Show I I II I A o 1 s KAZAN r r 1 ro j jB B By Y r 1 c James 4 O Oliver 4 Curwood c i 4 14 c t or Copyright by the Merrill Bobbs-Merrill Company CHAPTER XVI 16 f Professor McGill t I Red Gold City was ripe for tor a n night of relaxation There had been some gambling a few fights lights and enough and liquor to too create excitement now then but the presence of the mount mounted d police had served to to- keep things unusually unusually un un- un- un usually tame compared with events a afew afew few hundred miles mUes farther north In the Dawson country The entertainment proposed by Sandy dad and Jan Darker Barker met net with excited favor The news spread for twenty miles about Red ned Gold City and there had bad never been greater excitement In n the town than on the afternoon and night of the I big light fight This was largely because Kazan and the the- huge Dane had been placed on exhibition each dog In a specially made cage of his own and a fever teer of betting began Three ahree hun hundred red men each of whom was paying fi live five dollars to see the battle viewed the gladiators through the bars of their cages Barkers Barker's dog was a a combination combination combination tion of Great Dane and mastiff born In Inthe Inthe inthe the north and amI bred the traces Betting Betting Bet Betting Bet Bet- ting favored him by the odds of two to one Occasionally It ran three to one At these odds there was plenty of Kazan Kazan Kazan Ka Ka- Ka- Ka zan money Those who were risking their money on him hm were the older wilderness men men men-men men who had spent their lives among dogs and who knew what the the red light In Kazan's eyes eye meant An old K Kootenay tenay miner spoke low Jow in another's ear Td rd b t on im even eyen Td rd give give odds if I Thad had bad to Hell He'll fight all around the Dane The Dane wont won't have no method But Bu hes he's got the weight said the theother theother theother other dubiously Look at his Jaws an his shoulders shoulders- An his big feet teet an his s soft ft throat an an the clumsy thickness of his belly interrupted the Kootenay man For heavens heaven's sake man take my word fc for forit r. r it an dont don't put your money on the Dane I Others thrust themselves between them At first l Kazan azan had snarled atall atall at atall all these faces about about him Wm But now he lay Jay back against the boarded side of the cage and eyed the them m sullenly from irom between his forepaws The fight was to be pulled of off In Harkers Harker's Har- Har kers ker's place a combination of saloon and cafe The benches and tables had been cleared out and in the cent center r of the big ro room room mi a cage ten ten feet square rested on a platform three and a half feet from the floor Seats Scats for forthe the three hundred spectators tors were drawn closely y around this Suspended just above the Uie open top of the cage were were two big oil oU lamps with glaes l. l ss S reflectors It was eight o'clock wh when n Harker Barker and amI two other men bore Ka- Ka Ka Ka- zan to the arena by means menns of the wooden wood wood- en bars that projected from the bottom of his hIs' cage The big Dane was already in the fighting lighting cage He stood blinking his e eyes es in the brilliant light of the reflecting lamps He pricked up his ears cars earshen when hen he be saw Kazan Kazan did not show his bis fangs Neither rev revealed led the e ey petted animosity It was the first they tIleY had seen of each other and a murmur murmur murmur mur mur- mur of disappointment swept the ranks of the three hundred men The Dane remained as motionless as a rock when Kazan Kunn was prodded from his own cage into the fighting cage He did not leap or snarl He regarded Kazan with a dubious questioning poise to his splendId splendid splendid did head and then looked again to the expectant and excited faces of the waitIng waiting waitIng wait- wait Ing men For a few mom moments Kazan stood stiff stiff- stiff legged legged facing the Dane Then hen his shoulders dropped and nud he too loo coolly faced tl tiie tite e cro crowd that had expected expected expected ex ex- a tight to the de death th A laugh of derision swept through the closely seated seated seat seat- ed rows Catcalls jeering taunts taunts' flung lung at and Barker Harker and angry angly voices demanding their money money back mingled with a tumult of growing dis dis- dis content Sandys Sandy's face was Yas red with mortification and rage Th The blue veins in Barkers Barker's forehead had swollen twice their normal size Be rie shook his fist inthe In Inthe Inthe the face of the crowd yd and shouted Walt Wait Give em a n chance you YOt fools At his words every voice was stilled Kazan bad had turned He was was facing the Dane Dan The Dane had bad turned his eyes to Kazan Cautiously prepared for a n lunge or a sl sidesteps sidestep Kazan n advanced a little The Danes Dane's shoulders bristled lIe He too advanced upon Kazan hour Four feet teet apart they stood rigid One could have l heard a whisper in the tho room now Sun San Sunjy J Jy and Barker standing close to tho cage 1 scar scarcely ely breathed Splendid in iii o e every Y y y limb and muscle warriors bf r. r a n hun hundred red lights fights and fearless s' to tile the point of death the two wolf half vIctims victims victims vic vIc- tims of or man facing each other None NOlle could ee seethe the questioning look Jn to n iJ ij ir brute e eyes cs None knew that in tills lids U s thrilling moment the unseen un een hand of the wonderful Spirit God of f the wilderness wil wil- hovered between them hem and that one one of Its miracles was descending upon them It It was Meting Meeting in the open open rivals rivals In the 1 traces they traces they would have been Jeen rolling In the throes of terrific battle But nut here hele herec 1 c c 0 c that mute appeal of broth brotherhood rho d. d T TIn In the final moment when only a step senara separated erl rl them and ond when men expected expected expected ex ex- to see the first mad mod lunge the splendid Dane Done slowly raised his head and and looked ed over Kazan's back through the glare of the lights Harker trembled trembled trembled trem trem- bled and under his breath he cursed The Danes Dane's throat was open to Kazan But nut between the beasts had passed the voiceless pledge of peace I Kazan azan did not leap He turned And shoulder to shoulder splendid shoulder splendid in their contempt of man they man they stood and und looked through the bars of their prison Into the tile one of ot human faces A roar burst from the crowd crowd crowd-a a roar of anger of demand of threat In his rage Harker drew a revolver and leveled It at the Dane Dune Above the tumult tumult tumult tu tu- tu- tu of oC the crowd a single voice stopped him Hold Bold old 1 l it demanded Hold Hold In In the name of the law I For a n moment there was silence Every Ever face turned In th the direction of or the tile voice Two men stood on chairs chalL's behind be i n the last row O was Sergeant Brokaw w of f the Royal Roal Northwest Mounted It was he helio who lio had spoken Be He was vas holding bolding up a hand band commandIng command command- Ing silence arid and attention On the chair beside him stood another man He Be was thin with drooping shoulders and a apale apale apale pale smooth f face face face-a n ce-n a little littiA man whose ph physique and hollow cheeks told nothing nothIng noth noth- ing lug of the years he l had spent close up along the raw edge of th the Arctic It was he who spoke e now while the sergeant sergeant sergeant ser ser- geant held up hIs bis hand His nis voice was waslow waslow waslow low a and d quiet Ill give the owners five hundred dollars ollars' for those dogs he be s said ld Every man in the room heard the offer offer of of- fer Harker at Sandy For an Instant their heads were close together make Th They y wont won't fight and they'll they'll- good team team mates mates t the e little man went on m. Ill In give the owners five hundred dollars Harker raised a hand Make it six he said snide Make It six sea and they're yours Tl Tile The e little man hesitated Then he lie I nodded Ill In give you you six six hundred he agre agreed d. d I Murmurs of discontent rose rose out the crowd Harker climbed to the edge of the platform We Y aint to o blame because they wouldn't fight he be shouted but if theres there's any of you small enough to V ii- ii k J j. i r JJ She Had Faith That He Would Come want your you money back you can git It as you go out The dogs lid ild down onus onus on onus us t that's all nIl We Ve aint to blame I The little man was edging his wa way between n the chairs accompanied bythe bythe by the sergeant of police With his pale pate paleface paleface face close to the sapling bars of the cage he looked at nt Kazan and the big DaneI Dane I guess well we'll be good friends he said and he spoke e so low that only th the dogs heard his voice Its a big price but well we'll charge it to the Smithsonian lads Im I'm going to need a couple of four-footed four friends of pf your moral call cali ber And no one ne knew why Kazan and th the J Dane drew nearer to the little scientists scientist's scientists scientist's side of the cage cag as ns he pulled out outa a big roll of bills and counted out six hundred dollars dollars' for Harker and and Sandy CHAPTER f I Alone Arone in Darkness Never Never had the terror and loneliness of blindness fallen upon Gray G Wolf as in Inthe the days that f followed the s shootIng shooting shoot shoot- 1 ot Ing of Kazan and his capture by Sandy l For hours after the shot she crouched in th the bush back from the river waiting wailing for him to dome come ome to her She had faith falth that he 1 1 1 come as he had come a n thousand 1 times times' before an and she lay close on her belly sniffing the Ule air and ana whining when it brought no scent of her nat mate Day and night were alike nUke an endless chaos of darkness to her now but she knew when the sun went down She sensed the first deepening shadows vs of evening and she knew that the stars were ere out and mid that the river lay in moonlight It was as a night t to roam and after a time lime she moved restlessly restless restless- h ly about in la a small cIrcle on the plain and sent out her first inquiring g ca cafor call for Kazan Up from the river ca came e ethe the pungent odor of smoke and In instinctively in instinctively in- in she knew that it was this smoke and the nearness of man that was keeping Kazan from her helt But she went no nearer than that first circle circle cir clr- cle made by her padded feet Blindness Blindness Blind Blind- ness had taught her to wait walt Since tile the day Of f the battle on the ln hock cn the lynx had destroyed her e eras erns s. s I Kazl hazan ll hurt had never failed her Three time Ume she called for him hail in t the e early night Then she made herself a n nest under a n shrub and waited until dawn Just how she knew when night blotted blotted blotted blot blot- ted out the lust last glow of th the sun so without seeing she knew when day carne came caID Not until she felt Celt the warmth of the sun on her hack back did her anxiety overcome her caution Slowly she ed toward the river sniffing the theair theair theair air and whining There Ther was no lon longer er erthe the the smell of ot smoke In the air and she could not catch the Ule scent of ot otman man She followed her own trail trall back to the sand-bar sand and amI In the fringe of thick bush overhanging the white shore shore of the stream she stopped and and listened After a little she scrambled down and went straight t to Ithe the spot where she and Kazan were drinking when hen the shot came And there her nose struck the sand still wet and thick with Kazan's blood Kazan's blood She Sho knew It was the blood of f her mate for the scent of him was all aU h her r 1 in the the sand mingled with tb the smell man-smell of Sandy She sniffed the trail of his body to the tho edge of the stream where Sand Sandy laid hall dragged him to the canoe She Sheo found o na the fallen tree to which h he had been been tied And then she came upon pon one oneS of the two clubs that Sandy had used to beat wounded Kazan Into sub- sub It was covered with blood and and hair and all at t on once e Gray y Wolf Wolf in lay back Jack on her haunches and turned her ler blind face fac to the sk sky and there rose from her her throat a cry for Kazan that drifted for miles on on the w wings ng of the south wind Never had GrayWolf GrayWolf Gray GrayWolf Wolf given quite that cry before It was not the call that comes with the moonlit nights ts and neither was nor the wolfs wolf's It the hunt-cry hunt nor yearning g for It carried with it the lament of death And after that one cry r Gray ray V Wolf lf slunk back to the fringe of bush over the river and lay with her face turned to the stream A A strange terror error fell upon her She had grown accustomed to darkness but hut never before had she b been en alone in in that darkness Alwa Always s 's there had been heen the guardianship of Kazan's pres pres- ence She heard the clucking sound of a spruce hen in the bush a ri few yards away awny away and now that sound came to her her as if from out of another world A mouse ground-mouse rustled through bro the grass close to her forepaws and she snapped at fit it and closed her ber teeth on a rock rocIe The Thel muscles of her shoulders shoulders ders twitched t tremulously and she shivered as if stricken by Intense cold She was terrified by the darkness that shut out the world from her and she pawed at nt her closed eyes as If she might open them to light Early In the he afternoon she he wandered back on on the plain It was different It frightened her and soon she returned returned returned re re- re- re turned to the beach and snuggled down under the tree where Kazan ha had 1 lain She was wa's not so frightened here The smell of Kazan was strong about her For an hour she lay motionless with her head resting on the tho club clotted clotted ciot clot clot- ted with his hair and blood Night found her still there And when the moon and the stars crime came me out she crawled back Into t tie le pit in the white whitesand whitesand whitesand sand that Kazan's body had made ruder ru- ru un under rl- rl der del the tree r e. e With dawn she went down to the edge of the stream to drink She could not see that the day was almost as dark darl darlas as night and mid that the Ule gray gray- black sky was a a chaos of slumbering storm But she could smell the presence pres ence of it in the thick air and and could could feel the forked flashes hashes of lightning that rolled up with the dense pall from fromn the south and west The distant rumbling of thunder grew louder and she huddled herself hersel again under the th tre tree For Tor hours homs the storm crashed j I over her ber and t the e rain ran fell in a deluge When it had finished she she slunk out from her hel shelter like a thing b beaten aten Vainly she sought for one last scent of Kazan The club was washed clean Again the the sand was white hite where Kazan's blood had reddened It Even Een under the tree there there was no sign of him hint left Until now only the terror terror of being alone In the pit of darkness that that en en en- ve vel ped l tier her et had oppressed Gray Wolf With a afternoon came hunger It was this hunger that drew her from the sand bar and she wand wandered red back Into the plain A dozen times she scented game and each time tinie it evaded h her r. r Even a ground m mouse ground use that she cornered cornered cornered cor cor- under a root and nd dug ou out with her paws escaped her fangs Thirty-six Thirty hours before b this Kazan and Gray Wolf had left a 1 half of their last kill a mile mUe or two farther back backon on the plain The kl kill was one of the big barren rabbits and Gray Wolf turned in hi |