Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1921-02-11

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J 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 moment changing this weak.
| diseased youth into frontiersman
| and wilderness inhabitant such as his
| ancestors had been before him.
They We're slipping along over the
| pine needles, their eyes intent on the
| trail ahead. And then Lennox saw a
| curious thing. He beheld Dan sud-
| denly stop in the trail and turn his
| eyes toward heavy thicket that lay
perhaps one hundred yards to their
right. For an instant he looked al
most like wild creature himself. His
| head was lowered, as if he were lis
| tening. His muscles were set and
ready.
Lennox had prided himself that he
had retained all the powers of his i've
| senses, and that few men in the noun
| tains had keener ears than he. Yet
| it was truth that at first he only knew
| the silence. and the stir and pulse OF
his own blood He assumed then that
| Dan was 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 ST.
1ence There's something living In
| that thicket."
Then Lennox heard It, 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 ap-
! preached, both of them instinctivery
| knew that they were extremely loud
| for the usual footsteps of any of the
wild creatures
"What is it?" Dan asked quietly.
| Iennox 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 it. 'I'm free to
| confess | don't know" he said. ITS
| booming right toward us, like most
| animals don't care to do. OF course
1t may be 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"
Lennox went on. "Of course it might
have been bear-you never knew
what they're going to do. 1t might
have got sight of us and turned OF.
But l can't believe that it was just a
/ deer"
But then his words chopped square
| ~ off in his throat The plodding adj
vance commenced again. And the
next instant gray form revealed it.
self at the edge of the thicket.
1t 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 rattlesnake would have been we!-
coined beside his. He stood a long
instant, and all his instincts and re-
flexes that would have. ordinarily
made him fee in abject 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 it was true that when this
| racking agony was upon him, even
/ lifeless trees seemed foes sometimes.
He seemed eerie and unreal as he
gazed at 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 ca. ne with unbelievable speed.
The elder Lennox cried once in warn
| ing and cursed himself for ventur-
Ing forth on the ridge without 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
| of an amateur. He sprang toward
Dan, intending to wrench the weapon
from his hand.
But he didn't achieve his purpose.
| At the first step his foot caught in a
| projecting root, and he was shot to
| his face on the trail. But long life
in the wilderness had developed Len
/ nox's ref1exes to an abnormal degree;
many crises had taught him muscle
| and nerve control: and only for a
fraction of an instant. 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
his hands. Everything depended on
| the aim and self-control of the tender
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