The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1922-06-30

hpOdA l'i. - "a
house about a mile back I'm going TO
take you over there and leave you with
those people
Il will not 20 there"
He swore. I'll carry you, then"
She shrank back from him as he
lurched toward her with hands out
stretched to seize her; he followed
her, and she avoided him again if his
guilt and terror had given her mental
aSCendency over him, his physical
strength could still force her To his
will and, realizing the impoSsibility
of evading him or overcoming him,
she stopped.
Not that she cried. Don't touch
me ="
Come with me, then !" he command
ed and he went to the door and laid
his snowshoes on the snow and
stepped into them, STOPPING and tight
ening the straps; he stood by while
she put on hers. He did not attempt
again to put hands upon her as they
moved away from the little cabin to-
ward the woods back of the clearing;
but vent ahead, breaking the trail for
her with his snOwshOes. He moved
forward slowly he could travel, If he
had wished, three feet TO every two
that she could cover, but he seemed
not wishing for speed but rather for
delay. A deep, dull was
booming above the wood; II doomed
again and ran into a rhythm. No
longer was it above at least II was not
only above; it was all about them
here, there, to right and to left, before,
behind-the booming Of the Drum.
Doom was the substance OF that sound
Of the Drum beating the roll Of the
dead.
Henry had stopped In front OF her,
half turned her way his body swayed
and bent to the booming of the Drum,
as his swollen lips counted It's sound
ings. She could see him plainly in the
moonlight, yet she drew nearer to him
as she followed his count. Twenty
one" he counted--"Twenty-two" The
drum was still going on. Twenty
Observation-Disclosures" Would
he count another?
He did not; and her pulses, which
had halted, leaped with relief. He
moved on again, descending the steep
side Of a little ravine, and she fol-
lowed. One of his SnOWShOeS caught
in a protruding root and, instead Of
slowing TO free it with care, he pulled
it violently out, and she heard the dry,
seasoned wood crack. He looked down,
swore; saw that the wood was not
broken through and went on but as
he reached the bottom Of the slope, she
leaped downward from a little height
behind nm and crashed down upon his
trailing snowshOe just behind the heel.
The rending snap Of h wood came
beneath her feet. Had she broken
through his shoe or snapped her own?
She sprang back, as he cried out and
swung in an attempt to grasp her; he
iunged 20 follow her, and she a a
few steps away and stopped. At his
next step his foot entangled In the
mesh OF the broken sn~owshoe, and he
stopped, cursing, to strip 1t off and
hurl It from him then he tore off the
one from the other foot, and threw 1t
away, and lurched after her again ;Sut
now he sank above his knees and floun-
dered In the snow. She stood for a
moment while the half-mad, half
drunken figure struggled towardher
along the side Of the ravine then she
ran to where the tree trunks hid her
from him. He gained the top Of the
slope and turned In the direction she
had gone; assured then. apparently,
that she had flown In fear Of him. he
started back more swiftly toward the
beach. She followed, keeping out Of
his sight among the trees.
To twenty-six, he had c~ounted-to
twenty-six, each time! That told that
he knew one was living among those
who had been upon the ferry! What
one? 1t could only be n of two to
dismay him so; there had been only
two on the ferry whose rescue he had
feared; only two who, living, he would
have let lie upon this beach which he
had chosen and set aside for his pa
troll, while he waited for him to die!
She forced herself on, unsparingly,
as she saw Henry gain the shore and,
as, believing himself alone, he hurried
northward. She could not rest; she
could not let herself be exhausted.
Merciless minute after minute she
raced him thus A dark shape-a fig
ure lay stretched upon the ice ahead !.
Beyond and still farther out, some
thing which seemed the fragments Of
a lifeboat tossed up and down where
the waves Numbered and cleaned at
the edge of the foe.
Henry's pace quickened hers quick
ened desperately, too. She left the
shelter of the trees and scrambled
down the steep pitch Of the bluff,
shouting. crying aloud. Henry turned
about and saw her he halted, and she
passed him with a rush and got be-
tween him and the form upon the Ice,
before she turned and faced him.
D~efeat-defeat of whatever purpose