The Snowflake herald., 1922-11-03

he froze again into 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 q fawn, or 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 thickets, and
in a moment more he had glimpse of
| the spotted skin. 1t was almost too
easy But even as the Killer watched
/ the prize was simply taken out of his
mouth gray VOLTA 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
fawn turned with a frightened bleat
and darted away; the wolf swung into
pursuit.
i
howl of rage. He leaped into the trail
mouth, then ran as fast as he could
in pursuit of the running wolf. He
was too enraged to stop to think that
il grizzly bear has never yet been able
TO overtake wolf, once the trim legs
got we'll into action. At first he
couldn't think about anything; he had
1 .
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 all. The chances for a
meal were still rather good. The
fawn and the wolf were in the open
now, and it was wholly evident that
the gray hunter would overtake the
quarry in another moment. 1t was
/ true that the Killer would miss the
pleasure of Staying his own game
the ecstatic blow to the shoulder and
the bite to the throat that followed it.
In this case, the wolf would do that
part of the work for him. 1t was just
a simple matter of driving the crea-
ture away from his dead.
But at that instant fate took hand
in the merry little chase. TO the
fawn, it was nothing but a Sharp clang
of metal behind him and an answering
shrek of pain-sOunds that in its
! terror ii heard but dimly. But it was
an unlooked-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 it with
on to safety.
But there was no need of the grizzly
continuing its pursuit. Everything had
turned out quite well for him, after
ALL wolf is ever so much more fill
ing than any kind of seasonal fawn;
and the old gray pack leader was i'm
prisoned and helpless in one of Hud-
sons traps.
In the first gray of morning, Dave
Turner started back toward his home.
"rll go with you to the forks in the
trail," Hudson told him. Il want to
take look at some of my traps, any
how"
At the same hOur-as soon as it was
light enough to see-Bruce was finish
ing his breakfast in preparation for
the last lap of his journey. He had
passed the night by spring on long
ridge almost in eye range of Hudson's
camp. Now he was preparing to dip
down into the Killers glen.
Turner and Hudson followed up the
little creek.
The first Of Hudson's sets proved
empty. The second was about a turn
in the creek, and a wall of brush made
it impossible for him to tell at dis
tance whether or not he had made a
catch. But when still a quarter of
mile distant, Hudson heard a sound
that he thought he recognized. 1t was
high, sharp, agonized bark that
dimmed into low whine, Il believe
I've got coyote or wolf up there"
he said They hastened their steps.
The whole picture loomed suddenly
before their eyes. There was no wolf
in the trap. The steel had sprung,
certainly, but only hideous fragment
Of foot remained between the jaws.
The bone had been broken sharply
off, as man might break a match in
his fingers. There was no living wolf.
Life had gone out of the gray body
many minutes before. The two men
saw all these things as background
only-dim details about the central
figure. But the thing that froze them
in their tracks with terror was the
great, gray form of the Killer, not
twenty feet distant, beside the man
gled body of the wolf.
The events that followed thereafter
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