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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1888)
THE WEST SHORE. r. TL,ntM lie down injwhere and deep Uck the Tnrkiah cap which be M rtit hand through the closely-cropped rurli of dark eUtnut in perplexing indecision. Ills Mt taftU-hM He curia, Rnd usually held m their Iwn o.thi KB lUmcQ hi fat'9 capnC" . TU ch'-rt opir lip could take a scornful curve, i d mite tif, r imile sweetly as a cherub, as dex lroul; m hi ready brush by a line here, a touch there, could change the face of bin canvas. He vm a hort jacket and trowsersof brown cor dary, and wa, altogether, as handsome a specimen iif a B .heraian m one would see in many a day. But Ut in a Ubyrintbian tongle, with the gnawings of burner M, the nituation bad become a critical one. The like bad never happened to him before. 1Mb y and faco were grave enough now for the trirtt l'rriilijtcrinn deacon. "'Where there' a will there's a way,'" he mut Wf!, and dajdiM off at a tangent, whistling snatches f an old rollicking Ullml AfUr travening, it neemed to him, miles, in every direction, be wm forced, at laM, to admit the cruel fart that he m only the more completely bewildered - the tiK.re hoeK(dr lout Tb light wm fat fading out of the sky. Gro Uju, il.adwy hnjea were prowling about the taoubUin li.b-a, On a projecting npur the slim, gray fynre f a coyote pnunnl for a Hecond, outlined as in iar.;te kuM the darkening heavens, gave its pecu liar, Ulf-bntking, bulf.wailing cry, then leisurely tM5 out of niht He htrtl nil this in an indifferent sort of way. The uti.t lad utterly mccuraW to the man. He u m k from exhaustion and want of food as Hetmlsiofadis. Iu uaa, and a Grange, whirling sensation in . "!"Bi'i;'.i-ii.iiMi1Criej,6,,gB(,r. -I I- r ,,l of k nllk n,,' 7 m IT' ! " l"tt"rn: '"'itaklo.g. ..tun; ; Ml S :. Its delicious odor tantalized his olfactories and resus citated his appetite. Through the open doorway he 8aw the sun climbing the blue stairway, and the snowy summits hung with purple and blue and gold draperies, woven at invisible looms. Soft, cool breezes stole in and stirred the moist hair on his temples. " What a royal day for the artist 1 " he thought, his eyes kindliDg with eager interest. He lifted himself on his elbow as if to make the e(fort to rise, when suddenly an apparition confronted him. Whence it came, or how, he could not divine, but there it stood, as if evolved by some device of magic-the most powerful in size and muscular de velopment, the shaggiest, the ugliest and most fero-cious-visaged specimen of the canine species he had ever beheld. The huge creature seemed to belong to no particular type, but to combine the most promi nent characteristics of several remarkable breeds. H;s long, silky coat was mottled gray and black, and his lopping ears and massive chest of a dark tan color. The short, square, heavy jaws had a frightful scar on the left side, where the muscles were drawn away, which gave to them a singularly savage look. But the majestic carriage of the body, the broad paws and muscular legs, the dignity of the upper head, and the fine, large, lustrous eyes, in which, from un der shaggy, overhanging brows, gleamed an almost more than human intelligence, amply redeemed the grotesque deformity of the lower face. There he stood glowering up at Paul, and at every attempt on his part to rise, uttered a low, significant growl. It was plain that he was a prisoner and could not hope to elude the watchful eyes of that shaggy senti nel. It was just as plain, too, that he was complete ly at the animal's mercy, for he recognized the small derringer, which he carried, lyiDg on a table across the room. Even it would probably have availed him little, for the unerring brute instinct would have rightly interpreted the deadly menace, and one grip of those mighty jaws on his throat would have ended his career before he could have pulled the trigger or made an outcry. He felt as helpless as though, taken utterly unawares in a lonely, isolated spot, he had been accosted with " hands up 1 " and looked into the cocked revolver of some daring highwayman. Like a prudent man, he quietly succumbed to the inevitable, and assumed a recumbent position. The dog straight way stretched himself out at full length, with his nose between his fore paws, and made a pretense of eleep. But Renfrew knew, by the occasional flutter of an eyelash, that a close watch was being kept upDn his movements. He in turn kept a close surveillance on the dog, and, in a measure, the clamor of returning vitality was merged into that absorbing occupation.