The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1922-12-28
He heard the sound but dimiy. In

FL - --------- ~-a--.~- 80
He heard the sound but dimly. In
fact, except for his straining with ev-
cry nerve alert, he might not have
heard 1t at all. Nevertheless, distance
alone had dimmed 1t; 1t had been a
large sound to start with. So far had
1t come that only a scratch on the
eardrums was left Of It but there was
no chance to misunderstood 1t. 1t
cracked out to him through the unfath-
enable silence. and all the elements by
which he might recognize 1t were dis
tinct. II was the noise Of a heavy
sthicket being broken down and parted
before an enormous body.
! He listened, straining. Then he
heard the sound again. Whoever came
toward him had passed the heavy
brush by. now. The sounds that
reached him were just faint and inter-
nifttent whispers-frst Of a twig
cracking beneath a heavy foot, then
the rattle Of two pebbles knocked to-
gether. Long moments Of utter silence
would ensue between, In which he
could hear the steady drum of his
heart in his breast. and the long roll
Of his blood In his veins.
The limbs Of q young ar tree rustled
and whispered as something brushed
against them. Leaves flicked together,
and once a heavy limb popped like q
distant small-calibered rife as a great
weight broke 1t In two. Then, as II
the gods OF the wilderness were using
all their ingenuity to torture him, the
silence closed down deeper than eve
before.
1t lasted so long that he began to
hope again. Perhaps the sounds had
been made by q deer stealing on Its
way to feed In the pastures. Yet he
knew the step had been too heavy for
anything but the largest deer, and
their way was to encircle a thicket
rather than crash through 1t. 1t might
have been the step of q of the small,
black bears-a harmless and friendly
wilderness dweller. Yet the impress
sion fingered and strengthened that
bnly some great hunter, q beast who
feared neither other beasts nor men.
had been steadily coming toward him
through the forest.
At that instant the moon slipped
under a particularly heavy fragment
Of cloud, and deep darkness settled
over him. Even his white face was NO
longer d~iscernible In the dusk. He lay
scarcely breathing. trying to fight
down his growing terror. II
This silence could mean but one Of
two things. One Of them was that the
creature who had made the sounds had
turned of o N n Of the many inter
secting game trails that wind through
the forest. This was his hope. The al
tentative vas one Of despair. 1t was
simply that the creature had detected
his presence and was stalking him In
silence through the shadows.
( He thought that the light would new
er come. He strained again at the
ropes. The dark cloud swept on /; and
the moonlight. silver and bright, broke
over the scene.
The forest stood once more in sharp
silhouette against the sky. He studied
with straining eyes the dark fringe Of
shadows hundred feet distant.
Then he detected a strange variation
In the dark border of shadows. 1t held
his gaze, and its outlines slowly
strengthened. So still 1t stood, so
seemingly q natural shadow that some
i~rregularly shaped tree had cast, that
his eyes refused to recognize 1t. But
In an instant more he knew the truth.
The shadow wal that Of q great
beast that had stalked him clear to the
border OF the moonlight The Killer
had come for his dead.
- -
Continued next week.