Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1921-06-04
CHAPTER ~.

81 hole region Of the Divide In her in
Fancy the winding trails had been her
playground, and long ago she had ac-
aured the mountaineer's sixth sense
for traversing them at night She had
heed Of that knowledge now. She
slipped into her free, swinging stride;
Eand the last beams from the windows
Of the house were soon lost in the
gineS behind her. 1t was one of those
silent, breathlesS nights with which
DO mountaineer is entirely unacQuaint-
ed, and for a long time the only sound
& she could hear was her own soft
# tramp in the pine needles. The trees
themselves were mOtiOnless. That
peculiar sound, not greatly different
from that of running water which the
M wind often makes in the pine tops.
WAS entirely lacking Not that She
could be deceived by it-as stories
tell that certain tenderfeet, dying of
thirst in the barren hills. have been.
But she always liked the sound; and
# she missed IT especially tonight.
She felt that if she would stop to
listen, there would be many faint
sounds in the thickets-those little
# hushed noises that the wild things
k# make to remind night-wanderers of
Z their presence. But She did not in
Isl she least care to hear these sounds.
Sd They do not tend toward peace of
Il mind on a long walk over the ridges.
The wilderness began at once.
Whatever influence toward civiliza-
81 ton her fathers house had brought to
# She wlldS chopped off as beneath a
Isl blade in the first fringe Of pines. This
81 is altogether characteristic of the Ore
gon forests. They are much too big
81 and TOO old to be tanned in any large
81 degree by the presence of one house.
81 No one knew this fact better than
M 1ennox himself who, in a hard win
81 Ter Of four years before. had looked
81 ont Of his window to find the wolf
s. pack ranged in q hungry circle about
81 his house. Within two hundred yards
u after she had passed through her IA
NJ rher's door, she was perfectly aware
81 1hat the wild was stirring and throb-
u hing with life about her At first she
81 tried very hard to think Of other
s. things. But the attempt wasn't en-
u ureiy q success. And before she had
"a covered the first of the twelve miles,
q The sounds that from the first had
81 Been knocking at the door of her CON
q seiousness began to make an entrance.
II perSsn lies still long enough, he
81 can usually hear his heart beating
n ana the flow of his blood In his
arteries. Any sound. 10 matter how
rant will make itself heard at last.
q IL was this way with a very peculiar
AoiSe that crept up through the silence
FROM the trail behind her. She
q wouldn't give it any heed at first. But
IN a very little while indeed. it grew
SO insistent that she could no longer
u disregard 1t.
some living creature was trotting
5''ng on the trail behind, keeping APP
q aFo1llnately the same distance be-
q tween them.
oresoing any attempt to ignore it,
she set her cool young mind 10 think
ing what manner of beast it might be
us step was not greatly different from
taat OF large dog-except possibly a
t0s would have made slightly more
noise. Yet she couldn't even he sure
OF this basic premise. because this
44linal, whatever 1t might be. had at
".e1 seemingly moved with utmost
caution, but now took less care with
~ step than is customary with the
"i0 denlzens Of the woods. A wolf.
taT instance, can simply drift when it
"tN~es, and the silence of a cougar IS /
name. Yet unless her pursuer were
H"S which seemed entirely unlikely.
Was ceftainly one Of these two. She
2u-d nave liked very duch to believe
ne step was that of Old Wolf the
-' suddenly curious as 10 what this
' light Of hers might be; but she
A bring herself to accept the
oof. except when wounded or
eT'a is the most amiable crea- |
the Oregon woods. and fl |
eve her almost a sense Of Sc |
THY to have him wadding along
her The wolves and cougar.
4aerlng the arms of Woof. ould /
.e nearly so curious. But unfor.
the black bear had never ]
s0eu thing in the memory Of
eao 4 he had. he would have |
s2 times as much noise He
80 fairly softly when he is stalk /
at when he is obliged TO trot-
would be obliged to do 10 keep |
A s|lft-walking human figure !
o. cracks twigs like rolling log.
aa7 the impression that the ami |
'eH'nd had been passing ike I
al first but wasn't taking the
.s 10 DO II now.
49,, md vas soft pat It on the |
b.. ''aetimes entirely obliterated |
"aFs recurring when she began /
a.. -.@Te that she had only fapcled I
s..... '.SeHce. Sometimes a twig. rain
IAoLgh It was. cracked beneath