Middletown transcript., 1921-03-05
CHAPTER ".

mate. accurate knOWeuSe "
whole region Of the Divide. In her IN
fancy the winding trails had been ner
playground, and long ago she had ac-
ouired the mountaineers sixth sense
for traversing them at night. She had
need Of that knowledge now. Sne
slipped into her free, swinging stride; +;
and the last beams from the windows
OF the house were soon lost In the
pines behind her. It was one OF those
silent, breathless nights with wnleh
no mountaineer is entirely unacquaint-
ed. and for long time the only sound
she could hear was her own SOFT
tramp in the pine needles. The trees
themselves were motionless. That
peculiar sound, not greatly different
from that Of running water which the
wind often makes in the pine tops
was entirely lacking. Not that sne
could be deceived by it-as stories
tell that certain tenderfeet. dying OF
thirst in the barren hills, have oeen.
But she always liked the SOUND; anu
she missed It especially tonight.
She felt that If she would stop 10
listen. there would be many taint
sounds in the thickets-those little
hushed noises that the wild Things
make to remind night-wanderers OF
their presence, But she did not III
the least care to hear these SOUNDS.
They do not tend toward peace OF
mind IN n long walk over the ridges.
The wilderness began at once.
Whatever influence toward clVlllza-
tion her fathers house had brought TO
the wilds chopped off as beneath a
blade in the first fringe OF pines. ms
Is altogether characteristic of the Ore-
gon forests. They are much TOO Dig
and too old to be tanned in any large
degree by the presence Of one mousse.
No one knew this fact better than
Lennox himself who, in a hard VIM
ter of four years before, had looked
out Of his window to find the VOL
pack ranged in a hungry circle about
his house. Within two hundred yards
after she had passed through her ia
theirs door, she was perfectly aware
| that the wild was stirring and throO-
bing with life about her. At first she
tried very hard to think OF other
! things, But the attempt wasn't en-
tirely a success. And before she nad
covered the first Of the twelve miles,
the sounds that from the first had
been knocking at the door of her con-
| sciousness began to make an entrance
na person lies still long enough. ne
can usually hear his heart beating
and the flow Of his blood in bis
arteries. Any sound, no matter how
faint. will make itself heard at last
It was this way with a very peculiar
noise that crept up through the silence
from the trail behind her. She
wouldn't give it any heed ut first. But
in a very little while indeed, 1t grew
so insistent that she could no longer
disregard it.
Some living creature was trotting
along on the trail behind, keeping ap
proximately the same distance be
tween them.
Foregoing any attempt to ignore It
she set her cool young mind to think
ing what manner Of beast it might be
its step was not greatly different from
that Of large dog-except possibly
dog would have made slightly more
noise. Yet she couldn't even be sure
Of this basic premise. because this
animal, whatever it might be, had a
first seemingly moved with utmos
caution, but now took less care will
its step than Is customary with tht
wild denizens Of the woods. A wolf
for instance, can simply drift when i
wishes, and the silence Of cougar II
name, Yet unless her pursuer were
a dog, which seemed entirely unlikely
II was certainly one Of these two. Sh'
would have liked very much to believ'
the step was that Of Old Wolf tn
bear suddenly curious as to what thi
dim light Of hers might be; but sh'
couldn't bring herself to accept tn
lie Woof, except when wounded o
cornered. is the most amiable crea
ture in the Oregon woods, and /
would give her almost sense OF sc
curity to have him waddling aloni
behind her. The wolves and cougar
remembering the arms Of Woof, woul'
not be nearly SO curious. But unfor
tunately, the black bear had neve
done such a thing in the memory o
man, and If he had, he would hav
made six times as much noise. H
can 20 fairly softly when he is stalk
Ing but when he is obliged to trot-
As he would be obliged to do to kee
ND with q swift-walking human f1gur
he cracks twigs like rolling lo&
She had the impression that the an
NAL behind had been passing lik
smoke at first. but wasn't taking tn
trouble to do it now.
The sound was a soft pat-pat on tn
trail-sometimes entirely obliterate
hut always recurring when she bega
. to believe that she had only fancie
it's presence. Sometimes q twig, raiI
soaked though it was, cracked beneat
q heavy foot, and again and agai
she heard the brush crushing an
sustling as something passed througl
. sometimes, when the trail was COZ
cred with soft pine needles. it wa
practically indistinguishable.
The animal was approximately on
hundred feet behind. It wasn't a vol
she thought. The wolves ran In PACK
this season, and except in winter wei
more afraid Of human beings than an
other living creature. It wasn't lyn
l-one Of those curiosity-devoured Il
tie felines that will NEW all day on
trail and never dare come near.
ma much too large for Q lynx. Tt