Owingsville outlook., 1921-05-26
CHAPTER II-contiuued.
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AAtiA h'7sANaEN u Nffl tNalsiN W lAhAN' ~ ~
hours" nan persisted Not any t"o
I!ttlc. Five hours il will be"
lie found where the snow had drift
ed against a great dead log. leaving
the white covering only foot in
depth on the lee side. lie began Ia
scrape the SloW away. then hacked at
the log with his dN until hc had pro-
cured a piece nf comparatively dry
Hood from its center. They all stood
hrcathlcSS while he lighted the little
Pile Of kindlinE and hcapcd il with
green wood-thc only wood pr"cur-
able. Bur il didn't burn freely. II
smoked fitfully. threatening to die ont,
and emitting very little heat.
But they didn't particularly care.
The sun was warm above. aS always
I'm the mountain winters Of southern
Oregon. Sn0wbird and ban cleared
spaces beside the fire and slept. Len
noX, who had rested on the journey,
lay on his sled and with his uniniurcd
arm tried to hack enough wood from
the saplingS that Dan had cut tn keep
the fire burning.
AT three they got up, still tired and
aching in their bones from exposure.
Twenty-four hours had passed since
they had tasted food. and their unre-
plcnished systems complained. There
is no better engine i'm the wide world
than the human body. II will stand
more neglect and abuse than the finest
steel motors ever made by the hands
Of craftsmen. 4 man may fast many
days If he lies quietly in one place
and keeps warm. Rut fasting is a
deadly proposition while pulling
sledgeS over the snow.
Dan was less hopeful now. His face
told what his words did not. The
lines cleft deeper about his lips and
eyes: and Snowhird's heart achcd
when he tried 10 encourage her with
smile. II was wan. strange smile
that couldn't quite hide the first sick
ness Of despair.
The shadows quickly Iengthened-
simply leaping over the snow from the
fast-falling sun. The twilight deep,
cncd. the snow turned gray. and then
i'm vague way. the journey began Ia
partake of quality Of unreality. II
was not that the cold and the snow
and their hunger were not entirely
real, or that the wilderness WAS
longer naked Ia their eyes. Ii was Inst
that their whole effort seemed like
some dreadful. unhurhenpd Journey IN
n drcam-a stumbling advance under
difficulties too many and real Ia he
true.
The first sign was The far-off cry
OF the wolf pack. II was very faint.
simply Il stir in the carlrumS. vet II
was entirely clear. That clear, cold
mountain air was a perfect telephone
system. conveying a message distinct.
ly. no matter how family. There
were no tall buildings or cities To dis.
turh the ether waves. And all three
Of them knew at the same instant IL
was not exactly the cry they had
heard before.
They couldn't have told just why
even if they had wished to talk about
il. In some dim way. il had lost the
strange quality of despair it had held
before. Ii was as if the pack wer,
running with renewed life. that eacl
wolf was calling Ia another with {
dreadful sort of eNultatiOn. Ii was m
nNnifA1 cry lA
song they had learned to listen for. Il
sounded Immediately behind them.
They couldn't help hut listen. y,
human ears could have shut out IN,
sound. Bur none Of them pretended
that they had heard. And this was IN,
worst sign of all. Each one of tn,
three was hoping against hope in hi.
very heart; and at the same time, hop
ing that the Others did not understand
For a long tine, as the darkness,
deepened about them, the forests wer,
still. Perhaps, Dan thought. he hat
been mistaken after all. His shoulder,
strai. .htened. Then the chorus blaret
again.
The man looked back at the girl
smiling into her eyes. LennoX lay a,
II asleep, the lines of his dark face
curiOusly pronounced. And the girl
because she was Of the mountains
body and soul. answered Dams smile
Then they knew that all of them knew
the truth. Not even an inexperienced
ear could have any delusiOnS about
the pack song now. II was that old
est Of wilderness songs, the hunting
cry-that frenzied song of blood-lus
that the wolf pack utter when il /.
running on the trail of game. Ii hat
found the track of living flesh at last
There's no use stopping, or trying
TO climb a tree" Dan told them sim
ply. "In the first place. LennOx can
do Il. In the second. we've got to tallI
a Chancellor cold and hunger can ge
up a tree where the wolf pack can't
He spoke wholly without emotion
Once more he tightened the traces OF
the sled.
1--WE heard that sometimes the pacI
will chase man for days without at
tacking," LennOX told them. ut al
depends on how long they've gon,
without food. Heep on and try to for
get 'em. Maybe we can keep 'en
bluffed."
But as the hours passed, il becam,
Increasingly difficult to forget the vol
pack. II was only a matter of turnln,
the head and peering for an instan
into the shadows 10 catch glimps'
of one of the creatures. Their Usua
fear of men, always their first emo
tiOn, had given way wholly to hunt
ing cunning; an effort TO procure thei
game without too great risk of thei
own lives. In the desperation of thei
hunger they could not remember sucl
things as the fear of men. The!