The Jasper news., 1921-03-17

1ney trudged on, and Lennox grew
thoughtful He was recalling the pIcs
ture that he had seen whan he had
whirled 20 look at Dan, immediately
after the deer had leaped from Its
bed. 1t puzzled him little. He had
turned to end the younger man in a
perfect posture to shoot, his feet
placed In exactly the position that
years OF experience had taught Len
nox was correct; and wlthal. absolute
ly motionlesH What many hunters
take years to learn, Dan had seemed
to know by instinct. Could It be, after
all. that this slender weakling. even
now bowed down with a terrible
malady, had inherited the true from
tiersman's Instincts of his ancestors7
The result OF this thought was at
least to hover I'm the near vicinity Of
a certain conclusion. That conclusion
was that at least a few Of the char
acteristics OF his grandfather had
been passed down to Dan. It meant
that possibly, II time remained, he
would not turn out such a weakling,
after all. OF course his courage, his
nerve, had yet to be tested; but the
fact remained that long generations
of frontiersmen ancestors had left this
influence upon him. The wild was
calling to him, wakenlng instincts
long smothered in cities, but sure and
true as ever. 1t was the beginning
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 a frontiersman
and wilderness lnhabltant such as his
ancestors had been before him.
They were 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 10 the trail and turn his
eyes toward heavy thiclzet 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 II he we're lis
tening. His muscles were set and
ready.
Lennox had prided himself that he
had retained all the powers of his five
senses, and that few men in the noun
talns had keener ears than he. Yet
1t 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
sound, but yet distinct In the ST.
lence. There's something living In
that thicket."
Then Lennox heard II, too. AS they
stood still, the sound became ever
clearer and more pronounced. Some
living creature was advancing toward
them; and twlgs were cracking be-
meath its feet. The sounds were rath-
er subdued. and yet, as the animal ap-
preached. both OF them instinctively
knew that they were extremely lond
for the usual footsteps of any of the
wild creatures.
"What is it?" Dan asked quietly.
Lennox was so intrigued by the
sounds that he was not even obsetv-
ant Of the peculiar. subdued quality
IN Dams voice. Otherwise. he would
have wondered at II. "Tm free to
confess ] don't know" he said. "Its
booming right toward us, like most
animals don't care to do. OF course
II mag 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 90
Lennox went on. "Of course II might
have been bear-you never know
what they're going to do. It might
have got sight of us and turned on.
But can't believe that It was just a
deer"
But then his words chopped square
ly Off In his throat. The plodding ad-
vance commenced again. And the
next instant a gray form revealed It.