Show D B- B SO N OF F A KAZAN AN r JAMES AMES OLIVER WJ GHr CH T Dr EfA Gf C Sonic Service Chapter Continued XV-Continued XV Continued 25 25 The wolves were silent now eel Car knew what that meant and he was tuns tEn tensely cl alert In the time stillness the click of the lie safety on his rille rifle sounded with metallic sharpness For many minutes they heard nothing but the crack of oC the thc tire fire Suddenly Baree's muscles seemed to snap He lIe sprang back and CU faced the quarter behind Carvel Canel his head hend level with hIs Ills shoulders his Inch Inch- long Inch long fangs gleaming as lie he snarled Into the black caverns erns of or time the forest beyond Leond the rim of firelight Carvel had turned like a shot It was almost what frightening he saw A pair pall ot of otE E eyes es burning with greenish fire and then another pair and after that so many of or them that he lie could not have counted them He gave gaye a n sudden gasp The They were like eyes cat only much larger Some of them catching the firelight fully tully were red as coals others Unshed flashed d blue and green living green things without bodies With a swift glance he lie took In the black circle of the forest They were out there too they were on all sides of ot them Jut but where he lie had seen them first the they were thickest In these first few sec sec- seconds seconds he had forgotten Baree awed al- al almost almost al almost most to stupefaction by that monster monster eyed cordon of death that hemmed iem t In There were fifty fifty pr fifty perhaps a hundred wolves out there afraid of nothing In all alt this tills savage world but fire They had bad come U up without thE sound of oC a pa padded foot or A 1 broken twig If It It had hind been later and od i nd the they had been asleep and time the fire out out- out lie Ile shuddered and for a moment the thought got the better of or his nerves lIe He hind had not Intended led to shoot except from necessity but all alt at once his rifle came to his Ills shoulder and he sent a stream of fire out where the eyes were thIckest Ilaree Baree knew what time the shots meant and filled with the mad desire to get at time the throat of 00 one ot of his enemies he dashed In their thell dIrection Carvel gave gate a startled yell ell as he went lie He saw the lash Hash ot of body saw It swallowed up In Inthe inthe the gloom and In that same Instant hEard the deadly clash of ot fangs and the Impact of ot bodies A wild thrill through him The dog dol hind had charged d and alone and the wolves had waited There could be but one end Ills four four- four footed footed comrade had Imad gone straight Into the Jaws of death IlIe Ilie I lIe He could hear the ravening snap of thos those jaws out In the darkness It was sickening His hand went to the Cult Colt 45 at his belt and amid he lie thrust hIs rifle butt downward Into the mow With Within the big automatic before hIs e eyes es he plunged out Into time the dark dark- darkness darkness dark darkness ness and from his lips there Issued a wild yelling that could have been heard a mile awa away With time the yelling R a steady stream of fire spat from the Colt Into the mass of fighting bEasts There were eight shots In the auto auto- automatic automatic 11 matic a tic and not until the time plunger er clicked with metallic emptiness dId Cartel Car cease his yelling and retreat Into the firelight ht lie He listened breath breath- breathIng breathing ing deeply He lIe no longer saw e eyes es in inthe inthe inthe the darkness nor did he lie hear the movement of bodies Time suddenness and ferocity of his attack had drIven back the time wolf-horde wolf But the dog 1 lie caught his Ills breath and strained his eyes A shadow v was dragging itself Into the circle of light It was Ilaree BarEe Carvel Carel ran to him put his arm arms un- un under under un under der his Ills shoulders and brought him to the tire For a long time after that there was wasa wasn a questioning light In Carvel's e eyes es He reloaded his Ills gun guns put fresh fuel on the fire and from from his Ills pack dug out outstrips outstrips outstrips strips of ot cloth with which he lie bandaged three or four of the deepest cuts In Baree's legs And a dozen duzen times he asked in ina In a n wondering sort of way Now what hat the deuce made you do that old chap What have e you ou got against t the wolves All that night he did not sleep p but watched Their experience with the time wolves broke down the last bit of or uncertainty that might have existed the theman theroan theman roan man and the dog For or days after that as they traveled slowly north and west Carvel nursed Baree Daree as he lie might have cared cored for a n sick child Because of the dogs dog's hurts he lie mude only a afew afew afew few miles a day ay nar Baree e u understood tood and In him there grew stronger and stronger a great love lo for the man whose hands were as gentl gentle as ns the Willows Willow's and whose voice oce tv ed him with time the thrill of an comradeship lie no longer feared hIm hImOr hum humor Or had a n suspicion of hl n It was the wanderers wanderer's wanderers wanderer's Intention to swing over o Into the countr country of ot the Great Grent Slave n good eight miles to the north and west wet before the snows mush came From there when the waters opened in sprIngtime he planned to travel by canoe west west- westward westward ward to the Mackenzie and amid to tn the lie of or British Coll These plans were changed III In February February Ir ary They tvr r-fre r Ire re caught In II a great creat storm storm In the Lake country and when their fortunes looked dark dark- darkest darkest est et Carvel stumbled on a n cabin In the heart henrt of oC a deep spruce forest and In Inthis inthis Inthis this cabin there was a dead man l le lie e hind had been heen dead for Cor many ninny da days s 's and was frozen stiff Carvel Cartel chopped a ahole ahole ahole hole In the Ule earth and burled buried him The cabin was a treasure trove to Carvel and and toi i especially to the man It evidently possessed no other owner than the one who had hadded died ded It was comfortable and stocked i with provisions and more than that i Its owner had made a 0 splendid catch ot of fur before time the frost bit his lungs and he died Carvel Cartel went over oer them carefully and jo joyously They were worth a thousand dollars at any post t and he could see no reason wh why the they did not belong to him now Within n a week he had harl blazed out the dead deadman's deadmans deadman's mans man's snow-covered snow trap-line trap and was trapping on his own account This was two hundred hundred miles north and west vest of ot the Gray Loon and with each day that passed the sun rose higher In the sky It grew v warmer the snow softened under foot and In Inthe inthe the air all was the tremulous and grow grow- growing growing I ing ng throb of ot spring With these thE things thing's i came the old yearning to Baree the thrilling thrilling heart-thrilling call of the lonel lonely graves back on the time Gray Loon of ot the burned cabin the abandoned tepee beyond theA the i fr tit tite A e s sf f 1 aF vY n s sA A Steady Stream of Fire Spat From the Colt Into the Mass of Fighting Beasts pool and pool and of or In his Ills sleep he saw visions of ot things s lie He heard again the low sweet voice of ot the Willow felt the touch of ot her hand was at pIa play with her once more In the dark shades ot of the forEst and forest and Carvel would sit and watch him him as ns he lie dreamed tr trying ln to read the meaning of what he saw and heard beard In April Carvel shouldEred his furs tip up to the Hudsons Hudson's lla lay Bay company's post at Lac la Biclie Biche which was still farther north Baree accompanied hIm him halfway and then then-at then at sundown Carvel returned to the cabin and found him there lIe He was so o overjoyed ed that he caught the dogs dog's head hend In his arms and hugged hug It They lived In hr the cabin until May The buds were swelling then and the smell emell of growing things Imad hod begun to rIse rise tip up out of ot time the earth Then Can el found the first of ot the early curly Blue lue Flowers That night h he packed up Its time to travel Hi he announced to Baree And Ive I've sort of ot changed my lily mind Were We're going there back back there And he pointed south Chapter XVI A strange humor possessed Can el Can elas ns as he lie began time the southward journey lIe did not believe In omens good or bail bad Superstition had pla played ed a small part In his life but Lut he lie possessed both Loth curiosity and a love loye for adventure ad and his years of lonely wandering had de- de developed de developed In hIm a wonderfully clear mental vision of ot things whIch In is other words mIght be culled called mic- mic ac active th the tive a Imagination He lIe knew that sonic some Irresistible force orce was drawing drawing- Ilaree back Into the lie that south south It was pull pull- pullIng pulling ing ng him not only along a given line of the compass con but to an nn exact point In that line For no reason In the situation began to Interest him more and more and as his time was valueless and lie he hind had no fi fixed destina destination tion In view he lie began Regan to te experiment For the first t o t 0 dars lie he marked time the dogs dog's course by compass It was dUI due southeast On the third morning Car Car- Carve Cartel vel ve tel purposely struck u course straight west He lIe noted quickly the change In his Ilaree-his his restlessness at first and after that the dejected ejectEd manner mannel III which lie he followed at his lila heels Toward noun Carvel Cunel sw swung sharply to toI I the south and east eust amid almost p a a Immediately ly regained hIs hia old ell and ran ahead of or dl hU bLe malt mae ter maB-ter ter After Atter this for tor many ninny day day Carvel thin trail mil of ot the flog Im I'm an nn Idiot old chop chap he apologized one evening But nut its it's abit tilt bit of ot fun run after all nn all an Ive I've got to hit hilt the line of ot rail mil before I can get over to the mountains so what's the difference Im I'm game so game so long as ns you dont don't take me hack to that at Inc Lac LacBain Bain Now what Now what the he devil I Are you ou hitting for tor his trap line to get even It If that's the case case- case He lIe blew out a cloud of ot smoke from Is ills pipe as ns he eyed Borce Daree and farce with hIs hia bend held between his forepaws eyed him back A week later farce Baree answered Car Car- Carvel's Carvel's vels vel's question by swinging westward to give a wide berth to Post Lac It was mid afternoon when they crossed the trail along which flush garts gart's traps rind hind peen hn set farce did not even pause lIe headed due south traveling so fast that at times he was tuns lost to sight A suppressed but Intense ez- ez excitement ex excitement possessed him and he whined when whenever eyer Carvel stopped to rest rest-al- rest al always I ways with his nose sniffing the wInd out of the south Springtime the flowers the earth turning green the staging of or birds and the sweet breaths In time the air all were bringing him back to that great Yesterday when he had be he be- be belonged belonged toI I longed to e In his unreason unreason- unreasonIng unreasoning Ing Ing mind there existed no longer long n winter Inter The long months of ot cold and hunger were gone In the tle new v vIsion vision- Ings Ings that filled his brain they were forgotten The birds and flowers and time the blue skIes ekies had hafl come back and with them the Willow must surely have hae returned and she was waiting for him now Just over there beyond that rim of green forest Something greater than mere curl curi curiosity began to take possession of ot Car Car- CarYel Carvel vel Yel el A whimsical humor became a fixed and deeper thought nn an unreason unreason- unreasoning unreasoning ing anticipation that was accompanied by a n certain thrill of or subdued excite excite- excitement excitement excitement ment By lly the time they reached time the theold old pond beaver the m mystery of the strange adventure had a n firm hold on him From Beaver tooth's colony Ba- Ba Baree Ba Baree ree rEC led hIm dm to the creek along which the black bear had fished and thence straight ht to the Gray Loon It was early afternoon of ot a won wonderful day It was so still that the I rIppling waters of spring singing In n a thousand rills and streamlets filled the forests with a droning music In Inthe Inthe Inthe the warm sun the crimson glowed like blood In the open spaces the air was scented with the per per- perfume perfume fume tume of ot Blue Flowers In the trees and bushes mated birds were building their nests After time the long sleep of winter Nature was at work In all her glory It was the Mating Moon the Home Building Moon and Moon farce aree was going home Not to mate mate- mate hood hood but but to He lie knew that she was there now perhaps at the very ery edge ede of or the chasm where he lie had seen her last They would be playIng together agan again soon as they had played yesterday and the time day before and the time day before that and In his joy he barked up Into Carvel's Car face and urged him to greater speed Then the they came to the lie clearing and once more Baree like a rock Car el saw the charred ruins of ot the burned cabIn and n a moment later Inter time the two graves gra under the tall spruce lIe He bee be- began be began I Igan gan to understand as ns his eyes returned slowly to time the waiting listening dog A great swelling rose In hIs Ills throat and after a moment or two he said softly and with an effort Boy noy I gues guess youre you're oure home farce Baree did not hear With his head up and his nose tilted to the blue sky hue he was sniping snIffing the nil air What was It that came to him with the lie perfumes ot of the forests and the green meadow Why Wh was It that he lie trembled now as ashe ashe ashe he stood tood there What was there In Inthe inthe Inthe the air Carvel asked himself and his questing eyes 03 os es tried to answer the questions Nothing There was death death death and desertion that was all allAnd And then all at once there came farce a strange cr cry almost cry almost a n human cr cry and and and he was gone like time the Carvel Car had thrown off ofT his pack lIe He dropped his hs rifle rIlle beside it now and followed Baree Daree lIe He ran swIm swiftly straight across the open Into the dwarf balsams and Into a grass grass- grown grasa-grown grown rown path that had once been worn by the time travel of ot feet teet He lie ran until he was panting for or breath and then stopped and antl listened lie He could hear nothIng of ot Bar farce e But that old worn trail trull led on under the forest trees and lie he followed It TO BE CONTINUED CO |