The daily Alaskan., 1922-04-18

'lf they should cross our traCkS- LennoX suggested.
 No use worrying about that now not until we come to it." Dan told him.
 The morning broke. the sun rose bright ina clear sky. But stIn they trudged on. In spite Of the fact that the sled was heavy and broke through the snow crust as they tuGEed al it. they had made good time since their departure. But now every step was a pronounced effort. + was the dread ful beginning Of fatigue that only food and warmth and rest could reCtify.
 "Wem rest now" Dan told them al fen o'clock. "The sun Is warm enough so that we won't need much of g fire. And we'll try to get five hours sleep"
 "Too long. if we're going 10 make it out" Lennox objected.
 That leaves a w0rkday of nineteen hours" Dan persisted Not any too litile. Five hours it will be"
 He found where the snow had drift ed against a great. dead log. leaving the wnrp covering only a foot In depth on the lee side. He began to Scrape the snow away then hacked at the log with his av unti' he had pro cured piece of comparatively dry wood from uS center They all stood hrearh'esS while he lighted the little pile of kfndIing and hcaped it with green woud-the only wood DroCur- ahle. But It didn't burn freely. Tt smoked ntfuNy. threatening to die out, and emitting very little heat.
 But 'hcy didn't particularly care. Tho Sun was warm above. as always In the mountain winters of southern Oregon. SnOwhir1 and Dan cleared spaces beside the fire and slept Len nOx. who had rested on the tourney, lay on his sled and with his uniujured arm tried to hack enough wood from The saUljncs that Tan had cut 10 keep the fire burning.
 Al .AlI t+t fNfN'N =N| HIIr 'NNa NaI'.H athNA aching Tn their bones from exposure. Twcnty.four hours had passed since they had tasted food. and their nre- nIrnished systems complained. There Is no better engine in the wide world than the human hodv. It will stand more neglect and abuse than the finest steel motors ever made hy the hands Of craftsmen. A man may fast many days if he lies quietly in one place and keeps warm. But fasting Is a deadly proposition while pulling sledges over the snow.
 Dan was less hopeful now His face told what his words did not. The lines cleft deeper about his lips and eyes; and SnowhfrdS heart ached when he tried to encourage her with a smile. Il was wan. strange smile that couldn't quite hide the first sick ness of despair
 The shadows quickly lenEthened- simply leaping over rhe snow from the fast-fnllfng sun. The twilight deep cned. the snow turned gray. and then, Iu vague way. the journey began to nartake of quality of unreality. It was not that the cold and the snow and their hunger were not entirely real or that the wilderness was no longer naked 10 their eyes IL was just that their whole effort seemed like some dreadful. unhurdened Journey In a dreum-a stumbling advance under difficulties too many and real to be true.
 The first sign was the f8r-Oif cry of the wolf pack. It was very faint simply a stir in the eardrums. vet it was entirely clear. That clear, cold mountain air was a perfect telephone system. conveying a message distinct Iy. no matter how falntly. There were no rall buildings or cities to dis turb the ether waves. And all three Of them knew at the same instant lt was not exactly the cry they had heard before.
 They couldn't have told just why, even if they had wished 10 talk about It. In some dim way. it had lost the strange quality of despair it had held hefore. IL was as if the pack were running with renewed life. that each wolf was calling to another with a dreadful sort of exulta1ion, It was an excited cry, too--not the long, sad song they had learned 10 listen for. It sounded Immediately behind them.
 They couldn't help but listen. No human ears could have shut out the sound. But none of them pretended tbat 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 at the same time, hop Ing that the others did not understand.
 For a long time, as the darkness deepened about them, the forests were still. Perhaps Dan thought he had been mistaken after all His shoulders stralghtened. Then the chorus blared again.
 The man looked back at the girl, smiling into her eyes. LennOx lay as if asleep, the lines Of his dark face ,7,rS,,,-I,. v,-,r,,,,-.1 a,,1 tha eriyl