The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1921-03-18
CHAPTER ".

fancy the winding trails had been her
playground, and long ago she had ac-
quired the mountaineer's sixth sense
for traversing them at night. She had
need of that knowledge now. She
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 which
no mountalneer is entirely unacquaint-
ed, and for a 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 she
could be deceived by lt-as stories
tell that certain tenderfeet. dying of
thirst In the barren hills, have BEEN
Buk she always liked the sound; and
she missed It especially tonight,
She felt that If she, would stop to
listen, there would be many faint
sounds In the thlckets--those little
hushed noises that the wild things
make to remind night-wanderers of
their presence. But she did not In
the least care to hear these sounds.
They do not tend toward peace of
mind on a long walk over the ridges.
The wilderness began at once.
Whatever influence toward civiliza-
ton her fathers house bad brought to
the wilds chopped off as beneath a
blade In the first fringe of pines. This
Is altogether characteristic Of the Ore
gon forests. They are much too big
and too old to be tanned in any large
degree by the presence of one house.
No one knew this fact better than
Lennox himself who, In hard win
ter of four years before, had looked
out of his window to find the wolf
pack ranged In 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 throb-
bling 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 had
covered the first of the twelve miles,
the sounds that from the first had
been knocking at the door Of her con-
seriousness began to make an entrance.
II a persen lies still long enough, he
can usually hear his heart beating
and the flow of his blood in his
arteries. Any sound, no matter how
faint, will make itself heard at last
It was this way with very peculiar
noise that crept up through the silence
from the trail behind her. She
wouldn't give 1t any heed Mt first. But
lin a very little while indeed, it grew
Sc Insistent that she could no longer
disregard 1t.
Some living creature was trotting
along on the trail behind, keeping ap
proximately the same distance be
tween them.
Foregoing any attempt to ignore 1t
she set her cool young mind to think
ing what manner of beast 1t might be
Its step was not greatly different from
that of a large dog-except possibly
, dog would have made slightly NOR,
noise. Yet she couldn't even be sur'
| of this basic premise. because TIL!
, animal, whatever II might be, had a
first seemingly moved with utmos
, caution, but now took less care witt
. its step than is customary with thu
wild denizens of the woods. A wolf
! for instance, can simply drift when |
, wishes, and the silence of cougar !
, a name. Yet unless her pursuer wer'
i a dog, which seemed entirely unlikely
. II was certainly one of these two. Sh'
/ would have liked very much to belley'
/ the step was that of Old Wolf tn
i bear suddenly curious as to what thi
!. dim light OF hers might be; but sh
\ couldn't bring herself to accept tn
1 lie. Wool, excep, when wounded o
ccrnered. Is the most amiable crea
: ture In the Oregon woods, and
. would give her almost sense OF Sc
curity to have him waddiing alon
behind her. The wolves and cougar
!. remembering the arms Of Wool, woul
!. not be nearly so curious. But unfoi
!. tunately. the black bear had neve
|, done such a thing In the memory 0
man. and II he had. he would hav
= made six times as much noise. FL
: can go fairly softly when he is stab
!. Ing. but when he is obliged to trot-
!, as he would be obliged to do to kee
up with a swift-walking human hgur
: he cracks twigs like rolling loi
= She had the impression that the an
NAL behind had been passing lik
y smoke at first. but wasn't taking n
= trouble 10 do II now.
:. The sound was soft pat-pat on n
. trall-sometimes entirely obliterate
: but always recurring when she bega
: 70 believe that she had only faneie
iss presence. Sometimes a twig. ran