The Jasper news. [volume] (Jasper, Missouri) 1898-1924, 1921-06-30

| W NAihAO a NACCf Ouh ACtu NhNAh ohAh-
ply. I'm the first place, Lennox can't
do 1t. In the second, we've got to take
n cbance-for cold and hunger can get
up tree where the wolf pack can't"
He spoke wholly without emotion.
Once more he tightened the traces Of
the sled.
'I've heard that sometimes the pack
will chase man for days without at
tacking," Lennox told them. ut all
depends 'on how long they've gone
without food. Keep on and try to for
get 'em. Maybe we can keep 'em
bluffed."
But as the hours passed, It became
increasingly difficult to forget the wolf
pack. 1t was only matter of turning
the head and peering for an instant
into the shadows to catch a glimpse
of one of the creatures. Their usual
fear Of men, always their first emo
ton, had given way wholly to a hunt
ing cunning; an effort to procure their
game without too great risk of their
own lives. In the desperation Of their
hunger they could not remember such
things as the fear of men. They
spread out farther, and at last Dan
looked up to find one Of the gray
beasts waiting, like shadow himself,
In the shadow of a tree not one hun
dred feet from the sled. Snowblrd
whipped out her pistol.
Don't dare" Dams voice cracked
out to her. He didn't speak loudly; yet
the words came so sharp and COM
manding, so like pistol fire itself, that
they penetrated into. her consciousness
and choked back the nervous refexes
that In an instant might have lost
them one of their three precious shells.
She caught herself with a sob. Dan
shouted at the wolf, end 1t melted into
the shadows.
You won't do 1t ngain, SnowbirdT
he asked her very humbly. But his
meaning was clear. He was not as
skilled with pistol as she; but If her
nerves were breaking, the gun must
| be taken from her hands. The three
shells must be saved to the moment Of
utmost need
NO." she told him, looking straight
into his eyes. II won't do 1t again"
He believed her. BE knew that she
spoke the truth. He met her eyes with
a half smile. Then, wholly without
warning, Fate played its last trump.
Again the wilderness reminded them
of Its might, and their brave spirits
were almost broken by the utter re-
mOrselessnegs of the blow. The girl
| ~, 70 Il % n,l
Her snow shoe had been cracked b.
her fall of the day before, when run
ming to the . fire, and whether she
struck some other obstruction In the
snow, or whether the cracked wood
had simply given way under her
weight, mattered not even enough for
them to investigate. AS in all great
disasters, only the result remained.
The result in this case was that her
snowshoe, without which she could not
walk at all In the snow. was irrepara.
bly, broken.
"Fnte has stacked the cards against
US" LennOx told them, after the first
moments horror from the broken
snowshoe.
But no one answered him. The CIR.
whlte-fCced, kept her wide eyes or
, Dan. He seemed to be peering into the
shadows beside the trail. as II he were
, watching for the gray forms that now
, and then glided from tree to tree. II
, reality, he was not looking for wolves
He was gazing down into his own soul
measuring his own spirit for the trial
I that lay before him.
The girl, unable TO step with thG
, broken snowshoe, rested her weight OF
3 one foot and hobbled like a bird with
I broken wings across to him. No sigh
> of all this terrible journey had beer
2 more dreadful In her fathers eyei
5 than this. 1t seemed to split opeT
: the strong heart OF the man. Sh'
. touched her hand to his arm.
5 ''Pm sorry. Dan." she told him. "YoI
e tried so hard"
4 Just one little sound broke from hi
8 throat-a strange, deep gasp tina
d could not be suppressed. Then h,
caught her hand in his and kissed IT.
|. again and again do you think car,
s about that2" he asked her. 81 onl!
e wish I could have done more-ant
|. what 1 have done doesn't count. Jus
:. as In my fight with CranstOn, nothing
;. counts because I didn't win. It's Jus
" fnte, Snowbird. It's no ones tault, bu
d maybe. IN this world, nothing is eve
i anyone's fault" For in the twilight o
/ those winter woods in the shadow 0