The evening world. Newspaper, August 10, 1914, Page 11

KAZAN VE DOOQODGODDOH®HDDHDDHGOGDSOODOSI|GOS vening World Daily Magazin % (Copyright, 1914, by BobtmAfecrit] Company.) CHAPTER I. 4 The Miracle. ; K eyelid quivered. e Yet every drop of the AZAN lay mute and motionless, his gray nose between his forepnws, his eyes half closed. A rock could havé appeared scarcely less lifeless than he; not a muscle twitched; not a hair moved; not an wild blood in his splendid body was Facing in a ferment of excitement that Kazan had never before experienced; every nerve and fibre of his wonderful muscles was tense ag steel wire. Quar- haber wolf, three-quarters “husky,” he had lived the four years of his £ He knew what it meant to freeze. the wilderness. He had felt the pangs of starvation. He had listened to the walling winds ‘@f the long Arctic night over the barrens. He had heard the thunder of the torrent and the cataract, and had cowered under the mighty crash of the storm. His throat and sides were scarred by battle, and his eyes were red with the blister of the snows, He was called Kazan, the Wild Dog, because he was a giant among his kind and as feariess, even, as the men who drove him through the perils of a frozen world, He had never known fear—until Row. He had never felt in him before the desire to run—not even on terrible day in the forest when he ad fought and killed the big gray Ayus. He did not know what it wae frightened him, but he knew it Be was in another world, and “that many things in it startled and @larmed him. It was his first glimpse @f civilization. »He wished that his master: would @ome back into the strange room ‘where ho had left him. It was a rvoin Gilead with hideous things, There ‘Were great human faces on the wall, frigh but they did not move or speak, but @ared at him in a way ho had never @een people look before. He remem- Bered having looked on a master who May very quiet and very cold in the @ow, and he had sat back on his Saunches and wailed forth the doath @ong; but these people on the walls Jooked alive, and yet seemed dead. @uddenly Kazan lifted his ears a He heard steps, then low wolces. One of them was his master's yolee. But the other—it sent a little fremor through him! ‘Once, so long ago that it must have 4g, been in his puppyhood days, he g@eemed to have had a dream of a ‘Mugh that was like the girl's laugh— @ laugh that was all at once filled with a wonderful happiness, the thrill of a wonderful love,,and a tness that made Kazan lift his as they came in. . He looked straight at them, his red gleaming. At once he knew that must be dear to his master, for his master’s arm was about her. In the glow of the light he saw that her hair was very bright, and that there ‘was the color of the crimson bak- Meesh vine in her face and the blue of the bakneesh flower in her shin- eyes. juddenly she saw him, and with a head. Hittle ot. darted toward him. “Btop!" shouted the man, “He's @angerous! Kazan"-— Bhe was on her knees beside him, all fluffy and sweet and beautiful, her ‘eyes shining wonderfully, her about to touch him, ‘Should he ¢ringe back? Should hé snap? ‘Was ehe one of the things on the wall, and his enemy? Should heleap # at her white throat? He saw the man running forward, as death. Then her hand fell m his head and the touch sent a Fill through him that quivered in every nerve of his body, With both hands she turned up his head. Her face wan very close and he heard her ay, almost sobbingly: ‘And you are Kazan——dear old Kesan, my Kazan, my hero dog— ‘who brought him home to me when alt sinere bad died! My Kazan— ™ Ina then, miracle of miracles, her was crushed down against him and he felt her sweet warm touch. “fa thone moments Kazan did not mheve. He scarcely breathed. It Seemed a long timé before the girl her face from him. And when did there were tears in her blue and the man was standing re them, his hands gripped tight, we set. hi Feed in a tense wondering voice. back quietly, Isobel. Good ven—loak at that!" fazan whined softly, his bloodshot @yes on the girl's face. He wanted to feel her hand again; he wanted @e touch her face. Would they beat fim with a club, he wondered, if he { He meant no harm now. He what the man said. _ “Good heaven! Look at that!" and he shuddered. ‘But no blow fell to drive him back. Wie cold musste touched her filmy @ress, and she loked at him, without qmoving, her wet eyes blazing like bic ig she whispered. “See!” ‘Halt an inch more—an inch, two and he gavé—his big gray bear's hunch toward her. Now his her foot, travelled slowly upward— to her lap, and at touched the warm little hand bit yes were still fm her. bi @ trembling of her lips as she looked fp at the man with a wonderful Tek. fe, tow, knelt down beside them, put his arm about the girl again, and patted the dog on his head. Kazan did not like the man's touch. ‘He mistrusted ‘t, as nature had taught him to mistrust the touch of all men's hands, but he permitted It because he saw that it In some way sad the girl. ran, old boy, you wouldn't hurt har, would you?’ sald his master y? “We both love her, don’t we, 7 Can't help it, can we? And ours, Kazan, all ours! She be- to you and me, and we're going to take, care of her all our lives, and t we ever have to we'll fight for her ine Bel won't we? Eh, Kazan, old ‘or @ long time after they left him Ay was lying on the rug Ka- “eyes did not leave the girl. Ho and listened—and all the DOBHHDODOGHO® Next Week's Complete Novel in . time there grew more and more in him the craving to creep up to them and touch the girl's hand, or her dress, or her foot. After a time his master sald something, and with a little la the girl jumped up and @ by, square, shining thin, that stood esosswise in a corner, an which had # row of white teeth longer than his own body. He had wohdered what those teeth ‘were for.” The girl's fingers touched them now, and all the whispering of winds that he had ever heard, all the music of the waterfalls and tho rapids and the trillipg of birds in time, could hot equal the sounds they made. It was his first For a moment it startled and ed him, and then hé felt the fright pase away and a strange ting- ling in his body. He .wanted to sit back on his haunches” and hawl, as he had howled at the billion stars ir. the skies on cold Winter nights. But something kept him from doing that. It was the girl. Slowly he began slinking toward her, He felt the eyes of the man upon him and estopped. Then @ little more—inches at a time, with his throat and jaw straight out along the floor! He was half way to her—half way across the room—when the wonderful sounds grew very soft and very low, “Go on!” he heard the man urge in @ low quick voice. “Go on! Don't op!" The girl turned her head, saw Ka- zan cringing there on the floor, continued to Rey: The man was atill looking, but his eyes could pot keep Kazan back now, went nearer, still nearer, until at last his outrench- ing muaszle touched her dress where it, Jay piled on the floor, And then—he lay trembling, for she had hegun to sing. He had heatd a Cree Woman crooning in front of her tepee; he had heard the wild chant of the caribou song—but he had ‘never heard anything like this wonderful sweetness that fell from the lips of the girl. He forgot his master’s pres- ence now. Quietly, cringingly, so that she would not know, he lifted his He saw: her looking at him: there was aomething in her wonderful eyes that gave him confidence, and ‘he laid his head in her lap. For the @econd time he felt th touch of a woman's hand, and he closed hia eyes witn a long sighing breath. The music stopped. There came a litt fluttering sound above him, lke @ laugh und a sob in one. le rd master cough, “I've always loved the old ras- cal—but I never thought he'd’ do that,” he said; and his voice sounded queer to Kaza: CHAPTER Il. Into the North. ONDERFUL days followed for Kazan. He missed the forests and deep snows. He missed the daily strife of keeping his team-mates in trace, the yapping at his heels, the straight long pull over the open spar and the barrens. He missed the ‘Koosh —koosh — Hoo-yah!” of the driver, the spiteful snap of his twenty-foot caribou-gut whip, and that yelping and straining behind him that told him he had bis fol- lowers in line. But something had come to take the place of that which he missed. It was in the room, in the air all about him, even when the girl or his mas- ter was not near, Wherever she had been, he found the presence of that strange thing that took away his loneliness. It was the woman scent, and sometimes it made him whine softly when the girl herself was ac- tually with him. He was not lonely nights, when he should have been out howling at the stars, He was not lonely, because one night he prowled about until be found a certain door, and when the girl opened that door in the mornt she found aim curled up tight against it. She had reached down aad hugged him, the thick smother of her long hair falling all over him in a delightful perfume; thereafter she placed a rug before the door for him to sleep on. All through the long nights he knew that she was just beyond the door, and he was content. ih day he thought less and less‘of the wild places, and more of her, Then there came the beginning of the change. There was a strange hurry and excitement around him, and the girl paid less attention ty him. He grew uneasy. He sniffed the change in the air, and he began to study his master's face. Trea there came the moruing, very cably, when the babiche collar and the fron chain were fastened to him again. Not until he had followed his master out through the door and into the street did he begin to understand. ‘They were sending him away! He sat suddenly back on bis haunches and refused to budge. “Come, Kagan," coaxed the boy. “Come on, He bung back and showed his white dangs. He expected the lash 4 B®DQHHHDHWHDHHOHDOWHODHGDHOHOHDIHHHHHHOS GOOD © CBOQDDOOODOSGBS: of a whip or the blow of a club, but neither came, His master laughed and took him back to the house. When they left it again the girl was with them and walked with her hand touching his head. It was she who rauaded him to leap up through a ig dark hole into the still darker q interior of a car, and it was she who lured him to the darkest corner of all, where his master fastened his chain. Then they went out, laughing like two chillren. For hours after that Kazan lay atill and tense, listening to the queer rumble of wheels under him. veral times those wheels stopped and he heard voices outside. At last he was sure that he heard a familar voice, and Ne strained at his ohain and whined. U The closed door slid back. A man with a lantern climbed in, followed by his master. He paid no attention to them, but glared out through the opening into the gloom of night. He moet broke loose when he leaped down upon the White enow, but when saw no one there he stood rigid, sniffing the air, i. Over him were the stars he had howled at all his life, and about him were the forests, biack and silent, shutting them in like a wall. Vainly he sought for that one scent that was missing, and Thorpe heard the low note of grief in his shaggy throat. He took the lantern and held above his head, at the same time loosening his hold on the leash. At that signal there came a voice from out of the night. It came from be- hind them, and Kazan whirled so suddenly that the loosely held chain slipped from the man’s hand. He saw the glow of other lanterns, And then, once more, the volce— “Kaa, ‘zant" He was off like a bolt. Thorpe laughed to himself ashe followed. “The old pirate!” he chuckled. When he came to the lantern- lighted space back of the caboose, Thorpe found Kazan crouching down feet. She smiled tri- It he laughed, not unhappily. Td have wagered my last dollar he wouldn't do that for any voice on earth. You've won! Kazan, you brute, I've lost you.” His face suddenly sobered as Isobel stooped to pick up the end of the chain, “He's yours, Issy,"” he added quickly “but you must let me care for him until—we know. Give me the chain, 1 won't trust him even now. He's a wolf, I've scen him take an Indian's hand off at a single snap. I've seen him tear out another dogs jugular in ohe leap. He's an outiaw—a bad dog in spite of the fact that he hung to me like a hero and brought me out alive, I can't trust him. Give me the chain’. He did.not finish. With the snarl of a wild beast Kazan had leaped to his feet. His lips drew up and bared his long fangs, His spine stiffened, and with a sudden cry of yarnin, Thorpe dropped a hand to the r volver at his belt. Kazan paid no attention to him. Another form had approached out of the night, and stood now in the circle of illum) lon made by the lantern: It was McCready, who was to acco: any Thorpe and his young wife ck to the Red River camp, where Thorpe was in charge of the building of the new transcontinental. The man was straight, powerfully bullt and clean 6) His jaw was so square that it was brutal, and there wi glow in his eyes that was m like the passion in Kaza) he looked at Isobel, Her red and white stocking ca: had slipped free of her head and wa! hanging »ver her shoulder. The dul bh of the lanterns shone in the warm glow of her hal. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes, suddenly turned to him, were as blue as the bluest bakneesh flower and glowed like diamonds. McCready shifted his gaze, and instantly her hand fell on Kazan's head, ‘ For the first time the dog did not seem to feel her touch. He atill snarled at McCready, rumbling menace in his th: growing deeper, Thorpe's wife tugged at the chain, GBDOODHHDGHHHDHHOODGHOODHHWHGHHOPDHHDOGIHOHDOIBOHDHDOODOHODOHO 1DO®DODOSPOOOIDOWOOOOOS nday anne Sane A Complete Novel Each Week in The Evening World shadowy forms and gleaming eyes of his teaty-mates. He stood stiff and motionless while Thorpe fastened him to a sledge. Once more he, was back in the for. este—and In command. His mistre was laughing and clapping her hands delig' ly in the «6: ement of th strange and wonderful life of which e had now become a part. Thorpe had thrown back t! flap of their tent, and she was entering ahead of him, She did not look back. She spoke no word to him. He whined, and turned his red eyes on Mo- ly. In the tent Thorpe was saying: “I'm sorry old Jackpine wouldnt back with us, Iasy, He drove mo wn, but for love or money I couldn't get him to return, aa Mission Indian, and I'd give a month's salary to have you see him handle the oe. I’m not sure about this man McCready. He's a quéer , the company’s agent here tells and knows the wooda like a book. But dogs don't like a stranger. K aan isn't going to take to him Worth a cent Kazan heard the girl's voice, and stood rigid and motionless listening to it. He did not hear or see Mc- Cready when he came up stealthily behind him. The man’s voice came as suddenly @ shot at his heels. edro In an instant Kazan cringed as if touched by a lash. “Got you that time—didnt I, you old devil?” whispered McCready, his 6 strangely pale in the firelight. your ame, eh? But I got ti" CHAPTER. Ul. McCready Pays the. Debt. Cready sat in ellence beside the fire. Only for @ mo- F OR a long time after he had ment or two at a time did uttered those) words Mc- his eyes leave Kazan, After a littl GDDQOGODOOOGSGHSGSO manded” N’tan—down!"” she com: vy i he was sure that Thorpe and A aed sound of her voice he ré& Isobel had retired for the night, he axed. went into his own tent and returne! with @ flask of whiskey. During the next half-hour he drank frequently. Then he went over and sat on the end of the sled just beyond the reach of Kazan’s chain. “Got you, didn’t I? he repeated, the effect of the liquor beginning to show. in the glitter of bis eye “Wonder who changed your nains Pedro? And how the devil did ‘he come by you? Ho, ho, if you could only talk"—— They heard Thorpe’s voice inside the tent. It was followed by a low girlish peal of laughter, and Mc- Cready jerked himself erect. His face blazed suddenly red, and he rose “Down!” ehe repeated, and h hand fell on his head agai slunk to her feet. But his lips were still drawn back. Thorpe was watch- ing him. He wondered at venom that shot from the eyes and looked at M The big guide had unoolled hia long dog whip. A strange look had come into his face. He was staring hard at Kazan. Suddenly he leaned forwai with both hands on his knees, and for a tense moment or two he seemed to forget that Isobel Thorpe's won- derful eyes were looking at him. “Hoo-koosh, Pedro—charge!" That one word—charge—was taught. only to the dogs in the service of the Northwest mounted police. Kazan did not move. McCready straight- ened, and quick as a shot sent the long lash of his whip curling out Into the night with a@ crack like a pistol report. “Charge, Pedro—charge!” The gumble in Kazan’s throat deep- ened to a sngrii wi, but not muscle of his ly moved. Mce- Cready turned to Thorpe. “I could have sworn that I knew tat dog,” he said, ‘If it's Pedro, he's adn ‘Thorpe was taiing the chain. Only the girl saw the look that came for an instgnt into Mi y's face. It made her shiver. A few minutes be- fore, when the train had first stopped at Les Pas, she had offered her hand to this man and she had seen the same thing then. But even as she shuddered sho re- called the many things her hiaband had told her of the forest people. She had grown to love them, to ad- mire their big rough manhood and loyal hearts, before he had brought her among them; and suddenty she amiled at McCreaay, struggling to overcome that thrill of fear and dis- ike, “Ho doesn’t like you,’ at him softly. ‘on’ friends with him?” She drew Kazan toward him with Thorpe holding the end of the chain. McCready came to her side as she bent over the dog. His back was to Thorpe as he hunched down. Isobel's bowed head was within a foot of his face. He could see the glow in her cheek and the pouting curve of her mouth as she quieted the low rumb- ling in Kazan's throat. Thorpe stood ready to pull back on the chain, but for a moment Mc- Cready was’ between him and his wife, and he cowd not see My- Cready's face. The man's eyes were not on Kazan. He was staring at the girl. “You're brave.” he said, “I don't dare do that. He would take off my hand!” He took the lantern from Thorpe and jed the way to a narrow snow- path \branching off from the track. Hid back in the thick spruce was the camp that Thorpe had left a fort- night before. There were two tents there now in pl: of the one that he and his guide had used. A big fire was burning In front of them. Close to the fire was a long sled and fastened to trees just within the outer circle of the frelight Kazan saw the coat pocket. Walking around ‘the fire, he tiptoed cautiously to the shadow of a tree ‘close to the tent and stood there for many minutes listening, His eyes burned with a flery madness when he returned to the sledge and Kazan. It was midnight: befere he went into his own tent, In the warmth of the fire Kazan's eyes closed slowly, He slumbered uneasily, and his brain was filled with troubled pictures, At times fle was fighting, and his jaws snapped, At others he was straining at the end of his chain, with McCready or his mistress just out of reach, He felt the gentle touch of the girl's hand again and heard the wonderful sweet- ness of her voice as she sang to him and his master, and his body trem- bled and twitched with the thrills had filled him that night And then the picture changed, He was runping at the head of a splendid team+six dogs of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police—and his master was calling him Pedro! The scene shifted. They were in camp. His master was young and smooth- faced and he helped from the sledge another man whose bands were fas- tened in front of him by curious black rings, Again it was later—and he was lying before a great fire, His master was aitting opposite him, with back to @ tent, and he looked there came out of the ten the man with the black rings—only now the rings were gone and his hands we and in one of them he carried a heavy club. Ho heard the terrible blew of the club as It fell on his master's head—and the sound of it aroused bim from his aleep. He eprang to his stiffening and a she laughed you make feet, his spine ‘1 in his throa darker gloom that pre: ‘Through Kazan saw McCready. in he was standing close to the tent of his mis- tress, and he knew now that this was the man who had worn the black fron rings, and that it was he who had beaten him with whip ahd club for many long days after he had killed his master. McCready heard the menace in his throat and came back quickly to the fire. He began to whistle and draw the Are You Going Away for Vacation? When you go out of town for vacation you may find it is difficult and costly to provide yourself with the right sort of reading matter. Why send to the city for novels at $1.25 or $1.50 each or buy them at u fancy price in some country store? You can supply yourself with the best, most delightful summer reading for six cents a week. . By subscribing to The Evening World for the rest of the summer you will secure a complete novel each week. Not some old book a country dealer has not been able to sell, but the finest up-to-date fiction by the foremost living authors, Bear this in mind, not only for yourself but for any of your friends who expect to spend their vacations in the country. to Bis feet, dropping the flask in his that gloom * GDQHDHDOGHDGHHDGHHDGHGHDHGHDOGHHDHGOHIODIG® thrust halt-burned logs together, and aa the fire blazed up afresh he shouted to awaken Thorpe and Isobel, minutes Thorpe appeared at the tent- fap. and his wife followed him out. jer loose hair rippled in billows of gold about her shoulders and she sat down on the sledge, close to Kazan, and began brushing it, McCready came up behind her and fumbled among the packages on the sledge. As if by accident one of his hands buried itself for an instant in the ri tresses that flowed down her back. She did not at first feel the caress- I in a few Mew %, ke burning like again, “Hello, McC Ye and spoke ment of the hand, the fondling clutch of the fingers in her hair and the mad passion burning in the eyes of the man. Quicker than a lynx, the dog had leaped the length of his chain across the sledge. McCready aprang back just in time, and as Kasan reached the end of hi chain was jerked back so that hi! body struck sidewise against the girl ‘Thorpe had turned in time to see the end. of the leap. the tent. M thick spruce. “Til ewear few minutes It's It M6 believed that Kasan had sprung at Isobel, and in his horror no word or cry escaped his dips as he dragged her from where she had half fallen over the sledge. Ho saw that was not hurt and he reached for his revolver. It was {i his holster In the tent. ‘At hip feet was McCready’s whip, and in the passion of the moment he soized it and sprang uppn Kazan. ‘The dog crouched in the snow. He made no move to escape or to at- tack. Only once tn his life could he remember having received a beating ke that which Thorpe inflicted upon him now, But not a whimper or @ growl escaped him. rose in Ka: of his leash, him. Bo what a club in. Thorpe'’e tent-pole. avvaken was deathly white. shadow, Per Ruaana HyeNp armor felt hin meaning. of ¢ er husl y the arm, fel im touch me—and then Kazan aprarig, Were be He wouldn't bite me. It’s the man! There's pomething—wrong”—— She was almost sobbing, and Thorpe drew her close in-his a “IT hadn't thought before—but it’s strange,” he said. “Didn't McCready say something about knowing the dog? -It's possible. Perhaps he's had Kagan before and abused him in a way that the dog has not n. To-morrow: I'll find out, But uatil know—will you promise to keep away from Kazan?” Isgbe gave the promise. When they out. from the tent’ Kagan lifted: hiepreat head. The pinging lash had closed one of his eyes an his mouth was dripping blood, Isobel gave a low sob, but did not go near him, Half blinded, he knew that his mistress had stopped his punish- ment, and ké whined softly, and wagged his thick tail in the snow. ever had he felt so miserable as through the long hard hours of the day that followed, when he broke the trail for his team-mates into the North. One of his eyes was closed and filled with stinging fire, and Ma body was sore from the blows of the caribou lash, But it was not physical pain that gave the sullen droop to his head and robbed his body of that keen quick alertness of the lead-dog-—the com- mander of his mates. It was his spirit. For the firat timo in his life, it was broke: McCready had beaten him—iong ago; his master had beaten him, and during all this day their voices were flerce and vengeful in his eara, Rut it was his mistress who hurt him mont. She held aloof from him, al-vaya beyond the reach of hig leash; and when they stopped to reat, and again in camp, she looked at him with atrange and wondering eyes and did not speak. She, too, was ready to beat him. He believed th: slunk away from on his belly in the a broken epirit meant a broken heat and that night he lurked in one the deepest shadows about the camp- fires and grieved alona, Later, after Thorpe and his wife had gone into their tent, it began to snow, and the effect of the anow upon ady puzzled Kazan, The man tiens, and he drank frequently e flask that he had used the “night before, In the firelight hie face grew redder id and Kazan could see the returned? tent. Then entered, and the wild him, chokin, He saw She was cal! ing him! He leaped upon his bac! cord about shadows wei fierce snarl hi once more al Thoro % his neck g for her, sank from bi warm blood. The dog's him now. ahagey neck. his hold—not upon the ma: with her hanc UD ttl. Her eyes wei jaws turned ‘Why was ahe Her touched him. It was his old thrill of Thorpe's deep breathing, McCready hurried back to the fire and turned his face straight up to tho sky. ‘The snow was falling a0 ferToly for thickly that when he lowered his face he blinked and wiped his eyes, Then he went out Into the gloom and bent low over the trail they had mad few hours before, It was almost flap and stol From out of ‘August 10, wid he enti the flap strings and in his flashed on Lsobel's golden head, and started at that Thorpe was awakening. he dropped the flap and rustied tt from the outaide. “Ho, Thorpe!—Thorpe!” ‘This time Thorpe replied. McCready drew the flap back a lit- “Yes. Can you come out ing touch of his fingers and Thorpe’s somothing’s happening out in the back was toward them. Sete won't wake Up your wife!” Vengeful glare of his eyes Only Kazan saw the stealthy move- tie drow back and waited. A min- Three times the man—his master— ute later Thor; around the camp,” tain that I saw a mi Here-y: wasn't clean fooled, wo'll find a trail in the snow.” He gave Thorpe the lantern and picked up the heavy club. choked {t back. He wanted to snart forth his warning, vo leap at the end did that, they would return and beat he lay atill, trembling and shivering, and whining softly. watched them until they disappe: —and then waited—tistened. At last he heard the crunch of snow. was not surprised to see McCready come back alone. him to return alone, McCready’s face was terrible now. It was like a bei an quietly as oat hung the bat Ll he stood there, staring—staring. crouching in Cag tried to fathom the master and McCready gone out the forest? Why had not his master it was his master, and not McCready, who belonged in that there? He watched McCready as on his feet, his back tense limb: there came & in recognized her voice—and he leaped toward the tent. The leash stopped now, and there Gnas ory with his master’s “Kazan—Kagan"— time he sprang thi leash into the night, and the babiche flesh like a knife, He atopped for an Instant, gasped for they were crumplin; ve way. Tn half a dozen the tent and rushed under the flap. With a snarl he was at McCready’s throat. The first snap of his powerful hi: jaws was death, but he did not know that. He knew only that his mistress was there, and that he was hting There came one choking gasping cry that ended with a terri- ble sob; it wae Mi and Kazan thrust his fangs Lrg sod into his enemy's throat; he felt the Sh he did, his mistress looked down once on the blankets, Her face and hands were col and Kazan muazied them tenderly. up close against her, with his ready Then he heard a step outside. he went swiftly to the door, there was his and in his hat He would beat him again—beat bim Kazan slipped quietly under the tent- spruce he looke whine of love and grief rose and died Bal lantern, The light He knew now what death was, He could tell it further than man, He © could smell it in the air, And he knew that there was death all about him, and that he was the cause of It. He lay on his belly in the deep snow and shivered, and the three-quarters of him that was dog whined in a 1 ariof-stricken way, while the quarter that was wolf still revealed Iteeif menacingly in his fangs, and in the ity his eyen red coais, until he saw Quickly he called Sready—is that you?" In @ low voice, minute? me quietly out of ‘ready pointed into the came out of the tent and shouted loudly, “Kagan—Kagan—Kazan!" —' Three times the woman came with him. In the fireligit Kazan could see her shining hair streaming abo her, aa he had seen it in the when he had leaped up ant kiie® the other man, In her biye eyes there was the same wild terror, and her face was white an the snow.'.! And the second and third timo ehe, too, called “Kasan—Kazan—Kasaal” and all that part of him that dog and not wolf trembled fo: at the sound of her voice, and he al- most crept in to take hig beating, But fear of the club was the greater, and ha held back, hour after hew until now tt was silent agaim ia the tent and he could no longer see their shadows and the fire was dying down, Cautiously he crept out from the thick gloom, working his way on bia an there's gome one nosing paid. “I'm cer- in out there a when I went for a pd for stealing ou take the lantern! A growl but he zan's throat, but he knew that if he He He had expected For he knew meant. He was hat- his ' leas, Kazan slunk deeper, in bell: And then: suddenly, his mistreny shadow at the low horrible laugh that waa) toward the packed si Yan fonwrare ane. 6 4 fell from bie lips—for the man still Pood that siden bidnsar ia Tae Orne ae Oe ee eried, and held the club. In @ moment B® Gariness of the trees, was thi eomething. in. her voice held “him gsoppee | tile and approached the of the man he had “xdlled, ‘cov , strikiny McCready did not a blanke' . master, Sear what she sala thee, ut He drew beck the fap, and peeved had drarged it there. i was sleeping, He lay down, with his nose-to t he entered warm coals and his eyes levelled te tween his forepaws, straight at the olosed tent-dap. He meant to keep ike, to watch, dy to slink off Into te to be r at the first movement there. warmth wae rising from out of gray ash of the fire-bed, and his closed. Twice—three times—be himself back into watchfulness; the last time his eyes came only open, and cloned heavily again. and now, In his-sleep, he Whine softly, and the splendid muac! bie lege and shoulders twitched, ani eudden apna ripples rea his tawny spine. Thorpe, who the tent, If be had. seen hi; have known that he was And Thorpe’s wife, whose Jay close ble the deep hose etrange things that ning. Why had his nto why was McCready suddenly the juge shadow range, piercing cry. error of that ory he the snarl in hia throat. ‘chadows struggling “Ut. In his sleep was leapi ome ana & the es of his aa, ite wo ened sprang to bis feet. his spine as ae @ brush, and his snartin bared like ivory kniV¥es. le awakened just in time. »There was movement in the tent. Hig, master was awake, and if he did not eacape— He sped swiftly into the thick spruce, and pa |, flat and. Hin, again, and was thrown Kk. A segpnd and a third length of the hia neck cut into his breath. Tho with only his head showin: re still Oghting. Now hind atree. He knew that his master down! With @ would not spare hi ‘Three @ flung his whole weight t the end of the chair. * nap, as the thong about de Kasan made ia. umes Thorpe had beaten him for snapping ‘at McCready. The last time he would have him if the girl had pot saved And now he had tora throat. He had taken the life him, and his master would not im. Even the woman could "casa "was sorry that wes ho had recurned, dase@ and after he had torn MoCready’s Then he would have had She would have loved him, love him. And he would bave for her lowed her, and and died for he But Th dy. ‘The man ‘ia knees upon his back, mistress was calling to e was pulling at his But he would not loose for a long time, When nm and covered her face ds. Then she sank dowp She was very It was approaching brig he held a rifle. re closed. He snugsied caught toward the thing covered by sit Stetttenett™ Sates peer ct) |. he wonde: Then she spoke to and A long time passed, and then she denly straightened and moved. eyes opened. Her hand me head. 'H-0-0-0-0—Kasan—Kasaa — Ege bag YP ran through Kagan. a man was trying to inveigie him ue nee in bis hand the thing master, and with that fear—fear of the club— Yea, master in the frelight— ind he held the club. He lowly, almost falling at id his face was red with @ had the club! tance meant nothing thi of death that to hurting McCready; so le off into the s! the gloom of t back, and low softly in bi roat. They would beat obliterated by the falling snow. An- other hour and there would be no Bim Always now after at Ras trall—nothing the next day to te! bunt him down, and beat him when of cold or hunger, Some thia'way By morning It woud they found him: which was «reater than them all, ene, From out of the glow of the fire he Which filled him with a cover everything, even the fire, if be allowed It to die down, McCready drank again, out in the darkness. Low words of an insane joy burst from. his lips, His head was hot with a drunken fire. His heart beat madly, but scariely more furiously than did Kazan’s when the dog saw that McCready was return- ing with a club! The club he placed on end against a tree. Then ho took a lantern from the sledge and lighted it. He approached Thorpe’s tent Sap, of the forest Free the T turned hia wolfinh head to the depths stinging lashes out They would never find him there. CHAPTER IV. HERE was a low moaning of ¢ as Kazan slunk off into the ae throw back his head and cry out hie jonaiioeal to the gray emptiness of 0 sky. Back in the camp the girl's voles! quivered . There were no cl: in that bs or oom. From Bonds. he ts gone. He knew. 'd give—a year of my if I hadn't whipped him y and last night, He won't come Isobel Thor] hand tightened wind In the spruce-tops the lantern in his hand. Nee ee ne: called, blackness and inystery of M4,87™. There was no answer. He could the forest. For hours he lay m hear Thorpe breathing. He drew the flap aside a little and raised his voice, “Tho eyes gazing Still there was no movement inside wherein the A STIRRING ROMANCE OF THE FRAN@O-PRUSSIAN WAR gla hte «Bi By ROBERT W. CHAMBERS ‘ Auithior of “The Common Law,” “Maid of Paradiee,”” &e. nen near the camp, CODODDHODOHOWOE ©HBDHHDHDHDOOHHHOHHDGHO®OHHOD®: ©OHHDHOHDOIDAIVOO® ls red and bilstered steadily at the tent terrible thing had hap- OODOMN Stands Will Cost You $1.25. You Get It for 0 C