The daily Alaskan., 1922-04-01
CHAPTER "

Snowhird felt very glad of her inu- mate. accurate Knowledge of the whole region ur Ihc Divide. In her in funcy the winding trails had been her playground. and long ago she had ac- Quired rhe mounIanecr'S sixth sense for traverSiug them nt night. She had need of that Knowledge now. She slipped into her free. swinging stride; and the Inst beams from the windows of the house were soon lost in the pines behind her. It was one Of those silent. brpurhI,>S nights with which DO mouuruiucer is entirely unacquaint- rd. aud for long time the only sound she could hear was l.eT own soft nal behind had been passing Ike smoke at fist. hUt wasn't taking the trouble to do it now.
 The sound was a soft pat-pat on the sometimes entirely ohlirernted but always recurring when she began to believe that she bad only lancied its presence. Sometimes a twig. rain soaked though it was. cracked henrath a heavy Con,. and again and again she heard the brush crushing and rrSrlin- us something passed through. Sometimes, when the Trail was coy cred with soft pine needles it WAS practically ind.St.n-uish0hIe.
 The animal was approximately one hundred feet hchtud. IL wasn't a wolf, she thought The wolves ran in packs thfs SpnSou. and excerpt -n winter were more afraid or human beings than any other living creature II wasn't lynx one 0f those cur'0Sity-leNoUred lit- tlp rpiiucS thar win new all day on a trail and never dare come near. lt was much foo large for a lyuN. The feet fol tnu S0IIdIy. There were no dogs in the mountains to follow at heel and she had no desire whatever to meet Shag. rhp faithful hybrid that used to be her guardian in the hills. For Slag had gone to his weII-de- served rn>t several seasons before. Two other possibilities remained. One was thnt this follower was a human being rbc other ,Nur it WIS a cougar.
 Ordinarily a hWnan h~mG is much more potentially dangerous 10 a wom- an in tnr hills qt night ,hon 8 cougar. A cougar Is am ahiert coward and some men are uor. Rw Snovaird felt herself entirely cnpahle Of handling any human fneS. They would have no advantage over her; they would have no purpose in killing from ambush; and she trusted to her own marks manshiD implicitly. While lt Is an eX- trpmrly difficult thing to shoot al cougar lcupiuC from the thickct a tall man standing on a trail presents an easy target. Besides, she had a vague sense Of discomfort that if this animal were a cougar. he wasn't acting true to form. He w0S altogether too bold.
 The animal on the trail behind her was taking no care at all to go silent ly. He was simply pit-pottins along, wholly nt his ease. He acted 0s If the fear that men huve Iustil'cd in his breed was somehow missing. And that Is why she instinctiveIy tried to hurry on the trail.
 The step kept pace. For a long mile, up a barren ridge, she heard every step it made. Then, as the brush closed deeper around her, she couldn't hear it at all.
 She hurried on. strainlng to the silence. No. the sound was stopped. Could It be that the animal fearful at last. had turned from her trail? And then for the first time a gasp thnt was not greatly different from a de- spairing sob caught at her throat She heard the steps again. and they were in the thlckets just beside her,
 Two hours before Snowbird had left the house, on her long tramp to the ranger station. Dan had started home. He hadn't shot until sunset, as he had planned.
 He rode one of LennOx's cattle ponies. the only piece of hOrSe-aesh that Bill had not taken to the valleys when he had driven down the live stock. She wns a pretty bay, spir- tied, high-bred mare that could whip about on her hind legs at the touch of the rein on her neck. She made good time along the trail. And an hour be fore sunset he passed the only human habItatiOn between the marsh and Lennox's house-the cabin that had been recently occupied by Landy Hil- dreth.
 He glanced at the place as' he passed and saw that 1t was deserted. No smell of wood smoke remained in the air. Evidently Landy had gone down to the settlements with his precious testimony in regard to the arson ring. Yet It was curious that uo word had been heard of him. AS