The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1921-03-31

long smothered In cities, but sure ant
true as ever. 1t was the beginning
Of regeneration. Voices OF the long
past were speaking to him. and the
Failings once more had begun to run
true to form. Inherited tendencies
were In a momen changing this weak,
diseased youth into a frontiersmar
and wilderness ~inhabitant such as hii
ancestors had been before him.
They were slipping along over the
pine needles, their eyes intent on the
trail ahead. And her Lennox saw 8
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 to their
right. For an instant he looked al
most like a wild creature himself. His
head was lowered, as IL 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
talns had keener ears than he. Yet
II was truth that at first he only knew
the silence, and the stir ard pulse OF
his own blood. He assumed then that
Dan vas watching something that
from his position, twenty feet behind.
he could not see. He tried to probe
the thickets with his eyes.
Then Dan whispered. Ever so soft
a sound, but yet distinct In the 81.
lence. There's something living In
that t~hlcket."
Then Lennox heard II, 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-
err subdued, and yet, as the animal APP
preached. both of them instinctiveTy
knew that they were extremely Ioud
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 1t. 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 eoursa
ii may be a human being. You must
watch out for that"
They waited. The sound ended.
They stood straining for a long mo
ment without speech.
"That was the dumdest thing"
Lcnnox went on. "0f course IL might
have been a bear-you never know
what they're going to do. 1t might
have got sight of US and turned off.
But l can't believe that it was just a
deer"
But then his words chopped square
ly off in bis throat. The Flooding ad-
vance commenced again. And the
next instant a gray form revealed it.
self at the edge of the thicket.
II was Graycoat the coyote, half
blind with his madness, and des-
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 wei
coined beside his. He stood a long
instant, and all his instincts and re-
lexes that would have ordinarily
made him flee In AFFECT terror were
thwarted and twisted by the fever of
his madness. He stared a moment at
the two figures, and his red eyes could
not interpret them. They were simply
foes. for Il was true that when this
racking agony vas upon him, even
lifeless trees seemed foes sometimes.
He seemed eerie and unreal as he
gaZed ut them out of his burning eyes;
and the white foam gathered at his
fangs And then. wholly without
warning, he charged down at them.
He came with unbelievable speed.
The elder Lennox cried onee in warn
ing and cursed himself for ventur-
Ing forth on the ridge without a 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
or an amateur. lie Sprang toward
Dan. intending to wrench the weapon
from his hand.
Blu he didn't achieve his purpose.
AT the first step his foot caught in q
projecting root, and he was shot to
his face OF the trail. But a long life
In the wilderness had developed Len.
nox's reflexes to an abnormal degree;
many crises had taught him muscle
and nerve control; and only for a
fraction of an instant. a period of
time that few instruments are fine
enough to measure. did he lie supinely
upon the ground. He rolled on. into
a position Of defense. But he knew
now he could not reach the younger
man before the mad coyote would be
upon them. The matter was out OF
h,n ha.1c E,rcvthtr- lo-.l -