, 1922-10-25

PNhtih6 away SloftS luz Just
this season. In the SHOWS that would
follow he would simply retire into the
farthest recesses of his burrow and
let the winds whistle vainly above
him.
Inc larger creatures, however, were
less complacent. The wolves-if ami
mails have any powers Of foresight
whateyer-knew hat only hard days,
not luscious nuts and roots, were In
store for them. There would be many
DAYS OF hunger once the snow came
over the land. The black zeal saw
the signs and began a desperate effort
to lay up as many extra pounds of
rat as possible before the SHOWS broke.
He would have need Of the extra flesh.
The time was coming when all sources
OF food would be cut off by the SHOWS,
and he would have to seek the security
OF Information. He had already chos-
en- an underground abode for himself
and there he could doze away In the
cold-trance through the winter months,
subsisting on the supplies of fat that
he had stored next to his furry hide.
The greatest of all the bears, the
Killer, knew hat some such fate
awaited him also. But he looked for
ward to it with wretched spirit. He
was master of the forest, and perhaps
he did not like to yield even to the
spirit of winter. His savagery grew
upon hin every day, and his dislike
for men had turned to a veritable
hatred. But he had found them out.
When he crossed their trails again,
he would not walt to stalk. They were
apt to slip away from him in this case
and sting him numerically with bull
lets. The thing to do vas charge
quickly and strike with all his power.
The three minor wounds he had re-
ceiyed-two from pistol bullets and
N from Bruce's rife-had not lessened
his strength at all. They did, how
ever, serve to keep his blood-heat at
the explosive stage most of the day
and night.
The flowers and the grasses were dy-
ing; the moths that paid calls on the
flowers had laid their eggs and had
persisted, and winter iurked-ready to
pounce forth-just beyond the distant
mountains. There is nothing so
thoroughly unreliable as the mountain
autumn. 1t may linger in enhancing
Colds and browns month after month,
until it is almost time for spring to
come again; and again it may make
n short bow and usher in the winter.
To Bruce and Linda, In the old Fol-
ger home In Trails End. these all
days offered the last hope of success
in their war against the Turner's.
The adventure in the pasture with
the Killer had handicapped them to
an un~looked-for degree. Bruce's
muscles had been severely strained
by the bonds; several days had
elapsed before he regained their full
use. Linda was a mountain girl,
hardy as a deer, yet her nerves had
suffered a greater shock by tbs ex-
perience than either of them had
guessed. The wild ride, the fear and
the stress, and most of all the base
blow that Simon had dealt her had
been too much even for her strong
constitution and she had been obliged
to go to bed fol- n few days of rest.
Old Elmira worked about the house
the same as ever, but strange, new
lights we're In her eyes. For reasons
| that went down to the roots of things,
neither Bruce nor Linda questioned
her as to her scene with Dave Turner
in the coyerts; and what thoughts
dwelt In her aged mind neither of
them could guess.
The truth was that in these short
weeks of trial and danger whatever
dreadful events had come to pass in
A.. ..~,tw ..n-- .,1at1 t@l
thought nor words. Both Bruce and
Linda were down to essentials. 1t is
a descent hat most human beings
some time in their llves-ind they are
able to make; and there was no room
for sentlmentality or hysteria in this
grim household. The ideas, the soft
nesses, the laws of the valleys were
far away from them; they were face
to face with realities. Their code had
become the basic code of life: to kill
for self-protection without mercy or
remorse.
They did not NOW when the Turner'S
would attack. 1t was the dark of the
moon, and the men would be able to
approach the house without present
ing themselves as targets for Bruce's
rifle. The danger was not a thing on
which to conjecture and forget; 1t
was an ever-present reality. Never
they stepped out of the door, never
they crossed a lighted window. never
n pane ratified In the wind but that
the wings of Death might have been
lowering over them. The days were
passing, the date when tine chance for
victory would utterly vanish was al
most at hand. and they were haunted
by the CHASTITY fact that their whole
defense lay In a single thlrty-thlrty
rifle and five cartridges. Bruce's own
gun had beer taken from him In ST.
mons house; Linda had emptied her