New Mexico state record. (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1914-19??, 1921-04-22
CHAPTER Il-Continued.
20

-
Too long, If we're going to make 1t
out" LennOX objected.
THAT leaves a workday of nineteen
hours" Dan persisted. mot any 100
little, Five hours it will be-
lie found where the snow had drift
ed against a great. dead log. leaving
the white covering only a foot IN
depth on the lee side. He began to
Scrape the low away then hacked at
the log with his ax until he had pro
cured a piece of comparatively dry
wood from its enter. They all stood
GREATNESS while he lighted the little
pile of kindling and heaped it with
green wood-the only woOd procur-
able. But it didn't burn freely. 1t
smoked fitfully, Threatening TO die out,
and emitting very little heat.
But they didn't particularly care.
The sun was warn above, as always
in the mountain winters of southern
Oregon. Snowbird and Dan cleared
spaces beside the fire and slept. Len
n0x. who had rested on the journey,
lay on his sled and with his u%ninjured
arm tried to hack enough wood from
the saplings that Dan had cut TO keep
the fire burning.
At three they got up, still tired and
aching in their bones from exposure.
Tw enty-four hours had passed since
they had tasted food, and their unre-
pleuished systems complained. There
is no better engine in 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. A man may fast many
days if he lies quietly in n place
and keeps warm. But fasting is n
deadly proposition while pulling
sledges owe the snow.
Dan was less hopeful nos. His face
told what his words did not. The
lines cleft deeper about his lips and
eyes; and Snowbird's heart ached
a smile. II was n wan. strange smile
that couldn't quite hide the first sick
ness of despair.
The shadows quickly ~lengthened-
simply leaping over the snow from the
fastfalling SUM-. The twilight deep
cned, the snow turned gray, and then,
in n vague way. the journey began to
partake of n quality of unreality. II
was not that the cold and the snow
and their hunger were not entirely
real, or that the wilderness was J
longer naked TO their eyes. Ii was lust
that their whole effort seemed like
some dreadful. %unburdened journey in
n dream-a stumbling advance under
difficulties too many and real to be
true.
The first sign was the far-off cry
of the wolf pack. 1t was very faint.
simply a stir in the eardrums, vet II
was entirely clear. That clear. cold
mountain air was II perfect telephone
system, conveying n message distinct
ly. no matter how family. There
were no tall buildings or cities 10 dis
turb the ether waves. And all .hree
of them knew at the same instant 1t
was not exactly the cry they had
heard before.
They couldn't have told just why,
even If they had wished to talk about
It. In some dim way. II had lost the
strange quality Of despair 1t had held
before. Ii was as If the pack were
running with renewed life, that each
wolf was calling Il another with n
dreadful sort of e|Xultation. II was an
excited cry. too-not the long, sad
SONG they had learned to listen for. II
sounded Immediately behind them.
They couldn't help but listen. No
sound. But nome of them pretended
that they had heard. And this was the
worst sign of all. Each one Of the
three was hoping against hope in his
very heart and M the same time. hop
ing that the others did not understand.
For a long time. as the darkness
deepened about them. the forests were
Perhaps, Dan thought, he had
been mistaken after all. His shoulders
stral .htened. Then the chorus blared
The man looked back at the girl.
smiling into her eyes. Lennox lay as
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
FAR could have any delusions about
The pack song now. II was that old
est Of wilderness songs, the hunting
cry-that frenzied song Of %bloodlust
that the wolf pack utter when it is
running on the trail of game. II had
found the track of living flesh at last.
There's no use stopping. or trying
10 climb a tree" Dan told them sim
ply. an the first place. LennOx can't
10 it. In the second. we've got TO take
\ Chancellor cold and hunger can get
m a tree where the ,solf pack can't"
He spoke wholly without emotion.
Once more he frightened the traces of
Inc sled.
"Tve heard that sometimes the pack
will chase a man for days without at
lacking" Lennon told them. 1T all
depends on how long they've gone
without food. Keep on and try to for
get 'em. Maybe we can keep EN-
bluffed."
But as the hours passed, II became
Increasingly difficult to forget the wolf
pack. II was only a matter of turning
he head and peering for an instant
INTO the shadows to catch a glimpse
one of the creatures. Their Usual
of men, always their first emo
ion. had given way wholly to a hunt
Ing GINNING; an effort to procure their
rame without too great risk of their
,wp lives. In the desperation of their