house or with the daughter on
her errand Of mercy In the darkness?
Then the matter was decided for
him. So faint that II only whispered
at the dim. outer frontiers Of hearing.
a sound came pricking through the
ing to the faint sounds of the forest.
and the incredible silence of the night
enabled him 10 hear II at all. But he
knew what II was. the report Of
pistol. Snowbird had met an enemy
In the darkness.
the shotgun that still stood where he
had placed II In the corner Of the
room, and FASTENED TO the corral. The
mare whickered plaintively when he
took her from her food.
When Snowbird first heard the step
In the thickets beside her, she halted
bravely and held her lantern high. She
understood at last. The very extremity
of the beams found a reflection In two
very curious circles of greenish fire:
a fire that was old upon the world be-
fore man ever rubbed two sticks to-
gether to strike fame OF course
the dim rays had simply been reflect
eo on the eyes of some great beast or
prey.
She identified II at once Only the
eyes of the felines, with vertical pu-
pills. have this identical greenish glare.
The eyes of the wolves glow I'm the
darkness. but the circles are usually
bright points. OF course II was cou-
gar.
She didn't cry out again. Realizing
at last the reality of her peril. her
long training In the mountains came
to her aid. That did not mean she
was not truly and terribly afraid. The
beast was hunting her. She couldn't
doubt this fact. Curiosity might make
lion follow her. but IL would never
beget such wild light of madness In
his eyes as this she had just seen. She
simply clamped down all her moral
strength on her rising hysteria and
looked her situation in the face. Her
hand flew instinctively to her side,
and the pistol leaped in the lantern
light.
But the eyes had already blinked
out before she could raise the weapon.