Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1922-02-10

$500
grave giant would administer justice
| was upon him, and his heart seemed
to freeze in his breast. Cravenly he
leaped for his knife on the blankets
below him.
Dan was upon him before he ever
reached it. He sprang as a cougar
| spings incredibly fast and with shat
tering power. Both went down, and
for long time they writhed and strug-
| gled in each others arms. The pine
boughs rustled strangely.
The dark, gaunt hand reached in
vain for the knife. Some resistless
| power seemed to be holding his wrist
and was bending it's bone as an Indian
bends bow. Pain dashed through him.
| And then this dark hearted man, who
| had never known the meaning of mer-
| cy, opened his lips to scream that this
terrible enemy be merciful to him.
But the words wouldn't come.
| CHASTITY weight had come at his throat,
and his tortured lungs sObbed for
| breath Then, for long time, there
was curious pounuing, flashing sound
in the evergreen boughs. 1t seemed
merciless and endless.
But Dan got up at last, in strange,
heavy silence, and swiftly went to
work He took the rifle and filled 1t
with cartridges from Cranston's belt.
Then he put the remaining two boxes
Of shells into his shirt pocket. The
supplies of food-the sack of nutri-
tious jerked venison like dried bark,
the little package of cheese, the boxes
Of hard tack and one of the small
sacks of prepared f1our-he tied, with
a single kettle, into his heavy blan-
kets and flung them with the rifle upon
his back Finally he took the pair of
snow shoes from the floor. He worked
coldly, swiftly, all the time munching
at a piece of jerked venison. When he
had finished he walked to the door of
the lean-to.
1t seemed to Dan that Cranston whis-
pered family, from his unconscious
ness, as he passed; but the victor did
not turn to look. The snow shoes
| crunched away into the darkness. On
| the hill behind a half dozen wolves
stragglers from the pack-frisked and
leaped about In a curious way. A
strange smell had reached them on the
wind and when the loud, fearful steps
were out of hearing. it might pay them
| to creep down, one by one, and investi-
| gate It's cause.
=
The gray circle about the fire was
growing impatient. Snowbird waited to
the last instant before she admitted
this fact. But it is possible only so
| long to deny the truth of thing that
all the senses verify, and that moment
for her was past.
She noticed that when she went to
her hands and knees, laboriously to
/ cut piece of the drier wood from the
rain-soaked, rotted snag that was her
principal supply of fuel, every wolf
would leap forward. only to draw back
when she stood straight again. She
worked desperately to keep the fire
burning bright. She dared not neglect
1t for moment. Except for the single
pistol ball that she could afford to ex-
pend on the wolyes--of the three she
had--the fire was her last defense.
But 1t was losing fight. The rain.
soaked wood smoked without flame
the comparatively dry core with which
Dan had started the fire had burned
down, and the green wood, hacked with
such heart-breaking difficulty from the
saplings that Dan had cut, needed the
most tireless attention to burn at all.
Her nervous vitality was flowing
IRON her in frightful stream. Too
long she had toiled without food ir
the constant presence of danger, ant
she was very near indeed to utter ex
hauStlon. But at the same time she
knew she must not faint. That wa.
one thlng she could not do-to fall un
conscious before the last of her tire,
cartridges was expended in the righ
way.
Again she went forth TO the sapling
and this time it seemed to her that Il
she simply tossed the AK through thu
AR she could fell one of the gra,
crowd. But when She stopped TO picl
IL up-she didn't finish the thought
She turned to coax the fire. And ther
she leaned sobbing over the sled
whats the nses" She cried. H,
won't come back. What's the use o.
hghung any more?n
There's always use Of fighting" he
rather told her He seemed to sneal
with difficulty, and his face looked
strange and white The cold and tn,
exposure were having their effect OF
his weakened system, and unconscious
ness was a near shadow indeed. But
dearest-f could only make you d,
what | want you to"
WHAT
~ u're able to climb tree. and II
you'd take these coats. YOU wouldn'
freeze by morning If you'd only hav,
the strength"
ana see you torn to pieces !"
I'm old, dear-and very tired-anf
Ia crawl away into the shadows, wher,
you couldn't see, There's no use mine