The Dolores star., 1921-05-20
Copyright. 1870. by Little. Brown = CO

| needed. at the meeting or the ring the
night before, to adjudge Hildreth
merciless and immediate end. Hi.
areth would have preferred to wait In
the hills and possibly to write another
letter. but chill that kept growing
at his finger tips forbade 1t. And all
these things combined to stretch his
nerves almost to the breaking point
| as he stole along the moonlit trail un-
der the pines.
moment before the rush and whlr
| OF the grouse flock had dried the roof
OF his mouth with terror. The tall
trees appalled, him. the shadows fell
upon his spirit. And when he heard
this final sound, when he saw the
CLINT that might so easily have been a
gun-barrel. his nerves and muscles re.
acted at once. Not even fraction OF
second interviewed. His gun flashed
up and little. angry cylinder OF
flame darted, as snakes head darts,
from the muzzle.
Hildreth didn't take aim. There
wasn't time. The report roared In the
darkness the bullet sang harmlessly
and thudded into the earth; and both
of them We're the last things In the
world that Cranston had expect
ed. And they were not moment too
soon. Even at that instant. his finger
was closing down upon the trigger,
Hildreth standing clear and revealed
through the sights. The nervous re-
sponse that few men In the world
would be self-dIsciplined enough to
prevent occurred at the same instant
that he pressed the trigger. His own
fire answered. so near to the other
that both of them sounded as one re-
port.
Most hunters can usually tell, even
If they cannot see their game fall,
whether they have hit or missed. This
was one of the few times in his life
that CranstOn could not have told. He
knew that as his finger pressed he had
held as accurate bead" as at any
time in his life. He did not know still
another circumstance-that In the
moonlight he had overestimated the
distance to the clearing. and instead
Of one hundred yards It was scarcely
fifty. He had held rather high. And
he looked up. unknowing whether he
had succeeded or whether he was face
to face with the prospect Of duel
to the death in the darkness
And all he saw was Hildreth, rock
ing back and forth In the moonlight
strange picture that he was never
entirely to forget. II was a motion
that no man could pretend. And he
knew he had not missed.
He waited till he saw the form Of
his enemy rock down, fnce half-burled
In the pine needles. II never even oc-
CURED to him to approach to see if he
had made n clean kill. He had held
on the breast and he had world of
confidence in his great. shocking, big
game rifle. Besides, the rifle fire might
attract some hunter in the hills: and
there would be time In the morning
to return to the body and make GER
tain little Investigations that he had
in mind. And running back down the
trail, he missed the sight of Hildreth
dragging his wounded body. like an
injured hare, into the shelter of the
thickets.
Whisperfoot. that great coward.
came out Of his brush-covert when the
moon rose. 1t was not his usual rising
time. Ordinarily he found his best
hunting in the eerie light of the twi-
light hour; but for certain reasons,
his knowledge Of which would be ex-
tremely difficult to explain, he let this
time 90 by in sumber. Whisperfoot
mad slept almost since dawn 1t is a
significant quality in the feines that
they simply cannot keep in condition
without hours and hours Of sleep, In
this matter of sleeping. they are in a
direct contrast to the wolves, who
seemingly never sleep at all. unless 1t
Is with one eye open, and in still
greater contrast TO the king Of all
beasts, the elephant, who Is said to
slunber less per night than that great
electrical wizard whom all men know
and praise.
The great cat came out yawning, as
graceful thing as treads upon the
earth. He was almost nine feet long
from the tip of his nose to the end of
MS tall and he weighed as much as
many a full-grown man. He stood and
yawned insolently. for all the forest
world to see. He rather hoped that
the chipmunk. staring with beady eyes
from his doorway, did see him. He
would Just as soon that Woors little
son. the bear cub. should see him too.
But he wasn't so particular about
Woof himself. or the wolf pack whose
song had Just wakened him. And
above all things. he wanted to keen
out of the sight Of men.