Evening star., 1927-11-20

I Some miles 10 the north, lived man
who owned a pack of hounds ina!
would hunt and kill anything tnat
walked on four legs, from wolves 70
mountain. lions and grizzly bears. Inc
| leader of that pack was l0o.pouno
monster cross between a giSam.ic
| timber.wolf and a wolfhound' Inc
owner came to Sioux crossing anu
brought Gray King. as the dos was
called, with him. Up to tnat tiine,
Sioux Crossing felt that the dog wouio
, never be born that could defeat
Blondy, but, at, the sight OF tray
King, its faith was shaken.
one day, as Blondy was going along
Main street, he came upon Gray King,
who. with his master, was standing
before the hotel. And the fight was on
Gray King fought after a fashion
i, that was new to Blondy. He fought
as wolf does. A wolf fights by
charges and retreats, coming in to
slash with its great teeth and to
knock the foe down with the blow OF
it's shoulder. The Gray King cut
Blondy twenty times. but they were
only glancing knife.edse strokes
They took the blood, but not the
heart. from Blondy. who. in the mean
time. was placed too low and solidly
on the ground to be knocked down.
At the end of 20 minutes. as the Gray
King leaped in, Blondy side-stepped
like a dancing boxer, then dipped in
and set that long. Furnishing jaw in
the throat of the King. The latter
rolled. writhed and gnashed the air.
But for the arrival of Peter Zinn, who
took Biondy off, Gray King would
have died.
From that time forward. Blondy
was one of the sights of the town-like
Sandoval Mountain. lie was pointed
out constantly and people said: Good
dog" from a distance, but only Tom
Freiust appreciated the truth. lie
said What keeps linn from getting
fisht-hunsry? Because he has dog
that does the fighting for him. lie
helps to keep linn out of Jail. But
some day linn will bust through"
This was hardly fair thing for the
constable to say. but the nerves of
honest Tom Fejus were wearing thin.
He knew that. sooner or later, the
blacksmith would attempt to execute
his threat of breaking him in two,
and the suspense lay heavily upon
Tom. He was still practicing steadily
with his guns: he was still as conf
skill; but. when he passed Zinn on
the street. the gloomy face Of the
blacksmith sent a chilli of weakness
through his body.
That dread. perhaps, had sharpened
the perceptions of Frejus, for Ger.
tainly he had looked into the truth,
and, while Peter linn bided his time.
Blondy was fierce comfort to him.
The choicest n1orsel Of enjoyment was
delivered into his hands on morning
in September. the very day after
Frejus had gained lasting fame by
capturing the two Minister brothers.
with enough robberies and murders to
their credit to have hanged a dozen
men.
THE Zinns took breakfast in the
kitchen this Thursday. so that the
warmth Of the range might fight the
frost out of the air. and Oliver. the
Oldest boy, announced from the win.
dow that old Gripper. the constable s
dog. had come into the back yard.
The blacksmith rose to make sure.
He saw Gripper, big black.and.tan
dog nosing the top Of the garbage
can, and a grin of infinite satisfaction
came to the face Of Peter Zinn. First
he cautioned the family to remain dis.
creetly indoors. Then he stole out
and closed and latched the gate. The
trap was closed on Gripper. after
which Zinn returned to the house and
lifted Blondy to the window. The
hair lifted along the back of Blondy s
neck; growl rumbled in the dceps of
his powerful body. Yonder was his
domain. his own yard, of which he
knew each inch--the smell of every
weed end rock: yonder was the spot
where he had killed the stray chicken
last July: near it was the tall. rank
nettle, so terrible to an inquisitive
nose; and, behold, strange dog paw
ing at the very place where, only yes.