The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1923-09-26

ldC4llIN THAT IulSul TURN NtCACclL AAAbO
victory; was not some finesse gained
in his years of civilized living, no
cultural growth from some great
university far to the south. but merely
one of the basic tricks of humble
trade.
Doomsdorf had told him, once, that
a good trapper must learn to mark
his sets Any square yard of ter
ritory must be so identified, in the
minds eyes, that the trapper can re-
turn, days later, walk straight to it
and know its every detail. Ned Cor
net had learned his trade He was
a trapper; and he knew this snowy
pass as an artist knows his canvas.
He stepped boldly through.
Bess walked just behind. stepping
exactly in his tracks. Her heart
raced 1t was not merely because
the full truth was hidden from her
that she walked straight and I'M
afraid. She would always follow
bravely where Ned led. Now both of
them had passed through the little,
narrow gap between lofty, snow
swept crags. Doomsdorf trudged just
behind
Then something sharp and calami-
tous as a lightning bolt seemed to
strike the pass. There was a loud
ring and clang of metal, the sharp
crack of a snowshOe frame broken
to kindling, and then, obiterating
both, a wild below of human agony
like that of mighty grizzly wound
ed to the death. Ned and Bess had
passed in safety, but DoOmsdorf had
stepped squarely into the great bear
| trap that Ned had set the evening
before.
The cruel jaws snapped with
clang or iron and the crunch of flesh.
The shock. more than any human
/ frame could endure, hurled Doomsdorf
to his knees; yet so mighty was his
| physical stamina that he was able to
retain his grip on his rife. And the
instant that he went down Ned
! turned, leaping with savage fury to
strike out his hated life before he
| could rise again.
He was upon him before Doomsdorf
/ could raise his rife. As he sprang
he drew his knife from its sheath, and
cut a white path through the gather
ing dusk. And now their arms went
about each other in a final struggle
for mastery
Caught though he was in the trap,
! Doomsdorf was not beaten yet He
net that attack with incredible power.
His great hairy hand caught Ned's
ann as 1t descended. and though he
| could not hold it. he forced him to
| drop the blade. With the other he
reached for his enemy's throat.
This was the final conflict; yet of
such might We're these contestants, so
| terrible the fury of their onslaughts.
/ that both knew at once that the fight
/ was one of seconds. These two
mighty men gave all they had. The
/ fingers clutched and closed at Ned's
throat. The right hand Of the lat
ter, from which the blade had fallen.
/ tugged at the pistol butt at Dooms-
! DORIS holster.
! Bess leaped in, like a she-wolf in
! defense of her cubs, but one great
/ sweep Of DoOmsdorf's arm hurled her
! unconscious in the snow There were
to be no outside forces influencing
/ this battle. The trap at Doomsdorf's
] ACC+ va -NEu > OlAAy diNdHLdRet anu
/ he had decoyed his enemy into It by
! his own cunning. 1t was man to man
at last. a cruel war settled for good
and all.
1t could endure but an instant more.
Already those iron fingers were crush
/ ing out Ned's life. So closely matched
were the two foes. so terrible their
/ strength, that their bodies scarcely
/ moved at all; each held the other in
an iron embrace, Ned Juggling with
| his left hand at the fingers that
| clutched his throat. Doomsdorf try
ing to prevent his foe from drawing
the pistol that nc wore at his belt and
| turning it against him.
/ It was the last war; and now it
| had become merely 4 question of
which would break first. They lay
together in the snow, utterly silent.
motionless, for all human eyes could
see. their faces white with agony.
every muscle exerting its full, ter
rife pressure. Ever Doomsdorf's
fingers closed more tightly at Ned's
throat; ever Ned's right hand drew
slowly at the pistol at Doomsdorf's
belt.
Neither the gun nor the strangling
fingers would be needed in a moment
more. The strain itself would soon
shatter and destroy their mortal
hearts. The night seemed to be fall
ing before Ned's eyes; his familiar,
snowy world was dark with the near.
ing shadow Of death. But the pistol
was free Of the holster now, and he
was trying to turn it in his hand
1t took all the strength of his re-
naming consciousness to exert a last,
vital ounce of pressure. Then there
was curious low sound, muf1ed and
dull as sound heard in a dream. And
dreams passed over him. like waves
over water, as he relaxed at last
breathing in great sobs, in the red
dened drifts.
Bess, emerging into consciousness,
crawled slowly toward him. He felt
the blessing of her nearing presence
even in his half-sleep. But Dooms-
dorf, their late master. lay curiously
inert, his foot still held by the cruel
jaws of iron. A great beast-of-prey
had fallen in the trap; and the killer
gun had sped a bullet, ranging up
ward and shattering his wild heart.
All this was just a page in Hell
Islands history. She had had one
dynasty a thousand thousand years
/ before ever Doomsdorf made his first
track on her spotless SHOWS; and all
that had been done and endured was