The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-01-27

oG uh0l &an1C VvGH " UulU uIl tIN
house. . suppose he was careful ia
mig 'em up after on~e ne arriv,si
here. but the 6rst part Of the way u.
likely walked straight .iiowarti rh.:
house from his camp Somewhere. " .
70 that way. IN cross his trail wirh
IN 10 miles AZ least. Then IN back.
track him to biz camp"
-And never come Dackl' tile ~
cried.
Maybe not. But at least every
thing that can be done viii he done
Nothing will he left. No regrets w.
will have made the last trial. I'm no
going to waste any time. Snowbir,l
The sooner we get your fire built I'll.
better"
Father and are to stay here--?'
what else can you dor" He Wen
back to his traces and drew the sIe,
100 yards farther He didn't seem r
see the gaunt wolf that backed ri,
into the shadows as he approached
He refused to notice that the ln,s.l
seemed to- he steadily growing holder
Human hunters-usuaily had guns rl,a
could blast and destroy from dis
tance: but even an animal intelii
gence could perceive that these fhre,
seemed to be without this means ul
infiicting death.
wolf is ever so much more intelli
gent than crow-yet crow show.
little fear of an unarmed man and /,
wholly uDapproachahle by boy will
a Tho oil ali.
In their increasing madness and ex
citement and hunger, they were becop:
ing less and less fearful Of these rhrr,
strange humans with the sled.
II was nOi- u good place for camp
They worked long time before the,
cleared little patch Of ground of it,
SHOW mantle. I,an cui n number oi
saplings-iaboriously with his ax--nnti
null n fire with the comparativ.l,
dry core of - dead Tree. True. II VII
feeble and tiickering. hui ns good n,
could he hoped for. considering rlr
difficulties under which he worked.
The dead logs under the snow wer,
soaked with wafer from the rains and
fhaws. The green wood that he cui
smoked without blnzing.
NO more riine ia he lost Dan told
Snowhirti. Iii lies in your hands to
keep the lire burning. And donvIeave
The circle of The fire lighr withoui
thai pistol in your hand"
You don't mean." she asked nnbe-
ieving. "iliat you are going TO go out
there to fight Cransion--u -unarmed?''
.nf course. Snowbird You must
Keep the pistol
Put II means death: thnt's all II
ne;lns. What chance would you have
ag,,inst man with a rifle? And ms
,oon as yOu ger away from this fire
the wolves will tear you TO pieces
And what would you and your fa-
her do. If took II? Yon can't get
him into tree You can't build n
big enough fire 10 frighten Them
Please don't even talk about this mat
Ter. Snowbird My minds made up !
rhink the pack will stay here. They
usualiy-tiod knows how--knOw. who
Is helpless and who isn't. Maybe with
'.ir gun. you will be able TO save your
lives"
"What's the chance Of that7~
You might-wifh one cartridge
XIII one OF the devils and the others
hut you know how they devour their
own dead. That might break their
famine enough so that they'd hold IN
until can ger hack. That's the prize
I'm playing for" ~
"And what. II you don't get hack r
He took her hand In one Of his and
wffb Tffe other ne cdreFsetf FOR sin.
gle moment the ioveiy nesh Of her
throat. The love he had for her spoke
from his eyes-such speech az no hu-
man vision could possibly mistake.
Both Of them were tihgling and breat h.
less with a great. sweet wonder.
~Never let those fangs tear that
softness, while you live" he told here
gently. 'Never let that brave old man
on the sled go TO his death with the
pack rearing at him. Cheaf e,n.
Snowbirdi Beat 'em the last minute
II no other way remains! Show EN-
who's boss. after all-of all this for
est
"you mean-f~ Her eyes widencd.
II mean that you must only spend
one Of those three shells In fighting
on the wolves. Save that I'LL the ino-
ment you need II most. The other
two must be saved--for something
else" ~
She nodded shuddering an insinnf
at menaci1g shadow that moved
within go feet Of the fire.
'Then goodhy. Danl'' she told him
And she stretched nm her arms .Thp
thing ] said--that day on the hillside
doesn't hold any more"
His own arms encircled her. hut he
made no effort 10 claim her lips. Len
nox watched them quietly; in this
moment of crisis not even pretending
to look away. Dan shook his head 10
her entrenting eyes. 1T isn't ihsi a
kiss. darling" he told her seherIy ''Ii
goes deeper than that Ms Il symbol