The daily Alaskan., 1922-04-11
By EDISON MARSHALL
Copyright, 1920, Little, Brown & OompSRy)

Wears a tan natT'
 "That's the man."
 'I know him-und wish you'd punctured him. That's FaIling-the tenderfoot that's been staying at Len uox's He's a lunger."
 "He didn't look like no hunger to me"
 But DO matter about that-it's just as thought And I'll gel 'em back mark my little words"
 In the meantime the best thing to do was to move at once 10 his winter trapping grOunds-a certain neglected region on the lower levels of the North Fork. If at any time. within the next few weeks, Dan should attempt to carry word down to the settlements, hs would be certain to pass within view of his camp. But he Knew that the chance of Dan starting upon any such Journey before the snow had melted was nOt one in thousand. To be caught In the Divide in the winter means to be showed In aS completely aS the InnuIts of upper Greenland. No word could pass except by man on snOwShUeS.
 Yer if the chance did come. If the house should be left unguarded. t might pay CranstOu to make an im- mediate search. Dun would have no reason for suppoSIng that CranSton suspected his possession of the IeI- ters; be would not be particularly watchful and would probably pigeon hole them until spring in LennoNs desk.
 And the truth was that CrunSton had reasoned out the situation almost perfectly. When Dan awakened ID the morning. and the snow lay already foot deep over the wilderness world. he knew that he would have no chance Co act upon the Cranston case until the snows melted iu the spring. S" he pushed all thought of II out oi ms mind and turned his attention to more pleusaur subjects II was true that He rrgd the documents over twice as ne lay in bed. Then he tied them into neat packet and put them away where they would be quickly available. Ih'h he thrust his head out of the wlNu"" and lpr the great snowfak SifI down upon his face. IL was wn--er at iaSI the season that he loved.
 He didn't stir from the house that first day of the storm. Snowhird ana he found plenty Of pleasant things 10 do and talk about before the roaring fire that he built in the grate. He was glud of the great pile of wood tnat Inv outside the door. It meant life it- self. ln this season. Then SnoWO'r" led him 10 the windows, and they watched tbe white drifts pile up over the Iow underhrush.
 When finally the snowstorm ceased five doys later. the whole face Of the wilderness was changed. The DUCK brush was mostly covered, the fences were out of sight; the forest seemed il clear clean sweep Of white hro5'n only by an occasional tall thIc6et and by the great, snOw-cOvered trees
 When the clouds blew away, and the air grew clear. the temperature began to fall. Dan had no way oi knowing how low lt went. Thermolne tprs were not considered essential ai the Lennox home. But when his eye lids congealed with the frost. ana ms nittpns froze to the logs Of frewood that he carried through the door. and tte pine trees exploded and cracked ln tba darkness. he was correct ln h's brlIef that it wuS very, very cold.
 But he loved the cold, and the si- lence and austerIty that went with It. The wilderness claimed him as never before. The rugged breed that were his ancestors had struggled through such seasons as this and passed a love of them down through the years to him.
 When the Ice made a crust over the snow, he learned to walk on snow shoes. Al first there were paired onllles and endless flnundering in 'he drifts, But between the fall of fresh snow and the thaws that SOftened ihe crust. he slowly mastered the art. SnOwbIrd-and Dan never realized 'he full significance of her name until he saw her flying with Incredible grace over the snow-laughed al him ut first and ran him races that would usually end in his falling headirst into a len foot snowbank. She taught him how to ski and more than once she would stop in the middle of an earnest hlt of pedagogy to find that he wasn't lis tenlng at all. He would seem to be fairly devourIng her with his eyes. de lighting in the play of sof; pinks aud reds in her cheeks, and drinking. as a man drinks wine, the amazing change of light and shadow in her eyes.
 She seemed to blossom under his gaze. Not one of those short winter days went by without the discovery of some new trait or little vanity to astonlsh or delight him-somrtimeS an unInoked-fOr tenderness toward the weak, often a sweet. untaIned philos ophy of life. or perhaps just a lower
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