Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1922-01-06
CHAPTER i-contlnusd.

49, At 6rst there were pained
...les and endless houndering in the
s,,ts But between the fall of fresh
..ov and the thaws that softened the
Mt he slowly mastered the art.
s,ovbird-and Dan never realized the
an s,snificance Of her name until he
- her flying with incredible grace
.,.r the spow-laughed at him at first
- ran him races that would usually
IA in his falling headfirst into ten
foot snowbank. She taught him how
N ski and more than once she would
.ton IN the middle Of an earnest bit
- nedarogy to find that he wasn't lis
tsrins at all. He would seem to be
f.,rly devouring her with his eyes. de-
nothing In the play Of soft pinks and
rods in her cheeks, and drinking, as =
man drinks wine. the amazing change
A. lisht and shadow In her eyes.
She seemed to- blossom under his
80. Not one OF those short winter
6ays went BY without the discovery
a, some new trait or little vanity to
..,onish or delight him--sometimes
an unlooked-for tenderness toward the
veat. often a sweet, untained philos-
ophy Of life, or perhaps just lower
ins Of her eyelids in which her eyes
vou,d show lnstrous through the
,.shes, or some sweeping, exuberant
sesture startlingly graceful.
Lennon wakened one morning with
the realisation that this was one Of
the hardest winters Of his experience.
B. began to be very glad Of the album
dant stores Of provisions that over
crowded his pantry-savOry hams and
bacons, dried venison. sacks Of pOta-
toes and evaporated vegetables. and,
Of course, canned goods past count
ing. With the high IRE roaring In the
srste, the season held no Ills for them.
But sometimes. when the bitter cold
came down at twilight, and the moon
looked like thing Of Ice itself over the
snow, he began to wonder how the
Wild creatures who wintered on the
Divide were faring. OF course most
Of them were gone. Wool. long since,
had grunted and mumbled his way
into q winter lair. But the wolves re-
NAMED. strange gray shadows on the
snow, and possibly few Of the
harder smaller creatures.
More than once in those long win
ter nights their talk was chopped of
short by the song Of the pack on some
distant ridge. Sometime. when the
world is old, possibly a man will be
born that can continue to talk and
keep his mind on his words while the
wolf pack sings. But he Is certainly
an unknown quantity today. The cry
sets In vibration curious memory
chords, and for a moment the listener
sees in his minds eye his ancien,
home In an ancient world-Darkness
and Fear and Eyes shining about tbs
cave. 1t carries him back, and hi
knows the wilderness as II really is
and to have such knowledge dries W
all inclination TO talk, as a sponge
dries water. OF course the pictur.
isn't entirely plain. 1t is more thin.
guessed at, photograph in some darl
part OF an under-consciousness tina
has constantly grown more dim as tn,
centuries have passed. Possibly some
time 1t will fade out altogether; ant
then man may continue to discuss
the weather while the Song from tn
ridge shudders In at the windows. Blu
me world will be quite cold by then
ahd no longer particularly interesting
ana possibly even the wolves them
serves Will then be tanned to play dea,
ana speak pleces-which means tn
wilderness itself will be tanned. Fo
as long as the wild lasts, the pack will
run through II In the winter. The.
were here In the beginning. and Il
spite or constant war and constan
natred on the part Of men. they vii
oe mere In the end. The reason 10 Jus
.hat they are the symbol Of the vii
derness itself, and the idea Of II con
unuing to exist without them
stranger than that of nation withon
a nag.
II wasn't quite the same song tina
Dan had listened to In the first day
OF rail- It had been triumphant theu
P'Sou Win the WilUeTuVst ptius
VI course II had been sad then, toe
nut II was more sad now. And II wa
stranger. too. and crept farther int
The souls Of its listeners. 1t was tn
song Of strength that couldn't avail
against the snow. possibly Of cold an
the despair and courage Of starvation
These three that heard II we're inure
TO the wilderness; but a moment wa
always needed after its last note Ia
died to regain their gaysty.
They're getting lean and they'r
Getting savage" Lennon said on
night, stretched on his divan befor
the fireplace. He was still unable I
walk; but the fractures were knittin
slowly and the doctor had promise
that the summer would nnd him vel
IF We had q dog. I wouldn't offe
much for his life. One Of these day
we'll and EN- In q big circle aroun
the house-and then we'll have I
open up with>the rifles"
But this picture appalled, neither q
his two young listeners. No wolf pac
can stand against three marksmeu
armed with rifles and behind cake
walls,
Christmas came and passed. an