Reatha Watson
The Voice of the Pack
By EDISON MARSHALL
Copyright. 1920, by Llttlo, Brown A Co.
CHAPTER I—Continued.
—17—
When the Ice made a crust over the
•now, he learned to walk on snow-
shoes. At Erst there were pained
ankles and endless floundering in the
drifts. But between the fall of fresh
enow and the thaws that softened the
crust, he slowly mastered the art.
Snowbird—and Dan never realized the
full significance of her name until he
saw her flying with Incredible grace
over the snow—laughed at him at first
and ran him races that would usually
end In his falling headfirst Into a ten-
foot snowbank. She taught him how
to ski and more than once she would
stop In the middle of an earnest bit
of pedagogy to find that he wasn’t lis
tening at all. He would seem to be
fairly devouring her with his eyes, de
lighting in the play of soft pinks and
reds in her checks, and drinking, as a
man drinks wine, the amazing change
of light and shadow In her eyes.
She seemed to blossom under his
gaze. Not one of those short winter
days went by without the discovery
of some new trait or little vanity to
astonish or delight him—sometimes
an unlooked-for tenderness toward the
weak, often a sweet, untained philos
ophy of life, or perhaps Just a lower
ing of her eyelids in which her eyes
would show lustrous through the
lashes, or some sweeping, exuberant
gesture startlingly graceful.
Lennox wakened one morning with
the realization that this wns one of
the hardest winters of hts experience.
He began to be very glad of the abun
dant stores of provisions that over
crowded bls pantry—savory hams and
bacons, dried venison, sacks of pota
toes and evaporated vegetables, and,
of course, canned goods past count
ing. With the high fire roaring In the
grate, the season held no Ills for them.
But sometimes, when the bitter cold
came down nt twilight, and the moon
looked like a thing of Ice Itself over the
snow, he began to wonder how the
wild creatures who wintered on the
Divide were faring, Of course most
of them were gone. Woof, long since.
had grunted and mumbled his way
Into a winter lair. But the wolves re
mained, strange gray shadows on the
snow, and possibly a few of the
hardier smaller creatures.
More than once In those long win
ter nights their talk was chopped off
short by the song of the pack on some
distant ridge.
Sometime, when the
world Is old. possibly a man will be
born that can continue to talk and
keep his mind on his words while the
wolf pack sings. But he Is certainly
an unknown quantity today, The cry
sets In vibration curious memory
chords, and for a moment the listener
sees In his mind's eye his ancient
home in an ancient world—Darkness
and Fear and Eyes shining about the
cave. It carries him back, and he
knows the wilderness as It really Is;
and to have such knowledge drk-s up
all Inclination to talk, as a sponge
dries water Of course the picture
Isn't entirely plain. H is more a thing
guessed at, a photograph In some dark
part of an under-consciousness that
has constantly grown more dim as the
centuries have passed. Possibly some
time It will fade out altogether; and
then a man may continue to discuss
the weather while the Song from the
ridge shudders in at the windows. But
the world will be quite cold by then,
and no longer particularly interesting.
And possibly even the wolves them
selves will then be tamed to play dead
and speak pieces—which means the
wilderness Itself will be tamed. For
as long as the wild lasts, the pack will
run through It in the winter. They
were here in the beginning, and In
spite of constant war and constant
hatred on the part of men. they will
be here in the end. The reason Is just
that they are the symbol of the wil-
derness Itself, and the Idea of It < con-
tlnulng to exist without them I Is
stranger than that of a nation without
a flag.
It wasn't quite the same song that
Dan had listened to In the first days
of fall. It had been triumphant then,
and proud with the wilderness pride,
Of course it had been sad then, too,
but it was more sad now. And It was
stranger, too, nnd crept farther Into
the souls of ita listeners. It was the
song of strength that couldn't avail
against the snow, possibly of cold and
the despair and courage of starvation.
These three that heard It '»ere Inured
to the wilderness; but a moment was
always needed after Its last note had
died to regain their gayety.
“They're getting lean and they're
getting savage," Lennox said one
night, stretched on his divan before
the fireplace. He was still unable to
walk; but the fractures were knitting
slowly nnd the doctor had promised
that the summer would find him well.
“If we had a dog, I wouldn’t offer
much for his life. One of these days
we’ll find 'em In a big circle around
the house—and then we’ll have to
open up with the rifles.”
But this picture appalled neither of
his two young listeners. No wolf pack
can stand against three marksmen,
armed with rifles and behind oaken
walla.
Christmas cam» and passed, and
January brought clear days and an
Ineffective sun shining on the snow.
These were the best days of all. Every
afternoon Dan and Snowbird would
go out on their skis or on snowshoes,
unarmed except for the pistol that
Snowbird carried In the deep pocket
of her mackinaw. “But why not?" Dan
replied to Lennox's objection. “She
could kill flve wolves with five shots,
or pretty near It, and you know well
enough that that would hold 'em till
we got home. They’d stop to eat the
flve. 1 have hard enough time keep
ing up with her as it Is, without carry
ing a rifle,” And Lennox was content.
Dan had told the truth when he said
that flve deaths or even fewer, would
repel the attack of any wolf pack he
had ever seen. There was Just one
troubling thought. He had beard, long
ago. nnd he had forgotten who had
told him. that In the most severe win
ters the wolves gather In particularly
large packs; and a quality In the song
that they had heard at night seemed
to bear It out. The chorus had been
exceptionally loud and strong, and he
hnd been unable to pick out Individual
voices.
The snow was perfect for skiing.
Previously their sport had been many
times Interrupted either by the fall of
fresh snow or a thaw that had soft
ened the snow crust; but now every
afternoon was too perfect to remain
Indoors. They shouted and romped In
the silences, and they did not dream
but that they had the wilderness all to
themselves. The fact that one night
Lennox's keen eyes had seen what
looked like the glow of a camp fire
in the distance didn't affect this belief
of theirs at all. It was evidently just
the phosphorus glowing In a rotten log
from which the winds had blown the
snow.
Once or twice they caught glimpses
of wild life: once a grouse that had
buried In the snow flushed from their
path and blew the snow-dust from Its
wings; and once or twice they saw
snowshoe rabbits bounding away on
flat feet over the drifts. But Just one
day they caught sight of a wolf. They
were on snowshoes on a particularly
brilliant afternoon late In January.
He was a lone male, evidently a
straggler from the pack, and he leaped
from the top of a tall thicket that had
remained above the snow. The man
and the girl had entirely different re
actions. Dan's first Impression was
amazement at the animal's condition.
It seemed to be in the last stages of
starvation: unbelievably gaunt, with
rib bones showing plainly even through
the furry hide. Ordinarily the heavily
furred animals do not show signs of
famine; but even an Inexperienced eye
could not make a mistake In this case.
The eyes were red, and they carried
Dan back to his first adventure In the
Oregon forest—the day he had shot
the mad coyote. Snowbird thought of
the beast only as an enemy. The wolves
killed her father's stock; they were
brigands of the worst order; and she
shared the hatred of them that Is a
common trait of all primitive peoples.
Her hand whipped back, seized her pis
tol. and she fired twice at the fleeing
figure.
The second shot was a hit: both of
them saw the wolf go to Its side, then
spring up and race on. Shouting, both
of them sped after him.
In a few moments he was out of
sight among the distant trees, but they
found the blood-trail and mushed over
the ridge. They expected at any mo
ment to find him lying dead; but the
track led them on clear down the next
canyon. And now they cared not at
all whether they found him: It was
simply a tramp In the out-of-doors;
and both of them were young with red
blood tn their veins.
But ail at once Dan stopped in his
tracks. The girl sped on for six paces
before she missed the sound of his
snowshoes; then she turned to find
him standing, wholly motionless, with
eyes fixed upon her.
It startled her, and she didn’t know
why. A companion abruptly freezing
In bls path, his muscles Inert, and his
eyes filling with speculation, Is always
startling. When this occurs ft means
simply that a thought so compelling
and engrossing that even the half
unconscious* physical functions, such
as walking, cannot continue, has come
Into his mind. And it Is part of the
old creed of self-preservation to dislike
greatly to be left out on any such
thought as this. If danger Is present,
the sooner It is Identified the better.
“What is It?” she demanded.
He turned to her curiously Intent.
“How many shells have you in that
pistol?”
She took one breath and answered
him. “It holds five, and I shot twice.
I haven’t any others.”
“And I don't suppose It ever oc
curred to you to carry extra ones In
your pocket?”
"Father Is alwnvs telling me to—and
several times I have. But I'd shoot
them away at target practice nnd for
get to take any more. There was never
any danger—except that night with a
cougar. I did Intend to—but what does
It matter now?"
“We're a couple of wise ones, going
after that wolf with only three shots
to our name. Of course by himself
he's harmless—but he's likely enough
to lead us straight toward the pack.
And Snowbird—I didn’t like his looks.
He's too gnunt and he's too hungry—
and I haven't a bit of doubt he waited
In that brush for us to come. Intend
ing to attack us—and lost his nerve
the last thing. That shows he's des
perate. I don't like him, and I wouldn't
like his ¡»ack. And a whole pack might
not lose Its nerve.”
“Then you think we’d better turn
back r
“Yes, I do, and not come out any
more without a w hole pocket of shells.
I'm going to carry a rifle, too. Just as
Lennox has always. He’s got only a
flesh-wound. You saw what you did
with two cartridges—got WT'one flesh-
wound. Three of 'em against a pack
wouldn’t be a great deal of aid. I
don’t mean to say you can't shoot, but
a jumping, lively wolf Is worse than
a bird In the air. We've gone over
three miles; and he'd lead us ten miles
farther—even If he didn't go to the
pack. Let's go back."
“If you say so. But I don’t think
there's the least bit of danger. We
can always climb a tree."
“And have 'em make a beautiful
circle under It I They’ve got more pa
tience than we have—and we'd have
to come down some time. Your father
can’t come to our help, you know. It’s
the sign of the tenderfoot not to think
there's any danger—and I’m not going
to think that way any more.”
They turned back and mushed In
silence a long time.
“I suppose you’ll think I’m a cow
ard." Dan asked her humbly.
“Only prudent, Dan,” she answered.
smiling. Whether she meant It he did
not know. "I'm Just beginning to un-
derstand that you—living here only a
few months—really know and under-
stand all this better than I do.' • She
stretched her arms wide to the wilder
ness. "I guess It's your Instinct.”
"And I do understand," he told her
earnestly.
sensed danger back
there Just as sure as I can see your
face. That pack—and ft's a big one—
Is close; and it's terribly hungry. And
you know—you can't help but know—
that the wolves are not to be trusted
In famine times.”
“I know It only too well,” she said.
Then she paused and asked him
about a strange grayness, like snow
blown by the wind, on the sky over
the ridge.
Little Girl. smoothing her flowered
dress. “I have done Unit before. You
cun Jump from high places und not
LD-FASHIONKD LITTLE GIRL be hurt a hit If you know how.”
In the frame over the fireplace
“Oh. what a funny dress you have
hud played In the room n long, on,” snld the Little Girl to Beautiful
long time ago, but never until this
French Doll. "And don't you ever go
night had she done more than l<»ok to sleep? ,My wax doll used to shut
out from her frame.
her dye*. Hhe was the latest thing In
But one night when the clock struck
dolls when 1 lived here.”
the lust stroke of twelve, before any
“I sin the very latest style doll,"
of the toys could move or apeak out. explained French Doll, “and all the
from her frame on the wall leaned
newest ones are like me.*'
the Old Fashioned Little Girl.
"Weil, I’d ralper have my Lydia
On the edge of the frame she placed
doll,” replied the Little Girl. “Now, I
one little slippered foot, her little
hands holding on to the sides of the wonder where she can I«."
“If you cannot find Nina, and Lydia,
frame. Then out came the other foot
and
Betty, why don't you play with
and this she placed on the shelf, und
there she stood looking nil around the us?" asked Beautiful French Doll.
playroom.
“Where are all my old "We never have anyone to sing to us,
and rock us, and play house.”
friends?” again she asked.
Ho all the llttlest dolls climbed Into
In
Beautiful French Doll, dressed
her lap and the big ones sat on the
the latest style, replied; "I don’t
Heve they arc here, unless It Is Teddy floor and Teddy Bear and Ba-ba Nheep
Bear. He hns been here longer than and Woolly Dog and Calico Cut and
everyone and everything got as close
any of us."
"Teddy Bear?" the Little Girl ra ns It could to Old Fashioned Little
peated. “I never heard of him. It Girl and listened.
All nt once n ray of daylight peeped
was Nina, a big rag doll, nnd Lydia, a
wax doll, who were my friends In the under the curtain nnd everybody
Jumped. Little Girl ran to the closet
nnd opened the door. “The stepdad-
der—where Is It?" she cried In great
distress, nnd then she ran to the fire-
¡dace nnd looked nt the empty frame,
but It wan no use. she could not get
up there, for more daylight catM Into
the playroom and ended the magic
power given to those who lived there.
When the little girl who lived In the
house ran Into the playroom that
morning she stopped nt the door nnd
looked. Then she called t<> her moth
er, for there on the floor surrounded
by nil the toys was Old Fashioned
Little Girl tint on her face.
“Oh. Grant Aunt Abbie fell out of
her frame," exclaimed the mother,
picking up the broken glnaa thnt cov-
ered the picture. "I must have a new
glass fitted nnd the picture put back
In the frame."
She Placed One Little Slippered Foot
Thnt night when Ilie clock et ruck
on the Frame.
twelve nil the toys looked nt the empty
place on the wall nnd they nil sold
old days, and. Oh, yea, there was a they hoped the man that fixed the
dear little china doll, with black hair frnme would not fasten Old Fashioned
and blue eyes, named Betty, Oh, I do Little Girl In It so flrmly that sho
wish I could find them.”
could not get out nt night when the
Then all the toys held their breath, magic hour struck.
for right off of the big shelf jumped
r," said French Doll, “I like the
the Little Girl, landing on the floor on old-fashioned way of playing better
her feet. »afe and sound.
than the new."
“Ob-oo," gasped all the toys.
And all the toys sa'd they did, too.
"Oh, that Is nothing," laughed the
(Copyright )
oli >- fahhiom : i > dolls
“You aro too beautiful to live In a
large city*'—thug In January, 1914, did
a Judge from hie bench make the
amazing beauty of Reatha Watson a
stigma. He banlehed her to her homo
at El Centro, Calif. She wae then six
teen. Eight years ago she thought her
beauty wae a hindrance. Today It is
the “movie" star's fortune.
--------- O---------
THE RIGHT THING
at the
RIGHT TIME
By MARY MARSHALL DUFFEB
OCEAN ETIQUETTE.
Good breathing Is ths result of much
good sense.—Chesterneld.
T IS so many months since Ameri
cans have taken trips for pleasure
that we must brush up a little on
the question of the etiquette of ocean
travel. War workers and tin1 men In
the expeditionary forces were trans
ported under such very different clr-
cmnstances from those of pleasure
travel that as far as the small ¡tointa
of manners go It was an entirely
different proposition.
Under ordinary circumstances the
woman ocean voyager has a good many
letters to write during the first few
hours of her voyage because It Is
considered only courteous for her to
send off little notes of thanks to those
Who have sent flowers, books or other
presents, by the mail thut is taken
off with the ship’s pilot. However,
these letters need not be long, as
.surely no one would expect you to
miss all the pleasure of being on deck
during the first of your voyage In
order that you might dwell at great
length on your appreciation of their
generosity.
The question Is sometimes asked
Bert Cranston waited in a clump of whether it is In good form to use the
exposed thicket on the hillside until stationery such ns is provided by the
he saw two black dots. that he knew ocean lines, or whether it Is not better
were Dan and Snowbird, leave the to use one’s own stationery. Good
Lennox horns. He lay very still as form seems to sanction the use of the
they circled up the ridge, noticing
ship’s stationery, and it is surely more
that except for the pistol that he
interesting to those who received let
knew Snowbird always carried, they
ters to have them on this paper.
were unarmed. There was no par-
Suppose you know no one on ship
tlcnlar reason why he should he Inter
board.
Must you therefore keep to
ested In that point It was Just the
mountain way always to look for* yourself because there is no way for
weapons, and It Is rather difficult to you to have introductions to the
trace the mental processes behind this other passengers? Certainly not. It
Impulse. Perhaps It can he laid to is quite good form for you to begin
the fact that many mountain families with a courteous good morning ad
are often at feud with one another, dressed to those whom you meet at
and anything tn the way of violence table or whom you pass every day
on deck. At least by the second or
may happen before the morning.
The two passed out of his sight, third day out you would naturally
and after a long time he heard the start a conversation with the ¡torson
crack of Snowbird’s
pistol. He seated next to you on deck and to
guessed that she had either shot nt resent any such friendliness on the
some wild creature, or else was mere- part of others would indeed be un-
ly at target practice—rather a com- kind. If for any reason you wfsh to
mon proceeding for the two when be left entirely to yourself you should
they were on the hills together. Thus make a special request that your
It Is to be seen that Cranston knew steamer chair be placed in an isolated
their habits fairly well. And since he part of the deck.
had kept a close watch upon them for
It will then become apparent that
several days, this was to be expected. you do not wish to mingle with the
He had no intention of being Inter others and you will have no trouble
rupted In this work he was about to In keeping by yourself. But by far the
do. He had planned It all very well. most agreeable thing Is to accept the
The elder Lennox was still helpless. friendly advances of persons whom you
Cranston had noticed that when Dan meet and If they appear congenial
and Snowbird went out, they were there is no reason why you should
usually gone from two to four hours; not let the friendship progress quite
and that gave him plenty of time for as If you had had a formal Introduc-
bls undertaking, The moment had tlon.
(Copyright)
come at last to make a thorough
search of Lennox’s house for those fn-
criminating documents that Dan had
found near the body of Landy Hll-
dieth.
CAN CAT» 8EE IN THE DARK?
The only really dangerous part of
TRICTLY speaking, ents cannot
his undertaking was his approach. If
see in complete darkness any
by any chance Lennox were looking
more than human beings can.
out of the window, he might be found
waiting with a rifle across his arms. But, owing to a peculiar construction
It would be quite like the old moun of their eyes, they can make much bet
taineer to have his gun beside him, ter use of whatever light there Is and,
and to shoot It quick and exceptional as a result, they can find a way
ly straight, without asking questions, through a room which appears to be
nt any stealing figure In the snow. Yet very dark.
The pupils of a cot's eyes are capa
Cranston felt fairly sure that Lennox
was still too helpless to raise a gun ble of being enlarged or distended to
a great extent, thus letting in every
to a shooting position.
He had observed that the moun- particle of light. Moreover, this en
taineer spent his time either on the largement of the pupil takes place al-
fireplace divan or on his own bed. most Instantly and there is therefore
Neither of these places wns available little apparent hesitancy on the part
to the rear windows of the house. So, of a cat which enters a dark room
very wisely, he made his attack from after being in the brlgnt light. The
same principle holds good, in a lesser
the rear.
extent, In the human eye, for after we
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
"become accustomed to the dark”—or
Life and Art.
after the pupils of our eyes become
'I’d like to meet that man. He sufficiently distended to allow the rays
plays Monte Cristo with such under to enter—we are able to see much
standing.”
more clearly and distinctly than for
“I’ll Introduce you, but he's a tight merly. This, however, takes an ap
wad. Won’t spend a nickel,”—Louis preciable time, while it occurs auto
ville Courier-Journal.
matically in the eye of the caL
I
S
(Copyright.)
“What’s in a Name?
By MILDRED MARSHALL
F«rtt about your rum* Io blMorv; mrate
mg. amener it war derived. Mani&eaneei
your lucky day and lucky jewel.
PRISCILLA
HE charming demure name of
Priscilla signifies “ancient," a
denotation to which it has every
right, since It conies from the very old
Latin. The Prisci, according to Nie
buhr, were the original I«atln tribe
whose name acquired Its sense of age
from their ant'qulty. The most dis
tinguished Prisci of history was Mur-
cue Porcius Prlacua Caton and a
number of the Prisci are to be found
among the early Roman martyrs.
Whether Priscilla was the name
given to the daughters of this family
or not Is a matter of conjecture. The
first Priscilla of whom we have rec
ord was a fellow-worker of St. Paul.
In her honor this feminine form
gained great prevalence In England,
especially among the Puritnns.
America, of course, received her
through the charming romance of Prls-
cilia and John Alden and Cat>t. Mlles
Standish, where the famous utter-
ance, “Why don’t you speak for your-
self, John?” arose.
The vogue of the name ns a mode!
of demureness and mniden propriety
wns widespread throughout New Eng
land nnd hns been much used In song
nnd story In this country. But outside
of America nnd England and her early
fume In Rome, Priscilla hns hnd no
populnrify whatever. The abundnnce
of hnrsh consonants have made her
Impossible of translation Into French
nnd Spanish, nnd even Germany re
jects her. England, through hntred of
the Puritnns, enred little for her, nnd
she hns nlmost dropped out of exist
ence there. Only In America does she
stll! flourish through the offices of
Longfellow's immortal poem.
The nmethyst Is Priscilla’s tnlls-
mnnfc gem. It is said to control evil
thoughts, to quicken the Intelligence
nnd, nccordlng to nn old legend, hns
a sobering effect upon nnyone Intox
icated from wine or love. Saturday
is Priscilla's lucky day nnd 4 her
lucky number. The primrose, signify
ing simplicity, Is her flower.
(Copyright.)
--------- O---------
Indispensable Worm.
The labors of worms throw up no
less than ten tons of soil in the form
of casts on each acre of land during«
single year. In n small five acre field
the worm population brings to the sur-
face no less than fifty cartloads of the
finest soil In twelve months!
The
most important of all creatures, then,
la the lowly worm, on whose labors all
the rest depend for their food. If he
were to die out, the whole earth
would, In n short space of time, be
come a great silent, lifeless Sahara.
EF 1 wns no smorta guy mebbe I
loan da job other dny. Somatlrne
I maka da meestake and I durino
everytlng, but ees preety hard foola
hie too mooch.
Other night I go een dn party nnd
wns plenty dreenk een dat place. One
man geeva me aomatlng ami was
preety goods stuff. I aska wot he cnlla
dnt and he say was dn near beer. I
llkn dat stuff so 1 keeps right on taka
some more. Preety soon I no enre wot
breaku loose. I only gotta tree dolln
feefaty cent een da pocket, but dat
maka no deefrence—1 feels so good
as meelion bucks.
When I dreenka five, seexn more
glass somatlng go wrong weeth da feet
nnd da way I speakn Engleesh. Eef
dat stuff wns near beer I tlnk nobody
dnt crowd een good Judge of distance.
Mebbe was near one time, but other*
night feeemn like he gotta een front.
When I go home from dat place my
bed ees gonna craze nnd try runa way.
But he no fooln me. I cutcha heein
alia right preety soon.
But nexn
morning was when I gotta trouble. Da
head feela seeck and du feet no wnnta
go to work. So wot I can do eef da
feet and da head maka strike sama
time?
But I getta greats Idee. I smnsha
de clock wot waka me up nnd keepa
right on sleep. Bouta noon I go on da
Job and takn my clock. Da boss aska
me wot's matter I no show up so I
geeva heem look nt da clock. He sny
I no can help eef dn clock ees bust, so
I still gotta my Job. When I no wnnta
go to work I Jusa breaka da clock and
foola tin boss. I tlnk I nm preety
smart a guy alia right.
Wot you tlnk?
E
(Copyright.)