Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1921-04-09

Influence upon him. The Wild waz
calling to him, Weakening instincts
long smothered in cities, but sure and
true as ever. 1t was the beginning
of regeneration. Voices of the long
past were speaking 10 him. and the
Failings once more had begun 10 run
true TO form. Inherited tendencies
were in a moment changing this weak
diseased youth into a 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
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 10 their
right For an instant he looked al
most like wild creature himself. His
head was lowered, as If he were lis
tening. His muscles were set and
ready.
Lennox had prided himself that he
had retained all the powers of his five
senses, and that few men in the noun
tains had keener ears than he. Yet
it was truth that at first he only knew
the silence, and the stir and pulse OF
his own blood. He assumed teen that
Dan was watching something that
from his position, twenty feet behind,
he could not see. He tried to probe
the thickets with hrs eyes
Then Dan whispered. Ever so soft
sound but yet distinct In the ST.
1enee, There's something living In
that thicket."
Then Lennox heard 1t. too. AS they
stood still. the sound became ever
clearer and more pronounced. Some
living creature was advancing toward
them; and twigs were cracking be-
meath It's feet. The sounds were rath-
or subdued. and yet as the animal APP
preached, both of them instinctIvefy
knew that they were extremely loud
for the usual footsteps Of any of the
wild creatures.
"What is it?" Dan asked quietly.
Lennox was so intrigued by the
sounds that he was not even observ-
ant Of the peculiar subdued quality
in Dams voice Otherwise, he would
have wondered at it, I'm free to
confess / don't know" he said. "It's
booming right toward us. like most
animals don't care to do. OF course
II may be a human being. You must
watch out for that"
They waited The sound ended.
They stood straining for long mo-
ment without speech.
THAT was the dumdest thingi"
Lennox went on. "Of course II might
have been bear-you ueTer know
what they're going to do 1t might
have got sight of us and turned of.
But ! can't believe that it was just
deer"
But then his words chopped square
" off in his throat. The plodding adj
vance commenced again. And the
next instant a gray form revealed It.
self at the edge Of the thicket.
1t was Graycoat the coyote, half
blind with his madness, ana Iies-
perate in his agony
There was no more deadly thing In
all the hills than he. Even the bite
Of a rattlesnake would have been well
coined beside his. He stood a long
instant and all his instincts and re-
fieXes that would have ordinarily
made him flee in abiect terror were
thwarted and twisted By the fever OF
his madness. He stared a moment Mt
the two figures and his red eyes could
not interpret. them They were simply
foes. for it was frue that when this
raCking agony was upon him. even
lifeless trees seemed foes sometimes.
lie seemed eerie and unreal as he
gaZed at them out Of his burning eyes
and the white foam gathered az his
fanes And then. wholly without
warning he charged down at them
He CO ne with unbelievable speed
The elder Lennon cried once in warm
ing and cursed himself for .venMr-
ing forth on the ridge without gun
He was fully twenty feet distant from
Dan; yet he saw in an instant his
only course. This was no time to
trust their lives to the craftsmanship
Of an amateur. He sprang toward
Dan. intending to wrench the weapon
from his hand.
But he didn't achieve his purpose
AT the first step his foot caught In a
projecting root, and he was shot to
his face on the trail. But a long life
in the wilderness had developed Len
nox's renexes 10 an abnormal degree
many. crises had taught him muscle
and nerve control; and only for
fraction Of an instant. a period Of
time that few instruments are fine
enough to measure. did ne lie supinely
upon the ground. He rolled on. into
a position Of defense. But ne knew
now he could not reach the younger
man before the mad coyote would be
upon them. The matter was out of
his hands Everything depended on
the aim and selfcontrol Of the tender
foot
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