Show B BRE REB- REB REBON ON OF F KAZAN ZAN 1 by byi i S V VM M h JAMES J ES OLIVER O h C W I COPYRIGHT HT Yo U I t G 0 t I t g 1 n J t NU Chapter Continued IX-Continued IX Continued I 1 1 16 16 G- G had not forgotten A dozen times he turned his Ills head bush whined and always ho lie picked out outa n a the direction In which the cubin lay lay But nut he did not turn back backAs As the night lengthened his search for that mysterious some something whIch ll he had not found continued Ills His hun hUll of or the with the out fading ger even ger-even moon am and the coming of ot the gray graydawn graydawn ray dAwn was not sufficiently keen to tomake tomake make him hunt for food It was cold and It seemed colder when the glow plow of ot the moon and stars died dred out Under his padded feet es- es esl cs l In the open spaces paces was n a thick white frost In which he left clearly at nt times the tile Imprint of ot his tog toes s and claws He had traveled steadily for hours n a great many miles In all oil and he lie was tired when the first light of ot the day came And then there came the time when with a sud sud- sudden sudden den sharp click of Ills hits jaws he be stopped like a shot In his tra tracks ks At last It had the come come the meeting with that for for- which he had been seek seek- seekIng seeking seeking ing With her head toward vard him and waiting for him as he came out of the shadows his scent strong In her keen nose nose stood the youn young wolf volt Baree Barce hind had not smelled smelted her but he saw her directly he came out of the rim of young balsams that fringed the open It was vas then that he stopped slopped and for tor tora fora fora a full minute neither of ot them moved i ia a muscle or seemed to breathe There was not a fortnights fortnight's differ differ- difference difference ence In their age and yet was much the smaller of the two her body was as long but she slie was slim slim- slimmer slimmer slimmer mer she stood on slender legs les that were almost like the legs of ot a fox for and the curve of her back was that of n slightly bent bow v a sign of swiftness almost equal to the wind She stood poIsed for flight even as Baree ad ad- advanced advanced his Ills first step toward her and then very ery slowly her body relaxed and In a n direct ratio as he drew near near- nearer nearer nearer er her ears lost their alertness and dropped aslant Baree naree whined Ills ears were up hIs head mead alert his tall tail aloft and bushy Cleverness If It not strategy had al- al already ready al r ready ady become a part of or his masculine superiority cud he did not Immedi Immedi- Immediately Immediately press the tho affair lie He was within five feet of Mahee un when he casually cas cas- casually turned lW sway iway y from her ber and faced the east cast where a faint taInt penciling of red and gold was heralding the day For a few moments he sniffed and antl looked around and pointed the wind with much ress as though lm- lm pit on his Ills fair acquaintance as acquaintance many a two legged animal has lias done before his him him his tremendous Importance importance Importance tance In the world at large And was properly im- im impressed Im Impressed pressed Baree's bluff worked as beautifully beau beau- beautifully as the bluffs of the two legged anImals He lIe sniffed the Ule air with such thrill thrill- thrilling thrillIng thrilling ing and antl suspicious zeal that Malice Malice- guns gun's guns gun's uns un's ears cars sprang alert anI and she sniffed It with him he turned hIs head from point to point so sharply and alertly that her feminine curiosity curios curios- curiosity ity If not anxiety made her turn her own head In to questioning conjunction And when Baree ilaree whined as though In the air he had caught a m mystery which she slie could not possibly under under- understand stand a n responsive note gathered In her Iler throat but smothered and antl low as asa asa asa a womans woman's exclamation when she Is not quite sure whether she should In- In Interrupt interrupt In Interrupt her liner lord or not At this sound which Barce's naree's sharp ears cars caught he swung up to her lier with a n light and mincing step and In another moment they were smelling noses When the sun rose half halt an hour later It found them them still In the small open on the side of the ridge with a adeep adeep adeep deep fringe of forest under them them and beyond that a wide timbered plain which looked like a ghostly shroud In Its mantle of ot frost Ul Up over o this came it lie e first rod rfd glow of ot the car day filling the open with a warmth that thai more mme 0 and more comfortable as a the the sun Hun crept higher Neither Ilaree Baree nor l were Inclined to move for a while and antl for foran un an hour 01 or two they lay basking In n a acup acup cup of or time the slope looking down with questing and wideawake eyes upon time the wooed wooded plain that stretched away un- un under un under der dea them then like a n great sea l too wo had sought the he hunt hunt- park hunt and like Baree Laree had lla failed to toc catch c It IL They were tired a little dis dis- discouraged discouraged aged for the time and anil hungry hungry- hungry hut but still sail alive with the fine unc thrill of an and restlessly sensitive tu to time the new and mysterious conscious consciousness n ness of companionship Halt Half a dozen and nosed about Baree got up 3 S M rt as site slie lay In the time sun SlIn Whirl whir WhirlIng lag Ing to her softly and touching her herport waft port coat with his muzzle but for a alon aloag alone lon loag time she paid little attention to tulni him At M last she slie toll followed owed him All they wandered and rested that day Once more the night came carne together ether It was w wilhort moon or stars The fhe began an to fall 11 at du dusk Usk k thickly heavily lIy without n Q breath of sound It was not cold collI but It was so still still still that farce and trav trav- traveled traveled only a n few yards at a time and nud then stopped to listen In this way nil all the prowlers night-prowlers of the forest were traveling It If they were moving at all It was vas the first of ot the nil Big Snow To the flesh eating wild thIngs of the forests clawed and winged the BI Big Snow was the he beginning of or the winter carnival of ot slaughter and feasting fasting of wild adventure In the long nights of merciless warfare on the frozen trails The days of ot breeding of ot motherhood motherhood- the peace of ot sprIn spring and antl summer summer- were summer were over oyer out of the sk sky came the wakenIng of of the Northland the call of all eating flesh creatures to time the lon long hunt and In the first thrill of or It living things were moving but ut little this nIght and that watchfully and wIth suspicion I I Baree and l felt the exciting exciting ing pulse of a new life lite It lured them themon themon themon on It Invited theta them to adventure nd Into the white m mystery of the silent storm and antl Inspired by y that restlessness ot of youth and Its desires they went on The snow snow grew rew deeper under their feet In the open spaces they waded through It to their knees and ancI It con con- continued continued continued to fall In a vast ast white cloud that descended steadily out of the sky It was near midnight when It stopped R B f a i I 8 Y i With Her Head Toward Him Stood the Young Wolf The Time clouds drifted away from under the stars and the moon and for a Ion long longtime longtime time lime Baree and antl stood with with- without without without out moving looking down from the bald crest of a ridge upon a wonderful world Never had hall they seen so 80 far except In the light of day Under them them was wasa wasa wasa a plain They The could see Its forests lone trees that stood up like shadows out of ot the snow a stream still stream still un- un un unfrozen frozen shimmering frozen shimmering like 0 glass with the flicker dicker of firelight on It Toward oward this stream Baree led lell the way He lie no longer thought of or and he whined with pent up happiness s as he stopped halfway down and turned to muzzle He lie wanted to roll rollIn rollIn In n the snow and antl frisk about with Ills his companion he lie wanted to bark barl to put up his Ills head and howl as he had howled at the lied Ped Moon loon Ilon hack back at the cabin Something held him from fromn doing these timings things Perhaps it was Malice Malice- Malice guns guns gun's demeanor She Slie accepted his attentions at- at attentions at attentions rigidly Once or twice site she had seemed almost frightened twice Baree had h heard ard the thc sharp clicking of ollier her teeth The previous lous night lit and all nil through tonight's storm their their com cont- companionship companionship had grown more Intimate but now there was wall taking Its place n mysterious aloofness on the part of Plc Pierrot could have hao ex- ex ux With time the white snow show under amid about him hini and the luminous and stars above him Bal Baree e like the night lad had undergone n a transformation lion tion which even e time the sunlight of day had not nol made macJe In III him him before Ills His chat was like polished jet jet Every 1 C 1 hair In his body glistened black Black that was It It And Antl Nature was tr trying In to tell that of all the crea- crea turcs hate hated haled by her kind time the lie creature I I which the they feared and hated haled most 1 was black With her Iler It was not ex- ex experience I but limit telling Instinct telling her of the old age feud between the gra graywolf gray wolf and the black bear Until they struck the broad openings opening'S of the plaIn wolf site sh hud hind followed the young oung La Ba- Baree Ba ree without 1 hesitation sow now there was wasa wasa a gathering strangeness and lilo In her lr manner and amid twice cliO cite ch topped stopped nod and would have han let Baree aree go eo goon foon on OD without her An AD hour after Arter they th y entered the plain there came suddenly out of ot the west the tonguing of th the wolf pack It was not fur far distant probably not more than a mile along the foot toot of ot the rIdge and ond the sharp quick yapping that followed the first outburst was evIdence that the long-fanged long hunters had Kati put UI up sudden game n a carIbou or young moose and were close at Its heels At time the voice of her own people l laic laid her ears cars close to her lier head hend and was off orr like nn an arrow from n a bow how The unexpectedness of her move move- movement movement ment and the swiftness of ot her lier flight put Baree well behind her In the race over r tile the plain She Slie was running blindly favored by luck For an In- In Interval interval In Interval of perhaps five minutes the pack were so near to their game that they made no sound and tile the chase swung full Cull Into the face of un and Baree The latter was not half halt a doz dozen n lengths behind the lie young wolf when a n crashing In the brush directly ahead d stopped them so sharply that lint they tore lip tip time the lie snow with their braced forefeet and squat haunches Ten seconds Inter later a n caribou hUr burst t through and Hashed lashed across an nn open not more than twenty yards from where they stood They could hear Its swift panting as If disappeared And then came canine th the pack At sight of those swiftly ln moving gray Ia bodies es e's heart leaped for foran foran foran an instant Into hIs Ills throat He lIe forgot and that she had run from hint him The moon and nUll the stars went out of existence for tor him lie He no longer sensed the chill chili of ot the snow under his Ills feet lIe He was wolf nil wolf all wolf With the warm scent of the caribou In his nostrils and the passion to kill sweeping through him like fire he darted after the pack Yer Very soon he lie found himself close to the th-e thanks flanks of one of ot the time gray monsters ot of the he pack half haIr n a minute Inter later n a anew new hunter swept In from the bush behind him and Ind then a n 6 second cond and antl after that a third thIn It was P as a if Il Barer had l belonged to the pack always lie had Joined It naturally as other stray wolves had Joined It from out ont of the bush there hind had been no ostentation no welcome such as ns hind had given Iven hIm In the open no hostility lIe He belonged belonged with these slim shim swIft swIft- swift footed footed outlaws of the old forests and Ids his own jaws snapped and his blood ran hot as the smell of ot the time caribou carlbon grew heavier ler and time the sound of Its crashing body nearer It set seemed to him they were almost at Its heel when they swept Into an open plain a stretch of or barren barQ with with- without without without out a tree or a n shrub brilliant In the thelI lI light ht of ot the stars and m moon on Across Us its unbroken carpet of ot snow sped the carIbou n a spars spare spar hundred yards ahead or of the pack Now r the two leading hunters no longer followed directly In Inthe inthe Inthe the trail but shot out at an angle one one to the right and the other to the left of the time pursued and anti like well well- well trained trained soldiers time the pack split spilt In halves and spread out shape fan-shape In Inthe inthe Inthe the final chaw I The two ends of ot the fan forged ahead and antl closed In until the leaders were running almost abreast of ot the carIbou with fifty tift or sixty feet sepa sepa- sepa separating separating rating them from the pursued Thus Thins adroitly and swIm swiftly with deadly pre pro precision the pack had formed a horse horseshoe horse horse- horseshoe horseshoe shoe cordon of ot fangs from which there was but one oue course of straight flight night ahead For the caribou to swerve e half halfa halla a degree to the right or left meant death It was the dutot duty dut- of ot the leaders to draw In the ends of ot the horseshoe now until one or both of or them could make the fatal lunge lungo lun o for tor the ham ham- hamstrings hamstrings hamstrings strings After that It would be a i simple maHer Time The pack would close chose In over o the caribou like an nn Inundation Baree naree hind had found his place In the lower rim of the horseshoe so that lie he was fairly well In the rear when the climax came The plain made It a sudden dip lip Straight ahead was the gleam of water water-water water water softly In Imi the and the sight i of It sent a n html final great spurt of ot blood I through the caribous caribou's bursting heart blood I Forty seconds would w tell the stor- stor story fort forty seconds of a last spurt for Cor life of a final tremendous effort to escape death Baree Laree felt the sudden thrill of ur these moments and he for forged ed almond with the others In that lower rim cf cC the horseshoe as one of or the leading wolves es made n a lunge for the young bulls bull's string harm It was a clean clenn miss A second wol wolf f darted In ht And this one also There here was no time for others to take their place From tin time broken end of the time horseshoe Baree heard the Hie earl cari caribou's bous bou's heavy plunge into water When Bale Ilaree joined the pack a maddened frothing mouth snarling horde Napa Napa- Napa moos the time young bull wa was well out In Iii Inthe the river and antl swimming steadily for tor torI forthe I time the opposite shore CO TO UE liE CONTINUED |