Plentywood herald. [volume] (Plentywood, Mont.) 1908-current, 1931-09-17
FIRE
Published by Special Advancement With Tho
Chicago Tribune Syndicate
Copyright, 1881 BY Charles G. ID. Robertsl
IN THREE PARTS-PART ONE

Copyright. 1881 BY Charles G. d. Roberts)
IN THREE PARTS-PART ONE
"HE CHILL. gray silver light OF thu
first of dawn, CLASSY clear but il
= lusive, was steadily feeling its wa,
down the silent, interminable corridor.
of the forest. Within the dark heart o.
a dense hemlock thicket a darker shad-
ow began to take shape-a shadow
huge and ungainly, like some monster
of the early world. 1t seemed to be
nuzzling something at its feet. Present
ly it lifted a long-muzzled and massive
head, as if to greet the invading glim-
mer, and shifted the air with wide, wet
nostrils and searched the shadows with
suspicious eyes.
During the night the great COW moose
had given birth to her long-legged
sprawling calf; and now, as its mother
for a moment stopped licking it, it
struggled to it's feet and leaned against
her shakily, with legs spread wide apart
and big "a sagging. When it had
steadied itself the mother gently shift
ed her position to bring its muzzle
against her swollen udder, guiding it
with her caressing, prehensile lips and
coaxing it to nurse.
AS the light increased a pair of chick
ADDE'S awoke from their slumber in the
branches overhead and began running
up and down the trunk Of the ancient
hemlock beneath which the oos was
standing. Then a Canada jay, in his
dapper garb OF slate blue, tan and
black, came f1uttering down from the
high and swaying perch whereon he
had slept, safe from night prowLng
marten or weasel. He aIighted on a
rotting stump within half a dozen feet
of the great moose. She snorted at him
Indignantly for daring to come SO near
her precious offspring. He stared back
at her, unabashed, with his bold, bright
eyes, then f1irted his tail impertinently,
hoped to the ground, and began rum
aging briskly among the twigs and dead
leaves for something to stay his eager
and undiscriminating appetite.
Suddenly, however, he stopped short
and stood listening intently, his sleek
black head cooked to one side. The
great COW, who was watching him, stiff
ened her ears and listened intently, too.
What was it he heard which her keen
hearing could not catch? Nothing, it
seemed to her, but the silence. Except
for the thin, sweet conversation of the
two chickadees, the woods all about
were portentously still. And this was
the hour of waking, when the air
should have been astir with small, fur
tive, comfortable sounds. She waved
her long ears this way and that and
distended her sensitive nostrils anx-
iously, but could detect no hint OF dan
ger. Then the jay, with a business-1ike
directness quite unlike his usual de-
risive nonchalance, darted up to the
very topmost tip Of the hemlock, as If
to take an observation. Straightway he
uttered a harsh squawk and flew OF to
the southwark as If the matter OF his
breakfast had ceased to be Of any i'm
portance.
The two chickadees fell silent, stop
ped hunting beetles, and seemed to
consider the import Of that warning.
Then they went Pickering off In the
same direction.
The great moose stirred uneasily.
That harsh cry Of the jay had spoken
to her no less im%peratively than to the
chickadees-though to neither had it
said anything more definite than Clear
out!" But this, for the moment. she
could not do. Her calf was not yet
strong enough on his legs to travel.
She was puzzled as to what the threat
might be. She knew only that it came
from the northward-for the jay and
the chickadees had fled south. She
noticed that there were no rabbits
about, no squirrels. She had shifted no
pungent scent of fox or weasel. Evil
IDENTITY some alarm had gone abroad
hours before; but she, although through
long experience wise in all forest Wis
dom, had been too ~preoccupied with
the pangs of her approaching mother
hood to notice 1t. She could only wait,
with nerves quivering and every n
alert, and nurse her calf to strength
for speedy flight.
At last the low sunrise over the dis
tant Manoonsis ridges and a flooding
Of pinkish radiance into the silvery
grayneSs of the thicket. Everything, on
a sudden, stood out with edges and
colors sharply defined. Then with the
rising light came a slow wind out of
the northwest, signing furtively through
the branches. In spite of the direction
from which it came its breath was
warmish and family acrid. At the very
first touch Of 1t the moose stiffened
and her heart gave a leap OF panic.
This was the very worst she could have
It was Fire.