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About The Bend bulletin. (Bend, Deschutes County, Or.) 1917-1963 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 5, 1921)
TAOH a THE IUEND HITLLETIN, DAILY EDITION. ItKND OltEflON, HATl'ltDAY, I'KIIIU'AIIY fl, lUill. VOICE OF THE I Mil J til vnr IM'A-. ' " . CHAPTER IV Snowbird foil Tory glad of ber Inti mate, accurate knowledge of the whole region of the Divlilc. In her In fancy the winding trails had boon hor playground, ami long ago slio had ac quired I lie mountaineer's sixth sense for traversing them at night. She had need of that knowledge now. She slipped Into her free, swinging stride; mid ihe last beams from the windows of the house were soon lost In the pines behind her. It was one of those silent, breathless nights with which no uiounlaliieer is entirely unaequnint' ed. and for a long time the only sound she could hear was her own soft tramp in the pine noodles. The trees themselves were motionless. That peculiar sound, not greatly different from thai of running water which the wind often makes in the pine tops. was entirely lacking. Not that she could he deceived by it ns stories tell that certain teuderfeet. (lying of thirst in the barren hills, have been l'.ut she always liked the sound; and she missed It especially tonight. She felt that If she would stop to listen, there would be many faint sounds In (he thickets those little bushed noises that the wild things make to remind night-wanderers of their presence, lint she did not In the least care to hear these sounds. They do not tend toward peace of mind on a long walk over the ridges. Ihe wilderness began at once. Whatever influence toward civiliza tion her father's house had brought to the wilds chopped o(T as beneath a blade in the first fringe of pines. This is altogether characteristic of the Ore gon forests. They are much too big and too old to be tamed in any lar;e degree by the presence of one house. No one knew this fact better thau Lennox himself who. In a hard win ter of four years before, had looked out of his window to And the wolf pack ranged in a hungry circle about his bouse. Within two hundred yards after she bad passed through ber fa ther's door, she was perfectly aware that the wild was stlrriug and throb bing with life about her. At first she tried very hard to think of other things. But the attempt wasn't en- tirely a success. And before she had covered the first of the twelve njlles, the sounds (hat from the first had been knocking at the door of her con sclousucss began to make an entrance. If a person lies still long enough, he can usually hear his heart beutlng and the How of his blood la his arteries. Any sound, no matter how fuiut, will make itself heard at last. It was this way with a very peculiar noise that crept up through the silence from the trail behind her. She wouldn't give l( any heed nt first. But In a very little while indeed, it grew so insistent that she could no longer disregard it. Some living creature was trotting along on the trull behind, keeping ap proximately the same distance be tween them. Foregoing any attempt to Ignore It, she set her cool young mind to think ing what manner of beast It might be. Its step was not greatly different from that of a large dog except possibly a dog would have made slightly more noise. let she couldn't even be sure of this basic premise, because this animal, whatever It might be, had at first seemingly moved with utmost caution, but now took less care with its step than Is customary with the Wild denizens of the woods. A wolf, for instance, can simply drift when it wishes, and the silence of a cougar Is a name. Yet unless her pursuer were a dog, which seemed entirely unlikely, It was certainly one of these two. She would have liked very mucb to believe the step was that of- Old Wolf the bear, suddenly curious as to what this dim light of hers might be; bul she couldn't bring herself to accept the lie. W oof, except when wounded or cornered. Is the most amiable crea ture In the Oregon woods, and ll would give her almost a sense of se curity to have him waddling aiung behind her. The wolves and cougar, remembering Ihe arms of Woof, would not he nearly so curious, f 5 tit unfor tunately, (he black hear had never done such a thing In the memory of man, and if he had, lie would have made six times as much noise. He can go fairly softly when he Is stalk ing, bul when he Is obliged to trot as he would he obliged to do to keep up with 0 swift-walking human figure be cracks twigs like a rolling log. She bud the Impression thut the nnl- mul behind bad been passing like smoke at first, but wasn't taking the trouble to do It now. The sound was a soft pat-pat on the trull sometimes entirely obliterated but always" recurring when she began to believe that she had only fancied Its presence. Sometimes a twig, rain soaked though It was, cracked beneath Ml : l n"Fie:ivy To.'t. "TiTHI again TTnil again she hoard the brush crushing mid rustling ns something passed through. Sometimes, when the trail was cov ered with soft pine needles, It was practically Indistinguishable. The animal was approximately one hundred foot behind, it wasn't a wolf, she thought. The wolves ran In packs this season, and except In winter were more afraid of human beings than any other living creature. It wasn't a lynx one of those curiosity-devoured lit tle felines that will mew nil day on a trail and never dure come near. It was much too large for a lynx. The foot fell too solidly. There were no dogs In the mountains to follow at heel ; and she had no desire whatever to meet Shag, the faithful hybrid that used to be her guardian In the hills. For Shag had gone to his well-do-served rest several seasons before. Two other possibilities remained. One was that this follower was a human being, the other that It was a cougar. Ordinarily a human being Is much more potentially dangerous to a wom an In the hills at night than a cougar. A cougar Is an abject coward and some men are not. Hut Snowbird felt herself entirely capable of handling any human foes. They would have no advantage over her; they would have no purpose In killing from ambush; and sho trusted to her own marks uinnshlp Implicitly. While It Is an ex tremely dilllcult thing to shoot nt a cougar leaping from the thicket, a tall man standing on n trail presents an easy target Besides, she had a vague sense of discomfort that If this animal were a cougar, he wasn't acting true to form. lie was altogether too bold. The animal on the trail behind her was taking no care at all to go silent ly. He was simply pit-patting along, wholly at his ease. He acted as If the fear that men have Instilled In his breed was somehow missing. And that Is why she Instinctively tried to hurry on the trail. The step kept pace. For a long mile, up a barren ridge, she heard every step It made. Then, as the brush closed deeper around her, she couldn't bear It at all. She hurried on, straining to the silence. No, the sound wns stopped. Could It be that the animal, fearful at last, had turned Trom her trail? And then for the first time a gasp that wus not greatly different from a de- She Heard the Steps Again. spnlrlng sob caught nt her throat. She heard the steps again, and they were In the thickets Just beside ber. e Two hours before Snowbird had left the house, on her long tramp to the ranger station, Dan bad started. home. Me hadn't shot until sunset, as he bad planned. He rode one of I,ennox's cattle ponies, the only piece of horse-flesh that Hill had not taken to the-valloys when he had driven down Ihe live stock. She wns a pretty bay, a spir ited, high-bred mare that could whip about on hor hind legs at the touch of the rein on her neck. She made good time along the trail. And an hour be fore sunset he passed the only human habitation between the marsh and Lennox's house Ihe cabin that had been recently occupied by Lundy Hll dreih.' He glanced at the place as lie passed and saw thnt It was deserted. No smell of wood smoke remained In the air. Evidently Lnndy bad gone down to the settlements with his precious, testlrnonj n reps rd to the arson ring. Vet it wns curious thai no word tlad boon hoard of him. As far as Han knew, noil hor the courts nor Ih forest service had taken no tion. Ho hurried on, four tulles fart her, The trail entered Ihe heavy thickets, mid ho had to rldo slowly. It was ns wild a section as could bo found 01 the whole Divide. And Just as ho enmo to a llltlo cleared space, three strange, dark birds Hung up on wide spioixlliig wings. Ho know them nt once. All niouu tnlncora come to know them before their days nru done. They were the biirxariH the followers of (ho dead And whal Ihoy wore doing In the thicket Just boslilo the trail, Dan did not dure to think. Of course they uilghl bo feeding on Ihe body of a deer, mortally wounded by some hunter, lie resolved to rldo by without Investigating. Ho glanced up. The bur.znrds wore hovering In the sky. evidently waiting for him lo pass. Then, mostly to relieve a curl ous sense of discomfort In his own mind, he stopped bis horso and (Us mounted. The twilight had started to full, and Already Its first griv.vnoss had begun lo soften the harder lines of forest and hill. And after his first glanco nl 'ho curious white heap beside the trail, ho was extremely glad thnt ll had. But (here was no chance to mis. take the thing. The elements mid much more terrible agents had each wrought their change, yet there was grisly evidence In plenty to show what had occurred. Dun didn't doubt for an Instant but that It was the skele ton of Lnndy Hlldreth. He forced himself to go nearer. The buzzard wore almost done, and one white bono from the shoulder gnve tin mistnknhle evidence of the passage of a bullet. What had happened there after, he could only guess. He got back quickly on his horse. He understood, now, why nothing hail been heard of the evidence that Lnndy Illldrcth wns to turn over lo the courts ns to tho activities of the nrson ring. Some one probably Bert Cran stnn himself had been walling on the trail. Others had come thereafter, And his lips set In bis resolve to lot this murder measure In the debt he bad to pny Cranston. The Lennox house seemed very si lent when, almost on hour later, he turned his horse Into tho corral. He had rather hoped that Snowbird would be at the door to meet hint. The dnrk ness had Just fallen, and all the lamps were lighted. He strodo Into the liv ing room, warming his hands an In slant beside Ihe fireplace. The fire needed fuel. It had evidently been neglected for nearly an hour. Then he called Snowbird. His voice echoed In the silent room, unanswered. ne called agnln. then went to look for her. At the door of Ihe dining room he found the note thnt she hnd left for him. It told, very simply and plainly, that her father lay Injured In his bed, and he wns to remain and do what he could for him. She had gone for help to the ranger station. lie leaped through the rooms to Len nox's door, then went In on tiptoe. And the first thing he saw when he opened the door was the grizzled man's gray face on the pillow. "You're home early, Dan," he said. "How many' did you gel?" It was entirely characteristic. Shaggy old Woof Is too proud to howl over the wounds Hint lav hint low, and this eniy old bear on the bed hnd par taken of his spirit. "flood Lord." Dan answered, i "How badly arc you hurt?" "Not so bad but that I'm sorry that Snowbird has gone drifting twelve miles over the hills for help. It's dark as pitch." And It wns. Dan could scarcely make out the outline of the somber ridges against the sky. They talked on, and their subject wns whether Dan should remain to tnke care of Lennox, or whether he should attempt to overtake Snowbird with the horse. Of course Ihe girl hud ordered liltn to stay. Lennox, on the other hand, anld that Dan could not help him In the least, and desired him to follow the girl. "J'm not often anxious about her,", he said slowly. "But It Is a long walk through the wildest part of the Di vide. Some way I can't bnr accidents tonight. I don't like to think of her on those mountains alone." And remembering what hnd lain be side the (mil, Dnn felt the same, no hnd heard, long ngo, that any animal that once tasted human flesh loses Its fear of men and Is never to he trusted again. Some wild animal that still hunted the ridges hnd, In the Insl month, done Just thnt thing. He left the room and walked nixy to the door. (To be Continued) I'ut it in The Bulletin. 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Sometimes there will ho n shoot of bulling water lo u height of 15 foot, followed hy a succession of Jets. The highest shoot of which there Is any record was PO feet. Occasionally a basin will fur some unexplained reus. hi become entirely empty, or will give forth a "steam shoot," which, , In the form of n column of spray and vaior ut least (V) feet In height, presents a really mugiilllceiit spectacle. For Those Who Believe In Dreamt. To dream of chickens, you will be tho vlctlln of o cownrdly act To cat one, you will expose a trencheruut friend. To kill them, honor and glory. To cook them, you will Injure a friend unintentionally. 5 EmtkmaffiattfictkM (3 T'HE car a man uses in his business life must be always ready for duty. It is just this demand for a car they can trust that causes so many business men and professional men to drive Buicks. 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Ilciston Transcript. Denmark Leadi In Plus. Ireland, supposed lo ho tho great country for pigs, baa, lit fact, only ono pig for every tlireo persons, whllu Don mark has one pig for each two hu man beings. When You Have Your Auto Repair Work done you want the most efficient work men to do it. Have you always had satis factory work done? That is the only kind we do. We do your work right or not at all. A. W. Bontrager Greenwood Avenue BUICK 3?. mo ' 1120 1211 ' 1S4S 5a BEND GARAGE A Winter Catastrophe. I.lttle Howard had boon accustomed lo going for milk to a nvlglibur who ht'l't n row. Ono winter dny ho uni told Ihnl lh row hnd gouo dry and lot could haw no morn milk until spring. The llttlo fellow lost no (lino In run. mug homo ii nd explaining to his moth er: "Oh, uiuvvor, (ho cow's froxod up and ho won't havii no luoro milk Hll spring I" Natural Result. "Sntno men nro bashful when It enmos lo meeting Ihelr obllgnlloiia," remark an evrhnngo. This may bo Iiociiiikc they nro niinni-lnlly shy. 2& i ... UV6I)