Show LOVE L 0 V E OF 0 F LIFE L IF E 4 4 By Jack London fey limped 1 painfully pain Cully down the bank I alid Id once the foremost of the two men Daggered among the tho rooks They were W re tired and weak and their faces had the drawn expression of patience which comes of hardship long tong endured They were heavily bur burdened with which were Strapped to their shoulders Head straps passing across the forehead helped support thero packs Each man carried a rifle They walked In n a stooped tIle the shoulders well for forward forward forward ward the head still BUll further forward the eyes bent upon the ground I wish we wo had Just about two of them cartridges laying In that cache of ourn said saul the second man His voice was utterly and drearily expressionless He spoke without en enthusiasm but the first man limping Into the milky stream that foamed over the rooks rocks vouchsafed no reply The man who followed slipped on a smooth boulder nearly fell but recovered recovered recovered ered himself with a violent effort at atthe atthe atthe the same time uttering a sharp exclamation exclamation exclamation mation of pain He Ho seemed faint and dizzy and put out his free hand while he ho reeled as though seeking support against the air When he had steadied himself he stepped forward but reeled again and nearly fell Then he stood still and looked at the other man who had never turned his head The man stood still for fully a minute min minute minute ute as though debating with himself Then he called out outI I say cay Bill Ive sprained sprain cd my ankle Bill staggered on through the milky water He did not look around The Thenan Theman nan man watched him go and though his face tace was expressionless as ns ever his eyes yes were like the eyes eyed of a wounded deer The other man limped up the further bank and continued straight on with without without without out looking back The man In the stream watched him His lips trembled d da a little BO so that the rough thatch of brown hair which covered them was W I IvL visibly vL bly agitated His tongue even strayed out to moisten them Bill BUI he cried out It was the pleading of a n strong strongman strongman strongman man In distress but Bills head did not turn The man watched him go limp ing grotesquely and lurching forward with stammering gait up the low slope toward the soft sort skyline of or the hill hili He watched him go till he passed over the crest and disappeared Then he turned his gaze gaze and slowly took In Inthe Inthe Inthe the circle of the world that remained to him now that Bill was gone Near the horizon the sun was dering dimly almost obscured red by formless mists and vapors which gave gae an Impression of mass and density with without without Ith out outline or tangibility The man pulled out his watch the while resting his weight on one leg It was 4 and as the season was near the last of July or first of August he did not know the precise date within a week or two he knew that the sun roughly the northwest He looked to the fhe south and knew that somewhere beyond those bleak hills hUls lay the thc Great i Bear lake also he knew that In that i direction the Arctic Circle cut its for forbidding forbidding forbidding bidding way across the Canadian bar barrens barrens barrens rens Again his gaze the circle of the world about him It was not a heartening spectacle Everywhere was soft sky line The hills were all low lying There were no trees no shrubs no grasses naught but a tremendous I rand and terrible desolation that sent fear swiftly dawning Into his eyes Bill he whispered once and twice Bill BIl He cowered In the midst of the milky water as though the vastness were pressing In upon him with overwhelm overwhelming ing force brutally crushing him with Its complacent awfulness He Ha began to shake as with an ague fit till the gun fell from his hand with a splash This served to rouse him He fought with his fear and pulled himself to together together together gether groping in the water and re recovering recovering recovering covering the weapon He hitched his pack further over on his left shoulder houlder BO so as to take a portion of its weight from off oft the injured ankle Then he proceeded slowly and carefully wincing wIncIng wincing ing with pain to the bank bankHe bankHe bankHe He did not stop With a desperation that was madness unmindful of the pain aln he hurried up the slope to the crest of the hill over which his com comrade comrade comrade rade had disappeared dl more grotesque grot que and comical by far then that limping Jerking comrade But at the crest he saw raw a shallow valley alley empty of life He fought with his fear again over overcame overcame overcame came It hitched the pack still further over on his left shoulder and lurched on down the slope Though alone he was not lost Fur Further Further Further ther on he knew he would come to where here dead spruce and fir very small and bordered the shore of a little lake the in the tho tongue of the country the land of little sticks And nd into that lake flowed flow flowed flowed ed a small stream the water of which tt nas as not milky There was en cu that stream this he remembered well but no timber Umber and he would fol low it till tm Its Us first trickle ceased at a divide He would cross this divide to the first trickle of another stream flowing to the tho west which he would follow until it emptied into the River Dease Dense and here find a s cache under an upturned canoe and piled over with many man rocks And In this cache would be ammunition for his empty gun fishhooks and lines a small net all the utilities for the killing and snaring naring of food Also he would find flour not much mucha a piece of bacon and some beans Bill would be waiting for him there and they would paddle away south southdown southdown southdown down the Dense Dease to the Great Bear Lake South to some warm wann Hudson Bay company post where here timber Umber grew tall talland talland talland and generous and there was as grub without end These were the thoughts of the man manas manas manas as he strove forward But hard as he strove trove with his body ho he strove equally hard nard with his mind trying to think that Bill BUl had not that Bill Dill would surely sur ly wait walt for him at the Cle cache He Ho was compelled to think this thought or else elM there would not be beany beany beany any use to strive and he would have lain down and died And as the dim ball all of the sun sank slowly Into the he covered every inch and many times of ot his and Bills flight J south before the tha winter r rd And d he conned the grub of the cache and the grub grab of ot the Hudson Bay com company company company pany post pot over and over again He had hadnot rat not eaten for two days for tor a far tar long longer er time he had not had all he wanted to eat Often Otten he ho stooped f and picked palo pale muskeg berries put then them into his mouth and chewed and swallowed them A muskeg berry Is a bit of seed In a bit of water In the mouth the water melts away and the seed chews sharp and bitter The man knew there was no te a the berries but he chewed them J tS with a hope greater that than k ledge ge and defying experience At 9 he stubbed his toe on a rocky ledge and from sheer weariness and weakness staggered and fell He Helay Helay Helay lay for tor some time without movement on his side Then he ho slipped sUpped out of the and clumsily dragged him himself himself self Into sitting posture It was not yet dark and in the lingering twilight he groped about among the rocks for shreds of dry moss When he had gathered a heap he built bunt a fire a smoldering smudgy fire and put a tin tinpot tinpot tinpot pot of water on to bon boll He unwrapped his pack and the first thing he did was to count his matches There were He counted them three times to make sure He divided them into several portions wrapping them in oiled paper disposing disposIng disposing ing of one bunch in his empty tobacco pouch of ot another bunch in the inside band of his battered hat of a third bunch under his shirt on the chest This accomplished a g panic came upon him himm and he unwrapped them all aU and counted them again There were still He dried his wet footgear by the fire The moccasins were In soggy shreds The blanket socks were worn through In places and his feet were raw and bleeding His ankle was throbbing and he gave It an examination It had swollen to the size of his knee He tore torea a long strip from one of his two blan blankets blankets blankets and bound tho the ankle ankIe tightly He tore toro other strips and bound them about his feet to serve for both moccasins mo and socks Then he drank the pot of water steaming hot wound his watch and crawled between his blankets He slept like Uke a dead man The brief darkness around midnight came and went The sun arose In n the northeast at least the day dawned in that quarter quarter quarter i ter for tor the sun was hidden by gray I clouds I At 6 he awoke quietly lying on his back He gazed straight up into the gray sky and knew that he was hungry As he rolled over on his el elbow elbow elbow bow he was startled by a a loud snort and saw a bull caribou regarding him with alert curiosity The animal was not more than fifty feet away awa and in instantly instantly instantly Into the mans mind leaped the vision and the savor of a caribou steak st ak sizzling and frying trying over oer a fire Me Mechanically Mechanically Mechanically he reached for the empty gun drew a bead and pulled the trig trigger trigger trigger ger The bull snorted and leaped away awa his hoofs rattling and clatter clattering clattering clattering ing as as he fled tied across the ledges The man crawled up to a small knoll and surveyed the prospect There were no trees no bushes nothing but a gray sea of moss scarcely scar ly diversified by gray rocks and gray streamlets The sky was gray There was no sun or hint of sun He had no Idea of north and he had for forgotten forgotten forgotten gotten the way he had come to this spot the night before But he was not lost He knew w that Soon he would come to the land of the little sticks sUcks He felt that it lay layoff off to the left somewhere not far possibly Just over the next low hill He went back to put his pack into shape for traveling He assured him himself himself self of the existence of ot his three sepa Repa separate separate rate parcels of matches though he did not stop to count them But he did didlinger didlinger didlinger linger debating over a squat moose moosehide moosehide moosehide hide sack It was not large He could hide it under his two hinds hands h He knew that It weighed fifteen pounds as much as all the rest of the pack and nd I It worried him He finally set It to one side and proceeded to roll the pak pack pa k kHe He paused to gaze at the squat moose moosehide moosehide moosehide hide sack He picked it up hastily with witha a defiant glance about him as though the desolation were trying to rob him of it and when he roseto rose to his feet to stagger on into the day it was included In Included Included in the pack paek on his back He came upon a valley where rock ptarmigan rose roae on whirring wings from the ledges and muskegs Ker Kerker bierker ker kerker ker was the cry they made He threw stones ston s at them but could not hit them He Ho placed his pack on the ground and stalked them as a cat stalks a sparrow The sharp rocks cut through his pants legs till his knees left a trail of blood but the hurt was lost In the hurt of his hunger He squirmed over the wet moss saturating his clothes and chilling his body but he was not aware of It so great was his fever for food And always the ptarmigan rose whirring before him till their ker kerker oo ame a mock to him and he cursed them and cried aloud at them with their own cry As the day wore along he came Into valleys or or swales where game was more plentiful A band of caribou passed by twenty and odd animals tantalizingly within rifle He felt a wild de desire desire desire sire to run after them a certitude that he ha could run them down A black fox came toward him carrying a ptarmigan ptarmigan ptarmigan gan In his mouth The man shouted It was a fearful cry but the fox leaping away in fright aright did not drop the ptarmigan ptarmigan ptarmigan Late in the afternoon he followed a stream milky with lime which ran through sparse patches of ot Grasping these rushes firmly near the root he pulled up what resembled a ayoung ayoung young onion sprout no larger than a It was tender and his teeth sank into It with a crunch that promised deliciously of or food But Its fibres were tough It was composed of stringy string filaments saturated with water like the berries and devoid of nourish nourishment nourishment nourishment ment But he threw off ort his pack and a d went Into the on hands bands and knees crunching and munching like some bovine creature Ho He looked into every pool of water vainly until as the long twilight came cameon cameon cameon on he discovered a solitary fish the size of a minnow in such a pool He plunged his arm in up to the shoulder but it eluded him He reached for it with both hands and stirred up the milky mud at the bottom bo tom In his ex excitement excitement excitement he fell in wetting himself to the waist Then the water was too muddy to admit of his seeing the fish and ho he was compelled to wait until the sediment had settled The Tho pursuit was renewed till the wa eer er was again muddled But he could not wait walt Ho He the tin buck bucket et and began to bale the pool He bated baled b led wildly at first splashing himself and flinging the water sq short a distance that It ran back into the pool He worked more carefully striving to be cool though his heart was as pounding against his chest and his hands were trembling At the end of half an hour the pool was nearly dry Not a cupful of water remained And there was no fish He found a hidden crevice among the stones through which it had es escaped escaped escaped to the adjoining and larger pool poola a pool which he could not empty In a night and a day Had he known of the crevice he could have closed it with a arock arock arock rock at the beginning and the fish would have been his Thus he thought and crumpled up and sank down upon the wet earth At first he cried softly to himself then he cried loudly to the pitiless desola desolation desolation desolation tion that ringed him around and ana for a long Ions time after he was shaken by great dry sobs He built a fire and warmed himself by drinking quarts of or hot water vater and made camp on a n rocky ledge in the same fashion he had the night before The last thing he did was to see that his matches were dry and to wind his watch The blankets were wet and clammy His ankle pulsed with pain But he knew only that he was hungry and through his restless sleep he dreamed of feasts and anil banquets and of ot food served and spread In all imaginable ble ways He awoke chilled and sick There Thera was no sun The gray of earth and sky had become deeper more pro profound profound profound found A raw wind was blowing and the first flurries of snow were whiten whitening whitenIng whitening ing the hilltops The air about him thickened and grew gr w white while he made a fire and boiled more water It was wet snow half rain rains and the flakes lakes were large and soggy At first they melted as soon as they came In con contact contact contact tact with the earth but ever more fell covering the ground putting out the fire spoiling his supply of moss fuel This was the signal for him to strap snap on his pack and stumble onward he knew not where He was not concern concerned concerned ed with the land of f little ittle sticks nor with Bill BUl and the cache under the up upturned upturned upturned turned canoe by the Ri Rl er r Dease Deane He was mastered with tho the verb to eat He was He took |