Middletown transcript., 1921-04-02
CHAPTER i-continued.

-tI-
When the ice made q crust over the
snow, he learned to walk on snow
shoes. At first there were panied
ankles and endless floundering in the
drifts. But between the fall Of fresh
snow and the thaws that softened the
crust, he slowly mastered the art.
Snowbird-and Dan never realized the
full significance Of her name until he
saw her flying with incredible grace
ever the snow-laughed at him at first
and ran him races that would usually
end in his falling headflrst into q ten
foOt snowbank. She taught him how
to ski and more than once she would
stop in the middle Of an earnest bit
Of pedagogy to find that he wasn't lis
tening at all. He would seem to be
fairly devouring her with his eyes, de-
fighting in the play of soft pinks and
reds in her cheeks, and drinking, as a
man drinks wine, the amazing change
Of light and shadow in her eyes.
She seemed to blossom under his
gaze. Not one Of those short winter
days went by without the discovery
Of some new trait or little vanity to
astonish or delight him-sometimes
an unlooked-for tenderness toward the
weak, often a sweet, untained philos-
ophy Of life, or perhaps just lower
ing Of her eyelids in which her eyes
would show lustrous through the
lashes, or some sweeping, exuberant
gesture startlingly graceful.
Lennox wakened one morning with
the realization that this was one Of
the hardest winters Of his experience.
He began to be very glad Of the abun-
dant stores Of provisions that over
crowded his pantry-savory hams and
bacons, dried venison, sacks OF pota-
toes and evaporated vegetables, and,
of course, canned goods past count
ing. With the high fire roaring in the
crate, the season held no Ills for them.
But sometimes, when the bitter cold
came down at twilight, and the moon
looked like thing Of ice itself over the
snow, he began to wonder how the
wild creatures who wintered on the
Divide were faring. OF course most
Of them were gone. Woof, long since,
had grunted and mumbled his way
into a winter lair. But the wolves re-,
mained, strange gray shadows on the
snow, and possibly few Of the
harder smaller creatures.
More than once in those long win
ter nights their talk was chopped of
short by the song of the pack on some
distant ridge. Sometime, when the
world is old, possibly a man will be
born that can continue to talk and
keep his mind on his words while the
wolf pack sings. But he is certainly
an unknown quantity today. The cry
sets in vibration curious memory
chords, and for moment the listener
sees in his minds eye his ancient
home in an ancient world-Darkness
and Fear and Eyes shining about the
cave. It carries him back, and he
knows the wilderness as it really is;
and to have such knowledge dries up
all inclination to talk, as a sponge
dries water. OF course the picture
isn't entirely plain. It is more a thing
guessed at, photograph in some dark
part Of an under-consciousness that
has constantly grown more dim as the
centuries have passed. Possibly some
time it will fade out altogether; and
then a 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 it 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 a nation without
a flag.
It 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 it was more sad now. And 1t 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, I wouldn't offer
much for his life. One Of these days
we'll find 'em in big circle around
the house-and then we'll 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 days 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