Williams news., 1921-08-19

But tn1S picture appalleO neltneT OI his two young listeners. No wolf pack can stand against three marksmen armed with rifles and behind oaken walls.
 Christmas came and passed, and January brought clear days and an ineffective sun shining on the snow. These were the best days of all. Every afternoon Dan and Snowbird would go out on their skis or on snowshoeS. unarmed except for the pistol that Snowbird carried in the deep pocket of her mackinaw. "But why not2'' Dan replied to Lennox'S objection. "She could kill five wolves with five shots. or pretty near it, and you know well enough that that would hold 'em till we got home. They'd stop to eat the five. I have hard enough time keep ing up with her as it is, without carry ing rifle" And Lennox was content. Dan had told the truth when he said that five deaths or even fewer, would repel the attack of any wolf pack he had ever seen. There was just one troubling thought. He had heard, long ago, and he had forgotten who had told him. that in the most severe win ters the wolves gather in particularly large packs; and a quality in the song that they had heard at night seemed to bear it out. The chorus had been exceptionally loud and strong, and he had been unable to pick out individual voices.
 The snow was perfect for skiing. Previously their sport had been many times interrupted either by the fall Of fresh snow or a thaw that had soft ened the snow crust; but now every afternoon was too perfect to remain indoors. They shouted and romped in the sflences. and they did not dream but that they had the wilderness all to themselves. The fact that one night Lennox's keen eyes had seen what looked like the glow of a camp fire in the distance didn't affect this belief of theirs at all. It was evidently just the phosphorus glowing in a rotten log from which the winds had blown the snow.
 Once or twice they caught glimpses of wild life: once a grouse that had buried in the snow flushed from their path and blew the snOw-duSt from it's wings; and once or twice they saw snowshOe rabbits bounding away on flat feet over the drifts. But just one day they caught sight of a wolf. They were on snowshoes on a particularly brilliant afternoon late in January.
 He was a lone male, evidently straggler from the pack. and he leaped from the top of a tall thicket that had remained above the snow. The man and the girl had entirely different re- actions. Dams first impression was amazement at the animals condition. It seemed to be in the last stages of starvation: unbelievably gaunt. with rib bones showing plainly even through the furry hide. Ordinarily the heavily furred animals do not show signs of famine; but even an inexperienced eye could not make mistake in this case. The eyes were red, and they carried Dan back to his first adventure in the Oregon foreSt-the day he had shot the mad coyote. Snowbird thought of the beast only as an enemy. The wolves killed her fathers stock; they were brigandS of the worst order; and she shared the hatred of them that is a common trait of all primitive peoples. Her hand whipped back. seized her pis- tol. and she fired twice at the fleeing figure.
 The second shot was hit both of them saw the wolf go to its side, then spring up and race on. Shouting both of them sped after him.
 Tn few moments he was out of
 
 found the blOod-trail and mushed over the ridge. They expected at any mo- ment to find him lying dead: but the track led them on clear down the next canyon And now they cared not at all whether they found him: it was simply tramp in the out-Of-dOcrs and hofh of them were young with red blood in their veins.
 But all at once Dan stopped in his tracks. The girl sped on for six paces Before she missed the sound of his snowshoes; then she turned to find him standing, wholly motionless. with eyes fixed upon her.
 It startled her. and she didn't know why. A companion abruptly freezing in his path. his muscles inert. and his eyes filling with speculation. is always startling. When this occurs it means simply that a thought compelling and expressing that even the half unconscious physical functions, such as walking, cannot continue, has come into his mind. And it is part of the old creed of self-preservatiOn to dislike greatly to be left out any such thought as this. If danger Is present. the sooner it is identified the better.
 t'What is it?" she demanded He turned to her curiously intent. How many shells have you in that