Williams news., 1922-12-08
CHAPTER XIV

The Killer had had an unsuccessful night. He had waited the long hours through at the mouth of the trail, but only the Little People-Such as the rabbits and similar folk that hardly constituted a single bite in his great jaws-had come his way. Now it was morning and it looked as if he would have to go hungry. He started to stretch his great muscles, intending to leave his ambush. But all at once he froze again into a lifeless gray patch in the thickets. There were light steps on the trail. Again they were the steps of .deer-but not of the great, wary elk this time. Instead it was just fawn, or a yearling doe at least, such creature as had not yet learned to suspect every turn in the trail. The forest gods had been good to him, after all.
 He peered through the thfckets, and in a moment -e he had glimpse of the spotted l. It was almost too easy. But even as the Killer watched the prize was simply taken out of his mouth. A gray wolf-a savage old male that also had just finished an unsuccessful hunt-had been stealing through the thickets in search of lair. and he came out on the trail not fifty feet distant, halfway between the bear and the fawn. The one was al- most as surprised as the other. The lawn turned with a frightened bleat and darted away; the wolf swung into pursuit.
 The bear 1unged forward with a howl of rage. He leaped into the trail mouth, then ran as fast as he could i'll pursuit of the running wolf. He was too enraged to stop to think that q grizzly bear has never yet been able to overtake n wolf. once the trim legs got well into action. At first he couldn't think about anything; he had been cheated too many times. His first impulse was one of tremendous and Overpowering wrath-a fury that meant death to the first living crea- ture that he met.
 But in single second he realized that this wild chase was fairly good tactics, after ali. The chances for a meal were still rather good The fawn and the wolf were in the open now, and 1t was wholly evident that the gray hunter would overtake the quarry in another moment. It was true that the Killer would miss the pleasure of staying his own game the GCStat1c blow to the shoulder ana the bite to the throat that followed 1t. In this case, the wolf would do that part of the work for him. It was just simple matter of driving the crea- ture away from his dead.
 But at that instant fate took a hand in the merry little chase. To the fawn, 1t was nothing but sharp clang of metal behind him and an answering +shriek of pain-sounds that in its an unIooked-for and tragic reality to the wolf. His leap was suddenly ar rested in mid-air, and he was hurled to the ground with stunning force. Cruel metal teeth had seized his leg, and a strong chain held him when he tried to escape. He fought 1t with desperate savagery. The fawn leaped on to safety.
 But there was no need of the grizzly continuing its pursuit. Everything had turned out quite well for him, after all. A wolf is ever so much more fill ing than any kind of seasonal fawn; and the old gray pack leader was inn prisoned and helpless in one of Hud- sons traps.
 
 In the first gray of morning, Dave Turner started back toward his home. "I'll go with you to the forks in the trail,'' Hudson told him. ''I want to take a look at some of my traps, any hOw."
 ~ At the same hour-as soon az t was