Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1922-11-16
CHAPTER xx,,,

figure might be that s0f q deer or IN
elk-could no longer be entertained.
Men, al a rule. do not love, the Wild
and wailing sobs Of coyote, % he
looks down upon q camp FIRE from the.
ridge above. sleep does not come cas-
lily when q eaunt wolf walks In q slow,
inquisitive circle about the pallet.
scarcely a leaf rustling beneath his
& feet. And few times, In the history
OF the frontier. men have had queer
tinglings and creepings In the scalp
when they have happened to glance
over their shoulders and see the eyes
of q great, tawny puma glowing an,
odd blue In the freight. Yet, Bruce
would have had any one Of these, or
all three together. In preference 70 the
Killer. PA: IS. III
The reason was extremely simple.
No words have ever been capable Of
expressing the depths Of cowartlice Of
which a coyote is capable. He Will
whine and weep about q camp, Ikea
soul lost between two worlds, but II
he Is In his right mind he would have.
each one Of his gray hairs plucked ont.
one BY one, rather than attack q man.
The cunning breed to which he belongs
has found out that Il doesn't pay. The
wolf Is sometimes sdisquietingiy braxe
when be is fortified By his pack breth-.
rem In the winter. but IN such q season
10 this he q particularly careful to
keep out Of the sight Of man. And the
Tawny One himself, white Hanged and
long-clawed and powerful 90 he Id.
never gets farther than certain dread
FIJI, speculative dream1
But none Of these was true Of the
Killer He had already shown his
scorn Of men. His very stride showed
that he feared no living creature that
shared the forest with him.. In fact
he considered himself the forest mas
Ter. The bear ID neyes. o. particularly.
timid, animal, and whatever timiditys
the Killer possessed was ass utterly
gone g yesterdays daylight.
Bruce watched him With unwinkins
eyes Il might be that the Killer would
fan TO discern his outline. Bruce had
no conscious knowledge, as yet, that
Il IL movement rather than form to
which the eyes Of the Wild creatures
are most receptive. hut be acted up-
on that fact nov as Il BY instinct He
was not lying 10 quite the exact spot
where the Killer. had LETT his dead the
preceding night, and possibly his ont
line was mot enough Hike to attract
the grixxly's attention. Besides, In the
intermittent light, 4 Wasswholly pos,
: sible that the grizzly would tTy 10 and
the remains Of. lis feast bY smell
alone: and II this sifeS 1ack3Hf, and
Bruce made no movements 10 attract
Ids attention. he might wander away
In search Of other e6nne. (,
T For the nrst time n his life, Bruce
knew Fear as Il really was. Il Is .
knowledge that few dNelless in citdea
can possibly have; and 6 TN times has
Il really bssn experienced In these days
of cty1ltsatton that men have. mostly
Forgotten what Il Ii me. II they sx.
pef1eaeefit at all, It Il usually only n
q dream that arisss from the! germ
plasrn- nightmare to paralyze the
muscles and chill tho heArt and freeze
man In his bed. The moon was
strange and white - Il slippsd In and
out Of the clouds and the forest myll
.terious % Death itselk nshtsnsd md.
darksned alternately with q strange.
effect Of unrsality; but for an unt,:
Brucs could not make himaelf believe
that this was inst = dream. The
dreadful reality remained that tho
Killer, whose name and wofks he
knew. was even now investigating him
from the shadows one hxd6diSd Ssst
away. VA IA S-,ss
The fear that came to him Wa that
of the young world -fear without rec.
ompense. direct ana primitive fear
that grew on him IKE . steknee Il
was the Tear that the dser knew @
they cTept down their dnslky trails it
16s ~ Tar 81 Darkness
and silsne ana palm ana heaven
I khnNs yshat cruelty that would 10 ~.
sttsd upon him ~ Hhoss terrible rsad.
sging 4lnSsfand1 ciawp flt was the 6ea1
athet san ~ heard q tho paek song 81
1 to ttndtu wfntsr season, and that
l en- 81 felts 81 strange overtones, IL IL
1 spbbbins WIN q despair that tn ;coyots
uttset Ne hal1. H had
bsen4 aft1id for Ne liiSS' s 8, moneai
( - no a: thS hAnds 81 the Turner's.
I h msw that II 10 suryived this nisht,
I n vnmld Nava ~ i%Sna ~ ,.-s-.s