The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1923-01-16

Thus In these few little weeks Ben
Darby beast Of the forest In his
unhridlcd paSSions-had In some
measure imaged the life history OF
the race. lie had lived again the
momcntous regeneration. The pro-
tecting wallis. tho hearth. particularly
Beatrice's wholesome and healing In
flucnec. had tanned him. lie was stlll
a forester bred In the hone--loving
these forest depths with an ardor too
deep for words but the mark OF the
beast was gone from his flesh.
He could stil deal justice TO E1-
rams murderers and thus keep faith
with his dead partner; but the prim-
al passions could no longer dominate
him. His pet. however. remained the
Welt The sheltersng cavern walls
were never for him. He loved Hen
with an undSing devotion yet bar
rser was rising between them. They
could not so the same paths forever.
Matters reached crisis between
F'enris and himself enc stiil warm
night In late July. The two were
sitting side by side at the cavern
nav. watching the slow enehantncnt
Of the forest under the spell Of the
rising moon: Beatrice had ALREADY
gone 10 her hammock. As the last
little blaze died In the fire and Il
cracked az ever longer intervals Ben
suddenly made moving discovery.
Tho fringe OF forest about him
usually 20 dreamlikc and sun was
simply breathing and throhhing with
life.
hen dropped his hand 70 the VOLTS
shoulders The little folks are cali
ting on Us tonight he said quietly.
In all probability he SPOKE the
truth II was not an uncommon
thing for the creatures OF the who'd
usually the lesser people such as ro-
dents and the small hunters--to
crowd close 20 the edge OF the glade
and try 70 puzzle out this ruddy mys-
terry IN its center. Unused TO men
hey could never understand Some
shines the lynx halted In his hunt 10
Investigate. sometimes an old black
hear--kindly benevolent g0od-hum-
aiist lovcs-grunted and pondercd at
the edge OF the shadow. and some
times even such iordiy creatures as
moose and caribou paused In their
aiwht Journeys 20 SEE what was taxi
ing place.
cursousiy tho wolf started violently
At Ben's touch. The man suddenly
regarded hin with a gaze OF deepest
interest The hair was erect on the
powerful neck. the eyes swan in pale.
blue fire. and ne was staring away
INTO the mysterious shadows
what DO you sec. oid-timerT- Ben
sst~d Il wish I could zee. too
He brought his senses 10 the finest
locus trying hard TO understand He
was aware only Of the strained ST.
ence n first Thcn hero and there.
about the dirnniug circles Of freight.
he heard the soft rustic OF little feet.
the subdued crack Of q twfs or the
scratch Of . dead leaf The forest
srpeii.--of which there ~ no cate
rory In heaven or earsh--reachsd
him with incredible clarity. These
were faint. vaguely exciting Smells.
some Of them the exquisite fragrance
If summer flowers. others beyond NJ.
ken And presently two small. bright
circles appeared IN a distant covert.
rfowei once. ard then went out.
Ry pe~rfns closely. with unwfnkinr
eyes. he bernn 70 $50 other twin
circles of green ard yellow lirht. Yet
they were f,nrtive little rafsance--
vanishing vwtftiy--and they were
nothing - which 20 ~ afraid.
They arr out tonight he mur-
INJURED NO wonder you're excited.
Fsrrfs what IL it--rorne cel~hra-
ton IN the forsst7-
There was no possible explanation.
Fore~fers know that on certain
nights the wilderness seems Simply
70 feem with fe-~rrntehfnKs and
ru~siinrs in every cowert--and on
0fher nights n r. uffu and Hrele~s
rs feserf The Wild folk were
abroad tonight and were simply pay
inr casual. curious visits 70 Bcn's
fire.
Oncr more Ben glanced NJ the wolf.
Tho animal no longer rrouch~f.
Rather hs was standing rigid. his
head hais-turned and nfted. gazing
away toward a distant ridge behind
the lake. A wilderness message had
reached hirn. clear as n voice.
But presently Ben understood.
ThrobbinF thru the night he heard
weird. far-carryfng Gala long
drawn note. broken by haif-sob~--
the mysterious. pisintive utterancs o.
the Wild itself Yet ~ was not an