The Elk Mountain pilot., 1921-01-13

has constantly grown rsSe dim as the
centuries have passed. Possibly some
time IT will fade out altogether: and
then man may continue to discuss
the weather while the Song from the
ridge shudders in at the windows. But
the world will be quite cold by then.
and no longer particularly interesting.
And possibly even the wolves them
selves will then be tanned to play dead
and speak pieces-which means the
wilderness itself will be tanned. For
as long as the wild lasts, the pack will
run through 1t In the winter. They
were here In the beginning. and in
spite of constant war and constant
hatred on the part of men, they will
be here In the end. The reason is just
that they are the symbol of the will
derness itself. and the idea of it con
tinuing to exist without them is
stranger than that of nation without
a flag.
1t wasn't quite the same song that
Dan had listened to in the first days
of fall. 1t had been triumphant then.
and proud with the wilderness pride.
OF course it had been sad then. too.
but 1t was more sad now. And it was
stranger. too. and crept farther into
the souls Of its listeners. 1t was the
song of strength that couldn't avail
against the snow, possibly of cold and
the despair and courage of starvation.
These three that heard it were Injured
to the wilderness; but a moment was
always needed after its last note had
died to regain their gayety.
They're getting lean and they're
getting savage" Lennox said one
night, stretched on his divan before
the fireplace. He was still unable to
walk: but the fractures were knitting
slowly and the doctor had promised
that the summer would find him well.
"If we had dog wouldn't offer
much for his life. One of these days
We'll find 'em in big circle around
the house-and then Wen have to
open up with the rifles"
But this picture appalled, neither of
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 davs 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 not ?" Dan
replied to Lemons objection. "She
could kill five wolves with five shots
or pretty near 1t, and you know well
enough that that would hold EN- Till
we got home. They'd stop to eat the
five. / have hard enough time keep
ing up with her as it is. without carry
ing rife" 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 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 spsrt 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 silences. 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 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 its
wings; and once or twice they saw
snowshoe rabbits bounding away on
fiat feet over the drifts. But Just one
day they caught sight of wolf. They
were on snowshoes on a particularly
brilliant afternoon late in January.
He was lone male. evidently a
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
1t 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
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