, 1922-11-08

"'H 49, +AA III "a
he Thought that lie Lad found th.,n
He had suddenly >om:a npon the tract,
of Bruce's hors,. In tie snow.
If he had encountered them f,r,bo.
back. when The animal had been RIM.
ming wildly. he might have guessed
the truth and rejoiccd. No man womb
attempt to ride a horse al n rnIl,n
through that trailless stretch. But -,
tie point he found the tracks most NJ
the horses terror had been spent ana
1t was walking leisurely. sometimes
lowering its head to crop of the shrub.
berry. The trail WINS comparatively
fresh, too; or else the fast-fnllinp
snow would have already obscured II
He thought that his bonr of trlumnb
was near.
But 1t had come nona too soon. And
Simon-out of ~passien-flled eyes
looked and saw that 1t would likely
bring death with 1t.
He realized his position fully. The
storm was steadily developing into
one of those terrible mountain biz
yards In which. without shelter, no
human being might live. He was far
from his home. he had no blankets.
and he could not find his way. Yer
he would not have turned back II he
could. The securing of the document
by which Bruce could take the great
estates from him was only a trihe now.
He believed wholly within his W
soul that the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. his
nid-would do his work of hatred for
him; and that by no conceivable cir
cumstances could Bruce and Linda
find shelter from the blizzard and live
through the day. He could find their
bodies In the spring If he by any
chance escaped himself, and take the
R~oss-Folger agreement from them.
But 1t was not enough. He wanted
also to do the work of destruction.
Even his own death--if II were only
delayed until his vengeance was
wreaked-could not matter now. In
all the ancient strife and fury and
c~easeless war of the wild through
which he had come, there was no pas
sion TO equal this. The Killer was CON
tent to let the wolf kill the fawn for
him. The cougar will turn from Its
warm, newly slain prey. in which Its
white fangs have already dipped. at
the sight of some great danger in the
thickets. But Simon could not turn.
Death lowered its wings upon him ms
well as upon his enemy, yet the fire in
his heart and the fury In his brain
shut out all thought of II.
He sprang OFF his horse better TO
examine the tracks. and then stood,
half bent over. in the snow.
Bruce Folger headed swiftly up the
trail that his runaway horse had
made. 1t was. he thought, his last
effort. and he gave his full strength
to IT, Weakened as he was by the
cold and the wound. he could not nave
made Roadway AT all except for the
fact that the wind was behind him.
The snow eve fell faster, in larger
flakes, and the track dimmed leiore
his eyes. 1t wns n losing game. Ter
rified not only by the beast that had
stirred in the thicket but by the ever
increasing wind as well, the animal
would not linger to be overtaken.
Bruce had not ridden II enough to
have tanned 1t, and his plan was to
attempt to shoot the creature on sight,
rnther than try to catch II. They
could not go forward. anyway. as long
as the blizzard lasted. Which way was
east Inc which was west he could no
longer guess. And with the blankets
they might make some sort OF shelter
and keep life in their bodies until the
snow ceased and they could find their
way.
The cold was deepening. the storm
was increasing In fury. Bruce's bones
ached, his wounded arm felt numb and
strange, the frost WINS getting into his
lungs. There was no hope Of the
storm decreasing, rather 1t was stead
lily growing worse. The tracks
grew more dim, and he began
to be afraid that the falling
fakes would obscure his W foot,
prints Sc that he could not find
his way back to Linda. And he knew
beyond all other knowledge, that he
dropped down for good and all.
He wanted her arms about him; the
fight would be easier then.
ooh, what's the user he suddenly
said to the wind. .Why not give up
and go back7"
He halted In the trail and started
to turn. But at that instant a pan
ner of wind swept down into his face
md the eddy of snow in front of him
was brushed from his gaze. Just for
the space of a breath the canyon Tor
a hundred feet distant was partially
cleared of the binding streamers Oh
snow. And he uttered a long gasp
when he saw, thirty yards distant D
at the farthest reaches of his sight
the figure OF a saddled horse.
His gun leaped 10 his shoulder YET
his eagerness did not cost him his sell
| control. He gazed quietly along the