The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1921-02-24
CHAPTER ~.
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whole region Of the Divide. In her in
fancy the winding trails had been her
playground, and long ago she had &C
quired the mountaineer's sixth sense
for traversing them at night. She had
need Of that knowledge now. She
slipped into her free, swinging stride
and the last beams from the windows
| Of the house were soon lost in the
pines behind her. 1t was one of those
silent, breathless nights with which
no mOuntaineer is entirely unacquaint-
| ed, and for long time the only sound
| she could hear was her own soft
| tramp in the pine needles. The trees
| themselves were motiOnlesS. That
peculiar sound, not greatly different
from that of running water which the
wind often makes in the pine tops,
was entirely lacking. Not that she
could be deceived by it-as stories
tell that certain tenderfeet, dying of
thirst in the barren hills, have been.
But she always liked the sound; and
she missed it especially tonight.
She felt that If she would stop to
listen, there would be many faint
sounds in the thickets-thOse little
hushed noises that the wild things
make to remind night-wanderers of
their presence. But she did not in
the least care to hear these sounds.
They do not tend toward peace of
mind on long walk over the ridges.
The wilderness began at once.
Whatever influence toward civiliza-
ton her fathers house had brought to
the wilds chopped off as beneath a
blade in the first fringe of pines. This
is altogether characteristic of the Ore
gon forests. They are much too big
and too old to be tanned in any large
degree by the presence of one house.
No one knew this fact better than
Lennox himself who, in a hard win
ter of four years before, had looked
out of his window to find the wolf
pack ranged in a hungry circle about
his house. Within two hundred yards
after she had passed through her IA
theirs door. she was perfectly aware
that the wild was stirring and throb-
bling with life about her. At first she
tried very hard to think of other
things. But the attempt wasn't en-
tirely a success. And before she had
covered the first of the twelve miles,
the sounds that from the first had
been knocking at the door of her con-
sciOusness began to make an entrance.
If person lies still long enough, he
can usually hear his heart beating
and the flow of his blood in his
Any sound, no matter how
faint, will make itself heard at last.
It was this way with a very peculiar
noise that crept up through the silence
from the trail behind her She
give it any heed at first. But
in a very little while indeed, it grew
so insistent that she could no longer
disregard it.
Some living creature was trOtting
along on the trail behind, keeping ap-
the same distance be-
tween them.
Foregoing any attempt to ignore it,
she set her cool young mind to think
ing what manner of beast it might be.
Its step was not greatly different from
that of large dOg-except possibly a
dog would have made slightly more
noise. Yet she couldn't even be sure
Of this basic premise, because this
animal, whatever it might be, had at
1rst seemingly moved with utmost
caution, but now took less care with
It's step than is customary with the
wild denizens of the woods. A wolf,
for instance, can simply drift when it |
wishes. and the silence of a cougar is |
1 name. Yet unless her pursuer were |
4 dog, which seemed entirely unlikely,
t was certainly one of these two. She |
would have liked very much to believe |
he step was that of Old Wolf the |
bear. suddenly curious as to what this |
lin light of hers might be; but she |
couldn't bring herself to accept the |
lie. Wool, except when wounded or !
is the most amiable crea-
ture in the Oregon woods. and it |
would give her almost sense Of Sc
curity to have him waddling along |
behind her. The wolves and cougar.
the arms of Wool, would |
lot be nearly SO curious. But unfor-
the black bear had never
lone such a thing in the memory of |
nan, anu If he had, he would have
made six times as much noise He
AN go fairly softly when he is stalk
ng, but when he is obliged to trot-
Is he would be obliged to do to keep |
Up with a .swift-walking human figure
he cracks twigs like a rolling log.
She had the impression that the ami
nal behind had been passing like |
smoke at first, but wasn't taking the |
trouble to do 1t now.
The sound was a soft pat-pat on the
entirely obliterated
bat always recurring when she began
70 believe that she had only fancied
It's presence. Sometimes a twig, rain
soaked though It was. cracked beneath